A TYPICAL KIM FAMILY DINNER 2

No 26 Harcourt estate, Two hours later.

Kim Hajun and Kim Ae ri stood by the Foyer with their younger brother, waiting silently for their mother. They all stood to leave as soon as Chairman Kim left since none of them wished to stay back for the night and deal with their father's temper tantrums.

However, just as they stood to leave, they were held back by their mother who went into the kitchen to get the side dishes she had prepared for them.

Haneul was a trainee in the company, he had been selected as a member of the company's newest boy group ARCADE. They were still a pre-debut group since the company had no plans to announce their new group until early next year.

There were more than ten members in the group and like most pre-debut groups, the trainees that were selected to be members of the group lived together in five bedroom apartment. This was done as a way of building a bond among the members and also for convenience.

Haneul who had gotten tired of staying with his father jumped at the prospect of leaving the house. He ignored their mother's protests and moved into the dorm like all the other members.

Although he was allowed to stay two weekends a month like the other members, Haneul only used one of the allocated weekend breaks. More so now that the Chairman was in a horrible mood.

Kim Ha Jun glanced at the duffle bag his brother held and frowned. He looked down at his watch,

"It is almost past curfew, Haneul. We won't make it back before curfew. How about crashing at my house. Staying here overnight might turn out to be too much trouble, dad is still sour about losing his position. He might take out his frustration on you".

Haneul shrugged, "Sure", he glanced towards the kitchen and muttered, "what is taking mum so long?"

"She must have asked Mrs Lee to add an extra set of side dishes to the usual side dishes she gives us", Ae-ri replied without looking up from her phone.

She hadn't said much since dinner, Hajun glanced at his younger brother in question. Hanuel shook his head and shrugged, he glanced at his elder sister and stepped away to give them a chance to talk. Kim Ha Jun moved closer to her, "was it that bad before I arrived?"

She pursed her lips and nodded, "He is not pleased that I fired the manager initially in charge of VIXEN".

He scoffed, "You made a judgement for the good of you artists and company. He is just nitpicking, Miss Yoo is more suitable for the job than that manager but dad kept the manager on just because Miss Yoo was a woman.

"Even though it was Miss Yoo who did 99% of the job, he preferred to keep an unqualified man in charge as opposed to firing him and putting a female in charge. You made the smart decision, he is just bitter because you made the decision he refused to make".

"I know that, that is not what got to me." She started at him silently for a few seconds then sighed and looked away,

"He asked me to terminate Jang Mi's exclusive contract with the company. According to him, there is no need to keep a subpar actress like her. Since she is not willing to marry his son, giving her any more resources is a waste."

"What!" He swore under his breath, "I cannot believe that he said that, is it wise to let your personal relationship affect your Professional life? Jang Mi is a talented actress, she is gradually getting the recognition she deserves. Don't listen to him".

She watched him silently for a few seconds, her mother's words when he arrived replayed in her head. Her brother had indeed gotten slimmer, although he tried to pretend otherwise.

The break-up was affecting him badly even though he liked to pretend otherwise. Although she didn't agree with her father's methods, she understood where he came from. Getting rid of Jang mi was their father's twisted way of defending his son.

She looked down at the dark circles under his eyes and pursed her lip.

"Do you really want me to keep her in the company or are you just trying to take the highway? No one would blame you if you asked me to let her go".

"No! Don't do that! Jiang mi and I may not have ended things on good terms but I am not about to hurt the woman. I have been in love with for seven plus years, just to protect my ego. I choose to remember the good times we had together", he said looking up at the roof and rubbing in-between his eyes.

Kim Ae-ri nodded, "If you say so but she has lost all the special privileges she had as a family member. if she messes up, I will not treat her any different than I treat other artists."

He bit his lips, "I understand".

"Good", she put both hands into the pockets of her coat and looked towards the kitchen, she side-eyed her brother, "So everyone knew that you two were broken up except me".

Resting the back of his head on the walk, he smirked, "Not everyone, Haneul wasn't aware and technically, mum and dad did not hear it from me. Mum found out when the wedding planner informed her that Jiang mi had cancelled the booking on our wedding venue.

"She called Jang Mi to ask if we decided to change the venue. That was when she found out about everything, you know how these things go. An hour later I was forced to endure father's scolding over the phone."

She turned to him, "so mum found out mistakenly, why did you not tell me anything. I foolishly kept asking about her anytime we spoke".

"You just took over the company and was dealing with dad's mess, was it right to burden you with mine? I went on a trip and got over that relationship" He glanced at her.

"You got over an eight years long relationship in one month? Wow, you are really something. Wait till she starts dating someone new, everything gets clearer after that happens", She shook her head at his 'relaxed' expression.

Minutes later their mother, Madam Shin and the housekeeper Mrs Lee walked out carrying a set of side dishes in a white bag in both hands.

Madam Shin handed the two side dishes in her hand to her youngest son, "Haneul-shi, I packed enough for you and your members. You are all still growing don't eat snacks often make some home-cooked meals for yourselves".

Haneul took both sets of side dishes from his mother, "Thanks mum".

"Mm", Madam Shin smiled, patting his cheeks lightly. She turned to take the bigger pack

of side dishes and handed it over to Kim Ha Jun, who had walked closer to her, "You better take care of your health, you are just skin and bone right now. Not pleasing to the eyes at all. You look starved".

Kim Ha Jun raised a brow as he heard that and glanced back at his elder sister and younger brother's laugh. His lips curved up as he took the side dishes from her, "Thanks mum".

When she got to her only daughter, she just sighed, "Are you laughing at your brother, when you are not any different from him, Don't skip your meal while you work. I packed a few of your favourite snacks too", she handed the side dishes to her and swept the loose straight strands of her daughter's dark brown hair behind her ear.

She stepped back and glanced at each of them, "I wish you all would stay longer. Don't take your father's words to heart, you know he doesn't mean it. He is just hurting, he will get over it after some time."

They exchange gazes among themselves, although they highly doubted that their father didn't mean anything he said. They still wished to humour their mother and just nodded. They hugged her goodbye before leaving.