Even If You Beg

Chapter 7

Third Person POV

Can woke up on Saturday morning feeling absolutely dreadful. He wondered if he could successfully fake being sick to his father so that he would not have to go with the rest of the family to the dinner invitation of his father's boss.

He stood up to go to the bathroom. On his way there the delicious smell of breakfast wafted to the hallway upstairs. He quickly finished his morning ritual and ran downstairs.

"Good morning, mom!" he went to hug his mom who was busy piling up the pancakes on one big platter. The crispy bacon strips were already on another platter. This was his absolute favorite breakfast. He took out the jug of maple syrup from one of the cabinets.

"Good morning, son, go get your sister to come down for breakfast," said his mom, "your father will be out here soon. He's almost finished taking his shower."

Can ran upstairs and knocked on his sister's door. When his sister did not answer he announced loudly, "I'm coming inside!"

Can opened the door slowly and peeked into the room. His sister was still fast asleep. She must have spent all night reading all her boy-boy love stories again. Can could not understand why his sister Lay was so much into this kind of stories. It just weirded him out.

Can went over to Lay's bed and shook her awake. Lay started to grumble at him and pulled the bed covers over her head.

"Mom asked me to fetch you to come down and have breakfast. Dad will be joining us soon. He will be looking for you, that's for sure. Hurry, don't let Dad get upset with you."

Lay grudgingly got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. The delicious smell of breakfast took away the sleepiness from her head.

During breakfast, Can's dad reminded everyone that in the evening they were all going to have dinner at his boss's house, upon his boss's invitation.

Everyone was okay with it, except Can who hated formal affairs. He hated having to wear formal clothes. He preferred to wear loose casual clothes, or if possible sports clothes. He was very much into sports. He liked to play soccer.

By late afternoon, his dad urged everyone to start getting dressed in their formal clothes before heading out to his boss's residence.

Can did his best to look good even if he hated wearing formal clothes. He did not want to disappoint his father who wanted to give a good impression of his family to his boss.

When everyone met up in the living room, his dad looked approvingly at Can. He patted Can on his shoulder and said, "You look very handsome, just like your dad."

Can made a face. He hated compliments about his looks. He preferred compliments on how good he was at sports. He looked at his mom and his sister who both looked very pretty and elegant in their formal dresses.

Can was very impressed at the big mansion where his dad took him and his mom and sister. The manservant let them in and started to lead them through a hallway that would lead them to the formal dining room.

As they were walking down the hallway, Can noticed that there were family portraits lining the walls of the hallway. He stopped at one portrait. That boy in the portrait standing between his mom and dad looked eeriely like Tin. As he walked farther down the hallway, his hair stood on end. The grown up boy in the next portrait looked so much like Tin. Could it be possible......?????? Can shook his head vigorously.

In the next moment, the man servant opened the double doors and announced the entrance of Can's dad and his family. His dad's boss who was standing at the head of the table smiled broadly at his dad.

Can's eyes opened wide at the sight of Tin standing on the other side of the table. Can turned around and started running away.

Tin's eyes opened wide at the sight of Can. His knees started to buckle. He held on to the table for support.

"Can! Come back here," his dad yelled at him.

Tin's dad looked at his son who was clutching at the side of the table, looking very pale.

"Do you know that young man, Tin?" he asked.

Tin could not answer. He just looked down, feeling very very sad and scared at the same time. Now he would have an even harder time going after Can.

How could he find a way to convince Can that he was chasing Can for himself and not because he could be a potential co-heir to his dad's company. Tin's dad had told him before dinner that his new Chief Financial Officer who happened to be Can's dad had been the person responsible for re-building their business from near collapse and that he would soon be a major shareholder of their company.

Can's father came back to the dining room, looking very embarrassed, gripping Can's wrist as he brought Can back to the dining table.

"I apologize for my son's behavior, Mr. Medthanan," he said to his boss.

"Oh, don't address me formally, Prem," said his boss, "I prefer that you call me Chanvit from now on."

(A/N: these are all just made up names. I am not too familiar with all the characters in the Love By Chance series)

During dinner, Tin's dad did his best to make it lively. Can's dad tried to do the same. The combined efforts of the two could not bring Tin nor Can into the conversation. Both young men looked absolutely awkward and miserable.

At the end of dinner, both fathers looked helplessly at each other.

As soon as Can's family were escorted back to their car, Tin's father went back inside and instructed the manservant to bring Tin to his private den. He meant to have a very long talk with his son. He was determined to get to the bottom of his son's weird behavior this evening. He was curious about his Chief Financial Officer's son's behavior as well.