Chapter 7: Changing Victor
The next morning, Victor came around Sora’s place to pick her up to work. He was dressed in black from top to bottom with a pair of black shades over his eyes; looking somewhat like a bodyguard.
Sora came down from her home. She saw Victor standing and looking around with his whole men-in-black look. By the sight of Victor, Sora couldn’t help but to laugh and walked up to Victor.
“Victor oppa! Annyeong ! Good morning!” as she tapped his left shoulders with her hand but turn to his right side.
“Oh Sor…, I mean Miss Kang. Good morning,” said Victor who first turned his head left and then right.
“Oppa! I didn’t think you’d fall for that.” Sora laughed as she never would have thought a man who often displays a cool image and always her helping her father would react how most would in that situation.
Victor instantly puts on his usual poker face and said “Well, I am a human being after all. It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Are you ready?”
Sora snorted at Victor and said “Oppa, you should act like how you were before, when we first met. Back then, you were all fun and smiles. But now, you’re becoming less lively and boring. I mean, look at you. You’re always putting up that poker face of yours. I like the old you better.”
It took a short while for Victor to respond. “Really? You like the former me better?” he asked and then said softly “Well, I guess people change overtime. Sometimes one will change because of another without even knowing it themselves.”
Victor seemed to be in deep thought as he was talking. His gaze was lost in his own mind until Sora lightly shook him by his arm.
“Oppa! Are you alright? Did something really happen last year? Like the time when you left?” Sora asked Victor; after hearing what he had just said and seeing him dose off into his own world.
Victor instantly snapped back to reality and replied, “Ani, ani. Let’s get going, or else we’ll be late.”
“Oppa. If there’s really nothing, can I make a little request?” asked Sora as her eyes squinted a bit while making finger gestures that indicate the littleness of her request.
“If you are requesting to drive, that is out of the question.” Victor responded as he opened the passenger door for Sora.
“Ani, oppa,” Sora shook her head.
Victor lifted up his head and looked down at Sora with his eyes, “Then what is it?”
“Can you please not dress like this next time? You make me feel like I’m about to get kidnapped anytime and that I should be prepared to run for my life.” Sora told Victor as she scans him from head to toe.
“So, what kind of attire am I supposed to wear then? I’m on duty right now?” asked Victor while looking at himself.
“Oppa! I don’t mind if you wear this when you’re with my father. However, I hope you can wear something…something less formal when you’re with me. Like wear something casual, like business casual.” Sora suggested to Victor as she continues to scan his looks.
“Business casual? But, that’s not my style. I’ll try to find something less formal then. Is that all from your little request?”
“Well… there are two more things,” said Sora with a smile.
Victor sighed and a said “Then this is not a little request that you’re making,” as he looked at Sora with a bit of impatience. “So what are the two remaining requests?”
Sora gave Victor a smirk and said “Ok, the first one, aside from your attire, is stop calling me ‘Miss Kang’. You make me sound old; so just address me as ‘Sora’ or ‘Sora-ssi’, like how you used to call me.”
“But Miss Kan―” Victor attempting to object to Sora’s request, but was cut off by her.
“Sora-ssi! Just call me that and no buts,” commanded Sora who was not letting Victor have any chance of objecting and continued “while my last request is that you have to be more cheerful with smiles whenever I see you! Since you’re driving me every day; I don’t want to see someone who always has a strict and emotionless face. Besides, you look great when you smile, oppa.”
Sora’s last statement made Victor blushed and he broke out a smile. Then he quickly tries to hide it with his fist in front of his mouth, to which Sora said “See? That’s more like it! Look how handsome you are and keep it that way.”
Victor then said while shaking his head, “Arraso! You sure know how to make someone smile with your sweet talk. You should act more like your age Sora-ssi. But your very first request may be a bit hard to comply.”
Sora then asked why and Victor explained that he doesn’t have any business casual clothing lying in his closet at home.
“Well then, that won’t be a problem. Say hello to your new fashion advisor, KANG SO-RA!” said Sora as she spun around. “We’ll make a trip to the Lotte Department store after work. I’ll give you an extreme make-over! Aja! Let’s head off to the office then, shall we?” Sora hurried inside the car.
Then both of them drove off to the company office.
In the meantime…
Donghae managed to gain his car back from his father. He parked his Audi on the side of the street near the intersection where he cut in in front of the Mercedes Benz SL-65. He looked around the area, and then tries to observe all the vehicles passing by on the streets. He looked at his watch and it read quarter to ten in the morning.
“Aish…I wonder if she’s going to drive through here again,” Donghae said to himself while looking back at his rear view mirror. He waited for another ten minutes and still there weren’t any signs of the Mercedes. He was about to give up as he starts his engine until he saw in his rear view mirror the same Mercedes driving up from behind.
Donghae’s jaw dropped instantly as soon as he saw the car approaching from behind. He then smiles and quickly starts his engine to tailgate it.
“Oh… I’ve got you now! And I thought you’d never come!” said Donghae to himself while laughing happily as he began to follow the car.
He kept enough distance between his car and the Mercedes to avoid any suspicion. He followed the car until they reached the company building.
Donghae looked at the sign on the building while following the car to the roundabout and said “KS Productions…hmmm, interesting.” He parked his car on the side curb; it was a safe distance to see the car clearly without having to be seen. Donghae puts down his window as he prepares his phone to snap a few shots of the car and the people inside.
One of the doors opened from the driver’s side and Donghae quickly leaned out of his window to get a better look. He bit his lower lip; anxious and nervous to see who was about to come out. He placed his phone in front of him and was ready to take a few shots. Every second seemed like an hour for him as he waits for the person to come out of the car.
Suddenly, a person finally came out. Donghae’s facial expression changed from anxiousness to a slight disappointment. The person who came out from the car was a man all dressed in black; it was Victor.
“Jjinja? You’ve got to be kidding me! I’ve waited the whole morning just to find a man in that car! Aisht!!!” Donghae said disappointedly to himself while he looked around in dismay. He was ready to leave until he looked back at the car and saw Victor walking towards the passenger side.
Victor opened the passenger door and a pair of beautiful long legs appeared before Donghae’s eyes. That sight was enough to get Donghae’s jaws drop all the way down to the floor. Suddenly, a beautiful lady came out; it was Sora. She was so beautiful that Donghae just locked his eyes on her with his mouth opened. He sat in his seat for a few seconds looking dumbfound until he remembered he had to take a few snap shots with his phone.
“Omona, she looks so pure and beautiful,” Donghae said to himself as he quickly takes a few pictures of Sora. He kept on staring until Sora and Victor disappeared into the company building. Donghae quickly open his image folder in his phone to where all the photos are saved into. He flipped to the shots that he took of Sora and stared at it.
All of a sudden, someone knocked on Donghae’s window and asked “Excuse sir, is there something I can help you with?”
Donghae looked at the man; it was a security guard on patrol and Donghae quickly responded, “Ani, I was just receiving an important phone call and needed to stop somewhere to take it.”
“Well sir, if you are done with your call, could you please kindly move your car as this is a private area. Unless you have business here, you can take your car to the visitor’s parking area,” said the security guard.
Since Donghae got what he came for, he quickly apologize to the security guard and drove off.
When Sora and Victor got to the area where the private elevators are, they were both greeted by Rob and Chang. As usual, Chang offers his help even though Sora wasn’t carrying anything heavy. Even if she did, Victor would have helped her with it already.
Victor saw how Chang was happily looking at Sora, so he then said “Sora-ssi, I believe that man back there has some special feelings towards you. He’s overly happy when he saw you.”
After Victor’s comment, Sora just laughed and said “Oppa, Chang is just being polite, that’s all.”
Victor took another look at Chang and murmured to himself, “Don’t seem like that to me.”
When the lift came, Victor told Sora to go ahead without him as he has to make his way to see her father. Sora agreed and went up herself. Victor then walked back to the main lobby where a security guard came reporting to him.
“So, is there anything suspicious about that car?” Victor asked while looking outside.
“No sir, it was just a man who needed to stop to take a phone call,” the security guard reported back.
“Are you sure? That Audi seemed to have followed us here from the intersection down the block,” said Victor.
“Yes sir, I’m sure,” confirmed the security guard.
“Very well then, thank you for your hard work. Please kindly return to your duties,” said Victor as he gave a slight bow of gratitude.
When Sora reached her floor, Melissa as usual, was already waiting with a cup of coffee in her hand. They both made their way into Sora’s office to discuss how they are going to approach Director Choi’s request.
“Do you have all the agency contacts ready right now? We’ll have to make a few phone calls to arrange appointments with them as soon as possible.”
“Yes, here’s a contact list of all the entertainment agencies in Korea,” said Melissa as she handed the folder to Sora. “I have already sorted out the top five agencies that currently manage some of the top and most popular artists and idols in Korea.”
Sora looked at the contact list as Melissa continued to explain, “The ones in red font; those two right there. Although they’re one of the top agencies in Korea, they currently have some sort of scandals that are about to surface and I personally think they should be our last resort out of the five. Thus, leaving us with the top three highlighted in yellow; including SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JS…” before Melissa can finish, Sora took over as she looked at the top three on the list.
“…J…S Entertainment…” said Sora as she threw out each word slowly.
“Yes, JSE; JungSu Entertainment. So far, most of its artists and idols have been at the top of music chart for three weeks in a row. From what I heard, its president Park JungSu is not a very talkative person and not bad looking either.”
“Good work Melissa! But whether he’s good looking or not, I am not interested. What I’m interested about is whether we can find someone to perform at the event. Try to schedule the meetings with these three agencies, perhaps this week, if possible.”
“Okay Sora, I’ll get on it. By the way, there will be a conference meeting with all department heads on Friday and it’ll be held in Jeju Island,” reported Melissa.
“Oh? Why Jeju? Couldn’t we just have the conference here in Seoul?” asked Sora.
“Well, I heard it was the Chairman’s idea. Wait Sora, shouldn’t you know about this? I mean you’re the Chairman’s daughter after all,” said Melissa as she stood near the door and was about to leave to busy herself.
“Even though I’m the Chairman’s daughter, it doesn’t mean that he has to tell me everything regarding all the company meetings, you know? Anyways, let’s get to work now. I still have a few reports to read through and sign some document papers as well,” said Sora as she turned her attention to the stacks of reports and papers in front of her.
As the day passed by, Sora managed to finish most of her work for the day. She calls Melissa into her office through the intercom to find out about the progress update on the meeting arrangements. Melissa informs Sora that she managed to arrange meetings with SME and YG while the one with JSE is still pending for confirmation.
“What do you mean by pending? Doesn’t the secretary know how her president’s schedule is like?” asked Sora who was looking a bit confused.
“The secretary there said that President Park doesn’t like meetings to be arranged without his consent. So she needs to confirm with him first and she’ll revert back once he approves it,” replied Melissa.
“What? What a troublesome president. Aish…” Sora complained as she closes the folders on her desk. “Well, I guess we can’t do anything now. We’ll just have to wait for their side to confirm then. Let’s call it a day today. You’ve worked hard Melissa. Thanks.”
Melissa gave a slight bow and replied “Thank you Sora! You’ve worked hard too. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Melissa then made her way out of Sora’s office and at the same time Victor came knocking on her door.
“Are you all done, Sora-ssi?” asked Victor, who finally managed to let go of the formality.
Sora smiled after the way Victor addressed her and replied “Yup! I’m ready oppa! Let’s begin your extreme makeover now! To the Lotte Department Store! Aja!”
Sora was the first to walk out of her office and lead the way. Victor followed right behind her while shaking his head. They both left the company building and headed to their destination.
Meanwhile…
RING! RING! RING!
Park Jungsu picks up his ringing phone, “Yeopsaeyo?”
“President Park, it’s Miranda. Are you busy at the moment?” asked his secretary.
“I’m just wrapping up some inspections at the venue. I’m alright to talk now. What is it?” replied Park Jungsu.
“Today, I received a phone call from a representative of KS Productions and they would like to arrange a meeting with you regarding artist arrangements for one of their events. Would you like to meet them or should I tell them you’re busy?”
“How does my schedule look like? If there’s any time available this week, then you can offer it to them. If not, then tell them I’m busy and perhaps they can arrange another time when I’m free.” Park Jungsu thought to himself that it wouldn’t hurt to meet them and open a few more doors of opportunity for his company and idols. In a way, it’ll help him broaden his network as well.
“Alright president, I will help you arrange it. Have a good day sir.”
“Have a good day as well. I won’t be coming back to the office today, so if there’s anything else just call my phone,” Park Jungsu informed his secretary and then continued with his last bits of inspection.
***
Sora and Victor finally arrived at Lotte, where they made their way to the menswear area.
Sora led the way while Victor uncomfortably follows behind. Victor continuously looks around with his head turning from left to right and vice versa; as if he was checking the surrounding perimeter to make sure it’s safe.
Sora noticed Victor’s awkward behaviour, to which she told Victor “Oppa! Will you just relax? We’re in the Lotte Department Store for god’s sakes! Should I help you ask if there’s any job openings here for the security’s department?”
“Sora-ssi, is this really necessary? I mean, I think I look fine in this,” said Victor as he looked at himself in one of the mirrors.
“Of course it’s necessary oppa! If you’re dressed like that, people are going to think I’m some sort of high status official in Korea when I’m clearly not. So I don’t want to hear anymore complaining or nagging from you.”
Victor tries to argue, but was quickly silenced by Sora when she placed her finger in front of her mouth to make a shhh… sound.
Sora slowly walked along the men’s apparels section while lightly runs her hand on them to feel the different textures. From the way she’s looking at the men’s clothes, it looked like she was carefully examining and diligently picking out the most suitable attire for Victor.
One of the staffs walked up next to Victor and whispered “Wow! You’re very lucky. You have such a wonderful girlfriend.”
After the comment, Victor turned to the staff and said “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just…”
Before Victor can explain further, the staff cuts him off “Ah, no need to deny it. Even if you say she’s just a friend, no one’s going to believe you. Look at the way she’s carefully choosing clothes for you. You make other men envious of you.” As much as Victor wants to clarify the situation, the staff just walks away and headed towards Sora.
“Miss, is there anything I can help you with?” asked the male staff.
“Oh! Just in time. I’m trying to find something that’s business casual looking for that gentleman there You see, it’s a bit irritating to walk beside him when he’s wearing suits like that. He’s looks like a bodyguard doesn’t he?” Sora explained to the male staff and he gave Victor an envious smile while Victor stood there in disbelief.
Sora looked further into the different styles of clothing and found a collection of Hugo BOSS’s menswear. She goes through the different styles and found a set of progressive yet contemporary looking clothing for Victor and she said to the attending male staff “Excuse me, could you please help me check if this one fits him?” Sora looks at Victor and called out “Oppa! Come over here! Try this in the fitting room.”
For a moment, Victor thought to himself why Sora had to call him “Oppa” so openly in the public, especially after knowing the male attendee has a misunderstanding of their relationship. Victor helplessly obeyed and went into the fitting room to try out the clothes.
Meanwhile, Sora continues to look around. She stopped at the Armani Exchange section, looking at the different types of jacket available. She walks around until suddenly, there was one particular jacket that caught her eyes straight away. It was a washed light grey leather jacket with the zipper on the side. Sora could imagine that it would look great on Victor along with the set of clothes she just chose for him to try out.
Sora grabbed hold onto the sleeve of the jacket while looking for the male attendee who was helping her not so long ago. She was about to take the jacket off the rack until she felt the it slipped out of her hand. She quickly turned around and there stood a man with the light grey leather jacket in his hand. Sora quickly grabs hold of the jacket again. The man immediately turned around as he felt a sudden force trying to pull the jacket out of his hand. Sora looked at the man who has smooth looking skin and was slightly taller than her by a few inches; it was Park Jungsu. There they were, standing in front of each other with the leather jacket in both their hands. Sora looked at Park Jungsu in the eyes while he did the same. Both just stood there staring away at each other.
Sora came down from her home. She saw Victor standing and looking around with his whole men-in-black look. By the sight of Victor, Sora couldn’t help but to laugh and walked up to Victor.
“Victor oppa! Annyeong ! Good morning!” as she tapped his left shoulders with her hand but turn to his right side.
“Oh Sor…, I mean Miss Kang. Good morning,” said Victor who first turned his head left and then right.
“Oppa! I didn’t think you’d fall for that.” Sora laughed as she never would have thought a man who often displays a cool image and always her helping her father would react how most would in that situation.
Victor instantly puts on his usual poker face and said “Well, I am a human being after all. It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Are you ready?”
Sora snorted at Victor and said “Oppa, you should act like how you were before, when we first met. Back then, you were all fun and smiles. But now, you’re becoming less lively and boring. I mean, look at you. You’re always putting up that poker face of yours. I like the old you better.”
It took a short while for Victor to respond. “Really? You like the former me better?” he asked and then said softly “Well, I guess people change overtime. Sometimes one will change because of another without even knowing it themselves.”
Victor seemed to be in deep thought as he was talking. His gaze was lost in his own mind until Sora lightly shook him by his arm.
“Oppa! Are you alright? Did something really happen last year? Like the time when you left?” Sora asked Victor; after hearing what he had just said and seeing him dose off into his own world.
Victor instantly snapped back to reality and replied, “Ani, ani. Let’s get going, or else we’ll be late.”
“Oppa. If there’s really nothing, can I make a little request?” asked Sora as her eyes squinted a bit while making finger gestures that indicate the littleness of her request.
“If you are requesting to drive, that is out of the question.” Victor responded as he opened the passenger door for Sora.
“Ani, oppa,” Sora shook her head.
Victor lifted up his head and looked down at Sora with his eyes, “Then what is it?”
“Can you please not dress like this next time? You make me feel like I’m about to get kidnapped anytime and that I should be prepared to run for my life.” Sora told Victor as she scans him from head to toe.
“So, what kind of attire am I supposed to wear then? I’m on duty right now?” asked Victor while looking at himself.
“Oppa! I don’t mind if you wear this when you’re with my father. However, I hope you can wear something…something less formal when you’re with me. Like wear something casual, like business casual.” Sora suggested to Victor as she continues to scan his looks.
“Business casual? But, that’s not my style. I’ll try to find something less formal then. Is that all from your little request?”
“Well… there are two more things,” said Sora with a smile.
Victor sighed and a said “Then this is not a little request that you’re making,” as he looked at Sora with a bit of impatience. “So what are the two remaining requests?”
Sora gave Victor a smirk and said “Ok, the first one, aside from your attire, is stop calling me ‘Miss Kang’. You make me sound old; so just address me as ‘Sora’ or ‘Sora-ssi’, like how you used to call me.”
“But Miss Kan―” Victor attempting to object to Sora’s request, but was cut off by her.
“Sora-ssi! Just call me that and no buts,” commanded Sora who was not letting Victor have any chance of objecting and continued “while my last request is that you have to be more cheerful with smiles whenever I see you! Since you’re driving me every day; I don’t want to see someone who always has a strict and emotionless face. Besides, you look great when you smile, oppa.”
Sora’s last statement made Victor blushed and he broke out a smile. Then he quickly tries to hide it with his fist in front of his mouth, to which Sora said “See? That’s more like it! Look how handsome you are and keep it that way.”
Victor then said while shaking his head, “Arraso! You sure know how to make someone smile with your sweet talk. You should act more like your age Sora-ssi. But your very first request may be a bit hard to comply.”
Sora then asked why and Victor explained that he doesn’t have any business casual clothing lying in his closet at home.
“Well then, that won’t be a problem. Say hello to your new fashion advisor, KANG SO-RA!” said Sora as she spun around. “We’ll make a trip to the Lotte Department store after work. I’ll give you an extreme make-over! Aja! Let’s head off to the office then, shall we?” Sora hurried inside the car.
Then both of them drove off to the company office.
In the meantime…
Donghae managed to gain his car back from his father. He parked his Audi on the side of the street near the intersection where he cut in in front of the Mercedes Benz SL-65. He looked around the area, and then tries to observe all the vehicles passing by on the streets. He looked at his watch and it read quarter to ten in the morning.
“Aish…I wonder if she’s going to drive through here again,” Donghae said to himself while looking back at his rear view mirror. He waited for another ten minutes and still there weren’t any signs of the Mercedes. He was about to give up as he starts his engine until he saw in his rear view mirror the same Mercedes driving up from behind.
Donghae’s jaw dropped instantly as soon as he saw the car approaching from behind. He then smiles and quickly starts his engine to tailgate it.
“Oh… I’ve got you now! And I thought you’d never come!” said Donghae to himself while laughing happily as he began to follow the car.
He kept enough distance between his car and the Mercedes to avoid any suspicion. He followed the car until they reached the company building.
Donghae looked at the sign on the building while following the car to the roundabout and said “KS Productions…hmmm, interesting.” He parked his car on the side curb; it was a safe distance to see the car clearly without having to be seen. Donghae puts down his window as he prepares his phone to snap a few shots of the car and the people inside.
One of the doors opened from the driver’s side and Donghae quickly leaned out of his window to get a better look. He bit his lower lip; anxious and nervous to see who was about to come out. He placed his phone in front of him and was ready to take a few shots. Every second seemed like an hour for him as he waits for the person to come out of the car.
Suddenly, a person finally came out. Donghae’s facial expression changed from anxiousness to a slight disappointment. The person who came out from the car was a man all dressed in black; it was Victor.
“Jjinja? You’ve got to be kidding me! I’ve waited the whole morning just to find a man in that car! Aisht!!!” Donghae said disappointedly to himself while he looked around in dismay. He was ready to leave until he looked back at the car and saw Victor walking towards the passenger side.
Victor opened the passenger door and a pair of beautiful long legs appeared before Donghae’s eyes. That sight was enough to get Donghae’s jaws drop all the way down to the floor. Suddenly, a beautiful lady came out; it was Sora. She was so beautiful that Donghae just locked his eyes on her with his mouth opened. He sat in his seat for a few seconds looking dumbfound until he remembered he had to take a few snap shots with his phone.
“Omona, she looks so pure and beautiful,” Donghae said to himself as he quickly takes a few pictures of Sora. He kept on staring until Sora and Victor disappeared into the company building. Donghae quickly open his image folder in his phone to where all the photos are saved into. He flipped to the shots that he took of Sora and stared at it.
All of a sudden, someone knocked on Donghae’s window and asked “Excuse sir, is there something I can help you with?”
Donghae looked at the man; it was a security guard on patrol and Donghae quickly responded, “Ani, I was just receiving an important phone call and needed to stop somewhere to take it.”
“Well sir, if you are done with your call, could you please kindly move your car as this is a private area. Unless you have business here, you can take your car to the visitor’s parking area,” said the security guard.
Since Donghae got what he came for, he quickly apologize to the security guard and drove off.
When Sora and Victor got to the area where the private elevators are, they were both greeted by Rob and Chang. As usual, Chang offers his help even though Sora wasn’t carrying anything heavy. Even if she did, Victor would have helped her with it already.
Victor saw how Chang was happily looking at Sora, so he then said “Sora-ssi, I believe that man back there has some special feelings towards you. He’s overly happy when he saw you.”
After Victor’s comment, Sora just laughed and said “Oppa, Chang is just being polite, that’s all.”
Victor took another look at Chang and murmured to himself, “Don’t seem like that to me.”
When the lift came, Victor told Sora to go ahead without him as he has to make his way to see her father. Sora agreed and went up herself. Victor then walked back to the main lobby where a security guard came reporting to him.
“So, is there anything suspicious about that car?” Victor asked while looking outside.
“No sir, it was just a man who needed to stop to take a phone call,” the security guard reported back.
“Are you sure? That Audi seemed to have followed us here from the intersection down the block,” said Victor.
“Yes sir, I’m sure,” confirmed the security guard.
“Very well then, thank you for your hard work. Please kindly return to your duties,” said Victor as he gave a slight bow of gratitude.
When Sora reached her floor, Melissa as usual, was already waiting with a cup of coffee in her hand. They both made their way into Sora’s office to discuss how they are going to approach Director Choi’s request.
“Do you have all the agency contacts ready right now? We’ll have to make a few phone calls to arrange appointments with them as soon as possible.”
“Yes, here’s a contact list of all the entertainment agencies in Korea,” said Melissa as she handed the folder to Sora. “I have already sorted out the top five agencies that currently manage some of the top and most popular artists and idols in Korea.”
Sora looked at the contact list as Melissa continued to explain, “The ones in red font; those two right there. Although they’re one of the top agencies in Korea, they currently have some sort of scandals that are about to surface and I personally think they should be our last resort out of the five. Thus, leaving us with the top three highlighted in yellow; including SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JS…” before Melissa can finish, Sora took over as she looked at the top three on the list.
“…J…S Entertainment…” said Sora as she threw out each word slowly.
“Yes, JSE; JungSu Entertainment. So far, most of its artists and idols have been at the top of music chart for three weeks in a row. From what I heard, its president Park JungSu is not a very talkative person and not bad looking either.”
“Good work Melissa! But whether he’s good looking or not, I am not interested. What I’m interested about is whether we can find someone to perform at the event. Try to schedule the meetings with these three agencies, perhaps this week, if possible.”
“Okay Sora, I’ll get on it. By the way, there will be a conference meeting with all department heads on Friday and it’ll be held in Jeju Island,” reported Melissa.
“Oh? Why Jeju? Couldn’t we just have the conference here in Seoul?” asked Sora.
“Well, I heard it was the Chairman’s idea. Wait Sora, shouldn’t you know about this? I mean you’re the Chairman’s daughter after all,” said Melissa as she stood near the door and was about to leave to busy herself.
“Even though I’m the Chairman’s daughter, it doesn’t mean that he has to tell me everything regarding all the company meetings, you know? Anyways, let’s get to work now. I still have a few reports to read through and sign some document papers as well,” said Sora as she turned her attention to the stacks of reports and papers in front of her.
As the day passed by, Sora managed to finish most of her work for the day. She calls Melissa into her office through the intercom to find out about the progress update on the meeting arrangements. Melissa informs Sora that she managed to arrange meetings with SME and YG while the one with JSE is still pending for confirmation.
“What do you mean by pending? Doesn’t the secretary know how her president’s schedule is like?” asked Sora who was looking a bit confused.
“The secretary there said that President Park doesn’t like meetings to be arranged without his consent. So she needs to confirm with him first and she’ll revert back once he approves it,” replied Melissa.
“What? What a troublesome president. Aish…” Sora complained as she closes the folders on her desk. “Well, I guess we can’t do anything now. We’ll just have to wait for their side to confirm then. Let’s call it a day today. You’ve worked hard Melissa. Thanks.”
Melissa gave a slight bow and replied “Thank you Sora! You’ve worked hard too. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Melissa then made her way out of Sora’s office and at the same time Victor came knocking on her door.
“Are you all done, Sora-ssi?” asked Victor, who finally managed to let go of the formality.
Sora smiled after the way Victor addressed her and replied “Yup! I’m ready oppa! Let’s begin your extreme makeover now! To the Lotte Department Store! Aja!”
Sora was the first to walk out of her office and lead the way. Victor followed right behind her while shaking his head. They both left the company building and headed to their destination.
Meanwhile…
RING! RING! RING!
Park Jungsu picks up his ringing phone, “Yeopsaeyo?”
“President Park, it’s Miranda. Are you busy at the moment?” asked his secretary.
“I’m just wrapping up some inspections at the venue. I’m alright to talk now. What is it?” replied Park Jungsu.
“Today, I received a phone call from a representative of KS Productions and they would like to arrange a meeting with you regarding artist arrangements for one of their events. Would you like to meet them or should I tell them you’re busy?”
“How does my schedule look like? If there’s any time available this week, then you can offer it to them. If not, then tell them I’m busy and perhaps they can arrange another time when I’m free.” Park Jungsu thought to himself that it wouldn’t hurt to meet them and open a few more doors of opportunity for his company and idols. In a way, it’ll help him broaden his network as well.
“Alright president, I will help you arrange it. Have a good day sir.”
“Have a good day as well. I won’t be coming back to the office today, so if there’s anything else just call my phone,” Park Jungsu informed his secretary and then continued with his last bits of inspection.
***
Sora and Victor finally arrived at Lotte, where they made their way to the menswear area.
Sora led the way while Victor uncomfortably follows behind. Victor continuously looks around with his head turning from left to right and vice versa; as if he was checking the surrounding perimeter to make sure it’s safe.
Sora noticed Victor’s awkward behaviour, to which she told Victor “Oppa! Will you just relax? We’re in the Lotte Department Store for god’s sakes! Should I help you ask if there’s any job openings here for the security’s department?”
“Sora-ssi, is this really necessary? I mean, I think I look fine in this,” said Victor as he looked at himself in one of the mirrors.
“Of course it’s necessary oppa! If you’re dressed like that, people are going to think I’m some sort of high status official in Korea when I’m clearly not. So I don’t want to hear anymore complaining or nagging from you.”
Victor tries to argue, but was quickly silenced by Sora when she placed her finger in front of her mouth to make a shhh… sound.
Sora slowly walked along the men’s apparels section while lightly runs her hand on them to feel the different textures. From the way she’s looking at the men’s clothes, it looked like she was carefully examining and diligently picking out the most suitable attire for Victor.
One of the staffs walked up next to Victor and whispered “Wow! You’re very lucky. You have such a wonderful girlfriend.”
After the comment, Victor turned to the staff and said “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just…”
Before Victor can explain further, the staff cuts him off “Ah, no need to deny it. Even if you say she’s just a friend, no one’s going to believe you. Look at the way she’s carefully choosing clothes for you. You make other men envious of you.” As much as Victor wants to clarify the situation, the staff just walks away and headed towards Sora.
“Miss, is there anything I can help you with?” asked the male staff.
“Oh! Just in time. I’m trying to find something that’s business casual looking for that gentleman there You see, it’s a bit irritating to walk beside him when he’s wearing suits like that. He’s looks like a bodyguard doesn’t he?” Sora explained to the male staff and he gave Victor an envious smile while Victor stood there in disbelief.
Sora looked further into the different styles of clothing and found a collection of Hugo BOSS’s menswear. She goes through the different styles and found a set of progressive yet contemporary looking clothing for Victor and she said to the attending male staff “Excuse me, could you please help me check if this one fits him?” Sora looks at Victor and called out “Oppa! Come over here! Try this in the fitting room.”
For a moment, Victor thought to himself why Sora had to call him “Oppa” so openly in the public, especially after knowing the male attendee has a misunderstanding of their relationship. Victor helplessly obeyed and went into the fitting room to try out the clothes.
Meanwhile, Sora continues to look around. She stopped at the Armani Exchange section, looking at the different types of jacket available. She walks around until suddenly, there was one particular jacket that caught her eyes straight away. It was a washed light grey leather jacket with the zipper on the side. Sora could imagine that it would look great on Victor along with the set of clothes she just chose for him to try out.
Sora grabbed hold onto the sleeve of the jacket while looking for the male attendee who was helping her not so long ago. She was about to take the jacket off the rack until she felt the it slipped out of her hand. She quickly turned around and there stood a man with the light grey leather jacket in his hand. Sora quickly grabs hold of the jacket again. The man immediately turned around as he felt a sudden force trying to pull the jacket out of his hand. Sora looked at the man who has smooth looking skin and was slightly taller than her by a few inches; it was Park Jungsu. There they were, standing in front of each other with the leather jacket in both their hands. Sora looked at Park Jungsu in the eyes while he did the same. Both just stood there staring away at each other.