A/N: Happy holidays! This piece was written for a Christmas prompt which is...
*spoilers*
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"your otp must kiss"
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*end spoilers*
I didn't wanna spoil it but the spoiler is right there in the prompt title so you have been warned. I also didn't edit this... so sorry if you find errors. This story is a... epilogue-ish chapter to one of my completed short projects "One Month with You". This story references some of the events that happen in that storyh so if you're interested, please check that out as well. Anyways, on with the story. Hope you enjoy!
The young blond slipped on the black tuxedo jacket and looked at himself in the mirror. He sighed in moderate dissatisfaction and threw off the jacket only to put on another one, checking the tail to see how far it fell behind his legs. It was either tail or no tail, and he couldn't decide. The baby blue bow tie he had around his neck needed adjusting, again. He couldn't go a few steps without it twisting out of form.
Chung never was good at this formal stuff. If he was still living at his father's estate, he'd have a few maids to help him look at least somewhat presentable. But he'll manage… somehow. At least his gelled hair was behaving itself. Combed neatly to the side instead of simply left to the whim of the wind as it usually was, he felt like he was wearing a helmet where his hair should be.
Just outside of his bathroom, he could hear the keypad to his front door chime its familiar four digits and he heard the latch unlock.
A female's voice could be heard as his front door opened. "Ne. Ne. Kamsahamnida. Ne. Christmas jal bonaeseyo. Ne~."
Chung smiled as he could practically feel the excessive amount of bowing accompanying each word she spoke. The door shut and a quiet, exasperated sigh followed.
"Ajima, again?" Chung asked, not taking his eyes off his delicate work in the mirror.
"Ajima." his guest replied, "She escorted me to your suite, as usual."
"She just really loves it when you come to visit."
"I don't mind," the guest replied. Though spoken in a neutral tone, Chung knew there was compassion lurking under her rather disinterested demeanor.
"Good evening, by the way, dearest," Chung said, straightening out his bow tie one more time before glancing out of the bathroom at the young woman standing at the doorway. His glance turned to an extended double-take as he gave his business partner a proper look.
She wore a glittery, shoulder-less, black dress that hugged her entire form, parting at the thigh, and long black gloves. White lace, tied into a ribbon, rested on her hips, breaking up the dark color while a white fur shawl rested on her shoulders. Her long, silver hair was pulled back tied into a braided bun, showing her neck and collarbone, and complemented with large, diamond-shaped silver earrings. All this served to highlight her beautiful golden eyes.
"Dearest?" Eve tilted her head, noticing the young man staring, "Why are you being so formal, naekkeo?"
Naekkeo. It was a pet name she had given him. She would never say it in public and seldom when they were alone, so when the word slipped her tongue, it was enough to make the Son of Hamel grow red in the face. It was much more informal than his attempt at using the western word dearest, and didn't quite fit the sophisticated air all Nasods naturally exuded. Yet despite this, Eve's direct way of speaking seemed to match its rather straight-forward meaning: "mine".
Chung cleared his throat, doing his best to pull his eyes away from her, "It comes with the suit, I guess." He dipped back into the bathroom and he could hear the young woman slip out of her heels and hurriedly pad over to the bathroom with him.
"Let me see."
Dressed in his white long sleeve, black slacks, and a slightly crooked bow tie, he wouldn't consider himself much competition when compared to Eve but, then again, even in casual wear, the young woman had a standard of style he could never hope to keep up with.
Eve clearly thought otherwise, however. In the mirror, Chung could see her eye him up and down, ending her silent appraisal with a quick rise of the brow and a bite of her lip.
"So I take it I get your seal of approval?"
"Maybe," Eve responded, feigning cold criticism as she turned to take a seat on the sofa of the lounge room just beyond the bathroom door.
"Of course," Chung smiled as he stepped out of the bathroom carrying both jackets in either hand. "Well if it's a maybe, what do you think would make it better: tail or no tail?"
"Tail. It matches with my dress," Eve responded in a matter-of-fact manner. Contrary to her indifferent reply, she snapped a photo of her business partner on her phone, updating his contact details with it.
"As your walking accessory, I couldn't agree more," the young man joked.
Eve looked past her phone screen at Chung, throwing him a pout. "You seem nervous."
"You can tell?"
"You tend to get sarcastic when you're nervous."
He slipped on the jacket of Eve's choice and took a seat on his workout bench across from her. "I just want to leave a good impression on your father. It's been six months since we've played this game of keeping each other at arm's length, and I feel like this Christmas Social between Altera and Hamel is my one shot in really impressing him."
"Chung," Eve tilted her head, "You broke the nose of my former husband-to-be and ran off with me on a cheap taxi with national news covering our 'eloping' story for a week. Why wouldn't father like you?"
"Do you get sarcastic when you're nervous?" Chung asked.
Eve turned her nose upward, "I don't get nervous." She stood and padded over to him. She ran her hand gently through his well-combed hair, "Father may still be a bit angry at what you did but that's not going to stop me from loving you."
"So he IS still angry?"
Eve tapped her chin and gave an innocent shrug. "A little bit."
Chung gave a long exhale, slumping on his workout bench. "This is going to be a long evening-"
The young woman bent down, resting her forehead against his. They remained that way for some time and though nothing was spoken between the two, Chung's chest felt lighter just being this close to her.
"You'll be fine," Eve reassured him as she separated from her business partner, "If you want to leave a good first impression, the first step is being punctual. Finish getting ready. I have Oberon waiting for us in the limo downstairs."
"I got this," Chung said under his breath.
"You got this," Eve echoed as his personal cheerleader.
"I got this."
"You got this."
Yet, despite claiming he had whatever "this" was, it was as clear as day how scared he was. Eve could feel it in the way he gripped her hand. It wasn't too tight, but it was clammy and she could sense his unease in the way he constantly, anxiously, rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand.
His grip only tightened the closer they drew to the venue being held at the cultural center. Three large square buildings sat atop an elevated plateau. Luxury cars and limousines lined the sides of the street up to the wide, red-carpeted stairs leading to the plateau square. Even in the light snow and the wide square that sat in the middle of the three buildings, reporters and party-goers alike overflowed down the stairs to welcome the big business stakeholders exiting their rides ahead of Eve's limo.
"It's amazing to see so many people coming to the Christmas Social," Eve said, doing her best to change the topic and keep Chung's mind elsewhere.
The Son of Hamel nodded, not taking his eyes off the crowd as they slowed to a stop, one car away from the red carpet. "Yeah, well, this is our first joint event since our companies began the merge a few months ago. The majority of them are most likely investors wanting to see where their money will be going over the next year."
"Don't forget the news reporters," Eve chimed in just as her limo was suddenly bombarded by hundreds of camera flashes.
"Yeah… That's a LOT of news reporters," the Son of Hamel gawped. Even through the tinted windows, Chung felt like he was about to be blinded by the flashing lights. "Why are there so many?"
The Daughter of Altera said nothing but quietly squeezed his hand as a subtle reminder.
Scanning the faces of the reporters and the red carpet leading up to the square, both Chung and Eve saw their fathers standing at the top waiting for them.
"Are we really that newsworthy, though? It's been almost six months since… well… all of that stuff happened. I thought we did a good job in keeping our relationship under wraps."
"Christmas is a couple's holiday," Eve explained, "I'm sure the media is looking for any reason to check in on 'The Corporate Couple of the Year' after leaving them out of the loop for so long."
"Corporate what…?" Chung snort-laughed in disbelief.
"You heard what I said," Eve replied, seriously. She dug through a magazine pocket and pulled out an old issue of Forbes Korea and plopped it on Chung's lap. The cover was a photo-shopped image putting a portrait photo of Chung and another, unrelated portrait photo of Eve side by side in an attempt to make it look like the next cover of a young-adult novel. The phrase 'The latest, spiciest, details on the Corporate Couple of the Year…' was typed out in white headline text.
"When did this come out?"
"About a month after the incident. It's mostly quotes from when they interviewed my father."
"Oh? What'd he sa- Hey!" Chung asked, flipping through the magazine only to have Eve quietly close the book before pulling it away.
"You don't want to know," Eve said, holding the magazine away as Chung made a grab for it.
"I kind of do, now that you're keeping it from me," her business partner replied, trying his best to snatch it from her hands as she playfully kept it out of his reach.
"Well you won't because we're up for our little debut," Eve reminded him before motioning with her head back at the door just as Oberon opened it for them.
Straightening his tuxedo jacket and bowtie one last time he took one deep breath and uttered a soft "I got this…" before stepping out of the limo.
Eve, still holding his hand, held him back momentarily as he was halfway out of the car and nearly caused him to fall over. "We got this," the Daughter of Altera corrected.
Chung blinked, staring at her for a moment as she gave him a reassuring nod. It was a small gesture but she could see a spark of courage ignite in his eyes. She watched him, with renewed courage turn to the wall of flashing cameras before extending a hand back to help Eve out of the limo.
The amount of camera shutters intensified as Eve joined her business partner, wrapping herself around his arm with one hand and shielding her eyes amidst the relentless flashes with the other.
Through the bright lights and rows of faces, waiting at the top of the stairs, was her father. Adrian, ever the strict and overbearing parent, stood there watching over his daughter while silently regarding the man she clung to with a stern frown that practically reeked of disapproval.
Not too far away from Adrian, and in the middle of taking a group photo with a few of his personally invited guests, was Helputt. Only after the little photo session was had did the man return his attention to his son and his partner, gleaming excitedly to see the two dressed in matching attire.
The two men were the complete opposite of each other. The current head of Altera Tech, like his father before him, was never one of compassion. In fact, of the two companies, Hamel was the only one to throw Christmas socials for its employees on such a public scale. The joint event was held strictly due to the CEO of Hamel's insistence.
"Your father looks happy to see us," Eve whispered, waving at Helputt who's grin could be seen a mile away. With muscles bigger than his smile and a tuxedo that could barely contain them, the man with beautiful blond hair stood as a stark contrast to the strait-laced professionalism that Adrian exuded.
"He's been dying to see you in person, again, since we signed the contracts," Chung chuckled at his father's enthusiasm, "In fact, now that I think about it, this is the first time we've been together in a public setting outside of work."
"This technically is still work," Eve whispered, "Maintaining public image is part and parcel of the CEO role. And it wouldn't look good if the future leaders of Altera and Hamel skipped out on a company-funded party."
"Yeah… And it wouldn't look good if we kept your father waiting, either," Chung said.
He tugged her along and the silver-haired maiden followed in step. They traversed the length of the red carpet, climbing up the stairs to meet the two men. They were bombarded with calls for attention. Reporters leaning over the velvet rope cried for their commentary on the state of their relationship. Though Eve was well aware of the headlines that filled news reports half a year ago, she grossly underestimated the resurgence of interest in the couple during the holiday season.
Upon reaching the top step, both of them were pleasantly surprised to see the crowd.
Flocks of people practically spilled out of the three ivory buildings that surrounded the square. Holiday fairy lights hung overhead, casting the otherwise dark square in a warm, festive white glow.
"Chung!" his father beamed and turned to Eve, "And Ms. Nasod, it's a pleasure to see you again."
Eve bowed courteously, "And it's a pleasure to see you as well, Mr. Seiker." She turned to her father, bowing just as deeply before him alongside Chung. "Good evening, father. It's good to see you were able to attend, afterall."
Adrian bowed lightly in return, "Yes, well, your grandfather was in better spirits today so I thought it a good opportunity to attend and… appraise the situation."
"I'm glad to hear your father's health is stable. I take it that everything you see here is to your liking?" Chung asked, trying to keep the conversation light-hearted.
"I've yet to draw a conclusion," Adrian stated.
"O-oh… is that so?" Chung laughed, "Is there anything in particular you'd like to point out that bothers you? Given this is our first joint event together, your feedback would help us greatly for our future socials…"
Adrian never took his eyes off the young man standing beside Eve. There was a palpable amount of discontent directed at Chung. So much so that the cameramen standing beyond the ropes were doing their best to snap a piece of it.
"Such a considerate young man, ain't he, Adrian?" Helputt laughed, perhaps a little too hard. Adrian didn't respond and Helputt nervously waited for an answer that clearly wasn't coming.
Although Chung was putting on the best smile he could muster, Eve could feel him tightening his arm around hers as a silent plea to get him out of the hole he so quickly dug for himself.
Luckily for her, light snow began to fall and the Daughter of Altera pulled her fur wrap tighter over her exposed shoulders.
"Father," Eve began, "Shall we move this conversation indoors? It's a bit chilly out here."
Adrian's face softened, even showing a hint of a smile, as he addressed his daughter, "Of course. We wouldn't want the Daughter of Altera falling ill. Come. I believe they've reserved our seats front and center of the ballroom"
He turned, leading the way as Eve, Chung, and Helputt to watch him go.
"Sheesh…" Helputt said, leaning over to his son as soon as Adrian was beyond earshot, "Don't know what's gotten into him. He wasn't like that at the start of the event."
"I'm well aware, dad," Chung sighed, "He's like this because of me."
Other than the visible tension between Adrian and his daughter's boyfriend, the Christmas Social began without a hitch. The finest eastern and western style dishes were served at each round table surrounding the large ballroom dance floor. Holiday-themed music filled the air thanks to the work of a small orchestra performing for the guests as they ate.
The CEO and their families were seated front and center at a long table with Eve at the left most, Adrian, Helputt, and Chung at the furthest right.
Chung was so far from her that Eve couldn't even see him, save for his hands picking at a roast ham. Not that she could look long, if she wanted to, anyways. Every time Eve tried to steal a glance at Chung, Adrian would clear his throat, forcing her to look away. But what little she saw from her end of the table, she knew her business partner was at a loss on what to do.
Since the announcement of the Christmas social event was announced a month ago, Chung had made it his personal goal to win her father over, or at least be on speaking terms with him by the end of the night. Eve had spoken against the idea. Knowing full well her father's disposition towards the Son of Hamel, Eve saw his efforts as fruitless.
"It might be better to just leave it as is" Eve had told him time and again, "Just keep your head down. He'll get over it eventually."
And every time his response was the same.
"I don't want 'eventually'. I'd rather it be now."
His stubbornness on doing what he felt was right was one of his more charming features, but this was one of those cases where Eve knew Chung wouldn't win.
And it all became apparent as Adrian outright refused to speak to him.
And Chung tried.
Sitting at the dinner table with Helputt being the physical barrier from Adrian, Chung attempted several times to strike up small talk with the CEO of Altera. Each attempt was shot down by silence on the Nasod's end.
"It seems you can't hear my son," Helputt said, in an attempt to garner at least some acknowledgement from Adrian, "I'll just slide on out of the way. I have guests to check on, anyways."
As Helputt slid out of his chair, Eve could see him lightly elbow the young man to encourage him onward before leaving.
At this point, Chung looked about ready to give up. But maybe if Eve pitched in as well…
"Chung?" Eve called from her end of the table.
"Y-yeah?"
"So how-" Eve began but was interrupted when Adrian cleared his throat at her, again. Eve ignored him and continued, "So how are you faring with the ideas I proposed to you last week? Any updates on your end?"
"Your ideas… Oh!" Chung said, "You mean the Smart Home Appliance line? I've run the idea past the R&D leaders and they're willing to give it a try. They said they'd need the program Altera intends to use with our control hub. I've designed it myself so if you send that over-"
Eve's father grunted, wiping his lips with a handkerchief before speaking. "A control hub? Why bother with extra devices when you can create an app for the phone? It's less hardware for the customer to work with and less money to spend on parts. You should have considered that instead of wasting your team's time creating more things customers wouldn't want."
"But… not all phones are licensed to use Altera exclusive apps," Chung reasoned.
Adrian shrugged, "Then that's all the more incentive for customers to switch to Altera phones. If they want to take full advantage of this 'Smart Home Appliance' line you're blathering on about, then they must buy our phones. It's marketing at its most basic. Surely you've at least learned that at the university you've bought your way into."
"I…" Chung trailed off and Eve could see the young man bite his tongue to keep himself from speaking out against Adrian, "Yes… I have learned that."
"Hm," Adrian snorted, "Clearly you haven't. If you had, then why haven't you thought of this as a solution by now?"
"I just don't think that'd be fair to the customers…"
"Fair to the customers? Hah. And you call yourself a businessman."
"Father!" Eve scolded.
"What is it, Eve?" her father cocked a brow at her, challenging her to speak her mind.
Wary of the occasional camera shutters going off, Eve simply turned her attention back to her food and ate.
"Don't think me unjust," Adrian continued speaking strictly to Eve but loud enough for Chung and any prying reporter's ears to pick up, "I've looked into that boy's upbringing and I'm perfectly aware of his circumstances: homeschooled due to his… poor health, giftwrapped an acceptance letter to a prestigious university. Why… he barely earned his degree, I've been told. I've seen his attempts in trying to break into our tech market and there's a reason why the shareholders chose Altera over Hamel. There's a reason why his products are absent on the shelves."
"Am I wrong?" her father asked.
Yes. Eve so desperately wanted to say yes. She was there when he first stepped into her classroom. She watched him struggle after living a life with little to no social experience. Eve watched him take each failure to the chin and get back up to try again. Her father was wrong. And he was doing everything in his power to make Chung look bad.
"No. You're not wrong," Chung answered, catching both of the Nasods by surprise, "My time at the university was… rough, to put it lightly."
"Very lightly," Adrian added with a shake of his head.
"But I saw it as an opportunity to grow. I know I was disadvantaged going in and your daughter had to carry me through my first year."
"Chung…" Eve whispered.
"What your daughter did for me… it lit a fire in me and made me who I am today. I saw how diligent and hardworking she was and I wanted to emulate that. I didn't want to be handed success. I wanted to earn it. That's why I saw her as my business rival."
"Rival?" Adrian scoffed, "You? As if you could ever hold a candle to my daughter!"
"I could never," Chung agreed, "But that's fine. I'm happy holding your daughter's hand, instead."
He was looking at her as he said those words. The Daughter of Altera turned away, wondering if someone had turned up the heater or if it was just the fact her father was now seething under his collar.
Understanding how far he had overstepped his bounds, the young man stood from the table and bowed deeply. "I must see to our guests, as well. I wouldn't want to leave a bad impression on our future investors. If you'll excuse me…"
Eve watched Chung leave, not for another table, but outside in the snow. Eve stood only to have her father grab her by the wrist.
"Eve, you're not to speak to that boy," Adrian said sternly.
Aware of the cameras now falling on her, Eve calmly, yet forcefully pulled her hand away and spoke in a whisper only her father could hear, "I may be your daughter, but I'm not your little girl. I speak to whomever I please."
"Eve…" Adrian growled only to be ignored as she took off after the young man, "Eve!"
Chung leaned against the cold marble pillar, watching the puffs of steam escape his lips as he stared up at the soft amber Christmas lights hanging overhead. He heard the door to the venue open and shut behind him followed by soft footsteps coming to a stop at the pillar he was leaning on.
"I shouldn't have said that to your father," Chung sighed, getting no response in return, "It was stupid and out of line and any chance I had in earning your father's respect is gone now. I should've kept my mouth shut..."
He was silent after that and after a moment, he felt her hand wrap around his.
"What you said was stupid," his business partner agreed, "But it had to be said."
The young man turned to her and the silver-haired maiden turned her head away in a feigned huff.
"It was the only way I could get it through your head that what you were planning wasn't going to work."
"Oh," Chung trailed off, his grip loosening on her hand.
"But," she continued, "I think it set the record straight with father. You're more than some asset that brings in revenue for the company. You're a living, breathing person. You have aspirations that not only include the business's interests, but the others around you. But most importantly… you're you; naekkeo… mine."
"Eve…" Chung replied bashfully, "that's awfully sweet of you to say, but-" Chung said as he turned to her fully.
"I mean it," Eve affirmed, taking both of his hands in hers. She gazed deeply into his eyes, her body naturally drawing closer to his, "You don't believe me?"
"I do… but-" Chung protested, failing to resist her alluring, golden orbs. Whatever spell she cast was working as Chung had only realized now how dangerously close their lips were to the others.
"But…?" Eve asked, her warm breath tickling the young man's chin.
"You're father-"
A flash.
Chung looked over her shoulder to the cameras pointed directly at them.
"Ah…" Eve replied. She tapped her chin in thought and Chung noticed a peculiar glint in the young woman's eyes. Keeping her cool, Eve dismissed what they saw with a simple wave. "A dance," she stated, "He was inviting me for a dance." Chung cocked a brow at her and the Daughter of Altera turned to him with a tilt of her head, "Right?"
Despite wanting to be anywhere else but in the same room as Adrian, Chung found it utterly impossible to say no to an invitation from such a lovely lady.
He agreed, and in no time, he found himself being pulled back into the ballroom, past the tables and circles of investors, to join Eve among the few who were brave enough to dance in front of others.
A waltz was playing. Its odd tempo took a moment for Eve to find its rhythm but Chung was quick to adapt. He understood the three-step timing enough for Eve to forfeit the lead and let him guide her across the dance floor.
"I didn't know you knew how to dance," Eve said, a little amazed as they twirled in time with the music.
"I… sort of picked it up as a class around the time I was going through my… dating phase," Chung admitted guiltily.
"Ah," the young woman nodded, "Well that's one thing I'm glad you learned during that dreadful phase of your life."
"You don't have to call it dreadful…" Chung pouted, though not entirely disagreeing with her.
The more they danced, the more he felt Eve grow more accustomed to the way his body swayed. By the end of the song and transition to a salsa, Chung and Eve's bodies were entirely in sync.
It felt natural. Facing each other and following in step, they let the music carry their bodies. With a subtle raise of his hand in hers, she took it and twirled, not missing a beat as they returned to step.
They picked up the pace. Chung raised his hand once more, turning under hers to join her side by side before releasing her as she twirled twice before joining him once more in step.
Eve's heart was racing, both from her dance and what she was about to do next. Her plan to get Chung on the dance floor was working far better than she expected but as they continued to lose themselves to the music, Eve grew more and more nervous about what she was going to do next.
Nervous? No. She was never nervous. And she refused to let anything like that stop her.
Following the young man's cues, she did her best to find the right moment. And as the music came to a stop, Chung pulled her in, holding her against him in a dramatic pose that had all the cameras on them.
Perfect.
Eve glanced at the table where her father and Helputt sat. Chung's father applauded enthusiastically while Adrian did so more out of courtesy.
The Daughter of Altera grabbed the Son of Hamel by his bowtie, pulling him in for a kiss that shocked everyone, including the young man she locked lips with.
The brief hush was quickly filled by gasps. The gasps turned into excited hoots and cheers. And then came the tide of camera shutters.
She broke the kiss, leaving the poor young man in a daze as she stood defiantly front and center in front of her stunned father.
Eve messed up. She knew she did. As the face of Altera, her five second stunt would only regain the media attention that Hamel and Altera had spent months trying to quell. What their investors and shareholders would think was far from her mind at this point as she only had her father to address. He may see Chung as a tool for business, but to Eve, Chung was more than that. He was her inspiration during her time at university; her competition during her starting years in the field of business. He was her motivation when they began their little "game" and her clarity that reminded her that she was more than just an asset to a company. But most importantly…
"I don't care what you think of him, father," Eve declared loud enough for the entire ballroom to hear, "Chung is mine."
