Chapter - 3

The week passed by in a jiffy, and the weekend that Jongin tried so hard to forget, arrived. He had locked himself in the safety of his cabin from the evening itself, on the pretext of work, and was determined not to come out of it until Chanyeol leaves for his date. He couldn’t bear to look at him at least this evening. Jongin was irritated by the knock on his door because right now he was in no mood to entertain.  But he was surprised to see Chanyeol  standing. Shouldn’t he have left for his date by now?

 "Did you need anything?”, Jongin asked.

“Of course…YOU!!”, Chanyeol  answered  easily.

Jongin was too dumbstruck to respond.

Chanyeol sighed tiredly at Jongin's lack of response… “Don’t you remember, we have an appointment?... Tonight at 8 PM. We would be late if we don’t leave right now.”

“YOU have an appointment, with YOUR prospective groom. What would I do there?” Jongin answered, half wondering if Chanyeol was kidding him.

 “Doesn’t matter with whom, if I have an appointment of course you have to accompany me.” Chanyeol stated matter of factly.

“This is not making any sense. You are going on a private date. Why would you go with your Secretary? It would look ridiculous”, Jongin replied, still unable to believe that Chanyeol was actually being serious about it.

Chanyeol  was already tired, and he had no idea why Jongin was being so difficult (maybe he had, a little). Perhaps a little honesty would help?

“ All right Jongin… Lets say it’s a date. But I haven’t met this person even once. It could be so awkward and uncomfortable. With you someone would be there to have my back, someone I am confortable with, someone I trust.” Chanyeol said, as calmly as possible.

Jongins expression softened a bit, and he bit his lips, as if contemplating what Chanyeol said. But after few moments he moved his head in a decisive nod.

“ No I cant go with you. Its your personal matter, your personal date, and I would be completely useless there. I am sure you would do pretty well on yourself. I am not needed at all”, Jongin replied with a determined tone.

Jongins response almost raised Chanyeols hackles. It was the first time Jongin has refused him so blatantly and he surely didn’t like the feeling one bit. He had already run out of patience, and if Jongin still wanted  to play stubborn, he would show him just who is the Boss.

“No, you wont be useless. It would take us around 40 minutes to reach the restaurant, same amount of time to come back. Besides my date (he made sure to emphasize the word), could be late. So we would easily have more than an hour to discuss tomorrow’s agendas and meetings. I don’t want to make a rush tomorrow morning for something which can be easily done tonight. So you are very much needed, aren’t you?” Chanyeol stated with a note of finality.

Jongin looked taken aback at Chanyeol’s almost aggressive tone. He has never seen Chanyeol being so blunt with him in all these years. But he knew that there was no logical way out of Chanyeol’s argument this time, no matter how uncomfortable he felt with the whole situation... He was just an employee after all. So he just lowered his eyes and gulped before saying that he would join Chanyeol in 5 minutes.

The ride to restaurant was uncomfortable. Jongin discussed the files with Chanyeol  beacaue wasn’t that the reason he was accompanying him? But neither of them seemed in their best mood, and Jongin was almost relieved when they reached the restaurant even though he knew that a different kind of torture awaited there. They were barely seated for 5 minutes before they saw a man with medium height and intense eyes approaching them.

 “You are Park Chanyeol, if I am not wrong?”, the man asked.

“That’s right.” Chanyeol answered.

“I am Do Kyungsoo. Sorry for being late by 10 minutes” He said, extending his hand.

“No harm done” Chanyeol replied shaking his hand.

Kyungsoo took his seat, and Jongin felt his questioning glance on himself. How silly could he be?

“I… I am Kim Jongin. Mr. Park’s Secretary.  If you need privacy I can wait outside in the car?” Jongin asked almost hopefully.  Chanyeol rolled his eyes at his pathetic attempt to escape.

“No need. Infact  its good that we have a witness here. My lawyer was supposed to come with me, but some stupid emergency cropped up, and he couldn’t make it.” Kyungsoo replied.

Mention of lawyer left both Chanyeol and Jongin a little bewildered but they chose not to mention it.

“ So Mr Park, lets get straight to the business without wasting any time,shall we? “, Kyungsoo started without any pretext. “I studied your company before coming here. Apparently it has been doing very good, though personally I see a lot of scope for improvement.  Anyways, that discussion is for another time. The net worth of Park Industries is around $45 million, while net worth of DO Industries is around $40 million. If we combine both, the total net worth would be around $ 95 million. But of course when two big names come together like this, there is bound to be an increase in brand value as well as share prices. I forsee atleast 15% jump in shares of both companies. So total net worth could easily be estimated to cross $110 million. Add to that so many more business and investment opportunities due to combined strength of both companies.” DO paused to look at CY as if awaiting a response.

Chanyeol could only nod absent mindedly and manage a “Sounds good” before wondering since he has been from the start of Kyungsoo’s speech, if he is meeting the right person.  Aren’t they supposed to be here to discuss their marriage prospects,  or is it a Business merger?

“Of course it sounds good, that’s why I am here.” Kyungsoo replied, not entirely satisfied with the response, but letting it pass. “Moving on, there are supposed to be many legal and technical aspects in this type of union. And in case of separation… Divorce!...”,  DO spat looking at clueless faces and slightly open mouth of both Jongin and Chanyeol, as if already irritated at their low IQ level. But at least it confirmed that he was indeed talking about marriage(union) and divorce(separation).

“So as I was saying in case of separation, original assets would not be divided. However assets and profits earned after the union will have to be divided according to certain conditions. If it is a divorce by mutual consent, profits and assets after union would be divided in the ratio of 50:50. However if one partner is found cheating, the damaging party would receive only 20% of the assets, while the victim would receive the rest of 80%. In case of physical/mental or emotional violence the damaging party would have to face…”  And on and on he went for at least half an hour, about the various terms and conditions and clauses and sub clauses in case of both marriage and divorce.

“ Of course I have only given a rough idea. If this proposal moves forward, things would be discussed in much more detail in presence of lawyers from both side so that there is no confusion or misunderstanding later on. I hope I am making myself clear.” DO asked pointingly.

“Of course… Totally clear. Crystal clear”, Chanyeol nodded vehemently.

“Great then. Please think over the proposal  and if you want to proceed forward, contact my secretary and we will set up a meeting , along with our  respective lawyers, of course.” With this he gave Chanyeol a firm handshake and left without looking back.

Chanyeol and Jongin didnt utter a word while leaving the restaurant, nor on their way to parking lot. It was only when Jongin fumbled with the car door that they both suddenly burst out laughing. They laughed unrestained and whole heartedly, uncaring if anyone saw them, their bodies shaking with the force of their laughter. It was only after a couple of minutes of non stop laughter that they tried to control themselves and bring back some semblance of sanity. It took another couple of minutes  to breathe normally and not break into a laughter again. Finally their eyes clashed for a few moments and they exchanged a soft smile, a smile that erased all the tension and uneasiness they had earlier this evening.

Next day Chanyeol and Jongin worked with each other as easily as they always did on any other day. It was only in the evening that Jongin started worrying about the date Chanyeol had later that evening. Will he have to go again with Chanyeol? He didnt want to, ofcourse. But how should he ask Chanyeol? Jongin didnt want the repeat of last evening when they had such a heated argument over the same issue. What if Chanyeol gets upset again? Jongin didnt want to take that risk. In the end he just decided to follow Chanyeol's last order on the matter, that to accompany him to every meeting, until Chanyeol tells otherwise.

And so they were seated again in a restaurant, waiting for Chanyeol's date to arrive. Chanyeol was uncharaceristically quite in the whole drive, much to Jongin's surprise, and even now he looked so pensive, and almost withdrawn? Jongin just knew that something was not right.

" Is everything OK, Sir? You look a little lost...", Jongin asked as softly as possible hoping that it didn't sound too intrusive.

Chanyeol raised his eyes to look at Jongin as if contemplating something, and finally heaved a resigned sigh." I dont know, Jongin. I have never really given a serious thought to love and marriage. It hasnt been on my priority list till now. At the back of my mind I knew that someday I would get  married. But what kind of marriage it would be, how I want my partner to be, how would our relationship be, I never tried to find answer to those questions. I have never really thought what I want, but last night showed me what I dont want. I dont want my marriage to be some kind of business deal or power game. Of course its stupid.  What am I without  the company that I inherited and the privileges that come with it? It is natural of course, for people to take into account my status, the valuation of my company, because if it's not there what else do I even have to offer? And it is my resposbility of course to take the company forward...But still..." Chanyeol stopped abruptly as if not being able to find words to express himself and giving up.

"Stop. Stop discrediting yourself like this. You are nothing without your company? You are the one who took the company forward by working non-stop since last 5 years, spending sleepless nights for projects, hopping between meeting and clients, skipping your lunches, putting in extra hours in work even when you were sick, never taking a break. You may have been born in privilege but you have earned your position with your hard work. And even if you had nothing, you would have build a successful carrer for yourself, beacause you have that drive and dedication. You have nothing to offer besides your status and valuation? You are one of the most warm ,gentle and kind persons one could ever encounter. Even when you are feeling low you put up your best smile, so that people around you can be happy, you take a hit to protect others and dont even show it. Anyone would be lucky to have you in his life, with or without your company...." and Jongin would have went on had he suddenly not realized the way Chanyeol had been looking at him, with so much intensity that he almost froze. And then he realized what he had actually done. Chanyeol was  being so vulnerable and full of self doubt and so stupid, that Jongin couldnt stand it and he just wanted to reassure him. And to reassure him, he kept rambling without even thinking, and the ramble was unfortunately too close to truth, and should have been never heard by Chanyeol. He had got totally carried away and there was no way he could undo his foolishness. Jongin could feel his cheeks getting heated up and he knew that his face would have gone completely red. And he wanted nothing more than to hide his face with his hands and run away from there. Perhaps he would have actually done that too, had he not felt his fidgeting wrists being enclasped by Chanyeol's hands.

"Jongin", Chanyeol said gently.

Jongin heard the voice but refused to look up from the table

"Jongin", Chanyeol said again, voice firmer, and grip on Jongin's wrist tighter.

Jongin had no option but to look up from the table and meet Chanyeol's relentless stare.

"Answer me honestly", Chanyeol's tone was dead serious, and Jongin could only pray fervently that he was not going to ask the question that Jongin dreaded the most.

A/N : So there it is... 3rd Chapter. Considerably longer than the 2nd one and more intense(?). I could have stopped after DO's date, but I wanted to include ending Chankai conversation in this part itself (and leave you guys with a cliffhanger). I hope that's OK with you guys. What do you prefer? Having consistent length of chapters, or chapters ending on an intersting note? And a big thank you to my commenters and subscribers. You guys really motivate me, and I genuinely want my readers to be involved in the story and be a part of the way it evolves. So keep sharing your feedback.

PS- Did you guys like DO? I LOVE him :P