The room was filled with sounds of flipping pages and pens scraping against papers at a steady pace, Kyungsoo put his own pen down and reviewed his work to make sure there were no mistakes. He looked at the other male in the room bent over his own work,

"Junmyeon Sunbaenim," the boy looked up at his name, Kyungsoo passed him the accounts he was working on. Junmyeon smiled relieved.

"Done so quickly? Thank you Kyungsoo, you seriously are god-sent."

He slipped the paperwork into a folder on the table knowing he didn't need to check it over.

"You can leave now, sorry for keeping you after school but I can't really trust anyone else with the club accounts Kyungsoo," Junmyeon apologised, Kyungsoo shook his head,

"It's fine Sunbae, I like helping you out. Please don't hesitate to ask if you need more help."

The Student Body President nodded gratefully, Kyungsoo smiled.

"I'll be leaving now," he bowed before exiting the Student Council room, by the time he made it outside the building the sun was already low in the sky. He made his way around the crowd surrounding the outdoor basketball courts, he glaced at it briefly but couldn't make out who was playing through the thick crowd.

He approached the school gates and looked around for his car or driver none of which were there, he frowned about to reach for his cell phone when the door to the car parked beside him opened. He jumped back startled before bowing to the regal looking woman, she smiled at him.

"Good evening, Kyungsoo-nim," she greeted warmly, Kyungsoo's eyes widened.

"I hope you don't mind if I steal you for dinner," she said, "I've already informed your brother and your driver,"

"You spoke to my hyung?" Kyungsoo asked sounding suspicious, after all if he always had a hard time contacting his forever busy brother how could she. The woman nodded,

"He said as long as I don't kidnap you it'd be fine," she gestured for Kyungsoo to get in, Kyungsoo stayed rooted to his spot. He knew better than to follow a stranger, the woman laughed making Kyungsoo confused.

"That face you just made looked so much like Kyungsoonie's," her laughter faded and was replaced with a fond smile, Kyungsoo felt his heart clench this woman knew his mother. She sighed,

"You've grown so much, I regret not being here to see it..." Kyungsoo felt something in his brain click at the woman's slight accent,

"Fan li-imo?" the woman smiled and nodded, she pat the seat beside her and this time Kyungsoo slipped in. The driver pulled away from the curb and Kyungsoo silently studied the woman who he barely remembered. Even in this modern age the slender woman was dressed in a silky black and gold traditional cheongsam, Kyungsoo's lips lifted at the edges somehow he couldn't imagine her in anything else but traditional clothes. Her slightly greying hair was pulled away from her face and placed in a bun on top of her head. The image became more and more familiar to Kyungsoo and he was starting to feel embarrassed that he didn't recognise her earlier on.

"I'm sorry for not recognising you-" she waved off his apology,

"I'm not surprised the last time you really saw me was when you were four and the other time," she paused eyes lowering, "is probably not a memory you wish to relive,"

A few seconds passed in silence before Fan Li clapped her hand together looking determined.

"It doesn't matter, I'm here now and I vow to make up for the lost time!" she said excited, "We're going to one of my son's favourite restaurants,"

Kyungsoo frowned he didn't remember any sons, when he voiced out his thoughts an understanding look spread across his aunt's face.

"That explains a lot,"

"What explains a lot?" she shook her head.

"Nothing, we're here!"

The two entered the restaurant and Kyungsoo followed his mother's best friend to the second floor to a balcony that overlooked the Gangnam river. They settled in and told the waiter their orders. The sun was beginning to set,

"Kyungsoo," his aunt began, "Did your mother ever tell you of our agreement?"

Kyungsoo shook his head, his aunt sighed.

"I didn't think so.. You are aware though that the company your parents owned was in partnership with our and still is,"

Kyungsoo nodded he knew the company his brother and he had inherited was partnered with his parents' friend's company.

"Well before you were born your parents and I were in talks of merging our companies, but before we could do this we had to get down a lot of paperwork and make sure we didn't monopolised too much or the government would oppose the merger. So we started the process of merging and for years and years we worked towards this goal which sadly was delayed by many unfortunate events. One of which was your parents' death and my own husband's,"

Kyungsoo saw a brief hint of sadness cross his aunt's face before she smiled,

"But the merging process still continued despite these events and I am happy to say that we are in the final stages of merging the companies," she told him.

"Your brother has lived up to his golden status and I have no doubt he will manage the company finely," she took a sip of her drink,

"But for this merger to work Kyungsoo we need you,"

"Me?" she nodded and pulled an envelope out of her purse,

"Your mother was never one to write e-mails," she said watching as Kyungsoo took the envelope and opened it slowly as if afraid it would tear apart at his touch. He took his time reading it confusion filling his face the more he took in from the letter, he placed it on the table brows furrowed.

"I don't understand," he said quietly,

"While deciding the merger we were afraid of petty things such as disagreements or even worse fights for the President position arising so we tried to think of ways to avoid these things. At first none of us could think of anything, we all thought the legal side of things would be able to take care of things if anything were to go bad. It was your mother who suggested a deeper union among our families-"

"A marriage!" Kyungsoo cried out finally realising what his aunt was getting at, she nodded.

"Yes your mother suggested a marriage right after you were born, we were hesitant but she was so adamant about it we all agreed in the end. After you turned four I fell ill and we had to move away for my treatment it was only then I found out I couldn't have anymore children. I contacted your mother immediately but she said the agreement was still on, I reminded her that I only had sons but she still didn't want to break the agreement."

She waited for her words to sink in and knew when Kyungsoo's eyes widened they did.

"S-so I have to marry another boy?" his aunt shook her head,

"I met your brother in Singapore last week and we agreed that the marriage would only go on if you agreed to it and only after your studies were done," She took Kyungsoo's hands into her own,

"I will not force you into a marriage for the sake of a merger, afterall I too was against it at first. Your happiness comes before everything else," she told him, Kyungsoo frowned almost betrayed at the thought of his mother using him for the sake of their company.

"But why would umma be so insistent about it if it didn't matter?" he asked, his aunt smiled sadly.

"Your mother loved-" she paused, correcting herself, "loves you so much,"

"She proposed the marriage because she couldn't stand the thought of you living alone, she wanted you to be protected and loved. She feared because of your shy personality you'd be used and pushed around, more so because you're rich. She knew that the problem would be solved if you married into a family similar to yours and you got along so well with my sons when you were younger.." she shrugged,

"Truth be told Kyungsoo, you and your brother are already are like sons to me and I would do everything in my power to stop anyone from snatching the company from us. So don't force yourself to accept the proposal because you fear something bad will happen if you don't," She said just as their food arrived. They ate in silence, Kyungsoo's eyes darted to his mother's letter every few seconds before he made up his mind.

"Fan Li-imo,"

"Hmm," she hummed eyes sparkling expectantly,

"I'll do it-"

"Yes!" she squealed jumping up from her seat she pulled Kyungsoo up and gave him a bone crushing hug, he flailed in her arms trying to move his face away from her chest. She released him and he stumbled back into his seat trying to catch his breath,

"Oh, I can't wait! I've already started to paint your room and the furniture's arriving in three days, you can move in by next Thursday!"

Kyungsoo could only stare on in shock as she made a phone call to the delivery company to pick his things up from his house on Wednesday.

'What have I gotten myself into?' he thought as his aunt ended the call and dialled another number.