10 A SCANDAL?!?!?!??!?!

October 3rd, 2027 (Sunday)

Jeong Manor

The television is cut on and the brothers immediately hear the News Anchor's booming voice.

"Breaking News! Yesterday, the CEO to be of KI Group was seen shopping with a young boy. Many have come to believe that this is Miss Jeong's son. But, who is the father? Did Miss Jeong have a one-night stand? These are all the trending topics as of right now. Find out more when we report on the topic at 3 PM. Now onto the weather. JunKyu-shi please give us the weather report!"

CRASH! The sound of the metal bowl hitting the coffee table reverberates throughout the living room. JaeSeong, who had just dropped the bowl of popcorn is speechless. His brothers are all frozen as well. They were going to watch a soccer match, but their sister appeared on the news! And, not because she did something right. Sujin is being suspected for having a one night stand or an affair! But, their little sister would never do something like that. She adopted Hyunwoo, but has avoided taking him out in public.

⌠What if Hyunwoo is really Sujin's son? Like her actual son?⌡ The brothers reason.

They all shake their heads. ⌠That can't be. Sujin would never hide anything from us.⌡

Jaehyun speaks. "Brothers, let's see how blown up this gets before interfering. I want to see how Sujin takes the situation. I know that is cruel, but she will have to handle situations like this in the near future. We need to gauge her level of tolerance, and how much she can endure criticism from the public. If Sujin is unable to bear with it, then we will step in."

"Ok," Jungwoo says. "Sounds like a plan. Now, shall we brothers?"

They nod, change the channel to the soccer game, and eat their popcorn. And in sync at that.

—————————————————————

October 4, 2027 (Monday)

Jeong Manor

Sujin throws her phone down on the table. She rubs her face with her hands. On her phone, the article about Hyunwoo is pulled up. Because she took Hyunwoo out shopping, the paparazzi took the opportunity to try and expose any faults that she may have. But, what if Hyunwoo gets hurt because of Sujin?

⌠Why? Why did they have to get my little Hyunwoo involved?⌡

She shakes her head and sighs. ⌠There's nothing to be done now. I'll try to figure something out ⌡

Sujin sighs once again and begins to get ready for work. From her closet, she selects a striped dress shirt, high waist pants, and silver heels. Spraying a bit of perfume on her wrists, Sujin dabs her wrists on her neck, looks at herself in the mirror, fixes her hair, and walks out of the room.

Once out of her room, she greets the delicious smells that drift from the kitchen with a sigh. ⌠Food! It smells sooooooo good!⌡

Before Sujin heads down to the kitchen, she goes to get Hyunwoo ready for school. Although Hyunwoo is only four years old, Jaeyoung told Sujin to enroll him in elementary school. After Hyunwoo's first day at school, he had been placed into fourth grade classes. He was too smart for, kindergarten so they put him in first grade. He already knew how to read, write, and add basic numbers, so they put him in second grade. Hyunwoo already knew who to write basic paragraphs, so they put him in third grade. And lastly, Hyunwoo skipped third grade because he already knew how to write in cursive and knew all of his multiplication tables. So, they put the kid in fourth grade.

Although Sujin isn't worried about her image and reputation, she is much more worried about Hyunwoo.

⌠What if Hyunwoo gets hurt because of me? What if Hyunwoo suffers? Isn't it all my fault?⌡

"Let's not think about that now Sujin. Let's not think about it Sujin." She mumbles to herself.

"Hyunwoo-ah! Grandma made breakfast!" Sujin shouts. "Let's eat so I can take you to school Hyunwoo-ah."

But, Hyunwoo doesn't come out of his room. Usually, the boy is racing down the stairs to eat breakfast, but not this morning.

"Hyunwoo-ah," Sujin says worriedly. "Hyunwoo-ah."

Sujin knocks on the door to her little boy's room. "Hyunwoo-ah. Why aren't you coming out of your room? It's time to eat breakfast! Don't forget that I have to drop you off at school today. Hyunwoo-ah. Please come out."

The door creaks open revealing a teary-eyed face. It looks like Hyunwoo has been crying for quite some time, his eyes are swollen and red.

"Hyunwoo-ah," Sujin sighs. "What's wrong baby?"

"Mommy," the boy sniffs. "People are bullying you! But, Hyunwoo can't do anything to protect you. So, Mommy might get hurt!"

Sujin is surprised. She never knew that her little boy would want to protect her.

"Now Hyunwoo-ah, Mommy will be okay. So let's eat breakfast and drop you off at school okay?"

"You'll really be okay Mommy?" Hyunwoo says.

"Yes," Sujin reassures him. "I'll be fine. So let's get you downstairs to eat breakfast and go to school, okay?"

"Okay Mommy." Hyunwoo says as he pulls on his red hoodie. "Let's go eat."

Sujin ruffles Hyunwoo's hair. "Okay let's go."

The two head downstairs and start to eat breakfast. After filling her plate with food, Sujin begins to eat. She just put her bagel in her mouth when she glances at the clock. When Sujin sees what time it is, she chokes on her delicious bagel.

⌠ It's almost 7 o' clock! We have to go or we'll both be late!!!⌡

Sujin hurriedly stuffs food in her mouth. "Hunwu-ah, we hab to go now!! Web are going to be late!!!"

Hyunwoo follows suit, stuffing food into his mouth and rushing out the house.

"Were going Mom," Sujin says.

Hyunwoo hurriedly puts on his shoes, slings on his backpack, stuffs another piece of bread in his mouth, and opens the door.

"See you later Grandma."

The two rush out the door hoping they can make it to school and work in time.

—————————————————————

October 4, 2027 (Monday)

KI Headquarters

After dropping Hyunwoo off at school, Sujin rushes to work. Her car flies into the parking lot and screeches to a stop at the sliding doors in front of the building. Sujin climbs out of the car, slams the door, throws her keys to the person at the valet desk, and runs inside. Once inside, Sujin rushes to the elevators. She frantically pushes the elevator button, hoping the elevator will reach the first floor soon.

DING! The elevator opens. Sujin runs inside and frantically pushes to button for the hundredth floor. The elevator doors are beginning to close, but a young man pushes his way through.

"Sorry," he says. "I'm running a bit late."

"What floor?" Sujin asks.

"The 100th floor please," the man says politely. "Oh! Your going the the 100th floor as well? May I ask why your going to the 100th floor?"

"I need to go to a meeting." Sujin says curtly.

The two ride the elevator in silence before the young man cuts in again.

"So, who are you? And, why are you attending the shareholder meeting?"

Sujin sighs, "Because I'm the daughter of the chairman."

DING!

"We've arrived," Sujin says. "Well, see you."

And, she gets off the elevator. Leaving the young man behind. He smiles.

"Just the kind of girl I like."

—————————————————————

October, 4, 2027 (Monday)

KI Headquarters, In the Meeting Room

Sujin enters when the shareholders have just started the discussion. She walks to her seat, and before she sits, bows apologizing for her late arrival.

"I'm sorry that I'm late gentlemen. I needed to drop my son off at school, and the traffic was bad on the way here. So, I hope you can overlook my tardy arrival."

"Well," one shareholder says. "At least you showed up to the meeting. Now, gentlemen I have a rather important topic to discuss. And, it's about our future CEO."

Just when Sujin was hoping she would get a break, the shareholders brought up a rather sensitive topic.

⌠UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!⌡ She internally screams.

"I would like to discuss future CEO Jeong's scandal," one shareholder says. He then turns towards Sujin. "Is this little boy your legitimate son, as in related to you by blood?"

Sujin shakes her head. "I adopted him when I saw him out on the street all alone."

"Do you have proof he is not related to you by blood?"

"No I don't," Sujin says grinding her teeth.

"Are you sure, that he is not your son? Are you sure that you didn't have a one-night stand, and that the man sent the child to you?" Another attacks.

Sujin fumes, but politely says, "Hyunwoo, is not my son. In fact, if you want, I will run a DNA test shortly. Hyunwoo gets out of school in a few hours, but I can have my sister pick him up early to get his DNA tested."

All the shareholders glance at one another. Then one says, "All right. We will wait until the DNA test comes out before we come to a decision."

"What decision?" Sujin asks.

"Well," one shareholder begins. "Since you have a child, that would restrict your work. And, since you're also a woman, isn't it the woman's duty to watch over her child rather than work?"

On the inside Sujin is raging, cursing, spewing hateful comments, and throwing a fit. But, on the outside, she is composed and rather calm.

"I will work gentlemen." She says grinding her teeth. "It is true that I should take care of my child and I do, but I need to work in order to do so. It's true that my family is well off, but I shouldn't just freeload off my parents and raise my kid that way. Kids need to understand that you need to work in order to achieve great things. We shouldn't live off others' hard work. That's why I need to work. That's why, I accepted my father's offer. To show him how great of a father he's been. To show him how grateful I am for receiving this position. Hard work pays off. Because my father recognized my hard work, I was asked to take this position. And, I gratefully accepted it. Because I knew this would ease any uneasiness my father had, and give me a chance to repay him for such a great father he's been. So, if you'll now consider letting me work again, please let me know. Now, I have to call my sister to get the DNA test done."

Outside in the hallway, Sujin sighs. ⌠Why? Why are they so against me working here at my family's company? Is it because I'm one of the few women who actually made it into a high position, where a man should actually be?⌡

She shakes her head, and dials Sumin's number. "Oh, Sis. I need you to pick up Hyunwoo. . . . I need a DNA test ASAP because these old geezers at the company are giving me a hard time. Could you possibly take him and get it ready really quick? I need it by today. . . . You will! Okay. Thanks Sis, see you in a little bit."

⌠They'll see. Hyunwoo isn't my real son, but he is still my son regardless. Why should it matter if I'm a mother? There are some CEOs that are fathers and they still work? Why are they trying to make everything in this world hard for me? Because I'm a woman? Just because? I don't know anymore.⌡

Sujin shakes her head. "You've got this. You've got this. Come on now Sujin, let's go back into hell."

And, Sujin walks back into the meeting room also known as the fiery pits of hell.

Inside the room, the shareholders stop talking as soon as Sujin walks in. They cough pretending like they've never talked behind her back and argued about whether she should be at this company.

"Talking behind my back weren't you?" She says.

Everyone in the room nervously glances at each other. They fidget with their pens and papers. Loosen their ties, and place their folded hands on the table and their backs up against the back of their chair. These, are all obvious signs that they are trying to get out of trouble. And, it is highly probable that someone may try to lie.

"No," one man says. "No, no, no, no. We weren't talking about you. We were talking about the new project that is to be announced later this week —"

"Cut. The. Crap." Sujin hisses. "Tell. Me. What. You. Really. Talked. About."

The sounds of the men's gulps reverberate through the room. They all glance at each other, seeing who has the courage to face this enraged monster. They point and shake their heads. Point and shake their heads so more, before Sujin really loses it.

"ENOUGH! STOP TRYING TO GET OUT OF THIS! ALL OF YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE, MEANING THAT EVEN IF ONLY ONE OF YOU TALKS, ALL OF YOU TALKED BEHIND MY BACK WHEN I WAS OUTSIDE. SO, EVERY ONE OF YOU WILL BE IN SOME SORT OF TROUBLE EITHER WAY. SO ONE OF YOU BETTER SPEAK NOW RATHER THAN LATER. UNLESS, YOU WANT TO TALK TO MY FATHER?"

They all frantically shake their heads left then right. No one wants to be scolded by the Chairman. The Chairman is the one you really don't want to upset. So, it's either telling the future CEO or basically receiving a death sentence from the Chairman.

"Death sentence?" One asks all the men. No one raises their hand. "Tell the future CEO?"

They all nod. It's better to tell the CEO than receive a harsh punishment from the Chairman.

"We did talk behind your back Miss Jeong." One says. "But, we were rather divided on the subject of whether you should be able to work here or not—"

Sujin slams her hand on the table. "I'm sorry, but I'm as much entitled as you are to be at this very meeting, and much more so to be the CEO. So, if you'll excuse my rather offensive mouth, you all are only here because you own shares of the company. There is no other reason why you are here. Sure, if you have shares you have power, but did you forget that I'm the daughter of the Chairman, and if you offend me, you offend him. There's no way you all can escape punishment—"

Sujin's phone goes off. She pauses, glaring at the men before picking up the phone.

"Hello?" She says.

"Oh, Sujin. I've got the DNA test. I'm heading to the company right now. I should be there any minute now."

"Okay, see you in a bit sister." Sujin says.

"See you."

Sujin hangs up. "Now gentlemen, where were we?"

10 MINUTES LATER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sumin pops her head into the meeting room to find a rather unpleasant scene. Her sister is firing insults at the men!

⌠My sister is really something. . . . . . . ⌡

Just when Sujin is about to fire another set of words, Sujin cuts in.

"Excuse me gentlemen. Hey sis, I've got the DNA test and I'm gonna take Hyunwoo home. If that's all, I'll be going."

"Thanks Sumin Unnie!" Sujin calls after her sister leaves.

Then the inner devil surfaces again. "Now gentlemen, where were we?"

Everyone present gulps before one squeaks, "You we're talking about how you know that Hyunwoo isn't your son. . . . . . . ."

All the shareholders glare at the man.

⌠You've betrayed us and helped that woman!!!!!!!!!!! We're doomed!!!!!!!⌡They think.

"Thank you sir." Sujin says.

"Your welcome," the young man says.

"I didn't ask for you to speak again." Sujin hisses.

"Well," the young man begins.

"If you as much speak another word, you are out of this room."

"Okay," the young man says.

"Now," Sujin begins. "Let's look at this DNA test shall we gentlemen?"

She walks over to one of the shareholders and hold out the envelope to him.

"You will open this and read the test results to everyone in this room."

"Yes ma'am," the man coughs as he opens the envelope. He slowly pulls out the paper and is shocked by the results.

"Our CEO does not have a child. This child is not blood related to Person A in any way. The child's blood relation is unknown. . . . . . . . ."

"Now, gentlemen. Since this boy is not related to me by blood, it is safe to say that I will work at the company. I have no plan to change that. I hope that no one has an opposing opinion."

Everyone in the room is silent. They didn't dare speak because of the fear of getting yelled at again by the future CEO.