Lee Sangchul laughs victoriously, hugging that big box of cake all to himself. "I can't believe I thought you were cool..." grumbles Changmin, only making Sangchul laugh harder.

"Secretary Shim... rather... Manager Shim, my earlier offer still stands," Joongi throws a sideways glance at Jaejoong. "I will have my secretary get in touch with you for a visit."

"That better be soon," Changmin snaps when Sangchul makes childish teasing faces at him. The elevator arrives at the basement and Changmin and Jaejoong let Joongi and Sangchul walk first. Sangchul pretends the cake is too heavy and pushes it to Changmin with a request to help him carry it to his car. Changmin whines about mean old men and rubbing it in noses as he walks ahead of said mean old man.

Joongi matches his steps with Jaejoong who is dragging the cart of leftovers - another thing Changmin is mad the old man is taking - beside her. "So..." he hopes he doesn't seem too lame trying to make conversation. "Where is Han Youngjoon?"

"Sajangnim will tie up some loose ends about the deal cancellation since he's here." Jaejoong answers with stiff politeness of an employee unlike how she spoke in Jeju. She's onto him and his attempt to cosy up to her and she doesn't want to lead him on. Not that it stops him.

"How... how's your little cousin? I hope his parents didn't scold him."

"We begged them not to remind him about it. He feels bad enough as it is."

"I see... and...uh.... do you still feel sick?"

"It was motion sickness Joongi-ssi. I wasn't going to have it for a week." Joongi's face reddens in embarrassment. He's sure he's caught now. He better shut up since they're only a few feet from his car.

While his father is trying to pry the cake from Changmin, Joongi turns to Jaejoong. His sudden action has her big doe eyes looking at him inquisitively and he forgets what he wants to say. Jaejoong her head to the side, something Joongi subconsciously imitates. "Can I ask something Joongi-ssi?"

"S-sure..."

"Can you not hate Minyoung?" Joongi inhales aharply but Jaejoong continues. "I know it's not my place but... she's hurting over it for years because she knows she's wrong. But you don't know the whole story and she's traumatized by the whole thing. She's not expecting you to forgive her but... you shouldn't hate her either. Not unless you hate the other person who is equally guilty."

The other person... Joongi hadn't decided what he's going to do about his brother. He made a snap decision about the person in front of him when it came to his feelings. He isn't exactly close to his brother and he doesn't really think much about his sister-in-law to be angry on her behalf. It all comes down to him pouring his heart out to Minyoung only for her to leave him for a married man. There's a lot of rethinking he needs to do if Jaejoong is telling this to him.

Apparently, she doesn't need to wait for his answer either. She's shuffling over to the driver so he can put the leftovers in the boot. "Ajhussi! I want my boxes back okay? I can't bring lunch to these guys without them."

"What!" Changmin's shock was the perfect opportunity for Sangchul to snatch the cake from him and put in the boot of the car. "Let's go! Let's go!" Sangchul yells, throwing himself inside the car. "Agassi, I'll make sure to thank you well for the food!" He yells from inside.

Changmin almost yelled 'what about me' when Jaejoong silenced him by jabbing her elbow into his ribs. Joongi is not as noisy. He walks around the car, waves at the two secretaries who bow cordially, and gets in from the other side.

Jaejoong and Changmin wait till the car drives away before walking back. "I shouldn't have done it right... meddling?" Jaejoong asks this to person who did a good job distracting Sangchul when she was talking to Joongi.

Changmin though can only sigh at this complicated situation. "I've only known about it for a few days. So I'm at that stage where I would jump at a chance to help. I mean isn't that what Yunho hyung did when she asked him to."

"Exactly... I wasn't told to do that. I'm scared... what if I made it worse? What if he tells everyone?"

"He wouldn't do that... because he has to protect the family name and also, he doesn't seem like that kind of person. Don't beat yourself up. You told him what he should've understood in the first place. Besides, we all do absurd stuff for friends. I once stalked a girl for a guy who fell for after seeing her for five minutes at the train station." Jaejoong punches him halfheartedly for... well...the stalking.

~~~

"Drop me at the office and then take Abeoji home..." Joongi instructs the driver before sitting back. His ears are still ringing with Jaejoong's words till he feels sick and he immediately opens the window for some air. He glances at his father to see if he noticed his weird behaviour only to see him smiling goofily with spaced out eyes. "You look like you had the best meal of your life."

Sangchul is startled out of his daydream of eating that cake and chuckles. "Don't tell my chef. I don't want to have to look for a new chef all over again if he quits."

 Joongi can only shake his head. Always about food with his dad. How did no one get a business deal with him with just a pork roast?

He hasn't even noticed Joongi's weird behaviour in his daydreaming. But he is not prepared for what his father says next.

"Hey you know what would be great if the chef quits? You could marry someone who's