"You came to the company finally, president. Are you here to brag you kept your word? Are you proud that you dragged Haneul back into this hellhole which ruined his life?" Go Dae-Kyun words were filled with venom, but he was baiting the president to spill the beans.
Unlike him, Lydia went straight to the point. "Is the new choreographer… Is it him?"
"You are not the only one who cares about him! I do too." Lim Tae Ri smiled at Lydia and Dae-Kyun.
Lydia gritted her teeth and glared at the president. "If you really cared about him, you wouldn't have dragged him back to the place that ruined his life."
"You really think he is someone who listens to someone?" Lim Tae Ri smiled understandingly. She knew Haneul would come to the company when she spoke to SMJ's CEO, but she had no hand bringing him here.
Lydia was furious at the woman's audacity in front of her to throw the blame on Choi Haneul. "I don't care about your lies and your deception. Why did you hire Choi Haneul as a choreographer?"
But the door opened and revealed their vice president and CEO walking inside the president's office. The stars shut their mouths and walked out of the room as if they were not here for anything important.
Lydia and Go Dae-Kyun looked at Lim Tae-Ri, clearly indicating they would continue this conversation later.
It was not due to the fear of their CEO but out of respect for their hardworking vice president. They would not have believed it if they knew the vice president would be shredded to pieces in a few minutes, and all his hard work was not for the company's benefit.
Lydia and Go Dae-Kyun were waiting for the lift. When the lift stopped by the floor, they were shocked to see the person they had not seen for years.
Both of them were shocked and did not even make a move.
"Here I thought you would be happy to see me, Lydia?! Sweetheart, you wound your Oppa badly by staring at me like this!" A teasing man sounded as if he was truly hurt, but his face was full of a smile.
Lydia noticed it was not the naive smile Choi Haneul used to give her during their trainee days.
The smile was still harmless and kind, but the innocence was no more there.
Lydia did not care about that and threw herself in Haneul's arms. She hugged him tight as if he would vanish again if she let go of him.
Choi Haneul hugged her back and let her hug him tightly. He understood her reason for hugging him so tightly, even without saying anything. His heart felt the warmth that he felt only with his chosen family.
Go Dae-Kyun wanted to hug his maknae too, but he held back. He stood back and observed Haneul only to realise his innocent, sweet maknae had changed a lot. He noticed the obvious first - the cute boy full of mischief into a cute adorable young man with lots of hidden secrets.
No one could expect innocence in Haneul after everything he went through in his life. Even though there was a sweet attitude, it seemed reserved only for a few people.
Go Dae-Kyun understood all of it but was not upset with it. After all, no matter how much Haneul changes, he will always be his little brother at heart.
"How are you, Hyung?" Choi Haneul smiled politely at the man who treated him genuinely during his trainee days. He has immense respect for the man irrespective of everything he went through in the damned place.
"You little piece of shit! You ran away and did not even contact us. How dare you?!" Go Dae-Kyun's eyes teared up even though he wanted to lash out at Haneul.
"Hyung… you missed me?!" Choi Haneul could not help but smile cutely at the man who was always strict with him.
"Fuck you!" Go Dae-Kyun glared at Haneul, but the glare got washed away at the cute smile.
"I swing that way, but I don't see you that way! Sorry, I think of you as an elder brother only." Choi Haneul told apologetically, but his eyes could not hide the teasing mischievous glint.
"This little piece of…" Go Dae-Kyun flicked Haneul's forehead.
Lydia ignored the men's unnecessary banter and focused on the information she wanted to know. "Oppa… where were you?"
"I was studying abroad." Haneul answered honestly and did not want to lie to them. If it were someone around, he would have given a sly response that was nowhere close to the truth.
"You? Studying?" Go Dae-Kyun was genuinely surprised because Haneul was never the one to study.
Haneul had always been a student who had just passed the exam and never enjoyed studying. His dislike towards studies was popular among the people close to him.
"Hyung! I am doing PhD in Australia." Haneul looked offended at the remark and tried to convince his former band leader.
When Go Dae-Kyun looked at him with disbelief, Haneul explained further. "You are shocked!!! I know… for higher studies, I don't need to be smart, apparently. I just need to be gritty and persevering. And you know me… I am good at sticking like sticky gum and bouncing back… So... I ended up studying..."
Even Haneul felt unbelievable as he uttered the words out loud.
"Are you?" Gi Dae-Kyun looked at Haneul up and down, not believing the other had an ounce of persistence in the body to study. He would have believed the words if it was about something else, but Haneul continuing his studies looked like it was a scam.
"We will talk later. Please keep to yourself about my past whereabouts. I don't want others to know what I was doing previously." Haneul trusted these two in the company.
Go Dae-Kyung agreed readily, and Lydia followed the gesture as they promised to keep things to themself.
"You guys wanna see something fun now?" Haneul asked the question with his eyes filled with mirth and mischief.
Choi Haneul was taught how to manage the problematic people in the company over the years by his boss. He knew that putting the idiotic people in power should happen behind the door, but that does not mean no one else should know about it.
There should be a balance of shame and threat while carrying out such action. So he decided that letting two artists and two of the higher-ups would be enough for now. With the thought, he marched down to the president's office.
Lydia nodded too eagerly that Go Dae-Kyun decided to tag along. He did not want these two to get into trouble.
Haneul walked inside the president's room like he owned the place and made sure not to knock.
Lydia and Go Dae-Kyun looked at him, a little startled, but they followed in.
CEO Lim was seated in the president's seat as he reviewed some details with the other two. President Lim Tae-Ri was seated on the opposite side, with the Vice President seated next to her.
Three of them were surprised at Haneul's audacious entry, but the said man was not bothered by them.
Technically no one has the right over CraZe as he does anyway.