JH: Come back safely sweetheart, I'll see you at 3.

Jeonghan sighed as he checked the time. 

3:47pm. He put his phone away and leaned on the glass wall behind him.

"Is she really not coming?"

Just then a red sportscar pulled over next to him, and he was shocked to see who came out of it.

"Suyun? When did you have this car?"

"Oh, Mingyu bought it for me."

"Mingyu?"

"Yeah, the childhood friend I told you about. I met him when I was visiting home. Oh, and I have another thing to show you. Look." She pulled out a pink enveloped and handed it him.

Jeonghan pulled out the card inside and frowned. "I don't understand. You're getting married?"

"Yeah, Mingyu proposed to me while I was there."

"B-but you were only there for a month, how did this happen?"

"We were always close, and he told me that he always liked me and asked me to marry him, so I said yes."

Jeonghan's mouth gaped open as he stared at the wedding invitation and then looked back at Suyun, noticing the engagement ring on her finger.

"How could you do this suddenly?"

She scoffed and took the card out of his hands. "Please, it's not like we were in any kind of serious relationship or anything. With how much debt you're in, did you really think that I would stay with you forever? I need to think about my future too, you know?"

"If that's the case then why didn't you tell me this earlier?

"What? Were you falling in love with me?" she smirked. "If you really want someone to be with you long term, you should probably find someone on the same level as you." The smirk left her face when she saw his desperate eyes. "Listen, life is tough, you gotta hustle in order to get where you want. Good luck." And with that she got back in her car and drove off.

Jeonghan watched as she left, still in shock. He looked at the tickets in his hand and pulled out his phone.

"Seungkwan-ah, are you free right now?"

-

"I have to admit, this is kind of sad."

"What? I wasn't going to waste 10,000 won. You know I can't afford that."

"Yeah but people might think we're on a date."

"Oh shut it." Jeonghan took a seat on the bench. "What did I do wrong, Seungkwan?"

"Nothing, you're just unlucky and keep meeting these depraved lunatics who only care about money."

He sighed. "I really thought things would be different this time. But I guess this is what I get for having debt."

Seungkwan sat down next to him. "It's not your debt, it's your father's. None of this is your fault, you know that."

"What difference does it make?"

"Are you able to pay your rent this month? I can ask my mom to raise your salary."

"No don't, I already asked her last month, and I still feel bad about it. And don't worry about my rent, I got another job at Mrs. Yang's pet store so I should be fine."

"Another job? That's three already."

"Yeah."

"Hyung..."

Jeonghan stood up and offered his hand. "Come on, since we're here anyway, why don't we enjoy this beautiful garden hm?"

-

"Miss, we're here."

"Oh, yeah just... give me a sec."

The driver turned around in his seat, surprised to see normally elegant young lady in a less than sophisticated posture.

"Miss Sojung! Please get off your phone, now is not the time to be texting. We have arrived, you're supposed to meet the representative in 2 minutes."

"Alright alright." Sojung turned off her phone, but before she opened the car door she caught sight of the press waiting for her at the entrance. She tried to be nonchalant about it up until now, but the truth was she was extremely nervous.

"It'll be alright." Sojung turned to look at Mrs. Jeon, her father's secretary who he had tasked to accompany her.

"I hope so." 

Straightening out her posture and putting on a confident smile, she exited the car and headed to the entrance, ignoring the curious eyes and flashing cameras.

"Ah, you must be Miss Kim Sojung." She was greeted by a middle aged man, who's dyed brown hair just reached his shoulders, and teeth were so pearly white they had to fake. 

"Yes, and you are?"

"I'm Lee Donghyuk, the representative for the Seoul Metropolitan Government. It is very nice to finally meet you" he held out his hand and smiled.

"You too" she took his hand and shook it.

"I do hope that our meeting today will help ensure that this business venture goes smoothly."

"I'm sure that it will."

Sojung followed the representative into an office on the other side of the building, rehearsing the lines she was told to say in her head. It was just the two of them and Mrs. Jeon in the room, he took a seat at the desk and she sat across from him.

"First let me just say that I'm incredibly grateful that Jinsung is partnering with Seoul Botanic Park, it really is a huge honour."

"The honour is mine. I think what you guys are doing here will appeal to many of our patrons, I'm glad we are working together." The words sounded so unnatural coming out of , and she wondered if he could see through her façade.

After an hour of discussion and putting up a front, she was glad to finally be done and just wanted to go home. 

"Well I have to say, I'm really pleased with what we accomplished today. I hope that I get a chance to work with you again in the future."

"Same here, thank you sir."

Once they left the office, Sojung let out a deep breath. "How did I do?" 

"Oh you were wonderful sweetheart" said Mrs. Jeon. "Seriously, for your first business negotiation it was really impressive. Your father would be really proud."

"Oh really? Come on, let's go home now."

"Wait, don't you want to look around a bit? I heard this place is gorgeous."

"Nah, the press is still here, I don't want to draw so much attention. Also Joshua is coming back today." 

"He's coming back today? I thought he was due to return next Friday."

"Nope, he texted me earlier that he was coming home early. He has a another business trip in a couple months though, so I don't want to waste any time." Sojung excitedly skipped to the front doors, making Mrs. Jeon hurry after her.

"Miss, please wait for me!" She sped walked as fast as she could, but her legs weren't what they used to be. She was so caught up in trying to catch up she didn't notice the two men who were walking her way and ended up bumping into one of them.

"I'm so sorry ma'am, are you alright?" He gently helps her to her feet. 

"Yes don't worry I'm okay, it was my fault anyway." She looks at him and the first thing she notices is his eyes, they were bright and clear, and radiating majesty. 

"Are you sure? I wasn't looking either, it was me who bumped into you."

"I'm alright, have a nice day you two." 

-

"Shua-ya!" 

Joshua turned around and saw Sojung walking towards him. His face immediately lit up and he opened his arms to prepare for an embrace.

"You're finally back" she said, wrapping her arms around him tightly and resting her head in his neck. "It feels like it's been forever."

"It definitely does, this is the longest business trip I've ever had. How have you been darling?"

"Okay I guess. I just missed you a lot."

"Same here, hopefully we'll get to spend more time together this time."

"I can't wait" He pecked her forehead and put his arm around her shoulder, grabbing his luggage with his other hand.

"Are they waiting for us?"

"Yep, right outside the entrance."

"Let's go then."

"How did it go by the way?" he asked once they got inside the SUV.

"Oh the thing with Seoul Botanic? I think it should have been fine, I followed all the protocols. Although I really can't tell based off the guy's reaction, it felt like speaking to a robot."

"I know what you mean. Sometimes it's just like that, people think it's the proper way to behave."

"It doesn't seem very practical to me, you have to jump through so many hoops before getting to the point. If we just acted like normal people we'd get where we want a lot sooner." She sighed. "I wish my father would see that this field just isn't for me."

He gave an empathetic nod. "Hey, why don't we stop thinking about work for now? It's been a long day, you wanna come over to my place later and just chill?"

She smiled. "Sounds good." He always knew exactly what to say to make her feel at peace, and she loved him for that.

Suddenly her phone buzzed and she opened it to see who had texted her. 

"Oh no."

"What is it?" 

"My father wants us to go to the office before we go home."

-

"Joshua, it's so nice to have you back, how was your trip to the States?"

"It was good Mr. Kim, although it is great to be back."

"Absolutely, the office will be lively again now that you've returned." He then turned to Sojung. "And you, child. I heard from Mrs. Jeon that it went well, yes?"

"I suppose."

"Mmm, just like I expected, you really do have a natural talent for these things."

"But dad, I was actually thinking that-"

"I know I know, you want to try out other things too, and you can in your spare time. But you should put your work before your passions, understand?"

Sojung lowered her head, and it was silent for a moment before they were interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

"Looks like someone else is back as well."

"How was Busan Sohee?" asked Sojung.

"More importantly, how was the meeting with the shareholders?" asked her father.

"You won't believe it, I managed to get a unanimous vote on the new proposal!" 

"What about the 50 new stakeholders we aimed to recruit?" her father questioned.

"Uh" Sohee nervously played with her hair. "We only managed to get 30."

Her father shook his head and slammed a fist on his desk. "Unbelievable. Did you at least manage to get someone from Posco?"

"Um no, but we got several representatives from Coupang. And... 30 is a lot."

"But I asked for 50! You failed to meet my expectations." He sighed. "Leave for now, we'll talk about this later."

Sohee looked at him in disbelief, but he had his back turned to her, paying her no heed. She turned around and left bitterly, slamming the door behind her.

"Father, weren't you being a little harsh? She tried her best and the results were good. Besides, does a difference of 20 stakeholders really matter?"

"Sojung in order to be successful you cannot fall short on the company's demands, even the minor ones. If your sister wishes to take over this company, then she has to at a minimum meet the expectations. You two may leave, go get some rest."

-

"I feel bad for her." 

Joshua put an arm around her and pulled her closer. They were huddled on the couch in Joshua's apartment watching Train to Busan, a movie they had seen a few too many times but played anyway because they couldn't decide. 

"She must feel a lot of pressure, knowing that she'll have to take his place one day. I'm sure she wants his approval."

Sojung looked at him. "I guess I have it pretty easy compared to her huh? It's not like I'll have to run an entire company."

"You have your own things to deal with, nobody has it easy."

"Mmm. By the way, what do you want to have for dinner, should we order something?"

"Actually, I was thinking something homecooked would be nice. I ate out plenty of times when I was in America, let's just keep it simple today."

"Oh in that case, let me cook for you!"

He laughed. "Yeah, because that turned out so well last time."

She looked at him with annoyance (but fondly) as he continued to laugh. "Hey! No one ever told me that meat had to be cooked to a certain temperature."

"I had food poisoning for a week!"

"Alright alright. But just so you know I practiced cooking while you were away, and I've actually become quite good at it."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

-

"Jeonghan-ah, you can go home now. You've worked so hard today."

"Is there anything else I can help with before I go?"

"No sweetie, you've done a lot today. Go home and get some rest."

"Alright, thank you." Jeonghan took off his uniform and grabbed his jacket.

"I'll see you tomorrow then Mrs. Boo, have a good night!" 

"Jeonghan-ah, wait a moment." The middle aged woman hurried up to him and handed him a bag. "Take this bread home."

"But I can't-"

"Just take it, these are left over from today, they'll go to waste if you don't take them."

"Okay" he took the bag and waved goodbye. "I'll get going then."

"Bye hyung!" Seungkwan shouted from inside the kitchen.

Mrs. Boo sighed as she watched him leave. She went back inside the bakery and flipped the sign from open to close. 

"Eomma is something wrong?" asked Seungkwan.

"I'm just worried about Jeonghan. That kid has such a kind heart and he's so hard working, not to mention his looks are incomparable. You'd have to be out of your mind to leave him."

"Well it turns out all those women are in fact out of their minds."

"It's such a shame. Seungkwan-ah do you know any nice girls from your university? Maybe you could set them up."

"Uh yeah, I could try." Seungkwan did have some friends that he contemplated introducing, but once their parents found out about Jeonghan's background, they were sure to object.

-

Jeonghan entered his studio apartment which was dark. He took off his shoes and immediately fell onto his bed, not even bothering to turn on the light. He squeezed his pillow tightly as he processed his emotions, he had work right after so he barely even had the chance to take it all in. 

He didn't know what to feel at this point. Of course he was hurt, it always hurt. But he had been dumped so many times that it wasn't even surprising, he had gotten used to it. It was easy for him to get in relationships, and he had never been rejected when he asked someone out. But once they find out his financial situation, it was only a matter of time.

Suddenly he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Once he saw the name on the screen he immediately sat up.

WW: I'm outside your place, come down now and give me my money.

It was one of his father's debt collectors. 

JH: I thought we agreed on next week.

WW: I decided that I can't trust you, who knows where you'll run off to?

Jeonghan opened his bedside drawer and pulled out an envelope. His last encounter with this debt collector ended in him getting sent to the ER so he could not let that happen again. He counted the bills and realized he didn't have enough, but nevertheless headed down anyway, hoping the man would be more lenient with him since he was early.

"There you are." The man pulled him off to the side of the path. "Hand it over."

Jeonghan gulped and handed him the envelope. "I don't have the exact amount at the moment, but by next week I'm sure I'll have the rest of-"

The man grabbed him by the collar and slammed him to the wall, causing Jeonghan to fear for his life. He had clearly gotten stronger since last time, so he wondered what he could do this time. Jeonghan wasn't a small man, but he was rather lithe and stood no chance against a muscle pig.

"Listen you rat, this is already long overdue. If you don't give me my money right now, I won't be as merciful as I was last time."

"I-I assure you, I only need one more week. I really don't have it right now."

"Liar!" The man raised his fist and Jeonghan squeezed his eyes shut and braced for the impact.

"Hey!" someone shouted, causing both of them to direct their attention to the man walking towards them.