“Ah, you mentioned that overseas thing.” Minae nodded along as the catering crew walked in, she was seated beside Chanyeol and one of SM’s head producers.

“We might push it for next year, what do you think?” Chanyeol asked her, Minae paused.

“Who do you want to hear? Your wife or ShinHan’s vice president?” The producer asked, Minae chuckled.

“Hmm, both.” Chanyeol asked as the waiter came around to serve their food.

“I think it’s a great idea. Not a lot of companies can do that, and well, not every company can afford it.” She pointed out as she looked at her plate, her eyes widened.

Chanyeol followed her gaze and grew amused, he pulled the plate of pork cutlets away from her.

“However, it is a big risk, Loey. I suggest you check the market first. What countries do you plan on visiting?” She asked him, she jutted her lips towards the salad, and Chanyeol pulled it towards them.

“Outside of Asia. I mean,” Chanyeol cleared his throat as he put some salad on her plate.

“It’s risky, I know. But someone’s gotta do it, right?” He asked, Minae nodded back, gesturing for him to pass the salad.

“Do you want me to look into it?” She asked him as she transferred the carrots on his plate, the other SM staff grinned at each other as they looked at the two.

“Pretty please.” Chanyeol batted his eyelashes at her, she snorted and nodded back.

“I’ll have a report sent to you before the year ends.” She murmured, she looked at the stage and smiled. SNSD’s Taeyeon was performing one of her famous ballads.

“Do we have plans for Christmas?” Minae asked him as she started to eat, she usually lets Chanyeol decide when it came to their trips or parties, or anything that requires spontaneity.

“Please tell me eomma didn’t call you.” He sighed, she grinned at him.

“She did, they’re flying over to Aspen. She wants to know~”

“Nope.” Chanyeol stated as he chewed on some beef.

“So, what do I tell her?” She asked as she leaned on the table, Chanyeol winced, not being able to hear her clearly. He pulled her chair closer to his and leaned his head against her shoulder.

“Where do you want to go?” He asked, Minae sighed and fed him a piece of lettuce.

“How about Beijing? Ma wants to see you.” She asked him, Chanyeol smiled and nodded quickly.

“Okay, then that’s final~”

“Can I join this table?” Haneul was smiling as she stood by there table.

“Nope, this seat is taken.” Another voice chimed in, Min looked up just as Jinah tossed her Birkin on the empty chair.

“I’m sure there’s another seat somewhere.” Chanyeol said politely, Minae eyed Jinah warily. Haneul blinked, she chewed on her lip before walking away from their table.

“Okay, rude.” Minae said as the girl sat across them, Chanyeol grinned and bumped fists with the girl.

“Sorry for being late, traffic was bad. So,” Jinah spoke as she looked at the two.

“Let’s settle this once and for all, Park Chanyeol.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol looked at her, his fork floating above his plate.

“This sounds serious, did you and Baek fight again?” Minae asked as she leaned in closer.

“No, but,” Jinah looked up, her eyes went to Haneul briefly, her eyes narrowed briefly.

“Are you a or guy?” She asked, Minae guffawed as Chanyeol almost spat out his wine.

“Well? ies? Or ?”

“You’re crazy. You really are.” Minae said as they stepped out of the event hall.

“I just wanted to help you mark your territory.”

“Territory? We’re at SM, Jinah. I don’t even work here.” She pointed out as she hooked arms with the girl.

“Chanyeol. Chanyeol is the territory.”

“You’re crazy.” She chuckled as they walked towards the doors.

“I’m just saying, that girl is dangerous. I mean, flashing her two meat~”

“Jinah!”

“ies, fine. Showcasing around her chest like that, especially in front of Chanyeol, her boss. That means, she has an ulterior motive.” She commented, Minae saw Baekhyun’s familiar Corvette pull over the curb.

“You’re just overthinking. Maybe that’s just how she dresses.”

“In the middle of winter?” She asked dryly as she gestured towards her s, Minae pushed her hands down.

“Just go to your boyfriend.” She pointed towards the car, Baekhyun had stepped down from his car, he was waving at the two of them.

“You should watch out for that girl. He might steal your Loey.”

“I don’t know if I should remind you, but we’re fake.” She reminded her quietly, Jinah rolled her eyes at the girl.

“He can choose to date anyone he wants. I mean, I’m just a placeholder.” Minae said as she walked the girl towards the sliding glass doors.

"A placeholder who's taken care of so much, Chanyeol treasures you so much, even his parents adore you to bits." Jinah stated, but Minae shushed her.

“Oh come on, it’s been three years, Jung Minae. He never once looked at another female~”

“Go, go. Byun Baekhyun, take her please!” She was laughing as she waved Baekhyun over, Jinah laughed and blew her a kiss before going to Baekhyun.

Minae looked up from her desk, her eyebrows went up in confusion.

“Aera? What does she want?” Minae spoke, her secretary could only shake his head.

“Vice president, we can’t exactly ask her to leave, Jung Oil Group is also our client.”

“I know that. I just…have one of the conference rooms ready. I’ll be down in a moment.”

The male nodded before leaving her office, Minae puffed her cheeks, she stood up from her desk and walked towards the windows.

“What do they want again?” She exhaled, she picked up her pone and stepped out of her office and made her way towards the elevator.

She got inside one of the machines and leaned back on the metal railing, the doors pinged open and she stepped out.

“Whoa, I almost forgot that you were in the position to make me wait.”

She looked up and paused, her cousin was standing across her, her arms crossed.

“What brings you here?” Minae maintained her composure, knowing that some of the employees can hear them.

“What are you planning?” Aera asked as she approached her, Minae paused, confused.

“You think no one would notice? You think you can trick me?” She laughed humorlessly, Minae took a step back, people were already looking at them.

“What are you saying, Aera?”

Aera cackled and shook her head.

“You really are good at this, Jung Minae. I mean, wow, you’ve improved so much.”

“Aera, please~”

“Spying on us now, huh? The money we’ve been sending you from before wasn’t enough? Come on, you already finished school, you managed to bag a rich husband, what more do you want?” Aera yelled at her.

Minae stilled, she glanced around them and she let put a breath.

“Let’s talk about this inside~”

“No, I want your people to hear what kind of woman you are. You, you managed to lure Chanyeol with your~”

“Don’t you dare drag Chanyeol into this.” She hissed, Aera laughed.

“You dragged him into this, Minae-yah. You started this. How dare you do this to us? Spying on us? Having someone poke on private details about Jung Oil Group, you really are something, you .”

“You can never really be satisfied, huh? You already have all this,” She gestured around them, Minae’s secretary rushed towards them.

“Now you want to touch us? You’re not even part of our family, you never were!”

“Samonim,”

Minae was looking at the floor, tears were pooling around her eyes.

“Why can’t you just die, Minae? Why didn’t you just~”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but aren’t you going overboard?” A masculine voice asked, just as Minae felt someone tug her back, she looked up only to see the back of a familiar head.

“W—Who are you?” Aera asked, the male shook his head at her.

“You’re harassing her, she can call the police and have you picked up.”

Chanyeol was bobbing his head through the music, he had his guitar on his lap and his headphones covered his ears.

“It’s still not right.” He muttered as he picked up his pencil and crashed out a few notes on the sheet of paper.

“F~”

“Sir?”

He looked up as the doors opened, his forehead creased briefly, not welcoming the disturbance.

“What is it?” He sighed as he set his guitar down and flexed his neck.

“I got a call from samonim’s secretary.”

Chanyeol nodded for him to continue, he removed his headphones from his neck.

“Does Min need me?” He asked, his assistant paused before speaking.

“Well, there’s been…an incident, sir.”

Chanyeol’s head snapped at him, he stood up.

“What happened?”

“Her cousin, Shim Aera-ssi went to the company, and she started…yelling at the samonim.”

Chanyeol shook his head, he picked up his jacket and chucked his phone in his pocket.

“Have the car prepared.”

“I heard it’s all been settled down; miss Shim has left the building.” He continued, knowing that his boss didn’t like going to his family’s company.

“Contact ShinHan. I want to know what happened before I get there.” He stated flatly as he put his jacket on.

“But sir, going there~”

“That company spends so much on security, and yet they can’t guard my wife well.” Chanyeol said, his tone sharp, before his secretary could speak again, he was already out of the room.

His secretary watched as his boss jogged towards the elevator, he leaned back against the doorframe and checked his phone again.

“This doesn’t look good. He rarely gets angry.”

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