SEULGI fell with a thud when she was thrown into a room. Sooyoung hurriedly rushed to her and helped her stand.

“Joy-ah…” Seulgi called to the other girl who looked very traumatised. “Are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay, Unnie.” The girl answered, obviously tearing up. “I-I’m sorry I wasn’t able to warn you. They took my phone away…”

“It’s okay…” Seulgi then turned back to his father’s favourite bald-headed bodyguard. “Where is he!?” The lady roared. “Where is my father!?”

And as if on cue, the huge monitor in the room and showed Seulgi’s father. He was getting his makeup done.

“Welcome back, my prodigal daughter.” Geumho greeted Seulgi with a poker face. “Congratulations on your engagement as well.”

Seulgi’s fist clenched hard to the point that her knuckles turned white. “I never agreed to this!” Seulgi then took a quick look at Joy and held the girl’s hand before looking back at her father. “We never agreed to this!”

Geumho was seen letting out a deep sigh. He then dismissed his makeup team and had them go out for a while. His leopard eyes glared down to Seulgi. “My daughter, excuse your father for his bad memory since he’s getting a bit old but, do you remember when I gave you a choice? I don’t seem to remember.”

“Abeoji!” Seulgi shouted. “You know I am in love with someone else! Why are you doing this to me!? Why are—”

Seulgi froze when her father started to hit the table with his fist. He hit the table three times that the laptop he was using for the call shook, it even felt like it had some airtime. Seulgi’s throat dried up.

“I’m so done with this game of yours, Seulgi.” Geumho said, growling with his teeth shut tight. “You’ve been bringing embarrassment to the family for being such a defect. Your achievements are incomparable to your brothers’. It’s as if you are not my child!”

The man then looked to the side as if trying to calm himself by not looking at Seulgi for a while. But his eyes flamed with even more anger when he looked back at her.

“You were not just a child with no ambition at all but you even started dating a backgroundless girl. Your confessions to the said pauper are all over the internet as well and damn Seulgi, do you know how many phones have I crushed because of embarrassment whenever my friends send me those ing videos?”

“Joohyun-sunbae is not a pauper! And even if she is, it wouldn’t change the fact that my heart beats for her—”

“Shut the hell up or I will barge into that room and maim you! Don’t dirty my hands before an important event!”

“Ha… For real…” Seulgi couldn’t do anything but brush her face with her palms. She looked around but there was no way out. As far as she could remember, they were brought to the 14th floor of the said hotel. There’s no way she would just jump out of the window. She might be crazy at times but jumping would mean not being able to meet Joohyun forever.

“Be a good daughter for once and be engaged with Sooyoung. You guys won’t be married until you graduate anyway but it will secure a lot of investors if we have a lucky girl like Sooyoung in our family. At the very least, have a use for the clan.”

Seulgi was already shaking in anger and Sooyoung felt like she had seen the Seulgi she used to know before she got into an accident.

“Uncle Geumho!” Sooyoung called in a hurry.

Geumho’s expression quickly softened with that one call from Sooyoung. “Yes, my future daughter-in-law?”

“Please, Uncle! I don’t want to do this! I’m already dating Wendy-unnie and I respect Seulgi-unnie’s feelings towards her girlfriend. I don’t want a forced married life like this!”

Geumho wasn’t able to move, it seemed like his screen got stuck while he was smiling like a fool but you could see his hair moving. He then suddenly moved and acted like he wasn’t able to hear anything.

“Oh, Sooyoung, dear. You got disconnected for a moment. I wasn’t able to hear you.”

Seulgi just cursed internally. Joy was about to repeat what she just said but the man’s stance won’t be changed. He just gave the two a smirk which caused a chill to run down their spines.

“See you later at the party, girls. We’ll take the spotlight from the Ahns and turn the investors’ gaze on us. What can little Ahn chicklings do anyway?” Geumho loudly scoffed while shaking his head. And to the shock of the girls, he slapped the laptop away from him and it flew away and ultimately broke. The call ended in that violent fashion.

“Ah, …” Seulgi fell down to her feet while covering her eyes. Sooyoung then worriedly sat beside her. Saitama and the other guards then went out of the room and a makeup team came inside soon after.

“What are we going to do now, Unnie?” Sooyoung whined.

Seulgi ran her fingers to her ruined hair once more. “I don’t know either, Joy. But don’t worry, I’ll do everything to ruin this event. She then looked at her left wrist and just got even more disappointed when she remembered that Saitama also snatched her smartwatch from her.

“Seulgi-nim…”

The two jerked at that sudden call—it was Secretary Yoo. Seulgi’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?”

The young man then walked towards the two that were currently being dragged by the makeup artists to their seats. Secretary Yoo already expected this kind of reception from Seulgi but he didn’t mind at all.

“I am here to make sure that the event will go out smoothly.” He said while walking towards Seulgi. He then handed the girl a piece of paper. Confused, Seulgi was about to shout at the guy but the man gestured her to shush and pointed to the paper.

With no other choice, Seulgi opened the paper and was surprised that it was a letter.

‘There are microphones. Lower your voice. I am on your side.’

Seulgi looked back at the guy who raised one eyebrow at her. He then nodded at the makeup artists who seemed to be waiting for his order. With that one nod, the artists started to be noisy, obviously agitating whoever was listening to them.

Secretary Yoo then sneakily carried a seat and sat beside Seulgi. He made sure that whatever he was saying wasn’t getting picked up so he had to whisper.

“Tell me, Seulgi-nim. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

Seulgi turned to him in disbelief. “I thought you had an idea. I was expecting.” the girl whispered back.

“I just thought you’d already have something in that crafty Kang mind of yours. I forgot you weren’t like your father—”

“Hey—”

Seulgi was kept sitting by the makeup artists. Secretary Yoo leaned a bit closer to her and whispered, “That was actually a compliment, Seulgi-nim.”

“Ha… Whatever…” The young Kang rolled her eyes. “Can you tell me how the program would go?”

“Sure…” The Secretary leaned closer to the point that Sooyoung couldn’t hear whatever they were talking anymore. Seulgi was just nodding while the guy relayed the information.

When the guy was finished with his business, a smile was already pasted on Seulgi's face.

“Alright…” She then placed a hand by her chest, not only feeling her heartbeat but securing that the thing was still there. “I need a laptop and a presentation controller then.”

“As you wish then.” Secretary Yoo moved away. “I’ll prepare it for you.”

Seulgi, still confused at what’s happening, turned to the man. “Why are you doing this anyway? You know what he might do to you.”

The guy just smiled. “I have my own principles as well, Seulgi-nim. Also…”

He showed her his phone’s wallpaper and Seulgi’s eyes widened in surprise. “K-Karina?”

“Yeah…” the secretary nodded. “This is thanks for treating my sister well… You and Joohyun-nim.”

HYUNMI looked really proud of daughter the more she looked at her. She looked even more beautiful with the dress tailored just for her. She was wearing an off shoulder, long, black dress paired with a black platform pump. The off shoulder highlighted her beautiful collarbone and shoulder area. The necklace made out of precious stones made her look even more classy. Her long, black hair was also tied elegantly in a half-ponytail.

“With this beauty of yours, I believe even princes of other nations would line up for you.” Hyunmi adored her daughter with her hands clasped. “Are you sure you’re going to settle with that Kang girl?”

“Omma…”

Hyunmi earned a bombastic side eye from Joohyun which caused her to laugh.

“I was just joking, baby!” Hyunmi snickered.

“I know you’re not.” Joohyun looked back at the mirror and fixed her bangs a bit. She has to make sure that she’d take Seulgi’s breath away once she lays her eyes on her. “I know you’re thinking that my genes would be wasted if I marry Seulgi.”

Hyunmi pouted and helped Joohyun in fixing her hair. “Of course, I can’t deny the fact that I am actually looking forward to seeing my grandchildren from you. You are my only child.” The woman then looked at Joohyun through the mirror. “But I also respect your decision. It will also be hard to raise a child as a female Clan Head. But if one day, you and Seulgi decide to conceive, you can always lean on your cousins.”

Surprised, Joohyun lowered her stare. Her mother wasn’t the type to talk like this. She was like a female drill sergeant. She was a perfectionist, a very meticulous woman. Joohyun knew her for being cold and apathetic. She didn’t even bat an eye when she told her that she would be leaving the house. And Joohyun believed that she didn’t care because she became a huge disappointment for running away from the expectations for her.

Joohyun had to admit it, she was actually really surprised to see her mother with a wide smile when they first met after a long while. She never sounded so excited in that one phone call she gave her. It wasn’t the same woman who disregarded her sick husband and continued working.

“You know, I watched a lot of Seulgi’s videos at TokTik.”

Joohyun’s eyebrows raised, her mother even knows TokTik now.

“All her confessions for you are really funny. She reminds me a lot of your father.”

Hearing her mother suddenly talk about her father, Joohyun suddenly felt her breath hitch. She tried to remain calm but her mother, the White Tigress of Daegu, the secret weapon of Ahn Clan, Ahn Hyunmi, was talking about her father with those loving eyes.

“Juwon-oppa used to do silly confessions like Seulgi. He even used to do surprise buskings in front of the school just for me. He was really sweet.” Hyunmi continued to brush Joohyun’s hair with her fingers. Her eyes were obviously getting misty while remembering her late husband. “I am always thankful to Joowon-oppa for giving me the greatest gift that I could ever receive. I never deserved his love but he didn’t just love me, he even gave me a beautiful and lovely daughter in the form of you.”

Sobs were suddenly heard and Hyunmi had to look at her daughter again only to see the younger girl crying. “Joohyunie? Are you okay, dear?”

“I just suddenly missed Appa…” Joohyun tried to contain her sobs. She tried her best not to ruin her makeup. “I just really wish he could see me right now… I really miss him…”

Hyunmi had to press her lips together to stop herself from crying. She hugged her daughter and Joohyun didn’t hesitate to hug her back. The younger girl cried even more.

“I’m really sorry, Joohyun-ah… Me and your uncle were really busy cleaning the mess your grandfather left that time. We did our best to save the name of our clan. Joowon-oppa, being the kind man that he was, pushed me to focus on work rather than worry about him. Believe it or not, Omma did everything to save your Appa. I hired the best doctors in the country but it was really late. Oppa’s disease was discovered so late that treatment was already impossible.”

Hyunmi looked up to the ceiling to keep her tears in her eyes. “I can still remember that day when you confronted me, that's why I practised with my expressions. I’m sorry if Omma felt like a puppet to you.”

“S-Sorry, Omma…” Joohyun cried. “I’m sorry for misunderstanding you. I thought you didn’t love Appa at all.”

“Would we succeed in our two-year separation if we didn’t love each other?” The woman cupped her daughter’s face. She smiled seeing how cute her daughter was with that pout. She’s really still her baby. “Stop crying now, my baby. Seulgi would be worried if she sees you with puffy eyes later.”

Joohyun just nodded to her mother and tried to calm herself. Hyunmi nodded to the makeup artists and the team went to fix Joohyun’s makeup. Hyunmi stepped backwards, making sure that her tears wouldn't fall.

When Joohyun finally managed to calm herself down, her uncle, Jaejin, entered the room together with his daughter, Yujin. Joohyun immediately stood up to greet her uncle.

Yujin’s eyebrows raised after seeing the beauty of her cousin. She just nodded to herself, amazed at the gift of good looks showered at their clan.

“Are you ready, Joohyun?” Jaejin asked. “We’re about to start. The reporters are already gathered outside as well.”

“Yes, Uncle.” Joohyun answered. “I am very much rea—”

Joohyun’s phone suddenly rang, she quickly turned to it and her brows furrowed in an instant.

“Is something the matter, Joohyun?” The Clan Head asked.

“I-It’s the driver that I asked to pick Seulgi up.”

Jaejin remained with a poker face despite knowing exactly what’s happening. “Go ahead.”

Getting the permission, Joohyun quickly grabbed her phone and turned her back before answering the call. Her eyes widened the moment she heard the news from the driver. “S-Seulgi is nowhere to be found? You couldn’t contact her as well?”

Hyunmi facepalmed. Knowing what kind of person Seulgi’s father is, she could already figure out what’s happening.

‘Now, Joohyun-ah… What will you do?’ Jaejin thought while looking at his niece. ‘Are you going to act like an Ahn or a Bae—’

“AHN JOOHYUN-SUNBAE!”

Everybody turned to the door that flung open. It was Wendy huffing for air, the big guards behind her weren’t even able to stop her from seeing Joohyun. They looked like they just ran a marathon after all the chasing they did.

“Sunbae!” Wendy looked like crying as she felt relieved after finally seeing Joohyun. “Seulgi was kidnapped by her father! She’s now being forced into an engagement with Sooyoung!”

Wendy suddenly folded into a deep bow with all the exhausted guards crumbling down with her. “Please, I beg you! I am dating Sooyoung and Seulgi is my best friend! I know how much she loves you! Please don’t let this engagement announcement push through!”

“Exciting.” Yujin murmured to herself. She then turned to her cousin and a smirk curved up to her lips knowing that things would be more fun just by seeing the expression pasted on her cousin’s face.

“Omma!” Joohyun shouted, almost growling. “Do you remember that you used to brag to me that we own an army tank?”

Hyunmi’s brows twitched. “O-Of course, it was one of my prized possession—”

Gasps then filled the room when Joohyun ripped her gown to form a slit that would allow her to move more freely.

“Ahn Joohyun!” Hyunmi shouted. Joohyun turned to her with eyes burning in anger. Eyes that only the Ahns have.

“Omma, if I don’t come back with Seulgi as soon as possible, I will send you my location. Send the tank there and I’ll crush that place!”

Joohyun, with her high heels, marched towards Wendy. But before that, she gave a bow to her uncle. “I’ll be back really soon, Uncle. Please proceed with the presentation. I’ll be back in no time.”

The girl didn’t even wait for her uncle’s approval, she just continued brisk-walking and even walked past Wendy. “Get up, Wendy-ssi! Bring me to where they are! No one takes a possession of an Ahn like that without getting punished! Not one Ahn will just watch someone take what’s hers!”

Wendy felt chills run down her spine. Even the guards scampered off to make way for the angry Joohyun. Wendy hurriedly stood up when she heard her name being called again.

Jaejin just let his niece walk away.

“Will everything be fine?” Yujin asked, she didn’t even sound worried. She just watched her aunt sit on a chair and had her own makeup fixed.

“It’s fine.” Jaejin answered. Yujin was surprised to see a smile curved up the lips of her father. “An Ahn-Bae blood mixture is really something, huh?”

He then signalled for his secretary to come nearer and the said man quickly responded to him. “Tell everybody that we have to delay the presentation a bit. We have an engagement party to watch getting ruined.”

“HOP IN!”

Joohyun turned frigid when Wendy hopped to her car. She looked at the back seat and got disgusted at how dirty it was. Just one look and one would know that the moment the door is opened, different types of rubbish would come crumbling off.

Wendy opened the front passenger seat door. “