Seonghwa came early. Again. He looked at his phone for the third time in ten minutes as he stood in the deserted Peninsula Suite. Hongjoong promised to be here by 10 a.m. It was only 9:30, but Seonghwa needed the additional time to clear his head.
Being around Kim Hongjoong was starting to be a problem.
Not because of their history; Hongjoong plainly had forgotten him. But for a person trying to maintain things professional, he was stupidly attractive and obviously had a brain. The elevator chimed Seonghwa hurried to busy himself with his tablet, pretending to be reviewing notes he had already memorized.
Walking in holding two coffee cups, Hongjoong said, "You're here early." He stretched one out toward Seonghwa. "Thought you might need caffeine. You look tired."
Because I stalked you on the internet until 3 AM researching you.
"Thanks. I had a long night. "
Hongjoong wore a white button-down and dark jeans today, which were probably more costly than Seonghwa's rent. He looked good. Too good. Hongjoong grabbed for his phone and set his coffee on a side table.
Chaeyoung struck again. Since midnight,she had sent me three messages.
"Hit me."
Message one: I'Ve come to a resolve I want my outfit to light up like a Christmas tree. Technology exists, so make it happen.
Hongjoong's voice was deadpan. Message two: The wedding rings should hover above our hands during the exchange. Magnets or something.
Message three—and this is my own favourite: Can we get Beyoncé to perform? Daddy told no budget limit but I know she's expensive.
Seonghwa almost choked on his coffee. Beyoncé?
"She seems to be ambitious this week."
" Did you mention to her Beyoncé doesn't just show up at random Korean weddings?"
"I tried. She told me money talks in whatever language." Hongjoong massaged his forehead. I swear she's deteriorating. She phoned me sobbing yesterday as she couldnt locate shoes that matched her aura.".
Seonghwa chuckled, even if he felt bad. "Your cousin is crazy."
"Clinically , yes." But she's family, so... Hongjoong shrugged. Can you really make a dress light up?"
"Expensive as hell, but doable. The hovering rings though—"
"Please don't tell with me that that's also possible?*"
"Fishing line." Ultra-thin and undetectable from far. Someone with expertise would have to run it, but from the viewpoint of the audience it would seem like magic."
Hongjoong eyed him. "You're serious."
"I am quite good at my job."
"That's actually quite terrifying."
Over the following hour, they went through Chaeyoung's continually expanding list of needs. Hongjoong appeared more impressed and more worried with every absurd demand Seonghwa coolly clarified how to carry out.
Hongjoong said at last, "Okay, reality check time." How much will all this cost? And please don't say, "'money is no object,' as even my family has limits."
Seonghwa opened his calculator app and began crunching numbers. LED dress, magnetic levitation apparatus, white peacocks, crystal uses, unique lighting systems, hover ring mechanism...
"Ballpark? Two hundred million won. Possibly two-fifty if she continues to add stuff."
"Jesus Christ."
" That covers everything. Your cousin wants a wedding that will be talked about for years, so this would surely accomplish that. Seonghwa glanced up from his phone." Full package, no corners cut, guaranteed to make every wedding blog in Seoul stand out. "
"And you can actually pull all this off?"
" Every aspect of it. I know people for everything we could possibly want."
Hongjoong paused, peering out towards the Han River." Can I ask you something personal? "
Seonghwa felt his stomach drop." Sure."
"How did you wind up... I mean, this degree of event planning, the contacts, the technical knowledge—it's not quite what I would expect from a person in the club scene."
Be thorough.
"I used to work in entertainment; different kind, but the skill set transfers. I wasn't always in clubs."
Technically it wasn't a lie.
" Entertainment like what? "
"Music business. Mostly on the production side," Seonghwa said informally. "Turns out arranging wedding logistics and concert logistics demand like problem-solving abilities."
" Which business? "
Fuck you Kim Hongjoong!
" I did freelancing work for several agencies."
Hongjoong nodded, clearly understanding this." That makes sense. You absolutely have the organizational abilities of someone who has handled celebrity egos."
You have no clue.
"What about you?" Seonghwa said, deflecting. I heard you took over the company young. That must have been intense and hard for you."
A flash of something crossed Hongjoong's face. "Not quite by choice. Some years ago my father had health problems and had to quit. I was the heir apparent, so... He shrugged. Sometimes life doesn't go according to plan. "
"What were your first ideas?"
"Music,m. Perhaps I wanted to perform, perhaps create something. This entire concept of developing artists from the ground up and producing something worthwhile really appealed to me." Hongjoong's voice went soft. Sounds naive now.
Seonghwa's heart performed some complex something. He recalled Hongjoong, the trainee who stayed late to perfect his vocals, who scribbled notes in notebooks during breaks, who treated music like it was a religion.
He murmured, "That sounds enthusiastic, not naive."
"Yeah, all right. When you operate a multibillion-dollar corporation, passion will not meet the bills."
" Do you long for it? Music?"
Hongjoong stared at him for a long time. "Every day."
His forthrightness in his tone felt to Seonghwa like a punch to the gut. If things hadn't gone wrong, this would have been the conversation they could have had seven years ago. Should Hongjoong's parents have crushed his ambitions to safeguard their precious reputation.
His phone buzzed and interrupted the moment. Chaeyoung's additional message:
Change of plans. I like doves but not normal doves. I want doves that shine. Sparkle doves. They ought also to be taught heart formation flying. Love is all about the literal air.
"Glitter doves," Seonghwa asked.
"Certainly she does." Hongjoong began to laugh, actually laughing instead of just business chuckles. "I should probably be scared, but at this point I'm just impressed by her creativity."
Seonghwa remarked, "Glitter is really harmful to birds; but we could substitute biodegradable, bird-safe substitutes. Perhaps mica powder combined with edible adhesive."
" Stop. You're doing it again."
"What did I do?"
"Making the impossible sound reasonable and possible."
"That is my superpower."
For a minute they stared at each other, and something was popping between them that had everything to do with the way Hongjoong was looking at him and nothing to do with wedding preparation.
Don't.
Seonghwa told himself. This is neither the person, the time, nor the place.
Gathering his belongings, he said, "We should probably head out. I have a vendor meeting in an hour."
" Right, of course. Sure. Hongjoong gathered his items as well and asked, "Hey, about tomorrow evening, the dinner thing. Are you still free?"
"Yes." The word sprang forth sooner than expected.
"Perfect. This is in Gangnam. Rather sophisticated yet not stiff. You will probably enjoy it, I believe."
" Looking forward of it."
Hongjoong turned to him while they waited for the elevator. "Thanks for today. Though I know my cousin is totally crazy, you are managing it like a pro."
"She simply knows what she wants, she is not particularly awful."
" Most people would have fled shrieking by now. "
"I'm not most individuals."
They descended in peaceful comfort as the elevator showed up. Hongjoong stopped, though, when they got to the lobby.
" Can I ask you another question?"
"Certainly."
"Why are you actually pursuing this? The money's good, sure, but you could make decent money just doing club gigs. Dealing with people like Chaeyoung, this degree of stress has to have a different reason."
Seonghwa seemed open, as if Hongjoong could see right through his painstakingly created front. "Maybe I enjoy the challenge."
"Perhaps you're trying to prove something. "
" Aren't we all?"
Hongjoong examined his face for another second longer then nodded. "Fair enough. See you tomorrow."
Seonghwa could sense Hongjoong watching him as he strode away. It took every ounce of willpower not to look back.
---
Wooyoung declared the instant Seonghwa entered their flat, "You're fucked."
" Hello to you as well sunshine. "
"I can see it on your face. You're catching feelings."
Looking like he hadn't slept much, Wooyoung was stretched out on their couch in yesterday's clothes. "Please assure me you are not dumb enough to actually fall for this man?"
"I'm not falling for anyone." Seonghwa slumped beside him, his heels kicking off. "It's just work."
"Bullshit. You have that look."
"What look? "
"The same look you had when you were nineteen and believed Kim Hongjoong hung the damn moon."
That really struck too close to home. "That was different."
Wooyoung straightened up, his face set hard. "Hwa, listen to me. It looks exactly the same from where I am sitting." You know you have to have this cash. We both do. Don't, however, let yourself forget who his family is. The way they treated you."
" He is not his family."
"He gains from what they did. He is sitting pretty in that corner office because his parents made sure you couldn't compete with him."
"That's not-- " Seonghwa broke off. Wooyoung was right, after all. Hongjoong had chances Seonghwa would never have because of his birth into the appropriate family.
"I'm only advising be cautious. You may complete this work without developing emotional attachment."
" I am aware of this."
"Do you? Dinner with him tomorrow and you're already having heart eyes."
"It's just a business dinner."
"Yeah, absolutely."
For a few minutes they sat in quiet. Looking around their small flat, Seonghwa glanced at Wooyoung's worn-out shoes by the door, the stack of bills and a few pills on the counter, and the empty fridge humming sadly in the corner.
"Hey," he whispered. "Are you all right? You seem tired."
"I'm good," Wooyoung responded hastily.
" Woo, come on. Do you get enough food? When was the last time you consumed a proper meal?"
"I'm good," Wooyoung said again, but his voice sounded forced. "Just anxious about money, you know? Same as usual."
Seonghwa felt guilty stinging. He had hardly been home since he was so focused on this work, on proving himself. Wooyoung had been bearing their financial load by themselves and dealing with personal difficulties.
"I'm sorry. I should have been paying more attention..."
" Don't." Wooyoung grasped his hand. Don't apologize for attempting to save us. Besides, everything will be different in two weeks when you gather twenty million won. We can leave this trashy Hongdae, avoid panicking and pay rent. Buy groceries without tallying every won. Perhaps even help you save some cash. "
Twenty million won. It seemed like a dream.
"What happens if I mess it up?"
"You won't."
" But what if..."
"You won't," Wooyoung stated sternly. "You're going to give that crazy princess the wedding of her dreams, complete with glitter doves and floating cakes and whatever other crazy shit she comes up with. And then we will be okay."
Seonghwa gripped his hand." Promise? "
"Promise. Now stop giving yourself issues right away and find out how to make birds sparkle without killing them."
While Seonghwa researched bird-safe glitter substitutes, he tried to concentrate on the logistics rather than how Hongjoong had seemed when he discussed losing music.
Two weeks, he told himself. Only two more weeks.
He was starting to suspect, though, that controlling Chaeyoung's impossible demands would not be the most challenging task.
It would be controlling his own foolish heart.