Minho just didn't know how to feel about the encounter with Wookyung, he felt hurt, tired, defeated, proud for having had the courage to stand up to him, somehow bitter, resentful and regretful altogether. Again. There were too many emotions fogging his brain. He didn't feel good though, that was for sure. And what he wanted the most now, was just to eat.
He had sadly already met Wookyung, so there was nothing stopping him now from just descending into the dining room and finally having dinner. The hell everything else. He didn't want to think anymore. Now he was really too hungry.
As Minho entered the dining room, he thought about where to sit- should he sit at Wookyung's table like he had before? That way Seonghwa would have probably came directly to him.... as he was looking around the room, Minho's noticed that Wookyung's table was actually already occupied. A girl with blonde hair was talking with non other than Seonghwa himself.
They looked like they were having a nice conversation... 'What should I do? Should I sit at another table?' Minho felt confused.
'Why was that girl sitting at Wookyung's reserved table?' 'Was she one of his partners? One of the many girls he screwed around with?'
But before Minho could really think about it, Seonghwa had noticed him and had called him, gesturing him to come to Wookyung's table.
"Sorry, wouldn't want to disturb if the table is already occupied" Minho excused himself.
"That's Wookyung's step sister, Stella" Seonghwa introduced the blonde girl to Minho.
"Wookyung's sister?! Now things were starting to make sense..." Minho thought. She was actually quite similar to Wookyung, despite being probably fully caucasian. She must have been his dad's and new wife's daughter. The girl had a very similar hair shade to Wookyung's one, a dark ashy blonde, and her skin was also on the tanned side, the pointy chin and high cheekbones looked also alike. Her eyes though- were rounder and of a totally different shade of color, more similar to their father's eyes.
"Nice to meet you" the girl shaked Minho's hand, a little quirky smile forming on her lips. Minho's blood freezed in his veins for a moment. He hoped with all his heart that Wookyung's sister didn't also have a similar personality as him, otherwise that would have been pure hell.
"Stella, is staying at the hotel for some time. And so is Minho" Seonghwa explained to the both of them.
"Minho what can I bring to you?" he then asked.
"Is it too much if I ask for a Korean dish? Even something remotely similar...like..." Minho started to answer, but Seonghwa cut him off before he could finish "Wookyung has asked me to make tteobokki for him tonight. I still have some left. It'll be done in a minute- I also have some kimchi, if you'd like"
"Oh, that's great. Thank you" - 'so Wookyung was also craving for Korean food the same night as me?' Minho thought. What an annoying coincidence, wasn't Wookyung used to European and specifically Italian cuisine? Why that night of all nights to ask for Korean food? Whatever... at least that benefited him too.
"Are you Wookyung's friend?" Stella asked, still sat at the table despite having already finished to eat.
"Mh, not really. I wouldn't say so. Let's just say, I'm getting to know him these days" Minho shrugged.
"Ah, is that so? I thought you must have been a close friend of his, since Seonghwa knew you and told you to sit here. Guess I was wrong."she replied with a smile. Despite her politeness Minho felt a strange aura coming from her, that girl seemed cunning.
"I don't know if you were here to meet him or have dinner with him. But he went to his room, early- guess he wasn't feeling very well after the funeral" she continued to explain, apologizing for her brother.
"The funeral!? What funeral?" Minho exclaimed, surprised.
"Oh, you didn't know? Well, our grandfather passed away a few days ago. Today we attended his funeral"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. My condolences..." Minho was taken aback by the sudden new. Not cause he knew anything about their family of course, but because everything that had happened those days. Guess things were starting to make sense now: the abrupt meeting with Wookyung's father, Wookyung's change in mood and behavior, the formal suit he was wearing when he had met him earlier.... But who the hell throws a threesome when their grandfather has just died?! Which kind of horrible person would have done that? He looked like he was at least a bit affected by it, so why was he behaving that way? Was that how he dealt with sorrow? That wouldn't have surprised him one bit...
"Everything good Minho?" Stella asked. He must have looked a bit weird.
"Yeah. I'm fine, sorry." he smiled reassuringly.
"Hope, I don't seem nosy- can I ask you what's your job? You look like you would be an accountant or a banker or a manager maybe" Stella tried. So she was also as talkative as Wookyung.
"Well actually- I'm a literature... professor" Minho was always hesitant to tell people he was just a lecturer, didn't matter who asked, he often preferred to say he was a professor. "And I also write, can't say I'm an established writer right now tho..." he added.
"Wow! So you're a literate. My guess was wrong then, you really look like a responsible person- someone that has got their life together. I am usually good at guessing..." Stella pouted.
'Maybe I really look more like an accountant or something. I must look uptight. I want so bad to be an artist, a writer...but maybe that's not what really comes natural to me...' Minho thought, a little melancholic.
"Here" as Seonghwa arrived with the food, he smiled at the both of them.
"Can I sit here with you? My turn is over now- well unless you want something else Minho, but that's not a problem anyway!" Seonghwa asked.
"Of course!" Stella replied. "Oh well, if that's okay for Minho too.." she then added.
"No problem, that's fine with me" Minho confirmed, with a polite smile. Everything was weird that night: the new about the grandfather, Wookyung's sister at the hotel, Seonghwa was unusually talkative...
As Minho ate his dinner, Seonghwa and Stella kept chatting- the young chef really looked like a totally different person from the reserved guy he had known for some time- he kept being lively and talkative and Stella seemed more than happy to converse with him, she had a pretty enthusiastic tone. She looked a bit sad at the begging when he had first talked to her, but now she seemed pretty cheerful. "What a strange family..." was all Minho could think about. They really were particular. Not that his was much better though.... His mother had died when he was still a kid- and all his adolescence his father had been bringing home random women who he called "his soulmate", just to discard them a few months after. Five years before though, his father had seemed to find a woman he actually wanted to settle down with. He had decided to move with her and had made Minho understand that it was the moment to move out- so that he could live alone with his spouse. Minho and his father had barely spoke since then, only occasionally meeting each other at annual events like Christmas or Chuseok.
"Do you think I'm bothering him? He doesn't want me here, I know that...." Stella was still talking with Seonghwa, now the topic of the conversation was Wookyung.
"I mean. I don't know your relationship with him that well- but I know he's not as bad as you may think. Many people believe that, when they don't have the chance to spend time with him a little longer. But he's nicer than he seems" Seonghwa answered her.
"I know he's not that bad deep down, but I also know how he feels about me. He sees me as the golden child, our dad's favourite daughter. He thinks our dad prefers me over him, he thinks he reminds dad of his ex-wife, his mother. But that's not quite the truth... it's not exactly how he thinks it is..." Stella continued, her voice dull.
"And how it is?" Seonghwa kept asking.
"Like I mean... there's some truth in it, but that's just not the whole story. Our dad actually values Wookyung the most, he admires him- even if he doesn't say that directly to him. He often tells me how Wookyung's great, he thinks I should look up to him. I'm not dad's perfect daughter, he just prefers spending time with me cause I'm easier to handle than Wookyung , cause I'm less feisty and... yes, probably also cause Wookyung reminds him of a life he left behind."
"Maybe he feels this way about you, but I saw how he looked at you during dinner. And I can tell you, Wookyung doesn't despise you- I feel like he would want to reconnect with his little sister at least a bit. He just doesn't know how, and it's too stubborn to admit it" Seonghwa reassured Stella, gently patting her shoulder.
Seonghwa looked like he was really fond of Wookyung, his words exuded admiration and comprehension for his boss. Minho hadn't thought, at least initially, that Seonghwa was actually so attached to Wookyung.
"May I ask you why you see Wookyung in that light? You obviously know him very well- but normally not everyone likes their bosses. What makes you say such things?" Minho asked Seonghwa, he wasn't sure if it had been a good idea to ask that- but he was curious; Wookyung could be quite funny and entertaining- that for sure, but at least for how Minho had known him- Wookyung could also be moody and unpredictable, he doubted he could be the best boss to have around.
"As soon as I finished school, my parents wanted me to work. They wanted me to start bringing home money... I found a job in a kitchen of an East Asian inspired restaurant- it was a little place, we also made take away food. I worked there both as a cook and as a waiter. The place itself wasn't bad, the problem was the owner. He was quite bossy and had racist tendencies- he was condescending with me, but until a point it had been bereable. I had been working there for about a year, but in the last months my relationship with the owner had been deteriorating.... It escalated one night: some clients didn't enjoy the food and had asked me to bring it back to the kitchen.
The owner was in a really bad mood that night, he lashed out on me, saying it was my fault if the clients hadn't enjoyed the food- despite the fact that I wasn't the one who had cooked those dishes. He started screaming and brought me out of the kitchen, he started scolding me in front of the clients and made me apologize in front of them for how bad I had been. He was yelling slurs at me, I had never been that ashamed in my life, I feel awful.
Wookyung happened to be there that night. He was taking some take away food, I never understood why of all places he went there that night. Someone like him... maybe it was destiny. He probably didn't even know what had happened, but he took my defense. I'll never forget how he yelled back at my boss and how he stood up to him. I'll be forever grateful to him. He brought me out of that place and offered me to work for him. I know Wookyung's antics well, I know he's a player and what not- but he has always been kind to me, he has always treated me with respect, almost as a friend. I have a good pay, enough free time, a beautiful place to live... I couldn't have asked for something better" as Seonghwa finished to speak Minho noticed some softness in his voice- he must have been really thankful to Wookyung.
"I see" was all Minho managed to respond. All those informations were hard to process. Wookyung had many sides to him, and it was difficult to process all those things together...
YOU ARE READING
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FanfictionWhere Byun Minho is a struggling college lecturer who dreams to become a famous writer and Cha Wookyung is a rich heir who doesn't want to inherit the life his family designed for him and spends his time managing one of his familiy's hotels in Italy...