Voiceless Cries

Chapter 21 : New Beginning

24th January 2015.

“Van Chantique Hotel Discloses About New CEO” the headlines read. The reader sat back in his seat, relishing in what could have been pride. He sipped his morning coffee as he skimmed the article, which took up half of the page. The article was a redundancy of his knowledge: about how the company only revealed that the new CEO was a blood relation and an official ceremony was taking place soon.

But the picture that accompanied the article was something that he had never seen before. It was obviously a paparazzi-taken picture, with motion blur and an awkward angle indicating the limited time and inexperience of the paparazzo. But what was portrayed on the picture was clear enough for any human’s mind to comprehend. It showed a couple—clearly the current chairman and his wife—with an unfamiliar man. His was unclear and partly obscured by a potted plant nearby. The reader read the caption.

“Director, Mr Kim and his wife seen with their heir at—“

Beep. Beep.

He jolted a little, instinctively reaching for his phone in his pocket. The familiar name written across the screen made him sit a little straighter. He answered the call.

“Yes?”

“YAH! ANH JAEBEOM!” A voice from the other line screamed and he winced as he pulled the phone slightly away.

“Yes, Mr Lee. What do you need from me?” He mused, more from sarcasm than respect.

“Yah, have you done what I told you to do? Is everything ready? Our CEO is going to arrive today.”

“Huh? Did you ask me to do something?” He said, feigning cluelessness. He knew exactly what Sungyeol had ordered him to do. He just wanted to grate on his nerves.

“Yah, Jaebeom. You don’t—“

“Chill a little, Sungyeol. You’re too tense for your own good. I’ve done everything since yesterday, so back off okay?” The guy known as Jaebeom said lightly as he basked in the satisfaction of making Lee Sungyeol flabbergasted, again.

Sungyeol was the personal assistant to the new CEO—well at least, he was about to be. He had been busy ordering people about since the last week before his arrival. He must be so excited having picked as a personal assistant just because he was the most eligible person who was around the CEO’s age. Lucky him.

“Okay then Jaebeom, thanks.” Sungyeol said, smiling.

Sungyeol cut off the call and he allowed himself to relax a bit. He scrolled through his contacts for another number. Finding it, he called.

“Hello?” the other line voiced.

“Yes, Mr Jang, is that you?”

Mr Jang was the florist. He had ordered a number of congratulary flowers. Well, actually a lot that they almost flooded the whole hotel lobby. And that was a lot, considering the gigantic size of the lobby. He had already ordered them three months ago. They should be ready by this morning.

There was scratching on the other side of the line, “Yes! Sungyeol is that you?”

Well, he sounded excited enough, “Yes, it is.”

“I just sent my boys to deliver your flowers. The first of them should be there in fifteen.”

“Ah,” he said, nodding, “thank you, Mr Jang.”

“No problem. The pleasure is all mine, Sungyeol-ah,” he had said sincerely.

Sungyeol smiled into the phone and hung up. Just as he was about to make another call, the door opened and a woman strode in. Sungyeol turned his head when he felt her presence. When he saw her, a smile graced his lips, his earlier conquest already forgotten.