So you’ve finally recognized me? Let the games begin…

Choi Young-do was pulled out of his own thoughts as Kim Won began to converse with his own father. His gaze, however, never pulled away from Cha Eun-sang’s face, as she kept her eyes firmly trained on anywhere but him.

“I was surprised you accepted my invitation,” his father was saying. “I thought you’d be still tired from your flight to make it.”

Won’s chuckle - fake, of course - rang deeply. “You know as well as I do that we don’t get time off work, CEO Choi.”

His father smiled. “Don’t think of today as work, CEO Kim. After all, all work and no play would make us dull men.” He stepped aside and turned, lifting his arm as if showcasing the green, rolling hills of the golf course. “Shall we, then?”

As the two men traipsed off to the first hole and left the two teenagers alone, Young-do finally spoke, smirking as he did so. “Did you miss me much, Cha Eun-sang?”

She stared back at him blankly, tilting her head slightly to the right as if she was confused. “I don’t think we’ve met before… what was your name again?”

His smile instantly dropped from his features. “Yah, Cha Eun-sang. Cut the crap.”

She rolled her eyes and turned away. “Look, what happened… back then… officially doesn’t exist now, okay? We’re in the real world now. Games have no place here, Choi Young-do.”

“So it was only a game to you?” He dramatically clutched at his heart, raising his eyes to look at the clear, blue sky. “I’m wounded by your words.”

Eun-sang only scoffed. “Like it wasn’t a game to you as well? You knew I lived in Seoul. You wanted to see if you could find me again, right? I refuse to play the mouse to your cat.”

She twirled around and stalked towards the two adults. Choi Young-do stood in place, watching her go.

- : -

“Good game,” His father was saying as he shook hands with CEO Kim. His satisfied tone was unmistakable. His plan had gone perfectly - he’d lost by a close margin to the other man, and Young-do had proven himself to be skilled at golf. “I look forward to meeting you in the office soon.”

“I’ll let my secretary know to schedule you in,” CEO Kim replied, nodding.

“You played wonderfully as well, Miss Cha,” the older man complimented. “It was good to see you again; I haven’t seen you since the Jeguk talent show last year. You and Rachel played a duet together, if I remember correctly?”

“Yes, on flute and piano,” she answered, smiling demurely. Choi Young-do couldn’t help but be a little jealous that a man like his father was somehow more worthy of her bestowed smiles than himself. “You were accompanying CEO Lee that night. I heard about your recent engagement from Rachel; congratulations.”

“Thank you, Miss Cha. I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised you know, since you and Rachel are such good friends,” he said, laughing quietly. “I suppose Young-do and I will be seeing you much more often, now that our families are uniting.”

“Of course.” Her smile seemed much more forced now.

As his father finally turned back to CEO Kim to finalize a few details about their next meeting, Young-do couldn’t help but lean over and whisper softly into her ear.

“Yes, we will be seeing more of each other.”

- : -

“Lunchtime, lunchtime!” Bo-na cheered, grabbing her plate to fill it with food. It was Monday, the day after the golf meeting, and the four friends were in the buffet-style cafeteria.

Chan-young smiled at his girlfriend’s cuteness and took the plate from her hands. “Tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you.”

Bo-na smiled even more brightly. “Okay!”

Behind them, Rachel and Eun-sang shot identical glances at each other and rolled their eyes. Chan-young and Bo-na had been dating for years now - Eun-sang had even introduced them - but they still continued to be sickeningly cute all the time. And while some people thought it was adorable, the two girls both had more serious, pressing issues on their minds.

The moment Eun-sang had returned home, her father had called for her from his office. Apparently, within the few hours she and Won had been gone, he’d managed to get his hands on as much information he could about Zeus Hotels and Choi Young-do.

Projected quarterly numbers and his troubles with school administrations were splashed across the white, crisp pages of the file. After middle school, he’d been sent to America after a particularly bad incident involving the Headmaster’s new car - which was probably still sitting in a lake. But it was clear that his time there had just led to more run-ins - this time, with the police. It was unsurprising that he’d come back to finish his final year at Jeguk High.

Eun-sang had believed that the bad reputation he had garnered was enough to make her father stop pushing for an arranged marriage. But there had been one last page in the file that completely ruined everything - his IQ test results. Evidently, he was a certified genius, and Kim Nam-joon had been more than satisfied by his score. Combined with his cunning and fame - although more infamous than famous, really - Choi Young-do would inevitably lead Zeus Hotels to success. And if it was going to happen, then it had to occur under Jeguk Group’s watchful eye.

Eun-sang had poured out her worries and troubles to the one person that would understand, who was coincidentally her best friend: Rachel. Both girls knew that the only thing worse that being related to Choi Young-do was marrying him.

Rachel had decided that the only way to stop an arranged marriage was to get Choi Young-do to dislike her. If he didn’t want to marry Eun-sang, he was willful enough to break off any type of engagement. They’d both seen that Choi Young-do was only interested in what he couldn’t have.

It looked like Cha Eun-sang would be the mouse to Choi Young-do’s cat, after all.

Suddenly jerked out of her own pondering, Cha Eun-sang felt a hand on her arm. She looked up from her now-full plate of food to see those dark, playful eyes again.

Choi Young-do