10. What if?

"...Model Jung Haeson shared a post of her photoshoot with international brand.."

"...another resurfaced picture of Lee Taeho with JK industries's CFO…"

"...Phoenix's stock value plummets 15% following the recent incident regarding their CEO…"

The coffee mug thuds against the table slightly as a hand placed it down. Mirae briefly looked away from the screen of her tablet, to the coffee which was done just as she liked it— with cream, foam and two sugar cubes at the side, she stared at it for a beat but turned back to the screen coldly.

"Hey, stop obsessing over that." Giseok spoke up, getting a good look of what she was looking at and he reached over, shutting the cover of the tablet. Mirae glanced up at him, eyeing him harshly before she tipped the cover open with one hand. She frowned, feeling a lock of hair falling at the side of her face and tried to blow it away. Giseok leaned against his elbow, a small smile playing on his lips as he watched her. Gosh, he was so smitten. He first came to Seoul and as much as he liked to attribute his decision to stay in Seoul to Lee Taeho, he can't deny that Yang Mirae played an even bigger part.

"Ah that won't work," He said, digging one hand in his pocket, "Here, use this." He continued, handing her a clip.

Mirae stared down at his hand, looking closely at the pink polka dotted clip. Not quite large, not small. She remembered this. It was too memorable not to forget. It was her clip.

"Do you carry that around everywhere?" She hissed, snatching the clip out of his grip, "Weirdo."

"Hehe," Giseok grinned until his face squished up and his eyes turned into two slits, "Don't be like that. I know you don't like your hair falling on your face. You have such pretty hair though. My mom says it's thick and healthy."

Mirae looked at him, eyes widening, "Your mom?" She harshly shut the tablet cover, leaning in threateningly, "Your mom? You jerk, you told your mom?"

Mirae looked around cautiously, realizing that her voice unknowingly raised in octaves. They were kicked out of the office immediately. It was hard to convince Taeho to listen to them if he doesn't like the sound of something. So they knew better than to hang around. Mirae decided that this was the right moment to take a small break and visit the quaint cafe that opened opposite to the Phoenix building recently. It was a small, clean cafe with yellow accentuations and it went well with the mood of the place. There were hardly any people around and the office people hardly came there as it was only a cafe. It was not affordable and convenient as a lunch spot so it was usually avoided. Mirae soon found it as her safe haven, it was small but the seats were properly spaced without privacy being overlooked and it was not too hot near the street view so she could watch people and catch suspicious movement at the Phoenix building. She loved speculating possible gossip even though Taeho told her it was borderline stalkerish. As for Giseok, she had no idea what he was doing here, ordering coffee for her and making sure he secured the best dessert that she secretly liked.

"What? Is this supposed to be a secret? I have been chasing you for years now, she has to know why I am still not married when the love of my life won't even talk to me."

"It's supposed to be a secret and you're not supposed to be here. This is supposed to be my break."

"Oh," Giseok fiddled with his fingers as he looked away, "I didn't know that. Since we were both kicked out, I figured that we would go somewhere and spend some time. You know, talk about what happened?"

Mirae suddenly slammed the tablet on the table, glaring at him through her lashes. She looked horrible, with her head slightly bent down and her eyebags accentuated. Giseok gulped and smiled nervously, looking around. This went on for five minutes before Giseok sighed and reached out, trying to place a hand over hers. Mirae looked at what he was trying and quickly slid her hand under the table, leaving his hand midway across the table.

"Mirae, don't be like that. You're hurting me, let's not break up. I love you."

Her eyebrows relaxed a bit as she took in the hurt written across his face. She sighed, turning her attention away. Giseok watched her drop the sugar cubes into her coffee, completely ignoring him. If he could have, he would have totally whimpered but realizing he was defeated, he slowly picked himself up and got up from the seat.

"You can help me then." She spoke up, making him freeze in his spot. He looked at her, and she looked right back at him.

"Really?"

"I need to fix this problem anyway. If President Lee keeps being stubborn, this past will follow him everywhere and you know how judgmental those corporate old coots are. They will be reluctant to do business with him and contracts will be harder. I can't risk that."

Giseok smiled, already settled back in his seat opposite to hers, "You really care for Phoenix Tech, it's one of the many things I love about you."

"Yes, it'll be a pity if my salary took a hit from this scandal. My lifestyle is getting expensive by the minute."

"If it's the cats, I told you I'll take care of them. You didn't have to kidnap them from my place."

Mirae turned to him, regarding him critically, "They are my babies, it's natural that they stay with their mother, Jang Giseok."

"Jang Giseok…." Giseok slumped in his seat, "what happened to Gi Oppa?"

"Anyway, what is with President Lee? I know he can be quite…cautious about his past but I didn't think he would act in such a way."

"Mirae, i really don't think that bringing Yejeong in this would be a good idea."

"Yejeong?"

"The girl he wrote the letter to, Bo Yejeong."

"Bo Yejeong…" Mirae mumbled, typing the name into her tablet. She was already searching for her on SNS.

"Ah, hey. Don't do that, Taeho will kill me if he finds out. I told you that in secrecy."

"Shut up, you are the one who started all this in the first place."

"I was drunk and reading that letter made me emotional, it's not my fault…entirely."

Mirae frowned, scrolling through the assortment of Bo Yejeongs on the search results. It would be almost impossible to get to this on her own, she doesn't even know President Lee's hometown. He was really tight-lipped about his life before Seoul. And he didn't appear to have any relatives. Which Mirae always thought was strange.

"It's better if we leave Yejeong alone, all this limelight near Taeho is not good for her. Why are you so eager to rope her in anyway?"

Mirae sighed, "I don't know. I thought it would help President Lee. He has always been buried in work and now he's getting married for work. I feel bad for him."

"That's what Taeho is, some people are like that. Meddling won't do any good."

"But have you read what he wrote? That's on whole another level, he seems like a totally different person. It makes me want to meet this person he is talking about."

Giseok huffed, shaking his head, "Trust me, Taeho was really a whole different person. When I first came here and met him, it felt like a part of him had died and left a shell behind."

Mirae looked off in the distance, working the cogwheels in her mind. So something had happened in the past, and it probably involves this Bo Yejeong as well. Something was surely up and she was eager to find out. There was no way she was just going to rest.

"This is just a project of yours, isn't it?" Giseok spoke up, examining the look on her face.

Mirae smiled to herself, "It's a pity to just let him go off the market with Haeson Unnie. Wouldn't it be better that he experiences something before he drowns himself in the company."

"Don't try to reason it, you just want to start some drama." Giseok sighed, shaking his head. But he was deep in thought himself. He didn't know what had happened between the two. Taeho and Yejeong. They were inseparable. He had watched them grow up together when he grew up with them as well. There was always something about their bond and he had always thought that they would end up together. He believed that he would be the weird third eye in their relationship, the third wheel of the vehicle, the third leg.

But things always change, and people change.

He had never believed that he would be in Seoul and Taeho would become a work-crazed womanizing CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world.

He found himself thinking, what would really happen if he brought Yejeong into this?