“What do you really want?”

“Quite perceptive for your age,” Jaehyun commented, not losing face. She could almost feel his smirk from the other side of the phone. “I know that you’ve been... romantically involved with a boy. It’s come to my attention that you’re no longer together.”

“Ah,” Taehyun said, regaining composure, “Lee Jinki? Don’t be so obvious, brother. You just need him for his extensive medical lineage, right? Wouldn’t it be exceptionally beneficial if we got, let’s say... married?” Jaehyun laughed.

“I underestimated you,” he admitted, “You’re smart. You’ll survive in this world.” Taehyun scowled.

“Now, now,” Jaehyun continued, “I’m just a concerned brother. Let me remind you that I would’ve taken you in if it weren’t for the demanding nature of my occupation. You are my parents’ last legacy; I’m forced to honor it. I would have raised you well. Now, I am genuinely worried about my sister’s future.”

“So you think marrying me off will magically solve all my problems?” Taehyun said, spitefully, “It’s not the Joseon era, Jaehyun. I won’t marry anyone to save my skin—not that it needs any saving. I’m perfectly fine on my own. I survived all these years without relying on anyone. If I did want to marry Jinki, it’d be out of—oh, I don’t know—love?”

“This is a warning, Taehyun,” Jaehyun said, seriously, “If you want to live well, listen carefully. You may not consider us family—and you shouldn’t worry about that, because many of us reciprocate the feeling—but, I am telling you that this boy loves you. I know, because his late father told me personally; in this situation we can only gain from your reconciliation. You have to use this to your advantage.”

Taehyun did a double take. ‘Late father?’ she thought. She wasn’t aware that Jinki’s father passed away. Was it that no one had the heart to tell her? Why was it that she never noticed? She suddenly felt miserable, guilty—miserably guilty—for facing him so shamelessly throughout the months. Although in her defense, she never imagined Mr. Lee would pass away so suddenly; he was in top condition the last time she heard anything about him.

“I will gain the support of the medical field, and you will gain financial support. You will live safely, and I will no longer have to worry about whether or not you’re still alive and breathing.” Jaehyun ended.

“If you’re so worried,” Taehyun muttered, “Then why’d you just watch me get pushed around? Everyone who I was unfortunate to meet didn’t have the heart to take me in for more than a month. Not even the twins stepped up. You’re incompetent.”

“You think I didn’t try?” Jaehyun asked, his sudden anger striking a little fear into Taehyun’s heart, “You think those twins did anything for you while they built their empire? Do you think Taeseok or Taewoo did anything for you? No. I bargained with distant relatives to take you in, but no one wants bastards like us.” Taehyun couldn’t respond. Her voice faltered.

“Children of a lowly mistress,” he continued, his anger still evident, “We had to work twice as hard as any other Cho to receive the amount of respect we have right now. And the only joy in our lives, our lovely mother… you unrepentantly killed her. You were the worst kind of bastard. The kind that desired life so badly, they had to kill another for it. You jeopardized everything. You almost ruined everything we worked for.”

“Don’t call me again,” Taehyun threatened, her voice as hard as steel, “I’m tired of hearing you on my self-worth. You think I take anything you say to heart? You think I’m going to allow you to talk down on me? I’m not starting now.” Taehyun slammed the phone down, ending the call. She threw around curses at the phone, curses she’d didn’t have the courage to say in front of her brother. If the phone could, it would’ve started crying. It probably also would’ve charged her with verbal abuse.

She briskly made her way back to the dining room. Nobody had touched their food since she left. They couldn’t stomach any of it.

Jonghyun snapped his finger, and the food became warm again. None of them wanted to ask or say anything at the moment, so when she began eating again, so did they.

She finished quickly, announcing: “Eating made me feel better again.”

With this, she thanked Suho for the meal before taking off back into her room to start studying. In her twenty years of living, she’s developed quite a thick skin. She channeled all of her rage into her studies, if it were possible she’d have fire blazing from her eyes. She silently apologized to God for wanting to rip her brother’s head off. Then silently apologized again for not being sincere with her apology, because she just really wanted to land a punch on that guy—she’d even settle for a good slap right across his face.

Downstairs, Jonghyun did what he could to avoid another confrontation for now. He finally ripped the landline out, and made sure that they wouldn’t be receiving any more calls from anyone even remotely related. However, having them speak to each other was necessary if Jonghyun wanted to fill in the last item on his quota.

Though, he was starting to regret giving Cho Jaehyun’s PA the tip that Taehyun and Jinki had split.

“It’s not gonna work,” Jonghyun said as he made the landline disappear, “I can lay it down all for them, but human emotions are where it gets messy.” Suho sighed.

“Maybe you should just change that last point,” he suggested, “She doesn’t look like she needs it.” Jonghyun nodded, taking into account what he said.

“I can feel that she does, though,” Jonghyun replied, “At least some closure. It’s too broken to just suddenly fix. I can’t do it, especially with a time constraint.”

“You can always,” Suho paused before continuing, “Change her mind yourself…”

“No,” Jonghyun refused sternly, “I don’t change them manually. They have to do it themselves. It’s too dangerous; too many risks that I wouldn’t even try to put her through.” Jonghyun stared into space, eyes glassy and distant.

“I’ve seen that look before,” Krystal commented, “Are you…?—”

“Yes,” Jonghyun replied, without missing a beat, “If you were about to say what I think you were about to say, then yes.”