the real deal | max verstappen

prologue

Max stared at his father with an expression that could only be described as pure rage. He had always tolerated Jos' unconventional parenting but this was too far. His father was asking too much of him. A person could only handle so much pressure before the weight on their shoulders crushes them in the process.

"Father, cannot marry Lee Haneul."
He sighed and looked at the floor trying to hold in his frustration.
"I will not marry her. You need to find another solution." He shook his head harshly as he spoke.

Looking up from the floor he set his gaze on his father trying to gauge his reaction. Jos had a frown plastered on his face. He seemed to hesitate before he spoke.

"Max we have looked at other options, this is the best one. Kelly's getting married to a man she met 3 months ago. do you even know how pathetic that makes you look?"

Max fought the urge to laugh at the absurdity of his situation. Kelly and him had an amicable split, how quickly she moves on isn't a reflection of him.

At least he didn't seem to think so, everyone else on the other hand?
They think he's got some type of commitment issues. The gossip magazines say he doesn't know how to make a woman stay with him and her marrying someone makes them think he doesn't have the qualities necessary to be a good husband. Which is affecting his business relationships. The sponsors are questioning his marketability and his business partners are second guessing their choices because of his 'unstable' image.

"You think announcing I'm marrying an Instagram model will make me look less pathetic? The public will never believe it."

Jos shook his head and pushed a folder towards max.
"Haneul is not just some Instagram model. She's the most followed Korean on Instagram and has been the global ambassador for Dior for the past 5 years. Her YouTube channel has 15 million subscribers. She's got an impressively clean internet history, and hasn't been cancelled once which says a lot considering people get cancelled for anything these days."

Max closed the folder and looked back up at his father apprehensively. He understands how good it might be for his image, but the thought of having to marry Haneul was so unpleasant. Even if it would be a "fake" marriage, he'd still have to deal with her on a daily basis.

"Look you've known each other since you were in Kindergarten, it's a good story. People will be able to see there's history there. Childhood friends falling in love? who doesn't love that trope Besides it's not like you'll get married straight away, it will be a gradual process."

"You'd be 'dating' for 2 months before you get 'engaged' " Jos did air quotations as he spoke.

"You will only have to stay married for two years. There are far way more positives than negatives. "

Max furrowed his brows and let out a deep sigh weighing up his options. Marry the annoying girl who's had a crush on him since they were kids or watch his image get worse with every passing day.

"What does she get out of this? Surely marrying me will harm her image."

"Her team mentioned that they want to spice up her image. Besides she's never publicly dated anyone and marrying an F1 driver will be great publicity. She needs the buzz around her name, so she can launch a brand she's been working on. It's a win win situation. "

Max reluctantly nodded his head as his father spoke. It made sense but he just couldn't get over the fact that out of all the girls in the world it had to be Haneul Lee.
"Max, I know this is a big ask but she's the solution to the problem and she's already agreed so the decision is up to you"

Max nodded as he spoke.
"Okay."