No one knew who had been invited to Monsieur Delon's home. Dae-jung thought it was just him. Byeong-ho thought it was just him. Young-ho thought it was just him. Francesca and her family had no idea there was going to be company at dinner that night. To say that Monsieur Delon had this all planned out is an overstatement. Even a man of his stature wouldn't take the free time he had out of his day to plan a setup like this. It's not his fault the men didn't know how to communicate about this.
"I have plans tonight, guys," Byeong-ho said. "I can't make it for movie night."
The three men looked up at each other. What a coincidence.
"Same. I didn't know how to break it to either of you," Dae-jung exclaimed. "Is it alright if we do a raincheck?"
"Of course. It's not everyday we get to be away from each other with other plans," Young-ho agreed.
Who does that?
"I will be leaving first, so I can get ready. Could you finish the report for me?" Young-ho asked. "It's missing your wise opinion." He pushed a file across Byeong-ho's desk.
"You calling me old?"
"What? Of course, not. I would never."
"Seems like you are."
"He is." Dae-jung chuckled. "Go ahead Young-ho. I'll double check it for you. You can leave, too, Byeong-ho."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'll be fine. I'm not in a hurry."
Both men glanced at their younger colleague in suspicion. Dae-jung has never once offered to do something for them. He always relied on them to do things for him. There was something fishy about his offer, but both men weren't about to stay behind to find out. They had dinner to get to. Neither one of them wanted to be a second late.
"Thanks, Dae!" Young-ho passed the file to his friend. "I owe you one."
"Sure..."
Dae-jung watched the two men leave their office like it was on fire. He shook his head in amusement and paged through the file Young-ho had handed him. There wasn't much to look at, but two signatures were needed before it could be filed properly.
He busied himself with getting this done. There was no use pretending he didn't see it. Plus, it gave him time to take some notes down on the sales. He had to make sure they weren't falling behind. With the fashion show sneaking up on them, Dae-jung couldn't risk anything going wrong at this time. He's keel over and die before he allowed a mistake to be made.
The phone rang just as Dae-jung was preparing to leave the office. Who was calling the office this late? He picked it up absentmindedly.
"Bonjour, Park Dae-jung speaking."
"Hi, I caught you just in time. They told me you might not be in."
"...Uh, may I know who this is?"
"Right. I didn't think you'd remember me. Min-young."
"Min-young...Oh, how are you? I know it's been a while since we last spoke."
"Yes, it really has. Are you busy right now?"
"I was actually about to head to dinner, but I'm sure I can spare a few minutes." Dae-jung smiled to himself. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Do you think we can meet up?" Min-young prayed that Dae-jung would accept her offer. They hadn't seen each other in months. The last time they'd spoken, they'd confessed their love for each other.
"Meet up? You're in Paris?"
"Surprise?"
⚜⚜⚜⚜
Dae-jung ended up calling Jaques to tell him that he wouldn't be able to come to dinner. Jaques didn't mind. His plan to have Byung-ho and Young-jo come to dinner was still in action. They had called him, saying they were on the way. He chuckled to himself, thinking about how they would react when they found out his plan. There was more to him inviting them to dinner separately.
"Pére, how come Cesca still gets to model?" Marie complained, walking into his office without knocking. "She disrespected the one woman I actually look up to."
"You're using the wrong person as a role model, Marie," Jaques muttered.
"You're not gonna punish her?"
"Francesca did nothing wrong. I know violence is never the answer, but Blaire had it coming. She was trespassing and our guards did nothing about it. I'd say your sister did us all a favor."
"Did you never like her?" Marie rolled her eyes. "You don't like anyone I like."
"Blaire is much older than you. She was amazing when she was younger, but now...she thinks entitled to everything. She won't be coming back to insult my models."
Marie thought that Blaire was the definition of perfection. She didn't hate her sister as much as she pretended she did, but their father was making her want to lock Francesca away. She was stealing Marie's thunder. As many times she could have been a model, no one ever gave her the time of day.
"How's Todd doing?" Jaques asked.
"...Fine. He's over me not tell him about our honeymoon plans." She smiled.
"That was quick."
"I know, right? He--"
"He's a suck up," Jane interrupted. "Maman wants us for dinner. Your guests are here, Papa."
"Guests? What's she talking about?"
"Go help your mother, Marie. Get your sisters and brothers down here."
Byung-ho and Young-ho stood at the front door, staring at each other. They couldn't think of why Jaques would invite them to dinner and not say they were both going to be there. They didn't want to believe he was doing this on purpose. He's never joked around with them. Especially not this close to the end of fashion month.
"We're gonna assume he forgot to tell us he invited the other," Byung-ho muttered.
"I can't do that," Young-ho hissed.
"And why not?"
"He's playing us. Something's up."
"You always think something's up. Last time, you thought he wanted one of us to court his daughters."
"They were in between boyfriends!"
"...Be glad his sons were in the military when you tried that. Otherwise, you probably would have declined dinner tonight."
"No, I wouldn't."
"Speaking of declining dinner, I'm gonna assume Dae-jung did just that."
The two men didn't know about the sudden plans Dae-jung had. He was about to have an amazing night, but didn't know it yet. He and Min-young were lovers who didn't know if the other still had the same feelings. It's always great to know that you're about to embark on the greatest journey when things start going your way.
"Why are you assuming he invited Dae-jung?" Young-ho straightened his cuff links. "All he cares about is gossip."
That's when Dae-jung texted the two men.
"Oh..." Byeong-ho grunted. "He's definitely about to have a better time than us."
"How do you know?"
"Min-young's in town."