off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ park jaewook

pluto by wonizz

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Just come to the party, Gunwook had said. It'll be fun, he'd said. Turns out, when there's a bunch of traffic and you're stuck on the road for an hour with your sad excuse of a father and your very unlikeable step mother, nothing is ever fun. At least Jaewook's two brothers were there to make the ride a tiny bit less annoying. Just the tiniest bit, though.

"Can't believe I bailed on band practice for this," she muttered to herself, just loud enough for her brothers to hear.

Gunwook, ever the optimistic presence, turned to her with a forced smile. "We'll be there soon, it's not too far."

"Still, it doesn't get better once we get there. It'll probably be even more boring than traffic."

This time, her father had heard her, judging by the glare he gave her through the rear-view mirror. Not that she cared. But when her step mother turned to her with her brows furrowed, Jaewook wished she was anywhere but here.

"Jaewook, no one forced you to come," she said, her voice barely containing her disdain. "If you were going to be acting like this, you should have just stayed home."

Of course. That would have been good for her, wouldn’t it? That way it'd only be her family, and not including her husband's first daughter that she seemed to dislike so much. Well, unfortunately for her, if there was anything Jaewook disliked more than boring social events, it was doing what her step mother wanted. So she was here to stay, like it or not.

"I could hardly leave Gunwook alone," she finally replied, resting her cheek on her closed fist.

With a falsely offended scowl, Chanwook leaned forward to catch her eyes. "What do you mean, alone? I'm right there."

She snickered in response. "Eh, you're hardly good company."

"Is that how you talk to your brother?" Of course, her step mother just had to insert herself in something that had nothing to do with her.

Chanwook rolled his eyes, making sure he was hidden from the sight of his parents. "She was joking, mom."

Pfft. Jaewook knew perfectly well there was no use trying to reason with her. Jokes were apparently not part of her vocabulary. It was still a miracle to Jaewook how both Chanwook and Gunwook had turned out to be such good kids despite having parents like that. At least she was lucky enough to have a great mom. Couldn’t say the same for them.

Obviously eager to change the subject, Gunwook chimed in. "I heard from Zhang Hao hyung that there'll be a lot of great food. They hired a great chef."

"I'd expect that from the Zhang family," their father said, eyes still on the road. "I imagine it will be a very lavish party."

"All that for a violin competition?" Jaewook pursed her lips. There was no limit to the obscenity of high society.  "Seems a bit excessive."

"Well, Hao hyung is sort of the prodigy of his family," Gunwook explained, shrugging. "Everything he achieves is celebrated like that, but he's actually quite humble himself."

It was hard to imagine, but Jaewook couldn’t write it off completely. After all, your parents didn't always decide who you were going to become. If Gunwook hadn’t become a complete jerk after being raised by their father, then it seemed possible Zhang Hao could be a bit less...Showy than his parents. Gunwook wouldn’t be friends with snobs, anyway. That Zhang Hao couldn’t be that bad.

Still, this party was going to be boring as expected. That is, if they ever managed to get out of that traffic jam.

"I hope we won’t be late," Gunwook said, his voice cracking a bit. "I don't want to seem impolite."

"Well, we can hardly control the traffic, can we? And I'm guessing with the amount of guests they've invited, they wouldn’t even notice if we didn't come," Chanwook joked.

Jaewook snickered. "You're right about that. I might just bail, then."

"Jaewook," their father's stern voice resonated through the vehicle.

There he went again. Jaewook braced herself for the lecture, giving an annoyed glance to her two brothers. Chanwook sighed, while Gunwook gave her a pleading look, as if asking her not to cause trouble. Trouble was all she knew, though.

"Yes, father?" Her voice was obviously insincere, but her father didn't make a remark about it.

"I want you to be on your best behavior, tonight, understood? The Zhang Enterprises are a valuable associate, so don’t ruin this for us or there'll be consequences."

Threats were never quite enough to intimidate her. "I'm an adult, you know. You can't order me around."

But Jaewook's only weakness was sitting right next to her. Gunwook was glancing at her, a worried expression on his face. This seemed to be an important evening to him. She didn't want to ruin this for him.

"But I'll behave. Don't worry about me."