Photo: The Grand Ballroom of the Conrad, Seoul
Author's Note 1: Special thanks to twinnie Claire_ry for your support and help with villainous conversations <3 Also to my dear EdnaMode101 for edits and my buddy binjintingz!
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Every year, as the air grows cooler and the holidays approach, the Grand Ballroom of the Conrad Seoul is decked from table to table with flower arrangements of white and dark blue. The chandeliers are turned on, silver is polished, and the elite and employees of the VAST group all arrive on one starry night for their annual corporate celebration.
The event had started in Ri Chung-ryol and Kim Yun-hui's home, back when VAST was a twenty person company. Over the years as the company had grown, the annual gathering had become part holiday party to boost employee morale, and part charity fundraiser.
It had also become incredibly stuffy, with the result that few press members covered the event. But this year was different.
Paparazzi had been gathered outside the Conrad for hours, waiting for the dashing young CEO of VAST to arrive along with the woman who'd been the subject of headlines and intrigue. Public opinion towards Yoon Se-ri had shifted. When their photos at the club had first been released, people had been quick to judge that she had caused Ri Jeong-hyeok's split with Seo Dan. Nobody liked a temptress.
But the tide had turned when Se-ri was caught in that car accident. Dispatches ran a series of articles on her narrow escape from death, and how the distraught Ri Jeong-hyeok barely left her side. When she appeared in paparazzi pictures with a large cast and looking frail (much to her annoyance), the handsome, broad-shouldered CEO Ri Jeong-hyeok beside her seemed to be her knight in shining armour.
Almost overnight, Se-ri became the darling of the tabloids. Everyone loved a fairytale.
But no one could have predicted the madness that occurred the night of the VAST gala, when Ri Jeong-hyeok helped Yoon Se-ri out of the limousine and the press caught sight of the golden engagement ring shining on her finger.
The crowd simply went wild. The security guards who had been hired for the occasion had to push the paparazzi back. Reporters were shouting questions at the same time until their voices turned into a mindless roar in Se-ri's ears. All she could hear were random phrases.
"When did you get engaged, Yoon Se-ri?"
"--marriage approved by all parties?"
"What brand is the dress? Look over here!"
"Shotgun wedding? Pregnant?"
Se-ri's equal parts irritated and nervous.
They had been prepared by VAST's PR team beforehand and told not to respond to the press. VAST would release a statement the next day. Se-ri is used to being in high pressure situations, but this is intimidating - being the focus of screaming photographers held at bay by massive security guards, while dressed in a floor-length black velvet gown, and trying not to trip.
Amid the flashing lights and shouts, her heart begins to beat erratically, going faster and faster in her chest. Just when her breathing is starting to speed up, a concerned Jeong-hyeok comes into focus in front of her eyes.
"Are you okay?" she sees him mouth at her.
He is her anchor, her steady point in this sea of madness. She focuses on his warm eyes and gives him a small nod of reassurance, her smile reaching her eyes and turning them into little arches. And it's that sweet moment between them that one paparazzo captures with a flash of his camera. It's the photo that will paint every headline of them for the next several weeks, for better or worse.
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Fanfiction"Jeong-Hyeok," his father says in a tired voice, "This is how it's going to be. The general shareholder meeting is in five weeks from now. If you are not firmly engaged by then - I am going to recommend that the board make someone else the Chairman...
