One Temptation | Choi Yeonjun Fanfiction

Chapter 27 - Whatever You Say, Goes

A tiny smirk spreads across his lips. He leans back on the chair to sit more comfortably. He does not speak a word, or show any more emotion, but patiently waits for you to begin. You couldn't tell if he was trying to annoy you right now, but you could say for sure that he was pretty damn good at it.

"Today's meeting was called because the marketing department of Falcon Estate wanted to request more funds to expand its services into a few other countries where it saw potential for considerable growth. Present the proposal you have come up with and highlight its importance while justifying your statements."

You don't get a response for a few seconds before someone decides to open their cursed mouth. "Why are you reviewing our proposal with Mr. Choi? Shouldn't you be at your own company?"

"You only have 15 minutes to convince me if your proposal should be accepted. If it fails to meet the standards of the company, it will be rejected immediately." You reply sternly, placing one hand on your hip while the other readjusts your glasses.

A wave of surprise and unease washes over the attendees. They take a moment to recover. "You have no authority to reject our proposal!"

"Oh, yeah? Try me."

Everyone in the room, along with you, turn their heads to look at Yeonjun once more to hear what he had to say about the situation. Yeonjun looks uninterested in where the conversation was heading. He doesn't bother to face the audience, rather, he keeps his eyes fixated on you as he spoke.

"Whatever you say, goes."

The man who was trying to be so bold shrinks back into his seat as a wave of relief washes over you. You were kind of anticipating such a response... He could have chosen to deny it completely, or professionally handled the situation by simply emphasizing the importance of your role in approving the proposal. But instead... He gave you the full authority to accept or reject it without having to seek his consent...

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

You exhale deeply to calm your nerves.

You need to chill out, y/n. It's just a part of the plan...

You nod and sit down back on your seat in front of Yeonjun as a person from the table comes up to present their proposal, tiny droplets of sweat spread across her forehead as she begins.

જ⁀➴

"This concludes the points of our proposal. Thank you." The woman who finishes her presentation exhales shakily while the rest of her team members clap unenthusiastically. "What do you think about it, sir?" She asks Yeonjun nervously, but brimming with great anticipation.

You move your attention from the woman standing to Yeonjun seated in front of you, only to find out that already had his eyes focused on you, his fervent stare making the hair on your body stand up in response. Not a single thought could be deciphered behind those dark eyes.

"What do you say?" He asks you.

To divert your attention, you look down at the points you had noted while she had been presenting and think hard about what you should say.

Why is it so hard to give an answer? It was never this hard when I was the CEO... Why can't I decide? I could give a yes or no answer halfway through the presentation back then...

The words on your notepad start mixing with one another, making it impossible for you to read them, let alone understand them.

"y/n will send you an email about her answer in 3 days. You all are dismissed." Yeonjun declares and no one wastes a single second to scurry out of the conference room.

"You alright? You suddenly blanked out..." He asks in a gentle voice when everyone leaves and it's just the two of you.

"Yeah..." You pinch the center of your brows and silently berate yourself for letting your self-doubt take over your judgement.

"Mhm..." Yeonjun acquiesces with a hint of skepticism. "Let's return to my office and go through the files for the next meeting, then." He suggests, to which you agree and follow him out.

જ⁀➴

Along the way towards his office, you both bump into two people who were walking towards you, talking to each other like good friends.

Yeonjun stops in his tracks at the sight of them, causing you to almost bump into him. "Oh, hey, dad... I didn't expect you to be here today. Is something the matter?"

What? Dad?

You side-step Yeonjun and stand right next to him to examine the person he was addressing to. One of them was his dad alright, you could now see where he got his genes from; anyone would be able to see the resemble.

As for the other person... It wasn't the fact that you were seeing him in person that shocked you, but the fact that he was the person walking side by side with Choi Yeonjun's dad like a good friend was something that you were not looking forward to experience, ever.

Ryan Archer. Father of Liam Archer.

What the actual fuck is he doing here in this building with his dad?

Whatever the reason was, it definitely did not bode well for the future...

"Ah, Yeonjun, wonderful to bump into you." His dad greets him and starts speaking to him without even looking in your general direction. "I wanted to introduce you to Ryan here. We were talking about a lot of fruitful opportunities that could be possible if you both were to work together."

Only when he is done talking – talking about something that brought you horrors – does he look towards you and the warmth that his face radiated instantly lessens as surprise and confusion takes over, which was expected, actually. The news of you not being a CEO spread like wildfire the very moment Liam stepped over your position. So of course, he was not expecting you to be here with his son; not when everyone was assuming you to be hiding away somewhere in the shadows because of the humiliation that came under these circumstances.

"Oh... Park y/n..." He says, although awkwardly, but you are easily able to look past his calm, unbothered demeanor and feel the fierce, unforgiving look towards you he had in his eyes.

You only give a small bow in response, not bothering to give Ryan even a second of your attention.

"Hah." Ryan scoffs, which you knew was coming. "So this is where you've come to seek shelter after being ridiculed by the masses?"

"What...?" Yeonjun gives Ryan a puzzled look, oblivious of the reason of his hostility towards you.

"Oh, dear child." Ryan shakes his head in utter disappointment, pretending as if he cared about Yeonjun like his own child. "You better be on guard against this woman here." He gives you a dirty look before continuing. "Her superiority complex will make her do anything to get what she wants, including sleeping her way to the top."

"You better keep your nonsense to yourself." You take a step forward and warn him through gritted teeth. Even Yeonjun's dad had started giving you disapproving looks with a frown that he couldn't hide.

"Tch. Stop acting like you're oh-so innocent. You did it once and you plan on doing it again. How shameless can you be?!" Ryan's nose flares in disgust.

Crack.

Thud.