Façade

II

Choi Seungcheol

The smell of smoke and strong liquor lingers in my office room. I'm in the middle of the room, sitting on my swivel chair. Reading some paper and business stuff relating to my underground business.

When I felt my head was about to drop anytime soon from reading a ton of paper in front of me, I decided to stop what I was doing and take a quick break.

One stick of cigarettes, then I'll continue.

I was about to grab my small metal box canister with my initials engraved on it. It was full of cigarettes earlier, but now it's only half of the canister. I'm about to get one when someone interrupts by knocking on my door loudly.

"Come in," I said loudly, and I got one cigarette.

"You're smoking again," Joshua sighs and walks towards my desk, sitting on the empty seat in front of it. "How many cigarettes did you smoke today?"

I gave him a quick glare, then put the cigarette between my lips and lit it up with a lighter that was included in the canister. I inhaled on it and exhaled it; let some smoke hit Joshua on the face.

My lips form a smirk as he fan his hand on the smoke and coughs a bit.

"Are you here to nag me?" I scoff.

"A bit," he answered. "But aside from that, your underground pit is getting popular these days."

My eyebrow cocks. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked.

"Both. It's bad as it can lead your business to shut down if it reaches the authorities. It's good that your business is getting popular; a lot of wealthy businessmen are wanting to get a membership in your underground," Joshua stated while tapping his finger on the arm rest of the chair he seated.

I inhaled some nicotine and exhaled it. "If that's the case, I'll try to lay low."

"But for those wealthy men, sure they can get a membership. Just give them my number. I'll handle them." I smirk.

It seems luck is on our side.

Out of the blue, my phone rings. I looked at it, and it was my secretary calling me. I inhaled the cigarette first before answering the call.

"Yes?" I spoke while exhaling the smoke.

"Mr. Choi, you have an appointment with Mr. . Han now," Sage, my secretary, said.

It made me think about who Mr. Han was, but it didn't take long, as I somehow remembered.

"Oh, I have an appointment with him. What for?" I asked.

"About business merging, sir. You and Mr. Han talked about this a few weeks ago. Should I let him go to your office now?"

Oh right. Mr. Han was a good businessman who owned an oil company. His business was booming world-wide, and he was making a lot of money from it.

He's also one of my investors, and let's just say he's a good man. But because we were busy handling our business, we only met once or twice a year.

We had an interaction a few weeks ago about merging, but I forgot how it went as I'm already tipsy talking with him at that time.

"Yeah, sure, let him in." I approved and hung up the phone call.

"I guess you'll be busier now. I'll go; see you around," Joshua said, bidding his goodbyes. I just nod my head and watch him exit my office.

As Joshua went, it didn't take long for someone to enter my room. This time, an old man in his late 60s entered my office. He's obviously wearing an expensive tuxedo along with expensive shoes.

I stood up from my seat and gave him a bow as a sign of respect. He gave me a smile as I lifted my head to face him directly.

"Mr. Choi, it's nice to meet you again." He spoke lightly, but his authoritative presence is still there.

"Likewise, Mr. . Han. Please have a seat," I said, gesturing for him to sit on an empty single couch that is facing me.

"Is this about the merging business?" I started.

He just smiled and let out a sigh. "Actually, I have something in mind aside from that."

"And what is that, Mr. . Han?"

"You see, I'm getting old, and my health is deteriorating," he shared.

"And my daughter is not here. She's not coming back soon, not unless I told her about my situation. But if I told her about it, she would just nag me." He chuckles sadly. "That's how she shows how worried she is for me."

Mr. Han sighs and looks me directly in the eyes. "Mr. Choi, I'm not going to live for 'till next year. But I want to see my daughter getting married before I die. And I hope you remember what we talked about a few weeks ago?"

I frown. Did we talk about something? I barely remember anything as I'm tipsy that day.

"I see you forgot about it," he chuckles. "But it's alright. I can still remind you about it."

"Why don't we merge our business through marriage?"

.....

edited