Min Woo: “GUYS! MEET ME! NOW! URGENT!”

Dong Wan: “Where? Venus?”

Jung Hyuk: “What? Did Madam caught you again? And Since when do we have ‘urgent’ meetings at HER cafe?”

Dong Wan: “Oh, right.”

Sun Ho: “Hyungs, you need to be here soon. It’s more serious than ‘business as usual’.”

Jung Hyuk: “Aishh! Always interrupting other people’s work… Fine! I’m coming.”

Dong Wan: “Will be on my way once I finish taking pics at this building site.”

Min Woo: “WHATEVER! JUST GET YOUR ASSES HERE! QUICK!”

Jung Hyuk, Dong Wan, Sun Ho: “Shut up!”

Minwoo was in a state of panic as his slightly older and so much richer wife, Woo Hyun Young a.k.a. the ‘Madam’, had, for the umpteenth time, caught him flirting with another woman and threatened to divorce and kick him out of their mansion, again. Except, this time she added that she would also kick his two best friends’ business out of her office building. That’s why Sunho, their most trusted maknae and legal advisor, texted that it was more serious than ‘business as usual.’

Minwoo was waiting anxiously in their usual VIP room at Gaepan, a high-end noraebang in part of the town not owned by his millionaire wife, where their secret rendezvous usually take place. Since Minwoo consulted Sunho first, he was the first to arrive, then Junghyuk, and last, Dongwan.

“So, what did this punk do this time?” Junghyuk’s interrogating Sunho but shooting accusing glare at Minwoo.

Sunho calmly replied, “As usual, she caught him cheating and threatened to divorce and kick him out of the house. But this time, you two are going with him.”

Much to everyone’s surprise, Dongwan who hadn’t even said a word since he arrived suddenly charged at Minwoo and grabbed him by the collar, screaming, “Yah! You bastard! What did I tell ya, huh?! I told you something like this would happen! I told you not to let something like this happen!”

“Yah! Kim Popeye… Chill! Junghyuk just shouted from his seat. He knew Dongwan would never hit Minwoo. At least not in the face.

Back in the day, the two chitchais often fought each other. But whenever Dongwan was ready to throw a punch at Minwoo, everyone would always said, “Not the face! Not the face!” And Dongwan would always comply, as Minwoo's charming eye-smile was one of the prides of Fabulous Five, along with Junghyuk’s pedigree, Dongwan’s muscles, Sunho’s wit, and Lemon Syung’s beauty.

“Hyung, please… This is not the time.” Sunho tried to reason with the angry hulk.

Dongwan realeased Minwoo and got back to his seat, grumbling, “Maybe this time I should really hit him in the face so he won’t be able to flirt with anyone and cause any more damage.”

“Maybe you should,” Junghyuk responded, “But it won’t do any good now. So let’s just move on and think about how to get out of this mess. And I’m not talking about saving his marriage.” Junghyuk shot another glare at Minwoo.

Sunho sighed and said, “Unfortunately, hyung, that’s exactly what we need to do. We need to save the marriage, because the contract says that if the marriage is over, then all contract with Shinhwa Company will also be terminated, since Minwoo hyung owns 20% of the company’s share. She really doesn’t want to have anything to do with Minwoo hyung after the divorce.”

Everybody sighed. It’s not like they can’t rent another office building and move their office. The problem is, all other office buildings in the most prestigious and strategic area suitable for their business are also owned by the Madam. And since they had a “special connection”, the rent they were paying was well below the market price. It’s a hell of a bargain they knew they would never get anywhere else.

“Alright, it’s my fault… I’m sorry… You all know this has never been my intention. I’d do anything… ANYTHING in my power to fix this. But I honestly don’t know what to do. You guys tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,” Minwoo apologized.

Everyone could tell that this time he was really sorry to have caused trouble not only for himself, but also for his BFFs. The thing is, he wasn’t the only one who had no single clue on how to make things right again.

The room fell silent. Everyone was busy with their own thoughts. After a while, Dongwan said to Junghyuk, “Junghyuk ah… I know that this is probably out of the question, but can’t we just move our office to one of Shinhwa Group’s buildings? After all, you’ll own them all one day anyway.”

Once Dongwan finished his sentence, all eyes were on Junghyuk, anticipating his response.

The cool CEO’s response was concise, to the point and adamant. Looking straight at Dongwan, he calmly replied, “You’re right, Dongwan. It is out of the question.”

For Junghyuk, relating his business to his family’s had always been out of the question, and he intended to keep it that way.

Being the only male heir of the conglomerate, it is Junghyuk’s birthright to own and continue running the family businesses one day. But, contrary to popular opinion, he never saw himself as the “crown prince” of his grandfather’s retail and transportation business kingdom. Instead, he wanted to build his own kingdom in the field that he was most passionate about: architecture and construction.

He never thought that his gender was a privilege; if he can run the company, then so can any of his two sisters. Furthermore, he felt that the obligation that comes with his birthright was more like a burden, and thus not something he would want to pass onto his own children.

He used the same name for his company out of love and respect, especially for his grandfather, whose legacy of hard work, integrity and kindness he wanted to protect. He didn’t mind being associated with the conglomerate and didn’t care if everyone thinks that he was using the group’s big name to his advantage. For even without the big name, everybody would eventually know that he belonged to the respectable and well-known family anyway, and that is if they haven’t already.

All he cared about was that he had decided to stand on his own two feet, and would never, ever crawl back for help.

“Hey, what if we offer her my share of the company? If she also owns the business, she wouldn’t kick us out, now would she?” Minwoo’s face lit up.

“Yah… Hyung! What kind of idea is that? Junghyuk hyung doesn’t even allow his own family to meddle in his business. What makes you think he’d let your wife? Besides, 20% is too small for a business woman of Hyunyoung noona’s caliber,” Sunho turned off the light on Minwoo’s face. “You love your wife, don’t you hyung?”

“Of course, I do! She’s the only other person who understands me after you guys. She knew I was poor and flirtatious, but married me anyway. Come to think of it, I do flirt a lot… I guess she could only take so much… Do you guys think I need help? Should I see a shrink and go for therapies? Can you guys recommend anyone? Do I… Nevermind… Sorry... Please continue, Sunho ssi.”

Minwoo would have gone on and on and on hadn’t he realized that his friends were giving him the what-the-hell-this-is-not-about-you-so-can-you-shut-up look.

Sunho cleared his throat and continued, “Okay, I guess everyone here agrees that saving the marriage is the best option to fix the whole thing, yes? Now, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and here’s what we’re gonna do…”