It took two days. Two days to calm down Hei Ryung. She was livid at how quickly her daughter had posted a statement about the dating rumour on her social media, without even consulting with her family first. Hei Ryung felt betrayed by her own daughter and it wouldn't even be the first time.

She only wanted her daughter to have a luxurious, happy life. Not the tiresome work Heejae insisted on doing right now. But the woman always forgot to ask Heejae's opinion and it made both women to drift apart impossibly.

The only person holding the two of them together was Park Heejung, Heejae's older brother.

"Are you sure she won't try doing anything crazy again?" Heejae asked her brother, twisting her shirt mercilessly. "Don't worry, sis, I have talked to her," Heejung replied.

"And what did you tell her?"

"I said I'll marry whoever she pairs me up with."

Heejae stood up in shock, the sound of her chair scraping against the floor caught the attention of her employees. "Are you out of your stupid, little mind?!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice low on the phone as she left the office to go on the terrace.

"Watch it! And on the contrary," he said with a calm voice, "I'm perfectly sane. I have a plan." Heejae pinched the bridge of her nose, too stressed to think straight. Her stress kept piling up and she needed to do something about it before it affected her badly.

"You better have a good plan or I'm killing you. You can't go around making such deals without thinking first, bro. Our mother is crazy for keeping up the pretenses and you know that."

Heejung sighed. He wished he was with his younger sister right now to just hug her and reassure her. She didn't like hugs but he knew, it was the only way to calm her down.

"Jae-Jae, I told you, I have a plan and about mother, she's not that bad, you know?" Heejae scoffed, sitting on the bench. "Tell that to my twenty two year old ass who found out her mother was influencing her potential clients."

"She only wants to keep you in the family business, continue her legacy," Heejung tried to reason even though it sounded unjust to his own ears.

"You do that," she said, tearing a leaf of a nearby potted plant. "I'm not made for keeping the legacy. I want to do what I love and I'm happy now. I like this new me. I don't want to keep on taking antidepressants."

Heejung stiffened in his office chair at the mention of those pills. Those pills had almost made him lose his dear sister and he didn't want to see her in the same state again. He would do anything to protect her, his little Jae-Jae.

"Do you like Hyunwoo?" he finally said changing the subject and relaxing in his seat.

"Absolutely not," she replied immediately, pulling her knees up on the bench, hugging them. "But there is a person."

"Uh huh, tell me about them," he encouraged her to speak. "Promise me you won't be angry. I won't talk to you if you break your promise." Heejung laughed heartily, pleased to see a glimpse of the little girl he had known long ago. Nothing much had changed about her.

"I promise I won't get angry. Now speak."

Heejae took a bracing breath, preparing herself to get scolded because she knew exactly how protective her brother was. "So, I know this person and we've been meeting up for a while. But the thing is," she paused, trying to find a decent word but failing, "we are friends with benefits."

Everything went silent for a moment. Heejae could imagine him clenching his hands tightly, calling her a thousand names inside his head for her stupidity. But he didn't say a word. She only heard him heaving a sigh.

"Are you planning to ask him on a date?" he finally said in a controlled tone, one that said he was really stopping himself from chastising her harshly.

She shrugged. "I don't know yet. He... he wants to focus on his career but he treats me so differently. He knows what I like and dislike. He gets possessive and well... I don't know what to do. I'm scared of developing deeper feelings and him not returning them."

He hummed at her answer. "You know, these kinds of relationships rarely work because of lack of communication. If you really like him, talk to him openly and clear up everything. I obviously don't like him already since he chose to use my sister for sex instead of treating her right-"

"Bro..." Heejae butted in, rolling her eyes as a smile made its way into the siblings' lips.

"Yeah, I know I promised not to scold you, which I am not," he clarified, "but the point is the same. I want my sister to be treated like a respectful woman and not fall for her beauty only. Anyways, talk to him before deciding anything."

"Will do."

"And as a man," he continued, "I really suggest you to not get too attached to him. If he says he wants to focus on his career, I doubt he'll actually want to get into a relationship. I'm not trying to discourage you, simply telling you the reality."

"And I really appreciate that but now, time is running short and I'm afraid I have to go," she said, already getting up and starting to move downstairs.

"Alright, Jae-Jae, take care and stay away from Hyunwoo. I don't like him much."

It made Heejae laugh. "I doubt you like any man near me, brother."

"Well, I won't disagree. Anyways, I'll see you on weekend?"

"Of course!" Heejae agreed, hanging up and sitting on her table once again. Although her eyes were skimming through her emails, her mind was on her brother's words. She didn't want to see Yoongi as a man who'd reject her offer on a date but she couldn't ignore a man's perspective either.

Closing the email, she glanced at her phone. Quickly opening the phone she went through the call logs, her brows furrowing when she realised, she hadn't talked to Yoongi in almost a week.

Her finger hovered over the call button but in the end, she closed her phone and went back to her computer.

Maybe, he's just busy, she thought.

~~~~
A/N:

A new character has entered. What do think about Heejung?

Also, is the length of the chapters good?
I'm trying to get more descriptive with my writing and the word count is obviously increasing from the usual 800-900 words. Let me know what you think.

Thank you for reading ❤️❤️