Hi guys!!! Sorry for the late update. I am really, really busy nowadays so yuh... anyway this chapter turned out shorter than I thought.  

4

He could not laugh out loud, not while he was still in the elevator with some employees. The look of pure horror in the boy’s face when he realized who Jungkook was—it was priceless. He had every right to escape from the situation. He was clearly outplayed.

But if he really was working in the Wings Company, there was no way the unnamed boy was going to avoid him for all time. It was only a matter of days before he would come to Jungkook on his knees, apologizing for the rather insulting words he so carelessly spit onto Jungkook’s face the first time they met.

So Jungkook just internally laughed.  The smug smirk on his face did not go away, even while he was boarding his car parked in the basement to drive to the meeting place his secretary, Momo, has set.

The restaurant where he had asked Momo to book a reservation for two for him was quite far—it was nearer to Pink Princess’s main building, for Kim Seokjin’s convenience.

Today was the start of his own, private attempt at winning over Kim Seokjin and getting the deal.

But when he arrived, he could not stop himself from cursing silently, because apparently, he was late. Well, not really, because he was fifteen minutes ahead of the appointment. However, Kim Seokjin was already sitting on one of the seats in the reserved spot. At least he did not look too bored.

Gathering a bit of courage, Jungkook straightened himself up and entered. The moment he stepped into the place, the man he was meeting turned his attention to him and sent a warm smile.

“I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting.” Jungkook bowed to the taller once he was close enough.

“Oh, no, no! I was just early.” Seokjin answered, and the younger just nodded. “Let’s take a seat, okay?”

“Okay.” Jungkook answered. He, with confidence, took a seat on the chair opposite Seokjin and briefly scanned the area with his doe eyes.

“So,” Seokjin started, taking a sip on the goblet of water on the table. “What do you want to talk about, Jungkook-ssi.”

Said man smiled. “Nothing in particular. I just really want to get to know you, Seokjin-ssi. You seem like a nice person. And besides,” He continued, momentarily stopping to acknowledge the server who filled his glass with water. “I really think it would be nice for us to get acquainted with each other, so we would know how to work with each other in the very near future.”

Seokjin nodded in understanding. He then leaned back on his chair and smirked.

“I now understand why you’re so successful.” He said, causing Jungkook’s expression to change.

“I-I’m sorry, what?”

“Nothing.” Seokjin smiled. “I said nothing.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the reserved food for the two of them. Being filthy rich, Jungkook did not risk it, and safely ordered the most expensive and famous dish of the restaurant to impress Seokjin with. He knew it would not be easy to impress him, because while he was the head of a design company, he was already a renowned cook.

“I wanted to ask,” Seokjin restarted the conversation when it was just the two of them. “How does it feel like? Being the youngest CEO in Korea, as well as being one of the most successful?”

“Ah, thank you.” Jungkook, with feigned shyness, answered. He was already used to the praises. “It’s nice, really. I get lots of attention from the business world and media. Also, it helps with the reputation of the company.”

“You know, the way you run the company seems at par with someone with years of experience in the corporate life.” Seokjin continued. “You must’ve started really young, then.”

“Yeah… kind of.” The younger answered. “I’ve been into this kind of life ever since I was a little kid. So when my father finally let me tag along with him, I took the opportunity to learn. And here I am now.” He ended with a chuckle.

“Oh, so you’re the eldest?”

“No… not really.” Jungkook retorted. “I have an older brother, but he was not interested in these kinds of things.”

“Good thing your father did not hate him for it.”

“Nah, the old man was all support for us.” Jungkook smiled. “He just encouraged us to go for the things that we want to achieve. He trained me really well when I decided I wanted to run the company. He funded my hyung’s education, and even went to his recitals when he decided to pursue a career in music, and later on, he also supported his pursuance of philosophy.”

“Aww… what a nice family you have.” Seokjin fondly said. “It’s more or less perfect, don’t you think?”

“Far from it, but yeah, it was really, really nice.” Jungkook answered. He sliced a small piece of meat from the steak on his plate, jabbed on it with his fork, before putting it in his mouth. Right after swallowing it, he took the chance to ask things about his companion.

“How about you, Seokjin-ssi?” Jungkook started. “You know, you don’t seem that old either. A man in his late 20’s heading the leading design company in Korea. How do you do it?”

Seokjin briefly wiped his mouth with the napkin before speaking. “Thanks for saying I look young.” He chuckled. “Really, I don’t know! I guess it’s about dedication, honesty, and luck.” He paused for a while to drink. “Lots of luck.”

The two of them let out mannered laughs at Seokjin’s words. Personally, Jungkook believed that luck did not play that much of an important part in life. For him, success was all about hard work, determination, and doing everything you can to stay on top.

But of course, since he was on a mission to impress Kim Seokjin, he just agreed.

“I see, I see.” Jungkook nodded, slicing more of the meat from the steak. “How about your family, then, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Father’s dead.” Seokjin answered abruptly, taking Jungkook off guard. “I only have my mother in my life now.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay.” The elder assured Jungkook. “It’s been a long, long time. I was still in school when it happened. So it does not hurt that much now.”

Jungkook did not see that coming. He was pretty stable with communicating with people, but this way new ground for him. He had avoided confrontations involving sad topics, and now that he needed it the most, he silently wished he had practiced more on it.

“I-I understand.” Jungkook stuttered, causing Seokjin to look at him curiously.

“Hey, Jungkook-ssi, you’re fine, don’t worry.”

“No, I-I’m sorry.” Jungkook insisted. He took a deep breath in an attempt to pacify himself again, and it worked. “I… I’m just not used to talking about sad topics, really. I feel so insensitive right now.”

“No, I tell you, it’s okay.” Seokjin answered. “I am happy with how my life—our family’s life—turned out. And I am sure my father is happy, too.”

Jungkook smiled at Seokjin’s words—a genuine smile. The way the elder talked was really pleasing to him. It sounded like listening to decades’ worth of wisdom. He reminds him of his brother, Namjoon, but Seokjin was more on the tender, emotional side, while Namjoon had a more philosophical take on things.

“So… how about love life?” Jungkook dared ask. With this, he was quite comfortable. Even though he was not in a relationship himself, he felt like he could contribute to conversations about love.

“Oh, that.” Seokjin answered, then let out a labored sigh that caused Jungkook to internally panic. He wondered if he said the wrong thing again.

“What do mean ‘oh, that’?” Jungkook asked, a bit wary. He watched as Seokjin took a sip from his water before answering, or more like mumbling to himself.

“Ah… I wonder if you are open-minded.”

“Excuse me, what?”

“I just broke up with him, like… a few months ago.” Seokjin answered, making Jungkook’s expression fall. Again, he made a wrong move.

“That’s… too bad.” Jungkook remarked. “Why’d you break up with her?”

This time, instead of words, Jungkook got a raised brow from Seokjin as an answer. His worry heightened even more after seeing the elder’s expression, because it seemed like he thought Jungkook was already invading his privacy.

“Y-You may not—”

“You weren’t listening, are you?” Seokjin answered, smiling a bit. His question made Jungkook even more confused than he already is. “I said it was a ‘he’, not a ‘she’.”

Now that baffled Jungkook to the extremes. He was not ready to talk about sad conversations. But he never imagined that he would talk to someone about gay relationships.

And as someone straight, he really was not knowledgeable about this kind of things.

Or maybe he just heard wrong? Jungkook really did not know. Seokjin certainly did not seem like gay. Yes, maybe he really, really loved the color pink enough to name his company after the said color. Yes, maybe he was a really, really good cook. And yes, maybe he looked too pretty.

Oh .

Jungkook definitely should have researched more about the person he was meeting.

“Yes, Jungkook-ssi, I am gay.” Seokjin started again, smiling, seemingly relaxed. “And I broke up with him because I caught him cheating on me. With a girl.” He said, being kind enough to emphasize his use of the masculine pronouns. And with each stressed word, Jungkook internally flinched.

“O-Oh.”

“Yeah, I know.” Seokjin sighed. “Maybe he was just using me for financial gains or something. I really should’ve listened to my mother.”

A not-so-brief moment of silence floated after Seokjin closed his mouth. Feeling the need to say something—because it was really getting too uncomfortable and awkward for him—Jungkook cleared his throat and tried to sound as stable as possible.

“M-Maybe it’s just a… misunderstanding?” He suggested, not even sounding sure of himself.

“I do not see how I could misunderstand seeing my boyfriend making out with a girl with already half of their clothes off.” Seokjin retorted with a hint of spite in his voice. Jungkook could only let out an “oh” as a response.

“You know,” Seokjin sighed, looking down at the remaining half of the steak Jungkook ordered for him. “It would really be great to see great love for gay people like me. Happy endings. Just like the ones in the stories.”

All that Jungkook could reply was a forced smile. He really, really did not get how “unnatural” things like gay relationships work, and he already said enough bad things in front of Seokjin today. He would not want to get into the elder’s “bad people” list.

Fortunately for him, though, he did not have to think of a reply anymore, because soon after Seokjin finished talking, his phone rang.

“Okay, that’s my cue.” The elder said, fixing himself and standing up. “It was nice meeting you, Jungkook.”

Jungkook stood up from his chair, still a bit lost. “Y-Yeah. It was a pleasure, Seokjin-ssi.”

“Awww… you’re too formal. You can just call me Jin-hyung, or something like that. We’re friends now.”

Jungkook would have felt accomplished if he was not internally freaking out. “Okay, hyung.” He answered.

“I am going to attend as a guest speaker in a talk about gay relationships and LGBT empowerment. You may go with me if you want to.”

“I-I won’t be able to right now, unfortunately.” Jungkook sheepishly replied. “I-I’m kind of busy, too.”

“Yeah, I know.” Seokjin sighed. “Maybe next time, then?”

“Yeah, s-sure!” The younger answered, afterwards reaching out for the hand held towards him for a handshake. He absentmindedly watched the older leave the restaurant in his seat.

Once he was alone, he let his guard down and did not bother hiding his confusion anymore, staring off at nothing. He only waited for his mental state to stabilize again before he stood up from his seat and left to go back to his office.

“At least I had a little progress.” Jungkook mumbled to himself once he was in the safety of his office. “He even considers me his friend now.”

Even though his lunch with Kim Seokjin was way beyond what Jungkook had imagined, at the end of the day, he was still able to accomplish his goal. And now that he was done with step one, which was getting to know Seokjin, he can proceed to gaining his trust. One step at a time.

But his calmness was demolished when he received a message from his contact in the Pink Princess.

From: Cinderella

Sir, you have to hurry. The board is starting to look into the competition’s proposals. They have been setting appointments non-stop.

“Damn it!” Jungkook cursed, his stress levels rising to dangerous levels. He then let out a groan of frustration. Forget about the “one step at a time” strategy. He had to act fast.

Grabbing himself a cup of coffee, Jungkook took a seat on his thinking chair and closed his eyes. He knew he had to think of the fastest way that he could use gain Seokjin’s trust. He knew establish a connection with Seokjin—something that would easily get the elder to know that they are allies.

Jungkook knew that he had to show that they were on the same page. That they had the same vision.

Jungkook opened his eyes and stood up as realization on what to do hit him.

He had to find himself a boyfriend.