2 Months Later
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'Mr Jackson Wang is on the line, sir,'
Jeongguk picked up the phone immediately.
'Please say you have good news for me'
He heard a chuckle from the other end.
'Rough day huh? Well Jackson's here to the rescue - I have good news for you! Emailing it to you now - check it'
'Thanks' He hung up and refreshed his inbox - downloading the attachment that Jackson just sent.
It's an unethical code of practice, but he's out of options. The last 2 months had been agonisingly painful for him - especially around nighttime. She never left his mind - not even for a day! He's been beating himself up since. All the what-ifs that he could think of will visit him night after night...making him question his stupidity ten times worse each day! Like - how could he forget to even ask the most basic questions?!
Isn't there like a manual on these things: Getting to Know a Person 101 or something?? He really needs it! Hwang's questions in the car - as furious Jeongguk was at him - made him realise what kind of an idiot he was. A pitiful one - that's what!
Basic question 1: Which part in Seoul do you live? Basic question 2: Where do you work? So he covered what she does for a living, but how many photographers are out there in Seoul? How many creative agencies and how many list of employees is he supposed to look at? Granted, he thought he'd have more time to ask more questions but how could he not be on his feet at the time?
He could've at least asked for her full name! They slept together and it meant something - the world even - for God's sake! All he's stuck with to search online since then is 'Lalisa - Korea - from Thailand - has cats'. None of which provided him the answers he wanted. Even typing in 'Jeong Jaehyun girlfriend' - as much as he hates it - gave him nothing! How is it even possible that they've been together for 3 years but there were no traces of the girl anywhere in any news outlets online??
What was he to do then? Those eyes kept appearing in his dreams since he got back and Jeongguk's determination is not something to play around with! So he did what any reasonable guy-with-money-and-power would do. He rushed his engineers to perfect the tracking system for Jackson and get Jackson to track her down. Sounds simple but it really wasn't.
He had to stay up until the early hours of mornings with his software engineers to ensure they could do it exactly how Jackson wanted it. He had to give them a bit of bonus when it got done. Then there's this small issue on the tracking system. A big one actually.
The software was made to store the particulars in stages, from a long ass list of registered companies...and they started syncing it following alphabetical orders. So he had to wait...until now. Okay...let's see if the wait is finally over...
Name: Lalisa 'Pranpriya' Manoban
Place of Birth: Buri Ram, Thailand
Date of Birth: 27 March 1997 / 22 years old
Hah...I knew you're older than me!
Address: 581 Dohwa-Dong, Mapo-Gu, Seoul 121-040, South Korea / Registered: Park Chaeyoung
Oh yeah...she mentioned it's her friend's house. Fancy area...
Mobile No: +820 312 2719
Maybe I can call her? Would she pick up to an unknown number? Just try it...
Jeongguk dialed her number and waited anxiously. 3 rings later, he heard her voice. Her sweet, little 'annyeong'...how he miss the sound of her voice! Her beautiful face lingers in his mind as there are muffling sounds in the background. She kept repeating the word but Jeongguk couldn't speak. What should he say...how...
Then she hung up. As disappointed as he was with himself, his spirits rise at the spark of hope for these provided information. He saved her number as 'My Baby' with a stupid grin on his face. Yes, in my mind she's still my girlfriend - moving on!
Prior Education: King Mongkut's University of Technology, Thonburi, Bangkok, Bachelor's Degree in Arts & Performance ; King Mongkut's University of Technology, Thonburi, Bangkok, Diploma in Arts & Communications ; Praphamontree School 1 & 2
Occupation (as of date): Lead Photographer
Employment (as of date): J&J Creative Co. 18, Wausan-ro 19-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul 04041, South Korea
Marital Status: -
Spouse: -
It's not much...but enough for him to do more. He typed a quick 'thank you' to Jackson and turned back to his laptop. On the Search box, he typed in 'Lalisa Pranpriya Manoban'.
Oh wow...there are so many articles! He didn't trust the first few as they required translations - it's written in Thai and everyone knows how shitty online translation could be! Wait - what the...
He clicked on the sixth result. It's an article of a news reporting website, uploaded six years ago.
'Bruchweiler Announced 60% Share Belongs to Daughter, Lalisa Manoban
Mar 27, 2018 – Founder of BFN (Bruchweiler Food Network), Marco Bruchweiler had announced earlier this morning that daughter, Lalisa Pranpriya Manoban owns the high value of 60% of the country's biggest food-chain network xzzshares.
Bruchweiler clarified in a private conference after a few insiders and shareholders questioned the future of BFN upon his daughter departure to further her studies.
'Let me assure you, that my daughter is well capable and had always been one of the primary contributor to the company. The essence and nature of the business itself came from her brilliant mind – which is to provide an affordable, sustainable and what she calls 'a helping hand' to the people in this country. It is announced today as it is her birthday and she just turned 18. This does not and will not change the class shares that each of you hold, but merely to let you understand that the company is in good hands.' Bruchweiler said in the conference.
BFN, which was established in 2001, had always been vocal about the positions and voting rights of the stakeholders. Marco Bruchweiler previously owned the 60% - controlling more than half the voting interest in the business operations and strategic direction of the company.
'We started this because we want to share our passion with people who are less fortunate to have nice or even decent meals at home with their families. We want nothing more than to provide enough resources. Our objectives have always been that and we hope our stakeholders understands and is on board with our vision.' Bruchweiler answered when being questioned why it's not spread out equally – especially when the company had been growing tremendously.
Most of the responds from the insiders are welcoming of the news. BFN had started becoming vocal about their principles when news of a buyout appeared in 2015. BFN currently owns 7,000 stores in Thailand and is expected to open another 2,200 by the end of this year. BFN currently employs 48,156 people, and looking to provide more job opportunities by 2019.
Lalisa Pranpriya Manoban – Bruchweiler's step-daughter, had just turned 18 this year, and is expected to enroll in a yet-to-be-confirmed university for her Diploma. The young lady was said to have always accompanied her father on visits of stores and factories, as well as being the 'inspiration' of the company's development. Not much is known of the daughter, as Bruchweiler was known to keep his family's life private.
'She's really nice and well-mannered. She always asked if we've eaten when she came to visit. I've worked here for 3 years and she will still ask me the same. Sometimes she'll bring food from home, like a packed lunch, but she would offer it to me.' An employee said.'
So...she's actually a daughter of a tycoon back in her homeland? But why didn't she say anything? Why did she spoke about her ex being a 'chaebol' as if she couldn't relate?
Maybe she really couldn't relate, that's why. From what it sounds...she wasn't really into the whole status thing. Does the Jeongs know of her background? If they did, they wouldn't have treated her that way...well, never mind that – Jeongguk has a bigger issue to sort, which is...how to get her back in his life.
...
It's tiring, yes. Following her around is already taking up at least 5 hours of his day, but watching her from afar and not being able to do anything is just...mentally draining and fucking exhausting! It's his 5th day of 'stalking' her. He now knows her Tuesday till Friday routines.
In all 4 days, she'd leave the house for work at precisely 8am. She takes a bus and walks for about 5 minutes - 12 if she stops by a cafe to get 3 cups of coffee (who drinks that many coffee at one go??) - to her workplace. In the 4 days, she had gone out for lunch only once - with two friends who now Jeongguk found are the owners of the agency.
It's amazing how small their world is actually. When he first saw one of the girls, he wasn't sure but when he took a picture and shared it with Taehyung, he confirmed that it's the girl he mentioned he was seeing. Kim Jisoo and her sister are Lalisa's bosses - what are the odds? Jeongguk took it as a positive sign from the universe of course! They're destined to meet and he'll still be as whipped for her!
Anyways, Taehyung wanted to help when he found out about Lalisa working with Jisoo - but with a heavy heart, Jeongguk had to decline the offer. He needed to properly strategise his move. What happened was so bad, Jeongguk's sure she already hated his guts and wish him hell then...and probably still is now.
She finishes her work at 5 to 5.30pm. On Tuesday and Thursday, she takes the bus to Donggyo-dong for her kickboxing workout session. He knows this because he walked in - his mind filled with paranoia upon seeing her disappear into the narrow stairwell in between a row of shoplots - only to find a gym on the second floor. He stayed hidden at the reception for a good 15 minutes, just to check whether her trainer is young and good-looking or not.
Thankfully, it's a man that looks like he's in his 50s. She was cute...with those gloves looking too big on her slim yet toned limbs. Her punches sounded fierce though, and Jeongguk felt slightly intimidated at the prospect of her punching him, when and if she was to see him!
On Wednesday and Friday, she went to a dance studio. Here's where she answered his question from the night at the bar. When she's not a photographer - or learning how to throw a mean punch - she's a dance instructor. He didn't have to walk in to know it, the whole 3 floors of the lot is covered with only glass windows and he could see the perfect view of the second floor, where Lalisa danced in front of the huge mirror with around 10 to 15 people behind trying to copy her moves.
It was the best 'stalking' moment out of all - watching her dance from the driver seat of his car parked at the roadside, right in front of the studio. She was mesmerising...and every inch of her body flows just right...and she looked so free and beautiful, Jeongguk didn't need to hear what song she was dancing to!
The only thing that bothered him then was her choice of outfits in the 2 classes. I mean...she didn't have to look so damn sexy with those crop tops and booty shorts does she? It made his hands itchy and his feelings attacked! He wondered if she knew he was following her and had purposely put those on to remind him of his loss...but that's not possible.
First of all, he switched between his 2 cars in the first 3 days. Both are fully tinted. On Friday, he rode on his motorbike. Then, he noticed how oblivious she is to her surroundings. The girl walks like she's in her own world - only stops when she saw something of either cute or colourful. Oh, she also stops to listen to buskers. She'd drop some money too - fuck, she's the sweetest!!
Other than that, she'd have her earphones on. Sometimes she nods her head along...there's that one instance where she hopped...yes, hopped...in tiny. So fucking adorable, it made Jeongguk burst into laughter in his car!
Today...now...she's in a supermarket with a friend Jeongguk hadn't seen before. He assumed it's her housemate since they're shopping for groceries together. Jeongguk kept a safe distance from them, hiding underneath his bucket hat and mask. They're around the vegetable area, while Jeongguk stays in the cereals isle behind it, pretending to read the ingredients of every single cereal brands they stacked here.
"Chae, just how many greens do you need? It's too much -"
"Shushh! It's not like you're the one that's gonna cook them,"
"Of course not, you know I suck at cooking!"
Noted, noted...that's okay, because Jeongguk's an excellent cook! All those times pestering his mother in the kitchen taught him a thing or two!
"We need the table to look presentable - hence, the greens,"
"Remind me why we're doing this again?"
"Because we've both single and ahjumma's starting to think we're a couple of lesbians,"
Jeongguk chuckled. What's that have to do with groceries shopping??
"And we need to prove her wrong...why?"
"Cus she kept giving me that look every time I bumped into her and I hate it!"
"So we need to have a double-date dinner? Why can't we just invite Bammie over -"
Wait - what? Did she say double-date dinner?!
"No...Bammie's too loud - she'd know that he's just a friend,"
"But do we have to go all out with this thing? It's not like ahjumma can see what's on our table,"
"Lili! Get with the program! Chanyeol's so handsome when he's with his guitar, of course I wanna impress him -"
"Okay...but why do I have to be in this dinner as well?"
"Ugh...I'll say this for the last time so don't ask me again! He asked if you're single and I said yes and he said his friend has been your admirer for the longest time so it makes perfect sense to get together,"
Okay, this doesn't sound good. No, it's the worst! I haven't made my move yet and this 'admirer' is gonna ruin it for me!
"But -"
"No buts! You're sitting in and you're gonna put on a nice dress and be lovely. You need to forget him and move on -"
Forget who? Me?? No!
"But I'm fine - I already forgot about Jae and moved on, I swear -"
Oh...not me...
"No you haven't! I heard you cry in your room last 2 nights -"
She...cried? For her ex? For her fucking asshole ex??
"It's cus I watched Zootopia!"
"Don't be ridiculous - who cries watching Zootopia?"
Please God, please let her cry for Zootopia and not her ex! Wait...isn't Zootopia a cartoon?? Whatever -
"Anyways, it's already been set. No backing out,"
Damn it! She's not gonna sit on this fucking double-date dinner with whoever-the-fuck this admirer is - not if I do something about it!
...