Chapter 2 Gaeul

One month later

Nodding at the fourth guy of the night, I was thinking of all the ways I could dispose of a body without getting caught. I had almost avoided working this event, but thanks to Nabi's relationship with my mother I had no excuse. Now, I was fighting against a tie choking me and hearing conversations between men who were more interested in networking than what any of the women in the room had to say.

Before I knew it, I was breaking one of my cardinal rules. I stole a glass of Champagne off my tray and chugged it down.

I took this time to look around the room.

Deco Recon could take any venue and turn it into a living work of art. My dad had used them once for my sixteenth birthday. Then they had been a small business operating out of a garage like a high school band. These were the same people who had sworn by streamers now upgraded to chandelier balls made of branches and twinkle lights.

They knew what they were doing, knew how to snag the highest types of clienteles.

Most attending this gala were moguls starting up or successors waiting until their parents to kick the bucket to take over...or retirement. Whichever came first. I was one of them. Set to inherit my dad's restaurant and mom's tech company. My only two disadvantages were planning to major in communications and having the last name Park. At least in mom's portion of my succession.

Running mom's business, if I was being completely honest, hadn't been something I wanted. It was easier than the alternative. Swimming was off the table for me. With that Gond my future was utterly blank and passionless. There wasn't anything I wanted to do.

Perhaps leaving it to Kai was best. Between being a savant guard and a genius, one would think Kai was the first pick to inherit everything, despite being mom's stepchild. His dad was partly the reason mom had been able to grow her company to the enterprise that it was.

It had been around 10:30 when I began working on my second glass of champagne, listening to Jinsu Lee.

Jinsu thought he had come up with one of the best ideas to exist. That beak of a nose turning up each time someone took an interest. Giving the same scripted explanation each time. I didn't have the heart to tell him my father had come up with a similar product his second year of college. It didn't work then, and I didn't see it working now.

A head of blonde hair smacked me against the chin then. Kairi snaked an arm around my waist and smiled at Jinsu.

"Sorry, Jinsu, but my brother promised that he would not leave tonight without dancing with me." She said, bouncing along to whatever song the band was playing while in my head I was thanking her for rescuing me, and cursing at myself for ever making that deal.

Kairi was a hard person to say no to, especially hard when she was your baby sister.

As she pulled me along behind her, I struggled to balance my champagne glass between my fingers, stopping when it began to spill onto my tie and white shirt.

"Seriously, Kairi." Off a nearby catering table, I grabbed a napkin and started dabbing the spots. My father's voice rang in my ears, telling me to not rub just dap lightly. All the thoughts in my head were life hacks taught to me by my single father. Like how dishwasher detergent would remove the champagne stain and that ice water was the next best thing if I didn't have any on hand. I wasn't sure if that was true, but dad knew everything. He was more knowledgeable than the internet. Must come with experience.

It scared me that that was the first thought running through my mind, not that I had been missing an entire year of my life that came to me in vague pictures, disappearing before I was able to make something out of them. I never pushed. Figured when they were ready, they would all come back to me. And it hurt like a bitch whenever I tried to remember. It was like someone was jackhammering at my brain.

I placed my empty glass on a passing tray and blew at my tie to help the drying process along.

"You have to give me a warning when you're going to do that." I said giving up all together and undoing the damn thing. I stuffed into my pocket. The first two buttons of my shirt came undone. Before putting it on, I decided to avoid whispers and gossip for dad's sake. That I would keep it buttoned up to the last one. Although, it didn't help much. Most of my tattoos went up to the side of my neck. Not nearly high enough for a button-down to disguise.

With the tattoos and my dad's not so glamourous family background, people assumed we were part of the Korean Mafia. That could be the only reason he had the connections to land all these high-end catering gigs.

Having any actual cooking talent meant nothing apparently.

Kairi was a full head shorter than me but when she placed her hands on that thin waist, I knew her voice would carry. "I saved you from Jinsu Lee. The least you could do is thank me."

The band's music drowned out most of her yells. Thank God for that.

"Thank you, your highness." I bowed to her, my black hair falling out of place. It was stupid to think it would hold all night despite the amount of hairspray Nabi used. "However, will I repay you?"

She folded her arms over her chest, smirked at me and stared at the dance floor. Often, Kairi didn't have to say any words for me to know exactly what was going through her mind.

Leading her out onto the dance floor—a checkerboard tile space in the middle of the hall—we fell into step with the music.

Everyone in the room watched closely, seething in anticipation for the moment I'd make a fool of myself. It hadn't been long since mom announced I'd inherit everything. It had been an event much like this one, up to the same business associates and their children. Of course, back then, I was Gaeul, her son studying at some nameless high school. Eventually becoming Gaeul, who will take over following my graduation from Sky University. Given that I make it in. Mom would make sure I'd make it in.

Half of the people in the room wanted to marry me, and the other half hoped I did something wrong to force my mother to denounce my inheritance.

"Aunt means well." Nabi had told me my sixteenth birthday when both of our transfers to Saekwon high had been finalized without our agreement.

We were sitting in a tattoo parlor. The smell of antiseptics almost made me faint. It was the same reason I stayed clear of hospitals.

"Meaning well is bringing me chicken noodle soup when I'm sick or paying for dinner when I can foot my own bill. No, what mom's trying to do is turn me into this perfect teenage boy image to match those of her friends." I told her. My hands were clutching tightly to the chair's arm rests, I feared I'd break them off. All I could hear was the whirring sound of the tattoo machine getting closer and closer. "Why did we agree on the neck?"

Nabi's forearm had an unflattering picture of her dad stenciled to it. She was giddy. Something about pain fascinated her. Honestly, the present may have been more for her than for me.

She looked over, eyes shining with excitement. "We decided on the neck because, with your features," she flicked me under the chin, "no one would mess with you. Even those hoity-toity partners of your mothers."

Chest heaving, I clenched my eyes shut hoping I could expel all images of blood spewing from my jugular out of my head.

"They're…not so bad." I stuttered, hoping our conversation could drown out the sounds of the needles going off. They were coming from everywhere, echoing endlessly in my head.

"Don't give me your bullshit." She said, lifting off her chair to look me in the eyes. The artist nearly knocked himself out when her arm came up. "I can always tell when you're lying."

So could everyone else. At least the ones who spent enough time with me.

"If you don't scare people into submission, they're going to walk all over you. And no one is allowed to do that to my baby cousin except Kai." Nabi pursed her lips, then nodded. "I take that back only Kairi's allowed. She's a beast. I'm even scared of her." She settled back in her seat, closing her eyes while the artist began on her arm. "I promise, you will benefit from this."

And it had been a good thing. It had become more than a form of personal expression for me. It had turned into my sanctuary. And if nothing else, it made me less approachable, which was the goal wasn't it?

"I think you've caught someone's attention." Kairi said, twirling me.

I must have made a disgusting face because hers dropped.

"Most girls would die to have Insu Cha stare at them like that." She said, placing a hand on my back and leading us into the next song.

One year at Christmas, Kairi admitted to not knowing how to let a guy lead. So, when the time came for dancing, she would step on her partners toes and dance in the wrong direction. Reason being why I had become her permanent partner at these events. I never complained when she took over and I was happy not having to take the lead all the time. It could get exhausting.

"I'm not most girls." I joked, having heard the words in a movie.

Insu was beautiful. Anyone with two working eyes could see that. Sometimes I wondered with his dark skin, and foreign features if people were cruel to him.

Who was I kidding? He was a Cha. And that name meant a lot in this country. No one with half a working brain would be stupid enough to give him shit.

"Don't your fathers have a picture of you both getting married?" Kairi's fingers dug into my back when she spun us fast. "Nabi said you even begged your cousin Ari for their wedding bands so that you could make your marriage official."

At that moment I knew that Nabi and Kairi were the reasons I suffered from migraines. Each day they were getting worse and worse.

"Give me a break. I was seven." People started to pile onto the floor as the band stopped playing. "I also thought Barny would jump out of the closet and kidnap me."

"Do you think you could ever really fall for him?" Kairi grabbed my arm and led us off the dance floor when our mother took to the stage.

Walking behind the bar, I nodded at the bartender that he was good to go for a break and grabbed an apron from under it. While I tied it tight around my waist, Kairi sat on one of the stools.

Early on, my parents divorced. They'd been together since college and the relationship had run its course. They were miserable trying to make it work for me. You see with an early divorce the transition was easy. As I grew older, I noticed they smiled more. The time they spent together while being separated was far longer than they ever did married.

As a result, Myoungjin Park looked younger than his oldest former friend Minho Cha.

Mom tapped her finger against the microphone and called for everyone's attention.

Today I was betrayed for this. A huge announcement that would change Cha restaurants and Jeong technologies forever.

"Hello, I hope everyone is enjoying themselves." Mom had her eyes focused on the microphone, clutching her glass against her chest, and from this distance, I could see her nose glistening with beads of sweat.

Mom only ever sweats in two places on her body—the nose, from the bridge to tip, and her fingers. This was why she held the glass so firmly that her knuckles turned white.

"Most of you have watched me succeed…and fail in most of my endeavors." She continued after a moment of collecting her thoughts.

The crowd laughed. Unnecessarily so. Nothing in that sentence called for it. Mom had never been witty in her life or had a comedic bone in her body, but maybe some of them felt that if they didn't, she would have their jobs by morning.

Perhaps. However, mom wasn't the kind to let her employees go simply because they didn't feed her ego.

"When I started my first company, I had known nothing walking into this environment. I was just a young woman with a dream and ambition." She laid a hand on Minho's shoulder. "If it had not been for Minho, I believe I truly would have fallen flat on my face."

Another laugh.

I rolled his eyes.

This was a rare occasion. Ye Jun Jeong giving a speech, standing in front of a room filled of people. She never stayed on stage long enough without excusing herself to retch in the bathroom toilet. Her fingers had even loosened on her cup. For a woman with such tough exteriors, Ye Jun Jeong had feared public speaking.

Boy did she choose the wrong career.

She cleared her throat and allowed Minho to pat her on the back. With that reassurance she began to speak again.

"I want to say that when Minho first proposed the idea to me, I thought he was a bit crazy. Of course, since the beginning of our friendship, we always joked about us forming a merger one way or another. Be it business or personal."

"We've been working endlessly to ensure that this new project takes off without a problem." Minho grabbed the microphone from mom. A man who called the attention of a room, he was far more acquainted with being on stage. He looked in his element. As though it was the very thing that gave him life, "For that reason we would like for you all to show your support to my son Insu who will oversee it."

Insu Cha was a man no one could keep their eyes off. His looks were far removed from his fathers, that others had speculated the youngest Cha boy was adopted. No one would admit this to him, and rather kept it as baseless gossip. There were also stories that perhaps his mother had an affair with a foreigner, but she was not talking from her grave to corroborate it. And it was not something others would openly discuss as to not be haunted or cursed.

For me, Insu was a man I'd never taken an interest in. As children we played together, bonded over the little we had in common. Over time we grew apart like people tend to do with passing years. Lately, a feeling of connection had taken over me each time I'd look at Insu.

Insu handed his drink to Kai standing by him. Surprisingly these pair of twins looked so similar despite being different genders. If it weren't for the small differences no one could tell them apart. Kai had a beauty mark by his lip, and he was slightly bigger than Kairi. Kai also wore his hair tight against the crown on his head. And on occasion when he was comfortable, he'd untie it. Then he'd look so much like his sister, it required a second look to realize he was in fact male.

There were whispered objections among the crowd applauding while Insu joined our parents. Most angry that a kid could be considered for such a pivotal role in two big scale companies. I was still unsure of what that was. Of what it meant for me.

"We will be preparing Insu to take over once he graduates from university." Said Minho, proudly moving aside for Insu to take his place. "In the meantime, we hope that you will take him under your wing and guide him. Once he is ready, Ye Jun and I will step aside."

Reluctantly the crowd agreed, applauding even louder with the end of Minho's speech.

"Gaeul, we have a problem with the champagne." Said Byung one of the workers hired for the event. He was my age and had the habit of speaking as though the world was collapsing. So, forgive me if I didn't jump when he came to me with a crisis.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We don't have any." He said.

I turned to him. "We had 20 cases the last time I checked."

"Now we have none." He whispered although I didn't think he needed to.

I threw my rag on the bar and followed him.

*

In the rich town of Gangnam there is a hotel that caters to a celebrity clientele. Known among idols for its discreetness and around the clock guard, it often opened its doors to global entertainers. Within that hotel there is a restaurant that people have said its food is renowned across the country. On occasions, such as the one tonight, it closes its doors for these illustrious events. That restaurant does not belong to the Park family.

If it did, I'd have to work 'til midnight most nights to make up the loss for closing one night. But the Cha's are able.

My shoes stuck to the floor as I swiveled around broken glass and puddles of champagne. For the most of the night it had been quiet. I was stupid to believe these assholes would keep it that way.

Crossing my arms across my chest, I sighed heavily into the ceiling, not knowing where to start in cleaning such a disaster. Eventually, I turned to Byung and grabbed him by the shirt. I needed his full attention.

"Head over to Mr. Kim's liquor, get 15 bottles of champagne and let him know to put it on dads' credit." I instructed him.

"Do you think 15 will be enough?" He asked.

"It's going to have to be. And don't get the cheap shit." I yelled after before he was completely out of earshot. Then whispered to myself, "These people will know the difference."

With light fingertips to avoid cutting myself, I started picking up the glass and placing them into my apron, creating a basket to store them in.

"Need help?" Insu stood behind me, out of his jacket, disposed of somewhere. From what I knew he didn't like them very much. Something about them making him feel stiff.

"That would be nice." I stand to throw glass into the bin by the doors.

"It's the least I can do. I think this is more my fault." He says grabbing a mop.

"How do they always manage to get by security?" I went back to finishing up the pieces of glass.

"Some people can be very resilient when they feel threatened." Said Insu, sloshing around the champagne on the floor.

"There's got to be a day where you say enough is enough." I tell him. But Insu never listens.

He never has. One of his many flaws. And this is the man dad's going to trust with our company. Maybe others were right to question such a decision based solely on nepotism.