Fate and Destiny

TWENTY THREE

Youngjae couldn't contain his excitement when Wednesday came.  Sungjae told him about their 'tree hunting expedition' just before they left for school on Monday, and as soon as the PA announced the end of school for the day, Youngjae sprinted out of his classroom and headed for the Teachers' Lounge to look for Joy.  "Imo, where's eomma?" he asked Irene.  "She's still in her classroom when I passed by a while ago," she replied.  He was about to run out again when Seulgi grabbed his arm.  "She'll be here soon. Just wait here," she told him.  Youngjae stood restless while he kept looking at the door.  "Why are you in such a hurry?" Wendy asked him.  "We're going to appa's office," Youngjae said excitedly.  Just then, the door opened and Joy walked in with Yeri.  "Eomma! Let's go," Youngjae ran to Joy and grabbed her hand, trying to drag her out of the room.  "Wait! Let me put these away first," Joy said, indicating the books in her arms.  "Yah! Youngjae. What are you so excited about?" Yeri asked him.  "We're going to appa's office," he said again.  "And why are you going to your appa's office?" Irene asked while looking at Joy, putting emphasis on appa.  "We're buying a tree!" Youngjae said eagerly.  "A tree?!" the four women chorused in confusion.  "Christmas tree. We're going to decorate the house for the holidays and Sungjae-ssi doesn't have decors so we're buying a few. And we're picking him up at his office," Joy explained.  "Oh, okay. Well, you'd better go. The little elf is getting impatient," Seulgi laughed, pointing at Youngjae who was already at the door, beckoning for Joy to hurry.  Joy could only shake her head in amusement.  "I'll see you tomorrow, unnie, Yeri," Joy waved to them, joining Youngjae at the door.  "Have fun shopping," Wendy said.  "Yah! Youngjae, don't forget to shop for my Christmas present," Yeri teased.  "I won't," Youngjae immediately replied, making the others laugh out loud with his candidness.

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WE'RE HERE.

Joy texted Sungjae when their car was already in front of the building entrance.  She was startled when her phone rang almost immediately after she sent the text.  "Sungjae-ssi," Joy answered the call.  "Sooyoung, come up first. My meeting is running a little late. Tell Jongkook to just drop you off. I'll drive us home later," Sungjae told her.  "Oh! Uhm, okay. We'll see you in a while," Joy said.  She relayed Sungjae's instruction to Jongkook before getting out of the car with Youngjae.  They were immediately led by the guard towards the private elevator leading up to Sungjae's office as soon as she gave her name.  From the receptionist's counter to the people in the hallway leading to Sungjae's office, Joy could feel their curious eyes following her and Youngjae, making her feel a little self-conscious.  They were met by Sungjae's secretary, Park Narae, when they arrived at his office floor.  "Hello, Ms. Park. I'm Narae, Sungjae's secretary. I'm sorry but his meeting is running a little late. Would you like to wait in his office?" she asked, smiling warmly at them.  "No. It's okay. We'll just wait for him here," Joy smiled back, indicating the couch near Narae's desk.  "And please, call me Joy," she added.  Narae nodded in acknowledgement.  "And this must be Youngjae," Narae turned to him.  "Hello. I'm Yook Youngjae. It's nice to meet you," Youngjae formally bowed to her in greeting.  "Oh! Hello. Such a charming boy," she said, fascinated by Youngjae's good manners.  Narae offered them drinks while they waited but Joy and Youngjae declined politely.  While waiting, Joy could hear the whispered conversation of the office staff who, she is certain, are all curious about her and Youngjae.  Fortunately, Joy and Youngjae didn't have to wait long as after a few minutes, Sungjae came out of the conference room, followed by Eunkwang, Changsub and a few other staff.  He immediately saw them since the sofa where Joy and Youngjae are sitting is directly across the conference room.  His hyung-deul were fascinated to see Sungjae's face lit up as soon as he saw them.  Joy's eyes widened with shock when Youngjae yelled, "APPA!" then ran to hug Sungjae.  Her cheeks turned red when she saw Eunkwang and Changsub exchange meaningful looks upon hearing Youngjae call their maknae, appa, but otherwise, remained silent.  Stealing a glance at the other people in the room, Joy can tell from their expression that they clearly heard Youngjae.  Narae was smiling delightedly, while the other staffs were trying to hide their amusement.  "Hey, buddy!" Sungjae said, smiling warmly as he bent down to hug Youngjae.  Joy let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.  She was afraid that Sungjae would be upset being called appa by Youngjae in his office, so she was relieved to see his reaction.  "Hello, samchon," Youngjae bowed to Eunkwang and Changsub.  "Hello, Youngjae," they greeted back.  "Hey! You want to see my office?" Sungjae asked Youngjae, who quickly nodded.  He opened the door next to the conference room, ushering Joy and Youngjae in.  Eunkwang and Changsub followed quietly.  "Wow! Appa, your desk is so big," Youngjae said in admiration.  "Your *jeungjobu used to sit there. Then your harabeoji. Now, I'm the one using it. And someday, it will be your turn," Sungjae said.  "Really?" Youngjae asked in awe.  "Yes. So you have to study well," Sungjae told him.  "I will, appa. Promise," Youngjae said, putting his right palm over his heart in an act of solemn oath.  Sungjae and Joy smiled at each other at Youngjae's cute action.  Changsub cleared his throat.  "So, Joy. How have you been doing?" he asked her.  "I'm well, oppa, thank you," Joy replied, breaking eye contact with Sungjae.  Eunkwang saw Sungjae frown as he gave Joy a sharp look when she called Changsub, oppa.  Wanting to satisfy his curiosity, Eunkwang also turned to Joy.  "Don't forget this Saturday, Joy. You and Youngjae have to be there. Hyolyn really wants to meet the two of you," he said.  "Yes. We'll be there. Sungjae-ssi already told us about it. I would love to meet her, too. And Youngjae is also excited to meet Yoona. Thank you for inviting us, oppa," Joy told him.  Sneaking a glance at their maknae, Eungkwang almost laughed out loud when he saw him scowl at Joy.  "Yah! Park Sooyoung!" Sungjae said loudly, startling Joy.  "What?!" Joy asked him in surprise.  "We've been living under one roof for a while now and you still call me Sungjae-ssi. But you call my hyung-deul, oppa, and you've only met them a few times. How come?" Sungjae said.  "Yeah, eomma. How come?" Youngjae echoed.  "Well, they are older than me," Joy explained.  "But I'm also older than you," Sungjae argued.  "Yeah, eomma. He is," Youngjae seconded.  "By only a year," she said.  "But I'm still older than you," Sungjae insisted.  "Yeah, eomma. Still," Youngjae dittoed.  "So, should I call you oppa, too?" Joy asked him sarcastically.  "Yes! You should!" Sungjae declared.  "Yeah, eomma. You should," Youngjae repeated.  "Yook Youngjae! Stop parroting your appa. And will you two stop tag-teaming me?" Joy said, flustered.  "We will, if you call me oppa," Sungjae demanded.  Joy glared at the two who were staring back at her with the same expression on their identical faces.  "Fine, OPPA! Aish! I can't win with the two of you," Joy gave up.  The two Yooks smirked in triumph.  Closing her eyes for a moment in frustration, she didn't see them secretly give high-five to each other, while his hyung-deul watched them in amusement.  "Let's go," Sungjae said, picking up his laptop bag.  "I'll see you tomorrow," Sungjae turned to his hyung-deul.  "Okay," Changsub said.  "I'll see you both on Saturday," Eunkwang said to Joy and Youngjae.  Joy nodded.  Passing by Narae's desk, Sungjae gave her instructions.  "I won't be back today. Just leave the minutes of the meeting on my desk. Eunwoo will bring it later," he told her.  "Okay," Narae said.  Joy thanked Narae, while Youngjae bid her goodbye.  "Bye, Ms. Narae. It was nice meeting you," he said.  "You, too, Youngjae," Narae replied.  "Goodbye, samchon," Youngjae said, waving to his appa's hyung-deul.  Eunkwang waved back.  "Bye, squirt," Changsub teased him, making Youngjae giggle.  "Oh, he is whipped, and he doesn't even know it," Changsub said when the trio got into the elevator.  "I never pictured Sungjae as a dad, but he seems to be doing a good job," Eunkwang commented.  They chuckled, happy for their maknae.

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"I told ahjumma we'll just eat out so she doesn't need to cook dinner," Sungjae told them as they stepped out of the elevator.  "Okay. She can go home early, too, so it's good then," Joy said.  "Yeah!" Sungjae agreed.  "Appa, we should buy a birthday gift for Yoona. And Yeri imo, too," Youngjae said.  "Jaejae, you know imo was just teasing you," Joy told him.  "I know. But I said I'll get her a Christmas present. I'll be breaking my promise if I don't," he told Joy.  They were already at the building's lobby, and Sungjae could feel everyone's eyes on them.  "Such a cute boy. Is that his son? He looks just like the President," Sungjae heard a guest ask one employee, whom Sungjae recognized as a part of the Marketing Team, in a hushed tone.  He secretly smiled when he heard a delivery guy whisper to one of the security staff, "is that President Yook's girlfriend? She's beautiful."  Sungjae was glad that Joy was deep in conversation with Youngjae.  If she heard the comments, he knew she'll be embarrassed.  Not just because they mistook her for his girlfriend, but also because she was called beautiful.  Sungjae couldn't fathom why she gets shy when someone compliments her.  It's not like she hasn't been called beautiful. I'm sure a lot of men had told her that, he thought.  For some reason, the idea of some guy telling Joy she's beautiful bothered and irritated him, and he couldn't understand why.  "Appa!" Sungjae heard Youngjae call him.  "Huh? What?" Sungjae asked, looking down at Youngjae who pointed to the valet who brought his car out front.  Sungjae didn't realize they were already in front of the building.  "Sungjae-ssi..." Joy began to say then stopped when she saw Sungjae raise an eyebrow.  "Oppa!" she started again with an eye-roll, making Sungjae and his mini-me laugh.  "Are you okay? You seem distracted," Joy said.  "Yeah! I just thought of something we discussed in the meeting earlier," he replied.  "Shall we?" Sungjae asked, opening the car doors and bowed to them in mock gallantry.  "Yes, we shall," Youngjae said excitedly, practically diving into the backseat of the car.  Joy and Sungjae were stunned for a second, then looked at each other and started laughing.

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They bought an artificial fir tree that can be re-used for the next Christmases to come, and boxes of Christmas ornaments such as balls, stars, an angel tree-topper and colorful lights to decorate the tree.  While Joy wanted to keep it simple, Sungjae and Youngjae kept adding decorations in their cart.  But she put her foot down when the two pointed to a life-size Santa Claus and two reindeer figures.  For Yoona's birthday gift, they got her an art set since, according to Sungjae, his Eunkwang hyung often mention how she likes to draw and that she's good at it.  Sungjae and Joy decided to set another day to buy Christmas gifts for their family and friends seeing that it was almost dinner time.  After paying for their purchases and arranging to have it delivered to the house, they headed to the restaurant where Narae made a dinner reservation for them.

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JEUNGJOBO (also JEUNGJOHAL-ABEOJI or JEUNGJO)   --   great-grandfather