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"He designed it himself, he said?"
Jisoo nodded and pulled her hand back. After a little moment, she turned back to her meal.
Today, Sehun paid her a visit at the university. With Jisoo not being at their grandparents' house for the Lunar New Year, they hadn't seen each other for about two months. He just went into her office since he knew that if he didn't, they wouldn't have time for each other due to work.
Despite his hectic schedule, Jisoo was happy that Sehun found time to see her. Their phone conversations were limited since either it was late when he phoned or Yixing was in the apartment. Sitting in the corner of the university cafeteria, whose food Sehun insisted was the greatest in Seoul, she realized that she had been missing her closest friend and only cousin.
"For his birthday, I made him a custom pen, but he made me a diamond ring instead." Sehun chuckled at her reply, "What a catch."
"He's a keeper, I admit." Jisoo gave another nod, agreeing wholeheartedly. She couldn't help but feel grateful for all that Yixing had done and given her, and how fortunate she was to be in his life.
"I'm happy for you both," he said again.
"I'm happy for me too." When Sehun began to make fun of the fact that she appeared to be a girl in love, she burst out laughing and bowed her head down on the table. This time, though, she didn't reject him since she knew she couldn't conceal it from him. It's true that she fell in love with him; it was not something she planned or could have avoided. She was falling for him so deeply that whenever he crossed her mind, she was unable to think rationally.
"Hey, look. I'm not trying to scare you in any way." When he said the word "scare you," Sehun had her complete attention and cleared his throat. "I'm telling you this because, you know, you seem like taking this relationship pretty seriously now, and I don't want you to blame me with the 'you're supposed to warn me' speech in the end if something goes wrong..."
"Just tell me, Sehun, what is it?" With a snap of her tongue, she cut him.
"Well, I have a Chinese buddy who has been seeing this girl for about three years. Their wedding was scheduled for October of last year, but because the grooms' parents are a well-known businessman in Shanghai, they abruptly called off the event. If he persisted in marrying his fiancée, his family rejected the union and threatened to remove him from the family tree and remove his name from the beneficiaries list. And all of this only because the girl is American, ignoring the reality that she was truly born of Chinese descent."
Sehun took a brief break to give Jisoo time to process the information he was attempting to convey, but when she remained silent, he went on. "It also reminds me that Yixing's Zhang family is one of those wealthy, aristocratic clans in mainland China who, you know, often seek to maintain their pure lineages throughout their lives. According to one of Soojung's acquaintances in Beijing, Yixing is the first to attempt to break away from the Zhang family tradition, which has been maintained for over ten generations. Let's say that we're anticipating this if things went a little too far. The Chinese media has also been following him for years to see what sort of lady he is going to charm to safeguard the bloodline. I wish I was exaggerating. I don't want you to get wounded, especially with the media because, you know, people can be so cruel with what they post online."
Jisoo frowned. Though what Sehun just told her was a too much to handle, one thing stood out to her from all he said: "Why would the media be so interested in his personal life? I mean, he's not a celebrity or anything."
"Believe me, Sis. The Chinese media is interested in everything. Yixing is essentially among the nation's most sought-after bachelors. Not to mention that he constantly keeps his private life to himself, which makes him rather intriguing, according to Soojung's buddy's friend."
He then added, "Now that he lives outside of the country, he is theoretically out of the media's grasp. But once they learn about you, I'm afraid  they were anticipating a joyous field day spent learning about your life and your history."
Jisoo was remained silent as she tried to process this information. She stroked his chin and, to be honest, was afraid that two particular names from her past would come up when the media managed to uncover the truth about her. Jisoo had never considered this before, but once Sehun brought it up, she started to consider whether or not her connection with Chanyeol or Baekhyun was as covert as they had desired. Perhaps with Chanyeol, it wouldn't matter and people would assume that they were genuinely dating, but with Baekhyun, it would cause a stir if people found out that they were dating when he was a student.
"But once more, Jees, there's a 50% possibility that I may be mistaken. Maybe his family is cool with you being Korean, and the media will just let you go based on the position you hold. People could wonder things like your background, family, schooling, and employment, but I believe you have all of that covered. Yixing is trustworthy and I believe he will not allow anybody hurt you."
"Well, let's hope you're mistaken about this. I simply want to be settled and live a happy life with the man of my dreams because I'm not sure if I can handle any more trouble in my life." Jisoo tried to grin, but she wiped her face tiredly. She just prayed that things would go smoothly on her trip to Beijing, but she made a mental note to talk to Yixing as soon as she saw something was wrong.
"Anyways," Sehun sipped on his Americano, "Chanyeol told me that Baekhyun is getting divorced."
"Uh-huh. It's been four months since he told me that, so I'm not sure how it's going now. I'm still hopeful he'll withdraw his petition. He claimed he's doing it for me, but he'll be very sorry when it's all over."
"Seriously? After all he's done to you, do you still want what's best for him? He deserves it, Jees. Let him suffer for God's sake."
"I kind of feel sorry for him, Sehun. Although he appears to be the happiest person alive, he truly struggles with confidence. These days, when I think about it, I think I'm beginning to see why he did all of this. He said that because I outperformed him intellectually, this circumstance made him feel insecure. It once pained his dignity to see me ten steps ahead of him when I initially received my PhD funding."
"It's unbelievable," sneered Sehun. He should learn from Yixing not to let something like that interfere with your relationship," he said.
"Yixing doesn't need to be concerned about anything because he is the CEO of a major oil company. He is a hundred steps ahead of me in terms of social standing."
"What?" Sehun's eyes widened as he refused to comprehend what he had just heard. "Was that it? Are all of this trouble simply the result of that jerk not being able to accept the reality that he is not in your socioeconomic class? That's ridiculous."
"Wouldn't you do the same if it were you?" she quipped.
"Certainly not! I'm a man who will stop at nothing to keep my relationship going. Just because my girlfriend is successful doesn't mean that I give up that quickly.At the absolute least, I won't pout and whine about it in front of you; I'll level up to where you are." He grunted. "And speaking of the devil..."
Jisoo noticed Sehun's gaze shift to something over her shoulder, and when she considered looking back, Sehun prevented her from doing so. Immediately following all, she could figure out why Sehun was acting that way because Baekhyun appeared next to their table a few seconds later.
"Hey, Baekhyun." Jisoo welcomed him first out of politeness, even though they hadn't spoken in months.
"I thought you wouldn't be in the office today; everything seems dead here," Baekhyun replied, smiling.
"I'm the head deputy of the international relations office, of course, I would be in my office despite the vacation," she said with restraint. Sehun scoffed as he watched Jisoo spend her time rubbing it on Baekhyun's face.
"Right, I wonder how I forget that." Baekhyun then turned to face Sehun, who had remained stoic the entire time. He extended an arm to welcome him, but Sehun ignored him and crossed his arms over his chest, his hostile eyes looking at him sternly. Jisoo was prepared to go in their path and prevent any needless physical contact as she could sense the obvious tension between the two guys. She knew Sehun was capable of it by the look in his hawk eyes, but she couldn't let him to. She didn't think Baekhyun was worth his energy.
All Baekhyun did was sneer at Sehun's rudeness and turn back to her as though the planned greet had never occurred.
"Check your mail, I've sent you the files for the new curriculum," he stated coldly, to which Jisoo nodded. And as Baekhyun turned to leave, something appeared to catch his attention because, without warning, his eyes grew wide and he reached over to have a look at the ring on her finger. He snarled as she yelped.
"Baekhyun, what the hell?" She attempted to pull her hand back, but he gripped it more firmly. Sehun hauled his body straight and sliced him just as he was going to speak something.
"Back off, man. Get your filthy hand off of her, or I'll break your arm right here," he said.
With his jaws clenched, Baekhyun released her hand and stormed off. The moment Baekhyun went away, Jisoo began massaging her wrist while Sehun reclined in his chair. He questioned if she was all right, and Jisoo simply waived her hand in response.
He managed to contain his rage and murmured, "I really want to punch him."
"Don't mind him, Sehun; he's not worth it. Let's go home. Yixing will fetch me up at four this afternoon. I need to pack."
They got up from their chairs and exited the café at the same time. Thankfully, Jisoo discovered that it was on vacation when she turned to glance around to check whether anybody else was around. It just so happened that the cafeteria looked empty as well, and there weren't many students on campus. If only a student had witnessed them at their wit's end, this would make for a riveting gossip.
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