Title acronym: HIM (Honeymoon in Maldives)

Jeonghan had his eyes on the big roundtable full of empty plates and silverwares. The middle of the table had some beautiful assorted flowers. The boy stayed quiet as the people around him talked.

There are nine people on the table and only two of them are women. If he remembers correctly, following clockwise, the guy sitting next to him with the glasses on is the mafia’s college friend who is now their Alumni’s school director; the man sitting next to him is the 6’4” giant of the group, a national player who used to play soccer with the mafia; then Mina; the eerie foreigner with the brown wavy hair that’s been smiling at Jeonghan and is also fluent in Korean; and then there’s Minhyuk; sitting beside him is the loud guy with the velvet necktie, the group’s clown and the woman laughing at him is his girlfriend who he met in Beijing, an inheritor of a famous jewelry shop in China.

They all look so young, just around mid to late 20’s and are all cladded in beautiful expensive clothes. He would sometimes catch people looking at him and he would smile and bow, it could be his hunger but he thinks he saw the foreigner blush.

Every time the people try to engage him in conversations, the men would look to his right and stutter, some of them even congratulate the mafia and apologize for not being able to attend. Which of course, is very acceptable, at least to Jeonghan because who plans a wedding in one night?! This mafia is terrorizing these men for something so trivial!

Seungcheol watched his wife rub his stomach and glare at him while mouthing (what seems to be) curses. He raised his eyebrow at the boy’s courage before whispering: “This is better than your packet noodles.”

“Hmp!” Jeonghan released air from his nose as he crossed his arms to face the other way around.

He heard the mafia scoff but he didn’t see him smiling fondly.

Jeonghan is so annoyed. He thinks It’s unfair. If Seungcheol wants to go out with the elitists, he should have just gone alone. The angel already escorted him to the auction, he had a good casual conversation with some businessmen and women his husband had introduced him to and he did everything he asked so he should at least let the boy be. All he wants is to feel home again, to fill his stomach as soon as possible, but at this moment, he thinks he’s more closer to death because now, he has to wait for 20 minutes for their food.

Jeonghan started playing with the hem of his tux. Listening quietly at everyone's conversation. He thought he’s pretty good being invisible when a certain person calls his attention.

“Sooo, Jeonghan-ssi, how did you and Seungcheol oppa meet? I’ve never heard him say anything about you.”

Jeonghan gulped. He felt like he’s being scrutinized by everyone because all the other subjects were forgotten, the table went silent and everyone’s waiting for his answer. He looked to his side to see the mafia with a blank expression. Should he tell the truth? If he did, that would humiliate the mafia right? Would be great to get back on him for dragging him here and letting him starve but is that really a great idea? He doesn’t know how violent the mafia can be but he’d rather not find out.

“O-oh, uhmm… well, we met because he and my dad had some business deal some time ago…” Yeah, exactly four days ago!

Jeonghan quickly glanced at the mafia who still has a blank face but he looked somewhat relaxed now.

“I see…Which though? Oppa recently started investing in other industries. Is it related to hotels? Real estate? Elite Security? Maybe with Choi Korean Bank?”

“Err..”

Mina easily saw the hesitation in the blonde’s eyes and knew immediately that there’s something odd between his and the mafia’s relationship so she continued “You know, I’ve always admired Cheol oppa, he’s a very successful man, in fact he’s in the top 10 most youngest billionaire entrepreneur in Asia, a lot of women from our university and business circle went and are still after him.”

“You mean like you, Mina?” One handsome foreigner with brown wavy hair and strong features interrupted in fluent Korean and everyone laughed. Well, except for the mafia and Jeonghan.

“Anyway... from which clan are you from and what do you do? Tell us about you.” Mina waved her hand before grasping them together and resting her chin on it as he looked at Jeonghan with a dubious smile.

Jeonghan was shocked to hear how large the mafia’s company is. He had seen him a lot on business channels and he knew that he’s a CEO and owns a lot of hotels and properties but to know that he also owns a nationwide bank and an elite security agency? The man is insanely rich! The angel should be frightened at the latter revelation but the feeling of being small grew more in him. There’s a small space between them but why does it feel like there’s a thick, concrete wall separating them?

Jeonghan looked down and fiddled his fingers, his lower lip trapped in his teeth. He took in a deep breath before smiling softly at the woman. “There’s nothing much to know about me or my family. I’m a scholar in my university so there’s that and although I don’t have to worry about my tuition, I still need to eat everyday so I work as a part-timer at a cafe near my school.”

“Oh…”

The enthusiasm of the people around died and Jeonghan didn’t like the silence. He knows he shouldn’t care about what others think but when he saw everyone’s subtle surprised look, he felt cold. He felt like he was stabbed in the heart. He felt humiliated, like everyone was belittling him, like he’s not supposed to be with the mafia because of his social status. He was dragged here, he didn’t want to be part of the meeting--- heck he didn’t want to be married to the mafia, the man was the one who FORCED him, that’s why they’re all in one table now but why did it hurt?

Seungcheol who had been very observant of his wife noticed the slight change in his smile and it made his heart clench. The mafia raised his arm to pat his wife’s hair, not missing his little flinch or his small glance. Seungcheol let his big palm slide to the boy’s back and massaged it lightly, releasing the tension in the blonde’s body. “What? Surprised that this beauty also has a brain?”

“I’m impressed Choi. Pretty, smart and hard working? You really have an impossibly high standard.” The foreigner commented and raised his glass to Jeonghan before drinking it.

And because of the mafia's words and the foreigners agreement, everyone at the table started complimenting Jeonghan and asking how he managed to live like that.

“How do you do it? I had the best tutor and I barely passed statistics! You’re telling us you’re a full scholar?”

“You were just too dumb hyung! Anyway, Jeonghan-ssi, my family owns a chain cafe, I think we need a dedicated employee just like you---Ow!”

“You ! He’s Cheol’s wife, do you really think he’ll let his pretty wife work for your company, no--- do you think he’d actually let Jeonghan-ssi work at all? He’s very possessive!”

Jeonghan felt relieved. The former pity was replaced with admiration and he thanked the mafia with a small smile. He was about to answer the questions when he felt the fingers that’s been drawing small circles slowly travel down south, to the dip of his back. Jeonghan tensed up and whipped his head to the mafia who’s acting like he’s solely listening to the conversation.

The boy nudged the man and when he finally got his attention, all he got was a: “ you can try their soup,” and the man still continued to run his hand around the boy’s back and sides.

Jeonghan, not being so used to people touching him, felt uncomfortable at how the mafia was gently pinching his skin and massaging them, making his whole body react in a way and after a moment, Jeonghan thought he had enough so he grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it away as he continued to fake laugh with the group.

However Seungcheol saw this as an opportunity to grab his wife’s hand and intertwine their fingers.

“O--oh, Jeonghan-ssi, are you okay? Your face is turning red!”

“Y-yes hahahaha!” The boy tried to pull his hand off but the mafia had a tight grip. He glanced at the mafia who only winked at him. If the guys could see how red his ears are now, they’d think that the boy is burning with fever. Jeonghan tried to take his now sweaty hand away as subtle as possible but the mafia’s hold is just too strong. It took him a few tugs until he realized he’s trapped and eventually, he gave up.

The couple had their hands clasped together until their food arrived, thankfully it didn’t take long because if they did Jeonghan would have fainted, not because of hunger but because of the mafia. Thank God they have to make a toast now.

“To our friendship, to our success, and of course, to Jeonghan-ssi and Cheol’s wedding! Cheers!”

After 2 hours of eating and discussing, Jeonghan felt very tired. The angel, who’s so used to sleeping after a heavy meal fought the urge to yawn. It’s already 11 P.M., Jeonghan thinks they should get going but he couldn’t even tell the mafia because they are now getting dragged to a club right across the restaurant they were at.

Jeonghan never liked alcohol because of his father and he hates going to bars because of this one bad experience he had. He had just turned 21 when his friends made him drink. The angel didn’t like the taste of alcohol and its effect on people but since his peers kept insisting and pouring him a drink, he couldn’t say no. He decided to try, just this one time, then maybe he could find out why so many people turn alcoholic.

Jeonghan already had several drinks but he still couldn’t see why people find them addicting so he continued to try every drink his friends give him and because the boy has a low alcohol tolerance, eventually, he got drunk.

His whole world went spinning, he needed to get the alcohol right out of his system so he went to the comfort room alone which was a bad idea. He was washing his face in the sink when someone started rubbing their thing on his .