Chapter 14: A Deal to be Made

                Bongcha wore flats in the Lee mansion on the day she was supposed to meet with her soon-to-be father-in-law. She made sure to wear something nice not to disappoint him but carried a canvas backpack as a small rebellion. She twisted her engagement ring around her finger before knocking on the door. “Lee-ssi,” she called, “It’s me.”

                “Come in.” She walked inside with her head held high, feigning a confidence that had been chipped at these past few weeks. She shut the door behind her before standing in front of the chair which seemed to be waiting for her. “You’re three minutes early.”

                “I know how much you hate it when people are late,” she replied, gaining a small smile from the graying man behind the desk. He shuffled some paperwork before setting down his pen on top of the small stack. She waited for him to clean his glasses, slowly rubbing the cloth against each lens before asking, “Why am I here anyways?”

                “You’ll find out at three twenty,” he said, leaning back in his chair. He motioned for her to sit down but she politely refused. “If you are not going sit down there, then I suggest you sit down behind that bamboo folding divider I so lovingly set up for you.”

                “Why am I hiding?”

                “Haejung is the one I’m meeting with in approximately six minutes. Unlike you, she’s the type to arrive right on time. However, she could be feeling impatient. So, I suggest you hide and stay quiet once she graces us with her presence.” He nodded towards the beautifully decorated divider which Bongcha hadn’t noticed until just then.

                “Alright,” she nodded. Normally she would have argued with such a command but Haejung was involved. She couldn’t bring herself to argue with him and obediently walked over to the divider, surprising even Mr. Lee himself. His eyebrows arched momentarily, but his expression immediately returned to normal right after.

                He resumed to shuffling papers and looking through his inbox while Bongcha pulled her feet up on to the chair she sat on. They waited in silence for the next few minutes. A light rap on the door startled Bongcha but Mr. Lee didn’t flinch in the slightest. “Come in, Haejung.”

                “Hello, Lee-ssi,” she entered with a bow. She was wearing a brown pencil skirt with a white blouse. Her teal blue heels clicked against the floor as she made her way to the chair in front of Mr. Lee’s desk. “I’m glad to see you doing so well.”

                “I could say the same to you,” he replied despite not glancing up at her once. A twitch of annoyance manifested on her face but she quickly smoothed it out with a smile. After tapping his pen against the desk impatiently, he finally looked up. “What brings you to my humble abode today?”

                “Your son is about to get married to Bongcha,” she began, “Afterwards, your companies will merge together, increasing your stock value by minimum forty points.”

                “I understand how economics work,” he interrupted, “I’m a very busy man, get to your point or leave me to work.” His brown eyes pierced Haejung but she didn’t appear fazed by it. She merely shifted her position and smoothed out her skirt.

                “Instead of marrying Bongcha, have you son marry me.” Bongcha stifled her gasp of indignation by covering and glaring at the screen. Haejung waited for her words to sink in before adding, “If my mother’s company were to merge with yours, the stock price would at least double if not triple. You could still consume Bongcha’s father’s cooperation if you really wished to thereby creating a monopoly over all of Korea—if not all of East Asia.”

                “That’s an interesting proposition,” Mr. Lee smiled at Haejung over his glasses, “However, what makes you think that your father would agree to a marriage proposition between you and my son?”

                “I’ve already asked his permission.”

                “He agreed?”

                “Of course!” she chuckled, “He’d do anything for me.” Bongcha glared even harder at the screen; for once, she was glad that she didn’t have superpowers otherwise she would’ve burnt a hole in the divider with heat vision or something. Mr. Lee had less of a reaction, he blinked slowly before flipping through his papers again.

                “I’ll keep your proposal in mind,” he said dismissively, “I’ll give you a call around six o’clock to let you know my decision.” Haejung paused, hopeful that maybe there would be some sort of sign tacked on to what he had already said. There was none. He turned back to his laptop and waved her away.

                Bongcha waited until the door shut behind her clicking heels before coming out from her hiding spot. She walked back over to the chair but remained standing; she wanted to sit in the chair even less now. Mr. Lee cleared his throat before asking, “What do you think?”

                “I think that now I have proof she’s trying to steal Seunghyun from me,” Bongcha mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

                “So what are you going to do about it?”

                “What do you have in mind?” she sighed, realizing this was all about some sort of deal now. She put on her best poker face while they had their own little stare off. It ended when she looked away and he grinned.

                “Remember how I asked you to look at colleges again?” Bongcha nodded, “Well, plan to switch your major to a double in business and economics. You’ll be taking over my company in a few years. That is, if you still want to marry my son?”

                “Of course I want to marry him. Besides, the wedding is already paid for, “I’ll finish those applications you sent me before the wedding. Even if they’re late, I’m sure any university you want me in will accept me anyways.”

                “That’s my future daughter-in-law.” Mr. Lee was almost beaming with excitement as Bongcha turned to leave. She tried not to let too much of her annoyance show as she pulled out her cellphone. She sent a quick text to Daesung before giving Jiyong a call.

                “What is it?” was his immediate response after he picked up on the second ring. She would have laughed at how quickly he picked up except for how pissed she was.

                “Haejung is evil,” she growled, “She is trying to steal Seungri and I’ll fill you in on the rest of the details later. Meet Daesung and me at the smoothie shop outside the gym. After we talk, I’m working out this pent-up rage.”

                “I’ll… I’ll see you there,” was his slightly baffled reply. She hung up right after, feeling slightly guilty that she was asking both of her best friends to drop their lives for her, but she knew that she’d do the same for both of them.

                It took twenty minutes for her to get to the smoothie store. Once she arrived, she ordered a large strawberry smoothie; she’s work it off. Daesung arrived first and ordered something that looked like a banana smoothie but had a slight green tinge. He sat down next to her with a broad grin before giving her a pat on the back, “What’s up and what kind of training plan do I need to devise for us later?”

                “One that will make it so I can’t think and I’ll tell you when Jiyong gets here.” He showed up thirteen minutes later and ordered nothing. Instead, he sat down and waited for Bongcha to finish her story. Occasionally, the tale was punctuated by her angrily sipping her smoothie. Once she had finished, Daesung had already added three more sets of pushups and an extra ten pounds to the weights.

                “Well, I think we know what you need to do,” Jiyong said, his hand gently rubbing her shoulder in a caring but totally platonic manner.

                “Get Haejung ejected from the country?” Daesung asked, earning a snort of laughter from Bongcha. Smoothie almost came out of her nose but she kept herself under check while Jiyong shook his head. He tried to keep his face straight but couldn’t help smiling at the comment.

                “No, I meant that she needs to talk to Seungri and tell him what she heard,” Jiyong said, feeling something along the lines of a counselor. Everyone at the table wondered if, perhaps, he was choosing the wrong profession.

                “What if he doesn’t believe me?” Bongcha worried.

                “I’ll marry you instead and we’ll have twenty-seven children,” Daesung offered. Jiyong shook his head at that before stealing Bongcha’s smoothie to take a few sips.

                “At least I have a back-up plan,” she sighed, “but we all know he is going to hate hearing this. At best, he’s going to sulk for the next four days.”

                “If he does anything more, we’ll kick his ,” Jiyong said. He ruffled her hair before returning the strawberry concoction. Daesung nodded in agreement before finishing off his own smoothie. “You should talk to him soon though, like tomorrow soon.”

                “Yeah, I guess I’ll do that,” Bongcha nodded, “I’ll call him after Daesung and I work out. You did bring some gear I can borrow, right?” Jiyong shifted into silence as the other two began to chatter about exercises and other things he really didn’t care about. His eyes remained trained on her face, his lips working up every time she smiled. He never realized someone could simultaneously hope for the best and the worst at the same time.

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So, I really sorry guys that I have not updated this fic in FOREVER. I entered my first year in the nursing program while working at my college which meant I was waking up at 4:45 AM and then studied all day (ugh). It's summer now and I am finally able to really focus on writing again (at least untile school starts again). This year, I am going to try and be better with updating while I am at college. Thank you all so much for supporting me even though I've been so ty with leaving ya'll hanging