To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 156: The president is attending

"Alright, kiddos," Woo-bin said as he got into the driver’s seat. "I’m taking the wheels now so buckle up."

"Don’t drive like we’re in a race," Baek-Hyun said, also putting on his seat belt.

"Yeah, yeah, just take care of what you have to take care of." Woo-bin said and Baek-Hyun took his call.

It was his secretary calling. There seemed to be an issue with the preparation of the venue for the Christmas party.

It was a big hall, and invitations had been sent, and the decoration was done too but then the air conditioners suddenly stopped working. If they couldn’t get it fixed by Monday, then it was over.

"Get the manager and put him on the phone." He said and waited.

"So, will it be fixed?" Woo-bin asked and Baek-Hyun brushed his face with his hand.

"It has to be."

"Hm," Woo-bin looked at Chin-hwa through the rearview mirror and asked, "By the way, Hwa, with all the preparations for your school festival, I never got to ask."

"What is it?"

"Have you prepared the Christmas song you’ll sing during the party?" He asked and Chin-hwa’s mind broke.

’I completely forgot,’ he thought. "Um, I... I’m working on it." He said and darted his eyes away. "What am I going to do?"

"I think you let your thoughts out." Woo-bin said and Chin-hwa flinched. "It’s okay if you don’t have anything new planned out, you can sing one of the old songs you’re used to. So long we can hear your beautiful voice on that day, it doesn’t matter what you sing."

"Alright, daddy." Chin-hwa said and sighed.

"Do you want my help? I could play the piano for you." Kang-woo asked but Chin-hwa shook his head.

"It’s fine. I want to play the piano. That way, I don’t have to worry about the eyes on me." He smiled. "And I want you to watch me this time."

Woo-bin rolled his eyes. Now, Kang-woo was the subject of his dear son’s attention.

Well, it had always been like that, but he just couldn’t get used to it. And he could not deny that Kang-woo was above him in Chin-hwa’s heart.

His character and attitude in those three years of separation were enough to prove it.

He was the one that gave Chin-hwa the most joy and also the most hurt.

"It’s settled for now," Baek-Hyun said as he cut the call. "They’ll get everything fixed and if they can’t fix it, we’ll just have to replace every last one of them."

"Is there any need to go that far? We can just change the venue last minute." Woo-bin said.

"We can’t do that. The president is attending." He said and Woo-bin’s eyes widened.

"What?! The president?" He exclaimed along with Chin-hwa.

"By president, do you mean the president of our country?" Woo-bin asked and Baek-Hyun nodded. "Hah, what the hell, Baek?!"

Kang-woo was equally confused. The president?

"Ah, the pressure," Chin-hwa exclaimed, pressing his hand on his chest. "I’m supposed to sing in front of the president,"

"It’s alright, baby. I’ve sung in front of important people before, and I’m still alive, okay?"

"That’s not the same thing." Chin-hwa flared. "Can we not do this? I mean, I don’t think I need to sing, right?"

"Baek-Hyun, how could you keep such important information from me? I mean, from us?"

"It was still uncertain so I needed confirmation so I don’t set off a false panic alarm."

"So, does that mean it’s okay to panic now?" Woo-bin asked and Baek-Hyun nodded. "You’ve gotta be kidding me, Baek. Just why in the world are you telling us now?"

"I don’t have a reason not to tell you now." He said and then glanced at Chin-hwa through the rearview mirror. "He wants to meet the family,"

"Then you could’ve just hosted a nice little dinner where we could all introduce ourselves," Woo-bin said, his eyes on the road. "Doesn’t the president have to do something like a hosting of his own? Why the hell is he coming to ’our’ Christmas party?"

Baek-Hyun sighed.

"It’s a headache for me too but I couldn’t refuse."

"Tch, the president has got to be the only person outside your family you can’t say no to." Woo-bin said, sounding annoyed.

"Hwa, don’t panic. The president is just human, after all. So, don’t pay too much attention to him and just do your best."

"Easy said than done, Dad." Chin-hwa said. "But... I’ll try to ignore his existence while I sing."

"That’s my boy." Woo-bin cheered. "Everyone else is irrelevant so don’t let them bother you and think of your family alone, okay?"

Chin-hwa sighed. This was quite the shocking news.

Christmas was in three days and he was just hearing that he would be performing in front of the president. How could he not be nervous?

He would have to look over the lyrics of the song he was familiar with so he wouldn’t make a mistake and practice the keys again.

Just when he thought he was done with practicing the piano, he was back to those black and white keys. Well, it was fun. And at least he wasn’t practicing ’Happiness’ anymore.

They finally got the meat from the market but by the time they got back to the car, Chin-hwa was asleep and leaning his head on Kang-woo’s shoulder.

By the time they got to the house, Kang-woo was also asleep and both of them looked like pretty lovebirds asleep in each other’s space.

"I’ll take Hwa," Baek-Hyun said and carried Chin-Hwa in his arms, heading inside the house.

Woo-bin shook Kang-woo lightly and he woke up.

"If you still feel like sleeping, head to Hwa’s room," Woo-bin said. He should’ve just told him to head to the guest room but why bother trying to keep them apart when they would be in each other’s arms in a matter of days?

Kang-woo rubbed his eyes and then got down.

As he entered the house, he noticed Yun-tae and their friends in the living room looking through Chin-hwa’s photo album.

He waved at them, and they were going to say something when they saw Woo-bin walk in after him, and their eyes lit.

"Oh my God, it’s true. It’s really true." Seoung-bo reacted while slapping Dong-cha’s back. "Woo-bin Oppa is Chin-hwa’s dad."

"Should you be calling him Oppa when he’s old enough to be your dad?" Beom asked.

"Does he have the face of a father to you? He’s still so young." She was definitely a fan. "Chin-hwa is such a lucky child. Did you see how he was carried up to his room while sleeping?"

"I told you they went to extents you wouldn’t imagine." Yun-tae said.

"You weren’t kidding," Dong-cha said, his eyes following Kang-woo up the stairs. "Hm, it looks like he’s going towards where might be Hwa’s room." She looked down at Yun-tae and asked. "I wanted to ask but are you two still..."

"Oh," Yun-tae exclaimed. He hadn’t spoken about it with Kang-woo but with the way things were going, he could just say they had broken up. "We broke up," he smiled.

"Really? How come?" Seoung-bo asked.

"Well, we opened our eyes." Yun-tae said. "Don’t worry about it, I’m not hurt or anything."

"Oh, I know why he’s not hurt." Seoung-bo said, her eyebrows itching up in gossip. "It’s because of that guy, right? That ’friend’ of yours."

Yun-tae did not even try to deny it and blushed.

"Wow, don’t tell me you broke up with Kang-woo just so you could meet a slightly older guy, hm?" They teased him.

"Cut it out." He said and they laughed.

"You’ve got good luck with guys, Yun." Seoung-bo said. "Your first and second boyfriends are just so handsome."

"Hm, I feel like I’ve seen that guy somewhere before though." Beom-Chim said. "He looks so familiar,"

"He... He’s a musician so you might’ve seen or heard his song in passing." Yun-tae said.

"Really?"

"What’s his name, let me search him out." Seoung-bo’s eyes twinkled but this was the hard part.

He still hadn’t gotten his name. He was calling him Hyung for now but now that his friends were asking, what would he say?

It wasn’t like they would believe him if he suddenly said he didn’t know his friend’s name.

What to do?

"Am I interrupting?" Myung-woo suddenly approached, holding a tray of orange juice for each of them. "How about some refreshment?"

"Ah, thank you,"

They all had their eyes on him and something told Myung-woo they were talking about him before he came so he cleared his throat and said,

"I’ll need to borrow Yun-tae for a while. I hope I’m not interrupting,"

"Oh, no, no." Beom shook his head.

"Sure, take him away." Dong-cha said, waving them away.

"And put a ring on his finger while you’re at it." Seoung-bo mumbled but it was loud enough for all of them to hear.

Yun-tae’s mouth was wide open in disbelief. How could she have the courage to say such things?

Now, he was feeling embarrassed.

"You guys are unbelievable."

He followed Myung-woo out of there but he still felt embarrassed.

"What’s wrong?" Myung-woo asked and Yun-tae darted his eyes away. As if he didn’t know. "Are you mad about their comments?"

"I feel it’s a bit much."

"I don’t think it is, though," he suddenly leaned his body into him, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulling him closer. "After all," he leaned his face closer to Yun-tae’s ear and whispered. "I plan to do just that."

Yun-tae blushed in surprise. Ah seriously, they were all the same. How could they be so shameless?

"I get it. I get it." He said, pushing Myung-woo’s face away. "So, what did you need me for?"