Crack [poker term]: Cracking cards means overcoming a strong hand with a weaker one.

Chanyeol [21.18]: Jongin was there. I met him. You were right about him starting to make another move. We'll discuss this again later. I'm on the way home.

Yixing sighed then looked back at the mirror after putting his phone aside. He winced when he dabbed the gauze on the cut on his lower lip. A knock on the door was heard when he was throwing away the used gauze.

"Come in." He loosened his tie and tossed it to the bed before walking to his drawer to pull out a change of clothes. 

He heard the door creaked opened.

"You okay?" Suzy's voice startled him.

Whipping his head to the door where she was standing by, he stared at her with slightly rounded eyes. "Oh!" He bobbed his head before answering, "Yeah."

Suzy nodded; her eyes found the ground. She bit down her lip and tapped her pouch with her index finger. Yixing softly chuckled while taking out his clothes from the drawer.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" He asked.

"Uh. No." Suzy shook her head and cleared . "I just..." Her eyes darted to the ground again. "Thanks for following me back there," she mumbled then briefly glanced at him while taking a breath. "I'll go up and rest," she told him and quickly turned around shutting the door behind her.

Yixing held back a chuckle and shook his head. It must not be easy for someone like her to utter thanks. He was grateful she did it. He knew that beneath her cold exterior was a kind woman who just didn't know how to tap into her own feelings. 

Changed into her sleepwear, Suzy sat down at her vanity table and stared at her reflection. While she put on a facial product, her mind went back to what Yixing told her in the car. 

"Jus a suggestion," he started softly to avoid the chauffeur from eavesdropping. "Maybe you should apologize to Chanyeol."

"What?" She brusquely asked.

"In a way, you did leave his side for too long."

Suzy scoffed. "I only went for some air," she reminded.

Yixing only smiled. "Just think of it this way. Apologizing doesn't necessarily make you the weaker one, you know? Instead, it meant you're more level-headed than he is. And it would appease him."

"Why should I appease him?"

"Well, you still want to be on the run for the President position right?"

Suzy mentally cussed then sighed.

"I'm not forcing you to apologize," Yixing told her. "I'm just suggesting."

Recently, she started noticing that Yixing never forced her to do anything. All his suggestions were always only suggestions. very persuasive ones nonetheless.

She briefly glanced at him. "Killing with kindness, huh? Not a bad idea."

Still, Suzy didn't really like the idea of apologizing. She still thought Chanyeol was the one who should be apologizing. If he didn't suddenly kissed her then, she wouldn't have the need for some air and space. Also, he yelled at her. There was this unpleasant feeling she couldn't really discern when the first thing he did after finding her was yelling at her. Meanwhile, Yixing, who was supposed to be a no-one to her, worried for her.

The earlier chaos flashed in her mind; and without her permission, her mind chose to think of Yixing. When Yixing held her upper arms tightly, there was this feeling of... almost.

Suzy shook the thoughts away. Lately, she felt like she was getting a little distracted with unnecessary feelings and thoughts.

When Chanyeol finally arrived home, Suzy saw the look of surprise flashing across his face when he saw her sitting on the edge of the bed still awake. He didn't expect her to still be up, she guessed. 

Darting his gaze elsewhere, he then briefly closed his eyes and a sigh escaped his lips. "Su, about earlier," he started, "I—"

"Sorry," Suzy cut him off—her tone reluctant—and his attention was quickly wheeled back to her. His rounded eyes stared at her and his brows rode up high in a look of surprise. Standing up from the bed with crossed arms, she apathetically elaborated, "I apologize for not returning to the ballroom right away." She lowered her gaze and nodded to herself. "Well, you're right about that. Things wouldn't go the way it did had I returned right away."

When she raised her gaze, Chanyeol was already standing before her. "Well... At least now you know why I was so worried."

And you're not going to apologize for yelling at me? She slightly raised her brow silently waiting for his apology but she only got him looking both a little confused and still surprised. Probably of her sudden apology, she concluded and resisted the urge to roll her eyes, choosing to close them instead.

"I'm glad Lay was with you though. I can't imagine what would have happened to you if he wasn't," he remarked.

"Yeah. Which is why"—uncrossing her arms, she took a step back to distance themselves—"I want Yixing both as my bodyguard and chauffeur."

"What?" Chanyeol frowned. It was quiet a surprise for her since she thought he would agree with her on this matter.

"Less people near me means lesser threat, don't you think?"

"Are you wary of trusting our own chauffeurs?"

"Your chauffeurs," Suzy corrected.

"If this is about the hotel employees who attacked you, they aren't real employees. Someone paid them, Su."

"All the more reason for me to be more cautious. You can't possibly be certain your drivers will never take money from anyone."

Suzy knew he was about to protest, but he stopped himself as if remembering something. She wondered if she just hit a bullseye. Maybe there was indeed a mole within them. Chanyeol did look like he knew something.

"I can find you someone else I can trust to drive you."

"Is Yixing not someone you trust?"

"Of course I trust Lay—" Chanyeol heaved a breath. "Can you stop calling him Yixing?" He grumbled while throwing his head back. 

Genuinely confused, she raised a brow. "Why should I?" Her eyes then rounded by a fraction. "Are you jealous of Yixing?"

"What? No! I'm not—I'm not jealous of Lay." He gestured with a hand and rested the other on his hip.

Suzy sighed. "Then think about it. It would be best for me right now to have him both as my bodyguard and chauffeur. I don't see a problem why I can't have him as both." She crossed her arms and added, "Unless you're jealous of him."

Chanyeol squeezed his eyes shut, seemingly frustrated. He massaged his temple with a hand. "Fine," he breathed out. "I'm not jealous of Lay, alright?" He opened his eyes to look at her in the eyes while loosening his bow tie. "Do as you please."

A little softness really could help conquer someone like him, she noted.

"Good." Suzy shrugged, uncrossed her arms, and turned her back on him to walk back to the bed. "I'm going to Naksan for a night tomorrow."

"What?" Chanyeol was just turning for the bathroom, but he turned back around to her. "With who?"

"Yixing," she nonchalantly replied while rearranging her pillows.

"And who else?"

"And myself?" She briefly glanced at him with a raised brow.

"Just the two of you?" He crossed his arms and Suzy could already predict where the conversation was going. "Hyejung isn't coming with you?"

Gritting her teeth, Suzy held back all her annoyance. She started thinking going soft on Chanyeol wasn't the way. He just pestered her more. "Well, unlike you, I can't focus on just competing for the President. I'm still a director there; and so, I have other responsibilities to take care of. I'm delegating some of the trivial works to Hyejung, so she can't come with me. You should be grateful I even thought of telling you about the trip."

"So you're going only with Lay?"

This time, Suzy couldn't help but to roll her eyes. "Should I go alone then?" She proceeded to lift an eyebrow. "Didn't you say you're not jealous? Aren't you being childish right now? It's not like I'm going on a holiday trip. I'm going for a business trip, Chanyeol."

"Still! I'm not letting you two go alone," he insisted making her lowly groan. 

"You're not my father, Chanyeol!"

"You're right! I'm your husband! Which gives me every right to not give you that permission!" He rubbed his temple with his thumb and index finger trying to collect his self.

Taking control. Chanyeol always tried to take control of her. It wasn't this severe before until lately. Suzy hated it! If it weren't for her goal, she would dump him anytime. 

Balling her hands into fists, she tried to calm herself down. She was reminded of Yixing's words telling her to be more level-headed. As much as she hated to admit it, Chanyeol still had the upper hand. Calmly she stood up from the bed and approached him with a sigh. Her fist was curled and uncurled several times before she decided to raise her uncurled hand and placed it on his cheek. Chanyeol flinched at the touch and moved away his hand from his temple.

Inside, a part of her wanted to retract her hand and screamed, "Do I really have to do this?" Another part of her reassured her that this was necessary for her goal. However, attraction for those dark brown irises that looked back at her wasn't calculated in her plan.

For a very brief moment, her mind went blank. But she soon regained herself and asked, "Don't you trust your own friend?" 

She saw him slowly gulp. Maybe this plan of being a little more gentle with him wasn't so bad after all. Right at this moment, clearly she had him around her fingers. Quiet literally.

"Well, if you don't trust him, shouldn't you at least trust me?" She started observing her own hand lightly caressing his cheek. He gulped again. "I...," her words came out above a whisper and a corner of her lip tug up a little. Her eyes drifted back to his. "I may not like you or this marriage, but I don't betray people. You know well I don't follow feelings. Were you really worried I would cheat on you?" Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "You love me that much?"

Chanyeol cleared his throat and gripped her wrist to gently pry her hand from his cheek. It was rather surprising to see his eyes looking at her sharply instead of wavering. His brows dipped in the middle, somehow intimidating her. But Suzy didn't let it show on her face. She just stared right back into his eyes.

His jaw tightened; and for a split second, she thought her plan wasn't working. Until he said with a nod of his head, "Okay. Since it's business trip."

Just as she thought! He was only acting superior to her while in truth he was truly weak for her. Suzy couldn't hold back her lips from curling into a lopsided smile.

"But once you're back from the trip," Chanyeol continued, "I'm going to put a curfew on you and have the other bodyguards watch you too."

"What?" Her smile vanished, and a frown replaced it.

This was not expected!

"You're in danger, Su. I can't let anything happen to you. So either that or you'll have me constantly by your side. Take a pick."

Suzy glared at him and gritted her teeth while trying to pull away her wrist from his grip. "You can't control me like this," she retorted, trying hard to keep her calm.

"I'm only doing this to protect you." He tightened his grip.

Suffocating. Her life just got more suffocating!

"You really—"

"This has nothing to do with whether I'm jealous or not of Lay. You're right. I love you," he cut her off; his voice sounded even deeper. He tugged her wrist to pull her a little closer causing her to tilt her head back to look up at his towering figure. "I really do love you." His face inched closer to hers, invading her space. "But I know what you're playing here," his deep voice whispered. "And I'm not going to get played. I'm not an idiot, Su. You need to know that the harder you fight to drive me away, the more I want you."

With her other hand, Suzy slapped his grip away. "You're really starting to annoy me."

Chanyeol smirked multiplying her distaste in him. "At least you're noticing me now." Clasping his hands behind his back, he bended down to her level. "Know that I'm doing this for your sake, Su. Just do what I said, okay?" He raised a brow and teased, "Or are you already giving up on wanting the position we're competing for?"

Damn it! She mentally cursed. He knew very well that he could easily take what she wanted. Chanyeol wasn't as weak as she thought he was. She didn't think he was capable of playing her back. Suzy balled her hands into fists at her side.

"Rest," he told her as he straightened his back and patted her shoulder. "You have a trip tomorrow." He walked past her toward the bathroom.

In this game, her card was too weak to overcome his card because her card was his heart. And the heart is weak. She almost forgot that!

Suzy squeezed her eyes shut. I hate him!

Aye! I'm back, aces!
Forgive me for going MIA for long. Thank you for patiently waiting though. I'm overwhelmed by the love you give for this story.