Apollo & Luna

Star of the Night

Present day…

Today was the ribbon cutting ceremony of Le Paradis, a luxury healthcare resort under the Choi-Bouchard Group of Companies in Seoul.  The place glittered as people from the upper society, the movers and shakers of the world’s economy gathered in one place, which was pretty unusual even for a popular business. Seeing local celebrities and merchants were normal, but most of the notable foreign investors, diplomats, and company representatives were there as well.

What power gathered all these people here? The answer: Yann Bouchard.

Even before the event, it had already created a huge buzz, as news – or rather a rumor that the current president of the international company, Yann Bouchard would be making an appearance at today’s affair. At a young age of thirty, he was one of those rare geniuses tagged as Midas – possessing a mad skill of turning everything he touched into profit.

“Congratulations President Choi,” the ambassador of France told Choi Junki, the current president of the Korean branch. The latter was Yann’s uncle. The two of them were currently standing at the left side of the ballroom where the party was being held. Aside from the two, several diplomats and businessmen gathered with them.

Wearing an obscure grey suit, and armed with an imposing aura, the old man didn’t look perturbed by the people surrounding him. He was, after all, a force to reckon with on his own, even if his nephew overshadowed him whenever he was here. “Thank you very much,” he answered graciously. He was in a good mood.

“I’m sure this business will be another success. I can already imagine the patrons preferring this place over the other luxury resorts in the future,” Mr. Park, one of their partners, commented which earned a round of agreement and more brown-nosing from the others. Some compliments also bordered on shamelessness as they were overboard, but Choi Junki didn’t mind.

“Where is the star of the night?” the CEO of another partner company asked.

“You mean Jonghun?” Choi Junki turned to look for his son in the room. The old man knew they were asking about Yann, his nephew, because of his rumored appearance, but Jonghun was his only offspring, and the current project head of this hotel, who was supposed to be the rightful star of the night.

As if remembering that Choi Jonghun was indeed the justifiable leading man, the men were momentarily startled, and covered their faux pas by going along Choi Junki.

“Yes, your son. He’s such an excellent young man just like his father,” they said hurriedly, which made the old man shake his head mentally at their stupidity.

Still, he wasn’t upset. Their business was successful, and regardless of who did it – his nephew or son, it’s still a success.

“He still has a lot to learn,”Junki answered humbly. Although his son was a genius himself, he wasn’t on par with his cousin. A person’s brilliance depended on who was with him, and sadly, Yann’s luster was just too bright for anyone else to be seen.

“Speaking of the devil,” someone stated, and they all turned to see a tall, young man with longish black hair walking towards them.

To call him handsome was an understatement. His phoenix eyes glittered like black diamonds, his aquiline nose, high cheekbones and naturally rose-colored lips made him look like one of those Greek sculptures although he was Asian.

Earlier, after the ribbon cutting itself, as the project head, Jonghun had to give a speech. When he did, for a while, people forgot that they were really there because of Yann, completely enthralled by this good looking and eloquent young man.

“Father, gentlemen,”Jonghun greeted as soon as he joined them.

“Here comes our superstar,” the ambassador said as he shook hands with Jonghun. “You did an amazing feat opening this paradise at such a young age.”

“Oh please, I don’t deserve such compliments,”Jonghun retorted good-naturedly.  His boyish smile sent butterflies fluttering into the ladies’ stomachs as they watched him talk with the old men. Unlike his stern looking father, Choi Jonghun seemed so carefree. “To be honest, the credit should still be with Big Brother.”

"Brother" was a term used by males to address a not so older male relative or close acquaintance in Korea. In this case, Jonghun called Yann “big brother” since they’re cousins who grew up as brothers. Yann, after all, together with his sister was orphaned very early; ergo Choi Junki took them both and raised them with Jonghun as siblings.

“Why? Isn’t this your project?” the ambassador asked, eager to learn if this young man just indeed grabbed the credit from Yann’s idea.

“It is,”Jonghun admitted. “But I wouldn’t have thought of it if Big Brother didn’t complain a lot one time. He wanted to have a place where he can relax and to pamper himself since he was so stressed with work. So the idea for this health resort was from that moment.”

The young man’s answer left the old ones puzzled. If it’s like this, wouldn’t it be better to keep mum about it and just let people think it’s all his work? Individual achievements after all were very important, most especially if one wanted to catch up if not surpass someone else who’s as capable as Yann Bouchard.

Among the rich, blood and friendships were business transactions. Anyone could be respected or receive special treatment because he or she belonged to a prominent clan. But one could only really establish himself with his own triumphs.

Because of their puzzlement, the old men didn’t notice the hall suddenly went quiet as another tall but fair young man braved the crowd towards their group. His arresting features –his piercing silver-grey eyes, patrician nose and aura however parted the throng as his presence was so compelling; they were in awe to stop and talk to him.

“I think what Jonghun wants to say is that he created this place so I would stop pestering him with my complaints,” a soft baritone interjected the old men’s conversation, and everyone turned in surprise at the newcomer.

“CEO Bouchard, you finally showed up,” the men crowed, delighted to see Yann.

“Well, I was not planning to come originally as I was in Japan. I came here directly from the airport,” Yann Bouchard uttered. He was honestly surprised that most people seemed to expect him to be here today. His last meeting got cancelled, so he was able to come back earlier than scheduled to congratulate his younger cousin.

“I was wondering about that too.”Jonghun had been trying to determine where the rumors came from, but he was too busy earlier to really think about it.

“Well, aren’t you here already? You should go greet everyone – especially the ladies, so you won’t break their hearts,” Choi Junki teased, a rare occurrence, and so everyone laughed.  Jonghun and Yann left the old ones to roam around and mingle with the other guests, until before nine in the evening.

“You’re going somewhere?” Yann asked his cousin when he saw him look at his watch for the umpteenth time.

“Yeah, Hana’s waiting,”Jonghun answered, and Yann nodded. Hana’s the latter’s sickly younger sister who’s a lot closer to Jonghun than her real sibling. “I told her I’m going to come home early.”

“Thanks for taking care of her all the time,” Yann genuinely said.

“No biggie Big Bro,” the younger man said with a grin. “I love playing the big bro to that brat,” he added cheekily before leaving.

After watching his younger cousin go, Yann decided to go out into the garden for a breather. The music started, and so most people were at the dance floor. It gave him a chance to sneak out unnoticed – or so he thought.

“Yann Bouchard?” a voice called out as he reached the deserted part of the garden. As soon as he turned, a hand clamped on his face with an ether-like smelling cloth, and he lost consciousness.