You Want Me
Don't you?

Wants 038
I want change, therefore, I will change. 

"Take a seat or something, I'll go find dad. He's probably somewhere in the study room anyway."

She drew a long sigh and sat back on her seat. The room was spacious, wide enough for her to run a marathon without rest. The painting in front of her was fairly grand as well, glowing under the great crystalline chandelier that was hanging on the ceiling wall. The floor beneath her was cold, glassy marble tile that she found all too familiar with, and yet, all too distant to.

Everything felt all too cold for her liking.

Jiae crossed her arms and rubbed her exposed arm as she takes a deep breath. This is the time, the day she had been waiting for since then. She had been searching for ways to get this closure with her father. She searched for so long. And finally, she was finally able to come face-to-face with the stubborn old man who wouldn't listen to her pleads back then. 

You can do this. She fell back on her seat and puffed her cheeks. Her pulse were rising, her eyes were squeezed shut from the blinding light, and her fingers were shaking from the anxiety that was eating her from the inside. Jiae was that afraid, she was that nervous around that old man that she hadn't seen for so many years. 

How long has it been? She lost track of time, but the fear stays no matter how long time has passed for them.

Footsteps, she hear that old man drawing near. The sound of his loud leather shoes hitting the marble flooring echoed in the room, the quiet scrunch of his nose halt all her movements in place. She held her breath, her neck stiffly straight as she glares right into the one black spot on the oil painting. What should she say when he comes in face with her? She didn't know how to start up a conversation, especially not with someone she hadn't seen for years.

Not her father, no. She just couldn't start a conversation with this old man like that.

The footsteps stopped. She can vaguely see his black blazer shoulder near the painting. Quietly, she heard a soft huff on the couch. He took a seat. She knew that then. Carefully, she shifted her gaze to him. Her eyes made sure to avoid his eyes, focusing on that one mole he has on his left eye, the one similar to Jaebum's, instead. Her hands were still shaking, but she made sure it didn't show in front of the old man.

Silence was a mocking grim. Her father wasn't talking, she wasn't talking. They were just there, staring at each other as if that was the last thing they have ever seen in life. The old man's expression was stoic, stone cold as his eyes glared at her. That stare sent shivers down her spine. Her eyes were shaking, her shoulders were stiff... She just couldn't seem to stay confident under her father's presense.

"You..." Her fingers curled immediately at the deep voice that she wasn't expecting from the old man.

Her breathing hitched tight, and her eyes shot wide when he enclosed his lips again. His wrinkled eyes softened, curved gently as he shakes his head and tapped his finger on the arm rest. Each tap stirs her anxiety, and each sound causes her to flinch in alert. 

What is he trying to do now? She swallowed the anxiety and awaited for his words. 

"... How long has it been that way?" His question startled her. 

"... Huh?" She blinked her eyes, confused. 

Her father shook his head, a clear sigh was drawn as he points at her hand, specifically, the ring on her hand. "You married Tuan. How long was that?" He asked, brow raised in curiosity. 

Tuan? She looked at her ring. Right, there is this ring on her ring finger. She pursed her lips and stared at the ring. How should she explain this to her father? Should she tell him the truth? Or should she lie her way through and perhaps, they could actually get a way out of this... But how? She blinked her eyes once, and an image appeared on her mind.

She nibbled her lips and shrunk back. Right, I confessed. She looked at her shoes, and a soft flush appeared on her cheeks. How crazy it must have been for her to react this way whenever Mark wasn't around to see it. He probably didn't know, but she pretty much reacted almost the same as all his admirers when he wasn't present. He just didn't know that. He wouldn't. HE SHOULDN'T! She huffed, and turned to her father. 

"Erm..." She muttered softly, eyes quickly darted away from her father. "We..."

"Was it a mistake?"

"Huh?" She blinked her eyes.

Her father shook his head. "I said, was it a mistake? Did he force you?"

"Wait, dad-"

"Was it the baby?"

Her eyes widened, and she jumped from her seat. "There was no baby!" She squeaked, and quickly, she shrunk back to her seat. "There was no baby..."

Quickly pulling a pillow to her arms, she hugged the pillow and hid her flushed face behind it. Come to think of it, they did do something that might have resulted in that. Not once, but twice, too. I need to get it checked just in case. She made a mental note and peek at her father. He was glaring at her still, but the glare was less... intimidating now. 

Her father sighed. "Then how did you end up there?" He asked, leaning back against his seat. "Tuan wouldn't accept you just like that. That young man isn't foolish. He wouldn't accept you if he didn't have a motive."

"I got nothing to offer." She muttered, and her father nodded. "You don't."

"I was homeless."

"You were."

"Thanks to whom, I wonder."

"..." Her father went silent for a good moment. He wasn't sure what to say, probably. She couldn't read his mind. His stoic expression was still the same even after all these years despite the wrinkled face. He grew older. She realized that, her expression softened when she noticed the light frown on her father's face. 

He regrets it. Jaebum wasn't lying about that.

"Jiae." She shivered at the sound of her name coming from her father. It's been that long since she heard him calling her, after all. The old man was staring again. He just... stared. Both parties didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to move away from the topic she just created.

Then, her father sighed again.

How many times is he going to do that? She would ask that to break the ice, but it doesn't seem like the time to joke around. Her father looked extremely serious at this point. He doesn't seem like he would take things any lightly if she were to joke around with him. She usually doesn't anyway, he never took her jokes as jokes after all. 

"Why did you leave the orphanage?" He started. "You left the moment you turned 19, why?"

Was that a question? She frowned and poked her innercheek in annoyance. Right, of course he'll ask her about that and not something else. Why can't he just stick to the Mark question and she'll probably be more interested in it? Nevertheless, she answered him. 

"I wanted to leave." She said. "I just feel like it."

Her father wasn't pleased with her answer. "You're alone."

"I've always been alone."

"You don't have a job."

"Now I do."

"You... Wait you do?" She nodded her head. "I do, didn't Jaebum oppa tell you-" 

"You sold your body for money? Was that it?"

"What the hell?" Her jaw dropped, dumbfounded by her father's assumption. He did not just assume that. He shouldn't! She groaned in frustration and turned to the door when she heard it open wide. It was Jaebum walking into the room casually with his hands tucked into his jeans pocket. 

He must have done something, she just knew it. 

"The hell did you tell him?" She hissed at Jaebum, who shrugged at her and patted her shoulder. She glared at him when he flashed his playful grin on his face.

"I just did something a brother should to tease his baby sister. Mark's going to have a hard time dealing with dad this way. Have fun with tha