Until You Say Yes 🤍 Joong/Dunk

Chapter 10 ~ getting acquainted ~

After dinner, Dean and Nate shared a plate of tiramisu then lingered over coffee while they learnt more about each other. Nate found out that Dean's company, the company which was founded by his father was at a very basic level, an investment company. 

He discovered that Dean and his sister had spent most of their lives living in fear of their tyrant father, he'd never hit them but his emotional abuse had been far worse and the fact that he controlled them financially meant that when he said jump, they asked how high.

Their sweet, timid mother had tried to protect them as best she could, even trying to leave when they were very young but Deans father had threatened to take them away from her so she had stayed for fear that he would win if it went to court.

Being constantly demeaned and insulted had taken its toll on Dean's mother who was a shadow of her former self, a beautiful, intelligent Thai woman who had piqued the interest of the fun loving Irish man with his twinkling blue/grey eyes and copper hair.

Who could say when things had started to go wrong? no one could pin point the actual time when he'd morphed from a loving husband into a bully. Had he fallen out of love with his wife or was it the stress of starting his business which eventually consumed him?

He had treated everyone around him with equal disdain, his underlings, the servants at home, everyone knew what he was like and they had tried to keep out of his way when he went off on one of his angry tirades which was quite often.

As Dean got older he had tried to rebel but the last time when he had found himself in trouble with the police he knew his father was ready to blow. 

He had decided to try a different tactic to try and get through the ice and he had knuckled down at school to become a grade A student but nothing could melt the arctic freeze which encased his fathers heart, if there had ever been one there to begin with.

In the end he had come to terms with the fact that his father would never love him as a father should and had decided to let go of his own feelings concentrating instead on protecting his mother and sister. About eighteen months ago the three of them had travelled to Thailand under the guise of caring for his sick Thai grandmother and they hadn't returned to the States.

Dean had regular updates from his fathers assistant telling him how his health was deteriorating rapidly until one day a few months ago they had received word that he had passed away in his sleep.

Dean had become the C.E.O of his father's empire and they were all liberated, it had been bittersweet.

 Ordering one more coffee after Dean's story, Nate told Dean about his life which was pretty boring and uneventful in comparison. His parents had a small shabu shabu place and he had grown up with Hayden, Miki and Korn.

A passionate coffee lover, he'd decided he wanted to become a famous barista who created new and exciting blends and serve them in his own chain of coffee shops, well he'd made a start with one shop at least and everyone loved his coffee. He would never be a millionaire but he was happy.

He, Hayden, Mikki and Korn had spent many happy afternoons enjoying hot pot while doing their homework and Dean couldn't help feeling a little envious. 

"we should go there next time, I love hot pot" Dean said.

"are you sure, they're not posh" Nate replied.

"very sure, I'm so laid back I'm almost horizontal Nate, that's one thing you'll learn over time" Dean said.

"I'm sorry you had a bad childhood Dean"

"thank you Nate but hey, it's over now and my mum is still young enough to enjoy life somewhat" Dean said.

"do you think she might ever remarry?" Nate asked.