Chapter Nine

Jinhee and her assistant were on their way back home from her date meeting with Lee Jong Hyun when her assistant interrupted the silence. “I think you would be interested to know that I received word that all of your friends are at your home waiting to talk about the date with you and watch movies.”

“I figured they would be.” She nodded.

They arrived to her house, where Jinhee saw familiar cars parked outside.

“Oh, the guys are here too?”

“Yes, are they not also your friends?”

“Well, there’re my club members, and then there’s Junhyung and Dongwoon, who I believe to be my friends at least at one point in time, and then there are their friends who think I’m alright.”

“I think you’ll need to hammer out your definition of friendship with these people before you say that again.” Her assistant sighed. “From anyone’s view, and I’m sure all those other people would agree, these people are your friends. I apologize if I spoke out of term; I just think you needed to think about that some more.”

“It’s okay. I will think about it some more.” Jinhee smiled and nodded as she got out the car. Jiwon and So Eun practically ambushed her at the door when she entered.

“How was this date?”

“It was actually pretty good.” Jinhee smiled and they all joined the others in the home theatre room in the basement.

“Whoa!” The guys stared at her in awe.

“Yes, Unni cleans up real nice!” Jiwon laughed twirling the shorter girl around.

“How was it this time?” Jin Gyo asked, stopping the movie so everyone could focus on her.

“It went really well. Even though I promised not to, I told him about my peculiar hobby and he was very accepting of it and even encouraged it!” Jinhee grinned. “He’s so new money that this is the first time his family was invited to the Yoon banquet, so he’s not arrogant like some others of my class. And he’s similar to me because he is active in running the company instead of just being a figurehead like the others. It’s really nice to see.”

“Was he cute?” So Eun giggled, asking.

“Yes.” Jinhee nodded.

Dongwoon shifted in the back uncomfortably, but refused to stop listening. It was a form of torture for him, but he had to hear it.

“Describe him!” They urged her as Jinhee got comfortable in one of the theatre couches.

“He was really tall, and had broad shoulders from doing Judo. What I remember most is his smile. He was always smiling – and he has a really pretty smile. He has dimples. Very pretty face.”

“You should have taken a picture!”

“That would have been creepy.” Jinhee scoffed. “Well, he’s nice, smart, and attractive. Oh! He likes magic tricks as much as I like bugs.”

“Really? Magic?”

“I don’t judge, I play with bugs.” Jinhee shrugged. “Regardless, magic tricks are pretty cool, I think. He’s going to show me on our next official date. Just something simple though.”

“That’s cute. So, do you think a future with him isn’t too farfetched?” Jiwon smiled.

“It’s too soon to tell. But so far, a future with him wouldn’t be horrible to me.”

“What about… that other guy you told us you’ve liked for a while?” So Eun asked, referring to her honest confession the other day saying that she liked Dongwoon.

Dongwoon was even more hurt by this statement than anything else he’d earlier. It was one thing to go on a good meeting that was set up by her mother, but it was something entirely different if Jinhee actually liked someone of her own accord. Of course, he accepted his pain in silence and just kept watching them talk.

“I would prefer him, but it’s highly unlikely.” Jinhee nodded.

“Why?”

“I don’t think he likes me.” She shrugged.

“A guy who doesn’t like you?” Junhyung cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Yes, a guy who doesn’t like me. Of course, I’ve accepted it long ago.”

“I’m sure you can get any guy to like you.” Yoseob protested. “You have that persuasive thing.”

“I’m not going to persuade someone to like me.” She rolled her eyes. “How sad am I that I’d have to con someone into liking me?”

“Is it because you’re always dirty looking? I’m sure if you showed him this cleaner pretty side of you he would like you!” KiKwang grinned.

“I already have.” Jinhee nodded. “But it’s okay; really, I’ve come to accept it.”

“Hey, can you get Haneul to come over? I want to see her!” Hyunseung bounded up to her and got comfortable sitting next to her on the loveseat.

“She didn’t pick up the phone when we called her.” Jiwon pouted. No one saw the way Doojoon smiled when he was looking at her, which was all the better – it wouldn’t do anyone any good if they saw the guy crush on the girl already happily in a relationship.

“She probably doesn’t want to be bothered right now.” Jinhee chuckled, as if she didn’t know what she knew about the attack on Haneul. For her safety, Jinhee had Haneul stay in the hospital for a while longer to ensure her recovery.

“Aw…” Hyunseung pouted. “I could have sworn she was starting to warm up to me!” He threw his puppy dog eyes at her, “Please call her? I don’t have her number so these are the few times I get to see her.”

She sighed, “You’re really pretty…”

“Don’t call me pretty! I’m hot, not pretty!”

“Sure you are.” She rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone and called her club member.

“Yah! I’m definitely hot! Feel my muscles!” He grabbed her free hand and made her touch his abs. “See? Hot!”

“I don’t feel anything.” Jinhee .

Dongwoon glared at the two and moved to separate them, but Doojoon did it for him, knowing that his friend was no good at showing he cares while trying to hide that he cares. Of course, Dongwoon isn’t going to understand this and will take it wrong. Dongwoon glares silently at his best friend instead.

“Of course you don’t, Hyunseung has like no muscles!” Doojoon crammed his larger body between the two people. “Why were you even trying to get her to say you’re hot? You’re going after her friend. It’s not right if you want her to think you’re hot too.”

“What’s going on over there?”

Everyone had forgotten that Jinhee was calling Haneul until they heard her voice coming from the phone.

“Hyunseung missed you and wanted to hear your voice.”

“Hyunseung got defensive about Jinhee calling him pretty.”

“Yeah, he really hates that. Don’t tell me he made you feel his muscles too?” Haneul scoffed.

“She says I don’t have any!”

“What funny actions from the guy that likes me. He’s making other girls feel him up and wanting them to call him hot. I’m hurt Sunbae!” She . “I guess I should have known you didn’t really like me. You’re just in it for the chase.” She sighed, sounding sad.

“What?! That’s not it! I like you! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again! No matter how many times I get called pretty!”

“Good.” And it was like she was never sad. “So why did you want to talk to me?”

“Because I missed you! I haven’t seen or heard from you for two days! Where were you yesterday?”

“I skipped school yesterday. I didn’t feel like going.”

“Not even to see me?”

“Why would I go to see you? We’re not even in the same grade.”

“Then I’ll fail so we can be in the same grade! Okay?!”

“Don’t you dare do that. I’m not going to date a failure.”

“So you will date me?!”

“…”

“Haneul?”

“Shut up.” She said roughly.

“Aw!”

“So, Jinhee! How was your date?” Jinhee chuckled as her friend changed the subject.

“It went well. He was nice, he was good looking, and he doesn’t mind that I like bugs.” Jinhee gave her the gist of the important information. “We plan on meeting again.”

“Seriously? What about the other guy you like? From school?”

“Oh, this other guy is from our school?” Doojoon looked at her, surprised. But of course, they were too close and his face came just inches from her. She leaned away awkwardly and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Do we know him?”

“Yes.”

“Who is it?!” Yoseob and KiKwang pounced.

“None of your business! Jinhee just answer my question! Are you never going to confess to him and just marry this other guy?”

“I didn’t say I was going to marry him. We’ve only met once and I’m only 18. Seriously, everyone needs to calm down on this marriage talk. I know the point is to find a future spouse, but that’s far off into the future.”

“Okay fine, so the other guy…?”

“What about him? I can continue watching him from afar as we both live on with our own lives.”

“But you really like him!”

“So? What can I do about it?”

“True, if it’s a guy from our school, his station in life isn’t high enough to even date you.” Doojoon nodded.

Jinhee looked up at him, confused. “I don’t care about station. Too many people in the upper class are nowhere near awesome enough to date me.” She laughed. “Plus, regardless of whom it is, my rank would still be much higher than theirs. And whoever it is will have to be inducted into my family regardless.”

“Then shouldn’t you be dating someone not going to be a CEO?” He asked, leaning back as Hyunseung commandeered Jinhee’s phone and left the loveseat to talk to the girl.

“I should.” Jinhee nodded, “But my date’s company is low level enough that inducting him and taking in the company as a part of AFA wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Oh, okay. That makes sense. So are you still going to the banquet tomorrow?”

“Yes. There’s no getting out of it. As annoying as I think these social functions are, it’s a part of my life.” She sighed, angling her body to better talk to him comfortably.

“Yeah, I didn’t take you for a ‘fancy evening dress, talk to some stuck up people’, kind of girl.” Doojoon smiled.

“Oh, yeah, put me down for a whole night of that! That’s the time of my life right there! Let’s add in some killer heels because I’m a midget and then call the cops because I’m just having way too much fun now!” Jinhee said sarcastically.

“Then why do you go?” Yoseob asked.

“It’s like work. It’s vital for future CEOs to do this early, which I have, and it’ll be even more important when I do take over the company. You have to do these things all the time. Pretend to like people you don’t like. Wear clothes that you hate. Smile until your face hurts. Agree to meet people you honestly could live life without ever meeting. This is as much the job as running the business.”

“You really wish you had an older brother don’t you?”

“Well, officially, to share the responsibility of AFA with, yes, I do wish I had more siblings. But right now, Junhyung is as close as I get to actually having a big brother, and I’m happy with that.”

“By the way,” Junhyung chuckled evilly, “You look fatter in floral print dresses.”

“Yah! Stop calling me fat!” Jinhee glared at him. She pulled off her heel to throw it at him, but Doojoon smoothly grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“You look very pretty.” Doojoon smiled. “Not fat at all. Junhyung’s just jealous because he has a fat head.” Doojoon calmed the smaller girl down and took the heel from her hands and put it back on her foot for her.

Dongwoon was fuming, but left the room quietly when no one was looking. But Jinhee was hyper aware of his presence in the room and noticed him leaving, but said nothing. Doojoon and Junhyung weren’t oblivious to the guy leaving either.

Everyone was curious of the relationship between Doojoon and Jinhee now. It seemed like they were pretty close, and he was really sweet and friendly to her. Jinhee wasn’t reacting, but she wasn’t the type that reacted anyway. Jinhee was actually fond of Doojoon, as he was not as loud as Yoseob, KiKwang, and Hyunseung, but he wasn’t as quiet as Junhyung. He was pretty similar to his best friend, Dongwoon. And the fact that she knew he knew her plight as a future CEO first hand also made him feel more like a kindred spirit than anyone else in school. He’s also pretty good looking, which is something she appreciates, no matter how much she likes Dongwoon. Of course, Doojoon wasn’t romantically interested in her either, as he liked Jiwon, the girl in a relationship with Jin Gyo, who is the formidable son of a Dojang instructor. But for his friend’s sake, Doojoon remains close to the girl to keep others away, even if he doesn’t understand why his friend can’t get close to her himself.

“So what movie should we watch now?” The louder ones in the group argued over what to watch next.

Author's Note

Okay, going to honestly say... I'm a bit pretty drunk right now. And for some reason, I thought it was a good idea to update while drunk.

Not sure how it turned out. I'll know in the morning -- more likely afternoon.

Thanks for reading!

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