Sophia jumped slightly when she felt an around her waist, she heard Minhyuk’s chuckle and she realized.

“Sorry, I got held up at a meeting.” He prompted as he leaned his chin on her shoulder, he followed her gaze and his brows went up.

“So, I totally get why you’re being all..iffy about that guy.” She spoke as Song Kang approached Chaeyeon, they were at the studio for last fittings and to finalized some details for the launch party the next day.

“See? I told you.” Minhyuk made a face at the tall male’s back. Chaeyeon was nodding along as Song Kang and her discussed something about the sketches before them.

“But, wow, he really get her artistic side, I’ve seen her upcoming designs. The collab with him, it’s all good.”“Not helping.” Minhyuk pointed out, Sophia chuckled and hooked her arm with his.

“But, this guy,” Sophia murmured as she took a sip from her coffee, Chaeyeon was engrossed with what she was taking about that she didn’t notice how Song Kang was staring at her intently.

Staring at her with hearts shooting out of his eyes.

“The way he looks at her is a bit…worrying.” She mused, Minhyuk shrugged, he noticed that his cousin was around too. Shownu was standing by the windows, casually chatting with secretary Yang and some other staff.

“He stares too much, and your cousin hasn’t noticed,” Sophia grew amused, and then Chaeyeon got herself a bottle of mineral water.

“But then again, Son Hyunwoo doesn’t hover, so, I guess…Song Kang won’t die yet.” She

jokingly said, Chaeyeon was struggling to turn the lid. Minhyuk watched as the young actor was about to take the bottle from her but the girl walked away from him, leaving Song Kang looking flustered. Chaeyeon started looking around the room, a little confused.

She paused, seeing Shownu and she hopped over to the tall male. Sophia watched as Chaeyeon gently tugged on the back of his shirt, he turned and looked at her. She simply raised the bottle to him, Shownu took it from her and opened it.

“You know what?” Sophia spoke as Shownu playfully took a sip first and Chaeyeon slapped his arm, the latter laughed and handed the bottle to her.

“They’re safe. I mean, she’s not going to look at the other guy.” She shrugged at her boyfriend, Minhyuk didn’t comment, still iffy. His eyes simply went to Song Kang as the other male watched Shownu and Chaeyeon talk. Shownu had leaned down to hear her properly and had one hand on her waist as she whispered something to him.

“Well, he better not try anything.”

Heesoo exhaled as her meal was served before her, her father had already begun

digging into his brunch. The girl’s annoyance continued to grow as she eyed the pattern on her Louis Vuitton silk pajama set. She was still in her pajamas, yes. Because earlier, Soph was still asleep and she decided to step out of the house to have some delivered for them, but her father and his team of guards had different plans.

“This is kidnapping.” She said through gritted teeth, refusing to eat.

“You’re my daughter.” Mr. Jung said in between bites, the girl’s forehead creased.

“What is wrong with you? Choi Minho has been calling you for days, you don’t even return his messages.”

“Appa, what~”

“He agrees with the arrangement, why can’t you cooperate just this once?” Her father spat.

“This arrangement? You’re talking about a marriage. You’re talking about my life here!”

Her father rolled his eyes and put his utensils down, Heesoo pushed the cup of coffee away from her. He noticed how some of the diners were staring at their table.

“You already know where I stand, I will not be playing along with this.” She stated, her father scoffed in reply.

“You do not have a choice here, Heesoo. I gave you way too much freedom and always turned a blind eye when you caused trouble. Now, you deny me of finally having a man I can trust you with?”

Heesoo paused, her eyes focused on her father.

“Ah, now I get it. This is because you don’t have a son, and it’s my fault that I was born with the wrong gender. Right!” She cackled, she could feel her cheeks heating up.

“You will marry the ChoiSan son, Heesoo.”

Heesoo was about to reply when she saw a familiar figure walk in, her brows went up, then as if feeling her gaze on him, he looked up.

Wonho smiled at her.

“Beefcake!” She called, Wonho paused and looked at her again, her father turned his head.

“Heesoo, do not~”

“Hi, I thought you were going to head to Chaeyeon’s studio,” Wonho was speaking as he walked towards their table, and then he paused when he saw the elder.

“Good morning,” He politely said.

“Chaeyeon’s Wonho oppa, you see my father here, he wants to marry me off to that Choi Minho person because,” Heesoo stood up, Wonho was surprised to see her fur bedroom slippers.

“I’m a girl, and he needs a man to entrust me to, beefcake. What do you think?” Heesoo finished, Wonho’s brows went up, stunned with her words.

He glanced at the elder again, he looked angry and didn’t know how to react to his daughter’s actions.

“Heesoo, sit down.” Mr. Jung stated, Heesoo snorted in reply.

“I need a ride home, but I can’t take a cab because I was kidnapped. Can I~”

Mr. Jung stood up, he was about to pull Heesoo by the arm but Wonho gently tugged the girl to his back.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Jung. I’ll make sure Heesoo gets home safely.” He politely said, keeping his tone firm.

“Heesoo, you are not allowed to leave our table yet. Not until~”

“Not until what? Not until I agree to marry him?” Heesoo let out a hearty laugh.

“Heesoo, I will not let you go with some stranger~”

“Oh no, I will not be hearing this. And he is not just some stranger.” She hissed back before moving away from them, Wonho was about to bow to the elder but Heesoo yanked him by the arm and dragged him with her. Wonho puffed his cheeks as he walked with the girl, Heesoo was muttering in English, he took out his phone and dialed for his secretary.

“Sir, they’re waiting~”

“Cancel the meeting.” He murmured and ended the call, he turned to Heesoo.

“I can explain.” She blurted out, Wonho slowly shook his head at her before draping his coat around her.

“Let’s get some food inside you first.” He sighed, Heesoo grinned before hooking arms with him.

“That and I feel very underdressed.”

“I can tell.” Wonho mused back and she elbowed him.

Sophia smiled as their ice cream platter arrived, Chaeyeon eyed it warily before picking up her spoon.

“I don’t know where Heesoo is, it’s like she just disappeared.” She murmured, Chaeyeon chuckled, Heesoo did sometimes do that.

“But, what’s bothering you, Son Hyunwoo’s gongju?”

“Ew.”

The Wu heiress cackled and continued eating.

“A couple…of weeks ago, I..did a thing. Well, almost did a thing.” Chaeyeon began as she fidgeted with the Cartier bangles on her wrist, the latter nodded for her to continue.

“And, now...I kind of feel like I shouldn’t have done it. It..It’s not me, it was petty and unreasonable.”

“But, what did you do? Or not do?”

“It was..that lady. Aerin. The one Heesoo calls Jason?”

“From Friday The 13^th?”

“Can we please focus?” Chaeyeon grimaced, Sophia laughed and nodded for her to speak.

“I…I didn’t know what to do or how to deal with it. So, I started…snooping around.”

“How?”

Chaeyeon took a spoonful of ice cream and dug in, she huffed.

“I got annoyed with Aerin, okay? I can see that she’s always calling him.”

“And, did he pick up?”

“No.” Chaeyeon slowly blinked, Sophia grinned at her.

“Well, I wanted her to…go away, so, I started making offers to the..people around her..and her..family’s company.”

Sophia burst out laughing and her friend grew peeved.

“You two literally are the perfect match! He did the same thing with~”

“I know, I know. And I feel bad because, you know, she seems harmless. I mean, she doesn’t seem to be…” She shrugged, Sophia pressed her lips together.

“I get what you’re trying to say. You felt bad for doing that because you realized how easy it would be to take care of her.”

“W—Well, not~”

“But still, you should be wary of her. Son Hyunwoo I can trust, I mean, he probably loves you more than you love him. Although, the ex is kinda cuckoo, you know.”

“Okay, moving on.” Chaeyeon muttered, Sophia put her spoon down and faced her friend.

“But, now that we’re talking about it,”

“No. No. Let’s not.” Chaeyeon adamantly shook her head.

“It’s just really nice that you’re comfortable with how things have gotten serious between you and Shownu. I mean, before it took you like months to even talk about Jinyoung openly. Not that I’m comparing, but..I like that he makes you happy. And understands your loner tendencies.”

Chaeyeon rolled her eyes at the girl but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Son Hyunwoo’s got you feeling all safe and secure, because that’s how he is. You two are perfect match, cheesiness aside. You know what I mean, right?”

“Yes and oddly enough, that doesn’t scare me. So, can we switch topics now? Please?”

“Like, no man can ever steal you away from him, right? Well, they shouldn’t try, but you know.” Sophia continued, ignoring her friend’s words. Chaeyeon sighed and put her spoon down.

“Just finish your ice cream so we can go, I have to get those shoes from Givenchy.”

“Please tell me I’m right.” Sophia continued to tease. Chaeyeon saw Minhyuk and Shownu walk in the restaurant, she hurriedly waved them over.

“Like not even some handsome actor or pretty face can~”

“Lee Minhyuk! I’m done babysitting!”

Sophia chuckled, Minhyuk plopped down beside her.

“Good, I’m going now, distract her.” Chaeyeon said as she stood up and grabbed her purse, Shownu was smiling as he reached their table.

“Hi.” He said before leaning down to kiss the side of her head, Sophia waved at him.

“What were you arguing about?” Shownu was grinning as Chaeyeon dragged him away from the table.

“Stuff.” She mumbled, the male smiled and took her hand in his.

“So, do we have plans today?” Shownu asked as they stepped out of the restaurant, Chaeyeon turned to him and she smiled.

Sophia Wu and her way with words. She’s always right. Ugh.

“Let’s do what you want to do, but please no extreme sports.” She said, Shownu guffawed and nodded.

“How about a movie?”

Wonho watched as the girl folded the cuffs of the sunflower yellow hoodie she was wearing and smiled to himself.

“I told you we could go back to get some clothes for you, or drop by at the mall.” Wonho stated as he stood up, they were at his Samsung office and Heesoo wanted to change.

Luckily, he had a couple of clean hoodies lying around.

“I asked my secretary to get you…some proper footwear.” He said teasingly, Heesoo made a face at him before kicking away her fur-lined Balenciaga bedroom slippers.

“I’m not disturbing, right? I mean, I know you’re busy, but,” She swallowed, Wonho smiled and shook his head. His secretary looked up from the coffeemaker, his brows rose. His boss just had three more meetings moved, and another one cancelled.

“You can leave them there, I’ll take care of it.” Heesoo volunteered, the secretary paused and nodded. He quietly left the room and made a call to one of the staff to get the young miss Jung some leggings as per her request.

“What was that? You said you were going to talk to him.” Wonho softly said as Heesoo poured coffee for them.

“To my father? There’s no use talking to him, he wont hear anyone out.” She muttered as she walked to his desk and set the cup before him.

“The ChoiSan son.” Wonho said, the girl leaned against the desk and stared at the windows behind him.

“Oh, that.” She grimaced, Wonho’s brows went up.

“Did…something happen? Did he say something to you?” Wonho asked, his tone getting a little demanding, but Heesoo turned to him and smiled.

“Is this an interrogation?” She asked, Wonho pressed his lips together and picked up his coffee.

“I want to, but…I don’t know how to approach the subject with him, because he’s…willing to follow the elders. And, at that moment, I realized that he wont side with me. You know what he said?” She murmured, Wonho stretched one hand to her and the girl put her palm over his.

“He said that we should just go with it and think about how to deal with the whole thing later. And in that crazy moment, I kind of..agreed with him. Because, I wanted my father to just give me a break, you know. And just..let me breath.” She continued, she let out a shaky breath and Wonho’s forehead crumpled.

“I don’t...I simply don’t get it. It’s like its my fault that he doesn’t have a son. That sort of ist bull will not get him anywhere though.” She murmured, Wonho studied the expression on her face and he slowly stood up.

“Is it my fault? Was I never good enough for my family?” She faced him, Wonho quickly shook his head.

“Never good enough? You’re an international lawyer, Heesoo. What are you talking about?” He replied, Heesoo, being Heesoo rolled her eyes at him.

“But, you don’t have to marry him just to please your father. If you don’t want to, then don’t.” Wonho stated as he cupped her cheek, Heesoo pursed her lips.

“That will get me in trouble, Chaeyeon’s Wonho oppa. You know how things work.”

Wonho gave her a small smile before gently pulling the girl to his chest, he felt Heesoo relax and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“That sounds like more trouble.” Heesoo mumbled against his chest, he let out a small chuckle before speaking again.

“I’ll take care of it.”

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