"The blue or the brown one?"
His butler blinked at him. "Young Master?"
"I said, the blue-" Woo Bin raised the blue suit up against his neck. "-or the brown one?" He then placed the other on top of it before turning towards the mirror to gaze at his own reflection. "Or do you think I should just go without a suit instead? Make myself look casual and effortless?" He opened his arms to scrutinize the look and frowned. "Or all noble and regal?" Woo Bin replaced both suits on top of his shirt, his brows furrowed.
His butler cleared his throat. "I will recommend whatever the Young Master decides on, as you look good in any and all of your choices."
"I know that," Woo Bin replied, rolling his eyes, "but I want to look my best tonight, and I need opinions. Honest ones. So-?" He shook both suits in emphasis and looked expectantly at his butler.
How does a formal date sound?
When he popped that question up, he didn't expect things would be this difficult. After all, as everyone had rightly pointed out he was Don Juan for goodness' sake; dating women was just one of his many and varied talents, and among the things he was naturally good at.
Of course, dating women then had been just a harmless thing. Some futile exercise he'd liked doing simply because it was meaningless. No expectations, no commitments.
Until now.
"It's my one shot to impress someone... shall we say, important," he continued, throwing the suits on an available chair at the side and deliberately marching towards his closet. "Every single item on me needs to be perfect."
"As they should be," his butler agreed, following him.
Woo Bin threw open his closet, gazed at its contents critically, and said, after some pregnant moments, "Is it just me, or do all my clothes look the same to you?" He made a sweeping motion inside.
"Young Master-"
"Get rid of them," he snapped, closing the doors and going back to stand before the mirror again. "And tell my secretary to set me up with a stylist soon." Woo Bin really should have realized this earlier, he thought, irritated at himself. How couldn't he have noticed it? Had he been so focused on his work that he had forgotten to look after his own sense of style?
What a horrible, horrible notion.
He glanced at his discarded suits; realizing he had little time to waste he took the brown one and put it on. Well. He would just make do with this one then. Brown had always been his color; at least it made him look dignified and down to earth.
"What time is it?" he asked, adjusting his cuffs.
"A little past six in the afternoon, Young Master."
"Six," he muttered, now straightening his collar. "I'm supposed to meet her at seven-thirty." He turned towards his butler and asked, "How's the restaurant?"
"I have arranged it exactly as you have instructed."
"And the flowers?"
"Picked up and already waiting in your car."
"Good," he said, looking at his reflection again. "I need everything to be perfect tonight." He frowned at himself. Was anything amiss? Did he overlook anything? Should he-
Then his butler reached forward to brush something off his arm. "I must say, Young Master, I haven't seen you this earnest when meeting up with a girl." He met Woo Bin's eyes on the mirror as he added, quite cheekily, "Shall I presume it's someone I know?"
Woo Bin raised his brow. "Who said I'm meeting a girl?"
"You did, Young Master."
"...oh. Well." He shrugged. "You may presume away. You might even remember her; she was once a visitor in this very house, after all."
His butler looked surprised for a moment before saying, "Miss Chu Ga Eul then."
"Ah." Woo Bin smiled at him. "So you do remember her."
His butler straightened his own shoulders. "The Young Master's visitors in his house are, unfortunately, very few and far in between. I would, of course, remember that young woman who had so readily marched inside, requesting to meet with you." He cleared his throat. "Not many do, after all."
"Yes, well." Woo Bin looked down at himself, remembering how confounded he'd been at the thought that someone like Ga Eul would openly come into his house - in broad daylight! - as if it wasn't a big deal. As if she had no idea where she was walking into.
Or whom she was dealing with.
Woo Bin fiddled with his tie. Come to think of it, did Ga Eul even know about his own murky background? His popularity, of course, was mostly due to his being part of the F4 as well as the construction business his family was engaged in - but almost everyone also knew him as the son of a Mafia Lord.
A Mafia Prince.
Was this something Ga Eul knew about, when she walked into his life?
And when she continuously associated with him?
Not that any of that was her fault, as he'd been the one relentlessly pursuing her.
But what if...?
"Young Master," his butler said, waking him out of his reverie. "It's time."
"...Right," Woo Bin said, grabbing a watch on the way out of his room.
Perhaps he should bring this unspoken side of him up with her one of these days.
But not yet today.
Not yet tonight.
The drive to her house was, thankfully, a relatively short one.
Woo Bin stepped out of his car, flowers in hand, almost half-expecting Ga Eul's parents to come flying out of their house as soon as he'd arrived - just like last time. Already he could imagine how big her mother's smile was, and how welcoming her father would be the moment they saw him.
He wondered what he should say to them when they see him like this; dressed up and now openly wooing their precious daughter.
He wondered if Ga Eul herself had said anything to them beforehand.
Woo Bin was about to press the doorbell when the door itself opened, and out stepped Ga Eul garbed in a large, yellow overcoat.
Alone.
He blinked. And because he couldn't help himself he asked, "Where are-"
"My parents?" Ga Eul said, closing the door behind her. "They're not here. They're, uh, having dinner somewhere else."
"Oh," he said, mentally chiding himself for feeling just the slightest bit disappointed. "Do they know that I'm coming? That we're-"
"Um-"
She tucked her hair behind her ear, drawing his attention to the pretty elaborate braid she'd done with it. Before he could comment on it she said, "Not yet. I mean I was about to, but then I realized I kind of... don't know how to tell them and make them not, I don't know, have them turn this into a whole big deal and-"
"-embarrass you?" he said gently.
"Well," she said belligerently. "You know how much they like you."
"Yes," he replied, "just as you know how much I like them liking me."
She wrinkled her nose at him.
He sighed. "Ga Eul-"
"Next time," she said, crossing her arms. "I'll tell them next time, okay? I mean, since you're okay with them fawning over you like-"
"Ah," he said, dimpling at her. "So you've already decided this early on that there would be a next time?"
She looked up at him then, mouth hanging open as if realizing just now what she'd said. "I'm-"
Woo Bin chuckled and tapped her chin. "For the record though, I agree that there should be a next time. Lots of them."
She abruptly colored and swatted his hand away. As if deciding to turn the tables on him Ga Eul said, "That will depend on how tonight will turn out, won't it?" She then eyed the bouquet he held and asked quite loudly, "Are you going to give me those flowers? Because if you're just planning on flattering my mother again with them I swear-"
"Ya. Are you jealous?" he teased her.
Ga Eul glared at him. "Then why don't I just tell you where they are so you can give them to her yourself?"
He chuckled. Offering the bouquet to her Woo Bin said, "Of course they're for you; I bought them with you in mind."
Despite herself, she took them willingly. "They're gorgeous," she whispered, studying the cornucopia of roses ranging from red to salmon. Ga Eul brought them closer to her face, inhaled their scent. "Thank you." She then smiled widely at him.
"Well," he said, inordinately pleased with her reaction and internally deciding to give his butler a raise. Woo Bin then gestured towards his car. "Anyway. Shall we go?"
"Can I bring them?" she asked suddenly. "Or should I leave them behind? But I feel like... I feel like I want to be looking at them always." She then looked so forlorn at the thought of parting with the flowers that Woo Bin felt like laughing.
Instead, he asked her cheekily, "Why bother looking at them when you can look at the one who gave them to you?"
Ga Eul stuck her tongue out at him.
He raised his brows at her in response.
"...fine," she said, turning towards the door again. "I'll just leave them behind for now."
"A wise decision," he said, taking one of her hands to kiss the back of it. "That way, you can focus on me - as you should be."
She laughed.
A few minutes later found Woo Bin opening the door of the car for her. He extended his hand towards her, which she took without hesitation - to his quiet delight.
"I remember this restaurant," Ga Eul said, looking around them. "You brought me here before."
"I know," he said, tucking her arm under his and guiding her towards the entrance. "I remember how much you liked eating here; you were even burping a lot right after."
"I was not!" she said, slightly hitting his arm. "...was I?"
"It was cute," he said, grinning at her.
Ga Eul shook her head. "No; you're lying. I remember being very careful back then. I mean, even if that sundae was just so good, I remember trying to look dainty while I was eating it. I wanted-" She paused.
"What?" he asked.
"I just-" She bit her lip. "I didn't want you to think I was..."
Woo Bin stopped walking and so did she. "What?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Less?"
The others from great families don't even consider me a person, even I know that.
Woo Bin grimaced at the memory of saying those words to So Yi Jung. Pushing the thought away, he squeezed her arm and said softly, "That's something you don't ever have to worry about. Not around me."
"I know," she agreed. "It's something I don't want to feel but I can't help feeling anyway. Especially since you're so... so-"
"Handsome?" he suggested. "Charming? Devastatingly sexy?"
"Wrong," she said, looking like she was suppressing a smile - and having a hard time doing it, too.
"Wrong?" he repeated, surprised.
"The restaurant," Ga Eul said, looking around them. "It's closed. There's no one around."
"-oh," he said. "It's fine. I had it reserved just for us."
"Just-" She blinked at him. "Just for us?"
"Of course," he said easily. "I had you in mind for this evening; just in case you want to properly thank me for my efforts, you can do so without fear of having unwanted eyes around." Woo Bin winked at her.
Her face flooded with color at the insinuation and she retaliated by hitting his arm again. "Well it's a good thing you did, because if I then decide to murder you-"
"I really should have realized that I'm dating a criminal," he said, sighing soulfully. "Maybe I should have brought more men with me for protection? Should I alert the police, tell them there's a killer on the loose about to prey on a poor, hapless man like me?"
"I don't know," Ga Eul said, smiling impishly now. She moved her arm so that she was holding his hand instead. Intertwining their fingers she asked, "Should you?"
"Only one way to find out," Woo Bin said, grinning and pulling her right into the restaurant.
Author's Notes: I'M SO SORRY THIS UPDATE TOOK SO LONG; "Touch Your Heart" took over my life for more than two months PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT, IT'S AWESOME XD
Also this chapter is split into two because I feel like I'm about to burst out of my seams squealing if I don't stop writing at this point. My babies deserve this so I'm going all out at them oh yeah