Only You

Chapter 39

Jungkook's POV

She was suddenly by my side. "Jungkook-ah." she said, her voice shaking.

"I missed you." I said, feeling a sense of relief wash through me. 

"Me too." she said, grinning at me through the tears. 

She reached out to hug me, then stopped. "You just went through surgery. I shouldn't do that." her arms fell to her sides. "Mianhae."

"Pabo." I reached out and pulled her to my chest. Her breath warming my shirt was more than enough to numb the pain. 

"We shouldn't stay here long." Lay said, laying a hand on Jieun's shoulder.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and stood up. "Lay's right. Let's get out of here first."

We did just that, and emerged onto the main floor of the hospital after an unmeasurable amount of effort. 

Lay used his amazing doctor-authority-ness and managed to get me into a patient room. Just before he left, he filled me in on what had happened.

Then, he and everyone else left, and it was just me and Jieun.

She brushed a hand across the curtains and watched the ripples across the fabric fade. 

"Are you all right?" I asked, knowing the answer and yet wanting to hear her voice.

"Not really." She said, her fingers grasping the material of the curtains loosely. "You?"

"I've seen better days." I said, holding in a slight chuckle at the sight of the monitor by my bed.

She turned to fully face me, sadness and relief mingling in her eyes. "The doctors said that you would have a full recovery." She walked over to the side of my bed and sat down, grasping one of my hands. "Thank goodness."

I sat silently for a moment. "Your parents-" I broke off at the expression on her face. She turned her head slightly so that her face was shadowed by her hair. 

"You already know?" I said, steadying my grip on her hand.

"They're both gone, aren't they?" She whispered, slight tremors running through her hand in mine. She still didn't look at me. "My mother...then my father."

I sat up and pulled her to my chest, stroking her hair and closing my own eyes. 

"Shh. It's-" I broke off. It really wasn't ok. We didn't know if things would be alright. "We'll get through this." I murmured, trying to console her. 

Jieun took a deep breath. "That I know." her arms that were around me tightened. "As long as I have you with me."

We sat there quietly for a long, long time. 

A few months later...

"And I am honored to present the new CEO, Lee Jieun!"

All the associates stood up and applauded. I however, couldn't even wretch my hands apart, much less than stand up and clap. They were clenched tightly in my lap, so much that my fingers were completely bloodless. 

After the ceremony, I went with the rest of the members to greet the new CEO. Amidst important people, bowing and shaking hands with them, Jieun looked like a complete stranger. 

But then she turned around to spot me, and gave me a smile that I couldn't help but return. It was only for a moment though, before a new pair of aristocratic stock owners claimed her attention. 

I stood there, amongst the people who wanted to meet her purely because she was now a major company owner. 

Then I turned on my heel to be on my way out of the building. 

Jieun's POV

Plastering a smile on my face, I gave a delicate nod to receive the greetings. Hand after hand I shook, all the faces blurring together after a period of time. All I knew was that I wanted to see Jungkook. 

It was a rather rushed ceremony. The business couldn't take much more of lacking in leadership. Someone had to step in. 

Of course, Lay would've been the ideal choice. But when we were discussing this, he seemed to become more and more unhappy the longer we talked. I knew that he wanted to pursue a career as a doctor, so I immediately volunteered to step up instead. 

As the amazing person and overprotective brother he was, Lay was strongly against this decision. 

Flashback

"Don't you know what this would mean?" he said, dead serious. "You would have an enormous workload, and you wouldn't be able to step outside the company!"

I stared right back at him despite my stomach feeling like it was tying itself in knots. "I'll manage. I solved the contract thing, right?

"That was one issue out of many." he said.

"An issue that would've meant the end of the company."

He raked a hand through his hair, frustrated with me. "You'll be constantly swarmed by media! And what about the people around you? Didn't you ever think of Jungkook, Krystal, Suzy, or even me?"

"We've always been constantly swarmed by media." I answered quietly. "Jungkook's famous, Krystal's the daughter of a CEO, and Suzy is already used to all this because of how closely intertwined our family's have always been."

Lay's jaw clenched as he tried to come up with a counter argument that would change my mind. 

With an air of defeat, he said, "Jieun-ah. This is an extremely rash decision."

I nodded. "I know." I said, standing up straighter.

And I'll make sure I manage it well. I thought to myself.

Reality

"I would be delighted to partner with your organization." 

I was jerked back to reality by a pudgy, unexperienced looking man who I really didn't want to talk to right now. 

I smiled politely. "If you would like to talk about that in detail, I suggest you book an appointment seeing as I am slightly busy as of now." I said, my smile beginning to show teeth. 

He twitched, obviously intimidated. "O-Oh, yes. O-Of course. I'm sorry." With a few mumbled excuses, he melded back into the crowd as quickly as possible.

After the ceremony, I was greeted by a swarm of reporters. Cameras flashed nonstop, and microphones were shoved my way.

"How do you feel about the death of your parents?"

"Do you think that you are too inexperienced for your position?"

"Why didn't your brother become the chief executive officer?"

Questions were shouted by the many journalists, and I kept my face a stony calm. Without saying a single word, I walked forward through the crowd. Security guards formed the only barrier between me and the reporters. 

Reaching the car, I hurriedly got in, and we drove off, leaving behind the mob and all the questions. 

I leaned my head back against the seat, and let the tears leak out of the corners of my eyes. 

A/N: Annyeong! Hee, I'm so excited. I've been actually writing a new book, so I'm sorry for the slow updates 😣    Don't forget to vote and comment! Saranghae!! 😆