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-Gargi (A)

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Suga stood outside the huge, towering building and reconsidered his decision to come here. An image of Jieun’s sorrowful face and Mia clinging to her floated into Suga’s mind and bolstered his decision. Taking a deep breath, he walked in.

The receptionist looked up at Suga as he approached the main desk.

“Hi,” Suga said, “I’m Suga… I mean, Min Yoongi. Yeah. Here to meet Vincent.”

The receptionist raised her left eyebrow. She had a very sharp nose and cunning eyes, and her hair was tied back tight and stiff. She was quite scary, and Suga suddenly understood why she was raising her eyebrow.

“I mean, can I meet with Mr. Vincent Mulberry?”

The receptionist sighed but her eyebrow didn’t go down. “I got that the first time.”

Suga just stared. He didn’t know what to say.

The lady sighed again, even more dramatic this time.

“Okay. Seems like you’re new here. Do you have an appointment? You need an appointment to see anyone here. Especially if you want to see Mr. Mulberry. And, his appointments are usually made weeks in advance.”

Suga’s face fell. He had just come back from helping Hoseok move heavy boxes at work, so he was sweaty. He was wearing old jeans and had on a not very nice looking hoodie. He seemed so out of place, it wasn’t even funny. And he didn’t even have an appointment. No wonder this lady was judging him. But because it was Suga, instead of disappointing him, it just pissed him off. Why should him not being able to afford a fancy outfit or have a privileged job determine his eligibility to meet with this Mr. Vincent Mulberry?

“How do I get an appointment then?” Suga asked the receptionist.

The expression that appeared on her face read something like- an appointment with YOU?

Suga was having a hard time not expressing his annoyance.

“Do I need to fill a form or something?” Suga pressed on. But this time, the receptionist just laughed.

“This isn’t a hospital, Mr. … what was it?”

Suga took a deep breath. This was enough.

“Lady, I suggest you contact your boss Vincent right now and ask him if he can meet me for only a few minutes. And I am not leaving until I can meet him or get an appointment date… Or I am going to ask someone else. And also inform them how unhelpful and disrespectful you have been. I don’t need your name to do that, you seem to be the only receptionist here with that hair. But I guess you might need my name- I’m Suga, also known as Min Yoongi. Now, where can I wait while you do your job?”

The receptionist looked like she had been hit in the face. Her face reddening, she immediately called Vincent’s office to book an appointment. A few minutes later, she hung up.

“Mr. Mulberry had an appointment cancel ten minutes ago. He can see you for five minutes.”

Suga smiled. “Perfect. How do I get to his office?”

After getting directions from a very pissed off receptionist, Suga sauntered off. He pressed the elevator button and waited for it to reach the first floor.

When the doors opened, his eyes fell on an incredibly stylish woman in a long black dress, with deep brown hair that fell to her waist in a straight, shiny sheet. She had shrewd eyes, heavy makeup, and a smirk on her face. She glanced at Suga as if he was something disgusting the dog left behind.

Unable to comprehend why he felt so uncomfortable around the woman, Suga shuffled into the elevator. He stood as far away as he could from her, but when the elevator doors closed, the strong smell of her floral perfume overpowered his senses. She looks important… and rich. But her perfume .

A few minutes later, Suga reached his destination. He almost ran out, leaving the silent, almost creepy woman behind. Taking a deep breath he began to walk through the corridor, looking for the door with Vincent’s name on it. Jiyong’s step- dad. The only one I know who can help me find Jiyong, Mia’s half brother.

There were multiple doors on one side of the corridor, each decorated with the name of an important business man. The other side of the corridor was composed of long, clear glass windows that gave a fantastic view of the city and let lots of warm sunlight in. Suga didn’t like heights very much, but he had to admit he could spend hours just zoning out and gazing at the city rush through these windows.

Suga had lost count of how many doors he had passed when he finally arrived at Vincent’s office. He stood facing a large brown door with a round, metal knocker. He knocked twice, and walked in when a high female voice answered. Inside was a huge room with a domed ceiling and light gold marble flooring. The walls were covered with bookshelves except for two parts- one more door and a desk where a pretty young woman with extremely light blonde hair sat, working on the computer and flipping through a bundle of notes.

“I am guessing you are Suga?” she asked in a breathy voice, not looking up from the notes.

“…yes.” Suga answered, his voice small. His life hadn’t accustomed him to such a luxurious life. He felt awfully out of place, and wanted to be back in the comfort of his less-fancy but familiar life.

The girl stood up and motioned Suga to follow her. He trudged behind her as they reached the door across the hall.

“He’s waiting for you,” the girl said, tilting her head towards the door. “You have about five minutes.”

Suga nodded, and quickly walked in. He entered a room that made the previous one seem like a barn. Intricate woodwork graced the wall that was decorated with ancient maps, elaborate paintings, and even more books, many of them thicker than Suga’s waist. The carpet that covered the floor was so plush that Suga felt his old, tattered boots sink in. A light smell of incense filled the room and it was quite pleasant. In front of him was a large mahogany desk overflowing with official-looking paper and instruments of various purposes. And leaning against the desk was an attractive man in his 40s, with jet-black hair and a chiseled face devoid of a smile.

“Who are you?” Vincent asked, his voice crisp and professional.

“I…” Suga stammered. He had practiced an excuse but the environment was throwing him off. Taking a deep breath and gathering his courage, Suga said, “I am Suga. You can call me Yoongi too. I was here to ask you where I could find Jiyong. Kwon Jiyong.”

Vincent’s eyes narrowed. His cold expression got even colder. “And why would I tell you that?”

“Because you are his emergency contact on his blood donation application.” Suga finally exhaled after blurting out the excuse.

Vincent looked confused now. “Me?”

“Yeah,” Suga replied, “from 2 years ago.” He had made sure to check when Vincent had divorced Jiyong’s mother.

Vincent ran his fingers through his impeccable hair. “That’s strange. But why are you asking me? You should have his address on your files.”

“Well, we did, until our intern lost his file. We only have his initial application now. With his name, age, and emergency contact information. His own phone number wasn’t working.”

Vincent still looked unconvinced. Fortunately, a knock on his door distracted him and the young secretary poked her head through the door.

“Next meeting in 3 minutes,” she said and then quickly shut the door. Vincent sighed.

“Jiyong lives in the Cedar apartments, block B. It’s the ground apartment.” Vincent’s voice was sharp and short. “You guys are so darn unorganized. This is the only time I’m helping you, get your other information from that applicant of yours.”

Suga nodded and got ready to leave. “Thank you sir. Very kind of you to help. Sorry for the inconvenience.” As he gave the speech, Suga realized he’d never survive a job like this. And if he survived, people like Vincent with sticks up their would not. He could almost hear Hoseok’s voice right now, you and Jackie, you two are crazy with your wild tempers and impatience, jinjja!

“The door’s that way,” was Vincent’s only response, and Suga began to walk away, relieved to be out of there. But before he could reach the door, an angry man with hardly any hair left on his head barged into the room. He wore a very expensive suit, and his face was scrunched up in irritation.

“Vincent!” he thundered, “the shipment didn’t reach on time! He needed the girls, yesterday!”

Vincent’s face became even whiter. Anger or embarrassment, Suga couldn’t tell.

“I have a visitor,” Vincent hissed, “and you should let him pass first.”

“I don’t give a Vincent, explain yourselves! Why haven’t the girls reached the customer?! You know how much he invested…”

“Callahan!” Vincent interrupted the man. “This conversation requires privacy, and I don’t think having a blood bank errand boy in the room allows for that!”

Mr. Callahan finally turned to glare at Suga, who was trying his best to scoot past and rush out the door.

“What kind of people do you allow in these days, Vincent,” Callahan muttered. “Now get out of here, waiting for someone to you out?!”

Suga rushed out without second glance on any of the two men. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned against the wood and took deep breaths. His mind swirled with multiple thoughts and questions, but his nose was still adjusting. As he had dashed past Mr. Callahan, his nose had caught a sniff that was vaguely familiar. Racking his head, he tried to think of where he had smelled that smell before. Unable to come with an answer, he decided to get going. As he passed the girl, he saw her paste the picture of a woman onto one of the forms. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Who’s she?”

The secretary looked up at him, her forehead crunched. “Why do you care?”

“I saw her earlier. She looked important.”

The girl laughed. “Well, you guessed right. She’s the owner of this company. She’s also our vice-president Mr. Mulberry’s girlfriend. Her name’s Amanda. Amanda Robinson.”

Suga paled as comprehension dawned upon him. “Are you sure?” he asked the girl softly. She looked back at him like he was crazy.

“Of course I am,” she replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” She went back to finishing up the forms. Suga turned away and walked out the office. When he was back in the elevator, he finally relaxed and thought about what he had learned because of a chance encounter in an elevator-

Mr. Callahan smelled strongly of a smell that had annoyed Suga less than an hour ago- the perfume of the woman in the elevator, the same woman whose picture Vincent’s secretary was posting on the form- the CEO of the company, Amanda Robinson.

It just didn’t make sense to Suga that Callahan smelled so strongly of a highly feminine scent that Amanda was just wearing… while she already had a boyfriend. Ugh, these super rich people and their twisted lives, Suga thought, as he walked out the building and into the busy streets, glad to be away from judgmental gazes and excessive exhibitions of luxury in a building not too far from the biggest slums in the city.

However, as Suga tried to cross the extremely busy street, he did not see Amanda frowning down at him from a balcony on the third floor, her expression unreadable, but her eyes cold as ever.

Author’s notes:

Hey guys! Just wanted to make some clarifications, I have more characters than I had intended originally , haha. So, Amanda Robinson is also Gemma’s stepmother if you remember from previous chapters. And Jieun (Mia and Hoseok’s mom) killed her ex-husband (Minhyuk) to protect the kids from his alcoholism and that’s why she is in jail. Before being with Jieun however, Minhyuk was previously married to Jiyong’s mom (Jude) and he is also Jiyong’s biological father. Since Jiyong and Mia have the same father they are half-siblings. Hoseok and Mia are half-siblings too because they have the same mother (Jieun) but different fathers. Hoseok’s dad in a car accident when Hoseok was very young (mentioned this in a previous chapter- chapter 20).

Jude (Jiyong’s mom) dated Vincent after divorcing Minhyuk (because he was a violent alcoholic). But since Vincent never accepted Jiyong as his son and also insulted him (by saying he would grow up to be like his father, Minhyuk) she broke up with him (this was mentioned in the Foreword). Amanda is dating Vincent now, after her husband (who was Gemma’s dad and the original owner of Maurice Pharmaceuticals) died of a heart attack. Amanda took over her dead husband’s position as CEO and made her new boyfriend Vincent the vice-president. Mr. Callahan is a big businessman too and in this chapter you saw that he is working with Amanda and Vincent on some business investment.

Another clarification about Ella- Baekhyun and Taehyung’s mom. Their dad is in jail, and as Callahan mentioned before, because he was involved in drug-dealing. Ella is now Callahan’s mistress. Baekhyun and Taehyung dislike their mother for leaving them and their father behind to be with a despicable man like Callahan.

That’s all I can think for now! If you guys have any questions or need me to clarify anything, please comment! Thank you for following this story so far, I love you guys for your support! Take care. :)