02.

In a private dining room of one of Seoul’s famed, elite Japanese restaurants, two middle-aged friends laughed merrily with a raise of their antique tetsubin cups.

Unannounced Jang Sungho barged through the door, his boisterous laugh thundering off the walls of the small restaurant cubicle. His full belly bounced as he shuffled into the room.

“Hwang Jinsung! I thought that was you! Fancy seeing you here, this really is a prime lunch destination isn’t it?” Sungho turned to his waitress and gave her a spirited wink, making her smile and shift on her feet in discomfort. Jang Sungho had a knack for making people feel uncomfortable.

“Sungho! Have you had lunch? Feel free to join us. Please, sit down,” Kim Youngchul indicated the unoccupied seat beside him.

“No, no, I already have a previous arrangement unfortunately. But next time! Right, Jinsung? We can discuss that merger I’ve been mentioning.” Jang Sungho let out another stream of roaring laughter to which the other two awkwardly chuckled to in return.

“Yes, of course. Next time,” Jinsung nodded his head in greeting as Sungho turned for the door.

“Can you believe we’ve all known each other for 4 decades? My how time flies." He laughed and nudged the waitress who recoiled in response. "You two enjoy your lunch now!” Sungho gave a brief wave as his body disappeared behind the door. His fading laughter echoed through the shoji doors and into their room.

“God, he creeps me out. You’re doing a merger with him, Jinsung?” Youngchul queried turning back to his friend.

“Unfortunately I might have to. Our business doesn’t have enough backing to get the investment for our next project. And we need to get the investors on board or else the land in Wolsong will go to a competitor and my whole business will go up in smokes.”

Youngchul nodded in understanding. “I must say, I’m a little gutted that your partnership is going to Sung & Co. and not over here with Kim Metal Management.”

Jinsung laughed. “I would have preferred to be working with you to be frankly honest. But Sungho is a powerful man and it wouldn’t be beneficial to get myself on his bad side. Ideally, I wouldn’t be working alongside him. I don’t like his company’s philosophy and like you said, the guy just makes you feel uncomfortable!” Youngchul chuckled in agreement.

“Jinsung, you may not know but Kim Metal Management has been losing out at the stock market lately and although PR released a reassuring statement to the press, I don’t think the company will hold up longer than a year without some funds. I was actually going to suggest a business proposition to you today but I guess Sungho bet me to it.”

Jingsung sighed. “I really do want to help you Youngchul, after all, it was you who helped me get on my feet when I first started out. If only there was a way to break off the arrangement with Sungho without announcing war on the company.”

A brief knock on the door was heard before a selection of the finest crustacean platters were brought in, making the two men forget about their work woes and dig into the feast.

It wasn’t until they were about to get into their respective cars at the restaurant concierge that Youngchul called out to Jinsung.

“I think we may have a way around the merger, but I’m not sure you’ll like it.”

“Oppa! Look what I’ve brought for you. I made it myself!” Jongin looked up from his desk to see Eunjung beeline towards him with a lunch box carrier latched onto her right arm.

“Eunjung! You didn’t have to, I could have come and driven you to lunch,” he scolded her softly before planting a light kiss on her forehead.

Eunjung giggled. “Where’s the romance in that?”

“What did you make for me then, princess?” Eunjung scrunched her nose at the nickname but grinned inwardly at his attempt to be cheesy. She took the layers of boxes down one by one and revealed an assortment of kimbap and wok-tossed noodles, both from a recipe she had found off the internet. In the last box she had tried to make a portrait using rice, lotus roots, carrots, seaweed, mushrooms and kimchi.

“Aww baby, that’s such a cute dog.” Eunjung frowned. He thought it looked like a dog?

“That’s meant to be me,” she pouted.

He looked at her in confusion. “What? You wanted me to eat your face?” he smirked.

She blushed and cocked her head to the side. “No, not like that… I saw it in a drama and thought it’d be cute. Never mind, here have some kimbap! I tried some at home and they’re actually not bad. Not that I’m tooting my own horn or anything.” Eunjung giggled and held up the box of kimbap, pride painted on her face. She felt Jongin’s arm snake around her waist before being pressed quickly to his torso.

“Feed me, baby. I’m hungry,” Jongin purred huskily down at her, making her face flush ten different shades of red. She literally felt her heart beat from the depths of her stomach. Why was he so goddamn y?

She took the first piece and brought it to his mouth. He devoured it and chewed with a thoughtful expression. She didn’t realise she was holding her breath until his lips broke into a smile. “It’s really good. My princess is a pretty good cook, isn’t she?”

She grinned, “Of course. Is there anything I can’t do?” Jongin rolled his eyes playfully before indicating he wanted another serving. Before the kimbap could reach his lips, his desk phone’s ringtone captured both their attention. Leaning over tactically as to not release his hold on his girlfriend, Jongin answered the call.

“Sir, the President requests that you meet him in his office as soon as possible.” Eunjung heard the static echo of Secretary Yoo’s voice.

“Alright, thank you Minji. I’ll go once I’m finished with my lunch.” Jongin placed the phone back onto the holder and turned back to Eunjung so he could finish his meal.