Chapter Text
🐱
Jeonghan never knocks when he comes over and Junhui doesn’t even think much of it whenever he finds the older already lounging on his bed and scrolling through his phone when he comes back from work. He doesn’t mind it, really. Most of the time at least. But it definitely creates some kind of concern when he opens his front door after some unusually erratic knocking and finds Jeonghan kneeling with a box of roasted chestnuts in his hands as an offering.
“Please go on a blind date for me.”
His first reaction is to step outside and look around quickly, making sure that none of his neighbours saw him and Jeonghan and thinks that Jeonghan is Junhui's lover who's trying to win him back. The second is to grab Jeonghan by the hood of his jacket and drag him promptly inside.
“Are you out of your mi—”
Jeonghan flashes him a look that is adjacent to a kicked puppy before he could get to the end of his sentence.
“Junnie,” the older begs.
“No,” and he answers just as firmly. Even as Jeonghan jumps onto his back and they threaten to crash into the wall since Junhui lost his footing from the sudden weight on his back.
“Please, please, please, please, you know my dad will not stop setting me up on blind dates until I agree to get married to one,” Jeonghan continues and they’re now definitely about to crash into the floor and Junhui is going to have the break the fall for the both of them since he didn’t want Jeonghan to get hurt as well.
“Then why do I have to go for you?” he protests in return, very much displeased at the idea. He knows the dates that Jeonghan goes on. He knows the type of people he’s set up with as well. And Jeonghan always comes back from those dates with a plastic bag filled with two bottles of beer and soju in his hand and a box of fried chicken in the other. “Can’t you ask Joshua hyung to go instead?”
“I can’t,” Jeonghan is practically half sobbing and still clinging onto Junhui like a barnacle. “Because Joshua has a boyfriend now so I can’t ask him to do things like that anymore.”
Ugh. He gives up trying to fight Jeonghan off of him and accepts the older putting his entire weight on his back. There’s a sob that he doesn’t miss but he knows the difference between Jeonghan actually crying and Jeonghan trying to get Junhui to do something that he doesn’t want to do and as sickening as it is, he knows that enough pouting from his end will eventually tug at Junhui’s heartstrings somehow and melt his entire resolve away.
He lies there on the wooden floor like a plank, in defeat. “Who is it with this time?”
There’s a glee in Jeonghan’s voice when he says repeatedly says ‘Really? You’ll really help me out?’ over and over again and gets off of Junhui’s back so Junhui can finally roll over.
“You are my saviour,” the older says to him as he sits up and fixes his hair.
“I’m not saying yes just yet,” he sighs. “I want to set some ground rules first.”
“Okay, okay,” Jeonghan is obedient, rushing to the living room and patting the empty cushion for Junhui to sit on.
He still wants to grumble but he figures he might as well try to get something out of it too since he's going to give up a portion of his evening next week to have dinner with some random guy. ‘Random’ being the keyword here to focus on.
“So,” he starts, facing the older. “This guy better not be a weirdo.”
“Well, I can’t guarantee that,” Jeonghan replies. “It’s called a blind date for a reason.”
He really feels a headache start to form. “Do you at least know where this guy is from? Where he works? What kind of family he's from?”
Jeonghan shakes his head. “All my father’s secretary said to me is that this guy just moved back from New York and will be heading some big company here soon.”
“Unbelievable,” he scoffs. “For all we know he can be some complete weirdo and then he’s going to—”
“I will pay for all of your meals for the next three months.”
A simple sentence has never silenced him so fast.
“Including groceries?” He tries bargaining for a better deal.
Jeonghan nods. “Including groceries and snacks and hotpot.”
He squints. “And will there be a limitation to any of that?” He knows Jeonghan is smart and tricky. He's learnt to always second guess offers from Jeonghan that seem too good to be true.
But Jeonghan shakes his head. And he is convinced, somehow. Probably a little too easily but if it beats having to calculate whether his savings account is enough to go eat malatang in the shop just down the road, hell, he’ll take it.
“You can count on me, hyung.”
“I knew I always can!” Jeonghan says while hugging him. “Don’t tell Joshua though but you’re my best friend in the entire world,” and whispers.
“Poor Joshua hyung,” he singsongs.
“That’s what he gets for having a boyfriend and ditching me,” Jeonghan sulks. “Also I have one requirement for this blind date.”
“What is it?” he asks the older back.
“I need you to make sure this guy is completely put off by me and will go running to my father saying that I am absolutely not marriage material and never will be,” Jeonghan says in all of his seriousness and it makes him taken aback at the request but nonetheless obliges. “And I don’t care if I end up being labelled the weirdo instead.”
He’s nervous since the requirement is rather big as well. “Okay, I will try my best.”
“Great!” Jeonghan goes back to being cheerful again. “I’ll send you the details soon and now, let’s get some dinner please cause my boss made me work through lunch today and I'm starving.”
“It’s hard being the eldest son of a conglomerate isn’t it, hyung?” he asks and Jeonghan only nods and pretends to wipe a fake tear.
“Very much so,” the older replies. “I do not recommend being one.”
🐈
“Why aren’t you picking up your phone? I’ve been calling you for hours now,” Seungcheol says as he closes the door to his office. He looks up to eye the older briefly and gives a contemplative sigh before returning to fixate on his computer screen again.
“Stop ignoring me.”
“I was screening my calls since there's someone I'm avoiding,” he replies, busying himself, very much aware that his phone has been ringing nonstop and opted to place it face down onto his table somewhere around 30 minutes ago just so he doesn’t see the caller ID.
Seungcheol only clicks his tongue at his reply. “When the only people who call you are me, your secretary and grandfather?”
He hums. “I’m well aware of the people who frequently call me,” and goes back to ignoring Seungcheol again. There’s a video playing on his screen and it’s of a cat in a remote village somewhere in Japan and he’s always appreciated how this particular travel blogger always makes a habit to focus on the local cats during all of their travels. He doesn’t appreciate, however, unwanted guests in the middle of his work day and Seungcheol wasn’t even the worst one on his metaphorical unwanted guest list.
“How is my handsome grandson doing?”
He’s never slammed the space bar to pause a video so quickly. He gives Seungcheol a glare but the older only shrugs back at him as he takes a seat on one of the couches in his office, slightly facing his desk to get a front-row view of the whole thing. He knows that shrug. It’s Seungcheol’s maybe you should’ve picked up my calls and this whole encounter could’ve been avoided shrug.
“Why is it that I always have to go through your secretary whenever I want to see you, Wonwoo?”
“He doesn’t let me see him either,” Seungcheol joins in with a fake sob and pout.
“Not even your hyung,” the two of them, now on the couch, teaming up against Wonwoo. He feels as if this entire ordeal is unfair. “It’s no wonder he’s been single most of his life,” he hears his grandfather whisper to Seungcheol which really struck a chord with him.
“Can you two please leave if you don’t have anything important to tell me?” he grumbles. “I have lots of work to do.”
“You were just watching YouTube videos for the past hour,” Seungcheol replies. “Your secretary told me you were done with all of your afternoon meetings.”
“Seungcheol-ah, please help your dongsaeng out,” his grandfather whines to Seungcheol. “He hasn’t taken an interest in anything outside of work ever since he moved back from New York. He won’t even have dinner with me.”
He balls his hands into fists. “That’s because your lawyer called me and told me you felt like everything is crumbling around you and you can’t get out of bed and I take the next flight out from New York only for you to tell me it’s because my father refused to take over your company.”
“And this is what I get,” his grandfather sobs. “I just want you to have someone by your side. You can’t force poor Seungcheol and that secretary of yours to always take care of you. For God’s sake! Seungcheol isn’t even dating because of you!”
“That’s not tr—” he eventually learns to just give up and not fight back. Seungcheol. Not dating. A bizarre combination of words. “Whatever.”
“I want you to go on another blind date tonight.”
He sighs. “I told you, I’m not interested in dating let alone getting married.”
“If you don’t go tonight, I’m going to force you to have dinner with me for the next month and fish with me every weekend,” his grandfather threatens him even though he doesn’t actually really mind going fishing.
Seungcheol laughs at his probable misfortune but immediately stops when his grandfather stares at him. “What are you laughing about, kid? Wherever he goes, you go too.”
“Wonwoo-ya, please go on that blind date tonight,” Seungcheol is practically begging him with the look in his eyes.
By now, he’s so sure that there’s a clear annoyance on his face that’ll usually drive any normal person to cease all sorts of conversation with him. But he reminds himself that he is currently facing the two people in his life who show absolutely no regard for that. He only takes the continuous nagging and sulking, thinking about the paused YouTube video on his screen.
“Look at him,” his grandfather now comments, snickering. “He’s already tuned us out.”
“The guy just doesn’t have any luck when it comes to love,” Seungcheol joins in. “He’s unromantic.”
“Hey I am not unro—” he tries to protest.
“It really makes me sad,” again. “And God knows how much longer I’ll be—”
“Enough, grandfather,” he finally manages to intervene. “Your doctor told me you were perfectly healthy last week after your check-up.”
His grandfather huffs. “Well, who knows? Just when I said I will finally leave you alone if you say yes to meeting this one.”
It catches his attention. “You will?”
“Yes,” comes his grandfather’s reply. “And after that, I’ll just assume you’re going to marry Seungcheol and live together in that house of yours in Seocho with his fluffy white dog.”
Seungcheol laughs. “Sorry, but Wonwoo isn’t my type.”
He rolls his eyes. “And neither are you.”
“Jeon Wonwoo.”
“Yes, grandfather, what is it?” he responds.
“I set you up on a date with Yoon Jeonghan, the son of the Yoon Corporation for dinner tomorrow evening and that’s final,” his grandfather announces and reaches over to the top drawer of the coffee table and pulls it open. “So your secretary was right. This is where you hide all of your snacks.”
He lets out a sigh, feeling both burdened and unsettled. Seungcheol only resigns to another shrug when they make eye contact and at that exact moment as he watches his grandfather rip open the packet of senbei he received as a gift from a friend, he’s determined himself on one thing. He will marry Yoon Jeonghan no matter what it takes and bring an end to all of these unnecessary blind dates once and for all.
🐱
“A blond wig? Are you being serious right now?” he grumbles, feeling disbelieved as he watches himself in the mirror. “That Jeon Wonwoo guy is never going to fall for this gimmick.”
Jeonghan clicks his tongue as he helps fix the wig to make it more natural. “So are you saying my plan isn’t good enough to trick a Harvard graduate?”
He turns to the older. “Yes. You literally have Instagram and I think he’ll be smart enough to just look you up and realize he’s being catfished.”
“So pessimistic,” Jeonghan shakes his head. “I’m telling you, this is a foolproof plan.”
“You told me to make it sound like I’m some kind of slut!” he refutes. “Why is this eyeliner so smoky?”
“Hey, don’t slutshame yourself like that and also, this is literally just to make your eyes look sharper and more prominent,” Jeonghan knocks his hand away from his face as he tries to rub the itchiness away. “Do you want to wear ripped baggy jeans or plain black skinny jeans?”
He hums. “I think the black skinny jeans would be great.”
“Nice, all black,” Jeonghan replies. “That way your blond hair will really stand out. You really should try bleaching your hair with this shade by the way. It surprisingly suits you.”
“If you pay for my salon treatment then I will,” he smiles at the older but receives a pinch to the cheek instead and tries to bite the older’s hand away.
“Hurry up and put on those pants so I can drive you to the restaurant,” Jeonghan says. “My father said this Wonwoo guy is peculiar when it comes to being on time so we don’t want to be too late.”
He nods. “Are you sure these heels aren’t too high? What if I tower over him and intimidate him?”
“That’s the point?” the older replies. “Okay, you just finish getting ready and I’m going to get changed cause I think I sweat through my entire shirt trying to give you a makeover.”
“Okay hyung,” he replies, still eyeing the heeled boots that Jeonghan bought for him quizzically before carefully putting it on. He’s just wondering how he’s ever going to walk in it without tripping over and twisting his ankle and he’s already tall enough without it. He tries to stand up straight and is suddenly very aware of how close to the ceiling his head is.
“Are we ready to go?” Jeonghan pops back into the bedroom, changed into a new sweater with a beanie on and mask over his face.
“Why are you in disguise?” he asks the older. Jeonghan only smiles at him in return and helps him walk out of his apartment unit and to Jeonghan’s car that’s parked on the side of the road. He feels like a newborn fawn, wobbling and threatening to fall over every ten steps he takes if not for Jeonghan holding onto his arm to steady him up.
“Joshua says you look good,” Jeonghan shows his phone screen to him where there was a candid photo of him all dressed up sent in their chatroom and he only clicks his tongue and shakes his head.
His knees are far more bent than they usually are when he’s seated in Jeonghan’s car and they go over their plan one more time as they make their way from his apartment to the restaurant all the way down in Gangnam. To say that he’s nervous is a complete understatement. He’s scared shitless. He knows he’s done some acting lessons when he was younger but to put on a whole act and identity falsification in front of someone who can possibly hunt him down even if he hid at the furthest ends of the earth? It’s not too late to duck and roll out of Jeonghan’s car right now and run.
“You know what’s funny,” Jeonghan makes a comment when they pull up in front of the restaurant lobby. “You have to act like you’ve slept with a bunch of people to scare this guy off when you’re actually a virgin.”
“Hey!” he jabs the older with his elbow. “I told you I just haven’t,” and now mumbles. “Had the opportunity you know.”
“I know, I know,” Jeonghan singsongs. “But seriously. It’s about time you move on. It’s been seven years and he’s just been stringing you along.”
“I know he is,” he hates to admit it.
“Are you ready?” Jeonghan asks him one last time as they now eye the valet service that seems to be approaching his car. “Remember. The moment this blind date is over, I will be ready at your apartment with Joshua and four bottles of beer and soju and we’re going to get black-out drunk and forget everything.”
“Okay—wait, I thought Joshua hyung had to work late today?” he quickly asks but Jeonghan is already unbuckling his seatbelt and opening his car door and pushing him out of the vehicle.
“Good luck, Junnie!” the older gives one last encouragement before driving off at the speed of light and disappearing from his sight. Junhui curses internally at the older, reminding himself that Jeonghan really owes him big time for this evening as he prepares himself mentally to approach the host desk.
“Good evening, welcome to Jungsik,” the hostess greets him, a polite smile on her face. “Do you have a reservation?”
“Yes,” he responds, also with a smile. “Yoon Jeonghan for two.”
“Ah, welcome Mr. Yoon,” the hostess says to him. “Your other party has already arrived and is already waiting for you in your private dining room. Please follow me.”
“Of course,” he replies and he goes over everything he’s gone over with Jeonghan in his head with his heart racing and threatening to burst out of his chest the closer they move towards his designated private dining room. He takes one last deep breath before the hostess opens the door and he gets a glimpse of the man who was already waiting inside.
“Ugh, I wish that stupid old man would just stop setting me up on these awful blind dates,” he begins his act, dusting off his leather jacket-cladded shoulder snobbishly. He can do this. For Jeonghan. For his month-long meal ticket. “Doesn’t he know that I’m not interested in entertaining some rich man’s son whose ego needs to be stroked?”
“My apologies that this arrangement took up your evening, Jeonghan-ssi,” the voice that greets him is deep and polite. He doesn’t want to admit that he felt like the lead in a cheesy romantic comedy when Jeon Wonwoo turns to him and smiles. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion and songbirds were singing in his ear. “I’m sure you must’ve already had other important plans than entertaining me here for dinner.”
Wow, he marvels internally. If this was a manhwa, a ray of light would be beaming around Jeon Wonwoo with flowers filling the frame entirely. But unfortunately for Junhui, this is not a manhwa and this is real life and Jeonghan’s entire dating life is at stake depending on his performance tonight. He quickly shakes all thought and goes back to the façade that he and Jeonghan have successfully crafted.
“Glad to see that you’re aware,” he smirks, but Wonwoo is a gentleman and gets up to pull out his chair for him. He catches a whiff of his perfume. It’s woody and sweet. “Though, I guess I don’t mind if the man that I’m supposed to entertain tonight is you,” he says in the most flirtatious way possible, crossing a leg over the other.
Wonwoo only smiles as he takes his seat again. “I’m flattered.”
Crap. Focus, Wen Junhui.
“So, Wonwoo-ssi,” he clears his throat and adjusts his seating. “Why don’t we just cut straight to the chase here instead of wasting our time.”
Wonwoo places the menu down and looks straight at him. He really thinks he can pass out just from Wonwoo’s gaze on him alone.
“You see,” he tries his hardest to stifle all of his embarrassment and humiliation away. “Marriage?” he laughs manically. “You really think one person will be able to satisfy me for the rest of my life?”
His statement clearly takes Wonwoo aback and he takes it as a small victory. The soju and beer that Jeonghan has prepared for him after this better knock him out stone cold ‘til the next morning.
“You see,” he continues, now twirling a strand of fake blond hair in between his fingers. “I’m a man of many men and women,” and bites his lip even though he feels like he’s dying on the inside. “I’m a tough one to keep satisfied.”
He really doesn’t know whether his act is working or not on the man. Wonwoo has been silent as he watches him narrate and go through every practised line and move. He doesn’t know whether the sultry slow blinks that he practiced in his bathroom mirror is actually helping him be alluring or is just making him look plain crazy. Either way, he really wants to just run to the nearest bathroom and escape through a window.
But much to his dismay, a notification on Wonwoo’s phone comes through and the man reaches into his pocket to fish the device out and begins to read whatever is showing on the screen.
Now he really doesn’t know how things are with Jeon Wonwoo. He even coughs to try and get the man’s attention away from his phone.
“My apologies, Jeonghan-ssi, there seems to be an emergency at work,” Wonwoo apologizes as he places his phone back into his pocket and looks at him again and just when he feels like he can breathe momentarily, he's immediately proven wrong. “But if satisfaction is your concern, then don’t worry,” the man smiles at him. “I can assure you, I’m good.”
He really lost count of how many times he’s said fuck in his mind.
“I don’t mean to cut our evening short but I will be taking my leave,” Wonwoo says, already getting up from his seat. “I can have my associate chauffeur you to your home.”
He gets up at the speed of light at the remark and accidentally bangs his knee against the table. “No!” and winces.
“No?” Wonwoo replies. “Are you—”
“I’m fine,” he wasn’t. His knee really hurts but he tries to smile through the pain. “Thank you for a lovely and short evening, Jeon Wonwoo-ssi.”
Wonwoo smiles at him again and takes his leave from their private dining room and towards the restaurant lobby where a black BMW was already waiting for him with the windows rolled down.
His course of the first course of action is to take off the boots and prepare himself to bolt out the restaurant entrance and across the road and find the nearest taxi bay. He doesn’t care. He just needs to be out of Wonwoo’s line of vision as soon as possible.
“Mr. Yoon—”
“Is that Yoon Jeonghan?” he vaguely hears Jeon Wonwoo’s associate but is soon drowned out by the sound of traffic as he dashes out onto the street with all of his might, barefooted, leather jacket now gripped in one hand and the blond wig threatening to fall off his head.
🐈
“You know your grandfather is going to kill me if he finds out I bailed you out of a blind date yet again,” Seungcheol voices his concern as they’re now making their way back to Seocho. “Then we really have to go fishing with him every weekend.”
He only hums while looking out the window and enjoys the view of the night scenery. “You like fishing though, hyung.”
“That’s not the point,” the older barks back at him but honestly, everything sounds muffled to him right now as he recalls the events of the past hour. Yoon Jeonghan. The imagery of the blond man flashes through vividly in his mind. There was a peculiar and alluring air to him—something that he didn’t really expect from the oldest son of the Yoon Corporation. He was used to meeting heirs and heiresses who bragged about their prestige and connections in order to impress him. But Yoon Jeonghan did neither of that.
He's impressed. And intrigued. But still, he needs to stick to his original resolve in order to stop this once and for all.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about, hyung,” he says calmly, still gazing out of the window. “I’m going to marry Yoon Jeonghan.”
Never has Seungcheol hit the brakes so hard that he ends up being knocked over and hitting his head against the car door. “What the—”
“What the fuck!” Seungcheol beats him to cursing. “Marry?!”
He nods, adamant about his resolve. “Please inform my grandfather that I will be marrying Yoon Jeonghan of the Yoon Corporation.”
Seungcheol is truly at a loss for words. “Wait. Holy shit. Hold on.”
🐱
“You are the best thing to ever happen to me,” Jeonghan greets him as he walks through his front door; chicken in one hand, cold bottle of beer in the other. He quickly snatches the bottle out of the older’s hand and chugs it down almost in one go.
“How was it? How was it?” there’s Joshua, sitting cross-legged in the middle of his living room with the array of food that’s been prepared on top of the low coffee table. “Did you manage to fool him?”
He pauses his drink and points to Jeonghan. “You owe me big time.”
“Thank you so so much!” Jeonghan is practically already on his knees. “Wen Junhui, you are my greatest saviour.”
Joshua scoffs, downing his bottle of water. “You’ve never thanked me like this when I went on your blind dates.”
“That’s cause when you go on my blind dates you end up sleeping with them and dating one of them,” Jeonghan reiterates, all the while glaring daggers at Joshua who turns his face away. “And it’s lucky Lee Seokmin didn’t rat me out to my father too that you showed up in place or else I really would’ve been punished.”
“Hyung, I don’t think your dad taking away your credit card can be considered as punishment,” he joins in. “Doesn’t your company pay you well?”
“They do but it’s barely as much as the allowance my father gives me,” the older pouts and it really sends both him and Joshua into a litany of ‘be quiet’. “And I’m saving up to move out of my house anyway. I really hate going home and having to hear the ‘when will you make something out of yourself for once?’ speech whenever I tell my father that I don’t want to take over his company.”
“How hard,” Joshua fake sympathizes. “I never knew the troubles of the son of one of the richest men in Korea.” And it earns him a slap on the arm from Jeonghan.
“So Junnie,” they finally turn their focus to him. “How was Jeon Wonwoo? What was he like?”
He feels himself blushing comically at the question as he reminds himself of his encounter with Wonwoo. Bizarre would be a complete understatement but God how Jeon Wonwoo is perfect even to the strands of his dark brown hair.
“He was,” he gulps, suddenly hyperaware of how intense both Jeonghan's and Joshua’s gazes are on him. “He was fine. Really handsome.”
“Really?” Joshua lifts a brow.
“Was he weird in any way?” Jeonghan asks. He shakes his head even though he recalls Wonwoo’s “Don’t worry, I’m good” remark towards him which sends chills down his spine.
“He’s tall, around my height,” he replies. “Wears glasses. Was wearing a suit too to the dinner.”
“Ugh,” Jeonghan rolls his eyes. “Typical.”
“I think he’s nice, hyung,” he says. “He got up to pull out my chair and was polite. He didn’t brag about anything either,” except for how good he apparently was which he will keep to himself for now. “Why don’t you go out on another date with him? Except this time, you’re the one who shows up.”
Jeonghan shakes his head and is backed up by Joshua. “Junnie, this guy is really against blind dates and meeting people who his father tells him to go out with.”
“I want to meet the person I love on my own,” Jeonghan begins to say woefully, hands clasped together and pressed against his chest. “I want to walk down a street and meet a guy who makes me go ‘woah, he’s so handsome’ and we exchange shy hellos and talk over a nice meal and fall in love slowly.”
Junhui is in the middle of tearing up at Jeonghan’s desire for love when Joshua cuts in.
“You watch too many k-dramas with your sister.”
Jeonghan throws a balled-up piece of tissue at Joshua which sends all three of them laughing. “I have literally never seen you meet any of your ex-boyfriends this way.”
“Shut up!” Jeonghan protests. “In this day and age, marriage doesn’t mean anything and I don’t plan on being married to anyone ever.”
“I know, I know,” Joshua says.
“Okay, can we stop the guy talk and get me drunk?” he intercepts them. “I really want to forget everything that happened tonight and go to work hungover tomorrow.”
“That’s the spirit,” Jeonghan says, readying the three shot glasses and reaching for an unopened bottle of soju. “To my freedom.”
“And my dignity,” he adds. “I really need to repress this, hyung.”
Four shots were enough to knock him out cold on his sofa until the next morning.
🐈
The air is somewhat unpleasant inside his office this morning and it wasn’t because there was an upcoming investors panel to discuss the latest product launch. No. Since 8 AM, Wonwoo has watched his grandfather sit on the sofa facing his desk and eye at him; both in shock and awe as if he just saw a ghost. His secretary comes in with a tray of tea and snacks for the two of them and leaves since she’s sure she didn’t want to be caught in between the staring showdown between her direct superior and the chairman.
“I followed your wish, didn’t I?” he sighs, giving in and breaking the silence between them first. “I met Yoon Jeonghan and I now would like to pursue and marry him.”
His grandfather is still silent even as Seungcheol opens the doors to his office and sneaks in so as to not disrupt the atmosphere. They exchange a confused look between each other and he gestures for Seungcheol to approach the seating area.
“Grandfather,” Seungcheol calls for him. Wonwoo knows that Seungcheol has always been his grandfather’s favourite. “I didn’t know you would be coming in so early today. Don’t you have a doctor’s appointment this morning? Ah! I can take you there if you want.”
“You don’t have to butter me up, Seungcheol,” his grandfather says as he picks up the cup of tea and begins to sip. “I’m happy.”
He, however, rolls his eyes.
“But grandfather, you don’t look too happy,” Seungcheol still continues to pry.
“Well, my grandson who for years has always gone against my wishes is finally saying that he’s ready for marriage,” his grandfather says. “I’m just a little shocked. I never thought this day would ever come.”
“Grandfather, as much as I enjoy your company,” he interjects. “I need to begin my day. I will be arranging for another dinner with Yoon Jeonghan.”
“Very well,” this is the first time that he’s ever heard his grandfather concede and retreat from his office willingly when asked. “I'll be waiting for you at our weekly dinner.”
The two of them are silent, watching the office door open and close. Seungcheol turns to him first.
“Need me to do anything for you today?” the older asks him.
“Are you busy?” he replies. “That meeting with the potential investor.”
“Ah that got rescheduled to next week,” Seungcheol replies too. “So I don’t really have anything much going on this week.”
He hums. “Would it be tiresome if I asked you to contact Yoon Jeonghan today?”
“Oh? You didn’t get it yesterday?” Seungcheol asks and he shakes his head.
“He sprinted out of the restaurant so quickly I didn’t get a chance to but I heard from his father’s secretary that he’s working for the Daehan Group.”
“Ouch,” Seungcheol jokes. “Directly at the competitor’s territory.”
He scoffs. “Something about wanting to punish his father.”
“Okay then I’ll go there after the work day has ended today,” Seungcheol says. “Need me to accompany you to make rounds?”
“Sure,” he replies and gets up from his seat and grabs his suit jacket hanging from the coat rack behind him. “I should familiarize myself with the departments and employees after all.”
“What a good boss,” he hears Seungcheol say and they exit his office room and is soon accompanied by his secretary as they head down to the elevator.
🐱
I hate Jeonghan so much, he curses the older in his head as he’s dropped off in front of his office and watches Jeonghan’s car drive off. He really shouldn’t have agreed to drink that much with Jeonghan and Joshua. He only wanted to get a nice buzz before having a nice sleep and not passing out on the floor while Jeonghan snoozes peacefully in his bed instead. His face is so puffy and his eyes are so red that he has to cover them up with sunglasses and he’s so sure his office security guard is eyeing at him suspiciously right now as he enters the lobby.
He tries to avoid making eye contact with anyone, the sounds of people’s chatter only serving to worsen his already throbbing head. The first thing he’s going to do when he reaches his floor is stealing some of the hangover cure that he’s sure one of his co-workers has stashed in their desk somewhere. The elevator feels like it’s taking forever as he watches the number descend.
When the elevator dings open, he notices the people around him falling silent and clearing out from in front of the doors. He’s confused and even as the array of “good morning, CEO Jeon” comes through and he finally faces forward to see who exactly was inside the elevator. Holy shit.
Holy shit. Holy fuck. Fucking fuck. Every variation and combination in every language he knows goes through his head when he finally registers the man standing inside the elevator and he tries his hardest to not just bolt the same way he did two days ago.
“Apparently the Chairman already appointed a new CEO.”
“Really? Who is it?”
“It’s the Chairman’s grandson. He’s been overseeing the US branch before this.”
“I heard he’s still pretty young.”
“He’s supposed to start next month.”
Bits and pieces of his co-worker’s gossip from the past month are all finally coming to him. And to think that this is also the man that Yoon fucking Jeonghan is supposed to be set up with and marry. Everything feels like a karmic slap to his face.
“Hello,” he recognizes Jeon Wonwoo’s voice. Admittedly, it was lovely, calming, very gentle and deep as well. “Are you an employee here?”
He’s at a complete loss for words as he keeps looking down at the floor, hiding his employee tag from Wonwoo’s view and pretending that he’s shrinking down into the size of a mouse even though it didn’t really do much help since they were practically the same height and build. Jeon Wonwoo has a dark grey suit on and his hair is parted and styled up to show a glimpse of his forehead Junhui is sure just glinted a ray of light from how marvellous it is. He’s officially hallucinating.
“Um—”
“Wonwoo-ya, the door,” the man behind him speaks. It’s the man who was in the car. He remembers catching a glimpse of him as he bolted out of the restaurant. He curses in his head even more.
The two of them then step out of the elevator and he hurriedly rushes in and lets the crowd of people cover him up from the puzzled look painted all over Wonwoo’s face. He feels like a deer who barely managed to escape from being eaten by a lion.
On the way up to his floor, he prays that Jeon Wonwoo doesn’t remember him and that the blond wig that Jeonghan had forcibly made him wear for his blind date actually hid his identity well and his entire front won’t be discovered. God knows what Jeon Wonwoo would do if he found out an employee of his company pulled a fast one on him on an arranged blind date and he cringes even more when he remembers the promiscuous act that he had to put on to put off Wonwoo entirely from the idea of dating and marrying Jeonghan.
Fuck, he groans out loud this time and the entire elevator turns to look at him. This really is an awful day.
😇
Jeonghan grins when he leaves work that day, whistling a delightful tone as he walks towards the car park. There’s a lightness to his step and he feels overall satisfied with how well his meeting went today and the feedback he got and it was all thanks to Junhui who had somewhat willingly taken his place for the blind date. He looks at his phone to open his chatroom with Junhui and the notification of him sending 500,000 won to the younger is like proof of a done deal transaction.
He thinks he might stop by a nearby restaurant and have some chuck flap meat for dinner. He earned this simple little happiness.
“Excuse me, do you know an employee named Yoon—?”
“Yes—oh,” damn. A man in a casual suit and stunning deep-set eyes calls for him. He almost drops the binder of documents that he was carrying in his arm but the man rushes to extend his arm out and catch the binder before it slips out of his hold. He really can’t stop staring. “H-how can I help you?”
“I’m sorry for approaching you like this,” the man apologizes. “But I’m looking for an employee of this company. His name is Yoon Jeonghan do you happen to know if he’s here?”
“Ah I’m—” But he quickly stops himself from giving his identity away when he connects the dots as to why someone is suddenly asking for him at his workplace. This must be Jeon Wonwoo. Junhui wasn’t lying to him when he said Jeon Wonwoo is handsome but he wasn’t wearing glasses the way Junhui had described him nor was he around the younger’s height. Well, Junhui had been wearing heels that night anyway so his judgement could’ve been a bit inaccurate. “I’m sorry but I think Yoon Jeonghan-ssi already went home for the day.”
The man, Jeon Wonwoo, smiles at him, “No worries. I was hoping I could run into him here. But if you don't mind could I get a contact of his—”
It’s embarrassing how loudly his stomach growled.
“Hungry?” that smile. The cherry-red lips are definitely too much for him to form a single coherent thought.
“How about we have dinner together right now?” he smiles back “And I'll be sure to tell you all about Yoon Jeonghan over it,” and ignores the incoming phone call from Junhui.
🐈
Hyung where are you? His last text to Seungcheol remains ignored even after three hours of sending it. Usually, the older is quick to reply to him but this time, he doesn’t know why Seungcheol hasn’t updated him on anything since he left the company at 6 PM. He’s still in the office—making up so many excuses just to not go home yet since one of the housekeeper told him that his grandfather was already there.
There are boxes of takeout from a nearby restaurant on the coffee table but his appetite has been somewhat diminished as he begins to think over his decision to tell his grandfather that he would marry Yoon Jeonghan. Deep down, he knows he shouldn’t have made such a hasty and grand decision but deciding to once and for all pursue a marriage candidate was the only way his grandfather would cease his constant nagging and sulking towards him. He’s sure Yoon Jeonghan must be feeling the same way about the entire premise.
He's a proud hopeless romantic. And he would very much prefer organically meeting and falling in love with someone as opposed to forced arrangements which only serve as an indirect business partnership.
Yoon Jeonghan. He remembers his face, the sharp yet soft cat-like eyes, the moles on the corners of his heart-shaped lips. He’s a beauty with his long blond hair that perfectly frames his face.
He’s clearly agitated for no reason and he decides to close whatever window he was looking at on his screen and gets up to head towards the elevator. He’s not usually a sweet tooth kind of guy but tonight he felt like visiting the café down at the lobby that he knows the employees love to frequent.
The lobby is still pretty lively at 9 PM, some are still working overtime, some collecting their food from the delivery driver, and some even waiting for their ride back home or for a friend before heading out and ending the work day. It’s been a while since he’s enjoyed an outing after work; most of his days usually end with Seungcheol driving him back to Seocho and eating the dinner already prepared at home.
The menu in the café is quite variative, scanning the list carefully before deciding that an earl grey latte wouldn’t hurt once in a while. It felt nice to step out of his office.
“Hi! Can I get one lemonade please?” the voice sounds familiar and he turns to his right to look at the person who’s currently ordering at the cashier.
That’s the guy at the elevator this morning. The one with the sunglasses.
There’s something about the guy that he couldn’t quite place and he must’ve been staring at him too much that the guy ends up noticing and jolts in surprise.
“Um, you—are you an employee?” He could tell the guy was tense even though he nods at his question. “I see. You’re—um—not wearing your sunglasses anymore.”
He watches the guy pale and covers his eyes with his hands which surprises him. “Um, that’s because I have a stye!”
“A stye?” he asks, confused.
“Yes, a stye, so you better stay away from me cause it’s contagious and you’re gonna catch it, bye!”
“Sir—your lemonade!” Just like that, the guy bolts out of the café and he’s left dumbfounded as he watches the tall man disappear out the door. And once again, it was like a dejavu to something that happened two nights ago as well.
😇
This particular headache hits him like a tidal wave and he’s sure it’s an accumulation from drinking two nights in a row. He really shouldn’t have made fun of Junhui when he saw the younger passed out and drooling on his own bedroom floor. It’s blaring and it makes his already uncoordinated body tumble out of the bed and onto the floor when he tries to reach for his phone on the bedside table. Except that there wasn’t a phone on there and the bedside table has a framed photo that instead makes him jolt wide awake and begins to register his surroundings.
He isn’t a stranger to one-night stands and at this point in his life, he’s figured out a procedural method on how to get the fuck out as quickly and soundless as possible. He curses himself on how he even let himself get into this situation—remembering clearly that he sent Junhui in his place to specifically ward Wonwoo off.
But Wonwoo. Good God. He’s almost embarrassed when he remembers exactly how everything unfolded as he takes a peek to make sure Wonwoo wasn’t awake after all of the rustling that he’s caused trying to gather all of his clothes that were discarded all over the bedroom floor. He didn’t hate being swayed by sweet words and flirty touches, running a finger over Wonwoo’s arm and the hot breath that fanned against the shell of his ear since the place was getting livelier and he suggested a quieter place to talk.
Fuck, Yoon Jeonghan, you’re out of your fucking mind, he almost cries but he would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy getting his insides rearranged by this beautiful man with the most muscular arms he’s ever seen and the prettiest eyelashes that fanned against pink cheeks. The memories of last night come flooding back to him and suddenly, he's even more distraught as he remembers the feeling of the fingers that dug into his hips until it bruised and pulled him flush against rock hard abs.
“Wow, what a view,” the teasing voice, now octaves deeper and raspier which Jeonghan doesn’t deny is unbelievably attractive. He knows he’s in a compromising position, still bare as he’s on all four on the floor to gather his clothing. “Reminds me of what we did last night.”
He feels his cheek burn at the comment. “Good morning.”
“You—”
“Did I ruin your plans for sneaking out?” he feels like smacking the grin off of Wonwoo’s face.
“I wasn’t sneaking out,” he replies, standing up and begins putting on the articles of clothing that he managed to gather. He doesn’t care that he’s currently buttoning on a white dress shirt that is a size too big for him. “I’m a busy man and I have somewhere I need to be.”
Wonwoo only laughs at him and it’s so tempting to just completely undress himself again and just jump right back into bed with the man and ride him until he passes out but no. Jeonghan has principles. He wasn’t about to consider pursuing an arranged marriage candidate purely based on carnal desire.
“You still haven’t told me your name, you know,” he’s halfway through pulling up his pants when he hears this remark. Jeon Wonwoo doesn’t need to know his name. “Made it less fun for me while I was fucking you last night.”
“Really?” he smirks. “To my memory, you seemed to had have plenty of fun last night.”
Wonwoo chuckles. “So when can I see you again?” now propping himself up on his elbows. The white bedsheets slip down enough to give Jeonghan a peek of defined abs he remembers running his hands all over last night. Focus, Yoon Jeonghan.
“If you can find me again,” he says, giving Jeon Wonwoo one last smile before hurrying towards the front door. “Then I promise I’ll show you how much more fun I can really be.” And exits the apartment building without looking back and doesn’t miss the groan from the man—feeling somewhat both proud and ashamed of himself.
He finds his phone in the pocket of his suit jacket and he’s bewildered at the amount of miscalls and texts that Junhui has sent him overnight. He decides to give the younger a call.
“Jun-ah—”
“Hyung, where the fuck have you been!” by the tone, he could tell that Junhui is equal parts worried and equal parts frustrated.
“Calm down, Jun-ah,” he replies, holding his hand up to hail down a passing by taxi. “I was busy. What’s up?”
There’s a grumble and a line that completely shocks Jeonghan to his very core. “Hyung, Jeon Wonwoo is the fucking CEO of my company.”
He immediately gives Junhui’s apartment address to the taxi driver.
🐱
They’re staring at each other in complete, dumbfounded silence. The first time ever since they became friends in high school somewhere over ten years ago. Junhui honestly doesn’t know where to even begin since he found out that Jeon Wonwoo is the newly appointed CEO of his company and Jeonghan, apparently, forgot their entire goal and mission and went ahead and let Jeon Wonwoo fuck him into oblivion after he had sought him out directly to his workplace.
“So… what do we do now?” He grabs Jeonghan by the collar of his shirt when he hears the older say this.
“What do you mean what do we do? You’re the one who slept with Jeon Wonwoo!” he barks back at the older.
“I didn’t know he was the CEO of your company! I swear!” Jeonghan tries to defend himself. “He’s really really hot! How the hell was I supposed to say no to—”
“Don’t you think I know that!” he grits his teeth and still shakes the older’s body with anger. “I’m the one who went on that stupid blind date with him for you!”
Jeonghan is crying out small whines of “Junnie, please let me go. I am fragile” while grabbing onto the sleeves of his hoodie. He’s definitely lost his mind and finally lets go of the older and proceeds to fall back flat onto the sofa.
“Did you,” he says while pinching the bridge of his nose. “Did you tell him who you were?”
Jeonghan shakes his head. “No, I didn’t tell him my name. At least I didn’t get to before he started to kiss me and—”
“I will punch you,” he threatens and it sends the older straight back into silence.
Jeonghan’s phone rings and he could tell that it was his father by the way the older’s face immediately pales.
“Yes, father?” Junhui watches Jeonghan answer the phone call. Who knew the silence between them would be this heavy as Jeonghan’s entire future is at stake.
Junhui has met Jeonghan’s father several times throughout the years that they’ve been friends. The man is kind and caring the same way that Jeonghan is and treats Junhui like his own son and thanked him for being one of Jeonghan’s only friend when he first moved to Seoul. He’s doted by the both of them and judging by the look that’s currently plastered on Jeonghan’s face, he really couldn’t tell what sort of conversation they were having that’s rendered Jeonghan completely still and speechless.
“I-I understand,” Jeonghan stutters and it confuses him even more. “Okay. I’ll see you.”
“Hyung?” he’s worried at this point.
“Jun-ah.”
“Hyung, what’s wrong?” he continues to ask.
And finally, Jeonghan bursts into tears and dives straight into his chest to cling to him.
“Jun-ah,” the older wails. “Jeon Wonwoo just told my father that he wants to go through with the marriage proposal.”
“Holy shit—” he says in response, immediately holding the older tighter to him. “Are you joking—”
“What do I do now!” Jeonghan continues to sob. “I thought you said he was uninterested in you and cut the date early?!”
“He did!” he defends himself. “Then you went ahead and got drunk and slept with him!”
“So are you blaming all of this on me? On my ass?” If he could get away unscathed with it, he would bite Jeonghan to shut the older up.
“Hyung please,” he tries to calm the both of them down. “I’m all for helping you get out of this mess. What did your father say? What did you say to him?”
Jeonghan grumbles. “He said that there’ll be a formal meeting with Jeon Wonwoo and his family this Sunday and I should be on my best behaviour.”
“Shit,” he instinctively says, just as dumbfounded and shocked as the older is. “You’re screwed, hyung.”
“Don’t you think I know that!” Jeonghan wails once again.
😇
If he had to rank the top 10 most awkward moments in the 28 years of his life, he thinks that this could easily sit at the number one spot. The ‘good luck, hyung’ text from Junhui barely does anything to settle his nerves and in a last-ditch attempt to save himself, Joshua is apparently on a cruise ship somewhere in Greece with Seokmin and told him that he’s not going to die from this. The situation is so awkward that it’s actually making the delicious beef tartare taste foul in his mouth—unable to properly chew or even look up from his plate since he feels a set of eyes boring a hole in the side of his head.
Jeon Wonwoo.
God, he really is so fucking dumb and shouldn’t have thought with his libido.
Junhui’s description of the man had been correct. Tall, sharp features, elegant and wore glasses and handsome like a character straight out of the manhwas that the younger is obsessed with reading. He had simply thought maybe the Jeon Wonwoo he met that day hadn’t chosen to wear glasses and he was too blindsided by toned biceps and cherry-red lips to actually crosscheck and confirm Junhui’s words.
“You don’t know how happy I am that our Wonwoo decided to accept Jeonghan’s marriage proposal,” Wonwoo’s grandfather, the chairman of the Jeon Group, speaks. He feels annoyed at how happy his father responds.
“I’m the one who is happy such a handsome suitor like your grandson agreed to my Jeonghanie.”
The more he listens to his parents and Wonwoo’s grandfather converse, the sicker he feels in his stomach. He notices as well that Wonwoo hasn’t eaten much since he arrived, choosing to stare at Jeonghan more with a confused look painted all over his face and the alleged other Jeon Wonwoo that he met who’s sitting beside him, Choi Seungcheol, avoids all sorts of eye contact with him.
He wants to run out of this private dining room so badly.
“Father, I need to use the restroom for a moment,” he excuses himself without even so hearing his father’s response—only thinking about exiting the room and getting a moment to collect himself.
How is it going so far? A text from Junhui is at the top of his notification bar when he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
Awful, he texts back. I’m hiding in the bathroom.
I wish I can help you out, Junhui replies accompanied by a crying cat emoticon at the end.
And he’s in the middle of typing out his next message when the bathroom door swings open. It was too late for him to save himself. He should’ve gone outside and asked for the valet to bring his car open and drive far away as fast as possible.
“Yoon Jeonghan-ssi.”
He takes calculated looks at the mirror to see who is standing there by the door through the reflection.
“If you even are the real one.”
Okay, okay, he tries to calm himself down. So Jeon Wonwoo figured out you conned him. You got this. Just act dumb. “My, what even are you referring to, Jeon Wonwoo-ssi?” he replies while feigning his entire innocence. “Of course I’m the real Yoon Jeonghan.”
There’s a menacing feel to the glare that Jeon Wonwoo is currently looking at him with. It’s both intimidating and cold and threatening to eat him alive and not in a good way.
“So you think you could hire someone to take your place during our date,” Wonwoo begins to say, making his way closer to him. He feels like he’s shrunk to the size of an ant the closer Wonwoo gets to him. “You’re a pretty smart guy. I’m impressed that I didn’t think of doing that either.”
What.
“Excuse me?” he responds, taken aback at the sudden compliment from Wonwoo. “You don’t want to kill me?”
Wonwoo tilts his head, confused. “No? Why would I want to kill you?”
“Cause you were staring daggers at me?!” he raises his voice but quickly realizes that they’re in the bathroom of a fancy restaurant and he couldn’t have the patrons overhearing them and creating unnecessary rumours. “Cause I sent someone else in my place for our blind date and I turned up instead of Ju—” he quickly stops himself too before Junhui’s name slips out of his mouth.
“Glaring daggers at you?” Wonwoo now seems genuinely confused. “Ah, you see, I have pretty terrible eyesight. A lot of people have mistaken me for glaring at them before.”
The entire menacing and intimidating aura that surrounded Wonwoo immediately vanished in his eyes the moment he listens to the man actually speak. He seemed friendly somehow, a little goofy, but nonetheless, he didn’t seem as terrifying as he was making him out to be in his head.
“I see,” he says. “I just thought you were disappointed since well, you know. I tricked you and all.”
“Ah,” Wonwoo says. “Well, I guess I’m not disappointed by that. As I said, I’m impressed you hired an actor to take your place.”
Actor, right, he can’t outwardly say right here that Junhui is his best friend. Especially since Junhui is an employee at Wonwoo’s company as well and he doesn’t want Junhui to lose his job because of this too.
“Right,” Jeonghan mumbles. “I’m sorry, by the way.”
Wonwoo really is so kind. “No need to be sorry. But we do need to come up with an explanation to give to my grandfather and your parents inside.”
“Fuck,” he curses. Wonwoo is right. Even if the misunderstanding between them is somewhat cleared up, his parents and grandfather are still expecting their marriage proposal to come through and see itself to fruition. “What should we do?” he asks Wonwoo.
Wonwoo hums. “If you want to continue, I don’t mind. I won’t get in your way or anything when we actually—”
“No,” he quickly interjects. “Sorry, this is nothing against you Wonwoo-ssi, but I’m someone who has sworn off the idea of getting married entirely so it wouldn’t sit right with me if I went through with the marriage.”
“That’s fair,” Wonwoo replies. “But you’re fine with sending an actor to seduce me?”
“The goal was to be so obnoxious that it turns you off, actually,” he says again. “I guess that didn’t work, didn’t it?”
It surprises him when he suddenly sees Jeon Wonwoo blush and suddenly throw his face away from him. Wen Junhui, what did you do to this man? he thinks and knits his brows in confusion. He knows Junhui is beautiful but saying that he seduced him? He’s going to need to confront the younger and torture information out of him when they meet next.
“Jeonghan-ssi,” Wonwoo clears his throat. “May I have your phone number? Strictly for communication purposes?”
He eyes the man confusedly. “Um, sure?” and quickly punches in his phone number and saves his own contact in the phone that Wonwoo offers to him. “What are you planning to do?”
“I figured out a way that will get the both of us out of this,” Wonwoo says, straightening out the lapels of his suit jacket. “Please follow me back to the dining room.”
He’s unsure, trailing behind Wonwoo who takes giant strides back towards the private dining room. They can hear lively chatter, Wonwoo’s grandfather and his parents conversing happily and already making plans of how and where Jeonghan and Wonwoo will live together once the wedding takes place. The chatter stops when Wonwoo pushes the door open and makes his presence known to the entire room. Even Choi Seungcheol, who had been reading something on his phone, looks up to stare at Wonwoo.
“I have an announcement to make,” Wonwoo begins and it definitely makes all eyes fall onto him as Jeonghan cowers behind his broad shoulders.
“What is it, Wonwoo-ya?”
“Jeonghan and I have decided to call off the marriage proposal,” Wonwoo says. “I realize that I am in love with another person and I cannot go through with such a thing to my lover. I do not intend to pursue Jeonghan when I cannot devote my entire heart to him as well.”
“Wait—what—”
“Seungcheol hyung,” he gives a knowing look to Seungcheol even the entire room disrupts into a mix of surprise and anguish. “Please get the car. We will be leaving immediately.”
Jeonghan is truly and utterly dumbfounded, watching his parents panic, Wonwoo’s grandfather erupts into a fit of anger, and Seungcheol immediately stands up and excuses himself out of the room and follows Wonwoo out of the restaurant entirely. There’s a look of horror on everyone’s faces and even more so when a text message from Jeon Wonwoo finally comes in.
I’m sorry for bringing you into this mess. Hopefully this’ll get your parents off your back for a bit. As a way to return the favour, please send me the contact number for the person I met during our initial blind date immediately. Thanks.
He can’t bring himself to say no to Wonwoo nor to warn Junhui beforehand of whatever impending doom or miracle is about to take place.