ʟɪᴋᴇ ʜɪᴍ | ʜᴀɴ ʙᴇᴏᴍ-ᴡᴏᴏ
"ɪ'ᴍ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ'ᴠᴇ ꜱᴛʀɪᴠᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ꜱᴏ ᴅᴏ ɪ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʜɪᴍ?"
pairing: han beom-woo x fem!reader warnings: fluff, mentions of death, parental loss word count: 2.8k a/n: writing this little series is going to make me crave sweets...this is part two! here is part one.
Beom-woo was convincing, you’d give him that, though the thought of working with this guy kept you cautious. He was willing to do anything to receive the deal that he wanted. Sitting in front of you after closing the café, he held a contract in his hand. At first glance, you weren’t pleased with his circumstances and had torn apart the papers he had handed you. Maybe it was because of the weather but there needed to be adjustments made.
Unfazed by your childish actions, he proceeded to pull out various copies of the contract he had made up. He was just as stubborn as you. You gave him a fake smile before scooting the papers close to you, reading the fine lines once more. Beom-woo stared at you as you finally gave the contract a look over. Your hair was still pulled back he couldn’t help silently hoping a stray hair would fall again as you sat in front of him.
You held your hand out, he was confused for a moment, you then made eye contact with him, “Do you have a pen or is this a blood signature type of thing?”
He laughed at the barbaric assumption from you, he scrambled to find a pen that was kept in his pocket. He handed it to you assuming you were just ready to sign the contract but was surprised to see you were scratching out things and writing your own additions. Beom-woo tried to yank the papers out of your hands but you tugged it back.
“I had a lawyer proofread this. Do you not trust me?” Beom-woo said pretending to be offended.
“Your lawyer doesn’t know me or this café. If you’re truly willing to make this work, don’t you think both of us should be making the rules?” You wiggled the pen in Beom-woo’s face, he sighed in frustration and watched as you read the contract and scribbled over the fine print. He watched you in amusement as you scrunched your nose at certain things.
When you were done, you smiled at him and slowly passed the paper over to him. He looked it over, eyebrow raised in thought. When he finally reached your make or break it addition his eyes fell on you.
“You want me to work here with you?”
You shrugged as if it was obvious, “Managing a café is hard to do if you’re not present, that’s my bottom line. Take it or leave it. I’ll oversee hiring who I want and you’ll handle the finances.”
“I’ve put together a list of professional bakers, they went to culinary school. It would be a smart decision to hire someone off of my list.”
You shook your head as Beom-woo spoke, “I don’t want professionals, I want someone with a passion for what they do. A higher title and education isn’t passion for most.”
He glanced around your face as he took your words in. You were serious about this and while normally he would fight, he felt you were protective of this place. He simply sat back and thought about your additions to the contract. He could have his assistant oversee Motto until he was done with the term of this contract, which was settled for a year.
“Let’s make one thing clear, prince,” you paused, Beom-woo having already signed the contract was growing frustrated by your stalling. “This is my home. I worked my ass off to get this place to where it is now, I am grateful you’re trying to help. I keep this place alive. You try anything funny, you will kill this place.”
Beom-woo looked at you in thought but he didn’t say a word. He simply nodded, he gulped and slowly handed over the papers. You gave him one last long look before signing your name on the papers.
It was only a year, a year to grow this place and catch up on your debt to keep this place alive. You sighed deeply after handing him back the papers. There was a slight fear in you handing over some responsibility to this guy. This café was your pride and joy, the last time a man tried to oversee this place, you fought tooth and nail to get it back.
Your father was a bastard of a man. He was strict your entire life, wanting you to be successful in education but instead you had a passion for food. He was never supportive though he had opened this café as a gift to you, it was bait. You could only achieve ownership if you listened to his demands to receive an education first. His demands were unrealistic and he never respected your passion.
The passion for food was a living, breathing thing inside of your very being. It started with your mother who was no longer with you, she was an amazing chef. Though she dabbled in gourmet foods, you were more interested in sweets. Having a sweet tooth rather than a savory one. Your mother was supportive of you until the day she died. Her death being the last barrier of your father’s ill intentions.
You were no longer in contact with your father, this was by choice. You had no intentions of finding him. He had to have known you kept this place but he never visited.
“Y/N?”
Beom-woo’s voice snapped you out of your trance, he honestly had startled you a bit. You glanced at the clock realizing it was late. You had locked up the café and escorted Beom-woo out.
It was drizzling outside, you both had on coats as the weather was starting to get cold. It was the perfect weather to have a warm drink. As you were walking down the street, Beom-woo received a text message that had him stopped for a moment. His eyebrows scrunched in frustration and he had run his hands through his slicked back hair, loosening the gel just a bit.
“Is everything alright?”
He looked at you as if he forgot you were standing there with him. He simply nodded, though you weren’t convinced.
“Come on, you look like you need a drink. I know of a spot.”
You grabbed his arm, surprising you both but you were suddenly giddy. Excited that things were starting to change for your café, hopefully for the better. You dragged him to a small ramen shop that your friend had worked at. The moment you stepped inside, the smell of the broth instantly warmed your body.
“Y/N!”
A shrill voice startled Beom-woo, not expecting to hear your name. Myung-suk peered around the corner, her bright smile made you smile. She ran up to you and gave you a tight hug. She curiously looked behind you and gave you a cheeky smile.
“Who’s the hottie?” Myung-suk said out loud, she always was a bold one. You cleared your throat at the awkward moment. Beom-woo simply looked smitten, he looked at you expectantly.
“Not sure, I don’t see one here,” you winked at him, his smile faded. Myung-suk laughed, she sat you both down at a table knowing what you already wanted but the stranger sitting in front of you intrigued her.
“Myung-suk, this is Han Beom-woo. He’s the new manager of the café.”
Myung-suk’s eyes widened. She wasn’t expecting that to come out of your mouth, she knew how stubborn you were with the café.
“Since when?”
“As of today,” Beom-woo said sheepishly, he glanced over the ramen shop.
“It’s a long story,” you said as you played with the napkins placed on the table. Myung-suk merely gave you a wink and walked away to grab a menu.
Myung-suk had worked at this shop for years though she was unhappy here, you tried your best to cheer her up knowing she loved to converse with customers and dabble a little bit in the kitchen. She had always baked with you for fun at the café.
As Beom-woo looked over the menu, you weren’t necessarily hungry but you were serious about that drink.
“Myung-suk, could you make us your famous Dalgona coffee? Pretty, pretty please?” You pleaded with puppy eyes at your friend who rolled her eyes playfully. She shoved your shoulder, “Of course, anything for you.”
“Dalgona coffee?”
“It’s the best thing you will ever taste, trust me. If you loved the Dalgona at the café, you won’t get enough of this.”
Beom-woo watched as your face turned soft, he noticed your comfort in this small shop. He couldn’t help but stare as you glanced around. The shop wasn’t busy due to it being late but according to you this was the best ramen shop in town.
After some time, Myung-suk came out with two glasses. She placed them down in front of you both. Beom-woo looked nervously at you, you had already sipped your drink not wasting a moment. You gazed back up at him, he stifled a laugh. Confused, you raised an eyebrow at him.
“You have a little,” Beom-woo pointed to your mouth, the foam from the drink coating the top of your lips. You licked around trying to get it off of your face but he laughed as you were failing terribly.
Beom-woo reached over and grazed the side of your lip, the motion almost natural to him. You froze again, this guy found any opportunity to touch you even if it was for a brief moment. He wiped the foam off of your lips, then wiped his hand on a napkin.
You both heard a gasp, whipping your head around, Myung-suk disappeared quickly. This crazy woman. She definitely thought something was going on, she was a Korean drama connoisseur. Any moment that remotely looked like a romantic moment was like candy to the woman. Beom-woo had just given her the wrapper.
“The foam is made like Dalgona, she has the best touch.”
Beom-woo sipped the drink, the foam melting in his mouth. It was delicious.
The milk inside was warm, a nice contrast to the cold weather outside. Myung-suk had reappeared trying not to blush but failing miserably. She asked Beom-woo if he was going to order anything, to which he politely declined.
“This is delicious, Myung-suk. I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Beom-woo’s charming words made her blush even more. She smiled gratefully.
The two of you sat there in silence, sipping on your drinks. Another customer had come in shortly after which kept Myung-suk busy. Beom-woo took this opportunity to get to know you better.
“May I ask how you know her?”
“She’s been working here for years. When I moved here, this was the only ramen shop I could find myself at on late nights like this. She is always here and she is always happy. Though I fear she is mistreated here, she has so much potential. The owner is kind of a dick,” you said quietly, sipping your drink slowly. Beom-woo nodded as he listened, he was good at that.
Suddenly, you had an idea. Your eyes widened and you gasped, startling Beom-woo he nearly choked on his drink.
“Myung-suk.”
“What?”
“She’s the one,” you said excitedly, you glanced back at the woman who was conversing with her customers. She had a big smile on her face, happy to have a conversation with the strangers.
“Her?”
“Yes! Why didn’t I think of it sooner?” You facepalmed, the thought so very obvious you felt like an idiot for not thinking of hiring her sooner. Yet, you couldn’t blame yourself. This was only possible because of the man in front of you.
After finishing your drinks, Beom-woo had paid for both of them after insisting multiple times that it was fine. You asked Myung-suk to stop by the café whenever she was free so you could offer her a job. Both you and Beom-woo had stepped outside, it was still drizzling.
Beom-woo had offered to walk you to your small apartment to which you insisted it was fine but he was worried about you walking in the dark. Your heart swelled at the thought but pushed it in the back of your mind.
“I have to admit, I am curious about your father.”
Beom-woo treaded lightly on the subject, he weighed his options but the walk to the apartment gave you both some time he would rather not sit in silence.
“Trust me, it’s a long story,” you sighed, hoping he would drop the conversation but like you, he was stubborn.
“I think we have time, humor me.”
“Sorry, it’s a long, sob story, I guess I should’ve mentioned.”
Beom-woo had stopped you from walking for a moment, his hand lightly grabbing your arm.
“I’m listening.”
You believed him, you gazed up at him. He was so much taller than you, the weight of his arm was comforting.
“He’s my adoptive father. My adoptive mother passed away when I was young. She was kind of a barrier between him and me. He never supported my dreams to open my own café. Felt that it was not successful compared to an education. He wanted me to be a lawyer, like him. Though my mother was a chef, savory not sweet. She always supported me, her dying wish was for him to open a café for me whenever I got older. To which he did but it was bribery. He wouldn’t let me have it unless I went to college and lived up to his expectations.”
Beom-woo watched as you told your story, his heart was slowly breaking at the thought of a younger version of you struggling to be openly passionate about your dreams.
“I fought him in court and won. Somebody was definitely watching over me that day. How the hell did I beat a lawyer?” You laughed at the thought. “I think the judge chose empathy over business that day, my father is openly confident. He was too confident that day. Must’ve rubbed the judge the wrong way. Gave me full ownership of my café. He never spoke to me again.”
Beom-woo’s eyes were soft, you hated telling this story. The pity in the eyes of the listener made you feel weak.
“You’re strong.”
Yet, Beom-woo’s words quickly changed your mind for a moment.
“I love what I do. It is my entire life to feed other people that have a sweet tooth like I do,” you said, smiling softly. “It was always the more popular route to go savory than sweet. I wanted to do something different.”
“I like different,” Beom-woo said, his eyes on you. You kept his gaze, he was handsome under the streetlights. The drizzling rain placed beautifully on his strong shoulders.
He then ruined the moment when he pulled out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth.
“I thought I told you that kills you.”
He smirked, taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he placed the stick back in the package. “Sorry, force of habit.”
“Don’t say sorry if you don’t mean it.”
Beom-woo looked at you, stunned. You merely gave him a small smile before continuing to walk. He caught up to you, sighing to himself.
You soon reached your small apartment, standing outside of the door. Beom-woo had stretched and yawned, you wondered where he was traveling from.
“This is me, thanks again for walking me. You should probably head back, it’s late.”
“I was planning on just getting a hotel, I have to be at the café in the morning anyway.” You smiled at his words, having help definitely lifted some weight from your shoulders. You were excited to see what tomorrow brought you.
“Again, I appreciate your help.”
Beom-woo simply nodded, he gave you a small smile.
“Goodnight, Y/N.”
“Goodnight, Beom-woo.”
Beom-woo was in too deep, he realized. The empath in him was magnetized to your authenticity. You were so different, yet you held yourself up high. He admired that. He found himself giggling as he walked to a hotel. Your smile and laughter when interacting with Myung-suk warmed his heart. He wished he could see that side of you more. You were comfortable and didn’t have a care in the world at that moment.
As he arrived at the hotel he had received a call from his assistant, his cards had been turned off and his vehicle was being taken back by Hansang. His recent scandal that was falsely made up by his older brother now taking affect. He was embarrassed, now having no other options.
Beom-woo found himself at a run-down motel, the clerk inside having bribed him to put on a ridiculous outfit in exchange for his expensive suit as payment. Now, he was truly embarrassed but at least he had a place to stay for the night. The room was tiny and looked like it had been decorated by a grandmother but there was a bed and Beom-woo was tired. He had sealed the deal with you and would be in the works to receive those recipes.
There was a gnawing thought in the back of his head that what he was doing wasn’t right but after today’s events, he was determined to seek revenge on his brother and prove his mother wrong.