Chapter 6

“I’m home-“

“Where have you been young lady? I have been looking everywhere for you! You didn’t reply to my messages, you didn’t pick up my calls!”

Your mother, Mrs Kim, was on a rampage when you got back.

“My phone died. I was caught in the rain and-“

“What happened to your clothes?! Why are you soaking wet? Didn’t Mr Lee pick you up from school today?”

You rolled your eyes. Typical of your mother to interrupt, every time you had something to say. Ever since your father passed away, she wasn’t the same. She stopped holding your hands, she stopped asking about your day at school, and she stopped listening. She always had to have the last say in everything. But still, your mother was still your mother. You never hated her for that. You just missed the old her sometimes. 

“You know how I like the rain. I told Mr Lee not to pick me up after school so I could walk home.”

Your mother sighed and folded her arms, looking at you as though she was disappointed.

“We’ll discuss about this later. Right now I want you to wash up and get dressed. Wear something…fancy. Not your dirty sweatpants and shirt. We have a guest coming.” She said, looking so proud of herself.

A guest? One of umma's business partners?

It was normal for some of your mother’s business partners to come to your house and have dinner. It was more relaxed and unstressful to discuss about their deals in a quiet environment like your house she claimed. But you knew the actual reason as to why those people always came to your house.

Now you see, your mother, Mrs Kim, has always been the most beautiful woman ever. Even you agree on that. Whenever your parents were invited for a gala dinner or just some business meetings, eyes will all land on your mother.

It was like all the attention was on her the minute she sets foot in a room. And of course, your father didn’t mind that either. He was so proud to have such a beautiful wife and to be envied by a lot of his business partners.

Your mother was also one of the reasons why the deals made between your parents’ company and the others were always successful. Your mother was not only beautiful, she was quite a charmer. She’s good at talking to people. Sorta resembled your best friend Yeseo. Beautiful and persuasive. Sigh, and there you were, looking like a hobo from the streets.

You bowed to your mother before making your way up to your room to wash up. You noticed the maids in the house were busying themselves tidying every nook and cranny of the house. You raised your eyebrows.

Is some CEO of a big shot company coming? They don’t usually clean up the house this much whenever umma’s colleagues come over.

You shrugged and brushed of that thought and went into your room. You were a little surprised to see two of the maids standing at the foot of your bed. You gave them a questioning look.

“Madam wanted you to wear this for dinner tonight Young Master. And we have left some of your accessories on the vanity table.”

You nodded and they bowed to you before leaving your room and slowly closing the door behind them. You turned your head towards your bed and saw a black maxi dress laid out neatly on the covers of your bed. You sighed.

Must I really wear this dress tonight? Who the hell is coming anyway?

You clicked your tongue and took out your phone from your skirt that was now damp from the rain. Your phone ran out of battery because the whole time while you were at the café with Chanyeol, you had your eyes glued to the screen while Chanyeol chatted away about how he works part-time in that café with Baekhyun.

The thought of that eyeliner boy made you scowl.

Stupid pretty looking jerk.

You quickly went into the shower, relieved to be surrounded by the warmth of the water, wishing you could stay in there forever but you got out before your skin turned wrinkly. You wrapped a towel around yourself and went out of the bathroom to put on the dress.

The maxi dress was long but it stopped an inch below your ankles. You went to the vanity table and put on the accessories that were already laid out for you. You looked in to the mirror and felt like puking out the caramel latte you had earlier. You look like one of those preppy and girly girls from your school. You hated it. But you had to endure it. Every time when your mother’s business partners comes, you’d have to present yourself in such a manner.

There was a knock on the door and you instructed the person to come in. It was Mr Lee. He smiled kindly at you and bowed.

“You look beautiful Young Master.”

You rolled your eyes. “Shut up, I look like a hobo.” You stood up and went towards him.

Mr Lee just laughed and shook his head. “The guests are already here. Your mother is waiting for you downstairs. And I’m here to you.”

You chuckled and looked at him. “ me? Downstairs? What, does umma think I’d get lost, in my own house? Why would she ask you to me?”

Mr Lee shrugged a little. “I’m told the guests today are very important. And Madam wants everything to be perfect. We have to go now Young Master.”

You sighed and nodded. Taking one last look at yourself in the mirror, you turned in your heels and slowly went out of the room, with Mr Lee leading the way.

Who the hell are these guests anyway? Is something big going to happen in our company? Are they from overseas?

Mr Lee lead you towards the dining area and you could already hear distinct chatters and laughter coming from the direction. It doesn’t sound like there were a lot of guests though. Maybe around one? Or most probably two?

Mr Lee pushed the big door of the dining area and made way for you to enter, at the same time bowing to you. You slowly walked in, feeling nervous suddenly. Even though you hated these things, you still couldn’t help but want to make a good first impression. It was your parents’ company and thus you had to show a good image to their business partners.

“Oh you’re here. Mr Do, I’d like you to meet my beautiful daughter, Hae Ra. Hae Ra, this is Mr Do and his son. Mr Do is the CEO of Crown Confectionery, one of the biggest confectionery organizations here in Korea.” Your mother said.

You looked towards the slightly middle aged man in front of you and bowed. “It’s a pleasure for you to join us for dinner.” You said politely but you actually felt like rolling your eyes. You hate being so…proper and fake. And from the looks of it, Mr Do seemed a bit arrogant. And he wasn’t even paying attention to you. All the time you noticed how he was looking at your mother.

“I see where your daughter got her looks from.” He said and again, you rolled your eyes mentally. Your mother blushed and your felt like facepalming yourself. Seriously? Your mother fell for such a crappy compliment? The man then cleared his throat and stepped aside, revealing a boy that was about your age, who was standing behind him the whole time.

“This is my son, Kyungsoo. He’s going to take over me one day.” Mr Do laughed and placed his hand on his son’s shoulder, feeling proud. You looked at Kyungsoo and he had a smug look on his face, just like his dad. The only thing was that his eyes were…big. Like really big! And he’s a little shorter than his father. Kyungsoo looked at you and bowed .

“I’m Kyungsoo. Pleasure meeting you tonight, Hae Ra-ssi.” He smirked. You tried your best not to roll your eyes and smiled back. “The pleasure is mine, Kyungsoo-ssi.”

“Oh you don’t have to be formal with each other. The both of you are of the same age. Besides, Kyungsoo is going to enroll in the same school as you, Hae Ra.” You mother chirped and Mr Do nodded.

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

You and Kyungsoo said at the same time. You then looked at each other, surprised.

So this Kyungsoo dude didn’t know he was going to enroll in my school too? Not that I mind but, why didn’t his dad tell him before?

Seeing how Kyungsoo looked at you the same way, you assumed he was thinking the same thing. You then raised your eyebrows as you watched Kyungsoo slightly leaned towards his father, whispering something only they could hear. But you then found out what he was saying anyway, seeing how his dad slightly hit his head afterwards.

“Yah, don’t be ridiculous. This is the most prestigious school in Korea! It’d be such an embarrassment if you don’t enroll in this school!” Mr Do snapped and then straightened his tie and focused his attention back to your mother. “I’m sorry about that. Kyungsoo is just being himself. Shall we start dinner?”

You mother chuckled. “Boys will be boys Mr Do. I’m sure he’ll grow up to be a dependable young man.” The both of them chuckled and headed towards the dining table, leaving you behind with Kyungsoo. He was actually glaring at his father’s back but you didn’t realize you were staring at him when he suddenly took a step towards you. You blinked, taking a step back.

“What are you looking at?” He scowled at you.

Well excuse me…did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something? Why is he angry at me?

You smirked and folded your arms. “Oh I’m sorry, was I looking at you? I was just admiring that painting behind you. Hmm, I wonder if umma just bought that…” You said while tapping on your chin before following your mother and Mr Do to the dining table, leaving a fuming Kyungsoo behind.

You have to say you didn’t really enjoy dinner. Mr Do and your mother were busy talking about their deals, more like Mr Do was flirting with your mother when you look at it. And Kyungsoo was still shooting daggers at you. Sometimes you could tell he was doing it on purpose to annoy you.

Great…when he’s transferred into my school, another pest for me to deal with.

“Well, that was the most delicious dinner. Thank you for the kind hospitality Mrs Kim.” Mr Do said when all of you were at the front door. It was already late and Mr Do’s car was parked in front of the house, his driver opening the door for Kyungsoo who was already walking towards it.

“Yah, Kyungsoo! Where do you think you’re going without saying your greetings? I apologize for my son’s behavior tonight Mrs Kim. It’s my fault for not telling him about the transfer.” You just scoffed quietly behind your mother and folded your arms.

“I understand Mr Do. He’s still young, which explains why he’s upset. Anyway, tonight had been great, I appreciate you and your son coming for dinner. I’ll discuss more about our agreement when we meet the next time Mr Do.” Your mother smiled.

“Oh you don’t have to be so formal with me. We’ll be business partners soon. Just call me Hyun Yoo.” He smiled and again you noticed how your mother red your mother’s cheeks was turning. “Then you too can just call me Eun Ha.” The both of them smiled at each other and you took notice of how they were actually looking at each other a little bit too long. You then decided it was time to step in.

“It was a pleasure to have you and your son come over for dinner Mr Do.” You brightly said. You tried your best to plaster the most genuine looking smile on your face. Your interruption made them break their eye contact and Mr Do looked at you. “Ah yes Hae Ra, it was nice too finally see you. Your mother has always been telling me about you. I enjoyed dinner.” He said.

Your mother and him exchanged goodbyes and he walked off into his car, where Kyungsoo was waiting. Once the front door closed, you huffed and rolled your eyes. Your mother looked at you.

“Hae Ra, I know you don’t like Mr Do but please, could you be a little more, friendly? I thought you were shooting daggers at him by the way your eyes looked.” Your mother nagged at you. You sighed and nodded your head.

“I’ll try umma. But do you and Mr Do have anything going on? It seemed to me the two of you were really REALLY enjoying dinner tonight.” You squinted your eyes at your mother, making her flustered.

“Wha-what are you talking about? We were just discussing our work. There is nothing going on between the two of us. Now what’s more important is that once Kyungsoo transfers to your school, I’d like you to be close to him.”

You felt your jaw drop.

You have got to be kidding me.