"First things first," Yoongi said as he turned to face you. "Did you talk to Park?"
You merely stared at him.
"What?"
"You need to calm down first. And tell me what got you so upset that we had to leave."
Yoongi scoffed. "Don't act like we missed out on something. I handed my father a check before we even set foot in there."
"Yoongi."
The two of you glared at each other until he finally sighed, sinking down into the couch at the same time. "Park was there. Saying all kinds of things, and I got angry. Happy?"
"What did he say?"
"That I weaseled my way into your family. That I don't deserve to be in charge of your business. Acting like it should be him instead."
"Our families always used to joke about that. He took it more seriously than I did."
"A lot more seriously," Yoongi added. "Apparently, there was another candidate to be your husband before me."
"What?"
"Your parents kept that from you too?"
But you weren't listening. You were already racing up the stairs, dialing your phone.
"Mom? Get Dad on the phone. Now."
Yoongi waited for about twenty minutes before following you. He couldn't really make out a lot of what you were saying through the locked bedroom door. There was a lot of angry whispering on your part. Not that he blamed you.
After leaving the ball, he'd called his mother to see what Jimin was doing there in the first place. Thankfully, no one had seen him punch the other man and he was so quick to leave no one would notice unless Jimin himself said something. And that wasn't likely to happen.
She'd been quick to inform her son that it was meant to be an olive branch of sorts. A way to invite the Parks into their lives and let them know that they bore them no ill will for the way things had turned out.
Which only served to make Yoongi more confused.
"You weren't the only one being considered, you know."
His mother was drunk. The fact that she was even talking about this was proof of that. But she would never make up anything as ridiculous as this.
"It could have been Jimin?"
"I want to know why you never said a word about this to me!" you exclaimed. "Being married off to one stranger is bad enough but to find out that you practically auctioned me off to the highest bidder?! It's insulting."
"Now, sweetheart," your mother replied. "It wasn't just about the money. It was about stability. Who we saw you living your best life with."
"That doesn't make sense. I grew up with Jimin. You know him. If it wasn't about money, what made you choose someone else?"
Your father scoffed. "Jimin's too soft."
"Well, think about it, Yoongi. The Parks have a similar business and they've known the (L/N) family for ages. They're shareholders in the company just like us. Why wouldn't they choose him?"
"You offered more money, didn't you?"
"Of course we did! But we also offered something else that the Parks couldn't. Security."
"Security? What does that mean?"
"You've seen how the Parks run their business. It's chaos, and he just sits back and lets it happen! There was no way I was letting him take over my company."
"So you'd rather give it to a complete stranger who has no experience--!"
"Don't you raise your voice at me, young lady."
"You based my entire future around the future of your company and who could offer you the most money. It was never about me at all."
"Darling," your mom chimed in again, "that's not true."
"Well, that's what it sounds like."
Yoongi glanced up when you finally opened the door. "Are....you okay?"
"I guess we really do deserve each other," you said softly. "Our parents are all assholes."
He chuckled in spite of himself. "Welcome to the club. But for what it's worth, I'm sorry. About them and for punching your friend. That was probably his way of paying me back."
"I doubt it," you sighed as you sat down against the wall. "If the Parks were involved in the arrangement, there's no way they told Jimin about it."
"Then why was he trying to rile me up tonight?"
That's when you realized. Yoongi didn't know your full history with Park Jimin.
The two of you had grown up together, that much was obvious. Since you were young, your parents and his had joked about the two of you getting married and merging your companies together. You had never given it much thought, since you wanted to run your family's business yourself.
Jimin, it seemed, had had other ideas. When you were around fifteen, there were a couple of months where you and Jimin went out together. You obviously kept it a secret from your parents so that they wouldn't get any ideas.
And for what it was worth, Jimin did everything correctly. He never pushed you too hard or made you uncomfortable about your so-called relationship. He was a perfect gentleman, even in his teenage years. He got you flowers and gently held your hand in his own. You shared more than a few kisses in the heat of the moment. And before you knew it, it was over again. Almost like it never happened.
This was around the time that your parents had started working on the contract so it was probably for the best anyway.
Yoongi absorbed this new information silently. He mulled it over in his mind every way he could think of before speaking again.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"That it couldn't work out between you."
By this point, Yoongi had joined you against the wall. He'd settled comfortably next to you while you talked. So you took the opportunity to place your hand on top of his.
He glanced up at you.
"We didn't break up because of you if that's what you're thinking."
The truth was, after the the initial "puppy love" phase wore off, there seemed to be a spark on Jimin's end that you didn't reciprocate. It obviously wasn't his fault that you didn't feel the same, and he seemed to take it pretty well all things considered.
"Then why is he so upset with me?"
Now was as good as time as any, probably.
"Honestly? He...still wants me to run his company. He told me recently."
"You didn't tell me about that."
You shook your head. "It wasn't going to happen anyway. Not with the contract in effect."
Yoongi absorbed this information silently as well.
"Well, maybe he'll take my punching him as a rejection of his offer."
"That would make everything a little easier," you admitted. "But I doubt it. He's got the passion to follow what he wants. Kind of like someone else I know."
"Maybe you have a type, then."
You both chuckled softly.
"Maybe. And what about you? Any exes I should know about on your end?"
"Nothing that serious," he replied with a shrug. "A few one night stands here and there but that's it. I don't like getting attached."
It was your turn to mull this information over.
"There's one other thing that you should know. Jimin...offered to merge our companies."
"Merge them?" Yoongi frowned. "Why would he want to do that?"
You shrugged. "Old dreams die hard, I guess."
Which was half true. You'd both heard it enough times as kids that you'd almost expected that to be the end result for your respective companies. And on the other hand, Jimin had never really wanted to be a part of the family business. His father suddenly became sick a few years ago and his son had to step in. He'd become bedridden in the last year, but the transition was already set and Jimin had been in charge well before that.
You believed that Jimin was trying to offer himself an out by letting you be in charge. Not that you blamed him. It was a lot of responsibility having that suddenly thrust on you like that.
"Well, I'm not taking on that responsibility," Yoongi's voice broke you out of your thoughts. "I've already got enough going on. And you can't for obvious reasons. So he'll just have to deal with it for now."
"I know. I hadn't found the right time to tell him."
Yoongi looked at you. "Or bring it up to me. Any particular reason for that?"
"It's boring work stuff. I didn't think you'd want to hear about it."
And your tone indicated that it was the end of the discussion. You went to bed soon after that. Yoongi followed, but he tossed and turned trying to process all this new information.
Your history with Jimin. The deal your parents made. The offer to merge companies and the fact that you didn't tell him anything.
Sure, he'd been busy. But you were usually upfront about things. Was there some reason you'd hide that information from him?
Did you still have feelings for Jimin?