Absinthe

Chapter 64: Corporate Romance

The man literally froze when he realized that I recognized him. And when he seemed to recover from

the shock, he took a few steps back.

"Development Bank of Asia?" Minsu-hyung asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "I got recommended for a position there, but that man rejected me on account of my

sexuality."

"No way!" Minsu-hyung said exaggeratedly. "Isn't that considered discrimination?"

"We don't really have anti-discrimination laws in the country," I replied.

"I see," Minsu-hyung responded, still exaggerating based on how loud and how song-like his tone was.

"I bet you have laws against hypocrisy. You know, people who pretend straight and discriminate against

gay guys but are actually indecent pigs instead..."

Minsu-hyung was taking it a bit far. I was angry at the guy for what he did to me during the interviews

but frankly speaking, I'm kind of over it already.

"It's okay, hyung." I said. "He's not worth it."

"You're mistaken!" the man said through gritted teeth. "You're mistaking me for someone else."

"Oh?" Minsu-hyung taunted. "From what Jaeyi said, it looks like it's a match. A pig at work, a pig

outside work."

The man opened his mouth to speak but Minsu-hyung cut him short.

"Don't worry, though." Minsu-hyung sneered. "It's easy to verify your identity with our connections to

that bank."

"What do you want?" the man screamed.

"Apologize, you fucking idiot!" Minsu-hyung shouted back. "For what you did back then, and for what

you did just now!"

The man was shaking, whether from anger or from fear, I wasn't really sure. And from the look on his

face I was sure he was having some sort of internal struggle. Probably whether to apologize or not

because apologizing would mean that he's conceding.

"Let's just go, hyung." I took Minsu-hyung's hand and led him out of the shower room.

We towelled ourselves dry and dressed up. Minsu-hyung asked if I wanted to join him for breakfast and

I agreed. We then went past the lobby to the elevators and headed for the top floor where the rooftop

restaurant was located. Inside the elevator, Minsu-hyung was busy with his phone. I figured he was

probably telling Mr. Lee, the vice-chairman, his whereabouts.

An elegantly dressed woman in her late twenties greeted us and escorted us to our seat. It was at the

edge of the building that offered great view of the gardens and the golf course beyond. We were also

protected from direct sunlight with this ceiling-like contraption made from interwoven, dried coconut tree ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

leaves.

I asked Minsu-hyung to just order anything but when the food came, it was like he ordered for four

people instead of two.

"What's with all these?" I asked.

"Gunho's joining us,"Minsu-hyung said. "Look, he's coming."

True enough, freshly showered Gunho-hyung wearing a floral print shirt, white, tattered shorts, and a

pair of aviator sunglasses, came strutting towards our table.

"The fuck's he wearing?" I asked, chuckling.

Minsu-hyung chuckled back. "You know that idiot loves to show off."

The moment Gunho-hyung reached our table, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

"I miss you Jaeyi!" he shouted loudly that people from nearby tables started glancing at our direction.

"What did Minsu do to finally convince you to spend time with us?"

"You're being unfair, hyung." I said. "You know I would have hung out with you guys if it weren't for this

issue with your boss."

"Good point," he said, releasing me from his hug and taking the seat next to mine. "I wish we could

have met here in your home country under better circumstances."

I nodded. "When's your next vacation? I'm sure I can free up my sched and tour with you guys."

"Does that mean you really have no plans of coming back to Samsong?" Minsu-hyung asked.

I could see that Gunho-hyung was equally interested in how I was going to answer.

I shook my head in response. "I don't think so."

"Even if Mr. Lee gives you what you demanded for?"

I nodded this time around. "I was just bluffing when I said that! You guys know there's no way I can

solve that for you."

Minsu-hyung and Gunho-hyung exchanged looks.

"Mr. Lee already asked me to do simulations on what he can do with his current assets to match what

you asked for." Gunho-hyung said.

"And he asked me review other possible investments here in South East Asia that will allow him to

recover that much value." Minsu-hyung added.

"Fuck, are you serious?"

I couldn't believe Mr. Lee would go as far as actually running the numbers against my demand. I

thought he was just going to think about it, drink about it, and forget about it. But both my hyungs

nodded and I simply had nothing else to say, except...

"Fuck. He is crazy."

"Aren't we all?" Minsu-hyung asked to which Gunho-hyung nodded in agreement, a patronizing

expression on his face.

"What's your reason, though?" Gunho-hyung asked. "For not accepting it..."

"I can't do it." I replied rather quickly. "There's no solution to that problem."

"With your expertise, and with our support, I doubt that we'd fail to come up with something if we really

put our heads to it."

"Hyung," I said reproachfully.

"What?" Minsu-hyung asked. "Gunho's an expert in Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions. I am

practically Asia's leading analyst when it comes to Emerging Markets and International Finance. You,

on the other hand, is a wizard when it comes to Investments. You can't ask for a better team!"

I ignored Minsu-hyung's comment and focused on my food instead.

"There must be a reason why you don't want to come back and work with us." Minsu-hyung continued.

"Is it a guy?" Gunho-hyung asked.

I rolled my eyes and frowned at both of them.

"Shit," Minsu-hyung said, now sounding super excited. "Is it really a guy? You have a boyfriend now?"

"None of your business," I said flatly.

"If it's a boyfriend that's stopping you from joining us, I'd gladly accept it." Minsu-hyung said. "If it were

something else..."

"Fuck, you guys are crazy, too." I answered, laughing at the absurdness of everything.

"My baby brother has a boyfriend now," Gunho-hyung teased, pinching my ribs.

"Ouch," I complained. "Fine. Yes, I have a boyfriend now. He's half Korean. And he's really hot."

I could see both my hyung's smiling like the crazy idiots they were.

"That's settled, then." Minsu-hyung announced. "I accept your decision to refuse Samsong's offer.

Gunho and I will handle this somehow."

"But," Gunho-hyung added. "You need to invite this boyfriend of yours for some drinks with us before

we leave. Got that?"

I nodded. "Fine. But you guys are paying!"

My two hyungs nodded and smiled.

"I'm happy for you, Jaeyi." Minsu-hyung said. "You've already sacrificed a lot to get to where you are.

It's high time you start prioritizing your happiness."

"Yeah," Gunho-hyung commented. "Relationships are hard to find. Career? That shit's a lot easier to

get. Besides, with Mr. Lee taking over his father's position very soon, Samsong will always be waiting

for you."

I felt something warm in my chest and in my cheeks after hearing what my two hyungs said. I was still

confused about what to do with my life, honestly. All I ever knew was work with Samsong. Then this

whole cooking thing with Chef Maxwell happened and I thought that was the career I wanted to pursue.

I love cooking, don't get me wrong. But I still have that doubt in me whether this is indeed the new path

that I'm going to take.

And I'm also pretty sad that I won't be spending my life being surrounded by the two coolest and hottest

Korean hyungs I could ever ask for.

"What about you two, hyung?" I asked. "Aren't you guys going to date and get married?"

They laughed at the same time.

"You know Samsong life..." Minsu-hyung started. "It's impossible to find time for romance."

"We'll grow old in Samsong," Gunho-hyung added. "We'll probably get introduced to a daughter of an

executive and just get an arranged marriage or something."

"Huh?" I said. "That's sad as fuck."

Minsu-hyung shrugged. "Well, that's Korea for you. Marriage is a business anyway. I'll just get it done

for the sake of my stability. My romance is with the corporate world."

"Me, too." Gunho-hyung said. "My romance is also with the corporate world."

All three of us were quiet for some time. No one talked. No one chewed. No one did anything.

"That's fucking sad." I said, finally breaking the silence. "I'm so fucking happy that I left you two

weirdos!"

Minsu-hyung and Gunho-hyung burst out in uncontrollable fits of laughter.

"We love you, Jaeyi." Minsu-hyung said. "Just remember that."