Two Hearts- Maknae, Saranghaeyo (Chapter 6)
Chapter 6
Seohyun slumped onto the nearest bench possible and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. Just this morning, BoA and Hyori had called all the girls in for a special meeting and announced that their debut was going to be sometime after summer vacation. Afterwards, they had an intense practice and training session. All the girls worked diligently, now knowing that their debut was in less than four months. Their instructors chided them when they made mistakes, and praised them when they showed off their exemplary talents.
Still, by the time they called for a break, it was about one in the afternoon and Seohyun was exhausted and hungry. Reaching into her new carry-on bag, she took out a spare bottle of water and some gummy candies. Seohyun popped some gummies into her mouth and sat back, relaxing her muscles, listening to classical music tinkling through her ear buds and just observing the comfortable and scenic view of the campus.
Just then, she heard a rather loud and excited chatter disrupt the piano concerto that she was listening to and Seohyun ripped off her ear buds and turned her attention to a crowd of girls that were surrounding one guy about fifty feet away. When she looked closer, she realized it was Choi Siwon and thought to herself: Well of course the son of the Chois would be extremely popular…he’s actually quite handsome. No wonder flocks of girls always follow him around… He seemed to be very amused by the attention and listened to whatever the girls had to tell him.
Finally, after some time, they went away and Seohyun wasn’t the least bit surprised to see him heave a huge sigh. He caught notice of her sitting on the bench and addressed her: “Oh hey, Seohyun-ssi.” Seohyun hadn’t expected that he would talk to her and it took a little while before she managed to stutter as formally as she could, “Hello Choi Siwon-sunbaenim…” He laughed a more real laugh compared to when he was with his “fangirls” and said, “Yah, just call me Siwon. You don’t need to use formalities when we’re here. Seriously, Super Junior and So Nyuh Shi Dae are really close so there’s no need.”
Seohyun had met Siwon before many times previously at various company parties and social gatherings that she had attended along with her parents. Currently in South Korea, three prestigious families were regarded as the top corporations- the Chois, the Kims and the Jungs, who were related through a marriage in previous generations and had attained their status through the Chois’ help. The Chois were a conglomerate, multi-billionaire corporations made up with other companies under them and had stretched their influence in over half the industries in South Korea. To have any sort of connection with the family was a very good thing.
Seohyun was very aware of all this. She had never really spoken to Siwon before or saw him often; the Chois lived in a mansion on the very far end of the city that Seohyun usually never went to. However, she rarely went through a week in her life without hearing some news about the Chois and their ever-expanding success- not to mention speculations about the talented heir of the corporation. Without a doubt, Siwon faced pressures in his life that no one could possibly even begin to imagine.
The two made small talk for a while and soon enough, they became fast friends. “You seem to have a lot of fans,” Seohyun commented.
Siwon sighed and said, “Yeah…I don’t mind. I mean, I know there are lots of them that are near just because I’m a Choi and…well, nothing I can do about that. But some of these girls respect me for me. For who I am. And I appreciate it…but at the same time, it’s rather pressuring. They all have a certain perfect image of me and I’d hate to not work enough to their expectations…” At this, Siwon stopped himself and apologized, “Oh, I’m sorry, Seohyun-ssi. I shouldn’t have dumped my troubles on you after just this second meeting with each other...”
Seohyun shook her head and said, “No, no, it’s fine, I…I actually am quite honored you’d tell me these things. I couldn’t possibly say I know exactly how you feel…but I do know what a burden it is sometimes to work to maintain others’ expectations of you. The best thing I think Siwon-ssi should do…would probably be to work hard, but still remember to be himself. Being someone you’re not just to impress other people never works out in the end. I’m sure others like you for who you are. I think you’re fine the way you are too.”
After a pause, Seohyun stuttered, “Ah, but those are just my own thoughts, Siwon-ssi doesn’t have to take them seriously…” Nonetheless, Siwon grinned widely at her and said, “No, it’s fine...thank you. Those words remind me of a special someone who told me the same thing before.” Seohyun smiled back at him.
“You and Kyuhyun seem very close, neh?”
“Oh yeah…we um, go way back…” At this, Seohyun’s normally pale face turned a crimson red. Siwon, seeing this, smiled at first. There was another pause and she saw that he seemed to have something he wanted to tell her. However, just before he could, a familiar female voice called out, “Siwon-oppaa!”
Tiffany had been searching for Siwon-oppa for some help with Physics (and deep down inside an excuse to spend time alone with him) when she caught sight of him and new maknae Seohyun sitting together, seeming like they were having a great time. She opened her mouth again but no words came out. Closing her mouth and setting her teeth together, she managed an eye-smile and said, “Ah, Seohyunnie- what are you doing out here? It’s almost time for rehearsal to start…you wouldn’t want to waste BoA and Hyori-seosang’s time would you?”
Seohyun immediately said, “Ah! No, Tiffany-unnie, we should probably go now…” As she collected her things, she glanced at Tiffany and asked, “Unnie, aren’t you coming too?”
“Oh, I have something to discuss with Siwon-oppa- it’s really important stuff for Physics. Tell BoA and Hyori-seosang that I’ll be late.” Seohyun gave her a strange look, but nonetheless hurried off back to the training building.
“Tiffany…what was that for?” Siwon inquired, raising his eyebrows. Tiffany made a little pout and said, “Well, I really did need help with Physics…” Very much amused, Siwon stepped a little closer to her and in a low voice, asked: “What…Tiffany Hwang, were you jealous just then?”
Very efficiently hiding the tiny jolt that she had when he said that, Tiffany stared right back at him coolly and said in a somewhat seductive voice, “Don’t flatter yourself too much, Choi Siwon. Although…we could get some tension and force getting on if you really wanted…” Siwon chuckled and said, “You’re such a tease, Tiffany.” They held each other’s eyes for a moment, both of them smirking, before Siwon said, “Well you shouldn’t think too much of it. Seohyun’s really a nice girl. Nice and innocent.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes and muttered, “Yeah, sure.” Absently, she checked her phone and noticed the time. “Damn it!” she swore. “It really is late. Hyori-seosang will kill me for sure. Alright, gotta go, Siwon-oppa, later!” She ran off, and as the distance between them became greater, both of them dropped their cool facades and their masks fell to the ground as their hearts pounded hard against their chests.
When Seohyun was rushing back to the training building, she thought she had heard a rustling noise come from a nearby bush. At first, she dismissed it as an animal, but then she thought she saw the very top of a shoe stuck out from the bottom. Curiosity eventually got the better of her and Seohyun walked over to the bush and parted it away to reveal Yesung hiding amongst it.
“Eh? Yesung-sunbaenim? What are you doing here?”
Yesung was clearly taken completely off-guard with her discovery and immediately tumbled out of the bush. “Ah-ah?! Seohyun-ssi?! N-No I wasn’t doing anything, nothing, absolutely nothing strange, I…”
“But…I saw you looking in the direction where I just was…what were you looking at? And how long have you been here?” Yesung’s face turned a brilliant scarlet and he continued to stutter and stare at the ground, trying desperately to steer Seohyun off topic. When it was clear that she was not letting go of the subject, Yesung sighed and said, “Well…no use hiding it…yeah, I’ve been here for a while…I uh, was meaning to talk…for a while…but I just lost my courage…and besides, he’s much too busy to consider talking to me…wait why am I telling you this?!”
Yesung took this moment to make an escape, but Seohyun, now very interested, took hold of his arm, and asked, “Yesung-sunbaenim…do…do you have feelings…for Siwon-ssi??” Yesung’s face turned even redder and he looked away silently. There’s so much depth to this person, Seohyun thought to herself, slightly amazed. All this time, I thought he was just quiet, unsociable and a misanthrope…he’s really just terribly shy and insecure.
“Well…do you?”
“…if you were to call it that, yes. Since high school…I didn’t really like girls. But I didn’t like guys either. I was much too caught up in studying and singing to care about relationships. It stayed that way until I met Siwon in university…I don’t quite know why, and it’s wrong I know, but I developed an attraction to my dongsaeng. Siwon is such an admirable person- he’s caring, works hard and…kind of cute at times.” Yesung chuckled nervously at this and went on, “But when I realized my feelings, I didn’t know what to do. I know he’ll never feel the same way- I doubt he really takes me seriously, even if we’re in the same group.”
After a while, Seohyun finally spoke up, “But…Yesung-sunbaenim…what if all this time you’ve caused yourself to be afraid…because you never made the effort to talk in the first place? What if your doubts scared you so much that you didn’t do anything because you feared rejection so much? If you never talk to him, you’ll never find out how he feels about you. At the very least, if you talk to Siwon-ssi you’ll become friends and you’ll grow closer…isn’t that what you want, Yesung-sunbaenim?”
There was a moment of silence until Yesung said, “Heh…GameKyu was right. You are quite a good person, Seohyun-ssi. Just know that you don’t have to call me or any of us guys sunbaenim…it’ll make us feel super old and honestly, that’s not something we need.” He finally looked her way and smiled. Seohyun smiled back in response and together, the two went back to the training building, Yesung occasionally commenting how awesome or great Siwon was.
“You…are a very naughty girl,” Donghae murmured into Yoona’s ear. She felt a shudder travel down her spine as her boyfriend pressed his lips against her neck. “Skipping your Statistics lecture…did you really miss me that much?” Yoona only whispered, “Just kiss me, you fish.” Donghae grinned and leaned over to neatly devour her mouth. The need and the heat of the moment overcame them and soon Yoona was backed up right against the wall, Donghae still suckling away at her mouth and unable to keep his hands off of her.
Just when Donghae was just about to get around popping a few buttons from Yoona’s shirt, her phone rang out. Yoona checked to see who was calling and groaned in frustration. Wiggling out of Donghae’s grasp and signaling silently for him to stay a few feet away, she answered the phone with a weary “Yubasaeyo?”
Her mother’s stern voice came through on the phone: “Yoona, are you currently preoccupied right now?” Not a single “Hello”, “How are you doing?”or “Hi, I’m sorry for trying to wreck and control your life so much.”
Struggling to hide her irritation in her voice, Yoona said, “Yes...I had to get myself excused out of my Statistics lecture to answer your call.”
“Yes…well, as soon as it’s over, you need to get a ride to the Kim’s office down by the main street. I assume you know where it is, yes?”
“Yes, mother.”
“Good. We have some things to discuss over about the arrangements between you and their son. I want you to be on your absolute most ladylike behavior. We have a very beneficial agreement in progress with the Kims and whatever objections you have, I don’t want to here it. Please be there at the latest around five o’clock this afternoon.” Before Yoona could even respond, the line went dead.
Donghae knew exactly what had just happened and approached Yoona, holding her gently in his arms as she struggled in vain to make sure the tears of frustration and anger wouldn’t fall. “Yoona…it’s alright. Let it out.” She cried quietly into his chest and inside, Donghae felt his heart wrench to see her like this and to know that there was a chance that the happily ever after they both yearned for might never come true.
“I can’t believe her…all my life I’ve done exactly what she’s told me and now she has the nerve to just control my life again? I’m almost twenty-years-old, for god’s sake! Isn’t that an old enough age to start making my own decisions?” Donghae held her by her shoulders and gazed at her. “Yoona…I don’t know how this will turn out. But know this- I’ll always, always stay by you, no matter what. We’ll figure this out- in the mean time, it’s probably best you do as your mother says for now. I’ll definitely think of something.”
Yoona sniffed, dried her eyes and nodded, even smiling a bit. Donghae grinned back at her and leaned in to kiss the forehead that he adored lightly.
Ten minutes before 5, Yoona’s Audi drove up to the side of the hotel where a man clad in hotel uniform attire bowed to her. She handed him her keys and he drove off to park her car. The Kims, one of the three richest and most influential families in the country, were mainly into the hotel business. A marriage into the family really would bring good fortune- but good fortune and a life of idleness was far from what Yoona wanted.
When the elevator arrived at the 9th floor, Kibum was standing there to meet her. Making sure to keep her eyes averted from him, she gave him a nod of recognition and asked, “Where is the meeting going to be held?”
“In the second ballroom…you look lovely as always today, Yoona.”
“Thank you, Kibum,” Yoona replied in a deadpan voice. When she walked out of the elevator, Kibum took her hand and asked, “You’re upset, aren’t you?”
Yoona sighed, trying her hardest not to make him feel bad and said, “Yes…but not at you. I’ve figured out enough to know that you didn’t ask for this either. I’m just upset that my mother went ahead and made these arrangements without even considering my feelings or my dreams first. And…honestly, I still feel bad about coming between your friendship with Donghae…”
She winced when she saw a slight look of annoyance cross Kibum’s face. “It was something that couldn’t be helped.” As soon as he said that, he regretted it immediately when he saw the look of disappointment on her face. “Yoona…Yoona don’t look at me like that…please…I don’t really enjoy how these were arranged either…but you’ll have a good life. Just at least listen to what our parents have to say…I…”
Kibum was about to say more, when there was a ding from the elevator and both their parents stepped out and motioned for them to follow them into the second ballroom for the meeting.
A/N: Hey everyone! Cee-Cee is back with another chapter <3 -gasp- that was fast yo! thank GOODNESS i have more time now. things are definitely being set into motion :3
would anyone be kind enough to give me a crash course on proper usage of korean honorifics/title? :3
this chapter is mainly a "friendships" chapter- establishing base relationships between Seohyun and others. and of course, it's a yoonhae chapter <333 i dont really have much experience writing about boy/boy relationships so sorry if my portrayal of YeWon in this chapter sucked >.> comments greatly appreciated! that's all for now ^o^
Seohyun slumped onto the nearest bench possible and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. Just this morning, BoA and Hyori had called all the girls in for a special meeting and announced that their debut was going to be sometime after summer vacation. Afterwards, they had an intense practice and training session. All the girls worked diligently, now knowing that their debut was in less than four months. Their instructors chided them when they made mistakes, and praised them when they showed off their exemplary talents.
Still, by the time they called for a break, it was about one in the afternoon and Seohyun was exhausted and hungry. Reaching into her new carry-on bag, she took out a spare bottle of water and some gummy candies. Seohyun popped some gummies into her mouth and sat back, relaxing her muscles, listening to classical music tinkling through her ear buds and just observing the comfortable and scenic view of the campus.
Just then, she heard a rather loud and excited chatter disrupt the piano concerto that she was listening to and Seohyun ripped off her ear buds and turned her attention to a crowd of girls that were surrounding one guy about fifty feet away. When she looked closer, she realized it was Choi Siwon and thought to herself: Well of course the son of the Chois would be extremely popular…he’s actually quite handsome. No wonder flocks of girls always follow him around… He seemed to be very amused by the attention and listened to whatever the girls had to tell him.
Finally, after some time, they went away and Seohyun wasn’t the least bit surprised to see him heave a huge sigh. He caught notice of her sitting on the bench and addressed her: “Oh hey, Seohyun-ssi.” Seohyun hadn’t expected that he would talk to her and it took a little while before she managed to stutter as formally as she could, “Hello Choi Siwon-sunbaenim…” He laughed a more real laugh compared to when he was with his “fangirls” and said, “Yah, just call me Siwon. You don’t need to use formalities when we’re here. Seriously, Super Junior and So Nyuh Shi Dae are really close so there’s no need.”
Seohyun had met Siwon before many times previously at various company parties and social gatherings that she had attended along with her parents. Currently in South Korea, three prestigious families were regarded as the top corporations- the Chois, the Kims and the Jungs, who were related through a marriage in previous generations and had attained their status through the Chois’ help. The Chois were a conglomerate, multi-billionaire corporations made up with other companies under them and had stretched their influence in over half the industries in South Korea. To have any sort of connection with the family was a very good thing.
Seohyun was very aware of all this. She had never really spoken to Siwon before or saw him often; the Chois lived in a mansion on the very far end of the city that Seohyun usually never went to. However, she rarely went through a week in her life without hearing some news about the Chois and their ever-expanding success- not to mention speculations about the talented heir of the corporation. Without a doubt, Siwon faced pressures in his life that no one could possibly even begin to imagine.
The two made small talk for a while and soon enough, they became fast friends. “You seem to have a lot of fans,” Seohyun commented.
Siwon sighed and said, “Yeah…I don’t mind. I mean, I know there are lots of them that are near just because I’m a Choi and…well, nothing I can do about that. But some of these girls respect me for me. For who I am. And I appreciate it…but at the same time, it’s rather pressuring. They all have a certain perfect image of me and I’d hate to not work enough to their expectations…” At this, Siwon stopped himself and apologized, “Oh, I’m sorry, Seohyun-ssi. I shouldn’t have dumped my troubles on you after just this second meeting with each other...”
Seohyun shook her head and said, “No, no, it’s fine, I…I actually am quite honored you’d tell me these things. I couldn’t possibly say I know exactly how you feel…but I do know what a burden it is sometimes to work to maintain others’ expectations of you. The best thing I think Siwon-ssi should do…would probably be to work hard, but still remember to be himself. Being someone you’re not just to impress other people never works out in the end. I’m sure others like you for who you are. I think you’re fine the way you are too.”
After a pause, Seohyun stuttered, “Ah, but those are just my own thoughts, Siwon-ssi doesn’t have to take them seriously…” Nonetheless, Siwon grinned widely at her and said, “No, it’s fine...thank you. Those words remind me of a special someone who told me the same thing before.” Seohyun smiled back at him.
“You and Kyuhyun seem very close, neh?”
“Oh yeah…we um, go way back…” At this, Seohyun’s normally pale face turned a crimson red. Siwon, seeing this, smiled at first. There was another pause and she saw that he seemed to have something he wanted to tell her. However, just before he could, a familiar female voice called out, “Siwon-oppaa!”
Tiffany had been searching for Siwon-oppa for some help with Physics (and deep down inside an excuse to spend time alone with him) when she caught sight of him and new maknae Seohyun sitting together, seeming like they were having a great time. She opened her mouth again but no words came out. Closing her mouth and setting her teeth together, she managed an eye-smile and said, “Ah, Seohyunnie- what are you doing out here? It’s almost time for rehearsal to start…you wouldn’t want to waste BoA and Hyori-seosang’s time would you?”
Seohyun immediately said, “Ah! No, Tiffany-unnie, we should probably go now…” As she collected her things, she glanced at Tiffany and asked, “Unnie, aren’t you coming too?”
“Oh, I have something to discuss with Siwon-oppa- it’s really important stuff for Physics. Tell BoA and Hyori-seosang that I’ll be late.” Seohyun gave her a strange look, but nonetheless hurried off back to the training building.
“Tiffany…what was that for?” Siwon inquired, raising his eyebrows. Tiffany made a little pout and said, “Well, I really did need help with Physics…” Very much amused, Siwon stepped a little closer to her and in a low voice, asked: “What…Tiffany Hwang, were you jealous just then?”
Very efficiently hiding the tiny jolt that she had when he said that, Tiffany stared right back at him coolly and said in a somewhat seductive voice, “Don’t flatter yourself too much, Choi Siwon. Although…we could get some tension and force getting on if you really wanted…” Siwon chuckled and said, “You’re such a tease, Tiffany.” They held each other’s eyes for a moment, both of them smirking, before Siwon said, “Well you shouldn’t think too much of it. Seohyun’s really a nice girl. Nice and innocent.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes and muttered, “Yeah, sure.” Absently, she checked her phone and noticed the time. “Damn it!” she swore. “It really is late. Hyori-seosang will kill me for sure. Alright, gotta go, Siwon-oppa, later!” She ran off, and as the distance between them became greater, both of them dropped their cool facades and their masks fell to the ground as their hearts pounded hard against their chests.
When Seohyun was rushing back to the training building, she thought she had heard a rustling noise come from a nearby bush. At first, she dismissed it as an animal, but then she thought she saw the very top of a shoe stuck out from the bottom. Curiosity eventually got the better of her and Seohyun walked over to the bush and parted it away to reveal Yesung hiding amongst it.
“Eh? Yesung-sunbaenim? What are you doing here?”
Yesung was clearly taken completely off-guard with her discovery and immediately tumbled out of the bush. “Ah-ah?! Seohyun-ssi?! N-No I wasn’t doing anything, nothing, absolutely nothing strange, I…”
“But…I saw you looking in the direction where I just was…what were you looking at? And how long have you been here?” Yesung’s face turned a brilliant scarlet and he continued to stutter and stare at the ground, trying desperately to steer Seohyun off topic. When it was clear that she was not letting go of the subject, Yesung sighed and said, “Well…no use hiding it…yeah, I’ve been here for a while…I uh, was meaning to talk…for a while…but I just lost my courage…and besides, he’s much too busy to consider talking to me…wait why am I telling you this?!”
Yesung took this moment to make an escape, but Seohyun, now very interested, took hold of his arm, and asked, “Yesung-sunbaenim…do…do you have feelings…for Siwon-ssi??” Yesung’s face turned even redder and he looked away silently. There’s so much depth to this person, Seohyun thought to herself, slightly amazed. All this time, I thought he was just quiet, unsociable and a misanthrope…he’s really just terribly shy and insecure.
“Well…do you?”
“…if you were to call it that, yes. Since high school…I didn’t really like girls. But I didn’t like guys either. I was much too caught up in studying and singing to care about relationships. It stayed that way until I met Siwon in university…I don’t quite know why, and it’s wrong I know, but I developed an attraction to my dongsaeng. Siwon is such an admirable person- he’s caring, works hard and…kind of cute at times.” Yesung chuckled nervously at this and went on, “But when I realized my feelings, I didn’t know what to do. I know he’ll never feel the same way- I doubt he really takes me seriously, even if we’re in the same group.”
After a while, Seohyun finally spoke up, “But…Yesung-sunbaenim…what if all this time you’ve caused yourself to be afraid…because you never made the effort to talk in the first place? What if your doubts scared you so much that you didn’t do anything because you feared rejection so much? If you never talk to him, you’ll never find out how he feels about you. At the very least, if you talk to Siwon-ssi you’ll become friends and you’ll grow closer…isn’t that what you want, Yesung-sunbaenim?”
There was a moment of silence until Yesung said, “Heh…GameKyu was right. You are quite a good person, Seohyun-ssi. Just know that you don’t have to call me or any of us guys sunbaenim…it’ll make us feel super old and honestly, that’s not something we need.” He finally looked her way and smiled. Seohyun smiled back in response and together, the two went back to the training building, Yesung occasionally commenting how awesome or great Siwon was.
“You…are a very naughty girl,” Donghae murmured into Yoona’s ear. She felt a shudder travel down her spine as her boyfriend pressed his lips against her neck. “Skipping your Statistics lecture…did you really miss me that much?” Yoona only whispered, “Just kiss me, you fish.” Donghae grinned and leaned over to neatly devour her mouth. The need and the heat of the moment overcame them and soon Yoona was backed up right against the wall, Donghae still suckling away at her mouth and unable to keep his hands off of her.
Just when Donghae was just about to get around popping a few buttons from Yoona’s shirt, her phone rang out. Yoona checked to see who was calling and groaned in frustration. Wiggling out of Donghae’s grasp and signaling silently for him to stay a few feet away, she answered the phone with a weary “Yubasaeyo?”
Her mother’s stern voice came through on the phone: “Yoona, are you currently preoccupied right now?” Not a single “Hello”, “How are you doing?”or “Hi, I’m sorry for trying to wreck and control your life so much.”
Struggling to hide her irritation in her voice, Yoona said, “Yes...I had to get myself excused out of my Statistics lecture to answer your call.”
“Yes…well, as soon as it’s over, you need to get a ride to the Kim’s office down by the main street. I assume you know where it is, yes?”
“Yes, mother.”
“Good. We have some things to discuss over about the arrangements between you and their son. I want you to be on your absolute most ladylike behavior. We have a very beneficial agreement in progress with the Kims and whatever objections you have, I don’t want to here it. Please be there at the latest around five o’clock this afternoon.” Before Yoona could even respond, the line went dead.
Donghae knew exactly what had just happened and approached Yoona, holding her gently in his arms as she struggled in vain to make sure the tears of frustration and anger wouldn’t fall. “Yoona…it’s alright. Let it out.” She cried quietly into his chest and inside, Donghae felt his heart wrench to see her like this and to know that there was a chance that the happily ever after they both yearned for might never come true.
“I can’t believe her…all my life I’ve done exactly what she’s told me and now she has the nerve to just control my life again? I’m almost twenty-years-old, for god’s sake! Isn’t that an old enough age to start making my own decisions?” Donghae held her by her shoulders and gazed at her. “Yoona…I don’t know how this will turn out. But know this- I’ll always, always stay by you, no matter what. We’ll figure this out- in the mean time, it’s probably best you do as your mother says for now. I’ll definitely think of something.”
Yoona sniffed, dried her eyes and nodded, even smiling a bit. Donghae grinned back at her and leaned in to kiss the forehead that he adored lightly.
Ten minutes before 5, Yoona’s Audi drove up to the side of the hotel where a man clad in hotel uniform attire bowed to her. She handed him her keys and he drove off to park her car. The Kims, one of the three richest and most influential families in the country, were mainly into the hotel business. A marriage into the family really would bring good fortune- but good fortune and a life of idleness was far from what Yoona wanted.
When the elevator arrived at the 9th floor, Kibum was standing there to meet her. Making sure to keep her eyes averted from him, she gave him a nod of recognition and asked, “Where is the meeting going to be held?”
“In the second ballroom…you look lovely as always today, Yoona.”
“Thank you, Kibum,” Yoona replied in a deadpan voice. When she walked out of the elevator, Kibum took her hand and asked, “You’re upset, aren’t you?”
Yoona sighed, trying her hardest not to make him feel bad and said, “Yes…but not at you. I’ve figured out enough to know that you didn’t ask for this either. I’m just upset that my mother went ahead and made these arrangements without even considering my feelings or my dreams first. And…honestly, I still feel bad about coming between your friendship with Donghae…”
She winced when she saw a slight look of annoyance cross Kibum’s face. “It was something that couldn’t be helped.” As soon as he said that, he regretted it immediately when he saw the look of disappointment on her face. “Yoona…Yoona don’t look at me like that…please…I don’t really enjoy how these were arranged either…but you’ll have a good life. Just at least listen to what our parents have to say…I…”
Kibum was about to say more, when there was a ding from the elevator and both their parents stepped out and motioned for them to follow them into the second ballroom for the meeting.
A/N: Hey everyone! Cee-Cee is back with another chapter <3 -gasp- that was fast yo! thank GOODNESS i have more time now. things are definitely being set into motion :3
would anyone be kind enough to give me a crash course on proper usage of korean honorifics/title? :3
this chapter is mainly a "friendships" chapter- establishing base relationships between Seohyun and others. and of course, it's a yoonhae chapter <333 i dont really have much experience writing about boy/boy relationships so sorry if my portrayal of YeWon in this chapter sucked >.> comments greatly appreciated! that's all for now ^o^