𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗹+𝗶𝗻𝗴. haechan

chp. 21

TAKE MY HAND

No one spoke while they were in the car together.

The Lee was only humming along the tunes of the radio as Hyeji calmly looked through the car window.

Passing through the night lights, they arrived at the vast and extremely colossal hotel. As it was dark, the golden lights of the hotel lit it up. Surrounded by gardens and guards, many people in formal and elegant clothing were gathered outside the hotel.

The two got out of the car after parking inside the Jamal Hotel parking lot for exclusives.

The event had not started until 8'o clock. It was currently 7.

"I see her." Hyeji nudged Haechan gently, referring to the main target of this mission.

Jang Hana. She was around the same height as Hyeji. She wore a short off-shoulder sparkly blue dress, revealing her knees and lower as well as her defined collarbones. Her wavy dark brown hair was set to one side, exposing the diamond dangle earrings that she wore, making her features stand out beautifully.

"She's pretty." The Park admitted in hopes of ignoring the memories of her getting bullied by the same woman.

"Eh." Haechan shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets.

Knowing that she was beautiful, Hyeji assumed that maybe she changed?

Hana was talking to a tall man with dirty blonde hair, who held a narrow glass of champagne. She was smiling brightly, making the two assume that they were close.

"All I have to do is attract her, right?" The male asked, scanning around the area.

Hyeji nodded. Something in her heart was worried that Hana has already taken the Lee's heart. But this thought was stupid. Why is she worried about Haechan falling for someone else?

As 8' o clock started to near, the people began heading inside the hotel. Most of them were with their partners and many you could recognise from other branches overseas.

"Why is this stressing?" Hyeji asked to herself, fiddling around with her feet.

Haechan somewhat knew that the female was feeling anxious, so he put his arm out as a signal that they should lock arms so the two wouldn't feel left out.

"I only lock arms with Haewon. But this event is an exception." She grinned, slipping her arm into the his.

"I'm doing this with no romantic intention." He verified before they began walking into the function centre.

As they stepped through the giant wooden doors into the hall with towering high ceilings and a giant chandelier in the middle, the attempted to keep their cool.

The entrance of function room was introduced by a bright red carpet with golden outlines. When you look to your left, you see the bar and when you look to the right you see the stage.

In between the bar and the stage, were many cleanly set up tables with name plates and a piece of chocolate on each seat.

The many people that filled up the hall overwhelmed Hyeji, as Haechan was aware of this, he held her arm tighter as a form of comfort.

As Hyeji glanced over the vast space, she recognised Hana. She was speaking with the same man from before. Hyeji realised that if she gets into any contact with the Jang, it may be a problem - this is because Hana knows her real name and how she was treated before. Luckily, only Haechan needed to meet her in this mission.

"She's over there." The Park nodded her head over towards the direction of Hana. "I'll just be... I don't know, drinking? Good luck."

"Bye." Haechan replied dryly as the two went their separate ways.

Walking over towards the bar, he quickly ordered a champagne and headed over to the male and the female.

He stayed around the two for a bit, but didn't speak up until they did.

"Hello there. My name is Kwon Minho. Nice to meet you." The young male greeted, putting his hand out for a handshake.

"Hi. I'm Jang Hana, the daughter of Jang Baekhyun." She smiled in a bragging tone, looking up and down at the unfamiliar male.

"Hello. I'm Lee Haechan. Nice to meet you two." The Lee accepted the hand shake of Minho and smiled kindly at Hana.

The three of them stood their silently, cheering their drinks until Minho left to greet someone else.

"Lee Haechan. What do you do?" Hana broke the silence, looking up towards the taller male as she scanned his figure and his appearance.

"I work at THE UP Corporation." He lied with an attractive smile plastered on his lips, taking a sip of the bitter champagne. "You are beautiful." He complimented calmly.

"Thank you." She lightly chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ears in an elegant manner. "I will have to admit. You are in deed handsome." The Jang complimented back.

As the two continued conversing, Hyeji stared at them from afar. She was lonely and felt left out. No one approached her and she didn't have the guts to approach anyone else to avoid dragging the attention of Hana.

Standing quietly by herself in the corner of the huge function centre, her heeled feet fiddled by themselves as her body didn't know what to do. As her eyes glazed over the area, she recognised a male that seemed to attend her school.

"Kim Junseo?" That was her best friend's crush. He also seemed to be by himself. The Park wondered why a man like him was at such a fancy event with so many people.

"Good evening, Hana."

"Hello, father. This is Lee Haechan of THE UP Corporation." She introduced to her father with a fond smile on her lips.

Haechan bowed politely and put his hands out as an invitation for a hand shake. Jang Baekhyun accepted it without hesitation.

"I'll leave you two to it." The elder Jang bid his goodbye before leaving to talk to other people.

a/n: go back to the character introduction page if u wanna c what jihye looks like (u can't really c the face) 😉😉😉