Narrator

 

 

 

Sera crossed the lobby of the Park’s main building, garnering a variety of stares as she did. People wondered how she was handling everything, and if she was really the dragon lady after all.

The company’s future was in her hands, but it didn’t seem to be holding a bright future.

“Young Miss! I was about to—“

“Transfer all the pending work in my office. The Director won’t be around for a while, so all authority has been transferred to me.” She absentmindedly spoke to Namjoon’s secretary. The latter nodded in response before leaving.

Sera sighed as she finally was alone in her office. She could cry for weeks, but it wouldn’t bring Namjoon back to consciousness. She had to function— to work.

“Young Miss?”

She looked up, raising one eyebrow at the staff.

“Well… Director Kim has been working mostly on this project on Yeouido. These are the files on it. As usual, he has been working on these without actually involving his name as director.” The secretary gingerly handed her the folders.

She smiled and looked through them. “There he goes again with his humility.”

“Young Miss? Well.. this branch is almost fully operational. The only issue left is for some internal control requirements, specifically its IT division. Just some backup programs, I believe.”

Sera nodded. “I’ll contact our IT main division if it could assist in making an internally generated backup system.”

“There’s… actually no need.”

Sera looked up, placing the folders down. “Why?”

“One of Jeon Group’s branches offered a mutual aid pact. They sent the contract yesterday. It’s actually very generous and… helpful of them.”

Her eyes faltered to the folder once more. “This branch who offered… who’s in charge of it?”

“Ms. Jeon Sekyung, Young Miss.”

 

 

 

Haena smiled charmingly as Junghyun held her closely by his side. Photos were taken as the couple graced the hall and talked to guests.

“Sehun hyung’s idea is daebak. The public seems to be favoring this kind of exposure.” Jungkook muttered as he peeked from the double doors. Sera was standing behind him, biting her lip.

“We’re gonna do great, don’t worry.” He said upon sensing her unease. She managed a smile and nodded. “I know that. It’s just that…”

He squeezed her hand gently. She exhaled and met his gaze.

“It’s just that I’m getting tired of acting for the public, Jeon. Sure, they might think that our family is united and all, but I just hope we didn’t need to do this. I feel bad for Junghyun Oppa and Haena Unnie. They had to forego their private wedding preparations for us.”

Jungkook pulled her close and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Then don’t act, Sera. Let’s just be ourselves out there. We are all doing this because we want to.”

She nodded and looked at the swarm of guests crowding the hall. He interlaced their fingers and gave her one last look. “Is my dragon lady ready?”

“Ready.” She whispered as the doors opened.

 

 

 

Sehun smiled as he looked at the immediate response from the event. Guests seem to be favoring the display of a filial relationship between the two companies. The room was buzzing with enthusiasm.

“We are both very grateful for your presence as we celebrate the announcement of our wedding. We hope you enjoy the rest of the evening.” Junghyun smiled at the guests as he left the podium. Haena was close beside him, all smiles.

“Thank you so much for doing this, Oppa and Unnie.” Sera said as she greeted them both. Haena gave her a light hug. “We’re doing this because we’re family, Sera.”

Junghyun grinned. “An besides, who doesn’t like a party, right?”

Jungkook playfully rolled his eyes. “As expected from Jeon Junghyun.”

“Oh, Sera, if you don’t mind, I’d like to introduce you to our company’s managing partners.” Haena smiled. Sera nodded in excitement and smiled at Jungkook.

He winked at her. “Go charm them, sweetie.”

As soon as they left, Junghyun whisked his younger brother outside the hall. They made sure no one was there and exhaled. “What should we do, Kook-ah?”

Jungkook looked at his brother’s troubled expression. It wasn’t like him to be deeply troubled. “So far, after Namjoon hyung’s… accident, there hasn’t been an attack on the Parks.”

“But if it really was her…”

“I can’t, hyung. I can’t remain quiet.” Jungkook muttered, clenching his jaw. “I’m hoping it isn’t her.”

“We will find out if it is, okay? Till then, keep your guards up and protect Sera.”

Jungkook nodded and watched his brother enter the hall with a practiced smile. Their conversation from that morning replayed on his head.

 

Junghyun exhaled as he held the picture frame in his hands. It was of him, Jungkook, and Sekyung when they were still little children. He remembered it clearly; it was when Jungkook successfully caught a fish on one of their fishing trips, so they took a picture to commemorate the moment.

“I can’t believe it.” Jungkook mumbled. “She never told us about her father.”

The older male looked at his brother, his forehead creased. “You… you don’t think she’s capable of all this, right?”

It was Jungkook’s turn to exhale heavily. “No. I don’t. She’s not that type of person, hyung.”

“But she has a motive…” Junghyun tailed off, looking out the window. Jungkook nodded, tapping his fingers against the table.

“That she does.” He whispered.

 

 

 

Sehun politely excused himself from the group of businessmen, heaving a deep sigh as he walked away. Social events drained him.

He silently slipped out of the venue, loosening his tie as he walked to the parking lot. He spotted a familiar sports car in the corner, and the owner leaning on the hood with a posture that was too familiar to him.

“What the fu—“ Kai cursed as Sehun hit the back of his head.

“Tell me everything. Now.” Kai exhaled and rubbed his head soothingly. “What?”

“Why did you suddenly confess again? What is going on?”

Kai looked down, chuckling. “Can’t I regret letting her go?”

Sehun rolled his eyes. “We all know that’s bull, Jongin. You are not the type of person to regret your decisions.”

“Well I guess you don’t know me after all.” Kai murmured.

Sehun wanted to bang his head to bring him back to his senses. “Are we really gonna act like we don’t trust each other anymore? Is this what it’s all about now?”

“I’m telling you, I want her back.”

“And you wanted her to be happy, Jongin. You talked to Jungkook. You brought them back together.”

Kai sighed as he looked ahead. “You just have to… believe me.”

“I don’t.” Sehun snickered. “I’ve been spending my nights working on finding out who this is, Jongin. I want Sera to be safe, and I know you do, too.”

They met each other’s gazes.

“I’m… I’m working with the , Sehun.”

“What?”

Kai closed his eyes briefly. “I need to take Sera away from Jungkook. That way, that you’re talking about would stay away from the Parks.”

 

 

Sekyung approached Sera with a small smile. “Are you okay?”

Sera looked up and nodded. Sekyung wasn’t usually friendly towards her. “Yeah, unnie. Just… tired.”

“These social events may advance business interests, but they are pretty tiring, aren’t they?”

Sera chuckled. “That they are.”

“I was wondering… if you need any help with work, you can always—“

“Sera, I was looking for you.” Jungkook stepped in and grinned. He watched Sekyung carefully and lightly encircled one are around Sera’s waist. Sekyung smiled a little as he did so. “You two look really good together.”

“What were you talking about, Noona?”

“I wanted to tell Sera that if she needed any help, she could call me.”

Sera smiled. “I appreciate that, Unnie. Thank you. And the mutual aid pact, I can’t express how grateful I am.”

“No problem, Sera. After all, we’re family.”

“We protect each other.” Jungkook added, smiling at Sekyung.

 

 

 

“This has gotten out of hand. A person is in a coma because of all this!”

Sekyung crossed her arms in defiance as Haena closed the doors behind her. “Aren’t you even sorry for what state you put Namjoon in? I don’t know if I can keep quiet about this, Sekyung!”

“You’re accusing me of something I didn’t do!” Sekyung replied, her fists balled. “I can never hurt someone like that!”

Haena looked away, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes. “You know what makes it worse? I need to act okay in front of everybody else when in fact this is killing me inside. Why can’t you let go of it? Sera had nothing to do with your father—“

“Stop mentioning my father!”

Haena froze as Sekyung glared at her. “This is the last time that I will tell you this, Haena. Stop accusing me. I’m living my life quietly so you should, too. Stop playing nice fiancé, and embrace the truth like I did.”

Haena sat on the chair as Sekyung left. But, she looked up once more when the door opened again. “Sekyu—“

“It’s me.” Sehun said flatly and closed the door behind him.

“S-Sehun-sshi.” Haena breathed out, eyes wide. “D-did you—“

“Yes, I heard it all.” He replied, looking around the room. He sat beside her and handed her his handkerchief. “How long have you been hiding this?”

“I… Ever since the stock prices went down, I started investigating.”

“Why are you protecting her?”

Haena looked away and sighed. “She’s my friend, Sehun-sshi. And she’s a Jeon. I can’t just let her suffer.”

“But it’s killing you, isn’t it? Seeing a woman like her walk freely?”

She met his hard gaze and trembled. “Y-yes.”

“Then let me expose her.”

“What?”

“I will expose her. Stop trying to get on her bad side for the mean time, okay?”

She nodded unsurely.

“When will you do it?”

Both of them turned around, looking at Junghyun who was leaning on the wall, his forehead creased.

“J-jagiya.” Haena muttered. Sehun exhaled and stood up. “This must be hard for you. But we need to—“

“I understand, Sehun. She is family, but if she really is behind all this, I can’t let her just go with it.”

Sehun nodded and fixed his tie. “Then I will work on it. Give me time to find some concrete evidence, then I will tell you when it’s time.”

 

 

 

 

 

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