Cha Hei-Ryung: the young lady Assistant Editor Lee insisted was one-in-a-million- a genius of a writer. Whatever doubts Ji Suk had about her mental health, he couldn't dispute the fact that the girl had talent. She was one of his best-selling authors, despite still being a fledgling in in the industry and only twenty years old. If not for Ms. Lee's high praises of the girl, these things would have raised red flags and Ji Suk would never have even considered publishing her under a company like Nalgae; yet now, she was one of the publishing firm's most well-known authors, and had unintentionally encouraged other talented writers to bright their work to the company because of her story.

     Still, there were times when he doubted that keeping Ms. Cha around was in the best interest of the company.

     Ji Suk coughed into his fist- his throat had been insufferably dry this winter- and fixed Seulki with a pointed stare, as though the cough had stemmed from impatience. Swallowing hard, the young woman cupped her hand around the mouthpiece of her cell phone and turned her back to him. Ji Suk poured himself a glass of water and downed it in one shot, shaking his head all the while. He had already been waiting twenty minutes, and that didn't count the five minutes after the prearranged time he had spent stuck in traffic. He had been hoping to make this a quick, simple meeting to discuss the planned promotions for Ms. Cha's upcoming book, with some time left over to take care of a few other matters. Naturally, he had expected a little hiccup in the meeting when it came time to discuss the possibility of a few promotional book signings, something that Hei-Ryung had never agreed to before, but Ji Suk had planned on smooting things over quickly so that he could be on his way back to the office within an hour.

     Now, it looked as though it would take an hour just to get the meeting started.

     It wasn't Ms. Lee's fault that Ms. Cha was so difficult, though, so as the distressed woman bowed apologetically to him he tried to wave it off as best he could. Letting talent like Hei-Ryung's go unnoticed was something that Ms. Lee, who had a passion for writing that placed second only to an author's, found tragically impossible, and Ji Suk could understand that. Her caring for Hei-Ryung went even further than a concerned editor, though. Although the woman denied it, the employees at Nalgae could see that she had developed almost motherly feelings for the wayward girl. It was why Ms. Lee insisted that the company take a monthly cut from her paycheck to pay the rent on Hei-Ryung's apartment, and why she so vehemently defended the girl against the board members whenever talk of letting her go began.

     Speaking of the board, he still needed to have a talk with the Pigeon about the man's most recent attempt to remove Ji Suk from his position as CEO. Although the nation's retirement age had been set at sixty-five, Ji Suk had announced some time ago that he was considering following in his father's footsteps and retiring early. Now he wished that he could go back and eat those words, as they had turned into the Pigeon's best ammunition against Ji Suk whenever the gentleman addressed the board about the issue.

     "The man lacks ambition," "He's getting too old to effectively run the company," and "As a new generation of writers enters our building, we should greet them with an equally youthful and progressive staff," were just a few of the Pigeon's more poignant statements, and this selection was limited by the fact that Ji Suk didn't know what the man was saying behind closed doors. Not that Ji Suk needed to  hear for himself what the snake was saying to understand the effect his slippery words were having as they ran through the board's minds.

     Just this morning he had noticed a not-so-subtly placed magazine residing on his desk with a front cover story on the top ten places for retirees to spend their last years on the planet. It had taken all of Ji Suk's will power to not wring the scrawny neck of his Chief Operating Officer when the man came in smiling brightly and innocently- the perfect mask for the vindictive core that resided at the center of his heart. The idea that it would be this Chief Operating Officer- or COO- who took over the company when Ji Suk stepped down into retirement, that made the current CEO sick.

     Grimacing, Ji Suk poured himself another glass of water. If Park Bi Dul were to take over as CEO of the Nalgae Publishing Firm, Ji Suk's father would roll in his grave- if not come back from the dead altogether. After all the hard work Kang Ji-Sung had put into ensuring his son inherited the company, Ji Suk couldn't let a man like Bi Dul take over the company and wrest it away from the family after just two generations. Defending the company's integrity was a task easier said than done, though. Ji Suk, a man dedicated to his work, had never taken the time to settle down and start a family. Consequently, he had no children and, therefore, nobody to continue the admittedly short-lived tradition of keeping the position of CEO in the family. As much as Ji Suk hated it, Bi Dul- as "second in command" of the company- was, in the board's eyes, the best choice for the position of CEO after Ji Suk's retirement.

     "This morning's visitor could provide a fork in this unfortunate path, though."

     "Mr. Park," Ji Suk suddenly spoke up, interrupting the Chief Operating Officer in the middle of his tiresomely long-winded explanation of the company's finances.

     "Yes, sir?" Bi Dul replied, his voice obviously disgruntled as he looked up from the thick stack of freshly printed papers he held. Ji Suk felt a small surge of triumph at having broken the COO's usual silky-smooth calm, though on the outside he remained professional and only allowed a small smirk to subtly quirk up the corner of his mouth.

     "Would you be so kind as to get me a coffee from the cafe across the street? I've had to spend some late nights in the office these past few days, and the watered down sludge the office provides just doesn't do the trick anymore," he requested, leaning forward in his seat. When Bi Dul looked ready to object, Ji Suk held up a hand and smiled pleasantly at the man. "I assure you the finances report can wait. I'll make sure the papers don't run off while you're gone," he chuckled, gently removing the stack from Bi Dul's white knuckled grip and laying it on his desk. For good measure, Ji Suk placed a heavy paper weight on top of the pile, thus assuring the papers didn't try and make a break for it.

     After watching Ji Suk's actions, Bi Dul nodded tersely, stood, and, after getting the specifics for the coffee, marched out the door. Now free to gloat to his heart's content, Ji Suk allowed himself to fully enjoy having ruffled the infuriating Pigeon's feathers. Settling down down into the worn leather of his desk chair, Ji Suk turned to face out the window and watch the Pigeon's brethren- come to see how their beloved younger brother was doing- strut across the narrow ledge that the architects who designed the building had decided to call a windowsill- though none of the usual functions of a windowsill could be accomplished with the strip of stone. It most likely was not these exact pigeons who had first given Ji Suk the idea, but it had been a very similar bunch of birds who first inspired the nickname "Pigeon" for Nalgae's COO. The man- whose personality was so dirty it left a bad taste in Ji Suk's mouth just mentioning him, and who could be dimmer than a burnt out light bulb- was so remarkably similar to the pests that flocked outside Ji Suk's window that he couldn't resist calling Bi Dul by their name. Even the abbreviation of his position, COO, was an onomatopoeia for a pigeon's voice- it was simply meant to be.

     He always made carefully sure to never use the nickname outside of his own head, though. If word were to get out about his less-than-flattering depiction of the company's COO, it would easily turn into cannon fodder for Bi Dul to use against Ji Suk after maybe generating a few laughs. "A CEO must be respectful of his employees," he would say, "and this distasteful joke shows a great lack of that." The man might even try and convince the board members that Ji Suk was creating similar nicknames for them.

     Which, if Ji Suk were to be entirely honesty, was to an extent true.

     "Mr. Kang?" A questioning female voice suddenly spoke up from the intercom sitting on his desk. Turning reluctantly away from the window- he had been hoping to watch Bi Dul struggle through the biting cold that had come to Seoul this winter- he pressed down on the single round, black button so he could answer his secretary. After a mumbled acknowledgement on his part, she continued brightly: "There's a young man here to see you. He's been waiting for a few minutes, but I didn't want to interrupt your meeting with the COO (it should be mentioned here that her pronunciation of the abbreviation was not "see-oh-oh" but more like the the pigeon's coo, which- as it had many times before- made Ji Suk think the young woman had overheard him using the nickname in reference to Bi Dul). Should I send him in now?"

     "Send him in," Ji Suk concurred, rising from his seat as he did so to greet this unexpected guest. He wasn't kept waiting long, because before his finger even had a chance to leave the intercom button, the walnut office door swung open and the young man in question strode into the room, bearing a strangely familiar face. Behind him, Ji Suk's secretary hovered curiously in the doorway. "Ms. Kim, if you see any pigeons fluttering around would you kindly keep them at bay while my guest is here?" Ji Suk asked, startling her for a moment. Eyes wide, it wasn't until Ji Suk smiled mischeviously at her that she returned to her bright self and gave him the affirmative.

     Although visibly confused by what had just been said, the guest kept his mouth shut and politely bowed to Ji Suk as the door gently swung closed behind him. After bowing in return, Ji Suk gestured for the young man to take a seat in one of the two chairs that faced his desk- each was tilted to fourty-five degrees; Ji Suk checked every morning. Both were made from the same mahogany leather as Ji Suk's desk chair, but neither were quite as worn. Unlike the desk chair, the two had been replaced several times over the years as they chafed and wore down. It was a simple thing, but to those who worked at the company it was a representation of how much Ji Suk respected his guests- even the ones he didn't necessarily like.

     After a cursory glance at the two chairs, the young man carefully sat down in the leftmost of the pair. Secretly, Ji Suk took pleasure in this, because- as silly as it sounded- it seemed that even complete strangers could sense the bad aura the Pigeon left; he had been sitting in the rightmost chair just moments before. His young guest, who Ji Suk would tentatively place at early twenties, didn't seem to share in any of this relaxing pleasure, though. Sitting up straight with hands folded neatly on his lap, the lad was the perfect picture of professionalism. Such a tense expression wasn't befitting of the young man's handsome- and persistantly familiar- face, though.

     "So, shall we start with introductions, then?" Ji Suk asked, breaking the silence first. The young man's mouth, which had been pressed into a rigid and thin line the entire time, relaxed only slightly as he tipped his head in agreement. "My name is Kang Ji Suk, and I am the CEO of Nalgae Publishing Company, though I assume you already knew that," he introduced, extending his hand to the young man.

     "Yoo Youngjae-" the young man's voice hesitated for a brief moment, though his grip remained firm as he shook hands with Ji Suk, "-sir. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," he concluded, returning to his stiff posture.

     This unexpected statement molded Ji Suk's facial features into a confused frown as he folded his fingers together and rested them on the desk. "Finally? I'm sorry, but did we have a previous engagement? My schedule is so hectic these days that I may have forgotten..." Ji Suk allowed his voice to trail off. He was certain that he hadn't forgotten any meetings, though with as many messages, e-mails, and faxes as he was getting these past few weeks, it wouldn't be surprising if some memo or other was lost in the miles of paperwork.

     "Ah, no, not quite," Youngjae corrected, his shoulders only relaxing enough to give him enough available movement to wave one hand in front of him. "You see, my father... how should I explain this?" the young man sighed, averting his eyes down to the russet carpet to think. "My father is- was- your..." his voice drifted off again, and for the first time since he had walked in, Ji Suk saw helplessness in the boy's face- a familiar expression, especially when coupled with that face. That was enough for Ji Suk to realize what had been tugging at the back of his mind since the boy first walked in, and why he felt as though the two had already met.

     "You father was Hyo Suk, wasn't he?" Ji Suk asked quietly, the bluntness of the question masking his concern about the answer the boy would certainly give him.

     "Yes."

     Breathing in deeply, Ji Suk sat back in his seat and thought about everything that had been squeezed into that one word. Youngjae, although obviously nervously waiting for a reply, remained silent and occupied himself by attempting to dig a speck of dirt out from under his finger nail. The two even shared the same habits. As his eyes lowered to the wooden grain of his desk, Ji Suk's mind retreated into itself to think.

     The resemblance was uncanny. Although much younger than the last time Ji Suk had seen Hyo Suk, the boy was still remarkably similar to his memories of his elder brother. Especially in the eyes. They shared the same protruding, deep brown eyes that, no matter the face's expression, always seemed to maintain a gentle tenderness in them. The resemblance seemed so obvious to him now that Ji Suk felt guilty for not having recognized his nephew when he first walked in. Although it had been twenty years since he last saw his elder brother, and though he had never laid eyes on his brother's son, he should still have known who the young man was the moment he saw him.

     Unsure of what else to say, Ji Suk spoke the first thing that came to mind: "How's your mother?"

     "Fine," Youngjae responded curtly, his eyes hardening just slightly at the mention of such a sensitive topic. Cursing himself for his lack of tact, Ji Suk sat back in his seat with a long, heavy sigh.

     "I never hated your father," this sudden switch of topic was something that Ji Suk had been waiting a long time to say, but had never found the courage to. How could he, when the only thing in this world that scared him more then handing over the company to  the Pigeon was facing Chohee and her son? "And I can't express how sorry I am for what has happened to you and your mother."

     Youngjae looked as though he were about to cry out of relief as he looked up and met Ji Suk's eyes for the first time since entering the room. Smiling hesitantly, Ji Suk carefully avoided showing any signs of having noticed the tears that had begun to pool in Youngjae's eyes, only to be furiously blinked away by the young man. As his shoulders loosened and Youngjae made himself comfortable in the chair, the entire office's atmosphere settled and both men were able to comfortably speak.

     The conversation started hesitantly at first, as is to be expected when two strangers suddenly find themselves needing to act familiar with one another, but soon they were easily discussing a variety of topics. Nothing further was said about Hyo Suk or his wife- at least, Ji Suk hoped that Hyo Suk had eventuall married Chohee- but for now nothing more needed to be said. Ji Suk could sense that Youngjae had not been shielded from his father's past, and so felt no need to explain himself to the young man. If the time came then Ji Suk would speak, but until then he was enjoying talking about trivial matters with his nephew.

     Nephew. It was a strange word to associate with the young man sitting in front of him, chattering comfortably and never once faltering. Although Ji Suk had spent many a sleepless night thinking about Hyo Suk and his son, it had never once crossed his mind that he would actually meet the boy. Which was probably why this first encounter was not the surreal, tear-filled experience you see in the dramas. Rather, the two spent twenty minutes simply talking.

     "So, Youngjae," Ji Suk began, referring to his nephew familiarly, though his voice returned to business, as he set down the cup of tea his secretary had brought mid-way through their conversation, "why did you come here? I can't imagine it was just to chat with me about fishing," he chuckled, leaning forward in his seat and resting his hands on the table. Nodding, Youngjae finished off his own cup before gently placing it on the desk.

     "I'm not going to pretend like I don't know what happened twenty years ago," Youngjae began, returning to the nervous young boy he had been when he first walked in. Nodding, Ji Suk concurred this statement. "I know that my father, as the oldest of Kang Ji-Sung's two sons, was meant to inherit the Nalgae Publishing Firm, and would have done so if not for... certain circumstances." As the subject grew touchier, both men shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The Kang family's men had never been good at dealing with such delicate things. "I also know that you plan on retiring soon, and that the company will end up going to someone outside of the family."

     Ji Suk could see that news traveled to the public quickly. The fact that outsiders to the company knew about Nalgae's supposed secrets didn't bother Ji Suk, though- it wasn't surprising, after all. Rather, he was more concerend with whether he dared to hope or not. With the direction Youngjae was now taking the conversation, Ji Suk felt justified in allowing a slight tremor of excitement enter his heart. On the outside he remained collected, though, and gestured lightly for Youngjae to make his point.

     "I was wondering if it might be possible for me to-" he hesitated and took in a deep breath- "I want to take over the Nalgae company," Youngjae boldly proclaimed, shedding his nerves for just a moment and meeting Ji Suk's eyes with a ferocity rarely seen in either father or son. "I know that the idea of a complete outsider taking over the company might not be pallatable to the board, but if you were to speak on my behalf then maybe..." Youngjae let the implication hang in the air as he dropped his eyes once more, the fire temporarily taken back under control.

     "Even if I were to speak on your behalf-"

     "Mr. Kang?" The secretary's voice hesitantly interrupted. Frowning down at the intercom, he smiled apologetically at Youngjae before pressing down the button and answering. "Your lunch meeting with Cha Hei-Ryung and her editor, Lee Seulki, is in fifteen minutes," she reminded him, and then offered to call him a taxi.

     Glancing up at Youngjae, he silently searched for an answer from the boy. "I won't keep you from your business," Youngjae told him, already in the process of standing up. Nodding, Ji Suk relayed a similar answer to his secretary before rising from his seat and crossing over to the nearby coat rack. "But, if you could finish what you were saying earlier..." Youngjae hesitantly prompted, resting his hand on the back of his chair.

     "Although I don't have the time to explain all the details to you, just know that the board is not quite as undyingly loyal to me as they were to your grandfather-" your grandfather, what a strange thing to say. "-and it will be difficult to sway them." Although he kept his expression neutral, Ji Suk could see the crestfallen look in Youngjae's eyes. It had always been the eyes that gave Hyo Suk away, too. "That doesn't mean I won't try, though. As the son of Hyo Suk, you already have one foot in the door," Ji Suk slid his arms into the rough wool fabric of his black doublebreasted overcoat, "so now it's just a matter of finding how to force the rest of you in."

     "R-right," Youngjae tremulously agreed, his grip tightening on the back of the chair. Ji Suk didn't know how difficult his nephew had thought this would be when he walked in that door, but was certain that the reality was going to be much more difficult than whatever Youngjae had imagined. Not only was the board full of stubborn old men- a description that, unfortunately, was applicable to Ji Suk as well- but he also would have the Pigeon, who most certainly would not be happy about competition, to deal with. The daunting task ahead didn't seem to be the only thing on the boy's mind, though. "I have to ask. Why aren't you questioning me more? I mean, to just instantly agree like that..." his voice trailed off, and Ji Suk was left to fill in the blanks on his own. Not a very hard task, even for a fifty year old mind.

     "Because I believe that I can trust you when you claim to be my nephew, and I would much rather have a rabbit running this place then a dirty pigeon," Ji Suk thought, not sure why he had chosen a rabbit to describe the young man standing in front of him but knowing that it certainly fit Youngjae.

     "You can't know for sure I'm not lying," Youngjae pointed out, attempting to politely rebutt Ji Suk's appareny naivety. "So how can you be so confident that you do?"

     "Do you want my honest answer?" Ji Suk asked, already heading for the door. Youngjae nodded. "I don't know," he chuckled, pulling open the office door and grinning helplessly at Youngjae. Although the answer obviously didn't satisfy him, the young man nodded all the same.

     "Sir, your-"

     "Leave your number with Ms. Park here," Ji Suk interrupted, brushing aside the coffee Bi Dul was offering while simultaneously pointing to his secretary, who glanced up from her paperwork long enough to smile warmly at Youngjae. Undeterred by Ji Suk's dismissiveness, Bi Dul continued fluttering around the CEO and did his best to try and get his attention. "I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can, and we can continue our discussion into further detail."

     "Sir. Coffee," Bi Dul muttered, almost turning it into a complaint as he held out the beverage in question. Frowning down at the annoying pest, Ji Suk reluctantly accepted the drink and took a sip of it. Meeting Ji Suk's eyes, Bi Dul started making an excuse as to why the coffee had gone cold, but-

     "Please get me another one. This one's cold," Ji Suk observed, reveling in the sour look on Bi Dul's face as he reluctantly took the coffee mug back. Nodding stiffly, Bi Dul glared at Ji Suk's back as the CEO hurried to catch the elevator on its descent, and then turned to look in the open doorway at Youngjae, who was still standing in the office. "And please make it quick, Mr. Park! My taxi arrives in-"

     "Three minutes, sir," his secretary happily filled in, smiling pleasantly at Bi Dul as he narrowed his eyes at her.

     "Three minutes! Move along, now. You don't expect me to go to this meeting without some caffeine to sustain me, do you?" Ji Suk asked, his eyes twinkling mischeviously as Bi Dul grunted a "no, sir." It was at this time that Youngjae finally ventured out of his uncle's office, making a bee line for the secretarial desk so he could write down the requested phone number. As he passed Bi Dul, Ji Suk made a quick comparison of the two: A broad-shouldered, ambitious young man who possessed the gentle strength of his father, and a pigeon whose face was apparently a permanent scowl and who had an even worse personality.

     For Ji Suk, there was no uncertainty about who would bring the much needed "breath of fresh air" that the board members continually insisted the company needed, and who would cause the place to fester. It wasn't his mildly biased opinion that mattered, though. The board would, in the end, decide who became the next CEO, and currently they liked Bi Dul equally as much as Ji Suk despised him. Sometimes it felt like he was the only one who could see that the slippery smooth silk Bi Dul displayed for all to see was really just the disgusting grease the man oozed, and it was this blindness to reality that would, inevitably, hand the company over to Bi Dul.

     Convincing the board of Bi Dul's true nature was not going to help his newly-found nephew, though, because Ji Suk had been trying to do so for years now with obviously little result. The only way Youngjae was going to get anywhere was by making himself look better than the impeccable Pigeon. How a young man of irreputable and uncertain origins was to accomplish this, though, was a mystery.

     "Hei-Ryung! You made it!" Seulki exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and rushing over to greet the timid figure that had entered the small room. Hustling Hei-Ryung to her seat at the table, Seulki removed the hood of the girl's burnt umber cardigan and exposd the delicate features and wide, frightened eyes of Nalgae's most popular author. When they arrived at the table, Hei-Ryung slowly bowed to Ji Suk- with a little push from Seulki- before sliding into the booth and pressing herself as tightly into the corner as was humanly possibly. Apologizing profusely for the girl who showed no intention of doing so herself, Seulki took her seat beside Hei-Ryung.

     "It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Cha," Ji Suk said, tilting his head slightly to get a better view of the girl's face- which was turned shyly away from him. Swallowing hard, Hei-Ryung straightened up just enough to appear polite as she greeted him, but turned her head even further so that Ji Suk could not clearly see her expression. Not that he needed to know exactly what it would look like, because the tense atmopshere surrounding her provided plenty of clues.

     "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Mr. Kang," she whispered, her voice strained as she glanced over at Seulki for approval. Smiling, the assistant editor nodded supportively, like a mother guiding her child through those first few awkward conversations with a stranger. Encouraged, Hei-Ryung allowed a small smile to appear on her face as her shoulders barely relaxed, and she came out from her corner just a little. Turning up the corners of his mouth so that he, too, was smiling, Ji Suk settled down into his seat and began to breathe easily. With just a few more minutes he might have the young author familiarized enough with the situation to feel comfortable, and then they could discuss his plans for promoting her upcoming book.

     Perhaps this meeting wouldn't end up being quite as difficult as he imagined.

Author's Note:

So a LOT of the original story's plot has changed. Which in a way is good, because the new direction I'm taking it is- hopefully!- a lot less cheesy then the last one. I also added and changed a few characters (Myungsoo is no longer the main lead. Sorry all L fans!), and switched the female protagonist's name from Ji-Na to Hei-Ryung. Hopefully with a completely fresh start I'll be able to get into writing this more then I was ^-^

((ARGH! Spell check is broken! TT^TT  I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes))

Updated (December 22, 2013)

Second chapter is updated and refreshed! ^-^  I've come up with an ending point for the story, so I sort of have a time line to help me shape the pace and events of the story- not that it's a very helpful time line, since it could take up a few years or a few months, hehe

I also came up with a more concrete reason for Hei-Ryung's issues than just "people were mean". This change- or, maybe addition is a better word- to her past shouldn't alter what's already happened in the story, though.