Chapter 17

Family meeting

Setting foot on the SM Entertainment building this time felt quite different to Minhyuk. He got chill vibes as he entered the lobby and met with pairs of eyes staring at him curiously. Some of them didn’t even hesitate to whisper when he passed by.

Well, actually this wasn’t the first time he visited the building. Minhyuk had dropped Soojung several times after hanging out together, of course without being noticed by her boyfriend at that time. But still, he felt nervous as hell being the center of attention, especially with his parents walking beside him.

His arrival today was accompanied by his parents to hold an official meeting with Jung family, FnC’s and also SM’s top management to discuss about the wedding preparation.

The date has been set. Next week will be a day when Minhyuk and Soojung formalize their new status as a husband and wife. However they haven’t yet decided where Soojung will stay permanently until the baby is born and how her contract status will be.

Kang Minhyuk involuntarily smiled seeing his fiancé looking damn gorgeous in over-sized black top and washed jeans, sitting in between her parents. The Jung family reflexively stood to welcome the Kang family they had been waiting for.

“Annyeonghaseyo ommoni, aboji. Thank you for coming” Soojung politely bowed before receiving a warm hug from Mrs. Kang.

“Oh my dear Soojung, you look so pretty”

“Thank you ommoni” she shyly replied after made a gap between them then guided the old lady to greet her parents, “… eomma appa, here’s Minhyuk oppa’s parents”

Then all of them were naturally and casually greet each other. Minutes later, Mrs. Jung already busy talking about things with Mrs. Kang after having a casual talk with Minhyuk. While the dads were enjoying the topic about business and politics.

At the end, Soojung and Minhyuk chose to get out of the crowd and sat down in the corner while waiting for the management staff to arrive.

“How was the concert, oppa?” Soojung initiated the conversation as she put down a cup of hot tea for him.

“Great, but I missed you”

Soojung laughed at the remark. Now she used to hear those sweet words coming from the man who initially she considered as brother. Well it felt heartwarming for her though.

“We missed you too, appa” she shyly said, avoiding his gaze as he smiled ear to ear, “.. ah I forgot to tell you that I almost caught by fans when I took Chichi for a walk”

Minhyuk stopped sipping his tea as his face turned tense, “Seriously?”

“Umh” she nodded, “… but luckily I wore a mask and immediately ran inside”

“Soojung-ah, next time it's better to wait for me to do it, okay?” He held her hand worriedly, “.. it's not that I'm afraid fans will know our relationship, I don't care about that, but I'm worried about your safety”

Soojung grinned guiltily, “I’m sorry oppa, I didn't expect there would be fans around our apartment”

“Sasaengs are everywhere, Jungie-ya and they know Jonghyun hyung, Jungshin and I live in the same building. What if they found you and chased or hurt you when you were alone, huh?”

Soojung bit her lips, feeling guilty all of sudden, “I’m sorry oppa, I promise I won’t do that again”

“Thank you my dear,” He smiled, “… by the way please remind me to take Sica noona’s stuff in my car before we split up later, okay?”

“What stuff?”

“She asked me to buy local skincare when I was in Japan”

Soojung’s eyes almost popped unbelievably, “What? You kidding me. Did my sister really ask you that?”

“Uhuh”

“And you went to beauty store to buy that stuff by yourself?”

Soojung was really surprised to find out that her fiancé bought her sister skincare in between his tight schedules. I mean, Jessica and Minhyuk are very close and her unnie has asked him several times to buy things when he travels to a country. Only she doesn't think he will really buy cosmetics that he shouldn't buy by himself. Soojung was really surprised while Minhyuk just casually nodded his head like it wasn’t big deal for him.

“I’m sorry oppa, geez I should scold unnie for troubling you” She hissed, making him laughed then ruffling her hair

“Gwenchana Soojungie, after all Jungshin also needed to buy face wash so we went there together”

“Gomawo oppa”

Minhyuk was about to reply when FnC’s CEO Han Seong-Ho and also SM’s top management entered the room one by one. Minhyuk and Soojung reflexively stood before making their way back to their original positions in between their respective parents.

The morning meeting began with a brief introduction between the two parties where they had actually done before. SM’s Lee Sooman gave a short speech about the agreement sheets that is being shared by his staff.

Those agreement letters contains some points that are rights and obligations of the couple to their respective company. Well actually all parties already know this from the email which sent by SM staff to be studied a few days ago. So now they only need to decide and make changes if needed.

“Alright, to shorten time, let’s jump into the discussion of these agreement” CEO Han voiced out. He handed pieces of paper to Lee Sooman who sat next to him, “… and here’s the agreement Minhyuk and Krystal submitted to us”

Lee Sooman frowned as he read the points the couple submitted one by one. Some of them have been discussed and agreed upon, while there are some new points that are quite surprising for him.

He looked up to Krystal, “You never said you would live in the US during your pregnancy, Krystal-ssi?”

“Actually that’s my idea, sajang-nim” Minhyuk defended her, “… Soojung and I agreed to stay in the US for an undetermined time”

“What do you mean?” Sooman raised his eyebrow confused

“I thought it would be very good for her to get away from public which is likely to make her feel stressed, while I will go back and forth from Korea to US at least once a week” Minhyuk explained, earning understanding nods from all parties.

“I’m sorry sir but I think it would be better if I step aside from Korea for a moment until the situation gets better. After all, isn't it the best way to hide my pregnancy? I believe you hate the idea if people recognize my belly and found out about our relationship” Soojung calmly stated,

You got the strike, Jung!

Lee Sooman hooked by the statement. He left hanging speechless while trying to find another options in his brain. He fixed his position before clearing his throat.

“Umh, you’re right. Okay, then how about your activities? Should I announce your hiatus to public soon?”

Minhyuk turned to see her fiancé. For some reason a feeling of guilt crawled over his heart to see her expression when Lee Sooman asked. As usual, Soojung’s face seemed emotionlessly calm when she heard the question, but he knew she must have felt sad and depressed. He realized this pregnancy was blocking her dream and might stop it right away.

He held her hand, giving statement ‘you know you don’t have to do this, Soojungie’ silently as if they could do telepathy.

Soojung just smiled in return before shifting her gaze to look at the CEO in front of her,

“I think you'd better do it soon since my pregnancy now entering the fifth month, Sajang-nim”

Lee Sooman sighed in surrender. He had no choice but to approve it since the person he faced was one of SM's biggest income contributors besides Kim Taeyeon and Im Yoona. He doesn’t want lose her like her sister did before.

“Alright if that’s what you want, but I warn you guys to be careful..” With that all eyes fixed on him, waiting for an explanation