Thank you all so much for doing this with me... I promise this chapter is going to unveil a hard choice.
Kim's POV
Weeks passed after the arrest,I continued with my life and my job. Sun always missed her shift most times, making me working two shift to cover for her, but today she was at work.
"Sun you really need to do something about it" I told Sun at the counter. We were referring to the bills needed to keep her dad(her adoptive dad) on the life system.
"I know. Kim I'm sorry I always make you cover for me" Sun tried to apologize but I stopped her
"You didnt ask me to do that,what are friends for?" I said touching her arm
"I know he may not be my real father, but he took care of me,even when he found out my mom cheated on him before the accident,he still loved me"Sun said in a sad tone
"That's exactly why he's your real father"I said to change her perspective.
"We still don't know exactly what caused the accident but we were hoping they would, when they both wake up, but..but..."Sun couldn't complete her statement
"They'll be alright" I said hugging her
Suddenly her phone ranged
"Its Kim Seoun" Sun told me,
"Put it on speaker" I said to her
"Sun,Min and my brother had a big fight, and now Min is locked in his room. I need you and Kim to bring me a dozen muffin cakes" Kim Seoun said hastily on his phone.
"For Min?" Sun asked
"No, for me. Don't be late. I told Hyung to release you gals" Kim Seoun ended the call.
"Oh Min" Sun said said to herself but I could hear her
"I thought Hyung also meant big brother in Korean" I tired to ask a funny question to cheer Sun up, and it worked
"Maybe our boss is the big brother in his home and they decided to name him that" Immediately Sun said that Mr Hyung approached us,startling the hair out of our skin.
"Ah" we both exclaimed.
"You're right, My parents were confident I wasn't going to be first or only child that's why they named me Hyung, now don't you two have an errand to run?" He said to us, making us leave our position to get Kim Seoun's order.
When we got to the mansion, the security guard let us in, maybe Kim Seoun told him we were coming. We entered into the mansion and saw the beautiful maids and manservants running around the house doing their duties.
"You two are here" Kim Seoun said to us, She collected the paper bag where the muffin cakes is from Sun.
"You two are a life saver. Min is in his room, but I need to tell you something Sun,give us a minute Kim" Kim Seoun said dragging Sun away
I didn't know what else to do but to go upstairs and look for Min. Luckily for me, the door to his room was opened
"Min?" I called out to him as I entered his room, he came out from no where and embraced me, he looked like he passed out on me but he was still conscious, he just looked like it.
"Min" I called his name again to confirm if he really did pass out but he only replied with a warm breath on my neck.
I dragged him to his bed and laid him down, when I was about to leave he held my hand stopping me from leaving.
"Stay with me please" Min whispered to me.I had no choice but to sit beside him on the bed. He wrapped his arm around me, I guess to make him feel warm, I don't know what happened but I found myself wrapping my arms around him, it felt like I was cuddling him. After some minutes, Sun appeared.
"Kim!" She exclaimed, we both were shocked too see her. She left the room sobbing,we both went after her.
"Sun its not what you think" Min said trying to stop her.
"Do you want to know know what I think it is?, absolutely nothing" Sun said to us
"Sun?" I called to her gently
"Kim what more do you want?, why Min?" as soon as she said this to me, she ran out crying, Min had to go after her leaving me behind.
"She's so ungrateful" Kim Hyun Joong said from behind startling me.
"After all you've done for her, covering shifts for her to go see her family,she repays you this way" it felt like Kim Hyun Joong was poisoning my mind but sadly he was saying the truth and I hate to admit to myself.
"The manager tells me everything that goes on in the cafe, that's what I pay him for" He added
"No, she loves Min, that's why she's being like that" I defended her
"She isn't worth it. You also like Min. Are you willing to sacrifice everything for her?" Kim Hyun Joong asked cynically
"I would do it for a sister" I said boldly to him
"We shall see" He concluded and walked out on me.
I left the mansion without waiting to tell Kim Seoun goodbye, I got home after 2 hours of walking. When I opened the door to our home, I saw Min with Sun talking.
Immediately he saw me, he hugged Sun and left touching my shoulder.
"Sun I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." I tried to apologize but she interrupted
"No i'm sorry I lashed out on you, I was just being jealous. I know you must hate me for being this hard on you" Sun apologised instead
"I wouldn't be your best friend if I didn't understand you" I said as I approached her. She gave me a warm smile,then a warm hug.
"So Min walked you home, that's unusual for a rich guy" I said to cheer her up, we were best friends after all
"Was shocked too" Sun responded smiling
"I'm happy we can joke about this, what did Kim Seoun discuss with you?" I can't get rid of my curious habits
"Kim the curious cat!" Sun teased, i only gave her stern look
"She wanted to help with the bills, Min asked her to, but I declined" I wasn't pleased with what she said
"Why didn't you let her, you need it" I said looking worried.
"I don't want to owe anyone, I really hope you'd understand" Sun explained
Kim Hyun Joong's POV
The next day, I, Min and Kim Sang were with my mom in the office.
"The board is going to relief the ownership of this company from you, you need to find someone, surely you've dated a girl before"My mom said to me
"There has to be another way, why else would my father leave the company to me if this would happen?" I asked my mom
"The board believes you're too young to run the company" Min said to me
"The same thing would happen if you were the CEO" I said to him angrily
"Stop it, we need to focus on how to protect this company from being won over by the Dae's Empire" Kim Sang said
"Your brother is right." My mom also referred to us as biological brothers
"Kim Sang, I really wish you were the CEO and not these two amateurs" My mom added trying to annoy me.
"You think I'm not up for this?"I said to my mom
"Min, Kim Sang, can you give us the room" My mom requested and they obeyed. As soon as they left she turned to me.
"This company was built with a lot of hard work and your Uncle...chose to deviate that path by creating his cursed Dae's Empire. I, Kim Ha Neul will not stand by and watch our company be dusted away like a spec of dust, my son, we can't let this legacy be passed unto the people who didn't work to put this company together, I want to trust and believe you would do the right thing by finding yourself a wife" My mom ranted.
During lunch, I and my cousins decided to go rest in the cafe. Kim took our orders, but I noticed something annoying, Sun was just resuming work.
"Why are you just coming?" I asked her as she passed beside us
"I'm sorry, I quickly headed out to go see someone" She apologize by bowing her head
"Its okay" Min tried to overlook it but that got me more angered
"No. its not, you earn a good pay here,many worthy people searches for a job like this but can't get it, is this how you repay us?" I scolded her, Min and Kim Sang tried to calm me down but I ignored them
"I'm not having this!" I exclaimed slamming my hands on the table
"Hyung, Kim" I called out to the manager and Kim, they came out surprised, wondering why I called them
"Why do you still keep this lazy bee here?, I don't want to see her working here anymore" I said to Hyung
"What, no?," Sun got scared
"Bro it hasn't got to that" Kim Sang said to me
"What are you doing Bro?" Min asked me looking concerned
"Hyung am I your boss or not?" I asked Hyung angrily
"I'm sorry Ku Hye Sun, you have to leave" Hyung said slowly to her
"No, she isn't going anywhere" Kim tried to protest
"Kim, its okay" Sun tried to caution her but she didnt listen
"She didn't do anything wrong, i covered for her while she was away,she needed to go see her family,its not her fault" Kim challenged me
"You're right, it's your fault, you made her lazy" i said to her
"Fire me instead but let her keep her job" Kim requested
Everyone was surprised
"Kim no!" Sun exclaimed.
"Good then. The both of you are fired" I said to both of them angrily.
Kim's POV
We both got home devastated.
"I can't believe we got a pink slip for something that wasn't even our fault" I said to Sun in the bedroom.
"Let's be honest Kim, I was at fault if only I was consistent" Sun said to me
"Hey, you're not to blame, if you ever cared for you, he would understand the situation you were in" I encouraged.
A sec later,her mom called after some minutes of arguments she hanged up.
"What did your mom say?" I asked concerned
"They're going to pull off the life system this weekend" Sun informed, I was perplexed from the news.
"Give me Kim's company's address, I'll go talk to him" I said to Sun. I preferred calling Kim Hyun Joong 'Kim' because he asked me to back at the mansion.
"No, that's not a good idea. I'll find another way"Sun was against the idea
"You and I both know this is the only way, so if you really are my best friend you would know that I would do anything for you even if it means begging the enemy" I said to Sun,
"Okay" She reluctantly agreed.
I got to the company through Sun's address the next day. I already knew my way around the city. The company was big, it had many infrastructures and employees. I got to the counter where the receptionist was.
"Hi" I said to the good looking receptionist, she was a woman.
"Welcome" She responded while working on her computer.
"How may I help you?" She asked nicely
"I'd like to see Mr.Kim please" I told ger my request.
"You mean Mr.Kim Hyun Joong" she asked a rhetorical question
"He's not going to be free until his schedules are cleared and that's 4hrs from now" She informed me.
"That's a lot of time" I said to her.
"I'm sorry, you'd have to come back tomorrow, I'll make you a schedule for a meet up" she tried to help me but I wasn't satisfied,
"Is that his office?" I asked her pointing to her right
"Yes,why?" She wondered,
I headed to his office not minding the protocols, the recoptionst had no choice but to run after me trying to stop me from entering his office.
Kim Hyun Jong's POV
I just finished talking to my mom on the phone, sitting on my swivel chair when Kim barged into my office, struggling with the receptionist.
"I need to see you" Kim said furiously.
"I'm sorry sir, I tried to stop her" The receptionist tried to apologise
"If you knew you didn't know how to handle your job well, you would've submitted a resignation letter"I scolded her
"Leave us" I added,the receptionist obeyed without hesitation
"Who gives you the right to barge into my office unannounced?" I asked her revolving round my swivel chair, playing with my pen on the table.
"I came to apologise on behalf of Sun, she didn't mean to be slack at work, even if she did, you know what she's going through, if you really cared for her at all, you would give her her job back" She said hastily without a sign of remorsefulness or maybe she was just trying to act strong in front of me
"Is that any way to ask your boss for forgiveness, because I'm not feeling it" I said coldly to her
"Ex boss" She corrected
"Its seems like you don't need my help afterall" I said to her opening my laptop. She moved closer to me.
"Look she's sorry, I'm sorry okay, she needs this job for...for" She couldn't complete her statement.
"For her father's bills, or better still, her adoptive father" I completed her statement mocking her
"Kim" I called out her name standing up from my chair to approach her
"I'm a business man, I don't grant favors without having something to hold YOU onto in return, thats just not due process." I said to her.
She scoffed then looked up at me
"I knew it. You're certainly not asking for same thing you wanted in the party" she referred to the night of Kim Sang's bithday
"I don't need to waste my time on cheap girls like you, if I wanted pleasure I know where to get it, so relax, that's not what I need from you" I said to her.
"Then what do you possibly want from me?" She look curious.
"Yesterday, before the big pink slip notice I gave you and Sun, I was at the company with my brothers and they told me something I had to put into consideration so I don't lose this company" I tried to explain it to her.
"What is it?" She asked
"The board asked me to get a wife before they can't grant me full ownership of the shares of this company" I continued
"What are you implying?" She asked again
"Oh Kim you ask too many questions. I thought you were smart,no I didn't." I said coldly to her
"If only you could grant me the favor pretending to be my wife, no just not pretending, do me the favor of being my wife then maybe just maybe I could keep paying the hospital bills from an unknown donor and get your friend's job back" I said to her, she was shocked, I could see it on her face
"Haha that is so bizarre, you won't ask me to do that" She said sounding surprised
"I know it sounds funny, but its an interesting offer" I said to her
"You're sick to think that I would agree to that" She said furiously
"Don't sound ungrateful Kim, look...as a sign of good gesture,I'll pay one month of Sun's dad's hospital bills as soon as you walk out of this office." I said to her.
"You're really pushing yourself" She said to me.
"You and I both know you need this badly, and we both want something from each other." I tried to convince her
"Lets not lie to each other. We're both adults here, we're old enough to know and get what we want. So what's it gonna be Kim?" I asked going back to sit on my revolving chair. I brought out a phone from the desk putting it on the table.
"Call me when your head is finally in the game" I said to her pointing to the phone.
Kim's POV
That evening after leaving the company, I got home looking worn out.
"Kim what happened, were you able to convince him?" Sun asked me..
"He said he'll think about it" I said gently to her.
Her phone ranged, it was her mom. After a moment of happy shrieks on the phone, they ended the call.
"Guess what" Sun said to me smiling brightly
"What?" I wondered if it was what Kim Hyun Joong told me, though I don't tell Sun anything about the offer.
"Someone just paid one month worth of my dad's hospital bills,,isn't that wonderful?" Sun said to me
"A generous donor I guess" I said to her.
"I wonder who he is?" Sun said placing her hand on her chin
"Maybe your mom sent word out in the hospital for help" I said to her.
"And she didn't tell me about it?" Sun wondered
"Mothers likes to keep things secret for the sake of the family" I said to her
"Maybe...if that's the case, God bless that person where ever he or she is" Sun said
"Now you believe in God and Miracles" I said to her smiling
"Ofcourse I do" Sun then embraced me warmly
"Thank you for standing by me" She said still hugging me.
That night, Sun was already asleep in the bedroom, I called Kim Hyun Joong on the phone he gave me. I left the house quietly and approached his black cool car. He opened the back door of the car because that's where he sat. I entered into the car and sat beside him closing the door of his car.
"I'm ready" I said facing the front, I didn't wanna look at his hideous, cunning but handsome face.
"I'm glad you changed your mind" He said as we drove off to wherever he and his driver were taking me.