The Hunt

28

I hate this coffee shop.

I don't even like coffee.

I am never coming back here!

Why is he here?

"Oppa?" Jimin asked, looking back and forth between Sehyun and me.

"What are you doing here, Oppa?"

He smirked at me and took a seat opposite Jimin.

"I am a guest lecturer at the university." He regarded Jimin, "Who is this?"

"Park Jimin," Jimin offered his hand to Sehyun who took it with reluctance.

Realization hit Sehyun as soon as he dropped Jimin's hand. A large smile spread across his face.

"Park Jimin? The new heir to The Park Family?"

Jimin glanced to me, eyes questioning. I gave him a quick nod.

"Yes. Who are you?"

"Choi Sehyun, but you can call me Sam," he chuckled. "I'm your future brother-in-law. It's nice to meet you."

I couldn't stop my eyes from rolling back into my head. "What do you want, Sehyun?"

My older brother raised his eyebrows at me, feigning offence at my choice of words. "What do you mean, Y/n? I haven't seen you since Hanna's wedding."

My older sister Hanna's wedding had been the straw that broke the camel's back. She had unceremoniously dumped me from the bridal party two days before the wedding claiming that I didn't fit the 'aesthetic' she was going for. She said I would ruin the wedding photos. My mother agreed.

During the wedding reception, I was asked to get more ice from a local grocery store. The wedding reception was held in a large, opulent hotel and fully catered. They had ice machines. It was just a not-so-subtle attempt to get me to leave for a while. When I mentioned the ice machines, my father told me to 'just go home' because my sister had complained that my presence was making the replacement bridesmaid uncomfortable.

"Can you blame me for leaving?"

Sehyun snorted. "No, not really. But it was Hanna's big day, and she's 'Daddy's little girl.'"

"And I'm just a bargaining chip?" I was beginning to shake as my rage was building up. I left my life with my family behind for a reason. Seeing my brother was bringing up memories I had tried to leave in the past.

"More or less, yeah." Sehyun shrugged his shoulders. "Look, Y/n, I'm not going to tell mom and dad that I saw you, if that's what you're worried about."

"Thank you," I grumbled, still not fully trusting my brother.

Sehyun was the fourth born, and while we were close in age, we did not spend much time together growing up. From a young age, Sehyun attended boarding schools in Switzerland, England and the US. Sehyun was said to have a genius IQ when he was very young, and our parents wanted him to have the best education despite him being neither the heir nor second born son. The plan was for him to become a world renowned surgeon. Instead, Sehyun studied law.

"Honestly, I don't see them that often." Sehyun gave me a knowing look before turning his attention to Jimin. "I'm sorry to hear about your cousin."

"Thank you," Jimin glanced at me, and I nodded in approval. "We're still looking into what happened."

"As you should, what with the rumors..." Sehyun trailed off when I shot him a glare. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, how did you two meet? When did you meet?"

"We met a few days ago." Jimin answered.

"He was stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire, but didn't have a jack. I pulled over to help." I smiled at Jimin, urging him with my mind to play along. It wasn't a lie per se, just not the entire truth. "We got to talking and I figured out who he was."

"We're just getting to know each other right now," Jimin added. "I haven't even told my family about her, yet."