Author's Note: Thank you, thank you all for the love you showed last chapter and FPN in general! It brings me so much joy to read your comments. A big thank you to EdnaMode101 as always for her valuable feedback on this chapter (check out "Stay Another Day"! It's brilliant.) Here now, Chapter 9.
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The early morning light filters through the thick foliage in the back of Jeong-hyeok's parents' house. Multicolored birds that are rarely seen in Seoul fly from branch to branch. They congregate around bird feeders regularly filled by the gardener and Jeong-hyeok's mother.
Under a particularly thick oak tree stands Cho Cheol-gang, along with another figure. An iridescent fly buzzes around his head, and Cheol-gang swats it away roughly, trying to focus on what the mansion's cook is telling him.
"Yes, sir, his father clearly said that he would be choosing another chairman for VAST unless those conditions were met." The cook gulps nervously and looks around, then thinks of a sick child back home and hospital bills that need paying.
He gathers his resolve and continues: "His father was very angry that the young sir ended his engagement."
Cheol-gang, listening, finds himself satisfied with the new information. It fits perfectly into the puzzle he's been assembling in his mind. The conversation he'd heard in Jeong-hyeok's office had confirmed that the engagement was a farce; now he knew why. And he knew how to get what he wanted.
"Sir," the cook thumbs the thick wad of cash which Cho Cheol-gang hands him a second later. The money gives him the courage to speak. "Aren't you high up in the company yourself? If the young sir doesn't take over, couldn't you?"
Cheol-gang raises an eyebrow. He'd chosen the cook because he was desperate; whereas the intelligence he's displaying now could be a liability.
But until he can deal with the man, he says to himself, perhaps there's no harm in showing off, just this once. After all, it's such a lovely morning.
So he grins at the man, his small teeth aligned perfectly, like a shark's.
"It's entirely possible," Cheol-gang says, "that you are looking at the next chairman of the VAST group."
***
A few hours later, Se-ri steps into the elevator of Se-ri's Choice, wearing her largest pair of sunglasses and clutching a gigantic cup of hot, black coffee. As luck would have it, Hye-ji bounds into the elevator right after her.
"Good morning, Se-ri-yah!" she announces in a voice that sounds so loud that it could be the voice of God.
Se-ri cringes. "Sssh!!"
"Ohhh." Hye-ji understands immediately. "Hungover Se-ri-yah, huh? I haven't seen her since college. Remember when we went to that wine and cheese tasting and you drank all the port –"
Her stomach rolls. "Please don't say the word 'cheese' today, Hye-ji," she pleads. "Or port. And why are you dressed in all yellow? You look like the sun."
"I appreciate that!" exclaims Hye-ji in a stage whisper, gesturing to a bright flower in her hair. "The theme is sunflower!"
"I don't like sunflowers," grumbles Se-ri. "Or the sun. I like the dark. Darkness is my friend."
"Sooo -" Hye-ji leans in, disregarding the grumbling and honing onto the important details. "Tell me the gossip! Who were you drinking with? What happened?"
Se-ri just stares at her, her mouth even drier than could be attributed to the hangover.
"I can't tell you," she says finally. Hye-ji pouts.
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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...
