Red Velvet Cake

Please Stay

 

 

“Vice President Ok, we do not know how it happened.  Someone must be sabotaging us.”

Taecyeon could not believe what believe what he was hearing during the telephone conference.  The moment he woke up this morning after his “activity-filled” night with Gyuri, he was exhausted,  However, he received a phone call to immediately go to his shipping company, Legion Trading.  No ifs.  No buts.  There was a serious emergency that occurred late last night.  Originally, the staff thought the situation would be controlled before they needed Taecyeon’s help because everyone knew what his reaction would be.

“Are you serious?  How could you let this happen?”  Taecyeon was screaming at the phone with much anger in his voice.  His veins were starting to darken and pop.  His nostrils were flaring.  His face was turning redder and hotter by the second.  At this point, he was ready to the throw the phone out the window.  He would have too, but he felt a pat on his shoulder.  Jumpy, Taecyeon swiftly turned around and saw a smaller older man with a calm, but stern look.

“Grandpa, I mean President Ok,” Taecyeon could not say anything because he predicted what was going to happen.

“Taecyeon, the company received the riot act from me when I first found out about it last night.  Everyone here did not leave the office until some ridiculous time, including me.  In fact, many of the employees wanted to diffuse the situation before you needed to step in.  Please give them a break,” the old man told Taecyeon in a deep stern tone.

One of Taecyeon’s pet peeves was being lectured or corrected in public, but it was better that this was coming from his grandpa, and not his father.  It was common knowledge in the company that Taecyeon’s father had the worst of the worst tempers.  After having been brought down a couple of notches, Taecyeon gulped his pride.  Deep down, he acknowledged that he had no right to behave like this.  Guilty about his actions, he bowed a full ninety degrees around the room to each staff member.

“I genuinely apologize for my behavior at the moment.  I cannot gurantee I won’t erupt like this again, but please understand that I wanted to be involved with the company.  The good, the bad, and the ugly,”  Taecyeon apologized with much sincerity and humbleness.  When he made eye contact with his grandfather, he received a nod of approval.  After a few moments, Taecyeon excused everyone from the conference, except for his grandfather.  Once they were the only ones in the room, Taecyeon broke the silence.

“I’m really sorry Grandpa, I’ve been under a great amount of stress… I know that’s no excuse, but I didn’t mean to lash out purpose,” Taecyeon said with his head hung low.

Grandpa Joon saw the regret in Taecyeon’s eyes, and replied, “Taec, I understand it’s been tough for you lately.  Especially with what happened back in L.A., I wouldn’t want to be involved with the law right now too.  Just remember you didn’t do anything wrong.  The docks weren’t your fault.”

Slightly lifting his head, Taecyeon deeply sighed, “I shouldn’t have left L.A. It made things worse.”

Everyone knew Taecyeon had guilt eating him, and it pained his grandpa to watch his grandson in this state.  “Like I’ve told you since you were a boy:  What’s the past is the past.  We can’t change it, but we can change the future.”

“I guess so Gramps.  How about I’ll stop by the docks and try to pacify the situation?”  Taecyeon said with a little more positivity.  Grandpa Joon weakly nodded in approval, to which Taecyeon repsinded with a hand shake.

Looking at Taecyeon’s hand with a quizzical look, Grandpa Joon pulled Taecyeon into a tight hug, despite his small stature ebing overshadowed by his giant grandson’s body.

“C’mon boy. You need to lighten p or have some more emotions.  That’s not how you treat your favorite gramps.  It seems like these days, all you do is stress out.  Take a breather instead.”

“Thanks Gramps.  I need a good pep talk,”  Taecyeon then suddenly pulled in grandpa into a tight hug.

“The harder you squeeze, you’ll break my old bones,” Grandpa Joon laughed.

Taecyeon let go of his grandpa and started getting his things ready in his office. 

-------

Down in the lobby of Legion Trading, Gyuri was fixated by the company’s grandeur.  Spotless pearl-white couches decorated the lobby accompanied with fresh orchids.  In the center of the lobby was a beautiful marble fountain.  Hanging above it was colossal crystal chandelier that looked like something from Versailles Palace.  People were dashing in their suits and designer brands, hustling around the floor.  Yet, they looked graceful and amazing to watch.  Gyuri was fascinated by the company. 

“Just this area is probably worth more than my car, apartment, and who knows what combined,” she whispered to herself.  “I definitely feel out of place.”

In her eceletic edgy, yet bohemian style and her blonde hair, Gyuri definitely stood out.  After admiring the luxury around her, Gyuri dug her bag to find her wallet and cell phone.  As she shuffled though her wallet, she found the business card and dialed the number on her phone.

“Hello.”

“Hi Grandpa Joon!  It’s Gyuri.  Is this a bad time to call?”  Gyuri asked.

“Oh no child, how are you?”

“I’m fine.  Actually, I’m at your office lobby because I have something for you.”

Grandpa Joon sounded shocked, but in a good way.  “That really kind of you.  Come up to my office.  I’m on the twenty-first floor.”

Gyuri was surprised that such an important individual was making time for her. “Okay I’ll be up soon.”

Once the conversation ended, Gyuri took the elevator on the right to the twenty-first floor.

-------

Taecyeon was finishing the last detail on his documents and looked over his schedule to insure he would return from the docks on time.  To say he was a little stressed was an understatement.  His brain felt like it was being mushed up due to the problems that surrounded his life.  For Taecyeon, the dock incident was the icing on the cake.  Despite his role as Vice President of Legion Trading, he really did not want to visit the docks because of his cousin and arch nemesis, Lee Hyukjae, otherwise known as Eunhyuk.

Eunhyuk's family owned the docks that Taecyeon's family shipping company used in Korea.  Because of their relations, the families were quite close.  However, the same could not be said for Taecyeon and Eunhyuk.  As children, they were always competing with one another for everything, food, grades, sports, reputation, and their Grandpa Joon's love.  Despite the old saying, “Time heals the wounds,” their hatred for one another always grew.  They could never see eye to eye.  For them, it was either all or nothing.  One of them had to be the victor.  Unfortunately, for Taecyeon, today was Eunhyuk’s opportunity to one up him. 

Stressed, Taecyeon wished he could talk to someone.  Junsu?  Not the best time, especially since his father’s death.  Khun?  Thailand visiting family.  Junho?  He was in Ethiopia again for charity work.  Great guy.  Wooyoung?  Still sleeping probably, since the club closes pretty late.  Jay?  In the states with Jessica.  As much as Taecyeon wanted to talk with his grandpa, they were both too stressed by the dock situation.

Maybe he could call Gyuri.  However, she might be busy with work and school.  She did not need more problems in her life.  Especially since her mom got sick, Gyuri seemed more tense these days.  Gyuri never told Taecyeon her problems, but he did have his sources.  More like his gang of friends told him.  Besides, Gyuri left his apartment really late this morning, so she might be sleeping now.  She deserved some rest.  Taecyeon did care for her, but he did not want to show it because he did not want to pull her into his world.  Nobody deserved it.

“Mr. Ok, is there anything I should do while you’re out of the office,” Taecyeon’s secretary, Seungyeon asked.

“It’s fine Hamster.  Just hold down the fort,” Taecyeon responded half smiling.  After preparing his briefcase, he made his way to the elevators.  As he was waiting, he was trying to keep his cool for what was to happen.

BING

“Finally the elevator is here,” Taecyeon whispered to himself.  The left side elevator opened its doors, as Taecyeon breezily strolled inside.  Before Taecyeon took his last step, he thought he saw someone familiar. 

-------

BING

Finally the elevator was about to free the crowd of people smashed inside.  The package Gyuri was carrying was starting to take its toll.  Not only that, but some people were staring at her.  Some of the men were glazing at her like she was a piece of delicious filet mignon.  The younger women glared at her, envious of her goddess beauty.  Meanwhile, the older women had sympathetic thoughts towards Gyuri, knowing that she did not ask for this unwanted attention.

Gyuri decided to ignore the crowd, by looking at her package.  Earlier that morning, Nicole woke Gyuri so they could bake their infamous red velvet cake as a sign of gratitude for Grandpa Joon.  It was a delicious red chocolate double layered cake with a sweet light cream cheese frosting, but that was not the end of it.  Both girls loved to decorate, so they cut pieces of fruits into different shapes like stars and spheres.  One could tell the love and attention for the cake, by the carefully placed pieces of fruit.  Without a doubt, the cake was delicious, as many people would say it was the best one they have had in their lives.  For both girls, their secret to the cake was love.

While making the cake that morning, Nicole probably thought about her love for food.  On the other hand, Gyuri thought about Taecyeon.  She knew he was battling something these days.  She wanted to help him.  She wanted to be the one he could rely on.  However, she knew how prideful and strong Taecyeon was.  If he wanted her help, Gyuri knew he would ask when he was ready.

“Are you going out of the elevator Miss?  There’s only one floor left,” somebody asked behind Gyuri.

Pulled out of her thoughts, Gyuri realized it was the twenty-first floor.  As she walked out, she thought she saw a familiar person on her right side.  However, the person went inside the elevator.  Looking around the area, she noticed that it was quite hectic with everyone running around and screaming about a situation at the docks.  Gyuri tried to ask someone about Grandpa Joon, but nobody responded.  Then she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Miss, are you looking for Grandpa Joon?” a young cheery looking woman asked.

“Yes I have something for him.” Gyuri responded back.

“Let me try to help you find him, it’s just been really busy at the office today.  I’m Han Seungyeon by the way.”

“Park Gyuri.  It’s kinda hard not to notice the chaos right now.”

Seungyeon was like a light in a tunnel, as she guided Gyuri through the crowd and was able to take her inside an office.

“Grandpa Joon, Gyuri has something for you,” Seungyeon told him.

Grandpa Joon’s chair turned as he got out of his chair to greet Gyuri with a hug and thanked Seungyeon for helping Gyuri.

“Hi Gyuri.  Too bad you weren’t here earlier; you would have met my grandson I was telling you about.  He just left the office.”

Gyuri smiled back at his comment, “It’s okay, maybe next time.  I hope I didn’t come in at a bad time, but I brought a red velvet cake just to say thanks for the ride last night.  Hopefully it will help elevate your stress.”

Grandpa Joon took the cake, and opened the box like a child opening his birthday presents. “Wow, this looks delicious.  Thank for the cake, I need something to cheer me up.  If you’re not busy, eat some of this with me. “

Gyuri did not know whether or not she should eat the cake, but after some convincing she decided to stay for a bit. 

 

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Comments

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CK8ALen #1
Such a nice story. I've been reading this 4 times over and over already, still hoping Taecyeon and Gyuri will be together in this story ^^
Hope you can update this soon.
leichanla #2
Chapter 39: Have you been well? Just want to say I reread this story again today and I love it. Thank you!
GyulPrincess
#3
Chapter 39: please update author ~ shi.. Ive been waiting for the other chapter ~
ShinNeulAh
#4
Plsss update
simba1 #5
Chapter 39: Hi :) this is my very first comment after i made my account few days ago. i "accidentaly" slip into your story, and got hookedup as soon as i read the first 3 chapters. Just for your knw, im amazed by your imagination to create such a nice fanfic. im your new fan!
please do keep writing, and i'll b wait for your new update!
ps : i also read you "to care" fanfic. and im inlove!
cheers!
brinaabean #6
I love this fic more than I love some of my favorite dramas. ;__; It's fantastic! Keep up the work authornim! I am definitely looking forward to more.
CielduSoir #7
Sigh... if Taecyeon and Gyuri got back together, both of them would have to have a divorce. Things just got so messy. I definitely ship Gyuri with Taecyeon still. I am really anti Hyukri so I hope she doesn't end up with him.
ShinNeulAh
#8
Chapter 39: damn.... yoong can be ....
plzzzz update.....
more gyul and taec love....
cute taemin....
NicoriLove
#9
Chapter 39: Bad Yoona! I thought she was having other guy's baby but then not at all which means she fools everyone and got away with it urghh! I couldn't wait for taecyeon to know both secrets.