April 2015 (2)

Krystal just got off the phone with someone she appreciates with all of her heart. She was still smiling while she recalled the conversation they had.

"Oppa?" She asked, after recognizing the person's voice.

"How are you, Soojung-ah?" The person asked her.

"I am good, Oppa! How are you?"

"I'm good too. I'm sorry for only calling you now."

"Oppa, did you change your number?" She asked her friend, after checking her phone screen.

"Eo. I was out of town for a month for filming, and when I came back my old phone number wasn't working anymore." He answered.

"Plus, I lost all my phone contacts somehow. Technology must not like me." He added, before laughing.

"You've never been an expert at it. Oppa, it's been a while! How is everything going?"

"You're right. Everything is good!"

"That's nice to hear." She told her friend.

"Keundae, how did you get my phone number? Don't tell me you knew it by heart!" She .

"You wish. I had lunch with Shinye earlier today, and I recovered most of my contacts with her."

"Eonnie gives my phone number way too easily." She stated, before chuckling.

Her friend laughed too, before talking again.

"Anyways, we were talking about meeting with everyone else to have dinner like old times. It's been a while."

"Ah. It's true that we've all been busy lately." Soojung said, agreeing with him.

"So, what do you think?" He asked her.

"Who is going to be there?" She asked back.

"Everyone except for Hyungshik. He is filming out of town."

Krystal thought about it for a second. The entire main cast of 'The Heirs' was going to be there, meaning that Minhyuk and her would be seeing each other after so long.

She felt anxious somehow, because she didn't know how things were going to turn out, but she thought it was a good idea to have dinner with everyone.

Plus, she would have time to get ready for that moment, because everyone had to be free on the same night, for it to really happen, she thought.

"Sounds good, Oppa. When are you planing to do it?" She asked him, after a moment reflection.

"Tomorrow night! Everyone is free."

"Tomorrow!?"

"Why? Are you busy?"

"No... Not at all. I'm free tomorrow night." She said.

"Great. I will pick you up tomorrow night!" He offered.

"Oh, you don't have to, Oppa. I will ask my manager to drop me off, or something."

"Ani, I insist. I will be your driver. Call me Mr Kim!" He joked.

"Kim Woobin, Jung Soojung's personal driver or new flame. I can already see the articles coming out the day after." She joked.

"I think you're underestimating them. The article will come out while we're having dinner all together." Woobin said, making the both of them laugh.

"Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Jung." He added.

"Annyeong, Oppa!"

Soojung loved her 'The Heirs' family. She was so close to some of them, that it even felt natural for them to text each other every week. She was grateful for those friends of hers.

Krystal tried calling her sister to ask her when exactly she was coming back, but no one answered. After trying twice, she called Tyler who told her about the sudden business meeting, so she decided to call back later.

Jessica, on her side, was sitting silent in front of a very uncomfortable Donghae. The both of them did not know what to do of the situation. They didn't know how to act.

"Have you been well?" Donghae asked, finally speaking.

She just nodded her head, not looking up from the table.

"You?" She asked him, after a few seconds.

"Mm." He said.

"Why are you here?" She asked right after.

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"Why are you here? I was supposed to meet a representative from Cats&Co. Not you." Jessica said, trying hard not to sound too mean.

"Jessica, I didn't come here to see you. Well technically, I did, because I came to meet one of my father's potential business partners. I didn't know I was going to find you here." He explained.

"Cats&Co is Abeonim's company!?" She asked, getting a little carried away.

"I mean, your father." She quickly corrected herself.

Donghae quickly looked at her and smiled to himself, before answering.

"Yes, it is. He barely takes part of anything related to the company, but he is the one who chooses the business partners, most of the time. He insisted that I personally came to meet this 'important' potential partner and that I closed the deal. I found it weird, but I thought it was because he couldn't send anyone else. I should have seen it coming." He continued.

Jessica did the math in her head and immediately understood what happened.

Donghae's dad has always been a huge fan of Jessica and Donghae's relationship. He even envisioned them walking down the aisle at some point, and he has always been very fond of Jessica herself.

He has always been a very nice guy, but most of the time, overbearing.

He must have heard about their breakup, and maybe he jumped on the first occasion to get them in the same room, without anyone else. It did sound like something he would do, she thought.

"I see." Is all she said.

Another minute of silence followed.

"Should we start talking about business?" He said, out of the blue, surprising her.

"Ah, yes."

She slowly took out her documents, to start explaining what B&E was all about, but Donghae stopped her.

"I know what your company has to offer. All the times you were telling me about it, I really listened. Instead, tell me what you're looking for, in a business partner." He said.

Jessica was taken aback for a second, not knowing how to take his words. Then she realized that he was just being nice, and her expression softened.

"Okay." She said, before starting to talk business.

They had a really interesting and professional conversation, and even tho Jessica had her reserves about talking with Donghae, by the end of their meeting, she felt relieved because at least she was having a conversation with a familiar face.

"I will make sure to explain everything clearly." Donghae said, when they finished.

"Thank you."

Jessica put all the documents and papers back in her bag and turned to Donghae.

"How about we eat dinner before leaving? It would look weird for us to leave after only ordering drinks, don't you think?" She suggested.

Donghae chuckled a bit, before looking around. One of the waitresses was looking at the two of them, and she didn't look too happy.

"I think you're right." He said.

Jessica showed her first smile of the night as they waited for an employee to come by, to order their food.

"This is the nicest professional meeting I went to, during this trip. You wouldn't believe the type of mean people I met with." Jessica said, while they were having dinner.

"For you to complain about it to me, they must have been really annoying." Donghae said, before smiling at her.

She didn't say anything and just nodded her head. The rest of the dinner wasn't as awkward for Jessica. She couldn't deny that she had a good time, and that seeing Donghae after so long wasn't so bad.

After dinner, he insisted to pay the bill, and after protesting for about thirty minutes, Jessica finally accepted.

"Thank you for tonight." She said as they walked out of the restaurant.

"You're welcome. What hotel are you staying at?" He asked her.

"Here. Your father didn't even tell you that we were meeting at my hotel?"

"I guess he omitted it again. I'm sorry about that. For everything he did tonight."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." She replied.

They smiled at each other, before speaking again.

"I'm going to go." She said first.

"Ah, yes. Well... I will see you around." He told her.

"Yeah. Take care of yourself." She answered.