Chapter Twelve

Static

He was supposed to be back to work, Woo Bin thought idly, as he stared at the stack of folders littering his desk. 

His mind should have been focused on the results of his surprise spot checks. His attention should have been drawn to the proposals submitted to his office for assessment and vetoing.

But no. He wasn't actually doing anything of the sort - except maybe riffle through the folders every now and then like they were nothing but magazines. 

And he's been like this for several days now.

Woo Bin sighed. He checked his watch, and was wholly unprepared for the wave of nausea hitting him when he realized: it was only 10:30 in the morning. 

Goddamnit.

He rose from his chair. Heading towards his window, he loosened his tie but fought the urge to take it off entirely - he was within the office premises, after all. Woo Bin supposed he could always leave, but something in him didn't want to. After all, he still needed to make up for his whole blunder with the Parks - the mess that no less than his father had to go fix for him.  

Despite the fact that this whole construction company was technically his, he had some goddamn pride after all.

Woo Bin glanced at his workload. He really should get back to it - if he wanted to be productive today. 

God knew he needed to.

But just as he was convincing himself to start working - his phone rang.

.

He knew - he just knew - who was calling him.

And it was precisely why he was reluctant to answer it. 

Not that he was avoiding a certain potter's calls or anything. Was it his fault he wasn't in the right mood to indulge in a talk of sorts about Sweden and whatever crap Yi Jung had called him about? Was it his fault that by the time he'd decided to finally answer the call his friend had already ended it? Was it his fault that he couldn't find the right time to actually call back? 

He took a deep breath. The fact that he even needed to calm himself down at the prospect of talking to his friend was in itself absurd. Yi Jung hadn't done anything wrong. Yi Jung didn't deserve Woo Bin's avoidance of him. Yi Jung was not, in any way, at fault here.

Woo Bin was.

And he had enough self-awareness to know that this sudden burst of... apathy towards Yi Jung was borne out of his most recent encounter with Ga Eul.

I like Yi Jung-Sunbae. 

Of course, you know that already.


The words repeatedly rang in his ears, even as he spent the better part of the previous days trying to forget them.

Of course he knew. How could he not? Several months ago, he was just a first-hand witness to how his best friend orbited around her despite himself, and how she gravitated towards him. Just several months ago, he'd been an uninvolved spectator to the two's "relationship" - if it could be even called one, at that. 

But now where was he?

Song Woo Bin really should have known better than to feel anything beyond friendship towards Chu Ga Eul. 

Towards So Yi Jung's girl.

So here he was, at a loss on what he should do next - and how to extricate himself from another of his missteps. 

One thing was for certain, though: he really needed to curb this- whatever the hell his feelings were. 

It was the only sane, logical way to deal with this mess.

His phone continued to ring. Cursing the fact that it was reverberating in his otherwise silent office, Woo Bin took it out and gave it a cursory look.

Then decided to answer it, when he actually saw who was calling him.

"Yo."

"Took you long enough to answer your goddamn phone!"

The highly irked voice of the Shinhwa heir gave Woo Bin pause. "Bro, I answered you on the third ring," he said smoothly, knowing that Jun Pyo would never have paid attention to that tidbit. "Have you ever thought about working on your patience, even just a little? I know this great therapist--"

"Shut up," Jun Pyo barked. Then, as if an explanation for his rudeness he added, "I have a meeting with the old crone in half an hour."

"Who?" Then it hit him. "The Australian CEO?" 

"Who else?" Was it Woo Bin's imagination, or could he actually feel Jun Pyo cringe from the other end of the line? 

"You've been courting her lately, haven't you?" In response to Jun Pyo's indignant yell Woo Bin added, "I read it somewhere."

"Don't believe whatever the media prints out about us. Of course I haven't-- she's older than my mother!" 

"Age doesn't matter when it comes to love, bro." Woo Bin grinned. Trust dealing with Jun Pyo's melodramatic tendencies to actually put him in a good mood.

 "You court her then."

 "Can't, bro. Her eyes are on you and you alone, you lucky bastard."

"Shut up! Ugh, I've been dreading this meeting for weeks. Her hand wanders, do you know that? If I could delegate this meeting to someone else, I would've already."

Woo Bin fought the urge to laugh at the face of Jun Pyo's obvious misery. "If you do that, you might lose business with her faster than you can say 'whipped'."

"Why do you think I'm enduring everything? The old crone's worth billions of dollars. Everyone knows that."

"The many sacrifices of the great Go Jun Pyo. If only your mother could appreciate them." Woo Bin silently counted to three before adding, "Is there anything else I can help you with? I'm pretty sure you have a reason for calling me aside from complaining about one of your soon-to-be wives, don't you?"

"," Jun Pyo said. "You know very well that I'm--"

"--whipped by none other than the ever amazing Geum Jan Di? Yes, I know that very well. And so does the entirety of South Korea - save for CEO Miller, which means--."

"Man, if you'll just shut up for a second I can tell you I called you because I want to check on something. Have you read the proposal already?"

"...proposal?" Woo Bin eyed the mountainous stack on his table. What proposal?

"The proposal I sent your office earlier this week! You haven't read it yet?"

Immediately, Woo Bin approached his desk and ruffled through the folders. There, sitting near the bottom of his desk, was a clean folder proudly displaying the Shinhwa logo atop it. Woo Bin cringed and started scanned the first few pages. "Sorry, bro. I wasn't working much this week."

"You were out? Where were you?"

Out wooing Yi Jung's girl. Woo Bin winced at the intrusive thought his brain just spouted, before covering it with, "Do you really want to know the specifics of my activities? Ya, Go Jun Pyo. Maybe I should tell you, just so I can prepare you in case you do decide to get married immediately after your meeting with CEO Miller. But ask yourself this: are you really and truly prepared to learn from the great Don Juan himself?"

Just as he intended, Jun Pyo emitted a sound of pure disgust. "Just read the damn thing, will you? Or else I'll come throttle your neck."

"I'm browsing it as we speak. Besides, you and I both know you don't have enough material time to actually come threaten me in person. Imagine that." After a few seconds of silence as he read through the document, Woo Bin found himself raising his brows. "You want to erect a new building within the Shinhwa University compound?" 

"We've had an influx of enrollees these past few years," Jun Pyo said, sliding easily into business mode. "We're also thinking of expanding the number of courses we're offering. It would be beneficial for all concerned to just build a new facility. We are thinking of our constituents' welfare above everything else, after all."

"And I suppose an increase in tuition fee isn't too far off after that new building is done?"

Jun Pyo's smugness couldn't be hidden as he replied: "We have to recover our expenses somehow."

"Spoken like a true businessman," Woo Bin said, whistling as he reached the end of the proposal. "I'm surprised you actually thought of me, bro. I don't recall our families having done business together."

"First time for everything. Besides, some of that amount came to us as your donation. I'm thinking it's just right I gave it back to you."

By Woo Bin's estimates, the worth of Jun Pyo's proposal far outweighed the actual construction cost. And he was pretty damned certain the Shinhwa heir was aware of that fact. "I'm honored by your generosity. Are you sure you're not ill?" Then Woo Bin noticed a crucial detail in the document. "You're giving us only five months to do your building?" 

"You can't do it?"

Woo Bin made a mental run-through of their available manpower, as well as the other resources that their company would need to dispense in order to meet Jun Pyo's rigid deadline. "Consider it done," he said, already thinking of how Song Construction, Inc. could pull it off. "But I need to meet with your people to actually plan how this would be accomplished within the set timeline. I also need to visit the site myself."

"You?" There was surprise in Jun Pyo's voice as he asked, "Don't you have people handling this kind of thing?"

Woo Bin smiled. "I want to supervise this project, bro. You're that important to me." And now, for the clincher:  "Besides, after this I want your personal assurance that all future Shinhwa infrastructure projects shall be done by yours truly."

"You understand that that will depend on how this building will turn out," Jun Pyo said.

"Then you might as well give me your word now," Woo Bin said, smiling. "This project will turn out great."


To say that his father was surprised at Go Jun Pyo's proposal was putting it lightly.

 "Never thought I'd see the day," Song Senior had said, smiling. "Shinhwa dealing with our kind. Jun Pyo's mother is not aware of his business moves, I take it?"

'Our kind.' A wealth of meaning behind those words, Woo Bin thought, grimacing slightly. "I didn't ask," he'd replied. "Anyway, I sent a copy of the proposal to your office for your reference, but just to let you know - I'm managing it personally."

"Given who we're dealing with, I'll be surprised if you don't." His father had studied him for a few seconds before dismissing him with, "Provide my office a list of what you need. I'll take care of it."

And that was why he was now within the Shinhwa University compound, accompanied by his construction people when meeting with Jun Pyo's executives.

Woo Bin shrugged off their apologies for the Shinhwa Heir's absence in the activity. "It's not a problem," he said, smiling at the - ahem! female - University Vice Chancellor. "He'd informed me beforehand that he can't make it today due to a conflict with his schedule. Anyway, you're much more important to me in this meeting, madam. I'm sure we'll be able to come into a mutually-beneficial agreement between us this morning." 

When she turned away to emit a girl-like giggle, Woo Bin fought the urge to smirk.

This was what he was born to do. This was what he should do, if he wanted a less... complicated life.

The meeting ended with a site visit, as per his recommendation. By now, a horde of students - mostly of the female persuasion - had begun following his team around while chanting Prince Song! Prince Song!  at the top of their lungs. Not that he minded; it wasn't as if this was new to him. Truth be told, he kind of missed this sort of attention.

The Shinhwa school executives, however, seemed bothered by it. 

lot.

"What are you all doing here? Get back to your classes, immediately!"

When one of them moved to disperse the group, Woo Bin stepped in and said, "Hey, bro, relax. They're not doing anything. Besides, some distraction can do us all good." As if to prove his point, he glanced at the group - and winked at a random woman smack in the midst of it.

Predictably, the woman fainted.

And the group erupted into even more of a frenzied sort of noise.

Woo Bin grinned sheepishly. 

"Sorry, sorry," he said, starting to walk again, his team right at his heels. "Now, if we all can get right back to business. I have a few ideas I wish to discuss with you regarding this--"

His eyes wandered towards the construction site, when suddenly:

Chu Ga Eul seemingly materialized out of thin air, and was now walking straight towards him.

Like some sort of apparition and personification of all the things he thought were best left buried and unacknowledged, if he wanted a less... complicated life.

Woo Bin couldn't help it; he froze.

And so did she, when she realized just who was standing near her now.

"Woo Bin-sunbae?" she said, mouth agape. Like she hadn't expected him to be there.

And the feeling was most assuredly mutual.

ohoh.

How the  could he have forgotten the fact that Ga Eul studied here? Wasn't that his personal brainchild anyhow? Wasn't that why Jun Pyo had offered him this project in the first place, because he'd donated a sizable sum to this prestigious institution in exchange for Ga Eul's sponsorship?

Goddamnit. The whole universe must be laughing at him now.

Ga Eul glanced at the people behind him, at the Vice Chancellor beside him, and he could see the curiosity on her features just then. She stepped forward, eyes on him again, a welcoming smile beginning to blossom on . "What are you doing here?"  

Really, there was just one sane, logical way on how to deal with this.

How to deal with her.

Regaining and steeling himself, Woo Bin pointedly looked away from her as he turned to the female executive by his side - as though Ga Eul hadn't spoken.

As though she didn't exist.

"Like I was saying. Jun Pyo's deadline has put us in quite a bit of a situation--"

As he talked, he began leading his team and Jun Pyo's people towards the construction site again.

Away from her.

And Woo Bin fought every inch and fiber of his being just so he wouldn't look to where he knew she stood. Summoning all his resolve, he focused his attention on the topic at hand and vowed, never again, to think about Chu Ga Eul.

I'm sorry, Ga Eul.

This is the only way.

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DreamyGongju
#1
Chapter 16: Does anyone know what Ga eul want
seamusmommy #2
Chapter 16: Aaaaish...that went over well...
seamusmommy #3
Chapter 15: Nice WooBin but now you have to face the competition. Who will win the hand of the fair maiden Gaeul. Casanova or Don Juan. Thanks for the update!!
DreamyGongju
#4
Chapter 15: Authornim welcome back!!!
It's fun to see woo bin flustered. Yi Jung be warned, you are about to enter so much drama
DreamyGongju
#5
Chapter 14: Woobin you are whipped. I wonder what happened to yi jung
DreamyGongju
#6
Chapter 13: Good decision woobin. All the best.
And junpyo is not so bad. He is just a bit childish
seamusmommy #7
Chapter 13: Eeeeh! Yes,do talk WooBin and yes, God bless Jihoo for being the voice of wisdom in the F4. Jihoo definitely has knowledge in this situation, so i'm glad he was the one WooBin turned to. How will the conversation with YiJung gp?
DreamyGongju
#8
Chapter 12: Woobin don't run away from your feelings. Confront them. Gu Jun pyo I miss you
seamusmommy #9
Chapter 12: WooBin? Prince Song? Running away from a girl?
DreamyGongju
#10
Chapter 11: Aww woobin you already fell for her, didn't you ?