Chapter 1: Old Friends & Strangers

            Dark clouds covered the city like a thick blanket of steely grey. Hovering and spreading far throughout the sky, it added a sort of melancholy gloom to the dreary streets of Seoul. Sooyoung watched as the crowds of people below hustled along with their busy lives—no doubt too busy to stop and take note of the weather. What a shame, she thought; vaguely wondering if it would rain today. "Hey, are you even listening?” Tearing her gaze from the window, she met the glare of a very ticked off Jessica Jung who sat across from her, drumming her slim fingers on the table in sheer annoyance. Sooyoung and Jessica were currently waiting in a rather expensive restaurant for an old friend of theirs although Sunny and Jessica knew each other long before Sooyoung had met either of the two girls; first meeting as toddlers in Los Angeles, California where they were both born. Sunny had requested a meeting with them, telling them that she had “big news”.

Sooyoung offered her best friend an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Jess. I spaced out. What was it you were saying again?” She tried to sound as innocent as possible since Sooyoung had been running late herself earlier this morning which earned her a brief scolding from Jessica already. However, in the brunette’s defense it wasn’t entirely her fault…
 

            She had been speed walking for about fifteen minutes now since getting off the bus; hurrying to get herself to the posh restaurant on time because she was no fool to keep a Jung waiting. Walking through Myeong-dong business district of Seoul at nine in the morning was never fun but she had move faster than usual to get to meet her friends. Casting a nervous glance down at her watch she was on a time crunch and she moved her long legs even faster. Sure, this could have been avoided if she had gotten ready a little faster this morning but it was Sunday morning and Sundays were always slow for her. It would be her luck that in the moment she took her eyes off the street that a lean shoulder crashed into hers sending her purse clattering to the floor and in turn his pricey looking briefcase to the floor along with it.

“Pardon me!” She bowed deeply in a rush without looking up at the figure dressed in a very expensive suit. His dress shoes were so shiny Sooyoung thought they could pass for mirrors. He stood there for only a second before walking away without so much as muttering a word of pardon or helping her pick up the contents of her purse (along with loose change) which lay on the sidewalk. Casting a glance over at his retreating form she cursed every brown wavy hair on his head, muttering to herself about the lack of manners people had nowadays. One thing she hated was how people lacked common respect for each other as human beings.

There are jerks in every society, she thought.

She was hardly paying attention to what she was doing as she scooped the fallen contents of her purse back in messily; making no attempt to salvage the coins on the floor since deciding that losing a handful of change was preferable to being late to breakfast if she didn’t hurry. Straightening up and dusting her jeans off as she continued cursing the inconsiderate undoubtedly young man as she had just organized her purse to perfection only yesterday. Too caught up in her frustrations and the rush to not be any later than she was, she failed to notice that her last bus ticket remained on the sidewalk alongside her loose change.      
 

            To Sooyoung’s distracted apology, the Jung girl simply rolled her eyes in her typical sassy fashion. Refraining from further comment, she instead threw a quick glance down at her wrist watch. “I was saying that Sunny should be have been here over an hour ago…I swear, I’m going to tear that shorty a new one.” The also (ironically) short young lady muttered as her eyes scanned the room impatiently, leaning back into the booth’s plush leather seats. Sooyoung smiled, absentmindedly tracing the rim of her old cup of coffee at her best friend’s behaviour—she knew Jessica had a good heart. No matter how icy she made her exterior, the fact that she was actually a very compassionate and warm-hearted woman would never change.   

“Aha! There she is!” Jessica quite abruptly shot her arm out to point behind Sooyoung, causing the latter jump in surprise. Sure enough, craning her neck to cast a glance over her shoulder, a blonde head appeared in the mists of the crowds of tables. Sooyoung and Jessica watched in silence as the petite young woman bounded over to them, her breath coming out in short rasps.

“You’re late.” Jessica deadpanned with a stoic expression and the tall brunette resisted the urge to roll her eyes once more at Jessica’s impatience. Sure enough though, Jessica's emotionless face broke out into a warm and welcoming smile as she practically jumped up to give the even shorter girl a tight squeeze. The blonde, whose name matched her ridiculously bright smile, grinned in return. “Sunny missed you too, Sica.” Sunny said in a sickeningly cute voice and just like that, Jessica’s smile was gone. “Ew…” She clicked her tongue in distaste and roughly shoved Sunny's blonde head off her shoulder and sat back down.

“Ow. Why is Sica so mean?” The blonde pouted, continuing in her best annoyingly cutesy voice while Sooyoung chuckled. The sound seemed to remind Sunny of Sooyoung’s presence and the cute blonde woman let out another sunny grin. “Sooyoung, it’s been so long!” Sunny was leaning down to hug Sooyoung, still in her seat, when Jessica, also in her seat, shoved her down into the booth with a swift boot to her rear. The petite girl practically flopping on top of Sooyoung. “Yeah, yeah that’s enough.” The Jung woman drawled then, narrowing her eyes threateningly, she set her gaze on Sunny. “You dragged us out here on a not-very-sunny Sunday morning when we could have more important things to do like sleep.” Sooyoung was about to defend that she hadn’t anything better to do today but then imagined the icy glare Jessica was sure to give her, she thought better of it.

“Not to mention that you told us 9:40 am sharp. It’s 11:00!” The ice princess snapped. "Why the hell 9:40 anyway? Why such a weird time? Why not 9:30 for Christ's sake?"

“It's actually 10:58 right now.” Sooyoung chimed precisely which earned her the death glare she knew it would but pretended to not see it while taking a sip of her coffee which had long since gone cold. Sunny had winced a little at Jessica’s harshness and the latter’s sneer softened slightly. “I usually sleep through lunch on weekends and seeing as I’m awake this early, you better treat us to some because I’m starving.” Sunny just sat there pouting through her unnie’s scolding (who at the moment looked more like a frustrated mother reprimanding a naughty child).

“I’m sorry. I’ll totally buy us all lunch and I really do have a good reason for being late…” The way that her voice slowly trailed off was an indication to both girls that the real reason they were brought here could wait so they decided on lunch and caught up with each other in the meantime. Filling each other in on their lives was pleasant and Sooyoung was contented to reacquaint with each other.

“Sooyoung,” Sunny suddenly turned her attention to the younger woman beside her who had once again been spacing out as she stared out the third floor window of the restaurant. “You’re hair is so much longer than when we last met. It’s gorgeous. Give me some of it.” She half whined half giggled as she reached out her small hands to the strand of her long ash brown waves, pulled back and secured in a low pony tail. Sooyoung smiled. “And yours is much shorter than before. It really suits you, Sunny Bunny.”
 

The blonde, who was surprisingly the elder of the two, gave her that funny little smile in which she scrunched up her nose. A trademark of hers. Sometimes Sooyoung wished she could be so effortlessly adorable. Then Sunny turned to Jessica almost sourly as the eldest and crankiest of the three, sat sipping the remains of her iced tea across from them. “And I see that Jessica gets to looking more like a crabby grandma each time we meet.” A balled up napkin narrowly missed Sunny’s face which they all had a good chuckle over Jessica’s “old lady temper.”  For a few minutes the three settled into a comfortable silence but a tense air started to form around them when the silence lasted a few minutes longer than it should have; Sunny staring down at her hands hanging off the edge of the table.

Sooyoung and Jessica shared a meaningful look. After a moment's pause, Sooyoung turned to the once cheerful blonde who now pushed the remains of her lunch around on her plate aimlessly. The look of dejection on her face was unnerving. “Sunny…wasn’t there something you wanted to tell us?” The brunette murmured softly.

“Yeah, sweetie; you know you can tell us anything, right?” Jessica said in an equally soft and hushed tone as she reached out to place her hand over the very distraught looking young woman’s smaller one for good measure. Sunny let out a rather melancholy sound—a sound that seemed so strange coming from her—and reached into her purse, silently fishing something out. Jessica and Sooyoung exchanged worried glances when Sunny found what she was looking for and slipped it on her finger then splayed her left hand on the table.

It was a ring; not just any ring but an engagement ring—from the looks of it a very expensive one too.
 
The two friends’ eyes widened at the sight of the diamond ring that shone brightly even under the dim light from an overcast day outside. Both of them would have tackled her in joy if it hadn’t been for the dismal look on her face. After all, wasn’t marriage a happy occasion? Sooyoung found this odd because she didn’t recall Sunny having a boyfriend the last time they spoke. “Is that an…an engagement ring?” Jessica asked dumbly after a minute of the girls gawking at the shinning diamond.

Sunny nodded but the girl’s remained silent for a few moments longer.

“Sweetie, you never told us about anybody…?” She continued cautiously and glanced over at Sooyoung as if she could provide her with an answer. Sooyoung looked over at Jessica, her lips set in a firm line. There was a dreadful question in Jessica's eyes, one which Sooyoung in fact, did have the answer too (if her supsicions were correct).

“I’m getting married…” Sunny looked like she was on the brink of tears.

“Well, then that’s grea—.” Jessica started nervously.

“To a total stranger!” She wailed, tears finally falling free from her eyes and rolling down her adorably chubby cheeks. It took a few long moments for the two women to recover from the shock. Both Jessica and Sooyoung gazed at each other, startled. Jessica's look of helpless dismay prompted Sooyoung into action. The brunette gently put her arm around Sunny’s shaking shoulders as the latter sobbed into her hands. Some people in the restaurant cast over odd glances at the sound of the small woman's dismay to which Jessica rudely snapped, “Can I help you?” Her upfront confrontation effectively eliminated the unwanted attention on their booth.

            Sooyoung sighed and cradled the small blonde in her arms, rubbing her arm soothingly. Sooyoung knew her feeling was correct as soon as she saw the ring on her friend’s slender little finger. All three girls came from wealthy families and to daughters born with respected titles, arranged marriages were as common as luncheons in their world. Sooyoung had always dreaded the concept. Since she was a child she prayed that if she was to be married it would be to a man of her choosing; someone she knew as well as she knew herself. Someone she loved. The thought of Sunny alone being deprived of this huge choice in her life broke her heart in two.

“"I-It’s an arranged marriage!" she explained, voice thick with tears. "I-I was late coming here because I m-met him…” She managed through sobs. Jessica and Sooyoung exchanged wide eyed glances at each other before looking back at their friend.“My uncle asked me to come to see him at a hotel to meet someone a-and he was there. He w-was standing right there in front of m-me—right there in front of me. My fiancé…” Sooyoung and Jessica said nothing but offered her a tissue to which she gratefully accepted. "Why the hell would he drop such a bombshell onto me like that? An arranged marriage—I mean, who even does that anymore? This is the 21st ing century!"

The sound of the usually mild mannered woman cursing was telling of her hysteria. Sooyoung and Jessica grew heavy at the mention of her uncle. Sunny’s mother had died when she was only a baby and she grew up with her dotting father. Her father loved his only child, Sunny with all his heart. She wanted for nothing under his care but when she was twelve years old, he died in a tragic car accident. It was the hardest time in Sunny’s life. The girls knew she still hadn’t fully recovered after 11 years. She was then left in the care of her uncle, an even more powerful man than her father, Lee Soo Man, who sent her packing to live with him in America. The distance broke all three of their hearts. Perhaps the worst thing was that Sunny’s father would never have forced her into a marriage and all three girls knew that.

Sunny had taken a few breaths to calm down but the she just seemed more hopeless as she continued to explain. “I asked him what was going on and he just said it! I always knew this was a possibility but I didn’t think it would actually happen to me! The big news I was going to tell you was that my family was moving back to Seoul but now I know why…” Sunny’s two friends cringed at this. Some girls of their stature accepted betrothals as if accepting a box of chocolates and even asked their parents to arrange for a filthy rich and handsome man to be their husband. Ever since the three were young, they always agreed that they absolutely loathed and rejected the idea of being pawned off for the wealth of their families and their companies. They weren’t petty objects to be used for gain. This raised another question.

“Sunny…who is he?” Jessica asked with some hesitation. Sooyoung has her suspicions and had a feeling that Jessica also suspected the same. There was a searching tone in her voice that suggested she had guessed the outcome of her question before she even asked it. It took Sunny a moment to collect herself before she sighed deeply, rubbing her temples, “Lee Sungmin.”

            Sooyoung nodded a bit, as her guess had been confirmed while Jessica leaned back into her seat and muttered under her breath. “Son of a . He actually did it.” She quietly cursed Sunny’s pompous uncle (mostly because she had expected better of him). Both Sooyoung and Jessica were extremely disappointed in Lee Sooman. Sunny's uncle had been a wonderful guardian and was extremely compassionate and sensitive of his niece's feelings. If anything, Sooyoung and Jessica has always been betting between the two of them that it would be their families that would attempt to pull a stunt like that on them. Not Sunny, never Sunny. Since they were young, they had an uneasy feeling about the way a young Sungmin and his father would often visit Sunny at her mansion. It wasn't until they were older that they began to question the past. They weren’t sure how they felt about Sungmin always being there before they even arrived at her residence to play. At first, as young girls, they questioned his frequent visits but with childish innocence, they dismissed his presense. He was a frightfully shy little boy who seldom ever approached let alone spoke to them, so they quickly lost interest. It was whispered and the notion was toyed with until Sungmin’s visits became less frequent and more spaced out periods of time so they thought little of it. This brought something else to light.

“Sungmin’s visits weren’t just visits; they’ve been arranging this since you were a child.” Sooyoung murmured, more to herself than to Sunny asshe dabbed at her friend's tears with tissues. The blonde nodded and blew her nose into another tissue and sniffled. “The wedding will be in six months.”

Jessica seemed to choke on nothing but Sunny went on to explain that she needed help to plan the wedding she didn't want (a privilege considering she had no choice in the actual marriage). It was obvious that they would be her bridesmaids (Jessica jumped at the opportunity to be the maid of honour to which Sooyoung was completely agreed to). The topic was a small comfort to Sunny who laughed sorrowfully at the thought. Sunny told them that she expected their full cooperation in planning the wedding--the whole damn thing. She made careful emphasis that Sooyoung must definitely help out since she was most likely to happily hand over the reigns to Jessica, self proclaimed maid of honour.

            Regardless, this news dampened Sooyoung’s spirits as it reminded her of the family she had left behind. She had cut off her ties to the Choi empire for the last six years (much to her family’s distaste) and worked a regular job as a pastry chef at a small café called Happiness—she owed everything to the small establishment and its owner, Tiffany, who had become both her business partnet and best friend. She did her own taxes and took the bus to and from everywhere for God’s sake. She truly lived a common life on her own; she preferred it that way. Something that would undoubtedly have made her family the laughing stock of high society. Such a lifestyle was unheard of in the society she grew up in. She knew though if it was going to be a wedding for two huge names in high society and she would have to appear once more as a socially elite young lady. This she dreaded but Sunny seemed contented to know that she would not be in this ordeal alone.

 
           The three young women spent another hour chatting and bluntly cursing her uncle by surprising them by pulling such an insensitive stunt. Jessica wilfully labeled him an for actually going through with something so unfeeling this to this already lonely girl. They did anything but plan after a few mocking ideas were tossed around, such as sticking Soo Man in a dress and forcing him into matrimony with an angry bear and throwing cliched phrases such as "you will come to love each other" at him. This (praise whatever higher power there was) made Sunny giggle; a small tinkling laugh that seemed to lift the gloom that had uncomfortably settled around them.   

            They all had errands they had to run (Sooyoung’s being working a shift at Happiness café) but the three friends decided that they wanted to spend more time together to catch up. It was one o’clock by the time they decided to about their business, go home, grab their stuff and rally back at Jessica’s flat at seven o’clock (sharp, of course) that evening for a much needed sleepover night. Sooyoung buttoned up her trenchcoat as she stepped outside of the building. The air was damp and chilly and made her shiver. Sliding her purse higher on her shoulder she began strolling down the sidewalk back to the bus stop she had taken to get to the restaurant. It was a relatively short ride from Myeong-dong to the café in the heart of Seoul.  

 She felt a droplet of water hit her cheek and then another and another. Sooyoung tilted her head back up to the ashy sky and a tiny smiled pulled at her lips. It would rain after all today. Prepared for the weather as always, Sooyoung searched through her purse and pulled out a large yellow umbrella and shielded herself just in time as clap of thunder echoed throughout the sky; she watched as a heavy downpour seemed to crash down on the city with droplets the size of dimes.

            The sound of the rain pattered angrily on the plastic of her umbrella and she irrationally feared that the rain would rip through it but dismissed the thought as the bus stop came into view. She trudged along the now puddle laden sidewalks, knowing very well that her old converse were already soaked as were the bottom of her jeans which dragged along the ground. Glancing at the time on her wrist watch she only had around five more minutes to wait for the bus. Finally reaching the bus stop she approached the small crowd of umbrellas of all shapes, colours and sizes from the citizens also waiting for the bus. Yet one lone person caught her eye. A hooded figure stood at the edge of the small cluster of folk without an umbrella and was completely drenched head to toe. The little group had been sending him unfriendly looks and appeared to be gossiping and bad mouthing the stranger. Whatever he had done to make them afriad of him clearly was enough to have the whole cluster of city folk avoid him like the plague. Sooyoung frowned though; his loose sweatpants hung heavily as did his black athletic hoodie sodden from the rain. His sneakers were also no doubt utterly soaked. He must have been freezing yet he stood there, his chin pointing slightly down, steady breaths puffing out in small clouds in the now bitterly cold air. He was freezing and so many people had umbrellas…

As she began to change her course steering towards him, a frantic woman waved her over. She obliged as the plump woman in her mid fifty's cautioned her not very quietly mind you, "Young lady, you shouldn't go over there!" She said, sending him a conspiratory glance,

"Oh?" Sooyoung asked half heartedly. "Why not?" She asked hesitantly. This should be stunning, Sooyoung thought, feeling quite unimpressed by woman's obvious over zealous warning. 

"That man is trouble!" The woman informed as if it pained her to do so, although she didn't seem so broken hearted to add, "He would sooner snatch your purse than shake your hand!" A few people behind her nodded in agreement.

"Oh..." she murmured, casting a glance at the man. Being a woman with astounding empathy, she could sense the waves of negativity radiating off him but did not recognize them as feelings of malice but rather spawning from what she felt to be just a plain bad mood. They saw a man in baggy clothing, hood up, looking otherworldly and possibly mentally unstable; Sooyoung saw someone who needed to be proven he wasn't invisible—that he was a person, too. After all, Sooyoung knew all too well what it felt to wander through a rainy city alone without a shred of humanity left. "Is that so?" she said in a daze, not believing the crowd's judgemental over exagerations. "Well," She snapped out of her reverie and turned back to the older woman still keeping her manners in check, "Well, I appreciate your telling me so." Then the crowd watched in shock as Sooyoung blatantly ignored their advice and stepped up towards him and held her large umbrella over the two of them; effectively shielding them both from the rain. His hood covered his eyes and she couldn’t properly see his face. Even when he turned to look at her, realizing the rain had stopped pounding down she couldn’t see him well but she knew he could see her perfectly. She noticed his lips parted slightly as if in mild surprise. Under the confines of his hood she could see that he was really dripping wet; droplets of rain gathered at the ends of his very dark curls and fell one after the other. Knowing he could see her from under his hood, she offered him a warm smile and stared at the street in front of them without a word. She observed how he studied her in her peripherals. He looked at her for a few moments longer before shifting his gaze at the busy streets as well. She could feel his discomfort but he made no move to distance himself from her; even though her umbrella was wide they still stood shoulder to shoulder (luckily she was slender and didn’t take up much space). He didn’t move nor did he speak—he uttered no thanks but something in his stance told her he wasn’t ungrateful in the least.

            Seeing the bus approach from around the corner she dug through her purse for her bus ticket. Finding her search to be unsuccessful, she frowned as she rummaged through her purse a little more urgently. Distraught now, she checked both her coat pockets and was left empty handed. No ticket. She let out a small hiss of a disapproving sound, pulling out her wallet she paled remembering that she left her loose change on the ground when she collided with the young businessman. No change. The stranger beside her noticed her distress with amusement she found displeasing and she felt herself grow flustered. No ticket. No change. She had no way of getting on the bus. She had even spent the last of her bills on lunch. Even though Sunny offered to pay for their meal, Sooyoung had been stubborn and insisted to pay her share (which was quite a hefty some considering the fancy establishment). She may have been the daughter of a wealthy family but seeing as she distanced herself from them, she had very limited funds. She earned her own living.

 She would have to wait quite a while for the next bus to come and she had already been late today for Jessica once today and she really wasn’t fond of the idea of sending her punctuality-Nazi friend into yet another rage. The idea of standing out in this freezing rain and catching pneumonia was also quite unappealing. Triple-checking for her ticket uselessly the bus doors opened and those in front of her boarded the bus one by one. She was still searching when the nameless man had left from under her umbrella onto the bus as well.

So much for gratitude…

She felt like letting out a frustrated cry when a man’s voice called out to her. “Young miss?” She looked up at the chubby bus driver who beckoned her over. Confused, she stepped up closer to the bus’ open doors. “Your fair has already been paid for you.” Sooyoung blinked as he pointed to the figure in the black hoodie retreating to the back of the loaded bus. A sense of warmth filled her and she felt a spark of hope for humanity when the bus driver cleared his throat, snapping out of her trance. She muttered her thanks and closed her umbrella, rather clumsily stumbling onto the bus. Making her way to the back of the bus, she found all the seats were taken. Just when she was about to lose hope of sitting for the rest of the drive, she cast one final look around the bus and found every seat on the bus was taken—every seat but one.

            He sat in the very right corner of the bus, staring out the window beside him. She was happy that she could at least express her thanks to him even if he was giving off wicked unfriendly vibes. Sooyoung shuffled along to the empty seat beside him. “Mind if I sit?” She asked politely out of manners. She saw his head tilt towards her and his chin pointed down an inch in what she expected to be a nod. She smiled and straightened her trench coat out before she sat, placing her purse in her lap along with her wet umbrella set down beside her leg. A few minutes passed without a sound and despite the obvious signs he did not want to be spoken to—looking out the window, his body slightly turned away from hers—she thought it wouldn’t be proper if she didn’t thank him.

            Just as she was mustering up the courage to speak he cleared his throat, coughing in discomfort. She remembered he must have been chilled to the bone. She rummaged through her purse (which was now a disaster) and beamed proudly when it produced her a single cough drop. She gently tapped him on the shoulder and held out the cough drop in her hand for him encouragingly. He looked at her from under his hood for a few long moments and she thought he wasn’t going to accept it when he held out his hand as well. Understanding he didn’t want to make contact, she gently dropped the wrapped little cough drop into his palm. Seeing as it was an opportune moment, she spoke up. “Thank you…for helping me with the bus fair. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t lent me a hand. ”

Again he gave her a small nod and she smiled; deciding to say no more for the rest of the bus ride. She did however, catch the eye of the older woman who had watched the exchange in shock as if she had expected him to toss her off the moving bus when she offered him a cought drop. To her, she gave a polite, knowing smile that had the slightest undertones of "trouble" indeed. When it was his time to get off (oddly enough at the business district too a couple stops before hers) she watched him exit the bus and she thought of it as a somewhat shame that he hadn’t spoken a single syllable to him since she sheltered him from the rain and there would never be a chance to hear him speak again.

            Cho Kyuhyun, Vice-President and heir to the Cho Catering Company worked away diligently in his neat and spacious office located on the 29th floor. He paused in his vigorous typing on his laptop only to re-adjust the cuffs on his expensive navy blue suit when his secretary’s voice sounded through his phone monitor.

“Sir, Mr. Lee Sungmin is here to see you.” She said. 

Kyuhyun sighed in mild annoyance. “Send him in.” he muttered knowing full well that Sungmin would just walk right in anyways.  

He resumed his work and didn’t even look up to spare his oldest friend a glance as he was escorted into the room by his secretary. “Thank you, Seohyun. That will be all.” He murmured.

Sungmin managed a smile at his workaholic best friend. Taking a seat in front of his large black oak desk, he waited patiently for his friend to acknowledge him as this was routine every time he dropped by to visit him (or as Kyuhyun would call it, “barging in as a presence destructive to work ethic”).

            Sungmin took a moment to cast a glance around the familiar space. The walls were black and paneled and high rosewood bookshelves lined the walls beside the door. The lights in the room had been dialed low, creating a dark and rather uncomfortable atmosphere. Kyuhyun’s workspace was just out of reach of beams of light cascading through the large windows and its black pull down curtain behind it, leaving him in the shadows. There was a long, plush, leather fainting couch to the right of the room which also matched the tone as it was as black as ebony and to the left there was a space that could have served as a small bar (had the work-Nazi kept any alcohol in the room). Just beyond the non-bar there was a closed door; one Sungmin knew to be his own personal restroom which was actually the size of a change room.

With all its posh and lavish décor, his office did a very good job of not only intimidating his very few guests but belittling them as well. All it took was Kyuhyun’s very aura which seemed to draw energy from the room itself to thoroughly belittle any guests. Dark intimidation and cold iron authority…yup—this office had Kyuhyun written all over it.   

After a few more minutes, the workaholic across from Sungmin apparently decided he was ready because he carefully closed his laptop but when Sungmin opened his mouth to speak Kyuhyun cut him off. “Before you so much as speak a word to me, I feel obligated to tell you that if this is just another casual ‘drop-in’ of yours that you so often choose to waste my time over, you can leave right now.” He said in a monotone voice as he tented his fingers together on his desk.  

            Sungmin didn’t even blink at his harsh words. Kyuhyun was always a bit of a snarky bastard but that’s why Sungmin liked him so much. With his sharp tongue came honesty. The egomaniac himself took it as one of his many quality traits just as Sungmin did.  Still, it was a little harsher than normal but Sungmin decided not to poke at him as he observed that he was in a very cranky mood today. He and Sungmin had that in common. 
Kyuhyun spoke in his usual quick and cold businesslike tone as he removed his reading glasses and folded them back into their box. “Three sentences or less, Lee, tell me why you are here—preferably ‘or less’ please.”

Sungmin noticed that his friend look a little disgruntled today which was very unlike him. His suit was neat and fresh but his hair was pretty untamed. Kyuhyun always kept a polished appearance so this was odd to his old friend. Even so, the older man just sighed and did as his impatient friend asked. “I am here not just to drop in; I have some…personal news I would very much like to discuss. You look like hell, by the way. Did you get caught in the rain today?” He asked, slightly mocking. Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes at him only grunting in response and leaning back in his chair slightly.

That would be a “yes”.

“And why would your personal news be of any concern to me? Surely it must be important if you mean to interrupt me during my work.” He said with obvious sarcasm in his voice but he saw how Sungmin’s face darkened and panic gleamed in his eyes.

“Well, Lee…are you going to sit there scowling at me all day or are you going to open that usually loud mouth of yours and—.”

“I was called on to meet my father and an acquaintance of his—one I’ve known since I was young. He wanted me to greet him since he had just come from America and had me drive out to Park Hyatt hotel to meet him. They said they were expecting one more person for lunch and I didn’t think much of it.” He was suddenly up and pacing, a nervous habit of his.

“Who was this acquaintance?” The exasperated man behind the desk asked with minimal interest.

“Lee Soo Man.” He answered solemnly. Kyuhyun dare not admit that it roused his curiosity slightly. He knew this name well; A family that owned one of the largest media companies in South Korea and had for generations but he did not interrupt him and instead let his friend explain. “We talked for a while. Idle small talk but then they spoke to me about building family legacies and good reputations.”

Kyuhyun waved his hand dismissively, for once not interested in the details. “Yes, yes now get to the point; who was the other guest?” The disgruntled man, sorting through papers quickly, missing how Sungmin’s face went blank as his friend answered robotically. “His niece—my fiancée.” Kyuhyun didn’t blink but he froze mid way through slipping several documents into a manila folder. He looked up, furrowing his brow in thought. “Lee Soo Man’s niece …” he murmured. “Soonkyu? That girl you used to stalk as a child.” He murmured casually in understanding.

Sungmin wasn’t surprised that Kyuhyun remembered the past so easily but it irked him that he was so nonchalant about the whole situation; he bristled and snapped defensively. “I did not stalk her! My father brought me along to their estate when he would visit.” Sighing, he rubbed his tired eyes. “I pulled my father aside to talk him out of it but there’s no use fighting it—the wedding is in six months.”

            This time, the young Vice-CEO said nothing since he knew how distasteful a subject this was for his friend. For some ridiculous reason, Sungmin dreamt of being the best husband he could be since he was a little boy. Everyone else seemed to find it endearing but Kyuhyun just saw it as both sickening and a silly waste of time. In the world they lived in, they couldn’t afford the luxury of love in marriage granted if love did actually exist. Marriage was just a contract in which two people shared each other’s assets to gain more in the social world and pass on whatever they gained to their offspring; that was what he was taught and what he learned. He personally didn’t wish to be married at all. He preferred a life alone. It all seemed like a big headache and an even bigger distraction from the work that he was bound ball and chain to.

“I knew you’d never get a girlfriend but the fact that your father had to do it for you is…” He trailed off sardonically and Sungmin glared at him.

“You’re such a prick. Can’t you be serious about this for ten seconds?”

Kyuhyun shrugged at this. “First off, if you’re going to be something,” he paused to offer a sarcastic smile, “you might as well be good at it, future-hubby.” Sungmin scowled at this. “and secondly, ten seconds is already far too much of my time wasted but seeing as you’ve been here for much longer than what I deem appropriate, you are not qualified to make such a request.”

Sungmin paused for a moment. Kyuhyun didn’t speak very often but that didn’t mean that he never had a lot to say. That being said, his words were often a lot more terrifying than his silence. Being a rather cold and distant person, he only communicated on a personal level with an extremely selective few so Sungmin was quite used to Kyuhyun’s rare outbreaks of speech where it shocked others. He knew well enough that Kyuhyun often slipped in a bit of honest advice or thought in his words disguised as a spiteful quip.
 
It’s going to happen anyways; get over it. You might as well make the best of it and be the good husband as you wished to be.

This was the true meaning behind his words. Although he did willingly refer to himself as a prick, he also told Sungmin straight that he should make the best of the inevitable. The eldest of the two, sighed heavily when Kyuhyun crossed his arms and spoke once more. “What are you so solemn about anyways? If I recall, Soonkyu was your first love and the woman you, rather embarrassingly mind you, promised yourself to marry.”  

Sungmin actually groaned. “Yes, but I wanted her to marry me because of love—not some business merger.” He paused, realizing he just admitted that he was and indeed still is in love with her. “And I was a child then!” he barked hysterically.

Kyuhyun actually rolled his eyes. “You lovesick fool.” He muttered as he signed a couple documents. “What have I told you all these years? It’s thinking that like that brings supreme people to failure and the greatest minds to ruin—you’ll be much before off in this marriage and in life in general if you forget about the ridiculous notion of eternal love.” He said, disgust lacing his icy tone.

Sungmin stared at his friend incredulously but he understood Kyuhyun’s negative perspective on life and above all love. He was never the warm and fuzzy type but Sungmin knew he always had it rough.

“Someday, Kyuhyun...” he said as he leaned on one of the large bookcases in the room after more pacing. “You’ll meet someone with a pretty face and a kind heart. By chance or by fate and they will change you bleak outlook on the world. Love will change you for the better.” Sungmin murmured, silently praying that his old and dear stoic friend would indeed smile happily one day with a loving wife and family. Whether he knew it or not, he deserved it. There was hope for him one day.

Kyuhyun looked up at Sungmin as if he had grown another head. He stayed silent for longer than what was normal for Kyuhyun to return an opinion. He spoke slowly, emphasizing each word carefully. “If you’re going to keep spouting mushy crap like that, Doctor Phil, I’m going to kick your romantic out of this office and never let you back in again.” He was dead serious.

Sungmin frowned. Scratch that, there was definitely no hope. 


“About the wedding…” the wavy haired man behind the desk murmured, taking out his reading glasses once more and placing them on the bridge of his aristocratic nose as he read over a proposal in his hand. “Don’t get your hopes up. I might not attend due to my schedule. Now, off you go.”

Sighing again, Sungmin decided it was time to take his leave. Getting up without another word and heading for the door, Sungmin couldn’t help the mild sense of anxiety he felt as he exited the building because he knew that there was a great chance that Kyuhyun’s words were true—he might not show. Sungmin knew better than anyone Kyuhyun’s obsessively unhealthy work ethic.

Because despite the sardonic that Kyuhyun tended to be, he was still most definitely Sungmin’s best man even if it wouldn’t be at his wedding...
 

            Sungmin had just left the office when Kyuhyun shook his head in annoyance. “By chance or by fate and they will change you bleak outlook on the world.” He mocked. “Love will change you for the better. Where does he get that crap? Tch, how I ever came to know that idiot is beyond me.” He muttered to himself, shaking his head in pure revulsion once again. “You’ll meet someone with a pretty face and a kind heart. Oh yes, a pretty face and kind heart indeed.” He muttered distastefully. As he reached to open his laptop, he stopped. Narrowing his eyes at nothing in particular, his hand reached into his pocket and fished out a small wrapper; one he had pulled from his sopping wet sweater. He started at the flimsy little lozenge covering in his hand with mild abhorrence.

“Mr. Cho, sir; a Mr. Kim from Kim Media is here to see you.” His secretary, voice sounded through the phone monitor. Pressing the answer button, he spoke to the monitor.

“Send him in.” He murmured as his fist closed around the paper.

“Yes, sir,” she said and Kyuhyun quickly slipped the wrapper into his desk drawer.