Something Beautiful
Chapter - 48

Unable to stare at yugyeom, Lisa walked to the window and said, "This season is really fun, and there are always activities everywhere, but it seems like everyone is working too hard to have fun.  I'd miss London if I left here, and I knew I'd wish I could come back, but there's something missing. I think I want to do a job. Here I feel restless, even though I've never been really busy. Does what I'm saying make sense?"

"Your words always make sense, Lisa,"

Entertained by Yugyeom's gentle tone, Lisa turned around and looked at the man straight. "Pope Alexander said having fun is a joy that people who cannot think. I don't completely agree with his opinion. I think having fun is just for fun. Pleasure becomes not too satisfying if we try too much to pursue it. Yugyeom, do you never tire of all this useless and never-ending fun?"

"This year, I can barely go anywhere." shaking his head, he flicked his hands and resentfully said, "You know, I usually envy Mingyu who owns all this, home, home, land, all of its investments. Now that all this is mine, they are like jewels that weigh a ton. Too precious to be left behind, and too heavy to bear. You don't know how many different investments he has or how much time it takes me to figure out what to do with each one. When Mingyu inherited all of this, when he was twenty years old, Kim's shares were already quite large but not as big as they are now. He increased it tenfold in seven years. Mingyu worked like a fidelity, but she still had time to have fun. I never seem to be able to balance my time."

"That's why you've always ignored the women, who've surrounded me to attract your attention, trying to figure out where you're going after this so they can be there too?"

Yugyeom laughs. "No. I don't ignore them for the same reason you don't ignore men. I'm flattered, but not interested."

"Aren't there any girls you've thought were suitable all this time?"

"One," I'm Yugyeom grinning.

"Who is he?" urged Lisa.

"He's the son of a noble," Yugyeom replied, his expression glaring.

"What happened to him?" search Lisa, "Or is this too personal to talk about?"

"Absolutely not. Not even an interesting story. She seems to like me just as much as I like her. I proposed to her, but her parents wanted to wait until the debut season was over before accepting a not-so-promising man like me. You know, a man of honorable descent, of good family, but no title, and no wealth like me? So we agreed to keep our feelings a secret until the end of the season."

"Then what's next?" lisa asked, feeling that Yugyeom wanted to talk about it.

"Then someone with a title, wealth, and residence in an elegant location saw it. The man asked her to dance at some party, visited her once or twice, Jihyo fell in love with him just like that."

Lisa's voice humbled into a whisper full of sympathy. "So she married that man and not you?"

Yugyeom chuckled and shook his head. "For that noble, jihyo's interlude means nothing but ridiculous, empty and aimless seductive tactics."

"That man, that man isn't Mingyu, is he?" asked Lisa feeling a bit nauseous.

"It's my pleasure to say it's not him."

"Then he's not good for you" Lisa said faithfully. "He seems to be very squeaky and flirtatious." One of Lisa's alluring and warm smiles was on her soft lips and the woman laughed. "Now that you have inherited Kim's business empire and all his titles, I'll bet he's sorry for turning his back on you."

"Maybe."

"Well, I hope he's sorry!" he cried, then he seemed to feel guilty. "I'm so mean to feel that way."

"We're both bad." Yugyeom laughs. "Because I also actually wish she felt that way."

For a moment they just stared at each other with a sense of friendship that they had always enjoyed. Finally Yugyeom took a careful breath and said, "What I want to convey from the conversation is that too much work is also not too much fun as too much fun."

"You're right, sure. I wasn't considering that."

"There's one more thing you should consider," Yugyeom said softly.

"What's that?"

"You should consider the possibility that the feelings you can't describe may be love."

Lisa's unexpected laughter when she heard the suggestion made Yugyeom's hand go silent as he was about to pick up a pinch of tobacco. "For God's sake, I really wish it didn't exist!" the thrill, and the sound of her laughter flowing, filled the room with a slight touch of anger to convince Yugyeom that her reaction was just one expression of hatred towards Mingyu's treatment.

But the woman was earnest, Yugyeom realized as he stared at the beautiful face looking up at her. Lisa was earnest with her words, and the awareness of it filled Yugyeom with an almost uncontrollable anger towards Mingyu. "You just tasted it a little."

"That's enough to know that I don't like it."

"Next time you'll like it more."

"Love scares me. Like when he was going to eat an eel." he laughed. "I...."

The swearing oath that gushed from Yugyeom's mouth made Lisa speechless. "Fuckin' Mingyu! If he's alive, I'll strangle him with my own hands."

"No, you misunderstood me!" lisa said, rushing over to the man, her glowing eyes fixedly on the man, trying to make Yugyeom understand.

"Even though I foolishly thought she loved me, I don't know why I still feel uncomfortable. I was constantly afraid of mispronouncing. I wanted to make her happy, and arguably tried desperately to do it. I think it's a derivative defect. The women in my family always fell in love with the wrong people, then adored them blindly, trying desperately to please them." He smiled widely. "It's actually kind of sickening."

Laughter came out of Yugyeom's mouth and a second later he pulled Lisa in his arms, laughing over her fragrant hair. As her gel taste began to dissipate, Yugyeom looked at the woman and sincerely said, "Lisa, what do you want in your life?"

Yugyeom's eyes looked at him fixedly, hugging him so that he could not move. "Come," Lisa sighed, standing still as the man she had always considered her older brother cupped his face with his big hands. "Tell me how you feel in your heart, for now you have become Reigning Queens of Society."

Lisa was unable to move despite someone shouting that the house was on fire. "Hampa," he admitted, sighing in despair, "And cold,"

"Marry me, Lalisa."

"I... I can't."

"Of course you can" the man replied, smiling at Lisa's rejection, as if he had expected it and understood. "I'll give you something you really want and make you happy. I know what it is, even though you don't know."

"What's that?" muttering Lisa, her eyes traced Yugyeom's face as if she had just seen the man for the first time.

"The same thing I want, son, family, someone you love" said Yugyeom.

"Don't" Lisa sobbed as she felt her resistance begin to weaken and collapse. "You don't understand what you're saying. Yugyeom, I don't love you, and you don't love me."

"You're not in love with anyone, are you?"

Lisa shook her head wholeheartedly then Yugyeom smiled widely. "Well, look, it makes this decision easier to make. I am not in love with anyone either. You yourself have met the best candidates for you to make a husband in some time. Those who do not come are no better, you can hold my word."

When Lisa bit her lips and remained hesitant, Yugyeom shook her body slightly. "Lisa, stop dreaming. It's a real life. You've seen it. What's left is more or less the same, unless you have a family."

Families. Real family. Lisa never really had a real family. Families with fathers, mothers and children, with cousins, aunts and uncles. Of course, their children will only have one uncle, Yugyeom's sister, but still.

What more does a woman want than the offer Yugyeom made? It occurred to Lisa for the first time, although she often made fun of Roseanne's romantic thoughts, she was already acting like a romantic schoolboy. Yugyeom loves him. And it was up to him to make the man happy. That understanding warmed her heart and made her feel better, feeling herself better than she had felt for years. He could devote himself to making the man happy, raising his son.

Child... The shadow of hugging a baby in her cradle becomes a strong motivation to marry the kind, gentle and handsome man. Of all the men she has met in London, it seems Yugyeom is the only one who has a similar view of life with her.

***

With great effort, Mingyu helped his weary friend to stand up and pulled the man's hand over his shoulder, supporting the man's weight while half-lifting, half-dragging Minghao across the shallow creek. Mingyu grinned widely and tiredly looked up, trying to estimate the time by using the sun, which was currently hanging low in the sky, blocked from his sight by hills and trees. He wants to know what time it is, it's very important for him. At five o'clock in the afternoon, he decided.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, he first saw uniformed troops sneaking among the trees in front of him. British Troops. The libertad. Go home.

If lucky, he could be home in three or four weeks.