"Yo, Jiyong, you're really not going?" 

Jiyong shook his head, leaning back on his couch as he stared blankly at the TV screen in front of him. After returning home from the party, he'd immediately invited a group of his friends over to have fun, real fun this time, at his loft. They'd stayed the night. 

Soohyuk, one of his longtime friends who was also a model for Lotte, took a seat next to him. "Your dad's not going to be pissed?"

"Oh, he's going to be pissed," Jiyong replied nonchalantly. "But, then again, he's always pissed as hell at me, so I guess it doesn't matter."

Soohyuk chuckled, taking a sip out of his beer. "Marrying Jung Sooyeon really doesn't sound bad though. Her family's rich as hell."

Chaerin, his girlfriend, snorted in amusement, taking a seat beside him to snuggle against him. "Was that a joke? As far as I'm concerned, Kwon Jiyong will never have to worry about money."

Jiyong wrinkled his nose in disgust, as he looked at them. "Excuse me? What is this blatant PDA going on in my house?"

"We're cuddling," Soohyuk responded, rolling his eyes. "You've done far worse things in front of me with your numerous girlfriends."

"We can do far worse things too," Chaerin remarked with a sly grin, before pulling Soohyuk's face down to kiss him soundly. Soohyuk immediately tugged Chaerin's waist closer to him, as she threw her hands around his neck, letting out soft moans and whimpers. 

"Gross," Jiyong muttered under his breath, chugging down his own drink. "This is like watching my brother and sister kiss."

Letting out a loud hoot, Seungho, one of his friends from childhood, took a seat on the floor next to the couch.

"This is hot," Seungho commented, raising his glass in admiration. "Kind of like I'm watching the start of a o." 

At that, Chaerin pulled away from Soohyuk. 

"Ew! You're gross!" 

Seungho shrugged. "I'm just an honest guy to the bone."

Soohyuk rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh. "Remind me why Jiyong keeps inviting you back to his house?"

"Because I'm hot," Seungho answered, flashing a wink at Jiyong. "Speaking of hot, you know who else is? Jung Sooyeon, that's who. You really should go and meet her, Ji."

"You've met her before?" Jiyong inquired in mild curiosity.

"Saw her a department store a few weeks ago," Seungho responded. "Only knew it was her because her butler guy or whatever was calling her name. But damn, she was a national treasure!"

Chaerin frowned. "I just heard she was a snotty, prissy girl that refuses to leave her mansion. That's why no one knows who she is."

"I don't know 'bout that," Seungho replied casually. "I mean, she looked kind of pissed? But still hot. Always hot, I bet."

"Gross. Chill it, Seungho."

"Yeah, how long has it been since you've slept with someone?"

Jiyong grinned, nonetheless, still somewhat curious as to who Jung Sooyeon was. She'd only been exposed to the media as a child, but after entering middle school, no one had seen her. Not the media. Not even other chaebols. 

In any case, he was not going to marry her. Not when it was the one thing that would make his parents jump for joy.
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Taeyeon liked to think that she had two homes.

One home was the glitzy, glamorous mansion she stayed at with her father and the rest of her siblings. As gorgeous and large as it was, it was also just as cold and bare, filled with the cold stares from her siblings and the constant pressure to fulfill her father's high expectations. Even the servants seemed to look at her with disdain at times.

The other home was the one that her mother was living in - a cheap, cramped apartment room that barely fit the two of them, let alone the men that her mother usually brought back from her workplace. It was filthy to the core. The dishes were never done. There was never food in the refrigerator. There was no warmth there either. 

Her mother spent half of her days either drunk or with a man. Sometimes, even both.

She'd never respected her mother. But then again, she'd never respected her father either. 

"You came back?"

Taeyeon snapped out of her thoughts, glancing up to look at the doorway, where her mother stood, hair tousled messily and lipstick partially smudged. There was bottle of expensive wine gripped tightly in her hands.  

"Yeah," Taeyeon replied quietly, her gaze focusing on it. "It was father's birthday yesterday."

Her mother snorted with hysterical laughter as she walked in the room. "That old man still isn't dead? Isn't it time for God to take him yet?"

Taeyeon took a deep breath, deciding to change topics. "Did you eat dinner yet? There's nothing in the refrige--"

"I ate with Jungwoo-ssi," Her mother interrupted, plopping down on the floor unceremoniously. "He bought me this wine too!"

Taeyeon blinked in confusion. "Who's Jungwoo-ssi? That's not one of your regular customers..."

Her mother giggled. "My new boyfriend. He's apparently a CEO to some big company too! Your mother hasn't lost her charm yet!"

"A big company? What company?"

"What was it? I think...Aekyung? I've seen their name on the news a couple times!"

Taeyeon stared in disbelief. Aekyung? "The CEO of Aekyung? Mom, what have you been--"

"Don't nag me!" Her mother suddenly yelled, wearing an angry glare. "Whenever you come here, you nag. It makes me wish you'd stay at that other house with your damned father!"

Taeyeon massaged her forehead, letting out a sigh. "Stop meeting him. Haven't you learned enough about meeting chaebols from when you met father? You're just going to get hurt in the end..."

"Crazy ," Her mother retorted with a hiss. "I've raised my daughter to be so disrespectful! Jungwoo-ssi loves me! More than your father ever did! And more than you ever did!"

"So what?" Taeyeon snapped. "So what if he loves you? Will he throw away all of his fame and wealth for a cheap bar madam like you? Will he ever abandon his wife and his children to be with you in the end? Stop fooling yourself."

Her mother laughed humorlessly. "He can stay with his wife and children. He can keep all of his damn money too. As long as he comes to see me, I'm fine with that. I don't care if we have to hide behind people's backs and meet. I did that with your father, so why shouldn't I do that with him?"

"Can't you just live happily on your own?"

"Why should I do that? When there are men who are still willing to love me!"

Taeyeon let out a shaky breath, shaking her head in discouragement. "How is it that you never learn?"

"If you're going to nag, leave!" Her mother huffed, turning around.  

"I'm going to," Taeyeon said quietly. "I just came by to see how you were doing. I left money on the table."

Her mother peeked over her shoulder. "How much is it?"

"You can take a look after I leave," Taeyeon replied. "It's more than enough to last you the month."

With that, Taeyeon turned around to leave, taking quick steps out to the door. She glanced back one more time to see if her mother would bother greeting her goodbye, but the woman was already taking gulps of the expensive wine bottle. 

Swallowing, she walked out of the house, shutting the door softly behind her.
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Seunghyun let out a sigh, glancing at his watch, as he sat in a restaurant near the company building. Despite having broken up, Bom had asked him, via nearly 30 text messages, to meet her one last time. For what reason, he wasn't quite sure, but he decided to appease her and avoid her causing another scene at the company.

"Sir, here is the coffee and grapefruit juice you ordered."

"Oh, I'm afraid I didn't order the --"

"Thanks for ordering for me, honey!" Seunghyun raised an eyebrow, as a woman with wavy blonde hair, took the seat in front of him. He'd never seen this woman before. She wore an artificial smile that didn't reach her eyes, as she took the glass of juice from the waiter.

"Is there something wrong, sir?" The waiter asked, glancing between the two.

Seunghyun leaned back in his seat in, scanning the girl who purposefully looked away from him. "No, you can leave. Thank you."

As the waiter walked away, Seunghyun crossed his arms across his chest. "Would it be rude of me to ask for an explanation, miss?"

The girl's head snapped up, as she smiled sheepishly. "I'm sure you're...upset and confused at this situation, but just know that you're helping me get out of a really ty situation right now. I can't give you anymore than that. I swear, it'll only take 10 minutes at most!" 

Seunghyun hummed. "Unfortunately, I, myself, am waiting for someone to join me right now. And if she sees you with me, it'd be pretty bad."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "What? Is it your girlfriend or something?"

"An ex."

"Then why does it matter?"

"If you're not giving me a clear explanation, then I can't give one either," Seunghyun replied smoothly. "Sorry, miss."

Her smile faded to a frown. "Stop calling me 'miss.' It's frankly, really weird."

"What else should I call you? Girl? Woman? Stranger who has rudely taken a seat at my table without my permission?" Seunghyun chuckled.

"I told you, I have a reason for this!" She hissed under her breath, before making her tone softer. "And my name is Jessica. Jessica Jung."

He took a sip of his coffee. If it were anyone else he was meeting, he would've been annoyed at the appearance of a random girl trying to sit across from him. However, since this was Bom, and she was most likely coming here to try and patch up their relationship, the current situation actually worked out quite well.

If this girl was using him to get out of her 'ty situation', then he could use her to get out of his. 

"And you?" She asked, still glancing around her.

"Han Daegil," He replied casually. "My name is Daegil."

"You don't look like a Daegil," She mused. "But, I guess that's none of my business anyway."

"What are you doing?!" There was a shriek from behind them, and Seunghyun stifled a smirk, knowing exactly who it was.

The sound of heels clicked against the floor loudly, and Jessica spun around in surprise, eyes widening as she realized that the shrieking woman was coming straight towards her.

Bom arrived at their table, fire in her eyes and nostrils flaring in fury. She looked at Seunghyun in betrayal.

"Who is this ?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but Jessica beat him to it.

"I think you're misunderstanding something?" She coughed. "I'm just a...stranger that ended up sharing his table. I know that sounds weird, but-"

"Shut your mouth," Bom cut in threateningly. "I wasn't asking you, I was asking him."

Seunghyun let out a sigh. He could do the rest of the convincing on his own. 

"Babe, you can leave now," He said, a smile curling up on his lips, as he averted his gaze to the blonde in front of him.

She looked to be a mixture of disgusted and confused as she peered back at him. 

"Babe!? What the ? You're that comfortable with her?" Bom retorted in anger. 

"Go on, babe. I'll call you later," Seunghyun urged with a wider smile, hoping that Jessica would catch on. 

Slowly, Jessica rose from her seat, shifting her eyes from him to Bom. "S-sure, babe. I'll talk to you later."

Awkwardly, she began to quickly walk away from the table, bumping into a few people on her way out of the restaurant. Seunghyun stifled a laugh as he watched her, nearly forgetting that he still had a very furious Bom to deal with.

"Who is she?"

"Stop acting dense when you've caught on," Seunghyun remarked. "She's a woman I've been meeting recently."

Bom shook with rage. "A model? Actress? Or, maybe, another heiress?"

He paused, pondering over which option would hurt her the most. Make her hate him so much that she'd never speak to him again.

"She's none of those," He replied calmly. "She's just a worker at one of our department stores."

Bom visibly flinched in shock, looking every bit horrified. "What?"

"She's different from other women that I've met," Seunghyun continued. "Including you, Bom."

"I...I can't believe this," Bom said, taking a couple of steps back. "You're someone that would never meet a woman below your father's standards. You'd die for his approval! It's always been famous actresses or chaebol daughters with you..."

Seunghyun bit back a smirk, knowing that there was no way Bom would come back after this.

"Who knows? Maybe it's love."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jiyong tugged at his tie to loosen it, scowling, as he walked up the stairs to the mansion that belonged to, none other, than his parents. Frankly, he'd rather sacrifice himself to the devil than come back here, but his sister had called him at the crack of dawn, pleading and begging that it'd be better for him in the end if he came. It was clearly about him missing the meeting with Jung Sooyeon or whatever yesterday. 

However, the accuracy of her statement was already debatable.

"Young master, you're here." Secretary Kim, one of his father's oldest secretaries, greeted him with a bow. "The young miss is waiting for you in the dining hall."

Jiyong scratched the back of his neck. "Are my parents home too?"

"No, sir," The man replied. "The president has already gone to the company, and madam is currently visiting an art gallery."

Nice. Jiyong let out a sigh of relief,  He followed the secretary into the mansion, going past a line of maids and butlers who bowed 90 degrees as he walked past them. He was already exhausted and annoyed by the time they reached the dining hall, where his sister greeted him with a genuinely bright smile.

"Jiyong!" She cried, beaming, as she rose from her seat to give him a hug. "It's so nice to see you back in our house."

"You're acting creepily nice, which makes me think that I should be scared," Jiyong responded jokingly, taking a seat. "Did father finally decide to remove my name from the family register?"

She glared at him. "Don't even joke about that, Jiyong."

"Alright, alright," Jiyong sighed. "So what's the situation right now? Is the old man really pissed off?"

"He was," Boa said delicately. "But mother and I managed to calm him down a lot yesterday night. And he' s decided to give you another chance."

"Oh? How so?"

"Look, you're going to have to get married on mother and father's terms one day," Boa said, ignoring his look of amusement and mischief. "But father has decided to give you more freedom with it."

After those words, Boa placed a folder on the table. It looked strangely thick, and somehow, he already had an ominous feeling regarding it. She opened the folder to reveal an abundant amount of photos of famous models, actresses, and chaebol daughters - some he recognized, others he didn't.

"Oh god..." He groaned. 

Boa frowned. "He's letting you pick a girl you like, Jiyong. Surely, you'll find someone you like in here."

"Noona," Jiyong paused, letting out a deep breath. "Either way, no matter who I pick out of here, father will be pleased."

"Don't be like that, and just take a look!"

Letting out yet another sigh, Jiyong grabbed the folder, through the photos. He barely glanced at them. They all looked the same - picture perfect, sweet daughter-in-laws that would make his father happy with their obedience and wealth. Most of them, he knew, from business parties that he'd either gone to or his family hosted. And they were all equally boring. 

Suddenly, he stopped flipping through the pictures speedily, as he fell across one of someone unfamiliar - a girl he'd never seen before. Not at any party, any function, anything.

There wasn't a hint of a smile on the girl's face, looking oddly cold and empty, especially in comparison to the other photos he'd just seen of brightly smiling women.

"Noona, who's this?" He asked, handing the photo over to his sister.

Boa in a breath in surprise. "I wonder how this photo got in here..."

He looked at her curiously. "Why?"

"No, forget about that one," Boa dismissed his question. "Her photo was in there by mistake."

Jiyong raised an eyebrow. "You know I can't control my curiosity, noona. If you don't tell me who that is, I'm going to find out one way or the other."

Boa sighed. "It's one of the daughters from the Kim family."

"So then? What's the problem?"

"She's...she's an illegitimate child," Boa answered, averting her gaze. "It's a pretty well-known fact, especially since her siblings go around spreading it like wildfire to ruin her."

Jiyong blinked. An illegitimate child. 

He snatched the photo back from his sister's hands, ignoring her yelp of indignation.

"Jiyong, no! I know what you're thinking, but this really isn't right!" She tried to persuade him. "You can't bring an illegitimate child into this family! You'd truly ruin this family then!"

Jiyong smiled, slipping the photo into his jacket pocket. He ignored her words. 

"See, I told you I could find a chaebol daughter that father would never approve of."

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A/N: Unfortunately, only Seunghyun and Jessica ended up interacting (really) this chapter! >_< I was gonna slip in a Jiyong and Taeyeon meeting scene, but I figured this was a better way to establish their relationship.

Idk if it was clear or not, but Jessica being at the restaurant and sitting at Seunghyun's table was in order to avoid the 'meeting' she was supposed to have with Jiyong. But as we know, Jiyong never ended up showing up. 

At this point, pairings will most likely be GTae and TopSica bc that's what the majority of y'all seem to be supporting. :) However, that doesn't mean there won't be hints of JiSica or TopTae sprinkled throughout (because THIS is, at the core, about four people who end up entangled in each other's lives)

Thank you for reading and any comments are, of course, extremely appreciated!

EDIT: also, brownie points to anyone who can guess why I used 'Han Daegil' as Seunghyun's fake name! ^^