บท 2: So glad you could make it!
He stood rooted on the spot at the entrance of the VIP Lounge.
Did he just say 'President'? President Chung...?
As he looked blankly at the wide ballroom-type lounge in front of him, a bright laughter somewhere from inside shook him out of his reverie.
"Please," the waitperson bowed to him again, gesturing for him to enter.
He blinked and went inside. He felt the slight whoosh of air as the doors closed behind him. The familiar painted ceiling, the comfy neutral-colored chairs, and the warm, woody, citrus scent of the lounge all greeted him naturally. This lounge was one of his favorite places, almost beating his own villa by a slim percentage. Now... he's not so sure he liked it. After all, it became the place where his very own arranged marriage talk happened.
He felt cold all over.
He scanned the lounge for the people he was supposed to meet with. And his eyes landed on a woman sitting near the window on the far right. The woman was facing his direction, so he got a full view of her face. She wasn't looking in his direction but was listening intently and smiling to the elder beside her.
That is... Chung Ji-Eun? He began walking towards their table.
The said 'woman' looked very young, with shoulder-length brown hair, clear brown eyes, and thin lips. Her face was lightly made-up, with no unnatural blush, no thick liners, making her look more like a fresh student than anything else. The sun's ray indirectly hitting her face made her features so dreamlike that he momentarily stared at her.
Does she really own this place?
As he got near, the elder sitting beside her turned to look in his direction and smiled.
"Hyun-Shik," the elder stood. "So glad you could make it! Come sit, my boy."
"President," he bowed to the elder and addressed the 'girl' beside him. "Ms. Chung."
He felt that it was more appropriate to think about 'Lady Chung' as a girl than a woman. After all, she looked very young compared to him. As she stood to receive him, he noticed her smiling at him. No reservation, no awkwardness, no shyness. It made him do a double take. She wore a simple white and yellow sun dress that accentuated her young features and as she bowed to him, that dress moved gracefully with her body.
"Please call me Ji-Eun, Mr. Song," she said. "I'm younger than you by five years anyway."
Five years? That would mean she's only twenty-three.
He smiled at the father-daughter tandem and waited until they sat back down.
The elder looked at him encouragingly and said, "I had thought you'd be with your parents, but meeting you like this is fine as well."
He just smiled back at the elder.
"They were very busy with the company, President. My parents send their apologies."
"Oh, no need! No need!" The elder laughed, his dark eyes twinkling. "I kind of know..."
The girl held her father's elbow as he sat back down, gently assisting him. Looking at the pair in front of him, he thought they looked nothing alike. While the elder's face was thin and sharp, his daughter's features were more gentle, a little fuller. Clearly, he thought, she took after her mother.
"Please sit," her voice reached his ears and he nodded back.
From what he saw and heard at the table, it seemed that the elder's words were genuine. He listened and observed them carefully as they began to order lunch. While the elder chose his greens, his daughter ordered a hefty meal. Surprised, his eyebrows raised a little as he watched her.
The elder, noticing his reaction, laughed, "My Ji-Eun doesn't like to pretend she hates food."
The girl turned to her father and clicked her tongue playfully, "And where, pray tell, did I get that kind of thinking?"
As he was a regular here, he did not struggle with his meal and ordered as well. The conversation naturally flowed to business as the elder asked him questions about his family's company. He figured that the elder probably already knew all about his family's company, but still, he obliged.
"Song Corp., Hyun-Shik," the elder said. "How are things going?"
He thought it best not to be pretentious, so he answered truthfully. "Not too well, President. While we were able to stop the corporation from actually shutting down, our financial and manpower side took a heavy blow when our previous partners jumped ship and took our resources with them."
He continued to describe the corporation's standing. Song Corp. has been a family-owned business that's been standing for four decades now. Hyun-Shik's father, understanding that they have to move with the times, started to branch out with the help of people who were not members of the Song family. They have two lines of businesses, construction, being their bread and butter, and warehousing. The corporation only took a dive when the company's shareholders took to building up their own group and stealing funds to feed their own pockets. Drama soon followed among the core members of the corporation and the media had a field day reporting about the corporation's split and near bankruptcy.
He glanced at the girl who was listening intently. He figured he should observe her more while he talked about his family's business. He didn't understand why this elder and his daughter entertained the idea of incorporating someone like him into their family, their group when their own company was at the height of their success.
Isn't the Chung Group one of the top corporations in the country right now? They currently have their influence everywhere. From hotels to hospitals to gas stations to schools, to shopping malls... And that's the reason why he froze at the door of the lounge just earlier. He wanted to understand why they thought meeting a member of the Song family was a good idea for marriage.
Maybe now they finally understand that this meeting is not a good thing, after all? He thought to himself.
When he finished speaking, he noticed that the elder had stopped eating and that his face had become solemn. He waited for his reaction. The girl, Ji-Eun, simply looked calm as she looked at her father.
Finally, the elder sighed. "Do not be disheartened, my boy. Every business is bound to have periods like this."
The girl in front of him looked down at her hands.
Hyun-Shik sighed.
"President Chung, I should be truthful..." he started. "I actually did not know that I was going to be meeting with you today. My parents," he looked at Ji-Eun. "Just mentioned that I will be meeting with a woman named Chung Ji-Eun. I never thought that I would be meeting with your daughter for a..."
The elder looked at him carefully.
"A marriage talk?" The elder finished for him as he found he couldn't say the next few words.
He cleared his throat and nodded.
"Our corporation is suffering from a setback at this time, so I would understand if you-"
"That is for Ji-Eun to decide," the elder laughed. "I am not that calculative, Hyun-Shik, as to think about my business first than my own daughter."
He looked at the elder blankly.
"I kind of know what's going on in your head," the elder continued. "I know you're thinking why we agreed to meet with you knowing all about your family, your company's problems, and its reputation. My Ji-Eun," he gestured to his daughter. "Has been graced with a lot of marriage offers already and we have yet to find a person she likes. We have met with many, mind you, who offered partnerships in their own businesses masking the fact that they need help. So far, you and your family have been the only ones who were honest enough to admit that they are building connections and are asking for help through marriage."
He glanced at the girl as listened to the elder and saw that she was still smiling.
"It's really up to her, you know," the elder said. "That and that your mother is a really good friend of mine."
The elder finished as he and his daughter shot him a curious glance.
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