"Ne jagi," he was unconsciously smiling over the phone. "Ne, I'll eat as soon as you hang up," he said, and he looked over at Fanny who was already holding his lunch for him. His lips let out a small chuckle, his girlfriend sure knows how to take care of him. "Ne, Seo sarang-" But his goodbye was never heard, since the beeping sound from the other line already told him that she had hang up already. He was walking towards his office, with Fanny by his side, when someone clapped his back.

"Mmm, jagi?" A deepy raspy voice said, and JaeJoong looked behind, only to be greeted by the curious face of his own father. "I didn't expect that Jessica would be so... motherly?" he commented, but his expectations looked wrong, when his son was rather looking uneasy. "Or maybe I was wrong..?" 

He pursed his lips a little, "Jessica and I broke up appa," he explained. It had been so long since he and his father have talked, that it didn't cross his mind to at least tell him about Sica. 

"So it's a new girl then?" Youngbae knew about his son's harsh impression towards women, of course, he also knows that it might be the result of his own ex-wife's infidelity. Like his friends, it also came a shock to him when he told him about Jessica, and it came more of a surprise now that he has someone knew.. maybe he's gradually changing then.

"Judging from how she tells you to eat, she might be something then," he smiled. The new lady in his son'e life spark an interest in him. "Invite her over for dinner then, tomorrow night." He said, then immediately glance at his secretary, telling him to cancel his 5 o'clock meeting tomorrow. 

Looking rather apprehensive about his father's sudden decision, he immediately tried to cancel him off, "Appa, we haven't even dated that long, and she might feel overwhelmed if I asked her over to meet you at this stage," he said, perfectly making an excuse. There was another reason why he wanted he cancel, it was because he was scared that his father might reject her. His father never really voiced out any thing about woman that he wanted for her. Jessica was a different situation since his father already knows her but Seo.. thought she was beautiful and kind, she didn't posess something that is wanted from the people from their status.. money. 

But his excuse didn't even work, instead his father dismissed him. "Nonsense. Whoever it is your dating, I should have every right to meet her, I'll meet you tomorrow at 7. Don't be late." He said authoratively as soon as the elevator door close. 

"I'm so dead," he muttered miserably to himself. 

---

Fortunately, his worries about SeoHyun getting angry at him, turned out to be wrong, as he listened to his girlfriend's excited and slightly nervous voice. She felt hesitant at going first, but she accepted the invitation, knowing that, Jae's father might think that she was rude for rejecting him. So an hour after lunch, Jae sent Fanny over to Seo's apartment. Jae knows how his girlfriend, wasn't really the type who dress up a lot. Hell, he doesn't even care, knowing that she'd look the prettiest in her jeans and sweater, but they both needed to look presentable to at least convice his father into liking her. So Jae instructed Seo to go to the salon and to the Chanel store. He even told her to at least teach Seo about some basic dining etiquettes. 

So at exactly 6:45, Jae pulled up in front of Seo's apartment. He was dressed in blue dress shirt, with two of its button undone. On top of it was his black jacket. He paired it with his dark skinny jeans and black leather shoes. He fixed his shirt, and his wristwatch. He went inside and knocked on Seo's door twice. 

"Coming," she called out. A few seconds later and the door opened, and Jae just stared at the beauty, feeling speechless. She was already lovely, but seeing her all dolled-up, made her even lovelier. 

She was wearing a cream dress, which was barely above the her knees. It was pleated on the top side, and was sheer. The buttons were all done, until the black collar. Her hair was up in a messy bun, with ringlets on her side. Her lips was pink and so was her cheeks. Her eyes just had a small touch of eye liner and mascara. 

"Good evening," he greeted her, and Seo answered back. He held her hand to support her, while she close the door. Jae caught a glimpsed of Fanny, and quickly gave him a discreet thumbs up, signaling what a great job she did. I think I need to give her a raise for this, he thought to himself. 

As he was opening the door, Jae wasted no time in finally giving his girlfriend a compliment. "You look exquisite," he said sweetly and gave her a light peck on the cheeks. Feeling less attentive, she was too nervous to even give him an answer so Seo just nodded, and went inside the car. 

The whole ride, Seo wasn't even paying attention when Jae was trying to start a conversation. She was giving him short answers and kept fidgeting in her seat. She was either playing with her hands, or biting her thumb just so she could ease her tension. 

"You're going to ruin Fanny's hard work if you kept biting your thumb off," Jae teasingly joked. 

"Mmm," she smiled embarrassingly and put her hands down. 

"Mianhe," he said feeling guilty. "It's all my fault. I should've insisted for him to cancel the dinner." 

"Gwenchana," she smiled reassuringly. "I'd have to meet your father in the future anyways." 

"But we haven't been dating long, and you might think this is too much of a big step for us and.." He doesn't even know too well how Seo feels for her. So having this dinner might send her the wrong message. 

Her hand rubbed his soothingly. "It isn't, so stop apologizing." 

"Thank you," he said, having time to kiss her hand just before the light turned green. 

"Do you think he'll like me?" she asked, her anxiety coming back.

"He will." I hope he will.

---

As soon as she saw the house, or rather mansion, she was just completely blown away. Behind the wide iron gate was a spacious front lawn, and in the center was a fountain. The driveway had lights and there were trimmed rosebushes on either side. At the door, about 20 maids and butlers came to greet them. One of the butlers opened the door for the both of them, and Jae came over to her side. He took her hand and intertwined it with his and walked to the door. There stood a man in a dark suit and behind him is the main butler. The man looked nothing of Jae's beautiful face, though he had similar eyes with his own son. His hair had streak of grey, but was neat. His suit crisp and clean. He looked stern, but his expression slightly soften when he saw them approaching. 

"Appa," Jae said, and Seo greeted him with a bow. 

"I'm Seo Joo-hyun, but a lot of people call me Seo," she said timidly. 

The elder man gave her a small smile, "I'm Kim Youngbae, and thank you so much for accepting my invitation." 

"Aniyo, thank you for inviting me Youngbae-ssi." 

"Come the food's getting cold," he said, as he both ushered them in. He was talking closely to Jae, while Seo was just silently following them from behind. 

As soon as she entered, her eyes feasted with the sight before. She was awestruck by the magnificence of the place. Though she only seen the some parts of the house, she was sure that the rest of it would blow her away. 

"How's the food, is it okay?" Youngbae asked the quite lady. 

They've all settled down for dinner and Youngbae sat at the end and at the side was Jae and next to him was Seo. 

Seo nodded stiffly, "Ne Youngbae-ssi," she caught Jae's eyes and gave her an encouraging smile. 

"So how are your parents?" Youngbae found himself feeling interested towards the woman. Though him and JaeJoong never really talked about girls, he knows how his son doesn't want to have a girlfriend who's older than him, and to see him defying his own requirements, just like with Jessica, is quite a shock. It got him thinking that maybe Seo was quite special then. 

"Um.. my parents are dead," she briefly explained. Youngbae sudden felt bad, feeling guilty for bringing it up. He felt remosed fot her loss. Seeing his sudden change of expression, she quickly explained, "It was a long time ago, and I'm okay." 

"How old were you?" 

"I was two." 

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said feeling depressed for her. At a young age, she suffered quite a loss like that, and to grow up to be like this, she might have endured a lot.

"So what course did you take at college?" He asked, his questions not even reaching the half of it. He was deeply interested in her, and he wants to learn what is it about that Jae was infatuated for.

"I took up a course in film and photography.. but I never finish," she said, but suddenly felt regretful when Youngbae's face slightly turned sour.

"Why is it?"

"I had an early engagement but it never happened-" but her explanation was cut by Youngbae's sudden sermon.

"Did you know child that education is one of the most important privilege of the youth. Not everyone could go to university and you didn't even finish it. How much money must you have wasted.." He went on and on and Seo felt like she was close to tears. Not an hour had passed and she already made a bad impression. 

Jae held her hand firmly, "Appa I'm sure Seo had reasons why she stopped. You shouldn't lecture her like that." 

"But education is a-" but his agruement wasn't heard when a woman suddenly appeared in front of them. 

"Hey, sorry for just barging in," she greeted sweetly and all of them turned to her direction. The old man stood and gave her a hug but Jae and Seo remained in her seats. She was trying to remember when and where she saw the woman. She looked oddly familiar until something click, she was going to asked Jae, but instead his focus was on the girl. 

"Sica," he whispered. And with the look on Jae's face, Seo already sensed the girl's relationship with them. 

---

When dinner was done they where ushered to the living room for some tea and cake. Feeling small and uneeded, Seo quietly slipped in and tried to search for a good place to take a breather. She was about to go outside the garden when something else caught her eye. She went in and close the door.

With the woman's sudden apperance, Jae father never even took notice of her. He asked a few questions and everytime he would compare her to Jessica. She felt really small next to her, in her sophisticated looks and intelligence, Seo felt close to nothing. 

She went to the piano bench and started playing idly. Playing the piano was like fresh air for Seo, it relaxes her and relieves her tension. 

The door slightly creek, but Seo didn't even hear it. She never even discerend the footsteps that were coming towards her. 

"Seo..?" a raspy voice asked. 

Already knowing who it was, Seo didn't look at the person and just continued playing lazily with the keys. 

"Is Jessica your ex-girlfriend?" The question she was itching to ask was finally out in the open. 

"Ne," he said. With that, Seo now knows why Jae acted strange that night. How he rudely treated her. 

Seo didn't probe more, but she went on with the playing. Jae sat besides her and she didn't even flinch. Jae watched her slender hands play with the keys, but instead something else caught his eye. It was how Seo looked so solemn. He felt angry with himself, and towards his dad who haven't even treated her that well. He haven't even had the guts to defend her. 

"Seo, play that piece again," he said, trying to avert her attention. "The piece that you played on the department store." 

Not answering, she followed his request and Jae felt emotional as soon as he heard the sweet sad tune. 

"Your appa.. seemed to adore Jessica a lot," she said, feeling rejected. She felt sorry to Fanny, to see how her hardwork turned into waste. She felt sorry for Jae, for not even acting like a proper girlfriend should have. She felt angry towards herself since she haven't even tried her best in impressing his father. 

"I like you more," he whispered to her ear, but Seo remained unaffected. She was still sulking behind the piano, blankly playing the piece she was asked to. 

Feeling frustrated, she grabbed her arm, and hoisted her from her seat. 

"Yah!" She protested, but Jae locked his arm around her waist. He took the remote from the mantle, and clicked on the stereo, and there came out a classical song. It was one of Debussy's pieces. 

"Dance with me," he said, as he held her hands and put it on his chest. His hands were placed on either side of her waist. 

"Know what? I think I already know how JanDi feels," she said. Her face, resting on Jae's chest. 

"How come?" 

"Easy. Rich guy falls in love with poor girl, and now his parents disagree." She explained, "It's kinda like my situation right now." 

"Appa doesn't hate you. Just give it time yeobo," he said gently as they were leading her in swaying side to side. 

"I know, but what if.. what would you do if he tells you that he'll take your inheritance if you won't break up with me." 

"Then prepare to have a poor boyfriend," he said jokingly as he kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't care much about it at all. I'd even love the idea, since I'd move in with you and I'd get to see you more often." 

"Are you sure? To live without the comforts of money?" 

Jae looked down at her, his eyes locking with her brown ones. His expression held sincerity. "Nothing or no one could take you away from me, especially not money." He said as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. 

"Jinjja?" 

Jae nodded, his smiled never leaving his face. 

"Then I'd still love you even if you're going to end up to be a poor, handsome and immature man." She said lovingly. Her arms were place around his neck, and his rested on the same spot. Even if she was in bad situtation earlier, it was moments like this that Jae makes her forget about things. She doesn't want anything but Jae, and she hopes that this thing could just go on forever. 

"Jeoldae ddeonaji aneulgeoya*," Jae whispered sweetly to her. 

---

*Trans: I will never leave you

Sorry only had to update now. 

Anyways hope you enjoyed reading :)