Tessa smoothed out her dress as she stepped out of her Audi. She switched into her pink heels and grabbed her matching pink purse. On her tiny waist was a pink belt over her black dress. Her stepfather had told her to dress nice for this meeting and she obliged. But nice did not have to be bland. As it was a dinner meeting, Tessa had scooped her hair back into a chignon.
She was a little nervous for her first solo investor’s meeting. She kept her brothers’ words in mind, though. She indeed knew this business inside and out. She was young, true, but was involved enough to be able to answer most queries about the company.
She reviewed some of the company’s current marketing strategies and run through different scenarios in her head about how each one could benefit the company.
Nearing the entrance to Hotel Shilla, she went over the latest figures that she had studied earlier in the day. Figures about their latest bottom line, the trainee life, the cost of training them, the amount of money their current signed artists were bringing in.
Earlier that day, she snuck a peek at the potential income and cost it would take for SEVENTEEN’s upcoming world tour just in case it would be part of the conversation. SEVENTEEN was of course their biggest success to date.
As Tiffany Haddish would say, ‘She ready.’
Tessa stepped out into the 23rd floor and into La Yeon, a three-star Michelin restaurant.
La Yeon served Hansik cuisine, the traditional food for Korean royalty. The restaurant itself got mixed reviews as some found the food to be a bit too bland for their taste but Tessa loved the food here. Her stepfather knew she counted it among her favorites. She absolutely loved everything about this place. It was full of good memories for her.
A notification on her phone sounded and Tessa went to look at it. It was from her stepfather. “Enjoy the dinner, pumpkin.”
Tessa read it again and was confused. What did he mean by that?
She texted a reply, “I’ll do my best to make you proud, Appa.”
He replied instantly. “You always have. Now stay off both your phones and have the best time.”
A waiter approached Tessa and bowed slightly. “Annyeonghaseyo, Ms. Han. Ijjog-eulo osibseo. (Good evening, Ms. Han. This way, please.) He led her to one of the private tables in the back, where Tessa had dined with her family so many times before.
The area was separated by a see-through divider and as she approached the back, she saw a lone person seated at the table. Presumably this was the investor.
She could see that he had blonde hair. Hmm, kind of unusual she thought but maybe he was one of the 'newer money' investors.
Tessa put on her best smile and thanked the waiter as he pulled out a chair for her.
The investor stood up and turned to her.
“Hoshi-oppa?” Tessa was taken aback.
“Tessa?” Soonyoung said at the same time.
They both stared at each other in bewilderment.
“My manager told me that an important benefactor had asked to meet with me tonight.” Soonyoung spoke up after a few minutes of silence.
“My father told me that this was an important investor meeting that he couldn’t reschedule.” Tessa shared.
“Right. That’s what I heard you say last night.”
After a few awkward moments, Tessa finally nodded in understanding and couldn’t keep a smile from escaping her lips. Suddenly it all fell into place. When her dad gave the butler that look that night, she had thought it was a look to mean, this conversation is to be kept confidential. Now she knew it meant, set up the meeting with Hoshi. What better timing than to have it at a time when her brothers were in a meeting and couldn’t accidentally stumble upon the two of them.
