ᴄʜᴀsɪɴɢ ʀᴀɪɴʙᴏᴡ

~7. The status change

Hollow Coves - The Woods

Jimin rushed behind the podium on an elevated stage as he was late and the inauguration ceremony had already been delayed. Just as he gave his go-ahead to the lady, she pulled open the veil and a few camera flashes went on. He grabbed the mic from the podium as he stood in the middle of an art gallery. "Thank you for coming, everyone. I am super excited to share the poster of one of my friends' artwork called farewell. This was a piece in a contemporary virtual gallery that was an ode to migrants and their footprints that lay scattered across the world."

A few art collectors stalked forward to take a better look at the piece. Jimin stepped away from the podium after putting the mic down. "Mr. Park," an art collector padded towards him, picking a champagne glass from the tray. "My name is Lee Minsoo. I had to ask. Do you draw or paint?"

Jimin smiled briefly and gratefully before shaking his head. "I am not that good, Ms. Lee, but sometimes I do to relax."

"You have a good eye for detail," the lady apprised, raising her glass a little. "What do you say we fix a meeting with you tonight and talk about...farewell."

Jimin's brows twitched momentarily. "I am sorry, but this piece isn't for sale. I am sure we will have many that will attract your eye. I want this to be in here for some time. Where are you based at?"

"Fair enough," the lady chuckled. "I work for my client who is based in Korea, and he is a hotelier. But his new project is in Abu Dhabi. I am specifically looking after this particular property."

Jimin stopped a waiter and picked a champagne glass from the tray before he began walking with the noblewoman. "What exactly made you want this?"

"The exhibition's theme of migration resonates with the values that the painter and the village they must have been brought up in, and their vision," Minsoo explained, trying to get a word out of Jimin as well. 

"Actually it is done by my younger brother and he never lived in a village," Jimin answered lowly and Minsoo raised an impressed brow at Jimin. 

His phone began to buzz and he excused himself from Ms. Lee, who had no problem going and looking around the exhibition at many other paintings in the newly opened art gallery. 

With a smile, Jimin clicked on the green icon to talk to his wife. "Rose-"

"Jimin, I am in labor." The lady huffed out, controlling her labored breaths. 

**

"A few more minutes," Jimin coaxed, hearing the quickened breath of the woman and glancing at her to see her body oozing sweat. She held onto his palm as he controlled the car with one hand. He couldn't go fast, knowing that could hurt her, and going slow made him want to explode in anxiety. His baby was coming. This might give him something to hold onto after dangling in the reality of cruel life. 

As he reached the hospital, he began to get Rosenow out of the car, but to his chagrin, Taehyung bounded towards them and held Rosenow's hands. Jimin's head cocked up momentarily, but he didn't think the need for small talk in the situation. They carried her to the wheelchair and then Jimin wheeled her inside, letting Taehyung trail behind.

"Dr. Kang, I am here for Dr. Kang," Jimin precipitously asked the nurse and she rushed to get the doctor. This hospital was his friend's, and so Jimin trusted the place to be the one to bring his baby into the world.