Vincenzo - Blog Posts
What started out as a headcanon, ended up becoming, well, this.. Cha Young is overcome with a strong sense of déjà vu as she strolls around the upscale men’s clothing store, waiting as her boyfriend gets fitted for his new Booralro suit.
Honestly now, the man is quite rich, not to mention has a good number of gold bars to his name, and yet he wants her to buy him his new suit. All because of a stupid bet they made during one of their makgeolli nights. Okay, so she may have somewhat grudgingly admitted that even the simplest, most basic pasta made by him, Spaghetti Aglio e Olio in this case, tasted better than the one Chef Toto served at Arno. She had tried to reason her way out — it was probably the wine he paired the pasta with that enhanced the taste. Alas, the soft moan that escaped her, as flavours of garlic, parsley and olive oil exploded in her mouth in the first bite itself, was enough to have Vincenzo smirk in victory like the insufferable git he can be when he wins. And that had been that.
They should have stuck to their old finger flick bets, she muses as she walks past a glass display of cuff links and tie pins. Except finger flicks weren’t just finger flicks anymore. Sometimes, they were soft kisses on the forehead, and sometimes, a little something more. It wasn’t something either of them minded; in fact, these bets often became playful excuses. But one day, in a silly fit of competitiveness, Cha Young had declared they up the stakes. And that’s how she finds herself in this fancy store once again, the same one where she’d bought him his suit and pen after their first court victory together, waiting as Vincenzo tries on yet another suit. In hindsight, she should’ve suggested the loser buy bungeoppang instead. Oh well..
“It’s for the party next week,” he’d insisted, at which Cha Young had merely scoffed. The man would do anything for a new Booralro suit. But it was a party she was looking forward to, a fancy one at the Italian Embassy to which her partner had snagged invites. And she had treated herself to a new dress using the same excuse, so it was a bit hypocritical of her, wasn’t it?
She walks over to the corner that houses a display of silk ties, all meticulously organised by colour, prints and size, where a light blue paisley tie catches her eye, and she asks one of the store attendants to take it out of the display for her. She can’t remember if she’s ever seen him wear a paisley tie before, but the tie is beautiful. It’s soft and the print delicate, but it’s the colour that catches her fancy. It’s a light greyish blue, a colour she knows would go well with either of the three suits he’s shortlisted. But more importantly, and she won’t admit this to him, well not yet at least, the colour is almost the same shade of the dress she bought. She’d always found the idea of couples matching their outfits amusing, however, in that moment she’s willing to concede that there’s something sweet about it after all.
“Byeonhosa-nim, ” Vincenzo calls out to her as he steps out of the fitting room, closely followed by the store attendant who had been assisting him with the fitting. Cha Young tries not to roll her eyes at the employee who trails after her boyfriend with a starstruck look akin to the one adoring fans have upon meeting their favourite idol. “How’s this one,” he asks as he adjusts the cuffs of his suit.
She walks over to him, first running her hands over his shoulders and then smoothing the lapels of his jacket. Stepping back, she gives him a once over, and ignoring the fluttering in her heart, replies as nonchalantly as she can, “I think it should do the trick.” When the store attendant enthusiastically gushes about how good the suit looks on Vincenzo, Cha Young graces him with a glare that is enough to remind him that he needs to go and look after the other non-existent visitors in the store.
Finally without an audience, she holds up the tie with a slight flourish and asks, “what do you think?”
For a moment, she’s worried that perhaps the tie doesn’t match up to his high standards. The man does have impeccable taste, and is quite fussy about his clothing. Her little moment of doubt vanishes when Vincenzo smiles. “Yeppeuda.” It’s pretty.
“Here, let me,” she says as she closes the gap between them and reaches out to do up the top buttons of his shirt (a pity, really, because she loves it when he leaves his collar unbuttoned), smirking at the way Vincenzo gulps when her fingers are at the collar of his shirt. Besotted man that he is, he lowers his head in submission so that she can place the tie around his neck.
“Have you ever done this before?”
“A couple of times..”
When he raises his eyebrows, Cha Young realises what he might have misunderstood it as.
“For Abeoji,” she sheepishly clarifies. What she doesn’t tell him is that she would always loop the tie around her neck first, tie it, loosen it and then hand it over to her father. She had never tied a tie for someone on their person this way.
She adjusts the length of the tie (she thinks she’s got the length right), crosses the wider end over the thinner one, then passes it from the back the other side and then.. Damn it, what do you do next? Cross it over from the other side? Loop it all over again? She tries to remember the next step, forehead scrunched up in concentration, trying to jog her memory. It doesn’t help that Vincenzo’s cologne serves as a distraction. Feeling his gaze on her, she looks up.
“What are you looking at?”
You. “Your tie tying. I’m trying to figure out what knot you’re going to go for. Say, Byeonhosa-nim, are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Yah! I’m just.. trying to recollect. It’s been a while since I’ve done this.”
“Ahh.”
“…”
“Pass the wide end through the gap between the tie and the collar, and take it to the right side. That’ll be your left.”
“Mhmm. Like this?” “Yes. Now wrap the wide end across the thinner end, and then pull the wide end through the gap between the tie and collar like before. But don’t pull it too tightly. See that loop on top of the knot? You’ll need to—“
Before he can finish, she’s already sliding the wide end of the tie through the said loop, and pulling it tight.
“Yes, yes, I know. Now hold still, let me just adjust this.”
As she goes about making the final adjustments to the tie, pulling it tighter and fixing it into place, an old memory flashes in Cha Young’s mind — one of her mother tying a tie for her father in a similar manner, and Hong Yu Chan looking down at his wife with an adoring smile, very much like how Vincenzo is looking at her in this moment. She never understood why her mother did that, or why her father let her when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself, or why the late lawyer pretty much gave up wearing a tie (unless it was absolutely necessary) after the death of his wife.. but now she gets it.
“There, all done.”
She turns around, so that both her and Vincenzo are facing a full-length gilded mirror, and he can review her handiwork.
“That’s not a bad Half-Windsor, you know.. especially for your first try”
“A what now?”
“The knot. It’s called a Half-Windsor. It’s the one I usually go for. Either that, or a Four-in-hand..”
“Ooh. Are you giving me a crash course in tie knots now?”
“Well, it never hurts to know about different knots, you know. They can come very handy,” he adds suggestively, to which he promptly gets smacked in the shoulder with a “Yah!”
“I do think the length’s a bit off though. It needs to be longer. You’re going to need some practice, Byeonhosa-nim. I guess you’ll just have to do this for me a few more times again,” he tells her, smiling at her reflection in the mirror.
As they stand there in front of the mirror, their reflected gazes locked on each other, both of them all smiles, Cha Young thinks there’s something so intimate about moments like these, and it leaves her feeling warm.
Still looking at her in the mirror, Vincenzo leans down a little, an arm going around her waist, and whispers in her ear, “Interesting choice of colour, by the way,” and ohhh he knows. He knows why she picked this particular tie. Their reflections show his smile getting wider as her eyes widen in surprise.
A second later, Cha Young turns in her place, and gently tugging on his tie, pulls Vincenzo down to her and places a soft kiss where his neck meets his jaw. Satisfied with his flustered expression, she innocently smiles at him.
“I think you look very handsome, Jagiya. Now, I’m going to go pay for this. But you’re buying me lunch, so hurry..” And as she skips towards the billing counter, she leaves a besotted fool in her wake, who stares at her in a manner that can only be described as the human equivalent of the heart eyes emoji. What a pair of lovestruck idiots these two make..
awww its soo cute
Whispers - Jang Hanseo x Reader
Oneshot, 1k, SFW + gender neutral
A/N: my first time doing a fic on tumblr 😔🤚🏻
His wound was healing faster than the doctors had expected, and Jang Hanseo found out playing dead wasn’t as fun as it seemed in the movies.
He had to deal with watching from afar as Babel Group descended into chaos, without a Chairman or Vice; all his subordinates were at each other’s throats for the seat.
Then he remembered his wish, that he could run the company on his own without the scar of needless death. That he would not run Babel the way his older half brother did.
Through this mental storm, a clearing came in the clouds as Hanseo found the perfect candidate for the next Babel CEO.
“ Me?” You nearly exclaimed, but kept it low for your ex-boss’s sake. You were one of the few who knew that Hanseo was alive, and was not hoping to keep it that way. You wanted him to reveal himself and return to his position of power- but he said he didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. Not after everything that happened to him.
You knew better than to pry into someone’s personal business- especially if they used to be your boss- but something was different about Jang Hanseo.
How he walked like he was always being watched, the way his hands tremble when someone touches him the slightest and how his eyes shine in the smallest of praises.
“ Er- yes, you.” He confirmed, still sitting upright in his hospital bed, his hair a bit messy from tossing and turning in his sleep.
You found out he was alive by accident.
You were visiting your friend who worked in the same hospital to gift them something in advance for their birthday. As you walked past the patient rooms, you spotted the notorious Hong Chayoung you saw in the news. Intrigued, you tailed her until she entered a private luxury room that had no other than Jang Hanseo lying inside.
He screamed as you did as well. Noticing how much of a panic he fell into, you took pity and sympathized with him. Although he was now nothing like the man you had once worked under.
You didn’t know how to reply, and wasn’t sure what was appropriate to ask or say. Sucking in a deep breath, you smiled warmly and gave a curt bow. “ Thank you, Mr. Jang.”
He broke out into a gummy smile, a hand waving away the honorifics. “ It’s Hanseo, I’m not your boss anymore.”
From then on, fabricating a not-so-fake will, you took on Babel Group and started a new era as you reigned profits back in. It was harder than it looked, as you spent restless nights up without a wink of sleep.
Although through all this chaos, you still found time to visit Hanseo time to time, updating him on the company and buying him snacks.
You noticed even if you did the tiniest things- like the first time you brought in a bungeoppang you had purchased from a street vendor outside- his mood would instantly light up, his smile rivaling the brightness of the sun. He acted like you had just eradicated all his debt or something, and as confused as you were, you found it endearing. You had no idea your ex-boss was so, so cute.
Childlike wonder filled his eyes whenever he talked about his Vinny hyung or Chayoung noona, speaking just like how a little boy would ramble on about Superman.
Before you knew it, your heart was racing every time you approached his hospital room; knocking on the door was nerve wracking as you tried to keep your emotions under wraps.
That was, until, he pulled this.
You weren’t able to buy a snack this time around, as your schedule was too tight to even go slightly out of line.
Hanseo could tell you were tired, recalling his old memories as the puppet Chairman. The way you ran your hand through your hair, biting the inside of your cheek as you constantly took in deep sighs.
Months had flown and Hanseo felt so attached to you he decided he would tell the truth about everything. What happened on the night he “died”, how he was so close to that Consigliere and what his past with the late Hanseok was.
His body shivered as he spoke candidly, as if he was reliving the past in this very moment. Suddenly, arms wrapped around his waist, bringing him into a hug. You patted his back softly in a soothing rhythm.
“ You are so strong, Hanseo.” Was the first thing you had whispered to him through his subsiding tears.
Soon those sobs turned to silent cries and those cries faded into hiccups that transformed into an angelic laugh. A weight was released from his shoulders as he absorbed every comforting praise you threw his way.
Later, you had to let go of him, straightening out his blanket until his fingers weaved into a hold to yours.
“ Could- could you, stay? Longer?” He piped up, only to fall into the abyss of another panic. “ A little while! You don’t have to, I mean. I know you’re really busy with the company- which I kind of forced on you to be honest- and I’m so sorry for- mMH!”
Your lips were instinctively drawn to his, as if it lured you in.
Eyes widening in shock, blood rushed to his face as it colored his adorable face red. He melted into the kiss. Placing a hand on your face, he silently begged you to deepen the kiss as his heart pounded loudly in his chest. His heartbeat being the rhythm to the melody your lips had made, hands threading through hair and tunes spiraling out of mouths.
Seconds passed and you both parted for air, panting in the now tense atmosphere. You easily broke the said awkwardness as you whispered:
“ Don’t ever apologize, my prince.”
BONUS:
“ And- and then I got kiSSED!” Hanseo exclaimed to Vincenzo, who smiled warmly at his excited tone and gestures.
“ I’m proud of you, Hanseo.” He said, patting his shoulder as the younger grinned. “ Hopefully I’ll meet this lover of yours soon.” Vincenzo remarked, fiddling with the curtains of the hospital room. Hanseo’s gaze found itself focusing on the engagement ring that his hyung wore. His overactive imagination then wondered how it would be like to propose to you, to place a ring on your finger, to marry you, to-
Snapping out of his trance, he quickly replied. “ Me too, Vinny Hyung.” Not shying away from the lovesick look that had taken over his face, he stared down into his fidgeting hands. “ Prince...” He then mumbled under his breath, not wanting to say it loud enough for anyone else to hear.
This would be his own memory to keep- even from his dear hyung- that you had whispered into his ear, calling him your prince.
✨ the end ✨