Born To Bleed - KTH FF (BOOK III)

-FORTY TWO-

She'd said nothing throughout the piece, but she openly held my hand as we walked out into the gallery. There was to be a pre-opera celebration that was being held for everyone who had their opera tickets, and it soon seemed like it was a who's who of Seoul's most powerful in attendance. The entire top level of the building was just one grand ballroom, and it seemed as though Y/N and I were the main attraction.

Had I known this would be the case, I would've made sure that our entrance was inconspicuous. I didn't even truly want be here; I'd only wanted some alone time with her. Instead, we had to spend our time faking it all night for these people.

"Mr. Kim, it's about time you made it to the show," Senator Kang, of Gwangju stated. He worked with big oil and some other shit he kept mouthing off about.

"I never knew I was wanted here."

"Mr. Kim, we all know that if it weren't for your generous donations to President Kim, he wouldn't be in the big office," Senator Joon, of Ilsan, replied, and I fought the urge the roll my eyes.

"Generous donations? I have no idea what you mean. After all, isn't that the purpose of super PACs?" I winked, and they all laughed as they ate out of the palm of my hand even though I was feeding them shit.

"Well, you should know, if you ever need anything, we can work something out. We know your marijuana businesses are making significant progress, but there's still some red tape to cross to get your ventures off the ground," Senator Kang stated as his fat chest puffed out.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not sure if your constituents are in favor of my new business ventures."

Joon snorted, as he rolled his eyes and looked around the grand ballroom. "You and I both know that the kingmakers are all here. We can pretend that democracy truly means what the people want it to, but it's about survival, about triumph. And no man embodies that as much as you do."

Politicians were a different breed of ruthless, a dirtier kind.

"You're quite correct, Senator, but before I sign my soul away, I should speak with my beautiful wife," I replied and they all laughed once more before turning to the women who were socializing with my wife.

It was petrifying how well she was able to fit in with the trophy wives of these men; drinking champagne and probably talking about nothing more than how much of their husband's money they could spend.

"May I say, you have an impeccable wife, Mr. Kim," Senator Kang added, brown-nosing like the scum he was.

No, you may not.

"I am truly lucky."

"The President is awarding you both with honors this Friday, isn't he?" Senator Joon asked.

"Apparently getting arrested gets you a medal," I joked, and once again they all laughed. No wonder these people had big egos, they all laughed with each other no matter what was being said.