Monopoly Over You

End Game

Sooyoung and Sungjae arrived at the press conference location separately. Sungjae was dressed in a grey striped fitted suit while Sooyoung dressed similarly. The blue undertones matched with Sooyoung's engagement ring worn on her left hand. With minimal accessories, the whole point was to give attention to the ring.

"Oppa why are we matching?!" Sooyoung was appalled.

"Hey I don't like that we're matching too! My brief said to wear a cool-toned grey business suit."

"It's to show harmony and unison, CEO Park and Yook." Wendy chimes in.

Sungjae nudges a still-frowning Sooyoung. "Don't we look like such a power couple now?"

He smirks when he saw her roll her eyes and walk away.

——

"CEO Yook! How will the wedding theme look like?!" "Will reporters be given a section at the wedding?" "CEO Park! Can we see the ring please?"

A barrage of questions flooded Sungjae and Sooyoung, camera bulbs flashing non-stop at them. As practiced, Sungjae and Sooyoung answered with ease.

"I'm fine with anything Sooyoung-ie wants for the wedding theme." He turns to her and softly smiles.

"I'm glad I have oppa by side emotionally and business-wise. We match each other well and we hope you'll treat our marriage life favourably." Sooyoung smiles at the reporters and then at Sungjae as he reaches out to grab her hand on the table - also a pre-planned action.

As the two left the location together among the swarm of reporters, Sungjae subconsciously places his hand on Sooyoung's back, shielding her from the camera flashes and into their waiting car. All the while convincing himself that he would do the same to his other friends if a similar situation occurs.

——
D-1 to the wedding

Sungjae and Sooyoung were having dinner at the Yooks house.

"Kids, you should know that marriage between you two has always been on the cards for us." Chairman Yook said.

"We have known each other since you were young and there's no other person we'd like to see Sooyoung with other than you Sungjae-ah." Mrs Park followed.

Sungjae and Sooyoung were expecting this - marriage between the two families - but they didn't know it would be so soon. As second generation chaebols, they understood how tough it was for their parents to build their companies up from the ground, and were determined to carry on their family companies.

"It makes sense for us to connect our business together through a marriage, it does give us a larger market share and bigger target audience." CEO Park adds on.

Sooyoung and Sungjae remained relatively quiet through the remaining dinner. They knew their roles very clearly. But things became slightly uncomfortable when their work and personal lives inter-mingled.

If this marriage was pure business, why were both of them uncomfortable with it being labelled as work?

——

"Oppa, I hope you understand I'm still not raising the profit share to 50/50 even after our marriage." Sooyoung told Sungjae seriously while both of them were in Sungjae's room.

Sungjae chuckled from where he was lying on his bed. His arms and legs sprawled out, his whole body shook as he laughed at her preposterous idea.

"I know, I wasn't expecting you to either."

"And also this marriage doesn't mean our companies become one. They'll remain as separate entities and we'll still be the respective CEOs." She adds on while swiveling in his chair to look at him.