So their parents hated each other. So what? Well, there were a lot of “so what’s’” that flooded Minseok’s mind, ending his date with Luhan quickly and throwing him into another restless night. Was this, whatever their relationship was, all a plan by Luhan and his family? What kind of legal disagreement had occurred?

Back at his apartment – correction, their apartment – Minseok was quick to claim a horrible, pounding headache that meant he had to go to his room and sleep – as soon as possible. Luhan wasn’t stupid though.

“So our parents hate each other and that means everything to you, huh?” Luhan questioned Minseok as they approached the apartment building. He knew right away, as soon as Minseok had found out about their parent’s disagreements and proclaimed he wasn’t feeling well, that this reality had crushed their date.

“It is totally fine, Luhan. I just need to sleep.” Minseok lied through his teeth. He knew he wasn’t convincing, but he tried nonetheless.

“You really care a lot about what people think, don’t you?” Luhan was back with his slightly antagonizing tone and Minseok didn’t want to deal with it. So he mumbled a response, rode the elevator in silence, and was on his laptop as soon as he could shut the door to his room.

It didn’t take him long to figure out what had happened between the Lu Family and the Kang Family. It was a development deal gone south, in fact it was the Kang Families big bet to enter the Chinese market. Unfortunately the Lu family wanted the same piece of land and drug the Kang family through the dirt to get it. Which explains why, after so many years, after Minseok himself had questioned it himself and never understood the response his parents gave him, Monday Enterprises had still stayed as a mostly domestic business.

So – it had been ugly between their families. How Minseok truly felt about this piece of news hinged a lot on how his parents felt, his filial feelings a bit stronger than he thought Luhan’s were (at least judging by his reaction to the circumstance). This was a complication he didn’t need. A complication that marked his second night of tossing and turning. A complication that may or may not have been the reason that, when Minseok finally gave up and left his bed to get ready, Luhan was already gone. His suitcase was still there, but he was nowhere to be found.

***

“So what can I do here?” Tao asked, the large stack of files that he had been tasked with dwindling. Tao was bothered, to say the least, when it came to his total lack of qualifications given his new job as Sehun’s assistant. Sehun, however, was less concerned about Tao’s qualification and more concerned about what he could dress Tao in next. Or mentally undress him in. Sehun was a ual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen where his new assistant was concerned. He had thought about that a few times as he zoned out while completing his presentation into the early hours of the morning.

“You are my assistant, so um…just do what I say.” Sehun answered. He was sitting at his desk, in his best suit, his stomach in a mess of knots. Today was the day that the first project meeting for Monday Mall would take place and he felt the same lack of confidence he could feel in Tao.

“But what about the computer? I mean, I know how to use it but I don’t know any of the fancy programs or-“Tao rambled on until Sehun cut him off.

“Just help me. Please. And you will do fine.” Sehun flashed Tao a weak smile which made the island boy feel a whole lot better. Because he could tell Sehun was nervous too and somehow, despite their extremely different backgrounds, that made them comrades in arms.

A few minutes later Tao and Sehun walked to the largest conference room at Monday Enterprises, Sehun resolute to arrive early. When they got to the meeting room, Tao arriving a few paces behind Sehun carrying a bundle of files and a jump drive, there was no one else there.

“We won the race!” Sehun smirked. Tao was confused what race they had just won, but he decided he would only ask questions when he absolutely needed to know the answer to do his job. He didn’t want his new boss thinking he was a complete and total idiot.

Before long, Minseok arrived; Suho and Jongdae following behind Minseok about four minutes later. Chanyeol showed up a minute or so later, spilling some of his coffee on the floor as he threw open the door with too much energy. The human resources department, led by Taemin, and then Kyungsoo, representing marketing, was there shortly after, sipping their expensive coffee without saying much. Baekhyun arrived shortly after, representing the legal team. A few of the IT managers, led by Yesung, shuffled in looking disinterested and slightly annoyed at the early meeting.

Once everyone was seated Sehun took the stage – front and center behind the oak podium that was resting at the end of the long table.

“Good morning.” Sehun smiled his brightest ‘I am an energetic, excited and trustworthy businessman’ smile at the assembled group, “Today is the project kick off for the Monday Mall.”

The conference room door creaked open, causing the entire room to turn and witness Lee Kwang Soo slinking in.

“Continue” Kwang Soo ducked his head in embarrassment before taking a seat at the far end of the room.

“We have a lot to discuss today.” Sehun motioned towards Tao to pull up the slide show. Tao was surprisingly in tune to Sehun’s spiel, he didn’t need to be continuously reminded when to click to the next slide despite the fact he had only viewed the presentation a half an hour ago.

Sehun presented the facts – the project timetable, the financial impact and return on investment for Monday Enterprises, the soft costs and benefits of the project, the diversity it brought to Monday Enterprises, with an energy that was very unlike him.

At the end of his presentation Sehun’s older brothers were visibly surprised at their baby’s ability to present and take charge – with only a day or so notice too. Had Sehun been hiding his talent behind a mask of disinterest? Probably, that was the dramatic rich kid thing to do after all.

“Well done Sehun.” Minseok smiled at his younger brother, momentarily forgetting his own inner turmoil, “When are we going to have the building inspectors on site?”

“In two months, plenty of time to have everything inspected by our internal team.”

“I have a question.” one of the IT directors barked out “What are our risks? I have seen everything great you have to say about the project but what if we fail?”

Sehun swallowed. He hadn’t been fully prepared to address that question. He froze, unable to answer. The seconds seemed to pass like minutes- thankfully Suho saved him.

“Finance and business development are in the process of completing a full risk assessment, but according to preliminary estimates our loss is marginal in relation to our potential and likely gain.”

Sehun nodded, he would have to remember to thank Suho later. The answer seemed to sate the director’s questions. After a few more queries, all of which Sehun was able to answer, the meeting was over. The brothers hung back, along with their inner circle, to talk with Sehun.

“Good job baby brother.” Suho was the first to approach the youngest Kang brother, giving him a hug and a big smile.

“Thanks.” Sehun looked embarrassed, because he was. This was the first time in his adult life, the first time since high school that he had tried and tried hard to do well. And he was still a little mixed up as to why he had tried to much, other than the fact it made Tao happy, his hyung’s happy, and deep down it made Sehun feel a bit happy too.

“I hope you realize you won’t be sleeping more than three hours a night for the next six months.” Kyungsoo was the next to approach, “Welcome to project management.”

While Kyungsoo’s words may have seemed harsh to a casual listener, Sehun knew he meant well.

“Ready to take the company over?” Minseok was the last to walk over to where Sehun was standing. At his eldest hyung’s statement he paled a bit.

“Maybe.”

“Well now you have a chance.” Minseok said, referring to the contest without actually saying it. Leave it to Chanyeol to blurt it out – once again.

“If Hun-ah wins the contest you guys are going to be sooo pissed.” Chanyeol laughed.

“What contest?” Tao, who was standing behind Sehun, asked.

“The marriage contest of cou-“

Sehun leapt across the table to clasp a hand on Chanyeol’s mouth, moving faster than he knew possible. Tao looked on confused while Sehun’s older brothers had a very stale yet mildly frustrated reaction.

“You are in a marriage contest?” Tao asked, not missing a beat. He may have grown up rather simply but he had ears.

Sehun removed his hand from Chanyeol’s mouth only to ball it into a fist and punch Chanyeol in the arm. It wasn’t the hardest punch he could have landed but he meant it to hurt. God damn Chanyeol and his big mouth.

***

Minseok both loved and hated his parent’s office at Monday Enterprises. He liked how homey it felt – like an extension of the place he grew up in. Straight lines, a lot of elective and hip and modern, it was a bit of home at the office. He hated it because as soon as he started his career at Monday enterprises his visits here were mostly driven by unsatisfactory occurrences.  

Minseok pushed the cherry doors open, taking in the familiar sight of Ji Hyo at her dainty white painted desk and Gary sitting behind his stainless steel, modern and industrial desk – both busy typing away on their computers. When they heard the door click close they stood to greet their eldest son, immediately dropping their work. This was something that Minseok appreciated about them, that family was never an afterthought. But then again – family was business, so how could it be?

“What brings my baby here?” JI Hyo hugged her eldest son, ruffling his hair playfully.

“Mom- I am 26.” Minseok rolled his eyes, but secretly basked in the affection.

“Always my baby though. Now what is going on son?”

“I, um…”

“You found out about Luhan, didn’t you?” Gary asked, walking around his desk to take a seat next to his wife. Minseok sat down too, opposite his parents. He simply nodded at Gary’s observations. Minseok would be a fool to think his parents didn’t already know about Luhan, especially since his Uncle Kim Jong Kook had met the boy as soon as they had touched down in Seoul.

“Son that was an ugly, terrible mess.” Ji Hyo explained, watching her son’s face fall at the news “But that shouldn’t have anything to do with you.”

“What do you mean? They attacked our family?!” Minseok looked from one parent to the other, surprised his mother and father would brush everything off so easily.

“They did, and it wasn’t pretty. But what is important is that you like Luhan.” Ji Hyo replied.

“I don’t know if I even really like Luhan! I just don’t want to lose the god damn contest that you two put me in!” Minseok stood up, anger suddenly surging through him. Didn’t they realize that this entire relationship, or whatever he had with Luhan, was based on their ing contest?

“Now son.” Gary stood up and approached his eldest, patting him fondly on the head, “We didn’t raise you as a quitter, now did we?”

“You guys are so ing weird!” Minseok stood up, turned, and marched out of his parent’s office. Because sometimes he just couldn’t take it. Why were they so competitive?

Minseok’s watched him go, staying silent for a minute as they digested his anger. Then they were back to normal, realizing their son’s discomfort was a sign of something else entirely.

“Oppa, we should take Luhan to lunch!” Ji Hyo clapped her hands together, the idea suddenly hitting her.

“Yes dear.” Gary answered, walking towards his wife with outstretched arms, “Now where is my mid-morning hug?”

***

Jongdae had enough. The totals were not footing and it wasn’t even in the correct, approved Monday Enterprises profit and loss statement format.

“Irene, come here.” He beckoned the finance intern over to his desk. She looked nervous, staring at the floor and clasping her hands tightly.

“You need to re-do this spreadsheet. This isn’t adding up and the format is a mess.” Jongdae told her, keeping a calm and constructive tone. He was not a person to yell at subordinates or berate them, if he gave them feedback it was to make them better people not destroy their self-esteem.

“Yes sir.” Irene answered, still not looking up.

“Ask Taeyong if you need help, he is on his second year. And cheer up, you just need to learn - which takes time.” Jongdae flashed a smile towards the girl. She seemed to perk up at his tone, even looking up long enough to see the smile. She gave one more ‘yes sir’ before returning to her desk.

Jongdae sighed. It was a momentary break and then he was back to his work. A notification popped up, an interoffice chat. The interoffice chat feature had started in their IT department but had quickly caught on with the company executives, so much so they and their direct reports always had the program open. It was a quick and easy way to communicate, killing the burden of a full inbox with additional messages.

Suho: Lunch plans?

Jongdae: No….

Suho: Sandwiches and the pond?

Jongdae bit his lower lip, if Suho wanted to go hang out at the park in the middle of the day something was bothering him. He fought against wanting to say no, wanting to play hard to get (or something like that). The night before Suho had pulled him out of the club, and afterwards they had ended up at Baekhyun’s apartment having beers. And then Suho left, leaving Jongdae to cry into Baekhyun’s shoulder while Kyungsoo passed out with his head on Baekhyun’s lap. Jongdae didn’t even know why he was really crying – but yet he did. Maybe he just didn’t want to think about it in detail, pretend it didn’t exist.

Jongdae: Sure, meet you in the lobby at 12:00

Suho: It’s a date!

Jongdae wanted to throw his phone, but he did not. Instead he sat it softly on his desk, returning to his spreadsheet with a heavy mind.

***

The drive to the future site of the Monday Mall was about thirty five minutes from the Monday Enterprise corporate headquarters- in mildly heavy traffic. That was long enough for Baekhyun to blast every SNSD song he liked, singing along to annoy Kyungsoo – who tried to sing TVXQ over him, creating a mismatched horrible song with competing pitches.

Yixing was ready to run the car into a lamp post just to shut the two of them up, but thankfully reached the building site before his idea became reality. Yixing loved his job, but Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s arguments were the one thing that could drive this otherwise peaceful human being towards a feeling of rage.

“We have a demolition project ahead of us” Baekhyun remarked, gesturing towards the block which was half made up of rundown apartment buildings, all about four stories high and bearing the signs of poverty.

“How much are we paying the tenants to relocate?” Kyungsoo asked, getting out of the vehicle to assess the sight.

“Fair market price according to Jongdae.” Baekhyun s his arm through Kyungsoo’s playfully.

“Don’t touch me.” Kyungsoo yanked his arm away, shooting Baekhyun an annoyed look. But this was to be expected, this was the way it always went. And what always came next was Baekhyun putting an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders and avoiding any attempt for the younger man to move away. And so it happened as expected.

As the two of them walked around the block, looking at the hovels, the empty and undeveloped land that adjoined the rundown buildings, they noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing they hadn’t seen before at a build site.

As they neared their car they saw a white van pull up, Kim Builder’s advertised on the side of the vehicle.

“Must be our crew.” Kyungsoo remarked, walking towards the van with Baekhyun still hanging off of him.

The white van door opened, a very tan, tall and lean young man alighted. He seemed not to notice the two suits, instead going to the back of his van accompanied by three of his workers.

“Hello! Are you here for Monday Enterprises?” Baekhyun called out, always one to say something if Kyungsoo was too shy.

The man turned towards Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, giving the two businessmen a better angle to look him up and down. He was handsome – okay, if Baekhyun wasn’t with his crush he would have described him as gorgeous.

“Yes.” The man smiled, bowing slightly “I am Kim Jongin, my Father’s company is building the Mall.”

“Good. We are from the corporate office.” Baekhyun greeted the man in return, but tripped up after his own words. Because Kyungsoo was suddenly very still, a pretty and becoming blush swallowing his face whole.

***

Jongdae was sitting by the duck pond alone, which didn’t really surprise him. Suho was running late from a meeting and had told Jongdae to just go ahead, order the sandwiches and Suho would meet him there. That was almost an hour ago. Jongdae sighed, looking at his watch.

“Hey, sorry I am late.” Suho plopped down on the bench, taking his sandwich without another thought. As usual Jongdae just smiled, letting Suho chow down and forget how long Jongdae had been waiting.

“So what made you want to come here?” Jongdae asked, figuring it was a valid question given the fact they weren’t usually privy to their pond dates during work hours.

“Oh, I don’t know.”

“You’re losing the contest and it is eating you alive.” Jongdae remarked, sure he was correct as Suho looked despondent.

“I don’t even want to get married.” Suho looked up at the sky, like his words were supposed to signify something greater than just a frustrated heir and his spoiled upbringing rearing its ugly head.

“Hmmm.” Jongdae answered, not really sure how to respond.

“I like being single. I like my own apartment. I like not having to care about other people. I do too much of that at work.”

Jongdae looked at Suho, really looked at him. And it hurt that no matter what Suho said, no matter if Jongdae disagreed with him, Suho would always be some kind of ed up ideal for Jongdae. And that bothered Jongdae because he never knew if that kind of thinking was a hinder to himself, or if it was honesty that needed to be acted upon.

“Maybe you should consider caring for someone else? I mean…give it a try?” Jongdae suggested, giving up his introspective philosophizing.

“Who? But who would I give it a try with? Matchmaking didn’t work, the club didn’t work. And aish it isn’t like there is anyone at work I like…” Suho rambled, taking another bite of his sandwich.

Jongdae stayed still, quiet. Why did he let himself get so tangled up with this man?

***

“So you are in a MARRIAGE CONTEST?!” Tao was sulking. Well crying, but he was trying to hide it.

“Tao, I am sorry I didn’t tell you.” Sehun patted his assistant’s back, trying to calm him. They were camped out in the office building stairwell, Tao’s chocked sobs echoing up the building for everyone to hear.

“Is that why you asked me to come here?” Tao sniffled, still not looking Sehun in the face, “You thought I would marry you?”

“No! Not at all!” Sehun tried to be convincing “But if you wanted too, I mean I wouldn’t say no”

Tao let out a few more loud sniffles, then asked the million dollar question “If we get married, does that mean we get everything?”

Sehun was a bit shocked at Tao’s ability to realize the situation, but he had to be honest, since Chanyeol had already spilled the beans “Yeah. The first one –of my brothers or I – to get married inherits the company.”

Tao stopped crying, still wiping at his cheeks and nose he dropped his head to Sehun’s shoulder, shocking the boy.

“So we would be rich?” Tao asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then I will marry you.” Tao answered, without being asked.

 Sehun felt like he could fly, because in a matter of days he had just won the contest that his brothers were failing at. Him- Sehun, the little could-do-nothing-productive maknae, had just won.  Or almost won, but what could stop them? Tao wanted to get married, he wanted to get married, so they would. And then Sehun would win, fair and square. Halle-ing-lulah.

-----------------------------------

a/n- So stuff is happening….but never fear, we have a long way to go! Sehun won’t get of that easy and neither will the other three brothers! And Jongin shows up…how is Baekhyun going to deal? Sorry, I feel like I just gave you guys five more questions than answers.  

Hope you enjoy the update even if it isn’t conclusive….thanks as always for reading! Hugs!