Worlds Apart - Taekook - Book 2

Chapter 259 - Stepping Up!

Taehyung opened his eyes and knew before he turned over that Jungkook's side of the bed would be empty. He also knew that his husband would be in the gym and would either walk straight into the bedroom or go for a shower once his workout was finished.

Tae rubbed his eyes and reached for his phone. Today was the day of the meeting at the legal premises of the lawyer handling Ryan's will. It was unethical to have no family at all at the funeral but this was Ryan's call, therefore who could argue and all three brothers attended day one, yesterday..

Day one of the funeral followed the tense evening at Han-Shik and Emi's. The CEO didn't know what conversation between Kyong and Han-Shik had taken place while he'd left the room to gather his composure after he'd told some home truths, but when they returned, things were a lot calmer.

The most grating thing for Tae was the lack of accountability from the middle brother. He always sounded accusatory or like he was playing the victim... even when he was apologising. Han-Shik was that person who would start off an apology and you would begin to buy into the sincerity and then came the 'BUT' and whatever followed would make everything said previously... insignificant. It was annoying.

The three brothers did manage to form some kind of pact and agree that they would all attend day one of the funeral, which they did, without drama. They heard via Ho-Joon that their mother wouldn't be attending until later in the day as she was too grief stricken, so the three men made sure they left just before she arrived. Day one of the funeral and avoiding Nuri was successful and further to that, Jungkook arrived back at the hotel in a cheery mood and not as irritated or tense as he had been on every other occasion when he'd met with his brother.

Tae didn't trust Han-Shik and he wasn't convinced that he ever would. Emi assured the CEO that her husband was being sincere and that he did want to unite with his brothers away from Nuri... but Tae would hold back until he was sure because he hadn't listened to his gut instinct when Nuri first came on the scene and he'd had his fingers burnt that time.

He had warmed towards Emi, though. While the brothers were figuring out arrangements for arriving and departing the funeral home and the meeting at the legal premises, Emi had offered to show Tae the roof garden that was a bit like a secret oasis of the building. She'd asked him how he was instead of defending her husband and she'd agreed with Tae's outburst whilst explaining the situation from Han-Shik's point of view. Tae thought it was admirable that she could discuss Han-Shik so objectively but he could clearly see that she was a big advocate for peace amongst the siblings. Emi divulged her desire to distance herself and her husband from Nuri. She'd had one too many candid conversations with Jara, she believed every word that the mum of two told her and the obvious solution would have been to speak to her family for protection... but she didn't want to drag them into it and she couldn't trust the poisonous groundwork that may already have been laid.

Being in Busan gave the CEO a chance to meet with the company he held majority shares in. he had no regrets about the damage he'd caused to Ryan's business. Taehyung was at peace with everything that happened as a consequence of the Yang's actions concerning both the development and Nuri's visit to Seoul. Now that Ryan was gone, with Han-Shik set to take over the businesses, it was amusing that the CEO held some cards that could continue to have an impact... he didn't mess around when it came to business but the middle brother would find that out, depending on how he chose to operate.

SEOK
Are we still partying on the yacht at New Year?

Tae reads the message on his phone but has no idea what's going on aside from the fact that the wedding had been postponed.

TAE
Everyone is at a loose end so it makes sense. We'll be back in a couple of days.

SEOK
I'll keep new year free. How's it going?