Ji Hyun’s POV

Baek Hyun steadied me before running his hand through his hair. I took in the sight of him and gaped at how much he matured and grew all the more handsome. His brown hair was now dyed black and it was styled up. He ditched having smudgy eyeliner around his eyes for cleaner look and really it suited him well. And was it me or did he get taller?

He looked up at me and flashed me his signature smile before chuckling when he noticed that I was staring at him.

“I know, I know, I overdid it with the black right?” He asked and I shook my head at him knowing that his new hair color only made do a double take at how attractive he could actually be.

He smiled and hugged me tight only earning a glare from Mark in return. I chuckled when he finally let me go to hit Mark jokingly on the arm.

“Mark! I missed you! Mind if I borrowed Ji Hyun for a bit?” He teased and wiggled his eyebrows at Mark and he only crossed his arms before answering.

“Ya. Watch it Byun. She’s still my wife.” He reprimanded only earning and shake of the head from Baek Hyun who pulled me down next to him. He sat in between Mark and I. Then he casually draped an arm over me.

“Correction. She’s your business associate. I do recall this being an arranged marriage Tuan.” He challenged and Mark sputtered out a bit of his drink. I held back a giggle as I watched his reaction. He was in the middle of wiping his mouth when I spoke up to playfully hit Baek on the arm.

“Correction. He’s my bestfriend.” I defended and he was rubbing his arm, probably because I punched it too hard before pouting at me and sticking his tongue out. I smiled pinched his cheek before reaching out for the water that was on the table. “How are you Baek?” I asked and he only shrugged at me.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that Madame Kwon? You’ve been all over the news. I heard that you are in the running for being one of Forbes’ most powerful women. Could you blame them for picking you though? You’re still sole CEO of YGEX and it is already about to reach the same stocks and exchanges number of your family’s main office.” He said and smiled at me at the end of his mini speech. I glared at him and threatened to hit him again but he cringed when he saw my fist making its way towards him.

“Shut up Baek.” I muttered and smiled at the waiter who served us three some snacks and drinks. He seemed to have been caught off guard by my smile because he tripped a bit on his way away from our table.

“Ya. Don’t blame me alright? It’s what I hear. How is Hani by the way?” He asked and I immediately froze at the sound of her name. I wanted to excuse myself but Mark was already a step ahead of me when he held me gently down onto my seat and he was looking sternly at Baek Hyun.

“Baek Hyun.” He said with authority and I watched as Baek looked at us with a confused stare.

“What? I have ears you know. And you two can’t have ed it up fa-“ he was cut off when a new visitor came to our table to stuff his mouth with a piece of bread. I looked up at smiled at Xiumin Oppa who took a seat next to him. He flashed me a toothy grin before taking one of the drinks on our table and taking a sip.

“Hi Ji, Mark. It has been too long. Sorry if I didn’t shut him up sooner. I was assigned the wrong table apparently.” He said and I shook my head before smiling at him and hugged him across Baek Hyun. He patted my back before patting Baek Hyun on the back while he coughed from the bread that Xiumin Oppa stuffed into his mouth.

“Thanks Oppa. So I guess you all know?” I asked with caution and looked around us for any wandering ears and only nodded when I noticed that everyone else was still mingling with each other leaving us younger business associates our own world before the real talking would start.

Xiumin Oppa and Baek Hyun shared a look before looking at both Mark and I who were probably sporting extremely nervous expressions. I watched as they both drew breath and nudged each other to start. Ultimately, Baek was the one who started the story.

“Everyone thinks that Hani is not really Mark’s kid. It doesn’t make sense how fast you got pregnant you know. Fortunately, everyone found out about you two knowing each other when you were kids, so the story about you guys being childhood sweethearts spread pretty quick. But we, Onew Hyung, Xiumin Hyung and I, know better. So yea. We just pieced it together.” Baek explained and I looked at Mark who only had an unreadable expression on his face.

I gulped and checked my phone in case anyone would send me a message about Hani at home but unfortunately no message alert was flashing on my screen. The two men were looking at me when I looked up and they just patted my lap reassuringly.

“Ji. Lu thinks that she is Mark’s kid though. No part of him acknowledges her as his daughter. You hurt him enough that he doesn’t believe in the relationship you two shared last year. He believes your alibi of it being just a ruse.” Xiumin Oppa clarified for me and I only nodded in response. I honestly wanted to go home already and get this party over with.

Too bad we couldn’t get what we wanted. We were all in the middle of our conversation when I noticed how weird Xiumin Oppa was staring at me. I raised an eyebrow staring at him as well.

“Oppa? Wae?” I asked him and he only shook his head while blushing a bit and looked away. I felt self conscious all of a sudden at his actions but Mark spoke for me.

“Hyung? Anything wrong?” He asked and Umin Oppa only sighed before saying whatever was on his mind earlier.

“Nothing. I just, I noticed that you lost the baby weight pretty fast Ji Hyun. If it was in any way possible, you look thinner than when we first met you.” He said and looked away while I instinctively covered my stomach that was slightly revealed through the sheer fabric that was wrapped around.

I looked away and tried to compose myself before answering. Everyone kept commenting about how fast I lost my weight and trust me when I say that I am not starving myself or anything. But the look of disappointment on Mark’s face only reminded me how he did not approve of my methods.

“People keep commenting about that. You all know that I work out, a lot right?” I clarified and Mark cleared his throat at the mention of working out and I shot him a look to signal him keeping mum about it.

 Xiumin Oppa and Baek Hyun were looking at Mark for confirmation and he only shrugged before leaning back on his seat. I mentally thanked him for keeping my secret but I knew that I was going to get an earful about it later. They weren’t convinced though and I gulped when Baek Hyun looked at me weirdly.

“We know you do, but what aren’t you telling us?” He started off and I furrowed my eyebrows thinking of a way around their judging eyes. I looked at Mark and he was still keeping his eyes away from me. I was raking my brains for an excuse when the emcee for the night cleared his throat on the microphone.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. To start our evening may we call on Ms Kwon Ji Hyun, CEO of YGEX in Japan. A candidate for one of Forbes’ most powerful women, the sole granddaughter of CEO Yang Hyun Suk, head of YG Enterprises and wife of Mr Mark Tuan Yi-En, to give the opening remarks for this evening.” He read from the cue cards provided and I stood up feeling everyone’s eyes on me.

I mentally thanked the emcee’s timing and stared at the two men who had looks of defeat, ultimately dropping the topic of my weight loss.

Mark stood up as well to me to the stage. I held my head high and wore my usual intimidating stance. S