Shinhye was smiling as her friend approached her, Jisoo had a glass of champagne in hand and a small unsure smile on her face.

“I see you’re having fun.” She mused at her friend, Jisoo rolled her eyed before and took another glance around the hall. Dinner had been served, there was a short program earlier where Soojin’s father and his bride thanked the guests. Now, they were simply asked to enjoy the music, a few couples had even drifted off to the dance floor to dance.

“I was so embarrassed earlier, there was mix up with the guest list.” Jisoo murmured under her breath, she could feel some of the other guests glancing at her as they ate.

“Really? What happened?”

“They couldn’t let me in because my name wasn’t there, good thing the Im siblings stepped out, oppa was getting annoyed.” Jisoo mused as she took a small sip from her glass, Shinhye smiled and nodded.

“Your boyfriend doesn’t even need to be on the list. He’s basically one of them.” Shinhye mused, Jisoo was about to speak when she noticed two extremely good-looking males stepped through the doors, Shinhye followed her gaze and she let out a dreamy sigh.

“Girl, I know. I would stare too. I am staring right now.” Hong Shinhye chuckled and slapped her friend’s arm, Jisoo blinked and turned to her.

“Who are those guys?”

“They’re~”

“Oh, hello, you two!” Soojin had left her table to walk towards the two males, the taller one broke into a smirk before enveloping her in a hug.

“I see you’re still injured, kid.” He mused, his deep voice surprising Jisoo as he smiled.

“I don’t get why you’re smiling about it, but okay.” Soojin snorted as she pulled away from him and hugged the other male next.

“Noona, you look great. Despite the arm.” He said with mischievous grin, Soojin sighed and slapped his arm.

“W—Who are those two?” Jisoo was still staring, Changkyun approached the group and greeted the two newcomers warmly.

“The taller one is Lee Soohyuk, the one next to him is Cha Eunwoo. They’re cousins to the Ims, but on their maternal side. Both of them run Hyundai Group.”

“Hyundai? So, Soojin is…a Chung?”

“Her mother is.” Shinhye nodded along, they were still watching the cousins as Shownu joined them. Jisoo studied how he greeted the males casually, she tilted his head, her boyfriend was at ease with them.

“But I think the older one, Soohyuk is the one more involved with the other side of the business. But still, what a gene pool, right?” Shinhye actually giggled, Jisoo opened to speak but Soojin had spotted her, the girl waved her over.

“Jisoo-ah, come join us.” She called out, Shinhye hummed under her breath and pulled away from her. Jisoo nodded and made her way towards them, and as she neared them, she realized Shinhye was right.

They did have a ridiculous gene pool.

“Oppa, this is Hyunwoo’s girlfriend, Choi Jisoo. Jisoo, these are my cousins, Lee Soohyuk and Cha Eunwoo, the baby.” Im Soo made quick introductions, Hyunwoo smiled as he was about to reach for Jisoo’s hand, but Soojin had hooked arms with the male, leaning her weight against his sides.

“What is it?” He turned his head to her as Soohyuk greeted her with an offered hand.

“Arm is throbbing.” She murmured as she readjusted her sling, Eunwoo glanced at the two briefly before saying hi to Jisoo.

“I still don’t get how you fell off Meadows, Soojin.”

“Same here, hyung. Did you come up with anything?” Hyunwoo chuckled as he kept one arm firmly around Soojin’s shoulder, Jisoo chewed on her lower lip and stood beside Changkyun silently.

“Were you reading while riding again, noona?” Eunwoo spoke as he took a glass of champagne from a passing server.

“I left my Kindle in Switzerland, so, no.” She made a face at him, Changkyun was trying to meet her gaze. His sister needed to let go of Shownu.

“So, how do you entertain yourself nowadays?” Hyunwoo asked, confused. Jisoo chewed on the insides of her cheeks, feeling awkward.

“Gossip. My dark thoughts. The usual.” Soojin nodded back, Eunwoo glanced at Jisoo again before turning to her.

“What do you do for work, Jisoo-ssi?” He asked her, Soojin glanced over Hyunwoo’s shoulder, she saw Kai and Seri chatting, Bohyun was also at their table, enjoying some desserts. Her eyes narrowed on the male, she leaned her chin on her friend’s shoulder as she continued to watch him.

“My family is in the oil industry.”

“Oh, then..CJ Oil?” Eunwoo asked her.

“We bought that.” Soojin spoke without turning her head back.

“Ah, which…company?” The younger one continued, Jisoo replied in quiet tones, but her eyes kept on wandering towards Soojin and Hyunwoo.

“What are you doing? Stop being obvious.” Hyunwoo whispered, trying to turn her back.

“God, I hate him. Those fruit tarts have peaches, do you think he’s allergic?” She grumbled back, Soohyuk and Changkyun glanced at them, noticing how Jisoo was distracted by the two.

“If he’s not, then, no we can’t make him allergic to peaches.”

“But~”

“Hey, come to oppa. You have to return Shownu to his girlfriend.” Soohyuk finally spoke, sensing the tension from Soojin. The girl frowned and pulled herself away from Hyunwoo, the latter chuckled before taking Jisoo’s hand in his.

“Is your arm bothering you, noona?” Eunwoo asked her, tucking a lock of her behind her ear.

“A..little.” Soojin murmured, she glanced at Jisoo briefly and smiled at her.

“I’m glad you’ve met my cousins, people tend to…be afraid of them.” Soojin commented, Jisoo shook her head.

“Thank you for introducing us, Soojin-ah.”

Soohyuk heard Chairman Im calling for them, Eunwoo waved back at the elder.

“Come join us to say hi to your father. I’m sure you haven’t even greeted him yet.” Soohyuk said as he held onto his cousin’s arm.

“Sure, congratulations to the Ims.” She muttered under his breath, Changkyun grinned and followed his cousins.

“You behave.” Soohyuk said under his breath.

“What did I do?”

“His girlfriend’s right there, and yet you’re wrapped around your Son Hyunwoo like a scarf.”

“My arm feels like it’s about to fall off, oppa. And my feet hurt.”

“Hyung, it’s not like Shownu hyung said no. I don’t think the girl minded…that much.” Eunwoo commented, Changkyun looked at the three and shook his head.

“Still, it’s better to be mindful, right? And, what company does her father run again? Do we know them?” Soohyuk asked the girl, she shrugged, peeved.

“I don’t think we do business with them. I’ve never heard of them.” Eunwoo said as they reached Chairman Im, Soohyuk led Soojin to a nearby chair and greeted the new couple.

“Noona,” Changkyun said as he sat beside her, Soojin turned to him.

“Hyung’s right. Jisoo noona looked…uncomfortable.”

“Fine, I’ll keep it in mind.” Soojin murmured, she shook off her heels and padded towards Kai, who was enjoying drinks by the bar.

“So, how did it go?”

Christian looked up from plate, he patted his lips with the napkin before speaking.

“It went well, abeoji. Soojin explained how most things would work, although she did ask us to submit some documents so that her bosses could review the application.”

“Then, did she set a deadline?”

“No. She also said that we have nothing to worry about, meeting was simply a formality. The Swiss Bank has been eyeing us for a while, she’s thankful that you returned her calls.”

“They sent a girl? And a Korean?” Mrs. Yoo spoke, Chrisitian nodded before speaking.

“Right, I did read her email, she did mention about sending in a certain Kim Jongin.”

Christian’s brows went up, his thoughts went back to tan skinned male that called himself her work husband. They must have switched tasks then, maybe this Kim Jongin was the one dealing with the Ahns.

“She didn’t mention anything else.” He replied and continued eating.

“How’s the hospital? Are you tired yet?” His father jovially asked, Ian rolled his eyes as he chewed.

“Everything’s fine, abeoji. And no, I’m not tired yet, and I don’t think I’ll ever be.”

His mother smiled to herself.

“So, I will die of old age before ever seeing you step in the office?”

“Stop overreacting, abeoji. I checked the results of your executive checkup, nothing’s wrong. You’re healthy as a horse.”

“So, now I’m an animal?” The elder scoffed at him, Ian laughed and shook his head.

“But, son, Soojin? You address her so casually.”

“Ah, yes, eomma. She’s my patient.”

“Patient?” His father repeated, confused.

“Remember last week when you called me out of surgery, abeoji? Because of a VVIP arriving? You said that it was a life and death situation.” Christian stated, his father tilted his head, trying to recall what his sonw as talking about.

“Yes? I think so, why?”

“That was her. Im Soojin. She fell off her horse, broke her arm and had to receive stitches on her scalp.”

“What?” His father almost dropped his knife, his wife halted at his reaction.

“You mean, the Chairman Im’s daughter is Im Soojin? The same Im Soojin that I’d been speaking to for a few weeks?”

Christian gave him a slow nod, bemused.

“Im? You mean KangSan?” Mrs. Yoo finally caught on, stunned.

“Yes, her. It took me a while to put things together, but she is Chairman Im’s daughter. Im Soojin.” Ian went back to his steak, letting his parents think and organize their thoughts.

“Wow, I didn’t expect that they’re daughter was working overseas. That’s impressive.” Mr. Yoo nodded, surprised.

“How is she? A family as big as theirs, surely she’d be a little…snobbish?”

“No, she’s…actually great, eomma. At first, I thought she was going to be difficult, but after only a day of being admitted, half of the staff were already in love with her.” Christian chuckled, recalling how the nurses were doting on her.

“Is it true about the rumor of her and YooMin? Are they really close?” His father asked, Christian nodded along.

“Yes, her friends visited a lot.”

“Are they really married?”

“I don’t…think so?” Christian’s brows rose, now he was confused.

“How about asking her out, son?” Mrs. Yoo was teasing, her son exhaled at her words.

“She’s actually a good friend now, eomma. Please, don’t.”

The Yoo elders laughed before resuming their meal, Chrisitan puffed his cheeks, he felt his phone buzz and he took it out. His brows rose as he read the message, one of his friends had just invited him to a bar opening.

“You have that look on your eyes.”

Soojin pushed the empty glass away from her, Kai shook his head at the bartender before he could refill it.

“What?”

“That look.”

“What look?”

“Something’s bothering you. But, you already have a solution for it, however, you’re conflicted.” Kai stated as he leaned against the bar, most guests had already left.

“You’re…being weird.”

“Or accurate.” He shrugged at her, Soojin didn’t comment, she saw Hyungwon already carrying a sleeping Haeyoung in his arms.

“So, I met your friend’s cousin earlier. The one with the imaginary beef with him.”

“His mother, not him.” Soojin said, the girl had warned her colleague about the insider drama regarding her inner circle. She figured that if Kai was going to stay with her during the time they’d be here, he might as well be informed.

“I don’t think so. Sons get influenced easily; you know.”

“Whatever, Baekho’s a good kid.”

“You know, if he marries you, then he’d win.”

“You know, if I stab you with a knife, you’d ~”

“Okay, so no teasing the Sons. I get it.” Kai raised his hands in defeat. Soojin rolled her eyes at him, and then she saw Seri and Bohyun approaching them.

“Quick, put on your smiley face.” Kai mused at her, Soojin sighed again before smiling at her friend.

“We’re going to head out, thank you for not attacking Ji Seonmi tonight, babe.” Seri mused as she took her hand in hers.

“I tried.”

“I noticed, the guest list mishap got to you, huh?”

“Yeah, well.” Soojin shrugged, Bohyun was smiling as he leaned over to give her a one-armed hug, the girl was too stunned to react, but she nodded at him. Kai shook his head to himself as he looked at the interaction.

“I had fun, Soojin-ah. Send my well wishes to your father and his bride.”

“I don’t think she will, oppa.” Seri chuckled before looping arms with him, Bohyun chuckled and nodded.

“The classic “I don’t get along with my stepmother” then?”

Kai pressed his lips tightly, not wanting his comment to slide out, she felt Seri’s curious gaze on him and he winked at the girl.

“Is someone driving you home? Oppa already went ahead.” Seri asked her, diverting her gaze away from Kai.

“We can drop you off, Soojin-ah.” Bohyun offered, Jongin’s brows rose and he looked at his friend expectantly, acting coy.

“Actually, driver Park is downstairs.”

“He’s still on loan from the Sons then? Ahjussi really does love you.” Seri let out a laugh, everyone knew driver Park.

“Well, I am his favorite ward.” Soojin said, the couple then excused themselves before moving away, Kai was laughing as Soojin let out a collective sigh.

“I thought you were going to faint. But, wow, you do have a killer smile, wife.” Jongin cheered, Soojin elbowed him in the ribs.

“Soojin-ah,” Soohyuk was walking towards them, Kai nodded at the two males, he’d been introduced earlier. Eunwoo was smiling as he sat beside her.

“We’re heading out now, let’s meet for lunch next week?”

“Of course, oppa.”

“Noona, Seri noona’s boyfriend seems off, huh?” Eunwoo commented, Jongin let out a silent chuckle.

“I don’t exactly get along with him.”

“He didn’t have to hug you, Soojin.” Soohyuk spoke with a roll of his eyes. He’d always been the conservative type.

“Yes, well, what’s done is done.”

“He can be done.” Soohyuk said, Soojin eyed him warily, but the older male smiled.

“Anyway, be nice to Shownu’s girl. They seem serious.”

“When was I ever not?”

“What he’s trying to say, noona. Is that if she ever barks at you, just let it be.” Eunwoo commented, Kai glanced at the younger one.

“Barks? She’s not a~”

“Noona, with the way she reacted tonight, I am willing to bet my inheritance, that she will have a problem with you in the near future.” Eunwoo sing-songed as he slid down from his seat.

“So, if she does…act out, just let her be.” Soohyuk nodded at her, Eunwoo was smiling as he gave his cousin a hug. Soojin watched as the two left, not noticing the amount of glances they earned.

“Your mafia lord cousin has a point.”

“Do not call him that.”

Jongin simply laughed and walked to the buffet table to get another plate of sushi, Soojin carefully removed her sling and leaned her arm against the bar. She puffed her cheeks and closed her eyes briefly.

“Yes, I did ask for credentials. I’ll be sending them over within the week.” Soojin said as she sat down.

“Sir, I think everything will fall into place. I will be meeting President Yoo in a couple of days. And it is the weekend now, here in Korea. In case you forget, different time zones.”

Mr. Schmid let out a hearty laugh from the end.

“Thank you for reminding me, Miss Im.”

“Yes, well, I’ll call you if I have updates. Please put in a good word for MinSung Pharma. I think it will be our loss if we don’t take them.”

Soojin set her phone down after Schmid said goodbye. The girl was dressed casually today, very out of character for her. But Soojin was exhausted, with all the meetings she had to arrange, having to call Switzerland to report progress with potential clients and now she had to report to KangSan since her brother was flying out.

“I feel like I went home just to take another job.” She said to herself as she checked her reflection, Soojin was dressed in a pair of loose high waisted jeans and a camel hued Ralph Lauren sweater. She grabbed her purse and made her way down; she could hear her father and his secretary talking.

“Good morning, Soojin-ah.”

“Are you leaving for work? It’s a weekend.” She stated, she saw Ji Seonmi standing by the foyer.

“I am needed at Cheongju, golf with the minsster of defense. He probably has a favor, again.” Her father replied, Soojin nodded back.

“Changkyun’s flying out in a few days, I am to take over some of his…work.”

“Okay, the company already knows. Do you need a driver? Or is driver Park still with you?” Her father asked as his secretary excused himself and walked to the doors.

“He’s still driving for me. But I gave him the weekend off.”

“Okay, I’ll see you two ladies tonight.” Chairman Im kissed his fiancé goodbye and left, the doors closed and Soojin leaned against the entryway.

“Thank you for showing up at the party, Soojin. That meant a lot to your father and I.” Seonmi said to her, Soojin nodded back.

“Yes, well, a deal is a deal.” She replied, Seonmi paused, her forehead creasing.

“The favor you asked for, you got me confused, Soojin-ah.” Seonmi replied, the girl was already about to head back to her rooms. Soojin paused, she turned back to face her father’s fiancé.

“I did my end of the deal; I was at the party and played my part.”

“No, don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone, but I thought you like~”

“Liked.” Soojin spoke, correcting the lady. Seonmi nodded back, knowing not to push her to talk.

“Okay, I’ll see you tonight, dinner at home.”

“Yes.” Soojin’s reply was cordial and she headed up for her room, she stepped in and took her phone. She pressed the device to her ear and walked towards the windows and exhaled.

“Im Soo,”

“Hey, I need to go buy some things. Can you come pick me up?”

“Right now? But I’m~”

“I’m already dressed. Can I expect you in the next hour?”

The line grew quiet briefly and Soojin padded back to her closet to grab a coat, she could hear that he was driving.

“Okay, twenty minutes. I need to call Jisoo first.”

Soojin hummed before ending the call, she exited her room and walked to the kitchen to make two cups of coffee.

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