Chapter 4

The assistant, Aera, and Eun Hye had similar expressions, both their jaws swam in paint on the floor.

“You are hot and can paint...this world is unfair..” Aera muttered, walking to the art to analyze it up close.

She was baffled. How could he be so young...yet terrifyingly talented?

“What the-why don’t you ever do paintings like this at home?! Dad would have taken you seriously.” Eun Hye exclaimed, ogling at the wall of art.

“It’s like she’s been drawn by the water to save her,” she spoke out, trying to trace the curves of the waves.

“No.” Seung-ho finally spoke up. The steps of his boots echoed on the floor until he stood beside Min-a.

“She is reaching to the weak flames for help, the water isn't saving her, the waves are sucking her into the cold depths. She is already cold, she needs warmth.” he turned towards him, giving Min-a an impressed smile.

“Right?” He asked, staring into his deep, brown eyes and seemingly into his soul.

Min-a suddenly forgot how to speak. He couldn’t put into words any of the languages he learned as a kid; French, Korean, English, and Mandarin.

Seung-ho’s eyes were a strange color, they were icy, glistening blue. Only up close did Min-a realize why the attractive man looked odd to him, he was mixed.

“Yes, that- that’s what I was thinking.” Min-a stumbled over his words.

Seung-ho’s gaze lingered on him some more before he looked away.

He felt his armpit begin to sweat due to nervousness, so he moved away from the older man.

“I will agree if the kid asks me himself,” Seung-ho abruptly said.

Min-a gave Eun Hye the “explain!” Look.

“Ask him to be your art coach,” she whispered quietly.

Seung-ho rolled his eyes at their exchange, turning around to look away from both of the chaotic siblings.

Eun Hye saw Min-a’s arrogant facade cooking up and she began to dread what was coming next.

“You owe me!” She snapped in a low voice, grinding her teeth as she reminded him before he became a full arrogant piece of shit.

“Got it,” Min-a whispered back fiercely.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, facing Kwan Seung-ho.

“Do you want a student or something?”

Seung-ho hummed thoughtfully. “Or something? most definitely. A student? Not so sure,” he smiled brightly at both of them before striding back to the table where his laptop was.

Min-a froze for a moment at his insinuation before he caught himself, his annoyed gaze trailing after Seung-ho until he was resting at the edge.

“Excuse me, is that a yes or no?” he demanded impatiently, refusing to tolerate any ambiguity.

Min-a wasn’t like his older sister, and he didn’t plan to entertain this man’s indecisiveness just because their father was obsessed with his art.

“It’s an ‘I might think about it,” Seung-ho replied with a hint of taunt in his expression, which only fueled Min-a's frustration.

“Fuck this.” Min-a grunted in annoyance before spinning to face his sister.

“Let’s go. He clearly isn't interested, and we’re just embarrassing ourselves.” His irritation was palpable as he spoke, immediately heading for the exit.

“Haneul!” Eun Hye frowned at his retreating back, torn between trying to stop Min-a and going back to seal her deal.

“You can go with him.” Seung-ho offered with a nod towards the door, giving her an escape.

“I’m so sorry, he usually isn’t always like this,” she apologized before hurrying after Min-a.

Eun Hye found him outside, a cigar dangling from his lips as he took another drag of the cigarette.

“Why did you storm off like that?” She almost snapped, but kept her voice down, knowing she hadn't convinced him to help her yet.

“Did you honestly not feel embarrassed?” Min-a blurted, pointing at the garage door.

“That’s how men like Mr. Kwan are, hard nuts to crack but totally worth it.” Eun Hye attempted to make him see the sense in what she was doing.

“Right,” her younger brother replied with a scoff, crushing the remaining cigarette under his shoes before climbing into the car.

They drove home in silence.

Eun Hye was preoccupied with thoughts of her impending fate the next day, knowing she hadn’t secured a deal with her father’s desired artist.

Meanwhile, Min-a felt a simmering anger in his chest. Unused to being told no, he now knew the feeling of rejection firsthand, and he didn’t like it. At all.

Halfway home, Eun Hye put Heidi on call.

“Hello..” her assistant sounded like she just woke up.

Eun Hye glanced at her younger brother, his gaze was fixated on the road like he didn’t care for their conversation.

“Heidi, sorry for waking you up,” she apologized with a sigh.

“So what happened?” Heidi inquired, her tone reflecting her anticipation despite the apparent predictability of the situation.

“He’s as stubborn as ever,” Eun Hye sighed

“Then invite him to your house tomorrow,” Heidi suggested casually as if it were the most obvious solution.

“So he can slap a restraining order on my entire family?” Eun Hye retorted, her frustration evident.

“No, invite him using your father’s name. Mr. Kwan is a sensible man. We both know he won’t turn down your father’s invitation. Send it as an email to make it seem more official,” Heidi added confidently.

Eun Hye thought over the plan. It could actually work.

“Thank you, Heidi,” she ended the call and was met with a judgmental gaze from Min-a.

“You will understand when you are in the game,” was all she said to him before speeding off.

~~~~~

The weekend lazy haze didn’t spare Min-a. He found himself sprawled out on the sidewalk of the Yongsan-gu neighborhood. He opted for morning jogging since he felt too tired to lift any weights in his private gym. But he barely ran over 10 km before feeling exhaustion crippling him. His white T-shirt stuck to his body and his black shorts were showing the print of his cock, so he had to call it a day and walked the way home.

He had a private door from the side of the house that led him directly to his room but his stomach churning sent him through the main door for some warm breakfast.

Only, he met a not-so-expected st waiting at their gate in a well-tailored suit.

“He actually fell for it…” Min-a thought to himself in disbelief.

“Mr. Kwan, you showed up,” he announced his presence, startling the older man.

Seung-ho snapped around to look at Min-a with a neutral expression on his face. His eyes lingered on his broad chest and lean legs that his clothes didn't make an effort to disguise.

“Yeah,” he answered a few seconds later as he stared intensively.

Seung-ho ogled Min-a as he took out the hair band that held his long hair in a rough ponytail, his fingers scouring through his butterfly cut.

“We were that convincing?” Min-a cock a brow at him.

“No. But I learned that the legendary Mr. Seo Jung Ju wants to see me. I can’t possibly reject such an invitation, can I?” Seung-ho responded, causing the younger man to snicker in disgust.

“Didn’t you refuse to work with his company?”

“That’s two different things,” Seung-ho defended.

Min-a shook his head in doubt and walked through the huge black gate leaving it open for Seung-ho to come in after him.

Only for him to turn around to find the man standing fixed outside.

Min-a raised a brow at him. “Aren’t you coming in?”