TO MAKE YOU MINE – CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

* YEAR 2001 *

“What are you doing here?”

Jae-hwa didn’t bother to hide his disinterest the moment he saw him standing at the doorframe.

“Can I have a word with you, Sir?”

“What, right now?” Irritated, the older man checks his wristwatch. “It’s late. Can’t it wait tomorrow?”

“It’s important, Sir.” He responded.

Jae-hwa did an impatient click of tongue as he reluctantly opens the door for him.

“If you have come to borrow money, then I suggest you start heading back because the answer is a big NO. I’m not in the habit of aiding financial assistance to temporary hires.”

He could have just left. Knocking on this house and being made to feel like a beggar and a distasteful presence to be endured is just hard to stomach.

For her, remember? For her, you would go through this.

“I’m not here to ask for money, Sir.” He answered as he tries to keep his tone polite. “I came to talk about your daughter.”

Jae-hwa’s mouth tightened at the mention of his daughter. “Very well then.” He turned and began walking towards the living room. “But make this brief. I have things to do early in the morning.”

He followed behind the unwelcoming fellow. His teeth clamped together as he summons up all self-control not to respond with something he would surely regret.

The older man sat in one of the padded armchairs.

“Now tell me. What is it about my daughter that you want to discuss at this ungodly hour?”

“I have come to ask for her hand in marriage, Sir.”

He watched Jae-hwa’s face transform from astounded to blank and figured he might as well continue. “I love your daughter and although I know that I have not much to offer her at the moment, I assure you –”

Jae-hwa broke his silence with a roar of laughter, his head flung back.

“Have you gone completely insane, boy?” He wipes a few tears of mirth from his eyes. “My daughter is still a child. And you’re what, nineteen? Twenty?? Only a child as well. There’s no way I will give my blessing to any marriage between you two.”

“Listen, Sir –”

“No. YOU listen to me, boy. And YOU listen very carefully. I have no doubt you will make something of yourself, you work hard, and I admire you for that. But she’s my only daughter.”

“But –”

“YOU are not what I have in mind for a son-in-law. My daughter deserves someone better than you.”

Discussion ended. He could see it in the way Jae-hwa turns his back from him. Dismissing him. Silently. Coldly.

He has turned on his heel and is ready to walk out of the room when the older man spoke again.

“You are to find somewhere else to earn your living. You are no longer welcome to my ranch. And YOU are to leave my daughter alone.”

“Very well.” He tightened his jaw and continued walking towards the front door. He let himself out of Jae-hwa’s residence.

Although the meeting didn’t turn out the way he wanted, he feels a little less heavy. He had chosen to talk to him only because he preferred getting married with her parent’s consent. But he was rejected. Okay. Fine. The older man had never approved of his involvement to his daughter from the beginning.

Jae-hwa turned him down. But she would not.

Or so he thought …

~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~

* PRESENT DAY *

It’s still 6am and he is already sitting in the back of his limousine, busy scouring the newspapers. And while his chauffeur covers the 35-minute drive to his office, he’s squinting in concentration as he scans the updates on companies, their status and their fortunes.

It’s yet to be a typical day for him at work when something caught his eyes. It’s a report about a ranch that is on the verge of bankruptcy pleading for a buyer to rescue them. The article had him narrowing his eyes even more as he re-read slowly what’s written, word per word, the name and the details of its misfortune.

He put down the newspaper and relaxed back into the seat, his hands clasped behind his head. He could have not felt more satisfied, delighted with the news about the ranch’s downfall. He looked out through the heavy tinted windows of the car. And for the first time in ten years he allowed himself to trip down memory lane.

To the first mismanaged company he bought and turned profitable. To his hardships to finish his university degree; To his slaving days at Jae-hwa’s ranch doing odd jobs to make ends meet; To her.

Gain.

His face clenched as he felt the sickening rush of rage that had always accompanied these particular memories of her, of the only woman who brought him to his knees.

He leaned forward and search for his phone. Dialing a familiar set of digits, a devilish smirk tugged at his lips.

“Hello. Sung-joo? Kwon here. See me once you reached the office. I have instructions for you about a ranch I’m interested in buying.”

~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~

Well, well, well. Can a diabolical scheme lead to a happy ending? 😀

It feels good to be back!