One Temptation | Choi Yeonjun Fanfiction

Chapter 19 - You're Not That Special

"What do you mean?" You cross your arms. "I have a meeting with the board members, not you."

It's as if he sees something hilarious written on your face, which was probably just your shocked and partly disgusted expression, that makes him throw his head back and laugh to his heart's content before he even bothered to give you a reply.

Wiping off an invisible stray tear from his right eye, he shakes his head, smiling like the idiot he was. "Oh, my dear." He sighs to calm himself down. "I love seeing you so flabbergasted."

"Stop playing these stupid games with me, Choi. Where are the board members? And where is the meeting?"

"Oh, come on. This is the meeting you're here for. As for the board members..." He tilts his head with a mischievous smile. "I dismissed them."

"What?!" Your jaw drops. "Why?!"

"As soon as I came to know that the Park y/n is personally gracing a meeting in Falcon Estate with her presence, I just had to attend it myself. I mean, I need to make sure that you'd have the warmest of welcome."

"Ugh- Could you stop emphasizing "the" when you say my name. It... doesn't feel right." You grumble as you step forward to seat yourself on the opposite end of the conference table.

"Must you really sit that far away? I don't bite." A short pause, before he continues with a tiny smirk. "Yet."

You snap your head in his direction and shoot him a death glare, to which the tiny smirk plastered over his face only widens.

Lord, give me strength.

Not wanting to waste any more of your energy on bickering with him any longer than you should, you clench your jaw and silently walk across the length of the table to sit on the chair next to the one Yeonjun was seated on. "Besides..." He adds as you sit down. "Every flattery directed towards you is quite well deserved."

His words remind of your not-so-passive aggressive meetup with Yeonjun a few weeks ago when you barged into his office and took out your anger on him for swooping your stocks. And his words that had stuck with you till this day...

Instead of coming all the way to Falcon Estate to complain about me buying the stocks first, why don't you work harder to keep your clients more inclined to your deals?

The words echo through your mind. Word by word.

Why don't you work harder...?

Yes, you're still petty about it. And rightfully so, is what you would tell yourself. How could you not be? You were sick and tired of hearing those words over and over again. Words that were said with so much disappointment. For so many years.

After these words had been basically engraved onto your brain, how could you ever think that any praise you got was well deserved? And whether people actually meant it when they would generously throw compliments at you. But you knew too well, that in reality, all they'd do is spread nasty rumors about you as soon as you'd walk out of the room.

"Humph." You put on a strong front, that was in stark contrast to your inner turmoil. "I don't trust your words. Since that's not what you thought about me a few weeks ago."

"A few weeks ago...?" Yeonjun's face morphs into a frown as he tries to recall what you were referring to in that span of time. "Wait... You're kidding me, right?!"

You shrug it off, not wanting to talk anymore about your feelings from the past that didn't really matter.

You don't dare look Yeonjun right in the eye, because you feared that if you did, he might see your emotions and worries written all over your face. The atmosphere had already turned pretty heavy and there was no way in hell you were going to turn it into some therapy session next.

Yuna gives you a file, which you open and take out the document which contained written proof of the transactions that verified Falcon Estate had not paid their dues and were well over the given deadline, and push it over towards Yeonjun.

He doesn't even spare a glance to the important item that was passed over to him, instead, he keeps his eyes locked onto your face, his arms folded in front of him. "I wouldn't have ever guessed that you'd be so hung up over something so futile."

"If you turn to page number seven, you'll see the total amount." You ignore his statement and try steering the conversation back to where it should be. "It's no small amount."

Yeonjun doesn't budge. Doesn't move an inch. Doesn't speak a word. He only stares at you intently. Searching for answers that he would never find.

You wait for him to speak. To change the subject. But he doesn't. So you attempt to change the topic of this conversation yourself by reaching over to the file that you previously pushed in front of him. "If you can't even flip the pages then I'll just..."

Yeonjun's hand instantly lands over yours, stopping you from opening the file.

Your eyes widen in surprise and you retract your hand the very next second. Feeling like you just touched a blazing hot ball of iron.

"Why did you let my words affect you so much?" He presses on. "Why should only those words matter, and not the ones that I just said. And meant it..."

This is getting out of hands.

The way he spoke with so much sincerity... It made you wonder if you could just allow yourself to bask in the comfort of those words for just a little while...

"Seriously, Choi?" A hollow laugh escapes your lips. This entire situation was draining every ounce of your energy. "You're not that special. I wouldn't let a small comment by just a singular person get to me so easily."

But it did anyway because my wounded soul couldn't ever catch a break to heal itself since you weren't the only one to say something like that.

Is what you had silently conveyed through your words without even realizing. But it was too late, and you couldn't take back what you had already said.

The look in his eyes...

You couldn't tell apart the emotions swirling through them. Was it pity? Sympathy? Understanding? Concern? Affection? All of them? None of them? You didn't know.

But one thing was for sure. And it was that you didn't want to know.

Because if you did. You wouldn't be so sure of the feelings that will rage inside you.

Yeonjun clears his throat and picks up the file, turning to the page number you told him to. He starts scanning the page from the top. His jaw unhinging halfway through.

You finally let yourself relax and let out a quiet sigh, leaning back into your chair. "Huge. I know."

"Why does Falcon Estate owe Black Pearl so much?!" He exclaims while rubbing his forehead.

"Like I'm supposed to know. Ask your CFO (Chief Finance Officer) or something? I don't know. I wasn't the one taking loans." You counter, partly annoyed and partly baffled at him not knowing about such an important issue.

"Ah yes... The CFO..." He mumbles under his breath.

"What about him?" You raise an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Ahem. Nothing about her." Yeonjun shifts in his seat and turns to the next page, meticulously examining its contents.

"Her?" You try to reconfirm what you just heard. "When did he become a her? Hold up- Did you change your CFO?"

A disgruntled voice escapes from the back of his throat before he looks up from the papers in his hand. "We had a minor issue so we had to change him, yes." He replies in a strained voice.

"A minor issue you say? That made you change the person in such an important position entirely? Without the media or anyone knowing? How fascinating." A wicked smile dances over your lips.