L.joe took a deep, deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He had been tensing up everytime he looked up at the big building in front of him. He didn’t know how he got there, but he was now standing in front of the main building of the Da Hye Group, a home to the most successful businessman in Korea, Mr. Seo Chang Sun.

"I can do this!" He pumped his fist in the air and began to walk through the front door. The workers working nearby threw him curious glances as he walked passed them. Probably thinking of why such a young man was there in the company.

L.joe walked over to the female receptionist on duty and gave her a small smile. He greeted her politely with a small bow. Kim So Hyun, the female receptionist with medium-length brown hair was taken aback by the presence of this dazzling young man. She blushed a little at the handsome man in front of her.

"Ma-May I help you, sir?" So Hyun mentally cursed herself when she stuttered as she tried to talk. She put her poker face on and cleared once, trying to hide her embarrassment. L.joe, who didn’t even noticed the change in the woman in front of him, spoke casually as he eyes darted around, trying to find a trace of the man he had wanted to see.

"Err… I’d like to see Mr. Seo Chang Sun. Is he in?" He questioned.

"Sajangnim? Oh. He’s in. Do you have an appointment with him today?" So Hyun questioned him back as her hand busily flipped the pages of her notebook, trying to find the list of Mr. Seo’s appointments for today.

"Oh? No, I haven’t make any. Err… Is he that busy? I can always come later."

"Hm… Just a moment please. I’ll ask him whether he has time or not."

"Oh. Okay…"

So Hyun then went to make a call to Mr. Seo while L.joe waited for her patiently. Many bad thoughts were running wild in his mind as he kept on thinking.

*What if ahjushi hates me? What if he refuses to meet me?* He tapped his fingers nervously on the desk. A while later, So Hyun returned to him. She had a smile plastered on her face.

"Sir. You can go to see him now. Mr. Seo wants to meet you as well." She announced. L.joe sighed in relief.

*Thank goodness.* "Thank you." With that, he left to find Mr. Seo.


--------


L.joe took the elevator and headed to where Mr. Seo’s personal office was. In less than 5 minutes, he reached the top floor. L.joe slowly and carefully step out of the elevator. He could clearly see the door to Mr. Seo office. He gulped and hesitated a little.

*I can do this, right?* With heavy steps, he brace himself to knock on the door.

*Knock! Knock!*

"Come in." L.joe heard a faint reply from the other side of the door. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door opened.

He saw a man in his late forties, writing seriously on a piece of paper. The man didn’t look up from his paper, but L.joe knew that he noticed his presence. "Annyeonghaseyo, Chang Sun-ahjushi. It’s been a while. Do you… remember me?" L.joe could barely raised his voice. He couldn’t speak above a whisper.

Mr. Seo looked up from his paper and narrowed his gaze at the young man in front of him. A frown was furrowed on his brow as he racked his brain for any sign of recognition.

He brightened when he finally remembered him. "Byunghun? Lee Byunghun? Oh! It is you! I can’t almost recognized you!" He got up from his seat and envolved L.joe in a fatherly hug.

"Look at you! You have grown up into such a fine young man! Here, have a seat." Mr. Seo lead him to the couch and gestured for him to sit. He then took the seat across him.

"It’s been a really long time. How’s your parents? The last time I heard from them was a few months ago, which was just last year. Everything’s okay? I was worried when they stopped contacting me." He said worriedly.

"Yes. They are doing just fine. They are thinking of returning to Korea soon. I think they will- Wait. Wait. You have been keeping in touch with my parents!? When? How? Why?” L.joe bombarded him with questions. He was beyond bewildered. He had always thought that nobody knew about him and his family. Heck. They even told him not to contact Hyemi while he was still there.

Then, why…? Why were they contacting Mr. Seo so freely when they obviously told him not to do so? Didn’t they knew how much Hyemi has been hurting? Don’t they knew how much he has being hurting? Was this their fault? Or was this….. his?

L.joe clutched his head as he tried to register the informations into his brain. Everything was too much for him to handle. He lowered his head and heaved a deep sigh.

Mr. Seo looked at him, concerned.

"Hold your horses, young man. I know exactly just what’s going on in your mind. Don’t blame them, son. Don’t even blame yourself. You parents need a friend. They need my help. That’s why we had been keeping in touch. They were thinking about you too, you know? You and Hyemi. I mean, just imagine if Hyemi knew about this. What do you think she’d do?" His fatherly instinct kicked in. He talked to L.joe using the same tone he had used when L.joe was still a child.

"She would find me." L.joe’s head was still lowered as he stared at the ground.

"Then, what would happen?" Mr. Seo asked gently.

L.joe exhaled loudly. He blew a raspberry. "Those bastards are going to know about her."

Mr. Seo smiled. "There you go. The answers." L.joe returned his smile. Maybe, suffering all alone during those painful years was worth it. She was safe before, and still is now.


--------


"How about you then? How’s life?" Mr. Seo questioned as he took a sip of his own coffee. L.joe did the same with his tea, before answering with a small smile.

"It was hard at first. I mean, eventhough my written English is good, my spoken English was just horrible."

Mr.Seo laughed a little. He remember how little L.joe kept on pronouncing the word ‘right’ as ‘rightteu’. Looks like even perfectionist like him had flaws sometimes. Oh, memories.

"But I’ve made friends. Good friends. They helped me a lot throughout all those years." He smiled at the memories of his five best friends. They used to call themselves 'Teen Top'. Oh, wait. They still did.

"I’m glad you have found people of whom you could trust on. Remember what I’ve told you before? Even a single friend could be your world. Though, I was afraid that you might stop believing because of what happened." L.joe smiled bitterly. At one point, he did thought of treating the whole world as his enemy. He used to hate everyone.

"I’m glad… I didn’t change too, ahjushi." L.joe whispered as he shifted his gaze out of the window, thinking about a certain someone.

Mr. Seo noticed the change in him when he said that. He smiled before clapping his hand in a joyful manner. "So, now, that you have return, what’s your plan?" He asked curiosly. L.joe grinned widely.

"One of the reasons I’m here, ahjushi. I’m going to meet her, Hyemi." L.joe smiled tenderly. Mr. Seo searched his eyes. He could see the adoration in L.joe’s eyes as he talked about his daughter.

All of a sudden, L.joe’s face fell. The smile was immediately wiped off from his face. "Though, I’m a bit worried. She must has hated me by now, for leaving without a word." He lowered his gaze, staring at the ground disappointedly. But mostly, he felt guilty.

If only she knew, how much he was hurting as well.

Mr. Seo patted his back soothingly. "Well, I can’t say that she didn’t. But go on. Meet her and explain yourself properly. My daughter has a temper. But she has a soft spot for people she loves. Everything will definitely be fine." Mr. Seo smiled convincingly.

L.joe grinned. "Does that mean, I have your consent, appa?" He said jokingly. Mr. Seo laughed heartily at his joke. Though, he did knew that half of it was what L.joe had been wanting to say.

His laughters slowly died down as he whispered,

"You already have my consent, son. Ever since before."

L.joe stared at the old man in front of him, touched. For a moment there, he felt like crying. *For someone to trust me this much…*

"Go and make my daughter happy. She had been waiting. I believe, nothing should stand in your way now."

L.joe blinked away the tears that were slowly forming in his eyes. He looked up at the man in front of him. The respect that he had for him.

"Thank you, ahjushi. Thank you."


--------


Dinner that night found Hyemi and her father in the dining room. The maids had prepared lots of delicious food for them to enjoy. Loud chatters filled the room as the father and daughter talked together, catching up with each other.

"How’s school going on for you? I hope that you’re not giving your teachers a hard time." Mr. Seo said as he cut his large steak into small edible pieces. Hyemi snorted. "Of course I didn’t! Don’t you know? I’ve always been a good girl!" She smiled smugly. Mr. Seo shook his head, amused.

"Yeah… Yeah… Sureee…." He rolled his eyes and chuckled. Hyemi laughed softly. Seeing that his daughter was in a good mood, he decided that this was the right time to bring the sensitive topic into their talk.

"Err… Honey, I’ve been thinking." Mr. Seo began carefully. Hyemi looked up from her steak and gave her father a bewildered look. "About what? Wae? Is something the matter? Do you have any problems?" She attacked him with one question after another, concerned.

Mr. Seo shook his head. "Ani. The thing that I’ve been thinking about… Is not about me. It’s you." He pointed his fork towards Hyemi. "Huh? Me? What about me?" She was beyond bewildered now. As far as she knew, she still hasn’t done anything wrong today. Let alone, this whole, entire month.

"I think, it’s about time for me to find you a husband that could take a good care of you." He said, staring straight into his daughter’s eyes so the latter couldn’t find any excuses to escape.

Hyemi grumbled, obviously not happy with this subject. "Again? Appa, please. This is so ridiculous. Like, seriously. I’m just a high school student. Marriage is still a no-no for me. Can we just drop this topic, please? With a cherry on top?" She battled her eyelashes cutely, trying to win her father with her aegyo. Mr. Seo sighed. Since Hyemi had used her aegyo, he knew that it was getting harder for him to win the ‘debate’ now.

"But I’m always away from home! There’s no one here to look after you. Appa is so worried…" Mr. Seo put a hand over his chest while sighing dramatically with his eyes closed. He opened one eye and peeked at Hyemi from across the table.

Hyemi looked away boredly. Her hands was playing with the food on her plate. *Aishh… What a drama king!* "There’s always the maids, isn’t it? Ahjuma is here too. Even Hye Jung is there at school! I don’t see the importance of a ‘husband’ here." She shrugged her shoulders and returned her focus to her food, hoping that he’d gave up.

"But he is handsome…"

"No."

"He is an honest man…"

"No."

"He is a-"

"No."

Hyemi saw her father pouted from the corner of her eyes. A smile was threathening to play on her lips but Hyemi kept her poker face on. Since this father of hers was not going to back off that easily, she was going to put on a fight till the end.

"Then, won’t you please meet him first? Just this one!"

Hyemi hesitated a little. To meet him… Or not to. *If I meet him, then appa won’t pester me anymore, right? But stil…* She ponder on the thought.

"Aww… Come on! You’ll like him for sure! He’s really nice!" Mr. Seo eagerly tried to convince her to go. Hyemi sighed boredly.

"Seriously, appa? Who is it this time? Kim Sunggyu? Bang Yongguk? Or perhaps…. Yoon Doo Joon?" Hyemi gave her father a ah-I’m-so-not-amused look. Mr. Seo shook his head with a playful smile. "No, no and no! Come on, guess again! you have even met him before!"

"Nope? Then.... Lee Taemin?"

"Nope! Someone even better!"

"Aishh… Who….?"

"Lee Byunghun."


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Thank you! :D You will be bless! ;) 

I'm sorry for the spelling and grammar mistakes. It's 2 a.m and I need to sleep.