Hearts and Dollars

UNSETTLING THOUGHTS

"Mom!!" Lisa couldn't stop herself from running and screaming in excitement.

"Lisa!" Sehun's mom was equally happy to have her back home for the holidays. "Oh my God! Look at you." patting her hair and holding her face she added, "You look so different, so lady-like. Don't you think so, honey?"

"Yeah, she seems all grown up."

"Now come on, you two are talking like I've been gone for years."

"It indeed feels like that."

The reunion chatter kept going on and on. Even though Naeun is now the youngest in the house, Sehun's parents just couldn't, yet, shake off the habit of pampering the most delicate child the house has ever had.

The happy chatter paused suddenly when Sehun walked into the hall; just woken from his sleep. He had no idea that Amber and Lisa were coming back for the holidays so the sight of them took him by surprise and he remained flabbergasted.

Amber greeted him happily but the awkward silence lingered between him and Lisa. They both looked at each other nonchalantly, not uttering a word not changing their demeanour. Soon they both turned their heads away and walked their ways.

"Aah!" Yoona gasped dramatically and walked close to her mother-in-law and spoke in her ears, "They are really not talking, Mother."

"Unbelievable."

"You both better stay out of it." Mr. Kim intruded on the little secret conversation of the ladies, "Let them sort it out themselves."

"Of course, of course. What else can we even do? " Both the ladies replied at the same time but they clearly did not mean it.

-

"Fucking bunch of stupid ass people." Baekhyun murmured to himself walking out of the conference room. A bunch of boring suits walked out in pairs discussing something related to the meeting that they just ended. Baekhyun fake smiled at a few elders who seemed to be glaring at him for some reason and hurried himself out of the crowd as soon as possible.

"What happened? Why do you look so angry?" Hyuna took the laptop and the diary from Baekhyun's hands and tried to learn the summary of the meeting.

"Man this tie is choking me," he loosened the navy blue tie, took off his grey overcoat and flung it on his shoulders as he continued walking in the way she was guiding him. "And these calf buttons don't just come off."

"Do you want to strip yourself naked in the hallway?" Hyuna said giving him back the diary and the laptop to keep his hands occupied. "Stop acting like an early man and tell me what happened."

"They deferred the meeting to tomorrow."

"Why? Did it turn chaotic?"

"Kind of."

They both walked into an office cabin temporarily given to them. Reaching inside Baekhyun threw himself on one of the sofas and Hyuna sat in front of him. "They want to start the newly developed treatment starting next month."

"Eh? Isn't it too early for that?"

"Yeah, that's what I said. And to start something in so little time they need vigorous advertising. It'd be such a huge drain on money, but they are insisting that the investors are finalised and the new equipment is on the way too. This just seems so rushed. They even showed the costing and profit estimations, I was baffled."

"This is so sudden, isn't it in the last board meeting that you all approved on raising more funds for its research." Hyuna opened the laptop and went through the data that was given to them during the meeting.