Chaeyeon was enjoying the food before her when a familiar voice made her look up, she grinned.

“Jung Heesoo, finally an appearance at a social event.” She said, Wonho was smiling behind the girl.

“I was forced by your head of security.”

“I heard. How…did things go with your dad?” Chaeyeon asked as Wonho pulled the chair for the girl, Heesoo made a face at her and the latter grew amused.

“That bad?”

“So bad that she wanted to go down the Oh Chaeyeon path,” Wonho commented as he sat down beside Heesoo, Chaeyeon paused, confused.

“Oh, you know I might as well just ask some random guy to fake date, but with a twist.”

“Shownu is not…a random guy.” Chaeyeon blinked at her and Wonho guffawed.

“No, wait for the twist. Sheesh, no need to go all defensive over your Son Hyunwoo. Anyway, I was thinking of looking for the worst guy to date. Like the type that would give my father a once he sees him.”

“What?” Chaeyeon balked at her, Heesoo gave her a shrug, the puffy sleeves of the Dolce and Gabban dress she was wearing brushed against her arm.

“Just a thought. I might need a plan B or C.”

“There’s a plan A?” Wonho echoed, Chaeyeon paused and her fingers curled around the stem of her wineglass. Her eyes were on Wonho as the male focused on Heesoo, Chaeyeon’s lips curled up.

Oh my, Wonho oppa.

“There is.”

“Which is?” Wonho prodded on as he called for one of the servers asking for Heeso’s plate.

“Negotiate with the Choisan boy, he seems agreeable, and the two of us could come up with a plan.”

“It sounds dangerous, why is it plan A?” Chaeyeon queried, she saw Baek Aerin in the crowd, she was chatting with a few familiar faces, probably Samsung managers. Chaeyeon’s nose scrunched at the girl’s choice of jewelry.

“Is this a costume party? Or is she channeling her inner Marie Antoinette?” She murmured to herself.

“What?” Wonho’s tone made the girl turn to them again.

“What did I miss?” Chaeyeon cleared , Heeso beamed at her.

“Go with my father’s plan, at first. Pretend that I’m okay with the Choisan son, and from there, we can decide where we’re going.”

Chaeyeon’s eyes widened at her words.

“Hee-Heesoo, that..that’s…”

“Oh, I’m not going to marry him. I’m just going to pretend that I’m willing to.” Heesoo replied, her food arrived and she thanked the waiter.

“Still, it’s a bit risky.” Wonho added, his tone unusually calm.

“He seems like a decent person, surely, he won’t~”

“What if he will?” Wonho met her gaze, Chaeyeon’s brows went up and she looked away.

“No, what I meant was~”

“You think it’s that easy, but it’s not, Heesoo. You don’t even know him that well.” Wonho stated, and then he put his napkin on the table.

“I have to go greet some guests, you two enjoy dinner.” He said before leaving the table, Heesoo pursed her lips at the now empty seat beside her.

Shownu sat up as soon as Chaeyeon answered from the other line.

“I just got back from the party.” She said, Shownu’s lips curled up.

“Hi.” He said, the girl paused and then she hummed back.

“Heesoo was there, Wonho oppa kind of forced her to come. I smell something, but I won’t comment.” She said lightly, Shownu chuckled in reply.

“How are you?” He asked her.

“I’m fine, things are okay. You?”

“The conference finished quite late. You called the other day, I tried calling back, but…you seem busy.” Shownu asked, the girl turned quiet and his brows rose.

“It was nothing.”

“I left my phone at the office.” He said to her as he leaned back on his chair.

“I know.” Her reply was simple and short, it made his forehead crease.

“Okay, I won’t press you to talk. I heard about the press party next weekend.” Shownu said, changing the topic, but he knew something was bothering her.

“Yes, that. And the board has already decided on Hawaii, for the shoot. So, that’s another things I need to take care of.”

“I’ll be in Seoul by then.”

“Okay.” She replied, Shownu exhaled and stood up.

“I have to wash up, I’ll text you when I’m done.” Chaeyeon spoke again, Shownu nodded and walked towards the windows.

“Okay, take your time.” He replied, then the line went dead. Shownu puffed his cheeks and crossed his arms, he exhaled as he looked at the view of Busan before him.

He got his phone again and dialed his secretary’s number.

“Director,”

“I have to be in Seoul, can you clear my schedule?”

“When, sir? You have a meeting with San Tech Group tom~”

“Move it. Have the car prepared, I need to go home.”

Heesoo stared at the boxes of crackers and pursed her lips, her father’s secretary had been calling her since she woke up. And she didn’t have time for that. One thing did make her morning better though, she got an email from one of her past clients informing her that she had finally left her abusive husband. Heesoo smiled at the thought of the middle-aged lady, it was quite an adventure going through all her assets and moving them so that her husband couldn’t touch anything.

“Maybe it’s time I fly back. I can’t even practice here.” She grumbled to herself as she grabbed a box of crackers and tossed it into the cart.

Heesoo checked her phone, realizing that her mother had sent her a message, she was about to open it but then she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“I wasn’t aware that meeting you at a grocery store would be easier than scheduling an appointment with you.” The male spoke, Heesoo paused and gave him a polite smile.

“Well, you can’t actually set an appointment. I’m not working as right now.” She stated, Minho nodded back and he walked with the girl. Heesoo’s forehead creased and she puffed her cheeks, unsure of what to say next.

“Should I tell you that your father has been calling me? He…wants us to meet up and get to know each other.” Minho began, Heesoo had to stop herself from sighing.

“I had a feeling he’d do that. I’m sorry if he’s forcing this thing on you too. To be honest,”

“You’re against it.” Minho spoke, Heesoo realized that she had never even sat down to talk to this guy. He wasn’t aware of how she thought of all this. Heck, she even had no idea where he stood in the arrangement.

“Well, isn’t that the only sane thing to do? You don’t even know me.” She replied.

“It is sane. But, I’d like to get to know you.”

Heesoo shut and focused on the items on her cart. She grew confused at his words, and then he let out a small laugh.

“Don’t think too much about it, I just…I just realized that becoming friends might not be a bad idea.” He said, Heesoo her lips and nodded at him.

“Well, being friends is alright. I guess, but…you sound like you’re fine with all this. Like, the whole thing going on with our parents pushing us together.” Heesoo murmured, Minho looked at her and he smiled.

“I am.”

“What?”

“I am okay with everything. Well, to be honest, I was a little unsure about it, but then I met you.”

Heesoo stopped walking and he did, Minho let out a small chuckle before speaking again.

“You’re joking, right?”

“No. I mean it, I…think we could work.” Minho spoke to her, Heesoo slowly shook her head.

“I…I..have to go.”

“Heesoo-ssi, if I freaked you out, I’m sorry. But, I figured that you should know what I think, since you’ve made it obvious that you want to run away from this.”

Heesoo pressed her lips together, not wanting to reply.

“Because it is only right to run away from this. I’m sorry, I won’t go along with this.” She stated before walking away from the male, not even bothering to take her cart.

Heesoo reached the furthest section of the mart and took out her phone, her forehead was creased as she went through her contacts. She happened upon a familiar number and she paused, her finger hovered over the green icon.

Wonho Beefcake

“Right, he’s kind of pissed at me.” She murmured before chucking her phone back in her purse and leaving the mart.

“Is she in?” Minhyuk asked as he reached secretary Yang’s desk, the latter nodded.

“Yes, she’s in~”

“No need to announce that I’m here.” Minhyuk grinned at her, he pushed the doors open and traipsed right into the office.

“Oh Chaeyeon, I’m here to~” He paused when he noticed that someone was already inside the office, sitting on the orange plush chair. His favorite orange plush chair.

His eyes narrowed at the back of Song Kang’s head, Chaeyeon looked up and smiled at him.

“I had a feeling you’d be dropping by.” She spoke, Song Kang turned his head and stood up to greet him.

“I didn’t know you were…in a meeting, or you had a guest over.” Minhyuk stated, his eyes still on the male, he set the box of donuts on Chaeyeon’s table. He walked towards the two, they were poring over a couple of sketches on the table, Minhyuk’s gaze went to went the whiteboard that they had taped photos and drawings on it.

“It looks like you’ve been here a lot. That’s a lot of sketches.” Minhyuk spoke again, he noticed the fresh peonies in the room, it had been transferred to a vase and was set by Chaeyeon’s windows. Minhyuk’s brows went up, a little alarmed.

“Yes, president Oh and I are coming up with a couple of pieces for the collaboration.” Song Kang spoke, Minhyuk pressed his lips together.

“I didn’t know we were really going to push with that,” He added as he sat down on the sofa, Chaeyeon looked at him.

“I sent you an email about it the other night, I’ve decided on three t-shirts, and a couple of cardigans. All for men.” Chaeyeon informed him, he nodded back.

“I thought celebrities have extremely tight schedule, but I seem to see you around a lot.” Minhyuk said, Song Kang let out a small chuckle before speaking.

“Actually, I have a radio guesting this afternoon. But, I figured why not work on these with Chaeyeon while I’m free.”

Minhyuk’s brows rose at his casual tone, but he nodded back at him.

“The press party is this weekend, should we invite your cousins?” Minhyuk looked at Chaeyeon, the girl sighed at him.

“You want to do the interviews alone?” She shot back, the latter grinned at him, Chaeyeon finally stood up and walked over to the box of donuts. Minhyuk leaned back on his seat and watched as Song Kang’s eyes followed the girl.

Oh, Son Hyunwoo better be home this weekend.

“You guys want one?” Chaeyeon called from her table while holding onto a strawberry cream filled donut, Minhyuk turned his head to her.

“I’ll have the chocolate one, Shownu hyung’s favorite.” He mused at her, Chaeyeon snorted back at him before offering Song Kang a piece.

“Every flavor is probably his favorite.” Chaeyeon mused back at him before plopping down beside her friend.

“Well, there’s probably one that he doesn’t like, or won’t be a fan of.”

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