Thy Art | Park Seonghwa

6.0

( 🎵 NIKI – Switchblade )

It wasn't the lad's first time meeting his fiancé's parents. He practically grew up with them around him as well that they had started to feel like family. This is partly the reason why he could never look at Son Eunji as anything more than a sister. But that certainly wasn't the case for her.

Eunji grew up admiring Seonghwa. It was all about his looks at first. The perfectly shaped eyes, beautifully brown in color and the pink tinted lips that emits a different kind of divine when it was used to produce words. And then slowly she grew to admire how he looks at things, with those brown orbs. She grew to admire how he talks about all the things that he loves but that didn't include Hwang Yunhee.

Just like Seonghwa losing Yunhee, Eunji had lost him as well at one point in time. She lost him when he was with the girl who painted his life a brighter color. But now that she had gotten him back, she couldn't let him slip away again. Which was the biggest reason as to why he's now sitting beside her, across her parents, trying to dip the perfectly sliced beef into the pot with a ladle.

"So, Seonghwa," the older man begun, "you're going to take the 'One to All' project?"

It took a while for the younger to finally respond, but he nodded at the end. "Yes, sir."

"When's the bidding?"

A realization hit him as he recalled the date. "It's in three days from now."

A smile formed on Mr. Son's lips. And as expected, he had something planned inside his head. "Well, if you win, which I'm sure you will, I'll be treating your company's employee to dinner that very day. So do inform them."

Seonghwa was quick to shake his hand, his pupils dilating upon hearing what the older had offered. He didn't want to feel indebted to him, especially when his original plan was to discuss an end to his engagement with his daughter. "Mr. Son, you don't have to. We're going against Yellow Wood this time and even if we do win, this will be like any other bidding."

"Oh, Seonghwa. You're going to work together with LOTTO. How's this like any other bidding?" a dry laugh filled the air, "it's settled. Let me treat all your employees if you do win."

Seonghwa was about to once again, say something to reject his gesture but a hand was placed on his lap and it brought his head to the right where Eunji was sat. She shook her head slightly with a thin smile hanging on her lips. The man closed his eyes momentarily, heaving a sigh barely noticeable by anyone, "thank you, Mr. Son," he gave in, bowing slightly.

The lunch dragged on for so long. Although it was an hour and a half when he counted, it felt like three hours had passed by the time he was on the way back to the office. And much to his dismay, Eunji decided to tag along, saying how her father didn't really give her any work to do in her office. He couldn't have disagreed to bring her along, the older was standing right behind them then, waiting on their own ride.

"I have a meeting in half an hour, are you sure you want to stay?" he questioned the girl sitting beside him at the back seat.

"Yes," she firmly answered, "well I was planning to have a talk with Yunhee," at the mention of the said name, the lad sharply turned his head to the side. Panic immediately installed on his face. Eunji wanted to roll her eyes, she wanted to scoff. It irked her how much the name could affect her fiancé. "Don't worry, I won't do anything. I just wanted to catch up with her. She's not going to join the meeting like last time, isn't she?"

Seonghwa sank into his seat, head turning back to look out his window before mouthing a small, "no." He wanted time to move slower. But it seemed like when he wished so, time happened to just pick up its pace and go against him. Because shortly after, they arrived back at the office, 30 minutes pass just like that. With her sitting on the couch inside his office and him working through his files.

And with a heavy weight hanging on his heart, he had to drag his feet to his meeting, leaving the lass to do whatever she wanted.

Just like how Eunji said it, the first place she went once Seonghwa left for his meeting, was the creative team office. Where she was able to spot the girl with long brown hair, typing away words and once in a while going to her tab to draw. Yunhee never changed. She was still the girl who always tug her front hair behind her ears and exposed her snug piercing; the one that matches Seonghwa's. She was still the girl who was loved by the said man and she knew that was part of the things that didn't change.

All the other employees left in their own cubicle stood up upon seeing her and didn't sit back down before giving her a small bow. Yunhee brought her head towards the direction of the noise, her eyes falling on the girl who she didn't think would come to her department.

"Can we talk?" Eunji was stood right beside her cubicle, and instead of a question, it sounded more like a command. Yunhee got up from her seat, feeling smaller than ever as she followed the former from behind to the employee lounge garden.

It was breezy and the leafs were falling from the impact from the wind. Eunji lead the way in, taking a seat near the side where they could see the city better from. Yunhee took a sit across her, her hands folding on her lap and her head still tilted down.

"What is it.. that you wanted to talk about?" this was what the brown-haired girl hated about herself. She knew she had to look like they couldn't bring her down but the feeling of being at a different par, was always the first to settle in.

"I just wanted to catch up," Eunji answered lightly, putting her bag on the table. "You don't have to keep looking down. Think of me as the Son Eunji you knew in high school, not the fiancé of your CEO." The lass pressed down on the last few words, making sure she said it loud and clear how she was indeed, the fiancé of the company's CEO.

Yunhee brought her head up slowly and she could see the hidden smug behind the red lipstick worn by the latter. "I suppose I should ask, how've you been then?"

"I've been doing okay. I have a stable job and I have a fiancé that loves me like how I love him," something clenched inside Yunhee's chest and she could feel the burn. She knew Eunji's word held no truth in them but it hurts to keep getting reminded how the boy she loved, is tied to someone else. "Tell me about how you've been too! It's funny how we kept bumping into each other but we never really talked properly."

Well whose fault was that. "I've been fine," the latter answered shortly, not knowing what else to say.

"I heard you have a daughter?" she half queried, "oh my god, does that mean you're engaged? Who's the lucky guy?"

Yunhee wanted to roll her eyes so bad. She wanted to roll her eyes all the way to the back and not let it go back infront until Eunji leaves but she couldn't show it to her how irritated she was. After all, she was still the one engaged to Seonghwa. "I do but I'm not engaged. If you want to know, he passed away a month before my daughter was born."

Eunji gasped and this was probably her only gesture that held some kind of authenticity behind it, "I'm so sorry, Yunhee."

"No, it's fine."

A dreadful silence followed through. And both of them could only hear the rustling leafs and wind blowing.

"Yunhee, I actually have a few questions to ask. Since it seems like you know Seonghwa better than I do."

"What is it?"

"Well first, do you think Seonghwa like doing things indoor more than he does outdoor?" she began, pausing for a second as she thought about her second question. "And then, do you think he prefers something simple rather than intricate?"

Yunhee immediately knew what she was asking for right after she uttered her second query and she could feel the lump forming and her mouth turned bitter. But Eunji wasn't done, that was evident through how her eyebrows furrowed and her fingers tapped her chin.

"And what style of dress does he like?"