The Escort S2

Part 26: My sassy tiger

 Jaes's POV.

Jae's and Hobi's home

I come downstairs in search of my husband. It's time for a conversation that I'm not looking forward to.

"There you are." As I walk over and sit next to him on the couch, he closes his laptop.

"Hi Babe," he says and plants a soft kiss on my cheek.

"How long have you been up, baby?" I ask.

"Just a few hours, babe," he says.

"Oh, Hobi, were you up worrying again?" I sigh.

My husband rakes his fingers through his hair saying nothing.

"Hobi, it will be okay." I rub his forearm.

"And how do you know that, Jae?" He binds his fingers with mine with downcast eyes. "I don't know how we'll save our company. Our staff depend on us." I've heard this all before, but I patiently listen. "We're not a big enough company to fight Triton off. But I refuse to give up." There's my man showing up right there. I love his fight. "Your software is amazing, but if Triton gets it ... I just can't think about it." His gaze reaches mine and I gently squeeze his hand.

I pull in a shaky breath. "Hobi, I have an idea, but I really need you to listen. We'd both do anything to keep our company going, develop this software, and keep our staff working, right?" He pulls back slightly and studies me.

"Of course. You have an idea? My mind is open." He moves close with eager eyes.

"I think we should find a company that can back Triton off. A company that will help us develop our software." He raises an eyebrow and I keep talking before he can interrupt. "The right company that we can trust, that will take care of our people ad support my software." I find myself pleading.

"Jae, that's not going to happen." I still myself to listen to his objections. We both are weary of this fight. "First, no company that's that powerful would buy us. If they did, they'd want full control. In the end they'd exploit what we developed and make it theirs. We'd get a bunch of buy off money." He shakes his head to indicate no, but I'm not done yet. "We've talked about this before and—"

"I know, but I've thought of another way." Hobi presses his lips together and shakes his head in frustration.

"Jae, once again that's not going to –" I need to just say it like swallowing a spoonful of bitter medicine. So, I spit it out.

"Yesterday I took a meeting and didn't tell you about it." I say rapidly as his eyes expand.

"What? Why was that?" He mumbles.

"If I had told you, you would not have supported me to take the meeting." He bites his lip.

"Who, Jae? Who was your meeting with?" Okay, here it goes.

"Jeon Jungkook." His head jerks back as he pins me a look. I wait for him to speak.

"Jungkook!" He spits bitterly, lifting a hand and shaking it dismissively. "No, Jae, I won't work with him! He's a liar and has no honor. I'd never trust him again." He looks away but I won't allow him not to consider this.

"Hobi, that's not true! Besides, that was old history and personal! Look past that to protecting our software and our people." He quickly stands.

"You expect me to do business with someone that did that to you!?" I grab hold of my husband's wrist, halting his movement.

"What I expect is for you to put our company and employees ahead of your ego!" I hiss through my teeth. "Hobi, we started this company because we wanted to change the world and fight for the poor, underserved, and underprivileged people of the world. With this software we finally can." He stands still and slowly settles back down on the couch next to me. He's quiet and I know to give him time to process everything that we've talked about. It's a lot to ask but we have no other choice. I actually think it's the best choice. Hobi's a good man but his pride is strong. He slowly nods.