C H A P T E R  E I G H T
articles (of shame)

 

Yoona left with a heavy heart and a heavy mind, Luhan having left the resto ten minutes prior. Only when Luhan left did it sink in Yoona that she just had one of the most personal conversations she's had with a client in years and she didn't even try to refuse or make up an excuse. She agreed, maybe halfheartedly, and sat down with the CEO of Lu Telecommunications and husband-to-be of Bae Joohyun and talked indirectly about personal problems over really expensive coffee like old friends.

Except they weren't old friends. They had what was technically a 'business relationship' and that kind of relationship didn't involve personal conversations over coffee. Instead of taking a taxi, Yoona walked home, hoping the long walk home will lift some of the weight.

There was this indescribable kind of weight in her heart, like phantom pain but not really. The feeling that came with it was indescribable too and Yoona didn't know why she was having and where this influx of emotions came from. Maybe it's pity, maybe it's shame. It just stayed there throughout the journey.

Ping!

As Yoona was walking towards the doorsteps of the apartment she shared with Sehun she heard a short ring from her phone and a few vibrations thereafter, signalling new notifications on her phone. She checked it and it turned out to be a flood of notifications from her news and SNS apps. She opened one and it proudly displayed a picture of her (or more specifically, her back turned upon the camera) and Luhan on their meeting merely an hour ago, tagged by the celebrity news outlet as a "coffee date".

"Lu Telecommunications CEO Lu Han spotted on a coffee date
with mystery female after girlfriend Joohyun-Wooyoung scandal."

[+4,977 / -1,386] Heol, what kind of relationship is this going to be? What kind of relationship are Korea's flower boy CEO and nearly-disgraced heiress making? If they are going to cheat on each other, they might as well separate.

[+4,023 / -1,026] Flower boy sure knows how to play fire with fire. Already seeing a woman a day after your girlfriend's scandal... tsk tsk.

[+ 3,542 / -927] I can recognize this woman in the picture. She's been spotted in meetings with the HanJoo couple in several restaurants as well as... get this... a downtown motel with Luhan. Heol, this . s know no bounds.

And suddenly, Yoona saw a bit of the whole picture fit together, like a tiny patch in an infinite puzzle that is Luhan. Everything suddenly made sense, made her understand why Luhan asked her if she hated him, and his response to her question of inquiry was that because everybody seemed to hate him and so should she. Everybody seemed to hate him for being 'an irresponsible boyfriend' and now 'a cheating boyfriend ' when in fact he was none of those adjectives they describe him to be. Yoona never thought that she was called a and 3, 542 or so people seemed to agree. She didn't feel hate for Luhan, she felt a bit of pity and maybe even compassion, the need to help Luhan.

"Noona? Hey, what are you doing there standing alone, and where have you been?" Sehun spotted Yoona, fingers still scrolling on her phone and checking a few more articles and comments. Sehun grabbed her phone amidst Yoona's protests and saw the distasteful articles and comments opened and sprawled out in several tabs of the browser, from Dispatch to Sports Seoul to Osen. "Noona, what the hell is this? I could recognize you in this picture with Lu--"

"Keep your voice down and we'll discuss this inside." Yoona pushed Sehun inside the apartment.

"You were with Luhan? This was posted an hour ago. How quick are reporters posting articles?"

"Yes I was with Luhan earlier because he didn't cancel the meeting--" Yoona confirmed.

"You mean you asked him if he wanted to cancel the meeting to lie low."

"It's the same."

"But why does it say 'coffee date'?" Sehun asked.

"So you believe that damned article more than me?" Yoona said indignantly.

"No, I meant... if it says 'coffee date' here, did it look like a coffee date from an outsider's perspective?" 

"Even so! It doesn't give people permission to call that meeting a bloody coffee date!" Yoon said.

"Hey, what the kind of comments are these? They're calling you a here! Seriously, these kind of people should be sued. Noona you're reading none of this."

"Oh, I read all of them already." Yoona said, sullen.

"Then your reading none of the next ones! We're going to get this removed alright, so don't beat yourself up for an article when you didn't do anything wrong." Sehun assured Yoona.

"I wish I did nothing wrong." Yoona muttered under her breath.

"What in the name of ing hell is this? More articles? What part of South Korea is not infested with paparazzi?"

Luhan slammed the small tablet computer on his hands with heavy force on his office desktop, his empty hand immediately going up to massage his temples of stress and frustration. The screen pf the tablet lit up and displayed new links to new articles tagged with his and Joohyun's name, new and different headlines masking the same topic: his supposed infidelity with a 'mystery woman', which is an exaggeration of his personal meeting with Yoona that reaches the high heavens in terms of ludicrousness.

"If I remember I told you to remove these kind of articles, correct? So what the hell is this? Are you not doing your job correctly?" Luhan hissed, thinly veiled anger over his cherubic façade.

"I'm really sorry Sir Lu, but it is getting really hard to remove articles as they have multiplied in numbers, as well as the comments made by netizens. Most of the top comments per article are really negative and target the woman you were with rather than you yourself."

"This is why I want them removed! I want articles of that ing scandal about Joohyun removed because I don't want anymore media exposure about this ing relationship, and I want articles about this ing 'coffee date with a mystery woman' removed because no one else needs to be affected by the ing lie I'm living! I'm immune to this kind of hate already, I don't need another person getting the hate because of me! Do you understand?"

The publicist stood still, very moved and very shocked by his boss's sudden outburst which is very rare for his stoic superior. His posture almost emulates that of a statue, tall and stiff and straight. His eyes were wide, jaw almost going slack and though he thinks looking like a deer caught on headlights isn't the most appropriate expression to show to his very angry boss, he can't move any of his muscles.

"Get out! You incompetent—!" Luhan yelled and the publicist finally moved and ran out of his office, closing the door sharply. Luhan bows his head until it touches the surface of his mahogany table and puts his hands over his head, looking like he's ages atleast 10 years. He ignores the continuous beeping of his phone and laptop, the incoming emails and documents and demands over every single little thing in the world like it matters the most.

Luhan thought he shouldn't have let his emotions get the best of him like that, especially his displeasure over the mounting articles about the 'scandal' of his fiancée that somehow escalated to both of them cheating on each other because he was spotted with Yoona, but to Luhan she doesn't need to be embroiled in this scandal. She doesn't need to be included in the list of victims of vicious tabloid reports concerning Luhan and Joohyun. If people are going to be involved in this lie they continue to show to the public untl the very end of their lives it's going to be Luhan and Joohyun only and nobody else. 

It's hard enough to be told you have to marry a stranger and be tied together for eternity upon the laws of man and God, and in the process, properly show a relationship that was supposed to have happened six months back and be in love with someone you don't even know. Yoona doesn't need to be caught up in the wave of lies and deception Luhan's doing to her and the public.

Luhan needs to clarify whatever's going on to Yoona without directly saying it to her. He needs her to know that even against his pride, he's sorry for involving her in this. He knew she was just concerned when she called asking if he wanted to cancel the meeting and he let his emotions and lack of friends affect him so he decided not to cancel the meeting because he just wanted to talk to Yoona. In return for his selfishness, he got her involved.

So against his better judgement, Luhan decided to call his publicist.

"I'll send a statement over by email. Make sure it gets to the newspapers by tomorrow, and make any editing and rearranging if needed. If you screw up this simple task then consider your publicist days over."

"EXCLUSIVE: Lu Telecommunications CEO Lu Han releases statement + dispels infidelity rumors."

"'Joohyun and Wooyoung are close friends', says multimillion CEO Lu Han about 
girlfriend's relationship with Jang Wooyoung."

[+6,927 / -2,483] Friends? Meeting in Wooyoung's unit so late at night and then hugging and I even saw a picture of Wooyoung kissing her cheek doesn't look like friends to me, and where's that statement about the 'mystery woman'?

[+6,256 / -2,019] He said there are no problems going on between them, that's enough confirmation that the mystery woman was a nobody, maybe a client or their wedding planner. Who knows, it's not our business anyway.

[+5,419 / -1,731] I doubt any of this is true, what with the way Luhan looked at the woman and how caring Wooyoung held Joohyun in his arms. There is definitely infidelity going on in this relationship.

"Noona stop reading that." Sehun said sternly.

"Read what?" Yoona said innocently, but gulped a lump in . She held her phone in her hand, the screen showing an article about Lihan's recent statement.

"You know what you're reading. That's toxic bull noona, don't read it." Sehun said.

"I just want to be updated." Yoona said quietly but Sehun heard it.

"If you want to be updated then read a respectable newspaper, not the gossip section of a tabloid."

"I meant about... you know what issue Sehun."

"Then atleast read a good article, not those vindictive ones. You need to get away from all the media bull."

"Language, Oh Sehun." Yoona said casually, meaning no harm.

"Oh please, tell that to the people in the comments section of whatever article you're reading. To change the subject, why don't we discuss about the guest list and invitations with Luhan?"

Yoona hesitated. Since she was now in the spotlight with Jang Wooyoung for a scandal (if it ever is) she was afraid to go out for fear of being spotted. Even if it was only her back that was photographed she knew that there are photographs of her face and Luhan's in the same frame. Never has she been involved in this kind of scandal, especially one as scandalous as infidelity as they claim it to be, and she was starting to doubt why she ever took on the account of being the wedding planner of the wedding of such well-known people when she could've rejected them and they could've gotten a better, much more professional wedding planner.

"Hey? Guest list? Invitations? Earth to Im Yoona?" Sehun waved his hands in front of Yoona and made her focus once more.

"Sorry." Yoona said sheepishly.

"It's alright."

"I don't know if we should do it now, seeing as he has a big scandal on his plate and letting the media see him with a woman other than is fiancee is only adding more fuel to the fire."

"Oh come on, you're afraid to go out of the house because of this?"

"If a picture of my back landed on a newspaper, they're bound to get curious or milk more money off the scandal and attempt to get a picture of my front. I won't give them the satisfaction." Yoona said.

"If they get a picture of your front then they'll know that you're a wedding planner." Sehun pulled Yoona up from her set and pushed her to her room. "Get dressed noona, we're planning that wedding, scandal or no scandal."

While Yoona appreciated the encouragement, she still thinks her attitude will still be kind of off for the day. She dressed semi-casually, wearing a sweater, jeans and sensible flats. She stepped out of the room, still doubtful of her decision. 

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it? You look very pretty noona." Sehun complimented and Yoona smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Do I have any other choice?" Yoona raised an eyebrow. Sehun opened the ignition of their small car and walked to the other side to open the door and Yoona climbed in the front passenger seat while Sehun sat in the driver's.

Yoona and Sehun got in the private venue pretty early, with luckily no press discovering their location and waiting for them and Luhan and Joohyun to arrive. They confirmed their reservation for 4 seats, but the woman in charge said otherwise.

"What do you mean 5 seats? I clearly stated 4." Yoona said.

"No, ma'am. Mr. Lu Han called earlier and changed the reservation to 5 seats." The woman said firmly and Yoona had no choice but to concede and be led to their table. They sat down and ordered tea and coffee and waited patiently.

Suddenly, all the staff of the restaurant were whispering to each other and some rushed to the doors to see the commotion. All employees lined up in two straight vertical lines on each side of the door and two men, one with a suit which Yoona assumed is the manager, and the other an employee, opened the door and in entered the most influential man in South Korea, along with his son and his son's fiancee.

"Welcome to our restaurant Mr. Lu Sr., Mr. Lu Han and Ms. Bae Joohyun." The manager bowed in perfect 90 degrees, showing his utmost respect to the Chairman -- soon Chairman Emeritus -- of Lu Telecommunications, his son and the latter's fiancee . The employees of the restaurant soon followed, bowing in 90 degrees in perfect synchronization and greeting their customers respectfully.

"Yes, yes... this restaurant doesn't seem bad. Certainly very private. Your wedding planner has chosen the perfect restaurant for this meeting. And yes thank you, please go back to work." the elder Lu said and he was guided by the manager to their reserved table. As soon as Yoona saw this she stood up and pulled Sehun with her, and once they were face to face with the elder they bowed 90 degrees. 

"Father, I'd like you to meet Ms. Im Yoona."

"G-Good afternoon, Mr. Lu Sr., Lu Han and Bae Joohyun-ssi." Yoona greeted respectfully.

"Ah, you must be the wedding planner, Ms. Im Yoona. A pleasure to finally meet you." The elder Lu held out his hand and Yoona shook it.

"And you too sir. Please sit down." Yoona said and they all took their respective seats, but Mr. Lu Sr. did not.

"And this young man is? You haven't introduced me to him Luhan." Luhan seemed confused, until he followed his father's gaze to Sehun.

"Oh, this is Oh Sehun, Yoona's...."

"Assistant and occasional friend, and vice versa. It is a pleasure to meet you Sir." Sehun bowed 90 degrees and shook Mr. Lu's hand firmly.

"I see. Very well, let's get on with this already." Mr. Lu said and poured himself a generous glass of brandy.

"Do you have the final guest list with you?" Yoona asked and Luhan pulled out a piece of paper, each corner filled with prominent names.

He put it down on the table and scanned it, eyes widening at the guests she has to please with her planning: 500 guests, many of them coming from the business sector such as Park Chanyeol of PCY Corporation, cousins Kim Junmyeon and Kim Jongin of Kim Enterprises, the latter recently married to Jung Soojung, and Zhang Yixing of Zhang Pharmaceuticals coming from China among others. Many also came from the entertainment side such as top actresses Bae Suzy, Choi Sooyoung and Kwon Yuri and choreographer Kim Hyoyeon.

Sponsors as specified by Luhan were Mr. and Mrs. Bae Hyunjook and Lee Miyoung, Mr. Lu, Mr. and Mrs. Byun Baekhyn and Kim Taeyeon of Byun Infotech Company, Mr. Do Kyungsoo from a chaebol family and expensive name brands like LG, Hyundai and Samsung. Yoona also recognized some famous names of chaebols that she knew had close relations with the Lu and Bae families.

The important roles in the wedding such as best man and maid of honor were filled in by lawyer Kim Minseok of Gunwoo Law Firm and Joohyun's sister Bae Sera. Bridesmaids as listed by Joohyun were Suzy, models Kang Seulgi and Lee Min Young, Hwang Miyoung and Kim Taeyeon and the groomsmen are Zhang Yixing, Byun Baekhyun, Kim Junmyeon, Kim Jongin and Do Kyungsoo.

"It seems like this is final already. Would you like to add any additional guests? I was informed by the hotel that after submitting the head count it cannot be changed at the last minute as the number of seats they provide are absolute. It would also be a relief to the company making the invitations so they don't have to make one in a rush for an additional guest."

Joohyun leaned in and whispered something in Yoona's ear. As soon as Yoona heard it she tried to keep a straight face as she wrote down the name 'Jang Wooyoung'. Luhan saw Yoona write it down in a tiny space among other names he was forced to put in and it irked him to no end that that bastard's going to attend his wedding, however fake it may be.

"Anybody else? Luhan-ssi, any additional guests?" Yoona asked, her pen tilting at Luhan's direction.

"None. Father?" Luhan asked his father.

"That's more than enough Luhan. The venue's going to burst if we add one more." Mr. Lu said.

"Since the guest list is now final, the invitations will follow shortly. Any kind of design you might want it to look like?"

"Since we went for a masquerade concept the invitations should look like a scroll, the details written in medieval text." Joohyun suggested and Sehun wrote all details down along with a small sketch, never breaking eye contact with the person talking.

"That sounds good. The invitations shouldn't take too long to make, so once they're done I'll send them out."

"No, not yet. It's been two months since we announced our relationship. If we suddenly send them out the news of an engagement will shock people, not to mention that it was never speculated and now we're sending out wedding invitations." Luhan said quickly.

"W-What—" Yoona started but Mr. Lu stood up and cut her off.

"If you don't mind Ms. Im, but I'd like for us to talk privately." The elder said and Yoona stood up and followed him to a private bar not far from their table.

"Ms. Im, I need you to organize a media stunt as part of the wedding."

author's note;
aaaaaand it cuts there! this is an update that i'm very excited about because this will be the start of the "luyoon" part of the story! this chapter and the following chapters will be filled woth revelations so I'm reeeeeally excited about it. Also, a surprise appearance by Luhan's father, who will be important in revealing something important, and mentioned names of EXO, SNSD and Miss A members (they will appear in the wedding and in a surprise appearance very soon) so watch out for them! Please give upvotes and comments!

p.s: happy birthday to my babies kyungsoo and jongin my 2+3 and 2+2 :>

〔science of deduction♦〕