“Mum’s been asking about you, wondering how you’ve been”

“And I’m sure you’ll understand why I have the urge to scoff and tell you that I do not believe anything about that previous statement”

With both Kim brothers now full time working men, there was hardly any time to see each other. If they wanted time, they had to make it and that involved preparation almost a week in advance to make sure schedules were cleared and if anything did come up last minute, there would be time to sort it all out so that it wouldn’t affect any previously made plans. Sat across from his brother, this was the first time Joonmyun had seen him since the night he stormed out of their parent’s house.

“Can’t say I blame you I’ll give you that” his brother agrees “But she’s our mother Joonmyun. I know how much she disapproves of what you chose to do in life, but you need to remember that deep, deep down she does care”

Joonmyun laughs at how his brother is trying his hardest to defend their mother, but even he can see that she has her flaws deep, deep down inside of her.

“I thought we came here to catch up and have fun, not talk about anything we both know is going to bring us down” he jokes and his brother nods his head, finishing his drink before he speaks

“Well here’s something interesting I found out the other day” he begins “The company I work for is set to do a deal with Choi Siwon in the imminent future and I got into a conversation with Wu Yifan”

Oh no. Joonmyun didn’t like where this was going. He didn’t want to know what his brother had to say next.

“Oh really?” he asks

“Oh yes. We got into a very interesting conversation when I mentioned that you were my brother and you had interviewed Yifan on a previous occasion”

There was no way Joonmyun was going to be able to drag himself out of this one. He could try to come up with every excuse in the book but he knew that his brother was just as smart- if not smarter- than Joonmyun and whatever he tried, his brother would find a way through all of his lies.

“Come on then, what did he have to say?”

“Oh I couldn’t tell you!” his brother exclaims with a smirk “That would be the release of private and confidential conversations”

“Tease!” Joonmyun replies “Why tell me you talked about me if you’re not going to include what was said?”

Despite his brother always been the favourite in the family, Joonmyun knew he could never hate him. The two have always been close; it was his brother who taught him how to swim, who stuck up for him whenever their parents picked on Joonmyun, who chose him out of everyone else in his life to be his best man at his wedding, their bond was strong and nothing could break it, not even pushy parents who were unsatisfied with career choices!

“Alright, alright, how about I make it up to you with a front row seat at our exclusive press conference coming up” his brother offers, studying Joonmyun’s reaction

“What? Really?”

“Nobody else knows about this yet, so take this as a heads up for the best seat in the house”

“W-well I’m sure if I organise it with my boss then yes, of course I’ll be there, count me in!” Joonmyun replies excitedly. A chance to sit front row at a conference where Choi Siwon and his brother was going to be present? He could probably get Chanyeol to tag along for some decent photos to include in an article about the event, it was perfect!

“Bet you’re glad now that your brother is up in some high and mighty job” his brother gloats, making Joonmyun snort

“Please! You were useful when I was younger and you used to sneak me some extra food when mum wasn’t looking. Now you’re helping me get up in a high and mighty position in my job!”

So what if their parents favoured one son over the other? That didn’t mean it was going to get in between their relationship! Sat where they were now and being able to have a laugh, joke around, it was testament to how strong their bond was. It was probably the happiest Joonmyun had been in a long while!

When the day of the conference arrived, Joonmyun was certainly glad his brother had given him the heads up when he had done. The conference room was packed and buzzing with the public and journalists alike moving around frantically to try and find seats. Joonmyun couldn’t thank his brother enough for reserving seats for him and Chanyeol in advance.

“Chanyeol you’re a saint! I don’t think I can thank you enough for doing this” Joonmyun thanks as Chanyeol sets up his camera next to him with a smile on his face

“What can I say? I’m just that amazing” he replies and laughs at the expression Joonmyun shoots him. It’s easy to why Chanyeol and Baekhyun are such good friends in the first place.

Their fun is broken by the arrival of the important attendees to the conference today. Amongst them is Joonmyun’s brother, Choi Siwon, and no other than Wu Yifan himself. Joonmyun however was not going to let Yifan get the best of him today. He was there at the expense of his brother who had told him and invited him to this conference ahead of anybody else in the journalistic industry. He was going to utilise this opportunity, not waste it.

The press conference had so far gone off without a hitch. Sure, there were some journalists who just didn’t know when to up but those taking questions were able to answer professionally and nothing really dramatic had happened. Joonmyun threw in his own questions, and was surprised that so far that Yifan didn’t throw in his own sarcastic comment or two to try and embarrass him in front of all of these people. Instead what he did get was Yifan’s gaze constantly trained on him, whether he was asking the question or not, he would only have to look up and Yifan’s gaze would be on him.

It was quite unnerving; Joonmyun didn’t know why he was feeling like this. Maybe it was because Yifan had never been like that before, maybe it was because there was so many cameras trained onto the people in the front that one of the photographs taken was bound to show how Yifan was staring at him. He’s not going to let it get to him, he’s determined to not allow it to get to him, and he’s going to make sure of it.

“You say that this merge between the two companies is going be a huge benefit to the people” he begins to the boss of his brother’s company “Which people are we talking about? Those in your business or the actual public who really need the help?”

Most of the people on the panel are impressed by Joonmyun’s question, none more so than his brother who has a hard time keeping his smirk from becoming more and more obvious whilst his boss sits there trying to think of a convincing answer.

“I can ensure everybody here today that this deal was created to- as Siwon had put it earlier- help benefit those who work under us and strive to give them financial security for the foreseeable future. This deal seeks to help those who need it, not those who may want to have done it for some extra money in their pockets”

Satisfied with his answer, Joonmyun scribbles down some notes on what was said just in case the recorder resting on his lap didn’t pick up everything that was said.

“What the interviewer needs to understand is that my father and his business only works with people he knows he can trust” Yifan adds and Joonmyun doesn’t care if Chanyeol can hear him sigh, of course Yifan was going to have something to say eventually “If you’re implying that they’re only with us to get money for themselves, I can assure you that you’re really wrong”

Tight smiled Joonmyun looks at Yifan and shakes his head “Of course not. I was merely inquiring, thank you for pointing that out anyway”

With that looking to be the only drama the press conference is going to get today, the remainder of it carries on peacefully, and Joonmyun spends that time taking deep breaths to make sure he doesn’t storm over to Yifan afterwards to punch him in the face.

When the press conference is over, Chanyeol shoots away to be at another schedule and Joonmyun is left to chat with his brother. Having calmed down after the incident with Yifan, he was feeling happier than previously and goes over to congratulate his brother.

“Who knew you had such a way with words” he teases as his brother nudges him in the arm

“And what about you?” he asks “The way you handled Yifan’s comment like that! I could see you weren’t happy and knowing how hot tempered you get, I was impressed by how well you handled it”

“You get used to incidents like that after a while” Joonmyun replies with a shrug of his shoulders and the two move to go somewhere else for some drinks and to chat properly, but their plans are short lived when Joonmyun feels himself pushed out of the way and two very familiar people walk up to his brother, the woman throwing her arms around him.

“Oh honey we are just so proud of you!”

Noticing that they’re not alone, they turn around and find Joonmyun standing behind them. His parents had also come to the press conference, brilliant, just what he needed…

Dum, dum, dum....

I have been looking forward to getting these next few chapter written down for such a long while! Having them conjured up in your head is one thing, but finally being able to write them down to go with the story is another! I'm so excited!!

Until the next chapter!!