Shall We? | NCT Lee Jeno ff

Chapter 6 - Hyun Nam

"You said you were going by car. I had to go back to get the car after following you in the subway," the chauffeur sighed, letting Hyun Nam into the car. Mr. Jungho would never leave her side, especially with strangers like Jeno. Hyun Nam originally thought because her father commanded him to but now she thinks Mr. Jungho follows her everywhere because he cared.

"Well, I'm very sorry, Mr. Jungho. I didn't know what to do, I wanted to get closer to him."

"I hope not in that way. Your father would be very displeased."

"I know the rules," Hyun Nam rolled her eyes, annoyed being reminded of one of her father's cruelties but felt down at the same time. She clutched the documents in her arms tighter, anxiously waiting for her father's response when she tells him that she got an SM artist's phone number. I'm sure he'll be very proud.

Going into Father's office, everybody had to wait until he called them in. This rule applies to everyone, even his daughter and wife. Sometimes Mother would break the law if she was angry with Father but would return normal the next day and waited to be called once again. Why Father says that rule applied to even his family, Hyun Nam didn't know and know better than to ask him about it. Though, there were times at night when Hyun Nam was still a little girl; she would see people coming in and out without being called. They had looked scary for 6-year-old Hyun Nam, she could only peer from behind her bedroom door. Arriving home, she saw that Father wasn't; his car wasn't where it should've been. But it wasn't strange or out of the ordinary, it was still 6 in the afternoon; he would come home during dinner later at 7.

Ding! Her phone cheered. She checked and found a text from Lee Jeno. "Hello, is this Hyun Nam?" he asked. She didn't expect him to text already, she had thought he wouldn't until a few days or maybe weeks. "Yes, this is. Hello!" she quickly texted and turned off her phone before any butlers pass by and see who she was texting. Dinner was served as usual and Dad came 15 minutes later when we finished our appetizers. "Welcome home," Mother smiled sweetly and kissed her husband's cheek. Father greeted his daughters with a smile and the sisters all knew that it was the only greeting they would get that night. "Dad, can I have a word with you later in the office?" Hyun Nam asked while the butlers shuffled to prepare the main course on the dinner table. He gave her a nod, she was good to go.

"Come in," Father said through the small speaker outside of his office. Hyun Nam was called and she came in. Father's office was dark. It was lit by only the lamp on his desk, one near the entrance, and the lights presenting the huge family portrait. The portrait was taken 6 years ago, a couple of months before the strange disappearance of the warmth between Hyun Nam and her sisters. Father was forced to smile by Mother who was rather annoyed her husband wanted not to during a family portrait. Mother's smile, even though it was very wide, wasn't the biggest one in that picture.

Eun Kyung, Ji Hyeon, and Hyun Nam had been talking about Hyun Nam's English teacher who had been her older sisters' a few years back, and he was a rather strict one. They had tried to hold their laughter in, trying to look lady-like and regal for their father, but the camera took a picture perfectly when they started to burst out in laughter. Father demanded to hang the other picture where they looked normal, but Mother wouldn't have it; she said "it brings me joy to see our daughters get along, and looking at their laughter makes me at ease" and Father followed.

Now it hurt Hyun Nam. She longed to see her sisters smile genuinely at her or even with her. Hyun Nam knew better than to keep on looking at that picture, tears would start to fall eventually.

"So? What is it?" Father asked, not looking up from the stack of papers he was signing.

"I picked up the documents you said to pick up tomorrow, thankfully they had it ready today already," Hyun Nam smiled.

"Thank you, Hyun Nam. Just put it on that coffee table right there," he smiled but if Father was actually thankful, he wasn't showing it on his face nor smile. Hyun Nam placed the documents on the coffee table. Her father didn't bother looking up until he sensed her daughter not leaving his office.

"What else?" he asked, curious of what his daughter will report to him.

"I got an artist's phone number I met today," Hyun Nam's grin was filled with pride but a part of her was still wary of her father's response. He returned her proud grin with his. She gave her a satisfied nod but didn't come back to his stack of papers, waiting for more details. The story Hyun Nam made was that she met Jeno at the agency when she wanted to take the documents, he was absolutely nice and said he saw her at the conference a few days ago. He started talking with her and she ended up with his number; the story fits perfectly without having to mention the library and subway.

"Well, I met him-"

Father banged the table, making Hyun Nam flinch in horror.

"Him?"

"Dad, he was just an artist I got close with professionally," Hyun Nam argued.

"I don't believe you. Your sister must've taught you their ways. Lying about having boyfriends and saying it was all just for work," he was fuming. Hyun Nam was confused, had Dad found out about her sisters' boyfriend?. Was that why they were called to meet him six years ago?

"Dad, I promise you, it's not-"

Father rushed forward and slapped her.

A red mark grew on Hyun Nam's face. Her father didn't apologize and hid his guilty hand in his pocket. "Leave and don't meet up with that boy if you don't want things to get worse," he ordered Hyun Nam who hid her anger and left the office.

"Ms, are you okay?" one of the maids ran over to Hyun Nam who had tears in her eyes. She ignored her and slammed the door to her bedroom. Why was it so hard to please Father? Hyun Nam opened her phone to see several texts from Jeno. "Oh good, I was hoping I was texting you and not some random guy," Jeno texted her 2 hours ago. If only he had never met him, the red mark wouldn't be there for the world to see how she had failed her father once again.

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