A/N: This chapter is a little technical... just business and something else. Please bear with me. Love you guys.

Narrator

Sera groggily opened her eyes. Her body felt weak, and felt really dry. She managed to crawl out the sheets and reach for her water bottle beside her bed, when she saw her phone.

Memories from yesterday snapped back, and she hurriedly grabbed the phone to check for any messages or calls.

To her disappointment, there was none. She tried dialing his number, but his phone was still turned off.

“Young miss?” The door opened and Jang peeked inside. She gave him a small smile. “Jang, have you heard from Namjoon Oppa? Did they find him?”

“I heard that he’s already home.”

“He is?” She sat up and suppressed the smile on her lips. “I have to go there.” She mumbled and scrambled to the bathroom.

“Young Miss, before that, your parents are downstairs having breakfast. They would like you to join them. Something urgent, I suppose.”

Sera’s head titled. Her parents rarely had breakfast with her. Her forehead creased as she nodded and turned for the bathroom door.

Namjoon ran to his car after his call with Sehun ended. Finally, they got a lead. Just that morning, they got some possible identities for the private investigator that could have been following Sera. They also got some virtual trail of the hackers, but they were still not sure. 

It was their first ever lead, and he had to be there to find out. No one could hurt the people he cared about just like that without paying for it. No one could hurt his little cousin and just get away with it.

He stood by what the Park Industries was known for among its employees— camaraderie and loyalty. Park Industries was a family, not just a mere company to him.

Whoever tried to break his family apart was going to pay.

Sera kissed her father and mother’s cheeks before pulling out a chair for herself. She sipped from the glass of water and looked at her parents with an expectant expression.

Her Dad continued with his meal, and her mother shared a meaningful glance with her. She could see how stressed they were, and she genuinely felt sorry. If it wasn’t for her, they wouldn’t be stressing over the many conflicts her presence on the company has brought.

“Did the specialists find any lead? I reviewed my files on the land this morning and I am a hundred percent sure that we went through all the legal—“

“You’re free.” Mr. Park cut her short.

“W-what?”

Her Dad placed his utensils down and looked at his daughter. “You’re free, Sera.”

“What do you m-mean?” She chuckled unsurely. “What are you talking about? Eomma?” She looked at her mother for an explanation. Mrs. Park had a worried expression on her face. She sighed and took her daughter’s hand. “Jungkook broke off the engagement, honey.”

Sera could feel the world closing in on her. She looked at both her parents and shook her head.

“No, that can’t be true. No, he… he wouldn’t…”

“I’m so sorry, Sera.” Her father mumbled. He knew there was something more to Jungkook and Sera, but he respected their own decisions. If Jungkook wanted out, he could not do anything but respect his decision. After all the things happening to the Park Industries recently, he was kind of expecting it.

Sera stood up, her jaw clenched. Her vision was already getting cloudy, her knees weak. She stumbled a little as she walked towards the door.

“Sera, honey—“

“I need some air.” She managed to say before dragging her legs out of the dining hall.

The tears fell as soon as she was out on the family garden. Her shaking hands managed to get her phone from her windbreaker’s pocket.

She tried to dial his number again, but still no tone.

“He wouldn’t do this.” She muttered, shaking her head. She tried to dial again, but later threw the phone away. She grabbed her hair with both hands, gritting her teeth against each other as she cried. She sat on the grass, letting the sunlight be the witness of her misery.

She was so sure that she could still make things right, but it turned out that she was wrong.

He didn’t want anything to do with her anymore.

“Haven’t I made it clear that I would always be here for you?”

“You are special to me, Sera.”

“You have a place in my life no one can ever replace.”

She wanted to hold on to all the things he said, but she couldn’t blame him. She was a mess and no one wanted a mess in their lives.

The conference room was buzzing with early morning gossips. Was it true? Was it really over? These questions escaped the lips of curious investors and employees. They wondered what was in store for the company they worked in, and if there was a possibility that everything was really going down.

When Mr. Park entered the room, the murmurs stopped. All eyes were on him, expectant on whatever announcement he was going to make.

Mrs. Park stood a few steps behind her husband, mustering the courage to keep a straight face on.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice.” He started, taking his seat. Two seats were visibly empty— the youngest generation Parks were missing.

Mr. Park knew so well that not having Sera and Namjoon on the meeting meant a lot. At such a crucial time, the family had to show that they were unfazed by the ongoing crisis. However, even he couldn’t deny how grave the situation was.

“I would like to—“

The door burst open and Namjoon walked in, fixing his tie. He bowed at the looking audience, pressing his lips into a thin line. Mr. Park looked at him, raising one eyebrow. He nodded at his uncle and stood at the front.

“I’m sorry I’m late, but I have been in an urgent ordeal. I do not want to cause unnecessary distress, but the company has been receiving backdoor attacks from an unknown group. Rest assured that it is being handled accordingly. Just this morning I received news from the team about a lead. We’ve infiltrated one of their systems used to hack us. We are currently preparing our counter-attacks.”

Namjoon eyed each and every single board member, looking for any hint of alarm. He purposely revealed general details of his progress on the investigation, hoping that whoever was responsible would know that he was no one to be messed with.

He even tipped the media that such announcement was about to made. He wanted to send a clear message.

There were nods of approval among the crowd, when the door opened and the Park heiress herself entered. She maintained a straight face, her eyes stone cold and her jaws clenched.

Behind her was the heir to Samsung, and to everyone’s surprise, the heir to the Kim Conglomerate.

It was an evident show of power. Mr. and Mrs. Park looked at their daughter in surprise, but she glanced at them meaningfully. I’m okay.

She stood beside Namjoon and looked at the board members. “I am here to confirm the things you must be all thinking. My engagement with the second son of the Jeon Group is over. We made the hasty decision of getting engaged at such an early age. We will remain friends, and continue with our respective lives. Jeon Jungkook… will always have my support in whatever he pursues.”

She took a step forward and exhaled.

“In addition to that, the merged subsidiary with the Jeon Group will be cancelled. All operations and ongoing processes will cease as of this moment. With the ongoing crisis our company is undergoing, it is best if we keep our focus in overcoming these hurdles. Our relationship with the Jeon group remains strong, and it is in our best interests that they continue to grow as a company.”

With that she gave the crowd a small smile, stepping aside to let her father talk.

“Starting today, we will personally oversee and handle every project we have. All departments are tasked to submit weekly performance reports directly to the directors. Each department will also be assigned three IT specialists to keep track of the security of the system. Rest assured that we are handling this situation in the best way that we can. That is all for today, thank you. This meeting is adjourned.”

Mr. Park tapped his foot as he waited for her daughter to enter the lounge. As soon as she stepped in with Namjoon, Sehun and Kai, his father’s personal secretary closed the doors.

“The merged subsidiary is… over?” Mr. Park was trying his best to compose himself.

Sera nodded and waked towards her father. “I personally went to the Jeon’s this morning.”

“Why didn’t they inform me?”

“They were going to. In fact, Abbeoni— I mean, Mr. Jeon was about to schedule a meeting with you when I appeared on his office. He was adamant about telling you himself, but I told him that it was better if I do it.”

She could still remember her conversation with Jungkook’s father so well. It constantly reminded her of why she should be strong.

“But you did not tell me!” Mr. Park roared. Everybody in the room tensed.

However, Sera was unfazed. She expected this, and she already had her reasons prepared. “If I did, you would’ve preferred keeping this from the public until all this is over.”

“Exactly.” He hissed. “That is what every sane person would do. You just showed how weak we are. You showcased the whole company for a possible hostile takeover!”

“If you asked Mr. Jeon if he would agree to us keeping it from the public, he would’ve readily agreed, Abbeoji. But we have to think of what it would do to their company. We are dragging them along in this mess. Despite our close relationship with them, we have to take into account that they are an entirely separate business entity. They have helped us a lot, it is our turn to the same by keeping them out of this mess.”

Mrs. Park nodded at her daughter. She was proud of what she had done, despite her husband’s outburst. She knew that Sera was under emotional turmoil with her engagement and all the attacks, but she was still capable of making rational decisions.

“She’s right.” Namjoon spoke up.

“I was looking for a way to appear that we are strong, because we are, Abbeoji.” She went on, her voice determined. “That is why Sehun and Kai were with me as I made my announcement.”

She shared a glance at the two.

“Now the public knows that Samsung and Kim Conglomerate has our backs.”

Mr. Park looked up, meeting Kai’s eyes. “Kim Conglomerate? H-how… When did…?”

“Good Afternoon, Young Master Park. I am Kim Jongin, Kim Sewoo’s son.”

Mr. Park nodded, uncertain. “We let go of Jeon Group because we do not want them in this mess, and now you just explicitly included the Kims? Aren’t we dragging them in this mess now?”

“Sera and I have talked about this, Young Master.” Kai replied for Sera. “We are not in any form of partnership with your company, but we are backing you by simply showing our support to your company. We will not be affected, I assure you.”

Sera smiled at Kai and he winked.

“Fine.” Mr. Park stood up. “I appreciate your help, Jongin-sshi. And Sehun too. You don’t know how much this means to all of us at Park Industries. Sera,” he met her stare and offered her a small smile. “You did a great job today. Just… don’t keep anything from me again, okay?”

Sera nodded and hugged her father. “I won’t, Appa. I’m sorry.”

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:(

"After a storm comes a calm." - Matthew Henry