[CONTENTID1]Cracks[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Fifteen[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

***YA’LL ALREADY KNOW IT’S A DOUBLE UPDATE DAY. 1/2**

Jakyung took a deep breath as she stared at the building in front of her. She had been here numerous times, but that didn’t mean she was used to it. She hated being here. She hated what it meant and she hated the fact that she was giving her parents exactly what they wanted.

She entered and the building and was happy that there were only a few people in the lobby. The less people that recognized her, the better. She didn’t need all the fanfare that accompanied being Park Ryujin’s daughter. She made her way up to the secretary, who thankfully didn’t recognize her either, and was directed to the 16th floor.

When she boarded the elevator, she grimaced. Hadn’t someone told her father that music from the 1970’s had long gone out of style? The music only served to fuel her annoyance at the fact that she had to be here, and she had half a mind to just go back down and leave the building like she’d never even come.

When the doors opened, and she was immediately greeted by the sight of Hanbuyl’s back, she cursed under her breath. Of course he father would keep his favorite pet the closest. Hanbuyl turned and greeted her with a nod, then stepped aside to reveal Park Ryujin himself.

“You need to change that music,” she said as a greeting. Her father merely smiled and stood from his seat.

“My beautiful daughter. How lovely it is to see you too,” he said. “Please, have a seat. I assume you’re here about tomorrow? It’s rare that you come on your own.”

Jakyung scoffed and folded her arms across her chest, but didn’t sit. “You sent Mark ing Tuan after me not once, but twice. I shouldn’t have come at all after that,” she growled. “He’s an animal and you know it.”

“You have nothing to worry about dear,” Ryujin said, walking around the desk and opening his arms for a hug. Jakyung dodged him and fixed him with a cold glare.

“I didn’t come here for niceties. I came here to negotiate,” she told him evenly. He didn’t seem offended, but rather impressed. “Don’t act like we’re close.”

“As brusque as ever, aren’t we?” her father chuckled, returning to his seat. “Unfortunately, there is no way to negotiate your way out of this, Jakyung. You’re going to the gala and that’s that.” Jakyung knew she would have to go, and she didn’t expect to be let out of that obligation. She sighed dramatically and plopped into the chair that was offered to her earlier.

“I know I have no choice there,” she told him. “However, part of our deal was that you would stop sending your little pets after me.” She threw a look back at Hanbyul, who looked just as blank as ever.

“I keep my pets on a tight leash; did Mark do something he shouldn’t have?” Jakyung wasn’t fooled by the concern in his tone. Her father was many things, but concerned about her safety he was not.

“If I go to this gala, you will keep him away from me,” Jakyung demanded. “I am keeping my end of the deal. I am staying in the apartment you bought; I am going to the university you wanted; I will attend all of your events. I gave you my word, and I never go back on my word.” She leaned back in the chair, and neither of them broke eye contact.

“How is your job at Elysia going?” Ryujin asked. Jakyung’s expression didn’t change.

“Great. I’ve made friends. Have we come to an understanding? Or will I see Mark waiting for me outside?”

“He will no longer bother you. If I need you for something, I will send Hanbyul or your brother,” Ryujin assured her. He watched her for another moment before sighing. “Look, Jaji, I know you aren’t happy–”

“Don’t you dare call me that,” Jakyung snarled. “Don’t you dare pretend to know me. You gave up that chance a long time ago.” She stood from her seat and slammed her hands on the desk.

“This is a business relationship, just like every other ing time I have to come to this hellhole,” She continued, her voice simmering with rage. “So don’t pretend like you actually care about me. Acting isn’t your job.” She spun on her heel back towards the elevator, and as the doors closed, she could have sworn she saw her father smiling proudly.

++

Jakyung slammed her foot on the gas pedal, sending a cloud of dirt and debris into the air. As she changed gears and sped around the track, she could feel her anger slowly subsiding.

She hated her father.

She had never really known her mother, and the woman didn’t make too much of an effort to know her daughter. She was too preoccupied with enjoying being the wife of a rich man to pay much attention to her daughter. Jakyung couldn’t hate the woman because she didn’t have any connection to her, but she couldn’t really love her either.

Her father, however, was the reason why Jakyung was so untrusting of others. He was the reason why she only kept a precious few close to her, and even then they never really knew her at all. Those that found out she was the daughter of Park Ruyjin either fled in fear or decided to use her for the connections they thought she had. When they learned that she didn’t actually have any connections, they dropped her faster than she could blink. Eventually, she learned not to trust people, and she cam to resent everything her name and her father stood for. She didn’t care that Taekyung was being treated like the golden child, she didn’t care that her mother cared more for society dinners than her daughters school performances. She was angry that even though she tried to be normal, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape her name and her family.

It didn’t help that Ryujin ignored her and her grandmother like they were a blemish on their family name. When Jakyung was of use to him, then she was given attention. In time, she learned that it didn’t matter how much attention her parents paid to her because she had Nana. But when Nana got sick for the second time and died soon after, Jakyung was lost.

The bar was turned over to her father, who closed it down. The funeral wasn’t made public so not Jakyung couldn’t even take comfort in the familiar faces of the bar patron she knew would have otherwise attended.

Her parents tried to bring her back to Seoul, but she wouldn’t stay. She ran away back to Anyang as much as she could – but every time they would send one of their bodyguards to bring her back. She spent months doing this. She didn’t go to school, she didn’t work, she didn’t do much of anything but spend her time thinking about how she could return to the place she called home. She didn’t allow herself to cry or to grieve for the fear that she would never be able to escape the black hole her emotions had become.

It took Taekyung telling her that their parents were planning on selling Nana’s house and bar to make her realize that she couldn’t just return to the way things were. Nana was dead and there was no coming back from death.

So she struck the deal with her parents. If she stayed in Seoul, did the things they asked of her, when she finished her sophomore year at the University of their choosing, she would be given full ownership of Nana’s properties. Jakyung knew that it was written in Nana’s will that she would get ownership of the bar when she turned 23, but that was before her cancer had relapsed. Neither of them thought she would die before she got a chance to change it.

Now here she was, in a deal with the devil, wondering how she was going to make it through the next year.

At first, she didn’t want anything to do with anyone and anything in this city. Her parents had allowed her one month to settle things in Anyang before she had to move permanently to Seoul to begin their deal. She cut ties with her friends in Anyang, she got a new phone, began using the car Taekyung got her for her birthday, and fully embraced the fact that things were never going to be the same. Her first full day in Seoul, she decided that she didn’t need anyone anymore. She loved Nana more than anything in the world, and that love had been lost. As much as she was close Taekyung, he could never be there for her in the way Nana was. So she gave up on love the day Nana died.

Her friendship with Kai and the others was throwing a much unneeded wrench into her plans. It could have been because she knew Kai’s type. He was the kind of guy that wormed his way into your life until it was impossible to say no to him. He was too much like Taekyung in that he joked around with those he cared about, but was suddenly very serious when it came to helping them; Jakyung couldn’t fault him for that.

Xiumin was something much unanticipated. Though she had given up on love, she wasn’t going to deny herself the basic needs of a human being. She was by no means inexperienced, and her attraction to him was undeniable. She didn’t know what he wanted out of their little fling, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. She was already walking a dangerous line, and she knew it.

Love was reserved for those fearless enough to face death. Love was for those who could stand to be betrayed. She