Chanyeol kept his eyes on Jiyong, but he was still shaking. Memories from the past flooded in, causing the tall man to feel awkward and unwelcome. Jiyong wasn't giving him any look different from what he was giving to the others, which made him feel even more nauseous.

Jungkook curiously glanced at Jiyong, then at Chanyeol.

"Do you know him?" Jungkook asked to particularly no one.

"We shared an interesting…past," Jiyong said, trying to find the right words.

"You've aged," Chanyeol murmured. As much as he wanted to punch him, Chanyeol knew better not to. Besides, he was coming here as a guest under Kiha's name. He didn't want to do anything to dirty the older man's reputation.

"Of course," Jiyong said, touching his wrinkles. "Work has been getting the best of me."

Chanyeol glanced down at Minho. "This is your kid…?"

"Yes, he is," Jiyong responded. He proudly patted his son's head. "Did you properly introduce yourself, Minho?"

"My name is Kwon Minho," the kid announced. "My father is Kwon Jiyong and my mother is Park Sandara. I have two sisters."

"Two sisters?" Jungkook repeated. "Where are they?"

"Hide-and-seek," Minho said.

"Actually, the third child isn't born yet," Jiyong said, laughing to himself.

"She's in Mommy," Minho informed them. "Mommy isn't here today. She's resting. She'll come out in three months."

"Three children," Jungkook said, amused.

"Yes, three children: a boy with free-spirit, a genius middle child, and my youngest who still hasn't been welcomed to this world," Jiyong stated proudly. He looked at Jungkook. "Why isn't your uncle here?"

"Um, he has plans," Jungkook said. "You see, his webtoon got a drama gig and now he's focusing on that. He's talking with the actress right now."

"Ah, I see. I called him at a bad time. I'll check with my assistant and make sure to host a party so that he's available," Jiyong said. He snapped his fingers and a few people scurried over to him. He whispered something in their ears. The workers bowed, then politely excused themselves. Jiyong turned back to Jungkook. "Let me apologize for dragging such a young man into this party. You must be exhausted."

"Oh, no worries," Jungkook replied, smiling. "I'm aware of my situation and I've been raised to handle these types of party."

"Well, good job to you," Jiyong said.

Chanyeol squinted his eyes. No matter how he saw Jiyong, he couldn't think of him to be the same Jiyong in the past. If he had never met the Jiyong in the past, then he would've never imagined the current Jiyong to be an ex-smoker or someone who hardly made a living. It was strange and odd for Chanyeol to try to associate himself with the Jiyong standing in front of him.

Jiyong glanced at Chanyeol, causing the man to freeze.

"You and I haven't talked in a while, right?" Jiyong asked him.

"Uh, um, yes…"

"Do you want to step into my office? We can talk in private there," Jiyong said, gesturing his chin at a random direction.

Right when Chanyeol was about to refuse, Jungkook gently tapped his foot against Chanyeol's. He looked over at the younger boy, who only made a silent signal to follow Jiyong.

Guess I have no choice, Chanyeol bitterly thought. With the sick feeling in his chest, he took a deep breath and nodded his head. "I would love to talk in private with you."

Jiyong let out a satisfied smile. "Good. Follow me."

Before Chanyeol took another step, Jungkook pulled him back.

"Good luck," Jungkook whispered. "I'll be playing around with these kids."

Chanyeol meekly nodded his head before he disappeared in the crowd.

• • •

"Tea?"

"Yes, please," Jieun answered, nodding her head. She watched Kiha pour her a cup of tea while she rested her chin against the table. She let out a heavy sigh, catching his attention.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm a bit exhausted. I've been seeing a lot of familiar people," Jieun said, thinking about Jiho's three friends, Minah, and Jiho himself. "It's almost like I've returning to the past. Even Chanyeol is here. The only person who's missing is the man I love."

"Here's your tea," Kiha said, placing the cup in front of her face.

"Thank you," she mumbled. She was about to grab her cup, but stopped. "It's weird."

"What?" he asked, sipping his tea with his legs crossed.

"My friends have been working on a way to let me see the guy I love. However, I haven't done a single thing like that. In fact, I've been avoiding him, too," Jieun said. She frowned. "I know that he's probably married by now, but I don't know much about his family life. The news only reveals about his business and how well he's doing financial."

"Maybe it's because you haven't quite prepared yourself," Kiha said. 

"But I keep saying that I want to see him," she said. "Doesn't that mean something? Shouldn't it mean something?"

"What if you just want to see him to comfort yourself?" Kiha asked. "There are some cases like that. You're always wishing to see someone, but when you finally do, it's like you can let everything go."

"Maybe that's the case. I don't know. These days, I've been feeling pretty lost with myself."

"Isn't that great?" Kiha asked. Jieun looked at him, confused. "Isn't it great that you're lost? That means that there's a billion of ways to get out of the dark. You don't have to walk on a single road until you find yourself."

Jieun kept quiet. She thought about his words, letting it sink in for a few minutes. Then, curiously, she traced the rim of her cup while glancing at Kiha.

"What if…I replace my love?" she asked him with her cheeks turning a bit pink.

Kiha didn't say a word. He carefully sipped his tea, holding the cup to his lips a bit longer than he usually would. After a moment of silence, he gently placed the cup on the table and made eye-contact with her. He uncrossed his legs and turned his upper waist to face her properly.

"No one can really forget their first true love," Kiha said, "but it's definitely not good to use someone else to fill in your desire. You'll only end up hurting yourself."

Jieun looked at Kiha for a long time as he quietly sipped his drink. He had a point, and she could understand where he was coming from. If anything, she could tell that he was probably trying to tell her, "If you need to move on, don't use me as a way to escape the past. Leave on your own, when you're ready to face the future."

A small smile formed on her lips. "Thank you, Kiha."

"What? I didn't do anything," he said innocently.

"Right, right," Jieun said, giggling. She stared down at her nearly empty tea cup before looking at the clock. "Jungkook and Chanyeol should be at the party, right?"

"Yeah. They're probably talking to the host, too," Kiha said, also looking at the clock.

"What kind of party is it? Who's the host?" she asked.

Kiha gave her a deep frown while he wearily answered, "Let's just say that this guy is pretty important…and a difficult person to handle, too."

• • •

"So," Jiyong said, casually taking his seat in his large, leathered chair, "why are you here?"

Chanyeol found himself in Jiyong's office. The host sat behind the large fancy table, leaving Chanyeol to either stand or sit down on a cheap chair. The office was large, showing off Jiyong's luxury. A few guards stood outside of the room, but they protectively glanced through the glass wall in case Chanyeol planned on doing something to the host.

"I have a formal request," Chanyeol told him. He sat down on the cheap chair.

"A request?" Jiyong raised his eyebrows, amused. "You think I'm going to grant you a favor? After everything that's happened between us?"

"It's not for me. It's for a very important person," the younger man said. He gripped his fingers on the arms of the chair. "Please have a meeting with Jieun."

"No."

Chanyeol widened his eyes. He wasn't expecting such a simple and quick answer. In fact, he wasn't expecting Jiyong to not react at all. The rich man sat still in his chair, giving him a firm look.

"W-Why?" Chanyeol managed to asked.

"There is no reason for me to see her," Jiyong declared. "I will not benefit from her just by meeting up with her. She'll just waste my time."

"Are you saying that she was a waste of time?" Chanyeol asked. He started to claw his seat.

"Sort of?" Jiyong said carelessly, scratching the back of his head.

Chanyeol scoffed. He couldn't believe anything that was happening right now. Not only did it seem like Jiyong didn't care, but it seemed like he didn't even want to deal with anything in the past.

It's just one meeting, Chanyeol thought. "What if I bring Jieun to you?"

"For what? No reason? I don't have time for that," Jiyong said nonchalantly.

"D-Didn't you love her?" Chanyeol asked. He shot him a glare. "Do you know that Jieun is still hoping to see you? She still loves you. She loves you so much that she won't even think about romance with anyone else. I won't be surprised if she plans on dying without seeing another man except for you!"

"Well, that's too bad for her," he said, shrugging his shoulder. "It's a shame. She's a young woman."

"It's not fair!" Chanyeol roared out, furiously glaring at Jiyong. Jiyong finally glanced at Chanyeol's way. "Jieun is tortured whenever she sees you, and it's not fair! You can't see Jieun all the time, but Jieun can see you on news and on the television. You're all around her and she sees you in every corner of her vision, but you're lucky that you don't see her. You don't have to suffer. You don't have to hear news of how you're getting a new kid and—"

"Chanyeol," Jiyong said in his familiar cold voice. Chanyeol stopped and felt chills creep up his spine. Jiyong's dark look quickly formed into a fake grin. "I understand your concern, but you should stop. We're only moving on, after all. Jieun will move on."

"How can you be so inconsiderate?" Chanyeol blurted, flabbergasted. "I might not understand the whole notion of love, but I do understand suffering. And guess what? Jieun is suffering like she's been living in hell for her entire life."

"Chanyeol," Jiyong repeated, clenching his teeth. "Jieun will move on. Do not get so riled up about such a trivial thing."

Chanyeol dropped his jaws. He stared at Jiyong for a long time, trying to see if there was any sign of guilt in Jiyong's face. When he saw none, the taller man took a deep sigh. He curled his fingers into a fist, then slowly got up from his seat. Then, he glared at the older man, who almost flinched.

"I would punch you," Chanyeol declared, "but I can't do that." He glanced at the bodyguards, who had been watching them the entire time. "It's not because there are those stupid guards watching my every move," he continued, "but it's because Jieun probably wouldn't want me to hurt someone she really loves."

Jiyong kept quiet. He watched Chanyeol turn and head to the door. Just before Chanyeol opened the door, Jiyong decided to speak up.

"You know," Jiyong murmured, "it's not so lucky to not know what's happening to your previous lover. Sometimes, you keep wondering how she's doing, even though you know that it's pointless to think about such a thing."

"What would you know?" Chanyeol grumbled. "You don't even think about Jieun anymore. You've moved on, remember?" He glanced around the room. "There's not even a legacy of Jieun here or anything. Absolutely freaking nothing."

Just before he left, Jiyong said, "You've changed, Chanyeol. You've changed for the better."

Chanyeol refused to turn around. "You've changed, too. You don't think about Jieun anymore."

With that, Chanyeol opened the door and walked out of the room, leaving Jiyong alone in his office. Jiyong let out a sigh, then looked out the window. He waited until he saw Chanyeol drag Jungkook outside and holler for the nearest taxi. 

Before he could watch Chanyeol and Jungkook depart, he heard a small thud! behind him. Jiyong turned around, then smiled gently at his three-year old daughter, who was curiously looking at him.

"Daddy?" his daughter called him. "Are you working?"

"No, Daddy is done working," Jiyong said. "Were you hiding the whole time, sweetheart?"

"I was in the box," she said. "I was playing hide-and-seek with brother."

Jiyong gave her a faint smile. He bent down for a hug, but then ended up picking up his daughter from the ground. She gave him a quick hug around his neck, but looked at him with curious eyes.

"Daddy?" she called again.

"Hm?" he answered.

"What did the scary man mean when he said that you don't think about me anymore?" the daughter asked quietly, a bit worried or scared.

Jiyong chuckled and his daughter's head before kissing her forehead. He played with her small hands, giving them a small squeeze before showing out a pained expression.

"I don't know, Jieun. I think about you all the time."