Trope 5
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"I don't get paid enough for this."
Taking off his sunglasses and placing the tip of it in his mouth, Li Jun moved towards the besotted pair with an unrelenting gaze.
"Whether or not this arrangement goes through is not up to you to decide, but as of the moment, I have to agree with the chaebol," he said while staring directly at Song Chin-hae.
Looking towards the mother-in-law character, he sighed, saying, "You would believe we were stuck in the Qing Dynasty if you had your way. Alliances between businesses should be signed by a contract like the one I have."
Pointing at his father, he added, "And matters of the jianghu...shouldn't be settled with marriage anymore."
Chuckling, he continued, "And for what? The Pearl?"
A shush ran across the whole restaurant as soon as he said that word, even making the waiters pause in their tracks.
"That's a myth, and power can be acquired easily through other means."
Not sure what he meant, Wang Ming Yue observed Li Jun's eyes, wondering what sort of man lay before her.
Just who exactly was Li Jun?
More importantly, what did the Pearl have to do with her family?
Better yet, what was the Pearl?
"The wedding's off," he declared nonchalantly as he turned and left the hall.
"That ingrate...that ungrateful...!", cried Li Jun's mother.
"Shh, it's okay. He's just in a foul mood today...", cooed Li Jun's father as they walked away from the scene.
"Song Chin-hae?", Wang Ming Yue started, trying to choose her next words carefully.
"Yes?", he squeaked.
"What was that?"
"I have no clue."
Sighing, she rephrased her question. "What is the Pearl and why are they after it?"
Turning his face away from her, Song Chin-hae muttered, "Promise you won't hate me."
"Tell me now, and nobody gets hurt," she warned, too fed up with people's coddling.
"There are rumors...that it's hidden within...your family's walls," he mumbled out loud.
21. Family secret unveiled with the female lead knowing it last. Wow! So original drama!
If she could punch a wall to release all her frustrations out now, she would.
However, she still had the nice manicure she had gotten in hair-and-makeup the other day...
She did not have the money to redo that...yet.
"And?"
"Supposedly, it's an ancient mystical treasure that...grants power and...other things," he explained.
"Nobody could have told me this beforehand?", she yelled.
"Hey, don't blame me. I had no idea either until a few months ago when people started talking, but by that point, you were cut off from your family and had stopped talking to me so..."
Clearing his throat, Chairman Wang exclaimed, "Thanks for the help, Song Chin-Hae, but we'll take it from here."
"I meant what I said though," he responded back, taking Wang Ming Yue's hand in his and not letting go.
Clicking his tongue, Wang Ming Yue's father remarked, "You know that we have to keep up appearances. As far as everyone knows, our families do not see eye-to-eye."
"They'll keep coming back," Chin-hae quipped. "If you think they will stop because the heir objected, you're wrong." Adding, "You know what kind of people they are..."
Glancing between the two of them, she inquired, "What am I missing here?"
Swallowing, Wang Ming Yue's father combed his black hair over quickly, and proceeded to give a brief on the situation to the female lead.
Needless to say, she was flabbergasted by the news.
"So you're telling me his family, who have a squeaky clean reputation in business by the way, are part of an ancient line of magic and sword-wielding martial artists!", she cried in disbelief.
"I mean we all are...", Song Chin-hae interjected, receiving a slap to the back by her father.
"Not helping, ok," her 'fiancée' piped before folding into himself in defeat.
"It's called the jianghu," her father barked.
"Like from wuxia stories? The martial-arts-community..."
"Yes, that jianghu. It's still alive and thriving," he snapped.
"That means...our alliance...it's more than just a business relationship, right?", she queried.
"Yes," Song Chin-hae relayed. "Your family has been guarding the jianghu for generations, and mine...well."
"They are known for their...misdeeds in the past," Mr. Wang confessed.
"It was a long time ago, honestly," Song Chin-hae protested.
"Still, so many people died...anyways, these days, we-our family-have a pretend animosity with them."
"Why though?"
"They-for a long time-meddled in the underworld, and still have connections there. They've reformed, but most don't know that or trust them for that matter," he replied.
"Which means we're the perfect informants, and silent partners in Wang family's business decisions."
Pondering over all they said, she said, "Then why would you be happy when Mr. Song intervened?"
"Not here," her father quipped. Leading them to a small conference room branching off the hotel the restaurant they had booked was in, he gathered his resolve and told them what he knew.
Gasping, Wang Ming Yue uttered, "Aigoo."
"That is why we can never let you be with those people...", her father started.
"They're hypocrites," the 'second male lead' asserted.
"Until we are completely sure that those collaborations were harmless..."
"HARMLESS?", Chin-hae bellowed. "You would let the engagement go on if they claim that they're not involved with the bad guys trying to take over the jianghu? Are you insane?"
"We have no proof!", Chairman Wang growled. "If we did, then we could do something about our suspicions."
"How long have you known?", she demanded.
"Since A few months ago," her father stammered. "But you refused to pick up my calls..."
"I understand." She surmised they must have kept it between themselves to protect her.
Letting her know could have put her at risk should they be proven wrong.
Inversely, now that she did know, she was probably now in more risk than before.
"Is there anything concrete that leads back to them?"
"Only what the Songs have come up with", her father related, "and it's not much."
Frowning, she wondered how the drama had led to this point in her life.
"It's not all bad," Song Chin-hae jested. "You have me with you, by your side."
"When have you ever left my side?", she teased.
"He shouldn't have...not when he's been tasked to protect you from day one."
"WHAT?", she shrieked.
No, this could not be happening. Not again.
Her father informed her that, "His family promised they would take good care of our daughter by assigning a bodyguard to her-that would be by her side always no matter what."
"I'll admit I didn't like you at first, found you annoying really..."
"Yeah, I remember you used to prank me all the time when were little..."
"But...you grew on me and one day...I realized I fell in love," he divulged with tears in his eyes.
"I told him to get out," her father announced proudly.
"I was sixteen, you sent a teenager up-and-packing," her fiancée complained.
"Hmmph, so now you think you are good enough for my daughter," he chided back.
Chuckling, she eyed her best friend, and hypothesized how hard it must have been for him to stay by her side with his feelings towards her like that.
How selfless he was. Still is.
"Dad, let me tell you a story," she proposed. "A young high school girl saw a boy being treated badly by mean girls at school for bringing weird Korean food to eat in the cafeteria. Consequently, she ate with him, and promised him that if he still didn't have a girlfriend to eat with by the time he graduated university, she would date him."
Finally sitting down in a chair, Song Chin-hae motioned for her to continue, obviously liking the story.
"The end of uni came around, and he still didn't date her...so she thought he didn't like her in that way, and stopped calling him, her best friend...they would still meet up occasionally, but she pushed him away..."
"And he had no idea why," Chin-hae finished. After a few moments of silence, her childhood sweetheart blurted out, "We could have been together this whole time and you didn't tell me! Aish!"
"I could care less about the jianghu," she insisted. "But know this-Song Chin-Hae is mine."
"No one can take him away from me."
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Author's note: The song for this chapter is not about any of the characters who spoke at least a line in this chapter, but a character is feeling that right now so it fits. We may, or may not, have met them already. Who knows?
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