Krystal is busy checking herself out in her vanity mirror, making sure that she looks presentable for this very special day. After this day, everything will change. Hopefully, all is for the better. As she finished making sure that she looks her best, she stands up from her seat trying to look for Seulgi sensing that her partner must be a nervous wreck right now. Perfectly knowing what Seulgi is like, it did not take long for her to find the woman, back rested against the railings on the balcony with a very faraway look on her eyes.  She chose not to interrupt and would just content herself with looking at her from afar. She knows how much burden is on the woman’s shoulder is right now and that momentary peace that she is having would cause even a few minutes of relief then who is Krystal to take it from her. The two stayed like that for a few minutes until Seulgi expelled a deep and audible sigh that Krystal decided to make her presence known.

“Nervous?” Seulgi jolts a bit but calmed down almost immediately once she recognized who disrupts her tranquility. A tired smile is now plastered on her face as she held out her hand which Krystal gladly took.

“I just can’t believe that this day has finally arrived. Like how I cannot believe that everything we worked hard for will all come down to this. In a few hours, we can finally have our liberty back.” There is a bittersweet tone in Seulgi’s voice which Krystal does not miss. So in her own little way, she expresses her gratitude.

“Thank you, Seulgi, for doing all of this for me. I don’t know what I will do if not for you.” The young Jung said yet the other woman shook her head in defiance.

“No, I am the one who should thank you Stal. Thank you for being with me through all of this. I couldn’t have done it without you.  I owe my life and happiness to you.” There is some sense of finality in Seulgi’s voice and Krystal perfectly knows why. Thus, she wrapped her arms around her fiancée trying to memorize the feeling of the one she loves this close to her. Besides she knows that this will be the last time that she could hold her close like this. After this day, she would not have that right anymore.

The two stayed like that for a few minutes until a soft knock disturbed their serenity. The door opened revealing Wendy who also has this determined look on her face.

“Seulgi… Stal, it’s time.”

Once they heard the announcement, Krystal placed her lips on Seulgi’s ear,

“Let’s go bring everything back to its proper place.”

Meanwhile, Irene is in no different state than Seulgi. She has been standing on her office’s window looking at the bright blue sky. Today is an important day and she cannot help but be anxious. Despite being kept in the dark, Irene knows that something huge is about to happen. She places her hand in her heart, readying herself for whatever outcome the meeting will yield for her. At long last, she can just hope that by the end of the day, trusting Seulgi is right and it will not be her who will be losing everything once the day is over.

***

Just like the previous meeting, the boardroom is now occupied by all of the shareholders of the company. The men all clad in expensive three-piece suits lined up the table in the middle of the room. While Seulgi and Irene sat side by side in the right corner much closer to the front where a large screen is set up and a makeshift podium with a microphone on the other corner. Other than the members of the board in the middle, there are also separate chairs being occupied by Irene’s core members; Solar, Joy, and Bogum on one side. And Seulgi’s: Krystal and Jung Ilwoo on the other side.

As soon as the clock strikes 10 am, Irene stands up from her seat and went to the podium. Her very presence on-stage commands attention that every eye in the room is on her yet it did not even faze her. In fact, the CEO stride even more confidently. Upon reaching the stage, she cleared and presides over the meeting.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Irene Bae, Chairman, and CEO of KB enterprise.

(A/N: Sorry It’s been two years since I’ve written this and I can’t even remember the name of their company) I want to say welcome and say that I am very pleased to meet you all here. The agenda of today’s meeting will be the Election of the Chairman of the Board as well as the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer by the elected Chairman. So now I call upon our Vice President, Kim Yong sun to take over.” Irene made her opening speech and called Solar to continue.

Once she has taken her seat, Solar replaced her in the podium and did the proceedings.

One thing good about the company is that they opt for the anonymity of their voting system.  The members of the board are each given a tablet on which they could cast their votes upon. Each director has points that correspond to the percentage of the shared their own. So, each vote from the member all carries different weights in them.

“Before we proceed to the voting procedures, I would like to take a moment of your time for a special announcement. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am extending our earnest congratulations to our very own Ms. Kang Seulgi who secured a partnership with one of the largest companies in Dubai. Ms. Kang’s effort and dedication cemented our way towards the Middle East market.” Thunderous applause filled the whole venue as Seulgi stands up from her seat and gave a ninety-degree bow. The screen also showed pictures from the contract signing as well as the subsequent photo op with Emiratis commemorating the successful partnership.  Right across the room, the woman could see the proud smile of her fiancée as well as the contented expression of Ilwoo. She smiled inwardly at this.

Once the announcement and impromptu quick celebration were over and done, Solar continued with the agenda.

“Now the Directors can start casting their votes for Kang Seulgi or Irene Bae as the next Chairman of the Board. “One by one the Directors started casting their votes as the screen showed the circle starting filling in, signaling the percentage of votes tallied. Once the color red filled the circle, everyone held their breaths, patiently awaiting the results.

As soon as the votes have been verified, Solar immediately climbed up to the podium once again to announce the winner.

“Now that the voting is over and tallied, we shall now see the results.” The screen then changed into a different one, Seulgi and Irene’s names side by side with 0% at the bottom. Then numbers start to add up. Everyone held their breaths but as the counts started reaching the end, Jung Ilwoo sported a massive and contented smile on his face.

Seulgi won by a landslide. A staggering 68%, with 25 coming from her own, 26% from the Lee brothers as promised when she secured the partnership with the Dubai Company, while the rest from all the others who support Jung Il woo. While Irene got 32%, with 30% even coming from her own shares while the other 2 came from Solar who bought them from another shareholder days before the meeting.

Once the results have been announced. Joy and Solar are fuming silently in their seats. While Irene has a blank look on her face. Not a trace of anger or disappointment while on the opposite side, Krystal and Seulgi both look relieved. Everything has been going according to plan.

“Let’s welcome our new Chairman Ms. Kang Seulgi,” Solar announced earning thunderous applause from everyone. Seulgi is taking confident strides towards the podium. Her eyes transformed into a crescent as her lips curved into a wide smile but Irene caught a hint of nervousness somewhere along that line. The way Seulgi’s hands keep clenching and unclenching as they sit idly on her side. And Irene starts preparing herself for the unexpected.

“Thank you very much for the trust and support that you have given me. I’ll do everything I can so that our company can go to greater heights. Now, with me being elected as the Chairman I think that it is just fitting to appoint the next CEO whom I believe would be the most suitable right-hand man to achieve our goals and would help make this company stay on top. But before I officially announce my bid for our Chief Executive Officer, I would like to call upon a very important person who accepted my personal invitation and graced us with his presence today. One of the formidable names in the business world and my future father-in-law, Mr. Jung Ilwoo.

The said man stands up from his seat basking in the sound of loud applause. He felt ecstatic at the moment. All of his hard work is starting to pay off. Pushing Krystal to be with Seulgi is such a wise decision for him and he is starting to see the results. Once his feet directed him to where the woman is, he gave a deep bow to everyone as a sign of false respect. False because they would all be at the bottom of his feet worshipping him once he completely took over this company.

His internal musing was interrupted upon hearing his name from Seulgi’s mouth.

“In the span of just five years, Mr. Jung managed to turn his company around and made it grow tenfold. So, my team and I prepared a short presentation on why Jung Ilwoo is the right man to aid me in making our company even greater than it is.” Seulgi eyed Wendy who gives her a