If This Isn't Love

56: JUNE 2019 - Reckoning

Seokjin was worried.

After he visited Luisa three weeks ago, he was sure that they had reached an understanding. He closed his eyes and revisited that glorious night when he fell asleep in her arms after their frenzied lovemaking. The next morning he emptied himself into her two more times, taking his time to make sure that she felt his undying love. They spent the entire day in bed. Luisa seemed sad, but he promised her that he would return soon and asked her not to despair.

He went back to Seoul and decided not to marry Youngsoon. He told her father that Taehyung would take over his position at Kim International and that if he wanted his daughter to marry the Kim heir, she would marry Taehyung. He smiled to himself when he thought that he'd solved the problems.

He had spoken privately with Youngsoon. She was on the verge of making a scene until he reminded her that the plan was never for her to marry him in the first place. She was supposed to marry Taehyung. He reassured her for over two hours that his was the best course of action. He reminded her that he had a girlfriend back home that he was planning to marry. He also promised her that he would never reveal to Taehyung what had transpired between them when she'd asked him to have sex with her.

Youngsoon bit her lip, holding back tears.

He was as gentle as he could be with her. He wanted her to feel as if she was the one who made the choice to return her affections to Taehyung.

He didn't want to stay in Korea. He didn't feel it was his home anymore. Taehyung had more than proven he was capable of running the company. His tenderhearted cousin deserved a chance to be happy with the woman he loved. Seokjin hoped Youngsoon would forget about him and accept his cousin.

What was causing him to worry was the fact that Luisa hadn't answered any of his calls or texts for the past week. School had dismissed for summer two weeks ago. The last time he had heard from her was when he called her after he'd landed in Seoul.

"I need to take care of a few things here, and then I will return. I promise," he had told her excitedly. "I love you, Lu. You know that."

"I know now how much you value our love, Seokjin," she had replied.

He had laughed and asked her what that meant, but she'd simply told him she had to hang up.

He sat back on the sofa pensively. Had she meant something else than what he thought? Of course he valued their love. It was the only thing he cared about. Was he missing something?

The front door opened and closed. He looked up as the steps led into the living room.

"Oh, hi, Tae."

Taehyung took a breath and sat on a chair opposite the sofa. "So, hyung, you're sure about this?"

Seokjin nodded. He'd told his cousin several times that Lee Jeongho had eventually accepted his decision to leave Taehyung in charge of the company as the Kim heir, and he was welcome to have Youngsoon marry Tae if he still wanted to unite their interests.

Seokjin smiled at his cousin. "Yes, of course I'm sure. This was the plan all along, wasn't it?"

The younger man also smiled. "Yes. I just can't believe that it's going to work out." He paused. "For a minute there, I thought that you would decide to marry Soon for real. She really acted as if she loved you."

The older man's smile dimmed, and he averted his eyes. "Well, that was all pretend, remember?" He rubbed his sweaty palm on his pants leg.

"What about you? You've been out of sorts lately."

Seokjin glanced down at his phone. "Yeah. I haven't been able to get a hold of Luisa. It's been a week."

"Maybe her phone isn't working," Taehyung offered. "Have you tried calling any of her friends?"