"You shouldn't forget about Haesu, she is your oldest child..."
Miss Eun whispered under her breath, knowing that not even their toxic love-and-hate relationship as a family, would get in the way of receiving an inheritance after someone who has ultimately every possession of the entire family bloodline, passes away.
"Of course, you bring this up again."
"Before we continue, why don't we let our guests enter and take a seat?" the man sternly cut her off, inviting over the extra few guests they weren't expecting that night, or rather, the people they least expected during a family dinner.
"What is he doing here??" Haesu stood up from her seat, doubting the feeling of happiness at the arrival of one of her friends, or at least two of them.
"Please, hold onto your horses. They are a part of the family, just like Ivy's dear son." the moment of realization had only hit most of them now.
Miss Eun was not pleased nor was she even surprised by this.
'I did not expect that even their friends would end up being another outsider.'
Ivy was horrified of her husband, they weren't supposed to be found out, however, it seemed as if he had another pair of eyes and ears around the other ones.
{"Was this supposed to happen?"}
Ivy discreetly messaged the other woman from across the table.
{I wasn't expecting this to be revealed too, however, someone must have done their research on my side... Stay strong.}
Miss Eun could only hide her insecurity as well as concern towards Ivy and her son.
'Who snitched on us??'
"Well, what are you waiting for?" the two of their friends came inside the dining room with their parents and siblings, slightly confused about the situation.
"Lee Sungyeon and Riyanna Lee, stop wasting my time and take your damn seats." the man tried to calm himself.
After barely holding onto the table he slammed his palm harshly.
Soonji Go's secretary, Ivy Go was signing multiple documents in front of the family, including the food. "Sign here..."
Ivy wasn't having a delightful evening as her husband humiliated them in front of the children, they weren't even actually rivals since the only person they were fighting against was Soonji Go, himself.
"You ladies need a better plan."
Just when he was about to put his stamp on the last page of a pile of papers, he halted. 'How does he know about this?'
Ivy was trying not to show her discomfort, every inch of their plan was ruined, the documents that could help them with the investigation on Soonji Go, the stirring of his motives into giving everything to his son and second daughter...
"I may seem like everyone's enemy but hell, you can never expect what people want these days... Mostly money." he said daringly towards the woman.
The rest of the family members minded their own business regarding the inheritance.
"Don't tell me, we're cousins??"
Yeonju had his eyes wide open, holding a mirror in front of himself to see his face.
Examining every corner of himself to compare with Sungyeon and Riyanna.
"But I thought you weren't even Korean, Riyanna?" Haesu felt inferior to them since her share of the inheritance would also be cut into a smaller portion if her father decided to give a bunch of strangers their part of the family's wealth.
"Are you dying?" this question alarmed Honey Lou as she fidgeted with the food in front of her, she attentively joined in their conversation after spacing out for a very long time.
Her older sister realized that the discussion they were having that evening meant that he was no longer well in terms of his health.
'Is this finally it?' Honey wondered.
"To answer your question, I may or may not be like how I used to be, therefore, stepping down from my spot can offer me the chance to spend a little bit more time with our family."
Soonji Go faced his first daughter, putting the daring girl back in her place by openly showing his 'sensitive' side, even to the newcomers.
"An arranged marriage will happen when you turn 21 and Honey Lou when she becomes 18... If you disobey my wishes, both of you will lose your right to attain any portion of my assets. Do you understand that?"
He continued announcing every single detail that he planned to write down in his will.
"It seems like you are going to die soon!"
Everyone had their eyes on the eldest daughter, making fun of the situation that her father was in. "This is just cruel." Riyanna commented as she slowly arose from her seat, preparing herself to depart from the scene alone.
"Stay seated!" the man was fuming in aggravation with the disrespect that every one of the children and other adults had shown.
"Will you let me finish? I can assure you all that the circumstances I will be placing you in, are incredibly convenient..." he added, attempting to sound like he wasn't desperately convincing them to cut him some slack.
"Sure, make it fast." Sungyeon spoke up, feeling unwelcome and unwanted in the room.
"Since Riyanna and Sungyeon are both somehow related and turn out to be half-siblings of Yeonju, they are welcome to take part in any event that our family initiates."
"In addition to that, a monthly allowance will be given to them." they all picked up a strange vibe radiating from him, he was being too generous and gentle with his words.
'I can't read his intentions... What exactly is he implying here?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Can you believe it?" Haesu complained and speculated about her father while her boyfriend was too sick of hearing it.
"Don't you think that you should just be grateful? From the sound of it, your dad might've decided to change for good." she thought about it over and over again.
'Is this it?' the girl couldn't stop doubting the man's motive.
"But think about it, he is dying and demanding us to do all these things... Unexceptionally bribing us to the full extent." she tirelessly kept on resuming with the same topic, leaving her poor boyfriend no other choice but to distract her.
He leaned in, pushing his lukewarm lips against her in an attempt to stop her from talking about it once more.
"Aren't I always right-" the girl stopped in the middle of her sentence, kissing him back.
--Yun Oh's Point of View--
This is the day when I finally get to show her how I feel!
"Congratulations to you, my friend... Happy much?" does he have to ruin things when I'm actually in a good mood?
I looked at him, murdering him with the use of my two eyes.
"Fine, I'll leave you to it. But can I borrow your rollerblades? Yua and I are hanging out today!" his eyes suddenly lit up upon seeing me turn back to check out my reflection in the mirror, nodding at him in response.
"I am letting it slide." he happily hugged me, forgetting that I am not quite a soft person. "I'm heading out first, see you later!" Hyunjoo bid farewell.
Holding onto the double pair of rollerblades that I owned.
I peeked through the window, waiting till he truly departed from my place so that I could have the privacy I needed for the not-so-blind date I'll be going to...
My closet spun to the right as the lid pulled upward, I carefully deducted which suits were not a candidate for today's date with Honey Lou.
'I hope she doesn't treat me any different than before.'
It wasn't part of my plan to get involved with her family this soon, furthermore, having me been set up as the first one on their list.
"Isn't this a great opportunity to have her for myself or what?" I cannot...
I will certainly not put this chance to waste, I will properly seize her heart for once, not even that dirty blonde-haired boy can get in my way.
--Sora Young's Point of View--
{"It is kind of unfair that you can't freely marry whoever you want... Unlike Haesu-eonni."} I replied to Honey, letting her know that I could feel her worry and the trust issue that she was having against her father, Soonji Go.
"That bad man."
I should teach her a thing or two about dating although, she is older than me, I still have more knowledge about people than she does.
{"Just remember these red and green flags."}
I sent her a list of things to keep in mind when it comes to choosing her groom for when she turns 18 years old...
'Isn't that like a year and a half more?'
I checked my calendar to see if I had missed any birthdays, events, or special occasions. "Shoot!" we completely forgot about Jihyun's 17th birthday, and it was yesterday!
{"Where did you learn these? You haven't even dated anyone yet, from what I recall..."} Honey replied to my message, reminding me that I've always been single and preserved.
{"I just happen to have more friends than you do. They have all experienced dating and gave me a ton of advice."}
I can imagine her scoffing at my comeback since it is kind of ridiculous to act like I know everything about having a love life.
{"It is better to love your life than to find a man at this age, you know?"} she seemed to have cut off the message that she sent me just now, I memorized every single one of the common phrases she said.
"I hope I die before turning 18..." a wish that she would often say out loud during her birthday cake blowouts, it started at the age of 10.
"She is going to be fine, right?" that girl does not dare to do it, I am sure about it. {"I am coming over."} even if I knew her that well, there is no harm in making sure.
'I would not want to risk having her end up like someone...'