ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

Mr. Lee Hyunmin, CEO of Lee Holdings, the 2nd biggest business in the country, watched as his sales decreased rapidly, in a consistent manner until they hit the bottom in mere seconds and refused to rise again.

Confusion blared across his face as he refreshed the page, just to make sure whatever was happening wasn't some sick joke.

And in truth, it wasn't.

His sales had completely plummeted.

"What is this?!" He yelled, his voice urging his secretary and other staff to walk in. He turned the computer around to face them, the anger in him rising as he observed their shocked faces.

"Sir, this is impossible! They were at an all time high just yesterday!" His secretary, Minho pushed his glasses down as he looked at the sales graph.

"If it's impossible, how the hell did it happen Choi Minho?" He put his hands together, resting on the table, his gaze sharp enough to kill a man. Minho stuttered in response, "I-I don't know, Sir."

Hyunmin laughed, cocking his head back, allowing more laughter to escape his throat. He didn't know why? What a funny little joke.

He instantly stopped laughing after a few seconds, his lips formed into a straight line and a burning rage settled behind his pupils.

"Then why the hell do I pay you Choi Minho?! Find out! That's your job!" Hyunmin repeatedly hit the desk, the collision causing his hands to flare up.

"Yes Sir, on it." Minho picked up the laptop, scurrying out of the room along with the other staff. So many workers and all of them were still utterly useless.

Hyumin sat impatiently, crossing his legs as his fingers tapped on the desk in a rhythmic sequence. Despite his old age of 58, Hyunmin's handsomeness was still evident in both his face and his physique.

There was a brewing confidence and alertness that encompassed him, his class and wealth shone through his behaviour and demeanor.

Minho ran back into the room, placing the laptop hurriedly on Hyunmin's desk, showing him another sales graph. "Sir, Kwon Soonyoung's sales have also plummeted." Minho tried to be composed but his tone was the opposite, the pure shock dripping through his voice.

Hyunmin's face creased, bewildered by the information he'd just received. Kwon Soonyoung, who owned the biggest business in South Korea, had also had his sales plummet?

It was unbelievable. It must have been planned by one of their many rivals. They had always maintained their positions as the biggest and 2nd biggest businesses in Korea.

They were also recognised internationally. This made no sense. Their sales plummeting had to be an orchestrated ploy.

Someone was trying to ruin them.

•••••••••••••

Hyunmin entered Soonyoung's meeting room, sitting at the opposite head of the table. He observed Soonyoung's demeanor. He seemed a little too calm and relaxed for someone whose business was in jeopardy.

Minho pulled his seat out for him which he sat on, crossing his legs as he leaned back, asserting dominance. Soonyoung's lips twitched into a smirk, his eyes carried an unidentifiable undertone as he leaned forward, closing in on Mr. Lee.

"You seem unphased by all this. What? Am I the only one who cares about my sales here?" Hyunmin folded his arm, tilting his head to the side, slightly.

The smirk on Soonyoung's face curled upwards, amused by Hyunmin's genuine concern. He sighed, falling back into his chair.

"Well, it's obvious there's only one solution, that won't fail." He placed his hands on his folded legs, emitting a confident allure that suppressed Hyunmin's.

Hyunmin's eyebrows furrowed as he asked, with a hint of expectancy, "Which is?"

Soonyoung pointed to his ring finger, his face lifted slightly and his smirk morphed into a cocky grin. "A marriage." He watched for Hyunmin's reaction which met his expectations.

Hyunmin's face instantly scrunched, mortified by Soonyoung's suggestion. "You want to marry... me?" He pointed to himself, purposely showing the wedding band on his own finger.

The platinum blonde haired man shook his head immediately, the disgust on his face apparent. "Absolutely not. One of your sons will do." Soonyoung suggested and Hyunmin's nose flared, his jaw hardened.

The three sons of the Lee family; Lee Jihoon, Lee Seokmin and Lee Chan were guarded, locked away from the world, kept in place and restrained by the watchful eyes of their parents and the hundreds of military-trained guards that surrounded their estate.

Soonyoung knew exactly what he was doing. He knew just how protective Hyunmin was over his boys. He also knew who he wanted.

The first son, Lee Jihoon.

Hyunmin gritted his teeth, the audacity for Soonyoung to request one of his sons like they were on sale was maddening, infuriating.

But he had no other choice, it had been a week and the sales still hadn't gone up. Articles were starting to be made about the whole situation and they were certainly not good publicity for Lee Holdings.

"Our customers buy from us because of our reputations, a marriage would save your 'family man' reputation and it would also paint me in a good light, helping me access a new variety of customers, successfully skyrocketing our sales."

Soonyoung expounded, leaning back as he awaited Hyunmin's final decision, knowing he'd convinced him either way.

Hyunmin nodded in agreement. It was a solid plan so he had no reason not to go through with it. While he didn't want to give any of his sons away, it wasn't a real marriage, it was a fake one only deemed real by a contract.

He thought of all his sons one by one, wondering who would handle the situation the best.

Jihoon, his oldest, was the calmest of them all, grounded by his intelligence, he was to take over from his father in the future.

Seokmin, his second was innocence personified, his purity shone through him like a flashlight, brightening everyone's day but Hyunmin knew he wouldn't handle it well, he had the tendency to be very emotional.

Chan, his youngest was very passionate in everything he did but he was also not likely to settle for an arranged marriage. He would hate his father for life if he had to marry Soonyoung and Hyunmin didn't want that.

All roads led back to Jihoon. Hyunmin swallowed the lump in his throat, closing his eyes and letting the anger in him simmer.

He had to do this, for everyone's sake.

"You can marry Jihoon, my first son." Hyunmin granted his permission, the regret in his decision choking him like a poisonous smoke. He was sorry but there was nothing he could do.

Jihoon just had to put up with it, just for a year at most.

Soonyoung's smile widened, his eyes lightening up at the thought of Jihoon as his husband. He'd heard good things about Jihoon, his beauty and his brilliance. He couldn't wait to have him all to himself.

Even if it was just for a limited time.

"Great, we'll meet here tomorrow and sign the contracts." Soonyoung stood up, leaving the room before Hyunmin could get any extra words in.

He'd succeeded, as he always did.

He wasn't keen on getting married but the thought of the Greek beauty that was Lee Jihoon being his husband was... exhilarating.

The name attached itself to his tongue, almost like it was made just to be called by him.

Lee Jihoon. Lee Jihoon. Lee Jihoon.

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

𝙰•𝙽 - hope you guys enjoyed the prologue ! i am particularly excited for these two because i haven't really seen many fanfics of them so i'm excited to share this with you guys ! xoxo, iris 🤍 !

Ⓒ︎𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷𝚆𝙰𝚈𝙾𝙷