“Abeoji, we already talked about this.” Chaeyeon sighed, she had one hand on her hip as she paced back and forth in her office. Her father was still on the phone and she’s already supposed to be in a meeting downstairs.

“Chaeyeon-ah, there’s no one else I can put here. Your brother’s busy, my sister does not have any children.” Mr. Oh pointed out, the girl pursed her lips together.

“But you said I’d be free to do what I want. I can’t work for Kia and run Style Co., and, I don’t even know how to~”

“That’s why I said you should come by from time to time so that you can start learning.” Her father argued back, she let out a shaky breath.

“The earlier you start, the better.”

“I’ll call you back later, I have a meeting.” She muttered before ending the call, she patted her hair down and made her way towards the elevators. Chaeyeon exhaled and leaned back as soon as she got in. Her father had been calling her for almost two months now, badgering her to come join him at the company.

And she has always been so unsure with that. It was just too much responsibility, and she can’t leave her job now, she still has things she wants to accomplish.

She reached the conference room and walked in, the people inside stood up and she put on a smile.

“I’m sorry, I had to take a call.” She breathed as she sat down, she placed her palms on her lap.

“Are you okay?” Song Kang turned to her, she nodded back. She noticed that Minhyuk’s chair is empty.

“Director Lee is already on his way, there’s some traffic congestion a few blocks away, president.” Secretary Yang informed her.

“Then, shall we begin? Do we have an itinerary for the shoot?” She leaned forward, her forehead still creasing.

The lights were dimmed and the presentation began, Chaeyeon remained quiet on her seat but Song Kang could hear the girl listlessly drumming her fingers on the desk.

“You don’t looks so well.” He leaned in and spoke softly, she blinked at him.

“No, I just…I probably need some water. I’ll be back in a bit,” She excused herself and discreetly left the room. Song Kang left his seat and walked after her.

Minhyuk was in the process of chucking his phone back in his coat pocket while exiting the elevator when he saw his friend. Chaeyeon looked bothered, and she had this permanent frown on her face as she walked towards the vending machine.

The girl was about to lean down to choose what to get when Song Kang reached her, Minhyuk paused.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe we can postpone the meeting.” Song Kang said to her, Chaeyeon shook her head in reply.

“I’m fine, it’s probably work stuff. I..” She stopped, realizing that she didn’t take her wallet with her, Minhyuk could sense her frustration from afar.

“Oh, I can get that. What would you like to drink?” Song Kang took his wallet out, Chaeyeon smiled and shook her head.

“Chaeyeon-ah,” Song Kang sounded worried, Minhyuk rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, making his presence known.

“Oh, you’re here.” She looked up, Minhyuk smiled back at her.

“I need…to get some air, will you oversee the meeting for me?” She asked him, Minhyuk nodded.

“Of course, go ahead. You look pale.” Minhyuk patted her hand, the girl then wordlessly headed for the elevator and left. Minhyuk then turn to Song Kang who was still staring at the elevator doors.

Please don’t let Son Hyunwoo catch you staring. Please.

Choi Minho leaned back on the seat as the car moved forward, he glanced at the documents beside him.

“How long has this been going on?” He asked his assistant.

“No one is really sure, sir. But whoever did this, they managed to find out everything. Not just your personal files, also, ChoiSan’s real state too. They know about…the company monetary issues.”

He pressed his lips together as Jung Banking Group’s building came into view.

“And all we know is that it’s this guy?” He was staring at a photo of Heesoo and that one guy who was always around her.

“Yes, he must have friends in really high places. It’s not easy to hack into our system and, some of the files he managed to get his hands on are…with our banks. I don’t know how he~”

Minho exhaled and the other male grew silent.

“How gutsy of him. Just a nobody trying to get in my way.” He grumbled, the car pulled to a halt, and Minho quickly stepped down from the vehicle.

He made his way towards the elevator and was led to the top floor. President Jung’s secretary greeted him and he followed the lady towards one of the offices.

“Minho, hello.” Mr. Jung stood up as he walked in, Minho smiled back and gave the elder a polite bow.

“Thank you for meeting me, uncle.”

“It must be urgent that you rushed here. What is it?” The two men sat down, Minho let out a small sigh before pushing the folder towards the male.

“It’s about this. I think I know why Heesoo’s been so against everything, uncle.”

The elder picked up the folder and saw the photos of his daughter together with a young man. His eyes narrowed, he had seen him before. There were also photos of them at the mall, by her house and also at an auto shop.

“Who is this?”

“That’s not important, uncle. But, I think he’s taking advantage of Heesoo. He’s probably the reason why she refuses to meet with me. And I’m worried that he’s only using her.”

Mr. Jung loosened his tie and leaned back on the seat.

“Don’t worry, I’ll fix this.” He replied, Minho nodded at the elder.

“I’m only worried for her safety, uncle. Heesoo…I like how she’s headstrong.”

“Still, she shouldn’t be doing this. You’re right, this man might only be using her. Thank you for this, Minho.”

“So, we have two weeks to get a hold of everything. Can I leave you with the hotel reservations? You know what Yeon likes.” Minhyuk turned to secretary Yang, the latter nodded in reply. The meeting had just ended, and most of the staff were just discussing and planning things.

“I also got in contact with the team we hired for the photoshoot, they will be here tomorrow. Should I set the appointment with you instead, sir?”

Minhyuk was about to reply when he noticed a delivery man appear from outside the glass panels, and he was carrying a bouquet of flowers. His eyes immediately went to Song Kang who also looking at the flowers with a smile on his face.

“Y—Yes, that sounds better.”

“Do you have any idea where the president may have gone? Song Kang is looking for her.”

Minhyuk slowly looked away.

“No, even I can’t contact her. Does he think he can?” He said, secretary Yang paused and followed his gaze.

“What do you mean, sir?”

“The flowers keep on coming, huh?” Minhyuk stood up and the male followed.

“Yes, sir. We still don’t know where it came from, I’m just worried president Oh’s allergies will start again. Director Son had comments about it.”

Minhyuk felt Song Kang’s gaze on him.

“Of course, the young master Son would have comments. We…We should all be careful.” He stated as he stepped out of the room, he saw the flowers sitting by the doors of Chaeyeon’s office.

“This Hawaii trip better go smoothly.” He murmured to himself, he was about to approach Chaeyeon's office when he heard someone calling for him.

Minhyuk turned and saw Song Kang approaching him.

"Song Kang-ssi,"

"Director, have you heard from Chaeyeon? Is she okay?"

Minhyuk wanted to sigh, but he smiled at the male.

“I’m assuming she drove to Busan. Her…other home.”

“Busan?”

“Y—Yes, she has..important stuff in Busan. Extremely important.”

Shownu ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at his laptop’s screen, the male shook his head and ed the first two buttons of shirt. He stood up and turned away from his desk. It was already eight in the evening and he had not eaten yet. There were a lot of documents he needed to check and appointments that had to through him before being approved by the main office.

He picked up his coffee and faced the windows. His phone started to vibrate again, he turned his head and saw Aerin’s name flashing on the screen.

He sighed and turned away from the device. He rolled the sleeves of his shirt to his elbow before stretching his arms. He heard the doors open behind him and he paused.

“I did say you could go ahead and~” He paused, seeing a frowning Chaeyeon by the doorway.

“Chaeyeon-ah,” He blinked, the girl puffed her cheeks and wordlessly walked towards him.

“You didn’t call, I~” Shownu paused when she suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist and quietly buried her face into his chest.

“I didn’t call. I didn’t..think I need to.” She grumbled, her voice coming out muffled. Shownu’s lips curled up and kissed the top of her head. He wrapped his arms around the girl, he could see how stressed out she was.

“It’s a four hour drive, what time did you leave Seoul?”

She grumbled back, her grip on him tightening.

“I quit.” Chaeyeon stated again, Shownu’s brows went up, sensing her discomfort.

“What happened?”

“Should I just stop working and become a bum?” She continued, still not letting go of him.

“You can come here and live with me.” He lightly said, she sighed before pulling back.

“What happened? Did something go wrong with the meeting?” Shownu said while cupping her cheeks.

“No, no. I…I guess I got too overwhelmed, I thought..I had a feeling that I couldn’t breathe properly. And, I didn’t want to deal with other people.” She mumbled as she dropped her arms to her sides.

“Things got too much for you?” He asked while giving her light kisses on her cheeks.

“Look at you, my stressed out Chaeyeonie.” Shownu murmured between kisses, and then he faced her.

“Things got too much. Can I hide here?”

“Of course, but, before driving here, you should call me.”

“Ah, right. Surprise, I’m here.” She said in a flat voice, Shownu chuckled and he walked to his desk. He picked up his coat.

“What went wrong?” He asked as they stepped out his office, Chaeyeon was still pouting. Shownu wrapped one arm around her and they got inside the elevator.

“It’s my father. He wants..”

“He wants you to move to Kia? Is it that?” Shownu asked, Chaeyeon blinked at him, surprised.

“I mentioned it?”

“You said it once in passing, but you never spoke of it again.” Shownu said with a small smile, Chaeyeon sighed again and leaned against him.

“He’s being more vocal about it now.”

The doors opened again, and Shownu didn’t let go, not minding that some of his employees could see them. He could sense that Chaeyeon was really stressed out, and that somehow holding her helped.

“People are staring,” She murmured.

“They’re staring at Kia Motors’ next CEO.” Shownu teasingly said, Chaeyeon glared at him. He let out a small laugh and they reached his car.

“I don’t want to deal with that yet.” She murmured while fiddling with the strap of her watch.

“Will you let me hide here for a bit? I’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow.” She said, Shownu rolled his eyes at her.

“Stay over for the weekend.”

“But, you have work, and that conference thing~”

“Hey, you got me. You can hide here all you want, Oh Chaeyeon.” He said, Chaeyeon’s lips curled into a smile and then she pulled on the lapels of his coat. She was smiling as she leaned forward to press his lips against hers.

“You got me too.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++