Secretary Jeon [Jungkook x Reader]

♡ 24

CHAPTER 24

~Jungkook's POV~

A series of photographs were scattered across the table in front of me. At first, I did not recognize their contents, but when it finally clicked, both my heart and my jaw dropped. Y/N and I at the Han River. Suddenly, everything started to make sense. The strange phone call. The request to meet. The unfamiliar man sat in front of me. He was her father, and I had just walked into the lion's den.

"You will no longer be seeing Y/N," Mr. Park spoke in a frigid cold voice. "This relationship, or whatever the two of you have going on, ends now. I know what my daughter wants and that is not something you can provide her."

I scoffed, unable to withhold my reaction. "I don't think you have any idea what Y/N wants."

From everything Y/N had told me, her father had zero regard for her personal desires. He'd been a father figure to her in nothing more than name. My distaste for him was a direct result of how he treated her. It was unforgiveable. As intimidating as he was, I had no intention of letting him walk all over me.

"She wants what all humans crave- fortune, power, and fame." His face showed no inkling of emotion. He truly believed his own words.

"You don't know her at all," I spat out harshly. "What she wants is to make you proud, so that she can feel proud of herself. She doesn't care about those frivolous things you've listed off, in fact, she despises them."

"What would make me proud is if she was an obedient daughter who brought success to her family instead of galivanting around town with low-born filth." His words were laced with poison and hatred, but they didn't sway me in the slightest. He could say whatever he wanted about me, but I wouldn't stand for him putting her down.

"That's what is so sad about it," I closed my eyes and shook my head. "You don't deserve her attention. She is already so amazing she doesn't need your approval to define her self-worth."

"Amazing?" Mr. Park let out a bellowing laugh.

"Yes," I glared at him, fire in my eyes. "I hope I can help her see that."

He let out a huff and took a swallow of whisky from the glass in front of him. "This has been fun, but I don't intend to continue entertaining this ridiculous conversation."

"So?"

"Despite Y/N's ignorance to believe she could fool me from the shadows, she does know better than to openly defy me," his lips twisted into a wicked smile. "And if you do not heed my warning to leave her, I'll rip her CEO title away and place her brother in the position instead. She may not care what happens to herself, but she would protect that useless boy at any cost."

I knew that fact to be true. While Y/N did hold a bitterness in her heart about how she ended up as Park Group's CEO, she always thought it was better her than Jimin. In a house devoid of love, the two of them only had each other. She would sacrifice her own happiness a hundred times over if it meant Jimin could remain free of her father's iron rule. He was the only family she had. And I had no right to make that choice for her.

"How do you expect me to just up and leave her?" I asked through gritted teeth. "She will know that you were involved, and she will never rest until she finds a way out of this."

"I will grant you what you've always desired- the resources to start your career as a designer for Park Group. At another branch, of course," he motioned for the butler next to him to bring over his cell phone. "I'll make the call now. Consider it a parting gift, and the perfect excuse to vacate my daughter's life."

"You want me to lie to her?" I questioned, my voice shaky.

"I expect you will do what it takes."

Back inside my car, I rested my head against the steering wheel, trying to steady my breathing. I'd entered the discussion with Y/N's father confident that I could push him back, or at least delay the inevitable. I hadn't considered that he would resort to something as evil as using his own children against each other. He was more vicious than I could have ever imagined, even with Y/N's colorful storytelling.

Now, he wanted me to tell possibly the worst lie I'd ever told in my life. Tell Y/N that I don't love her. That I don't want to be with her. The thought was enough to invoke a wave of nausea, and sickness was creeping up my throat. I brought a hand to my mouth and choked back the feeling. As horrible as this felt for me, it would be so much worse for her...

A text came through on my phone- 'You start Monday. Enjoy Japan'. So, we weren't even going to be in the same country anymore. Maybe it would be for the best. The temptation to run back to Y/N and tell her everything would be unbearable. This would at least make that a little less practical. Maybe I could bury my head in work. Maybe I could forget her. Maybe she could forget me, too, and find happiness with someone else. Someone her father approved of, so he wouldn't hurt her.

It was then I noticed the tears dripping down from my jaw and leaving droplets on the fabric of my pant legs. In the months I'd spent with Y/N, I'd fallen for her hopelessly. That's why I had to do what was best for her, no matter how painful it was for me. Even if it felt like I was dying, I couldn't be selfish.

Maybe we could pretend we'd never met at all.

Maybe.