Hearts in Seoul ✧

xliii

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warning: language and mentions of rape. slight abuse.

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Aine dragged Kayleigh by her hair, while Miguel tried to calm his wife down as she held her daughter's lock from her tighter within grasp, consequently slapping her. She released her hair with a groan, as Kayleigh clutched her red and burning cheek and rubbed her scalp.

"You're insane. Utterly insane. How are you my child?" her mum scowled. "I did not raise a woman like you."

"Aine... Calm down. She's still our daughter hii," her father argued, in attempts to calm her enraging and obviously, displeased state.

Their hotel room was the most expensive room the hotel had to offer and to top it off, the most expensive hotel in Seoul. Her mother had ranted on and on about how this hotel was only inhabited by artists from the country, and could only be afforded by millionaires. The room had two rooms, one for her and one for her parents, who had obviously expected and har foreseen her stay with them (her parents were extra by packing a month's worth of her clothes with them). Somehow, by the looks of it, they had actually foreshadowed correctly, as they actually plan to abruptly interrupt her study schedule.

"Miguel, she is no longer a baby girl. She has a boyfriend, a gangster boyfriend. I don't see why we should treat her the same way like we did back when she was five — perhaps, that is why she grew up to be this way," her mother explained furiously, words coming out of her mouth sporadically.

Kayleigh sat on the couch, unable to move, before sighing and standing up on her feet, ready to match her mother's sudden rush of insults. "Mum, for one, I haven't done anything wrong and unethical that could possibly anger you and dad. I respect you both and I do not want to tarnish your reputation. Second, if I didn't say this enough, Lucas may be a gangster, but that doesn't mean he is actually a bad person who goes rogue and go against the law. His father is the CEO of Hyun Airlines and his mother, whom he just recently discovered, is the CEO of a fashion company that is also known all over the world."

"Who told you to run your mouth like that, baby girl?" she emphasised the term of endearment. "I hired a private investigator to investigate the Hyun family and I found out that he and his brother have been... well, to be frank, quite off-putting." She handed her a crisp manila folder, filled with Hans' and Lucas' mugshots — Hans was in an American police station while Lucas was in a Korean police station. "Take a look at it yourself."

"No... Lucas isn't a bad guy. He can't be this man..." she gasped. But it was him. He was that man. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Oh yes, he is," her mother chortled. "As a matter of fact, your father and I aren't impressed with his credentials and his family background. Mr Christopher Hyun has faced... quite a lot of downfalls in the past."

"What?"

Miguel cleared his throat. "We know of Christopher Hyun, Kayleigh. He faced quite a lot of trials in the past. I've lost my first case because of him; he took out loans when he first started setting up his company, which he could not pay so the bank he'd taken a loan from, sued him. I was his lawyer, Kayleigh, and this all took place back in the Philippines, so he was jailed there too. Apparently, according to the private investigator we hired, Hans was a bully at his school in the United States, illegally possessing a gun at only ten years old, which he'd used back then. His mother bailed him out, paying a large sum of money to both the school and the newspaper outlets to ensure that their family had a clean slate. I'm sure you know of this. But Lucas, on the other hand, his reputation is not immaculare as you thought either, I'm sorry. He'd been into gang fights a lot, and was even sued for rape back in the day."

"What? No..." Kayleigh could not believe it, but all the files had confirmed everything her father and mother told her. Lucas was a criminal and so was Hans. But... but... they seemed like they were nice people, she thought. It couldn't possibly be true.

"It's true, Kayleigh. Involving yourself with their family won't do you any good. I am sorry," her father merely hung his head low, almost as if he was an omniscient diety, reading her thoughts.

"No..."

"Yes, Kayleigh. Therefore, your father and I decided that it would be right to ban you from seeing Lucas," Aine stated, before gulping down her glass of red wine.

On their way back home, Hans sensed that something was wrong with his little brother, seeing that he had his eyebrows furrowed in frustration, glowering as he tried to hide his displeased scowl. It was worse when they arrived home; he stomped his feet, punching the wall as he scathed his fists. Their parents were watching a movie, while Yohan was at school.  

"Oi. What's wrong with you?" Hans asked, as their parents stood up, puzzled at Lucas' sudden change in behaviour.

"Kayleigh's parents... the Ramirez... they hate me..." he mumbled.

Christopher's head shot up. "Come again?" he gulped. "Ramirez?"

"Yes. Kayleigh's parents," he nodded. "What? Why? You heard of them?"

"Y-yes. If they're lawyers, then yes," Christopher confirmed. "Why? What's wrong?"

"They insulted me and Kayleigh in front of the whole school. They said they had arranged her wedding and marriage and all that shit but fuck, no. They are using their daughter, Dad, to make their company stronger. For clout. For fucking clout! We couldn't do anything."

"They couldn't just do that to our son and to their own daughter. That's crazy!" Georgina exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

"How do you know them, Dad? What did you do?"

Christopher sighed. "I took out a huge loan from the bank back in the day when I started Hyun Airlines, which I couldn't pay off. The bank sued me and I had to get a lawyer. Miguel Ramirez was mine. He lost his first case because of me." His father looked down on the floor, tapping his foot as he was embarrassed by his sudden confession. "Regardless, they shouldn't bat out their anger on you. You aren't me."

"Exactly, Dad. I can't believe it," he scowled. "I want them to like me, Dad, because Kayleigh will be the one I'd want to marry. In order to do that, I need the approval of her parents. But... with what they said, I don't think..."

"Right. They should not lash out their anger at you. You are my child. You aren't me," Christopher acquiesced. "I know what to do."

"What?"

"They want the media's attention, right? That's why they want to acquire the company of Kayleigh's ex-fiancé? Well, we'll give it to them. We'll ask them for a public apology for what they did to you. Surely, they'd be obliged to apologise, because they need the clients' money to survive. Without clients, they won't get the money. They'll apologise for the sake of pride and to avoid tarnishing their reputation," Christopher smirked, as the rest of the family nodded in agreement.

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