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Chapter 21: What’s Your Major? – August 11, 2015

He waited until the music came to an end.

Then, dryly, he murmured, “I suppose you wrote that song for my daughter.”

Yoongi met his eye and nodded.

“It’s beautiful,” her appa shocked them both by saying. “Are you studying piano at the university in the fall?”

Yoongi shook his head.  “My appa has asked me to get a business degree so I can help him run his company.”

“Is that what you want?”

Yoongi stared at her appa.  “Not really.  No.”

“What do you want to do with your life?”

“Take care of your daughter.”

“And just exactly how do you propose to do that?”

Yoongi’s lips quirked at the double entendre.  “In a perfect world, I would earn my living playing the piano, and I would take care of her in grand style.  Like she is accustomed to.  Or was before she moved out on her own.”  Another twist of his lips.  “I am planning to get my business degree.”

“Don’t.”

Nari and Yoongi locked eyes in shock.

“What?” Nari gasped.

“Yoongi, you have a decent eye for correct business practices, but it isn’t your first love.  Clearly, the piano is.  And it’s mutual.  That piano loves you back.  I have heard many men play the piano.  Very few have a talent akin to yours.  Don’t waste it.  Study the piano.  Fulfill your dreams.  You belong in a concert hall.  Not in a corner office.”

Yoongi grimaced.  “Thank you for your words, sir.  But who will help my appa if I don’t?”

Mr. Beom considered him.  “You have a sister, do you not?”

“I do, sir.”

“Does she enjoy the business world?”

Yoongi shrugged.  “I have no idea.”

“Well, I, for one, know that I have a very sharp daughter who will be helping me run my own business empire.  And, if I’m not mistaken, she wants your rings on her finger as badly as you want to put them there, which means she will also be a part of your family soon.  Perhaps Nari can help both me and your appa.  She could oversee the business we’re forming together.  That would leave us both time to see to our other affairs.”

“But, Appa, I’m going to school in the fall.”

“Perhaps we should reconsider that.  Honestly, Nari, you’ve grown up in my office.  And you have a natural instinct for business.  Perhaps you can work towards your degree one class at a time so that you can spend most of your time working by my side.  And Mr. Min’s.  Together, we can teach you far more than your professors will anyway.”

“Are you sure, Appa?  I would lose my scholarship if I were only a part-time student.”

“Nari, you know money is no object.  I will pay for your education.  As one of my junior executives, you would earn it as part of your salary.”

“Appa, you’re willing to agree to me marrying Yoongi?”

He glanced at the young man.  “As long as he understands that if I ever see him handle you roughly again – or hear a word of it from you or your children – I will break his fingers.  All of them.  And then you can kiss your piano playing days goodbye.”

Yoongi felt a chill slide down his spine.  “Sir, I wasn’t trying to manhandle Nari.  I was trying to rescue her.  From my appa’s disdain.”

“That is another thing.  Why did your appa insult my daughter?”

“I think he was testing me.  He was quite shocked that I defended a girl he was trying to set me up with.  And I picked the wrong night to rebel against him.  I am sorry, sir, that you had to witness my bad behavior.”  Yoongi bowed to him.  “And if you think your daughter was a victim of it, I apologize for that too.”

“What about your drinking?  You were clearly inebriated that night.  Is that a habit of yours?”

Yoongi glanced at Nari.  “Not anymore, sir.”  He winced.  “Drinking gives me a headache.”

The older man nodded.  “I don’t really care if you drink.  It’s your behavior that concerns me.  Can you hold your liquor, or would you take your drunkenness out on my daughter?”

“Sir, I gave drink up for Nari.”

“Why?”  Her appa was skeptical.

“Because I love her.  And I have no desire to hurt her.”

Her appa looked from Yoongi to Nari.  “You really want this young man?”

Tears brimming in her eyes, she nodded her head.  “I love him, Appa.”

“Then I will agree to the engagement.  But I want you to wait at least three months to get married.  Yoongi, you have proven yourself valuable to me.  You have also shown me how much you believe in Nari and the lengths you’re willing to go to in order to make her happy.  

“But we’ve known you only a short time, and I want to see what your character is made of when you’re under more pressure.  School will test your limits, I suspect.  Even if it involves doing what you love.  And your drinking habits do make me leery.  But if you can remain sober for several months, I will have more faith in your self-control.”

“So, we have your blessing, Appa?” 

Nari jumped out of her chair and crossed the room to stand next to Yoongi.  She reached out and slid her palm across his. Their fingers tangled.  Her father looked at her and wondered when she’d become so grown up.

“She is precious, Yoongi.  I’m giving you the most precious gift I have.  Take good care of her.”

Yoongi frowned.  “If she’s so precious to you, then why have you always favored your son?”