"𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦"
❝He's not my boyfriend!❞
HYEJIN SIGHED IN SLIGHT FRUSTRATION AS SHE TAPPED her manicured fingers on the table, and only looked up from the paper in her hand when Youngseo spoke. "How's the fake boyfriend exam brief with you going?"
"Could be better." She shrugged, sitting up in her chair as she glanced at the girl beside her. "I wouldn't have to memorize any of this if you'd just come with me."
"Why would I come with you to meet Kang Taemoo's grandfather?" Yeonmi asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Just tell us what you know about your boyfriend so far."
"Fake boyfriend." Hyejin corrected, with a pointed look before putting the paper down. "Okay, he was born in 1993, on December 14th. He attended school at Hyunil private school from elementary school to high school. Then he attended Harvard university where he was a track and field athlete and graduated top of his class. He's very work oriented and focused on improving his family company."
"Wow, you memorized all of that in a few days?" Hari said, clearly impressed.
"It's a lot, but you have to really sell it." Yeonmi said, starting at Hyejin with squinted eyes. "You're saying it with distaste, when you're with his grandfather you have to pretend to enjoy and support all of his achievements."
"Maybe you should pretend to be his girlfriend instead of me." The girl grumbled, adjusting the skinny brown velvet headband in her hair. "I'm pretending to be his girlfriend, not his assistant."
Hari put down her chopsticks, swallowing the food in her mouth before speaking. "I thought you were a hopeless romantic. Isn't this like every plot in all of your books?"
"I guess, but it's different when it's actually happening to you with someone who's only interested in you because you can help him get his grandfather off his back. I don't know if this is gonna end well, but at least in my books I know whether or not they have a happy ending. Plus, I'm only pretending to be his girlfriend. And as his fake girlfriend all I should know about him is that he's attractive and in love with me."
"You're also supposed to pretend to be his rock, and be supportive of his dedication to his job, and love his parents like they're your own." Youngseo said, raising an eyebrow at her friend.
Hyejin's small grimace turned into a frown at this. "He lost his parents in an accident when he was young." She explained, her voice becoming a lot softer.
Youngsoo let out a noise of surprise before leaning forward in her seat."You know I've heard about that."
"No wonder he has no relatives in his affiliate companies." Yeonmi nodded in agreement.
"What do you mean?" Hyejin asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Don't get me started." Youngsoo said before motioning for the three girls to move their heads closer. "Rumor had it that someone was behind the accident that killed his parents."
"For real?" Hari exclaimed.
Rolling her eyes, the fashion designer gave Hari a look. "Of course not."
"Wait, I've heard of this as well. I mean, I don't know what really happened, but apparently, Chairman Kang fired all his relatives to protect him." Yeonmi added, nodding her head in agreement.
"Are we done?" Hyejin asked, raising her eyebrows, unimpressed by her friends. "Gossip about whatever you want but it's unfair to gossip about a tragic event like this one."
"Sorry, Hyejin." Hari apologized, patting her arm softly.
"We didn't mean to talk about what happened to your boyfriend." Yeonmi said, putting some food in her mouth.
"He's not my boyfriend!"
✧༺♥༻✧
"They seriously haven't finished making the final decision on which one of our designs they want?" Hyejin asked, letting out a deep sigh.
"They said they needed more time." Yeonmi explained, briefing her phone call with the Chanel executives.
Hyejin raised her glasses to rest on her head as she tiredly rubbed her eyes. "They have until next Monday. We won't be able to give them more time, otherwise the-" She paused her speech once her phone began vibrating on her desk.
"Where are you?" She heard a familiar male voice say as she put the phone up to her ear.
"I'm at work. But whatever it is that you need, can it wait until tomorrow? I'm busy." Hyejin explained, balancing the phone in between her ear and her shoulder as she went through the papers scattered on her desk.
"You're meeting my grandfather soon and I want to make sure you're ready." Taemoo said.
"Listen, I wouldn't pull you away from your work over something as miniscule as this. Whatever it is that you have to tell me, you can do it over the phone." The girl explained, letting out a small relieved sigh when she found the design she was looking for.
"There's a car outside waiting for you and your secretary."
"Seriously?" She asked in annoyance but he'd already hung up.
✧༺♥༻✧
Hyejin took a seat on the couch beside Yeonmi, warily looking around as Taemoo spoke. "I thought it would be best to discuss this matter in a private space. Did you memorize what Mr. Cha gave you?"
"I did." She answered, putting one leg over the other and interlocking her fingers over her knee. "You graduated from Hyunil, attended Harvard in 2010. You joined GoFood after graduation and launched the bone broth series which led to a quick promotion. You then headed over to the New York office and studied culinary arts. And for your hobbies-"
"Enough!" Taemoo exclaimed, cutting her off. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Relaying the information I memorized?" Hyejin replied confusedly.
"You think he's gonna ask you to recite the whole thing?"
"If I'm being frank, I don't think he's gonna ask me anything about you."
"Still, I'm impressed with your hard work, Ms. Choi." Sunghoon said, smiling back at her when she thanked him.
"I don't know what you're so worried about." Hyejin said. "Of course your grandfather isn't going to ask me about every single detail you gave me. It's just good to have it all memorized."
"Ask her anything, she's guaranteed to know it." Yeonmi added, not looking up from her iPad.
"Really?"
"Go ahead." Hyejin shrugged.
Taemoo stood up, walking forward a bit. "What would you say if my grandfather asked to see you on the Saturday, two weeks from now?"
"I'd ask my secretary to see if I'm free on that day." Hyejin quickly replied, nodding confidently at her answer. "And even if I wasn't, I'd free up my schedule so I could meet him."
"Wrong!" Taemoo said quickly. "No is the right answer."
"I don't think that was a yes or no question." The fashion designer said.
"That day is our one-year anniversary. It's a special day. What would lovers do on days like that?" Taemoo explained as he walked back to his seat.
"I'm not sure. Maybe we should ask some on the street." Hyejin shrugged. "Also, I think you're becoming a little delusional with this whole thing."
"Are you sure you studied hard enough?"
"It doesn't matter how hard you study, experience is much more important. So I might have to postpone this whole thing while I go on a date with fake boyfriend number 4."
"Hyejin." Yeonmi said in a warning tone, glancing at the girl beside her.
"What?" She asked defensively. "He pulled me out of work to train me for an unlikely scenario. You don't want me to meet your grandfather so what's the point of all of this?"
"You're right. I don't want you to meet him, but you're going to have to eventually." Taemoo said. "Simple memorization won't always cut it."
"Okay then. Have you even looked at the file Yeonmi gave you?" Hyejin asked.
"Of course I have."
"Okay then, if I attended Yale university in Connecticut, how did we meet in New York?"
"You were always visiting family in New York-"
"Wrong!" Hyejin exclaimed, cutting him off. "Your grandfather is familiar enough with my parents to know that I don't have any family in New York."
"Ask him another question." Yeonmi said, finally looking up from her iPad and putting her Apple pen away.
"What was I wearing when we first met?"
"We haven't discussed that-"
"Wrong!" She cut him off once more. "I'm a fashion designer, I was of course wearing my own brand. I know why you keep doing this, it's fun."
"Way to be humble, honey." Yeonmi hummed, taking out a piece of paper from her pocket. "Hari actually wrote out the scenario in which you two met."
"Hari?" Taemoo asked.
Hyejin froze, her eyes widening. "Hari? Did you say Hari? I think she meant my dog, Aari." She chuckled nervously.
"I thought you were allergic to dogs?" Taemoo asked confusedly. "Also dogs can't write."
"Anyways! Let's read the story behind our first meeting." Hyejin said, letting out another nervous laugh.
Yeonmi unfolded the piece of paper and began reading. "On the day we met, it was cold and rainy in New York. I looked up what the weather was actually like in New York that day."
The girl adorned in Chanel watched as Taemoo's breath hitched slightly at the mention of the weather on the day that never happened. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she watched him move forward in his seat, looking at his shoes.
"There was a man standing in front of a beautiful museum, playing an entrancing melody from his violin, unfazed by the rain. Once he was finished, the few people there applauded. I walked towards him to drop some money in his case, but you were walking away and we bump into each other. I turn to apologize, but I get lost in your eyes as your umbrella guarded me from the rain-"
Hyejin squinted her eyes the slightest bit at the man closest to her when she saw his breath hitch the slightest bit at the mention of the rain. She let out a small sigh before turning to Yeonmi and grabbing the paper out of her hands before she could continue.
"I don't think his grandfather would ever believe he was out during a time he could've been working. Plus I've never been the biggest fan of rainy days." Hyejin said, crumbling the piece of paper. "Love at first sight also doesn't seem likely."
"Glad we could at least agree on that." Taemoo said, smoothing out his hair. "I'm also not very fond of rainy days. Let's change the date instead."
Any snippy retaliation Hyejin had quickly died in her throat as she stared at the suddenly solemn man. "Okay."
✧༺♥༻✧
"You really didn't need to drive us home, we could've just called the driver." Hyejin sighed, glancing between the two men.
"It's late, just take it."
"That's right. We'd like to be assured that both of you arrived home safely." Sunghoon said, making Hyejin smile brightly while Yeonmi gave him a small nod of gratitude from where she was sitting beside him on the passenger seat.
"We need more men like you in the world, Cha Sunghoon." Hyejin said before turning to look at Taemoo. "And maybe some a little less like you."
"Be nice, Hyejin." Yeonmi scolded.
"I think you should listen to your assistant."
"She's my secretary. And I think I'll decide who I listen to. Especially when you pulled me away from my work to tell me how to act in front of your grandfather." Hyejin said, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance.
"I hope you won't act like that." Taemoo said, not looking up from his iPad.
"You're exactly like Yeonmi." Hyejin said, glancing between the two. "How am I supposed to deal with two Yeonmis?"
"The same way you've been dealing with one Yeonmi for the past nineteen years, I suppose."
"I guess." Hyejin shrugged, tiredly taking off her black and white plaid headband and placing it on the armrest on her right before rubbing behind her ears. After driving for a while in silence, they finally arrived in front of her apartment complex.
"Thank you so much for dropping us off." Hyejin smiled softly at the two as she unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her purse.
"It's really no problem." Sunghoon smiled, glancing back at her through the rear view mirror. "Are you being dropped off somewhere else, Ms. Kim?"
"No she is not." Hyejin said quickly as she got out of the car.
"But-"
"No. You're coming up with me. Let's go." The two men watched as Hyejin ran to the other side of the car and pulled Yeonmi out. The two waved, bowing politely before walking into the luxurious apartment complex.
They both chuckled quietly as the watched Hyejin turning her head to talk to her friend and almost bump into the glass doors, only to be saved by an unimpressed Yeonmi.
"She's quite interesting, isn't she." Sunghoon said, looking away from where the two girls were previously. "There's something oddly endearing and charming about, Ms. Choi."
"Endearing? Charming? You mean being snippy and overconfident?" Taemoo said before glancing at where Hyejin was sitting before, only to take a double take. He leaned over to her seat, grabbing her headband, and the piece of paper with their supposed love story in it with a small smile on his face.
"What are you smiling about?"
Quickly dropping his smile, he put this items in the pocket inside his tux. "I wasn't smiling." Sunghoon shrugged, turning around just in time to miss the small smile that unintentionally made it's way onto Taemoo's face.
authors note;
❣️thank you guys so much for 7k reads, you all are actually the greatest 🫶🏼🫶🏼, also sorry for the late chapter, but I've been in a small reading slump. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed reading<333