This is the fourth story in the Undone series.
This is Jung Hoseok's time to shine.
He is taking control of a new project at Stellar Design, and he has decided it's time to take control of his love life as well. He is weary of being alone, and he...
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Olivia waited until Hoseok’s shadow was no longer visible through the frosted glass door. Then she turned on Izabelle, a spark of anger in her eyes.
“Really Izzy!! What are you thinking? You know you have to come back with me!” she hissed, a touch of desperation sounded in her voice now.
" Stop being so stupidly selfish Izzabelle! Everything is lined up perfectly for the next 3 weeks You are the pitch to this Paris project. You have to do this" Olivia demanded.
"It's not just me, Izzy! Look out there," she said, gesturing to their teams preparing to leave.
"Stop for just one freaking second to think about them, what this could mean for them and the dozens more team members at home, preparing even now for the trip. This could be make or break for them Izzy." Olivia finished and took a deep breath.
“You are being unreasonable Olivia! You know I can work here remotely and be just as effective as I could be in New York!” Izzy said, her own temper beginning to fray, fighting back the sense of duty Olivia preyed on.
Olivia paced around the room, her agitation growing. For the first time Izzy took a really close look at her friend. Olivia’s eyes were a bit unfocused and in the confines of the small room Izzy was beginning to smell the liquor burn off her.
“ Liv! Have you been drinking?” Izzy accused
Rather than answer her, Olivia turned and grasped one of Izzy’s hands tightly in her own.
“Don’t you see? You have to come back tomorrow for all of that, plus if you stay he won’t come back. He will stay. He has to come back….he can’t stay here,” Olivia said, her words slurring a bit at the end.
“Olivia, what makes you think that Hobi is coming back with us? He is not going back to New York, no matter what,” Izzy explained.
“Hobi? What the hell does he have to do with this. Of course he won’t come back. He has everything he needs here! My mother saw to that!” Izzy frowned at that but Olivia continued.
"Rege!! Rege has to come back. He only came here with you to make me jealous. I want him Izzy. I love him. You come home so he will come home. You go to Paris and make us filthy rich and famous and he stays home with me. Simple, right?” Olivia sat, satisfied she had perfectly explained everything.
Izzy stood stunned. This was all too much to take in and she did not understand half of it.
“Olivia, Rege is already planning to return tomorrow and Hobi….”
“ Will you please just shut up about Hoseok. Can’t you see he is just unfinished business. You should have been fucking him this entire time to get him out of your system. Come home and forget him” Olivia ranted.
She stopped at the shocked looked on Izabelle’s face
“Come on Izzy, you know he is nothing more than that. He was never meant to be more than that. That’s why he is here and not in New York. You told him all about that right?” Olivia asked.
At her stricken look Olivia felt genuine pity for Izabelle.
“Oh Izzy. You didn’t tell him! You didn’t tell him and you still think you can stay and fuck him and fuck around with his feelings. Gahh Izabelle…. I never thought you would be so hard hearted, especially toward him,” Olivia said, pity ringing in her words.
“It’s not like that,” Izzy stuttered, trying to defend herself.
“It is exactly like that sister. Go tonight and finish it. Tell him, then finish it and get on that plane,” Olivia instructed.
“You have to come back and it has to be now. There are meetings in Paris next week and you need to be there. You have obligations Izabelle. Obligations to me, to this company and to all those people counting on us. Don’t make me be the bad guy Izzy. Don’t make me start quoting contracts and partnership agreements. Just go do the right thing." Olivia finished with a deep sigh and sank down in a chair.
“I am so tired. Will you ask Rege to take me home?” Olivia asked, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead.
Izzy felt rage and fear and responsibility and resignation wash over her all at once.
Hobi was not merely “unfinished business” but Olivia had made some valid points.
Izzy told herself she had some legal obligations to sort out and she had a responsibility to tell Hobi everything she knew.
And then tomorrow she should be on that plane to New York.
But right now she refused to think past tonight.
Izabelle silently left the room and found Rege standing guard at the gallery entrance.
“ She needs you,” Izzy told him, wondering how much of what Olivia said about him was true and how much he knew of Olivia’s feelings.
Her head was pounding with her own worries, she refused to add his to them.
“She wants you to take her back to the hotel,“ she instructed him.
He nodded and moved toward the room where Olivia was waiting without a word. Now she just had to find Hobi.
He was easy to spot as the crowd had thinned and only his friends and a couple of stragglers waiting on a car remained.
Hobi was sitting at the bar with Jimin, and Jin.
She swallowed hard. He looked so lost right then and she had a sick feeling she was going to make it worse.
He was in deep conversation when she reached his side. He stopped immediately and making space between his legs on the bar stool pulled her to his chest.
She did not have to say a word for his heart to sink.
Gone was the sparkle of earlier tonight, replaced by a burden too heavy for her to bear alone.
“Can I take you home?” he whispered. She nodded her answer.
He placed one long finger beneath her chin to raise her face to his.
“Your hotel?” he asked, holding his breath to see if she was fleeing him immediately. She shook her head.
“Your place?” she asked so quietly he almost did not hear her.
“ Yes,” he answered as he pulled her close and dropped a kiss in her hair. “ Yes.”
Izzy did not remember waiting for the car or leaving the party or the short drive to Hobi’s home.
All she knew was that he held her the entire time and she held on to him as if she would never let go.
