Work Text:
“Blue and gold for the wedding? It’s the Von Hagens! A classic white and gold combination would suit the couple more.”
“Oh dear, Mrs Lan, now I can see why your first son was so adamant about an outdoor wedding. Let’s hope your second son will be able to free himself from your terrible outdated colour choices.”
“Don’t listen to them, darling. For your wedding, I think you should…”
You swirl your champagne glass as your attention fizzles out like the bubbles in it.
Would it be too much if you fake-fainted and acted as if there were poison in your champagne?
Your overbearing assistant, Jooyoung, would probably come for your ass, but in your defense, the old ladies don’t even notice that you have completely tuned them out. The ladies still continue arguing on which combination of flowers would look good on the tables for the wedding.
This all could be avoided if a certain someone considered thinking before opening his mouth.
It was definitely a bad idea to listen to Jooyoung.
- - - - -
“Jooyoung…aren’t assistants supposed to have their boss’s best interests in mind?”
“Yes, and? Are you insinuating that I do not?”
“Then why is there an invitation to a Pax event on my table?” you said through gritted teeth.
You made a cursory glance towards the charity auction invitation, trying to fight off the rising headache.
To put it simply, you and the von Hagens (especially their youngest) don’t mix well.
It all started when you attended Madam Huo’s birthday party, where the youngest of the von Hagens spilled his drink all over your dress without an apology. As payback, you ended up pushing him into the Wang household’s pond on their daughter’s fifth birthday. Until you went off to university, the sole form of communication between the both of you was only through pranks that covered up your animosity for one another.
Much to your chagrin, your two families are quite close to each other. In a way, it did work in your favour as you often got to know what happens in their household through your mother. Recent talks had been that the devil-spawn of the family returned to Stellis to complete his graduate studies and temporarily lead the company in his older brother's absence.
You stared at the envelope on your desk.
Therefore, it was highly unlikely he would have sent the invitation to your office, considering how much he hates your guts.
“I had to pull some strings for this invite, so please do me a favour and attend the auction, Miss Y/N,”
Well, that explained it.
“Jooyoung, the last thing I need right now is to go and socialise with a bunch of people when I still have the deal with Kim Hotel to work on. You do know that if I don't get it approved, dad is going to chew my head off,” you yawned, massaging your temple.
You knew she meant well, but you could be better off doing something else instead. You let out a sigh and moved to throw the invitation in the trash.
“There will be a Z’s painting up for auction, Miss Y/N,”
You had no idea how she moved so fast, but she was beside you holding your hand before you could touch the invitation. You suppose your surprise was evident on your face as she loosened her grip on your hand.
Jooyoung smiled. “Heard it’s a new one that they will be unveiling. You wouldn’t want to miss out on that.”
“Oh, you play so dirty.”
You were an avid collector of Z’s artwork, not only for the crowd it brings to your gallery but also for the art itself. You knew that she was trying to exploit your weak spot, and you can’t help but admit that it’s working.
“Alright then, I will go, but only to get Z’s painting. Let’s hope their security doesn’t kick me out when they see me.” You buried your head in your hands as you dispelled your dreams of having a peaceful weekend.
Let’s hope this doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass.
“I’m glad, Miss Y/N. You won’t regret your choice.”
- - - - -
You have to agree that the Pax Art Gallery looks majestic even if it was owned by Marius (a crucial piece of information that your assistant conveniently forgot to mention to you). The receptionist gives you a polite smile, giving you directions to head to the auction hall.
After what has been 15 minutes of you wandering through the hall and talking to some of the attendees you knew, you somehow find yourself at the buffet table. Well, if you are going to wait around for the auction to start, you might as well eat while you’re at it.
“Don’t worry, the food isn’t going anywhere. I made sure the staff ordered extra just for you.”
Ah shit. Right when you were about to get a bite of your cake.
“Well, thank you for taking extra care of your guests,” you say, injecting as much ice as you can into your tone, “Mr von Hagen.”
You turn behind to look at him, and holy hell, he looks good.
Marius looks nothing short of stunning in a dark purple suit (rather well, you had to admit) that accentuates his eyes. The serpent crest of the von Hagens that was pinned onto his coat glimmers under the bright light, reminding you of their status – filthy rich and constantly monitored by everyone. His fingers move to adjust his cufflinks, bringing your attention to his slender – no, normal-looking fingers. Your eyes follow his hand as it brushes away some of his hair that fell down his face. In that instance, you see traces of a younger Marius, the one that was a little bit boyish and got on your nerves like no other, and that nearly brings a smile onto your face.
That’s when you notice the dark circles under his eyes, covered by a thin layer of concealer. For all the money he has, couldn’t he have hired a better makeup artist? If not for his handsome face, the mismatched concealer would have landed him on the cover for Top 10 Makeup Fails. He seems jittery too, like someone who has been solely dependent on caffeine (you would know best after all). These past few months must have been hard on him. Marius is human too; there must have been a lot on his plate, to the point he forgot to take care of himself.
You know it has only been 6 months since he became Pax’s acting CEO, but it seems like you underestimated the amount of work and pressure placed upon him. Not to mention Giann’s disappearance must’ve taken a toll on him, considering how close they were since childhood. Should you ask him if he’s alright? Wait, why are you even thinking about this? Why do you even care if he’s tired? What’s the-
“Done checking me out yet?” He drawls.
Your earlier concern for him dissipates and turns into annoyance as you roll your eyes.
“In your dreams, Marius,” you tell him brusquely, setting your plate down on the table.
“Come on, Y/N. It’s been so long since we ever met, you are being so mean to me.”
You stare in silence as he gives you a pouty face.
“You know that never works with me,”
“That’s my girl,” he laughs, sending your brain into overdrive, which you choose to ignore for the sake of your sanity. “Never change Y/N.”
Before you can get your brain cells to actually work and respond to him, you see two ladies, who you recognise as both Madam Wang and Mrs Han approach Marius with an expectant look on their faces.
“Oh Marius, how are you? It’s been so long since I last saw you! Do you remember me? I once changed your diapers when you were a wee little kid. I’m sure you still remember my daughter, Hana,”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they are trying to butter up Marius, probably with intentions to make him their son-in-law. Honestly, you can’t even blame them. Apart from his annoying personality, he’s the most eligible bachelor in Stellis, second to none. Mrs Han gives you a side eye, and you take that as your cue to tune out their conversation. You grab a flute of champagne from a passing waiter, and turn your attention to the auction crew setting up the stage.
“No, I’m sorry to disappoint you Madam Wang, that won’t be possible.”
“What?! Why not? Marius, tell me one thing that’s wrong with my daughter!”
Now, that sentence snaps you out of your reverie.
Marius rejecting someone’s daughter, straight to her mom’s face? That is something you definitely can’t miss out on. You see that he looks irritated, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
“I am already taken, Madam Wang.”
Wow, what the fuck.
He’s in a relationship? Someone is willingly in love with him? You send a mental good luck note to the poor soul out there who’s stuck with him. They surely need it.
“Oh my, how could we be so blind? You should introduce them to us! Are they here?”
Mrs Han’s tight-lipped smile tells you that she isn’t asking him out of courtesy, but rather just a way to compare Marius’ lover and her daughter. Well, whatever makes her sleep at night, you guess. At this point, there’s a mini crowd surrounding them, thanks to Mrs Han’s shrill voice that can rival the best loudspeaker in the market.
“Oh, who could have known that the youngest von Hagen would have a lover? Tell us about them, son.”
Mr Choi joins in the ruckus, adding to the pressure.
You look at Marius’ face, eager to see the identity of his mysterious lover be revealed and put your burning questions to rest. What you didn’t expect to see was his face bright red and flushing, his eyes darting all over the place. The moment both your eyes meet, you feel an uncomfortable pit grow in your stomach. In that split second, you could practically see an imaginary light bulb go off on top of his head, and you knew you were in for it.
“It’s Y/N, she’s the one that I’m dating.”
The entire hall goes silent at his admission. The absolute resolution in his voice shocks you and it seems like it has the same effect on others too, judging by their open jaws. You see Mrs Han turn her head to you in slow motion, and you can’t help but notice that her right eye is twitching in the weirdest way possible. Marius is just standing there, with the biggest grin on his face.
Wow, what the fuck.
- - - - -
“I didn’t know you had such a shitty sense of humour, von Hagen.”
“Shitty to you, but you know what they say, humour is in the eye of the beholder.” He gives you an easy smile, leaning on the balcony’s balustrade. You promptly scoff at the butchering of the idiom.
After Marius’ shocking revelation, you forcefully drag him to the balcony to ask him what he drank before attending the auction and asking him for a shot to knock out and forget this night.
“Marius, be serious, what was that all about? You can’t randomly announce that we are dating to everyone, when we are clearly not,” you jab him square in his chest, levelling him with a stare.
He let out a sigh, rubbing his hand across his face. He looks up at you, having the nerve to give you a guilty look.
“See, I am sorry, alright, I-,” he sighs, before continuing, “I just wasn’t thinking straight. Too tired to do that.”
“Oh, you know how to think?”
Marius stares at you. “You suck. These old ladies keep pressuring me to get married to their kids for months now. I was going to reject them nicely, but Mrs Han pissed me off and…yeah, I blurted that out. Really, I’m sorry.”
He is an annoying piece of shit with spaghetti sauce for brains, but with the sad and tired face that he’s putting on right now, you actually consider forgiving him.
You massage your forehead. “Fine, I accept your apology. What are you going to do about the others now? Mrs Lan is already planning our wedding and I’m telling that lady is another level of crazy.”
“Fuck, I forgot about that. The media is here too, can’t say they are best at keeping secrets. The public might have known about this now,” he groans irritably.
This is going to be an absolute PR disaster, you can feel it in your bones. Who announces that they are dating someone and says ‘Hey, sorry, that was a silly little joke’ the next second? You could tell that Marius was drunk and said some shit- no, he seemed too alert for that excuse to work. No one will believe that.
You end up sitting on a bench nearby, as you try to think of ways to escape the wrath of your father for once again ruining your public image.
(The last time you ‘ruined your public image’, you swore you would never go drinking out with Yunjin again.)
“I know what to do,” Marius walks over to you, “but I need your help for it to work out.”
You raise your eyebrows in curiosity. “If it’s a stupid idea-”
“It’s not!” He kneels before you. “What if we just make it the truth?”
You can’t believe your ears.
“Is this your way of proposing to a girl? At this point, even Cupid himself, can’t save you from a doomed love life.”
“What, wait no, I don’t mean like actually dating dating. I meant fake dating. Like, let the others think it’s the real deal, but only we know what’s going on. We can break up after a few months, and no one will be suspicious.”
You groan, irritably. “I knew you were going to tell me a stupid idea. There’s no way I can do this. I would rather go and jump off this building than spend a second of my life acting like I can tolerate your existence.”
“I had a feeling you would do this. Why don’t we make a deal? I heard that someone was having some issues with a certain deal with Kim Hotel. Am I right?”
My brows furrow as I look up at his stupid little grin. This guy is too influential for your good.
“Wait, how do you know about that? That project was supposed to be super confidential.”
“I have my ways, sweetheart,” he smiles teasingly, “If you agree to do this, I will settle it for you by tomorrow morning. Come on Y/N, if you want anything else, just ask for it. If we call this off now, our PR teams are going to have a mental breakdown. The board of directors, full of old men will probably use this as an excuse to hold another meeting to vote me off.” he looks at you pleadingly.
Then, he goes ahead and does something absolutely forbidden. He pouts. He legit pouts.
Shit, men just love to act cute. There’s no way you can say no to that pouting face. You could hear your future self pulling her hair, crying and screaming to think before acting, but you were never one to listen to anybody, even your own self.
“Fine,” you decide that this is for the better; you get to secure the deal and avoid reporters making up shit about you. “We are definitely pulling up a contract on our agreement after this.” He laughs heartily, as he gives you a mock bow.
“Thank you for saving my ass Y/N.” The genuine smile on his face nearly knocks the wind out of you. You think it suits him quite well.
“I want…another thing too,” you fiddle with your fingers, as he raises his eyebrows in question.
“I want the Z painting that you are going to reveal in the auction today.”
You still have to get what you came here for, no?
You hear a choking sound and even before you can ask about it, Marius has a slight smile on his face.
“Spoken like a true gallery director. Consider it done.”
- - - - -
[Yunjin (ass :P)]
bitch wake up
wake tf up
there’s no way you are sleeping in rn
after all you did last night
[me]
what
its literally 8am
tf you want
[Yunjin (ass :P)]
you ass
you never told me that you were dating someone
and its MARIUS VON HAGEN
do you even consider me your best friend anymore
i cant take this betrayal anymore
you bitcj
[me]
fuckkk
forgot that even happened
will explain to you later
time for work
see ya b
“Congrats, Miss Y/N!”
The sound of a party popper going off right in front of your face, startles you enough to drop your phone. As you straighten up with your phone in your hand, you blink at the ecstatic faces of your team.
You take a second to survey the lounge area of your art gallery.
Your staff huddle all around you, as streamers and confetti litter the place. Cupcakes and brownies with pictures of you are on the coffee table. You grimace as Lydia takes a big bite off your metaphorical nose. Bright yellow balloons on the wall spell out ‘CONGARTS’. A split second after you notice it, the G falls off, succinctly describing the deal that started it all.
Kevin stands beside you, grinning with a copy of the signed deal, and Yiwen squeals at the latest article deeming you the new beau of the von Hagen heir. You nod along to their cheers with a convincing smile, praying to make it to your office in one piece. There’s only a certain amount of ‘Mrs. von Hagen’ being thrown your way that you can take.
Plopping on your chair, you let out a weary sigh. Your father isn’t really mad at the whole news, as he deemed any publicity as good publicity. He isn’t wrong, your gallery has its spots booked for the next few weeks & gossip columns are painting you in a good light. You don’t dare look at your personal phone, lest you have to deal with your brother, who probably thinks you finally lost your marbles. He can’t be blamed, who would’ve thought you would even be parading around as lovers with the guy who you hate the most?
“Looks like someone did have fun yesterday night, Mrs von Hagen.” The smell of fresh coffee wafts through the room accompanied by the clicks of your assistant’s heels.
“I am only forgiving you for last night’s nightmare, because you brought me coffee.”
“Not because you scored a boyfriend?” she grins tauntingly. “You have been single for quite some time.”
You hold up a middle finger in response as you turn on your computer’s home screen. Quickly scrolling through for any important mails, your eyes settle on one from Pax itself.
“The new painting has already arrived at our gallery?” You ask, surprised at how fast your demands were taken care of.
“Of course, it has already been set up at the viewing area that Mr von Hagen suggested this morning.”
“He came in?!” You jolt out of your seat, effectively scaring Jooyoung who has never seen you this excited except for Sunday soup dumplings at the corner store.
“That he did, and he had requested this be conveyed to you.” she slides a bouquet of lilies over to you.
Your heart skips a treacherous beat as you realise he remembered your favourite type of flowers even after all these years. Plucking the mini-card from the top, your finger traces over his elegant scrawl on the glossy embossed surface.
all for you, my muse.
have a day as sweet as you.
- your beloved, m.
Maybe this partnership wouldn’t turn out to be so bad.