I don't know really have a clue how same sex relationships are treated in Korea and I know amongst rich and elite people such can cause an uproar ,so for my story's sake bear in mind this is fictious. Besides , homphobia and hats is real already I don't need to express it in my story
Four months ago
The Kang family were gathered at the breakfast table where the patriarch was airing his grievances about his oldest grandson refusing to go on a blind dates.
"I don't understand why you're making this so difficult Taemoo. " The chairman ranted , "don't you want to get married? They are all of prospect family!"
The other occupants at the breakfast table barely flinched at the chairman's outburst . Ms Lee calmly buttered her toast , the youngest grandson was in his own world listening to the music on his pods and the eldest was reviewing some files on his tablet.
"Grandfather ," Taemoo finally looked up from the work on his tablet , "I've no interest in marrying. So why should I bother going on blind dates."honestly he had no wish of meeting any of the candidates his grandfather set up for him
"Don't you want to settle with someone taemoo? Don't you want to make me a great grandfather.
"Chairman ," his stepmom spoke up and taemoo knew no good would come out of her mouth. "May I remind you our dear Taemoo is not only interested in women. Maybe that's why he keeps rejecting . Besides how can he give you grandchildren if ..he has a preference to other men too "
Taemoo clenched his fists ,he had made up the lie he was also into men to get his grandfather off his back however his stepmother had never let him live it down and thanks to some ' mysterious source ' the lie had reached the media and thus there were many rumors about his sexuality.
"Oh please Ms Lee ," the chairman waved his daughter-in-law off , "these days , men can have kids through surrogates. An heir from Taemoo isn't impossible."
Taesin smirked , his red hair standing out. He finally decided to pay attention to the conversation at the table , "he has a point there mom. Married men can hire a woman to carry their baby."
Taemoo smiled a bit ,feeling truimphant when Ms Lee hissed and rolled her eyes. Ever since his late father remarried when he was just a boy , Taemoo and his stepmother were always engaged in some battle exchange of underlying comments and insults.
"But mom has a point Hyung," Taesin looked at his brother mischeviously , "do you reject the ladies grandpa sets for you because they aren't right. Maybe a mister right is who you're meant for."
The chairman's eyes widened with hope in his eyes , "is that it? Is that why you don't like any of the girls ? You want a man as your lover?I haven't thought of a having a son-in-law?"
Taemoo nearly choked on his tea after hearing his grandfather. You would believe Kang Da Goo would be a conservative man considering the era he came from. But surprisingly and annoyingly the chairman was open minded if he could talk so Bluntly.
Not wanting to put up with his family's madness anymore , Taemoo stood up "Grandpa , I've important work to finish at the office."
"But my boy! You haven't answered my question!" The chairman's words however fell on deaf eyes. He narrowed his eyes at his grandson and if the boy was trying to run away from getting settled the chairman would do it for him even if it meant his grandson wedding a man so be it. But that man would come from a family as reputable as them.
Three weeks later
"Dohwa!" Hyuk called out to his best friend quickly approaching him. "What ate you doing on campus?i thought you weren't returning because of your internship."
Dohwa smiled walking around campus with Choi Min Hyuk , "I just need to talk to Mr Go about something."
"Mr. Go huh?" Hyuk looked at him with mischevious eyes , "missing him? Are you going to finally confesses your feelings and begin an affair with him?"
Do Hwa narrowed his eyes at the third generation chabeol. Sometimes he regretted ever telling Hyuk about what he felt for the older man because his best friend found any opportunity to tease him about it.
Instead of responding ,Do Hwa decided to take the conversation in another direction , "shouldn't you be interning somewhere?"
"Trying to get out of having this conversation." Hyuk chuckled and wrapped his arm around Do Hwa. The two best friends were the opposite of the other ; where Yoon Do Hwa was serious , studious and strategic , Choi Min Hyuk was overly bubbly ,silly and lazy.
"No I'm not." He denied , "I'm just curious if you've an internship or not."
"Still looking for a place to intern." Hyuk said but both of them knew that was a lie.
"Why don't you intern at your family's company?"
"My family specializes in talent scouting. I'm into software development. Why would I go intern there? "
Do Hwa hummed in agreement but he still had a feeling Hyuk would end up interning at his family's company. His best friend was born with a sliver spoon not accustomed to doing work or would get bored easily. Even in high school he flunk alot of classes and I had to do alot of his school work for him , in return for a wage that is.
"Dohwa. Hyuk. Morning."
The two young men smiled and formally bowed , "morning professor Kang."
The woman smiled at them. Kang Jisoo taught both business and IT faculties hence she was very familiar with her students " What brings you over to the faculty's office."
"Actually professor, I'm here to see Professor Go." Dohwa removed a book from his laptop bag , "I need to show him my progress book ."
"Oh I see , he's the one monitoring you ," when he nodded the professor then looked at Hyuk , "what about you.?"
A cheeky grin appeared "Me? I just came up escort him to see his beloved ." He ignored the jab he received from his best friend .
Professor Kang looked at Dohwa with an interested gaze in her eyes , "beloved." A pleased smile on her face , "who is the lucky someone?"
"Ignore him. He spews nonsense." Dohwa gave the tallerboy the bombastic side eye ignoring Hyuk's smugness. "Is Professor Go in?"
"Yes he is."
"Thank you." He bowed before making his way to his advisor's office . Dohwa composed himself mentally preparing to be in the same room with Go Nam-In. He handed his progress book to the man.
"Your supervisor's comments seem to say very good stuff about you Dohwa. " The man adjusted his glasses and smiled , "keep up the progress."
"Thank you professor Go" Dohwa felt his face hurting because of the smile on his face. He had started having feelings for the older since first year. In the beginning , his feelings for the professor started out as a mere crush but began to grow all the more as time went on.
Yoon Dohwa knew a student shouldn't have romantic feelings for their professor but it wasn't like he was having a thing with him and professor so it wasn't wrong. Besides , Mr Go was only twenty seven and he was twenty two - a five year age Gap wasn't that big. Besides , Mr Go's glasses always made him look even younger.
"Yoon Do Hwa!" The older's voice brought him back to reality .
"Huh?"
The professor smiled and adjusted his glasses , "I was asking how is it going at the company you're working for. What's the name again?"
"Go Food."
"Right." He handed the book back to the younger , "how is it going there ? You're not facing any troubles from your superiors or anything."
"Not at all." Dohwa replied , he had been on the research team's department during the six months he had joined there.
"No trouble whatsoever?" Nam-In inquired
"Just the usual ; everyone dumping their workload on me . Filing proposals, shredding years worth of documents and getting coffee." He shrugged , "but other than that it's fine."
"Are you happy there?"
Dohwa didn't understand the question exactly . "It's a reputable company. One that just adds more credit to my graduation requirement."
"My question is are you happy there?"
"I can't say I'm happy but I wouldn't say I'm sad nor do I dislike working there. Why do you ask Professor Go?"
"One's working conditions is condusive to their efficiency . Based on your supervisor's reports about you , you are an ingenious worker though I'm not surprised ,it's you after all, you're one of my smartest students ."
Dohwa resisted the urge to smile, Mr Go basically complimented him. He shoved that gushy warm feeling when he looked at the eyes behind those glasses, instead he cleared his throat ,"thank you . But why did you ask if I'm happy there."
The older smiled ,"it was out of concern. Like I said , working conditions correlate with performance. "
"I see." The alarm on Dohwa's watch beeped reminding him of his other obligations for the day. He stood up and bowed , "I've to go to work now."
"Alright. See you next month for the review."
"See you next month."
Go Nam-In watched as the younger left his office , the professor had to admit he had missed the younger's presence on campus. Dohwa was one of his promising students and although as a professor he knew it was unethical,he couldn't help being very fond of the younger.
"Who still goes on blind dates these days?" Dohwa asked .
Hyuk sighed looking utterly miserable and depressed , "my mom apperantly wants me to be in a relationship as quick as possible. The quicker I'm in a relationship , the faster she gets to be a grandma
"
"Of course." Dohwa muttered sarcastically. The rich had time to date but people like him from the middle class income community were always toiling in work ; if it wasn't school then part time jobs to earn money to save especially with the inflation in the economy it was frugal to have some cash on hand.
Busy schedules that had the same routine annually rarely left anyone to date ,let alone go on blind dates . Him and Do Gun were perfect examples , neither he nor his brother had time for personal lesiure let alone date.
"But you already have a boyfriend. Why don't you just say no to your mom. Why is she setting you with some guy?" Do Gun asked taking a seat next to his little brother.
"Shouldn't you be serving your customers?" Do-hwa gave his brother a look.
"Shouldn't you be helping me out." Do Gun challenged and then pointed out to the restaurant, "do you see anyone. Business is slow these days because of yjsy bar next door they are loud. I barely get customers"
"I'm here," Hyuk murmured , "and I'm paying for my order." He nibbled on his chicken
"And we appreciate it." The Yoon brothers said in sync. Money was always tight so they appreciated every penny.
"And Do Gun Hyung , to answer your question, my mom is not aware of Taesin. Tae isn't ready for us to go public yet."
Dohwa noticed his best friend seemed a bit upset about that , "why?"
"Personal issues," Hyuk said knowing Taesin wasn't ready because of his mother , "anyway , because I can't introduce him ,my mom thinks I'm single and now I'm stuck having to meet some boring guy she found for me."
"Your mother must be pretty accepting of your preferences." The restaurant owner said but his younger brother knew that was far from true.
Hyuk scolwed , "not really. She doesn't care. But in her words ' if you're going to have a male lover make sure he is of our standing and breed.'"
Dohwa's eyes widened, "did she really say breed?"
"Yup." Hyuk fed on his chicken again , his mother could care less if he was gay or not ,all that mattered was that his significant other had to be from their social circle and not someone who would humilate them. Goodness ,his mom had no clue he was friends with Dohwa because he knew she would immediately demand he cut off ties
"Damn it." Do Gun growled , "that stupid bar next door always plays their music so loud. It gets on my nerves ."
"Well it's a bar , it has -." The words on Hyuk's tongue died when he saw the death glare the older Yoon brother was giving him
Dohwa was amused , his big brother was usually calm and collected, but ever since the bar next door to their restraunt opened , he was always ranting.
"Have you tried talking to the owner?" He asked instead.
Do Gun stared at his little brother and shook his head , "each tine I go there he's never around. I passed the message to the employees but clearly they disregarded me. "
"Write a complaint then."
Do Gun immediately stood up looking like a man on a mission "you're right . Where is my laptop. Flip the sign to close when he leaves."
Once the older Yoon left , the two friends contuined their conversation.
"So what will you do about your blind date?" Dohwa flipped the sign to close.
"I don't know ," Hyuk whined laying his head on the table like some distraught puppy kicked in the gutter. " I can't let Tae find out , he will be so mad."
"Just explain to him your mom is forcing you."
"You don't know Tae like I do. He's so possessive of me. " He smiled , "Tae is cute when he's jealous."
"Then you have no choice but to endure his wrath then, unless you can find a way to get out of it without making your mom or boyfriend mad at you ." Dohwa said , something he would regret later on.
A light bulb lit up in Hyuk's head , "that's it!"
"What?"
"I can get out of it!"
Dohwa wasn't sure if he wanted to ask but still did , "how?"
Hyuk grabbed onto his best friend's hands , "Go in my place instead."
"What?"
"Go to the blind date in my place. "
Dohwa saw Hyuk was very serious . He released his hands and proceeded to whack him over the head . "Are you crazy!"
"Ouch ." Hyuk pouted clutching his head , "come on. "
"Why would I go on a blind date meant for you you fool."
"You would do my assignments for me, you literally pretended to be me and you never complained."
Dohwa scoffed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "That was high school. And atleast I was being paid. This idea of yours is absurd."
Another light bulb appeared on Hyuk's head. "I'll pay you."
"What?"
"I'll pay you to pretend to me."
"Huh?"
Hyuk smiled , "I'll pay you like we used to do in the past. Name your amount . Please my dear chingu."
Dohwa wanted to rebuff him but he had to admit the offer was tempting. Even in high school when Hyuk promised to pay him in return for doing his school work , he couldn't reject the proposal. He wasn't a greedy person per say but money was important in life
"Any amount?" Dohwa said after carefully processing.
Hyuk grinned , "yes. Any amount." He knew he shouldn't be bribing his best friend and nor was cash Dohwa's weakness. He knew his best friend valued money and that's why he agreed to his ideas even back in high school.
Dohwa narrowed his eyes , "a thousand won."
Hyuk maintained his grin and stretched out his hand for a shake , "agreed." When his best friend accepted the handshake, Hyuk immediately pulled him into a hug. "You're a life saver Yoon Dohwa."
Dohwa sighed not hugging him back , "You better keep up your side of the bargain. "
"I'll! I love you chingu!" Hyuk kissed Dohwa's cheek over and over. The latter didn't stop him , Choi Min Hyuk was a very big puppy in form of a person and being touchy was his friend's way of expressing love and gratitude and though he didn't mind it , did not mean he was used to it.
"I better not regret this." He muttered to himself . Unbeknownst to Yoon Dohwa , this blind date would lead up to one of the most important events of his life.