Chaeyeon let out a big sigh and stepped back from the crowd, she was at the studio with her team, just finishing a couple of touches for the party.

She exhaled and tried flexing her neck. She couldn’t sleep properly lately, why?

Well, first she had fashion week and the party her company was throwing for the event. And, the release of her second line.

And.

And.

Son Hyunwoo.

She leaned back against the wall, looking uncharacteristically disheveled in her leggings, distressed sweater and white sneakers get up.

“Secrteary~”

She paused when secretary Yang bowed to the direction of the doors, she followed her gaze and Chaeyeon sighed.

“Director Son,” The girl spoke, Chaeyeon puffed her cheeks and padded towards the group of models, waiting to be fitted to their clothes.

“Is Chaeyeon in? I tried texting her, but she seems busy.”

The male model was blinking at the young president as she hid behind him.

“The president here!” He called out, Chaeyeon groaned at him, the model balked in shock. Chaeyeon appeared, a little peeved.

“Hi.” Chaeyeon walked to them, secretary Yang excused herself and stepped away.

“You look tired, did you even get some sleep?” Shownu asked as he leaned over to kiss the side of her head, Chaeyeon flinched but she nodded.

“I—I did, well, not a lot. Oooh! Is that coffee?” She noticed the cup in his hand, she was about to take a sip but Shownu pulled it back.

“You don’t need this. You need sleep.” Shownu said with a small chiding smile, she made a face at him.

“I know you’re busy, I came by with some food.” Shownu glanced over his shoulder as men with boxes of specialty sandwiches walked in the studio, Chaeyeon’s staff paused at their entrance.

“I don’t know what everyone likes, so, a chef came too just in case you have other requests.” Shownu stated as a man dressed in white also walked in.

“That’s..great, thanks. A bit over the top, but I’m hungry so, I won’t argue with you on this one.” She puffed her cheeks as the chef set up his workplace.

“Will I see you for lunch?”

“I’m not sure, I’m barely halfway done here. How’s work?” Chaeyeon asked, Shownu shrugged at her.

“It’s alright. Minhyuk seems to be enjoying giving director Song a hard time.” Shownu said as he tucked her hair behind her ears, and then he cupped her cheeks.

“You should at least take a break, Oh Chaeyeon.” He stated, the girl rolled her eyes at him.

“It’s tomorrow, Son Hyunwoo. I don’t have much time left.”

“But after all this,” Shownu held onto her hand and looked around them, Chaeyeon nodded for him to continue.

“Promise me you’ll have time to sit down and talk.”

“Talk? With who?”

“Me.” Shownu chuckled and then he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

“I feel neglected lately.” He joked, Chaeyeon sighed at him.

“Was that an attempt at being funny? My toes are all curled right now.” She said as she walked him towards the door, unaware of her staff and the other people in the room watching them. Even the Samsung son’s guards grew giddy while looking at them.

“I’ll see you at the party tomorrow, since I’m pretty sure you won’t grab dinner with me.” Shownu said teasingly.

“I can drop by at your place then we can eat.” Chaeyeon offered as he opened the door.

“Nope, you should go straight and get some sleep. Take care, make sure you eat something.” He said before disappearing down the hallway. Chaeyeon nodded and walked back into the room, Shownu’s guards greeted her before leaving.

“Director Son is very thoughtful, president.” Secretary Yang said as she hopped to him, Chaeyeon grimaced, the other girl noticed how her boss’s cheeks had gone into a slight shade of pink.

“President~”

“I get it, I get it! He’s nice and all warm and fuzzy. Now, let me breathe.” She grunted before padding away from her secretary, the latter chuckled to herself.

“She likes him.”

“What did you say?” Jinyoung was seething as his secretary spoke, the male paused, careful.

“So, you’re saying that, all this while, he knew that we were looking into him?”

“Y—Yes, sir. Director Son Hyunwoo of Financial Group, together with his friend Wonho, they co-own the auto shop you mentioned before, sir. Not a lot of people are aware of his connection with Samsung, because he isn’t active in running the empire. However, his father is Samsung Global’s head of operations, president Son. So, basically, him and his friend are both Samsung sons.” The secretary trailed off, Jinyoung exhaled and leaned back on his seat.

“Still, that doesn’t change the fact that those two might be lying.”

“Sir, he is Lee Minhyuk’s cousin. That’s why he’s related to KB and ShinHan Financial Group.”

Jinyoung stilled, his secretary could see how much the information stressed his boss out. The person Park Jinyoung has been threatening and belittiling, was someone considered untouchable, even in their circle.

“Then it adds up, that Lee Minhyuk arranged this. Chaeyeon’s not the type to approach guys, and, I doubt he knew how to even talk to her. Oh Chaeyeon is that type of girl.”

“Still, sir, he’s Samsung and KB~”

“I don’t care, those two are just lying.”

“What…What shall we do next, sir?” He asked, then his phone buzzed in his pocket. Jinyoung paused, and nodded for him to take the call.

“Yes, he~ What?”

Jinyoung turned to him, stunned with the sudden change in his tone.

“Sir, this is regarding the unnamed person trying to buy out our directors,”

“What is it?”

“This person has already managed to buy out almost twenty percent of the company, and I also have heard rumors that he’s in talks with three more of our stakeholders.”

“What?” Jinyoung stood up, his secretary grimaced and put his phone down.

“Call for a meeting, we can’t let this continue. At this rate, this person will become a major stockholder!”

“Sir,”

“Do we even know who this is? Get rid of them!”

“This person…is director Son Hyunwoo.”

“I’ll be here tomorrow by noon. Make sure things are in order by then.” Chaeyeon said as she walked to her car, her secretary nodded back.

“Uhm, president,”

“Yes?” She paused, she unlocked the Maserati’s door and tossed her bag in, she faced her.

“Your..head of security called earlier,” She carefully said, Chaeyeon shook her head.

“What did Wonho oppa say?”

“Over there,” Secretary Yang pointed towards the two males a few meters away from them, they were dressed in standard black suits.

“He says that he is aware that fashion week will be hectic for you, so he’s assigned them to you.”

Chaeyeon looked at the guards, they gave her polite bows. She smiled back at them before facing her secretary, the girl was grinning, obviously amused.

“I—I’ll talk to Wonho about this. You may go.”

Chaeyeon was about to get inside the car, when she heard someone calling her name. She spun around and her brows rose.

“Chaeyeon-ah,”

“J—Jaebum-ah, hi.” She said, Jaebum had his hands in his pockets and by the look on his face, Chaeyeon grew concerned.

“I know things haven’t been well between us lately, and I understand that you’re not really up to talking to me.”

“Hey, it’s okay. What’s up?” Chaeyeon noticed her two guards watching them, but they kept their distance.

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,”

“What is it?”

“It’s about Jinyoung and your boyfriend.”

Chaeyeon stilled at the mention on Shownu, she swallowed and pressed her lips together.

“Uhm, I…I….”

“I understand that you’re mad at him, and that even apologizing won’t change anything. But,”

“Jaebum, I don’t understand, what’s going on?” She leaned against her car.

“Chaeyeon-ah, do you not know? Do you really not know?”

Chaeyeon shook her head at him.

“Jaebum-ah, you’re confusing me. And, I really need to rush home.”

“Your boyfriend is trying to buy out Park Holdings, and Jinyoung is being blamed for it.”

“What?”

“As we speak, he is about to become Park Holdings’ largest stakeholder.”

Shownu stepped out of the elevator and made his way towards his car, it was already late in the afternoon and he was set on driving home. Employees greeted him as he reached the basement parking, he nodded back while taking out his car keys.

He reached his Audi and was about to get inside when a familiar car pulled over beside him, Chaeyeon slid down from the driver’s seat.

“Chaeyeon-ah,” He was surprised to see the girl, she exhaled and looked at him. Shownu walked towards the girl with a smile on his face.

“I thought you were~”

“What are you doing?” Her question made Shownu stop, and then he noticed it. Her brows were knitted together and her shoulders look tensed as she crossed her arms.

“What~”

“Why are you trying to buy him out? Why…Why are you doing this to Jinyoung?”

Shownu stilled, he briefly glanced around them.

“Son Hyunwoo, you can’t just buy things just because you want to.”

“Did he tell you? Did he go to your studio?” There was an edge in his tone that surprised the girl, but she shook her head.

“Does that matter now? What are you doing?” She shot back, Shownu looked away from her.

“You can’t do this, Hyunwoo-ah.”

Shownu paused again, his jaw clenched and unclenched. What was she trying to say? Is she mad at him because he was touching Park Jinyoung?

Was she mad at him because of Park Jinyoung?

“Why can’t I?”

“People know you as my boyfriend, how do you think it will look once they find out what you’re trying to do with Park Holdings?”

“Are..you taking his side?”

“My family does business with theirs, this..could affect Shinsegae’s affairs and~”

“Didn’t you think that maybe I did this for you?” Shownu’s words made her stop.

Chaeyeon grew quiet, she dropped her arms to her sides and shook her head.

“You…Do you still care about him? Do..you still actually like that guy?” Shownu questioned her, his tone flat.

Chaeyeon let out a sigh, and met his gaze.

“Stop this, Son Hyunwoo. Stop this before~”

“Before what? Before I regret this? Why would I? I want to protect you from him, Chaeyeon-ah, because…because..” Shownu’s brows grew knitted together.

“You don’t have to protect me from him.” Chaeyeon said, and that made him more infuriated. Shownu looked at her, really looked at her. He couldn’t read the expression on her face, Chaeyeon wouldn’t even meet his gaze.

“Is this why you like to think that I’m still pretending when it comes to you? Is it because you still might actually care for him?” He finally spoke.

“Shownu,”

“I can’t stand it, Chaeyeon. He’s walking around freely and keeps on harassing you, after what he did…he,”

Chaeyeon’s eyes widened and she took a step back from him.

“Y—You…” She stammered, Shownu ran his fingers through his hair.

“Chaeyeon-ah, I~”

“I never asked you to handle things for me.” She finally spoke, Shownu tried to reach for her hand but the girl pulled back.

“But, I want to. Because it’s you.”

“I can’t..deal with this right now, Son Hyunwoo. Please, stop this.” She said before getting inside the car, Shownu could only watch as the Maserati sped away from him. He let out a shaky breath before slamming his palm against the hood of his car.

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