FEBRUARY 8, 2018 | THURSDAY

The day of the attack on Jeonju Conference Hall was a day full of adrenaline and uneasiness. 

At least ten members from various Families were injured, including Joohyun. They were all transferred to the Jeonju Medical Center to be treated for their injuries right away, and fortunately, all injuries were non-life-threatening. The incident had the Families a bit shaken up, and as soon as the injured were in stable condition, The Commission held and emergency meeting in secret regarding the attack. Joohyun was unconscious for the majority of the day, unlike the rest of the injured. Multiple Family soldiers were on guard inside the hospital, since everyone was on high alert. There were guards inside and outside the hospital, and even inside the rooms of the injured. 

Joohyun hadn't woken up until the next afternoon, and to a massive headache. By then, most of the injured members had been discharged, so she was one of the few that were left behind. All seven of her brothers kept her company, awaiting for her consciousness. As soon as she had awoken, they immediately called nurses over to check on her health and hoped that they were able to take her home. As of the current situation, nowhere except home was safe, and they wanted to get her there as soon as they could.

The woman hadn't spoken much since she had gotten home -- not even to Taehyung. She had noticed that he would text her constantly, although she would never once reply. Although everyone knew how strongly she presented herself to others, they were understanding of why of all times she showed vulnerability, because her life had never been threatened up until this point. 

Joohyun wasn't the only person that the incident effected, as it effected her father the most. He had grown to be easily agitated and irritable since his daughter was harmed, and anything seemed to tick him off -- contrary to his usual tendency to have a high tolerance. Her brothers' combative and weapon training increased to every night instead of weekly, and there was increased security at every property that he owned. Needless to say, Jungwoo didn't take to the attack very lightly, and to say that he was on edge would be an understatement. 

Joohyun hadn't left her house since she had arrived home. She lacked the confidence to step out of her safe zone, fearing that she wasn't totally invincible and that she wouldn't be so lucky next time. Lying in bed a little later than usual, she sighed as she rolled over to her other side to look at her phone. She had to admit that it was boring staying at home with nothing to do, as she was so used to being busy and caught up with her work back at her office. She jumped in surprise when her phone began ringing from a call being made by Taehyung. Smiling slightly, she exhaled briefly before answering his call.

"Hello?"

"Joohyun! Are you okay? Something must be wrong if you don't answer to my cute texts."

Joohyun chuckled briefly before replying. "Well what do you expect? Kinda traumatized here."

"Youre right ... I guess I just missed you?" Taehyung let out a nervous laugh. "But um, how have you been holding up?"

"You're a baby," the female chuckled once more, "but anyway. I've been okay ... I think. I haven't left the house since last week."

"That traumatized, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well ..." Taehyug hummed a bit before continuing. "I understand how you're feeling, but I don't think you should let it get you down too much -- you're too badass of a woman for that. If you stay home forever, you'll just prove to the enemies -- whoever they are -- that you're letting them get to you, and I know that's the last thing you want."

There was silence on the line for a bit before Taehyung added on to his sentence. 

"You can't hide from confrontation forever. Sometimes the only way to end things is to go out with a bang."

Joohyun nodded to herself, and he felt it on his side of the line. 

"You're not just saying this so you can see me soon, are you?" Joohyun quirked a brow in slight amusement.

She swore she could feel her heart stop when she had heard a genuine, hearty chuckle from Taehyung.

"Well no," he answered, "but now that you bring it up, it would be nice to see you again."

Joohyun bit her lip to hold back a grin while Taehyung was on the other line not masking his smirk at all. She could practically feel him smile from her side of the line.

"Oh really? Because from the pictures I saw of you at the Nu Family Charity Auction, it seems to me that you've been accompanying yourself with other women. Hmm, what a shame. Guess you don't need my company anymore from here on out."

She heard him laugh, although she was poking fun at him.

"I was just being friendly, you know me," he justified before changing his tone, "are you jealous, babe?"

His husky voice had Joohyun in a frazzled mess, but she got herself together before he figured her out in the brief silence that had enveloped the conversation.

"Jealous?" Joohyun laughed. "No. But, nice try though."

"It's okay, I know you are. No need to lie," Joohyun rolled her eyes at the male's words. "But no woman has my attention for very long because of you -- just thought I'd let you know." 

The feverish female could feel her heart practically beating out of her chest. Why was he so confident that he had her wrapped around his finger when it was clearly the other way around?

"I feel bad that you make other girls feel like they don't have your undivided attention, then."

"I'm sure you actually don't," he chuckled wittily. 

"What are you trying to get at, Taehyung?"

"Nothing. I just like hearing how flustered you get. It's so cute."

"Goodbye Taehyung, I'll talk to you later."

Before Taehyung could rebuttle, Joohyun had hung up, leaving Taehyung with the widest grin he had shown in weeks.

The staff at Alpha Corporation had given Joohyuna warm welcome as she walked inside the building.

After her talk with Taehyung, he really motivated her to get back on her feet, and she even got up and ready to go to the Family corporation building. As she stepped out of the elevator to the floor her office was located, her secretary looked up from her desk and gasped.

"Ms. Irene! You're back!" 

Joohyun chuckled as she walked towards her and gave her a small hug before pulling away.

"Yeah, back to work." 

Joohyun answered her all of her secretary's questions, although there were many. She quickly grew tired of talking about the incident, so she walked towards her office with her secretary followng right behind her.

"Also, Mr. Lee was in charge of your department since your absence. He left a couple of hours ago, as he finished the work for today, so there's nothing to be done on your part for today. I've prepared the files and documents during Mr. Lee's presence for you to look over and get caught up."

"Thank you, Ms. Park. You may leave."

As her secretary bowed and walked in the opposite direction, Joohyun opened the door to her office and was met with a slight floral smell along with the sight of seven large bouquets of pink flowers placed beautifully throughout the room. 

She immediately began chuckling to herself as soon as she took in the sight, and shook her head. Joohyun placed her purse onto her desk and walked around the room to look at each bouquet. She noticed that there was, yet again, a personal written message lying within the flowers. She picked up the card and read it, smiling heartily to herself.

"I hope you're feeling well, Joohyun. I hope to see you soon."

She proceeded to walk to each bouquet and read the messages on them, and soon discovered that Taehyung had sent her flowers all seven days that she wasn't at work.

"I'm an idiot, I just found out you were at the hospital."

"I know you're probably not at work, but you'll have beautiful flowers to welcome you back to work."

By the time she got to the last message, she could feel her heart feel so full. As she picked up the last card and read it, her face lit up and she could feel the utmost warmth just from reading it.

"Don't let anyone ever break your soul. It would be a shame for someone so bright to become soulless. I'll always be here, Joohyun, even if you act like you don't want me to. You'll be okay."

"How can he write deep messages like this but flirt like a prebuscent teenager through text?" Joohyun laughed to herself and shook her head. Taehyung was something different.

She didn't think they would ever get to where they were now. Joohyun had figured that he was an overly confident playboy, but in actuality, she knew that he gave her more attention than he would give to anyone else. She still had doubts, but they were put to restwhen he did things for her that contrasted from his silly behavior, such as the heartfelt messages. Joohyun knew that he had his own friends, had his own group of people that took him out -- and even then, he was still interested in her. She was starting to think that he was pursuing her a little more seriously now than before, and she smiled at the very thought of it.

Although she wouldn't admit it openly, he had her head over heels. 

Joohyun's thoughts were cut short when her office phone rang, snapping her back into reality. She walked over to the phone and saw that it was a call from her father's office phone, and immediately asnwered the phone. 

"Yes, Appa?" 

"I'm glad to hear that you're stable enough to come back to work. Have you been well?"

"Yeah," she smiled warmly, "I'm fine now."

"Good," he nodded. "Sungjong has taken care of your work, so I'm sure you're free right now. Can you come to my office? There's something I need to show you."

"Yes, Appa. I'll be there soon."

Joohyun was met with a sincere hug from her father as he opened the door to let his daughter inside of his office. 

"You haven't been overoworking yourself since you came back home, have you?" Joohyun asked with concern, following behind her father towards his desk.

"Hm ... I wouldn't say so, no. I'm always working, after all." 

Joohyun just nodded mutely in agreement, growing curious as to what her father needed to show her in person rather than explaining to her over the phone. 

As her father took a seat onto his plush seat, she sat across the desk from him and placed her hands on her lap. She watched her father gather some disheveled papers lying on the far side of his desk, stack them neatly, and then place them in front of her to see. He began speaking as she picked up the stack of papers and sifted through them.

"I ordered my more trusted soldiers to look into who could have been following you in the days leading up to what happened in Jeonju and this is what they gave me," Jungwoo began, looking down at his daughter, "what you're looking at is the same white van that was the enemy's getaway car, and the same vehicle that would follow you to and from clientele meetings."

Just looking at the CCTC screenshots made her uncomfortable, and when she reached the last page, she set the papers down on the table and didn't want to look at them any longer. 

"I'm sure you realize this already. However, what I wanted to tell you is that this van is actually a company van from Delta Industries."

Joohyun looked up at her father with furrowed eyebrows and confused eyes.

"What ... what does that mean exactly?" 

"It could mean one of two things: either the enemy stole the vehicle from Delta Family, or the enemy is Delta Family themselves."

Joohyun could feel time stand still as her father voiced his theories, and almost didn't listen when he continued speaking.

"I, myself, don't think that Delta Family is the enemy themselves. There isn't enough evidence to prove that theory true, and I also don't believe that Delta would be that careless to use their own company vehicle for illegal purposes." Jungwoo analyzed Joohyun's reaction, and sighed. "Joohyun?" His daughter looked up at him with her undivided attention. "I know that you're well acquainted with Mr. Kim's underboss. I'm not telling you that you shouldn't associate with him anymore, but I advise that you be cautious. We still don't know who is behind the attack, and it is better to suspect everyone rather than trust everyone."

Joohyun sat quietly, thinking about if Taehyung's intentions were really genuine, or if they were all apart of an agenda to take advantage of her. That would explain why he was so interested in her, but then again, she could see and hear how real his feelings were towards her.

He wouldn't have faked all of that, would he?