Johnny woke up with a groan the next morning, draping his free arm over his eyes to shield himself from the morning rays.

Wait, free arm?

His eyes cracked open slightly and was greeted with a head of ash brown hair. Memories of the night before started flooding his mind, but they were hazy. He pressed his lips lightly on the crown of Sojung’s head and felt her stir in his arms.

After lying in bed for another 30 seconds, his brain finally registered what had happened. He gasped, jumping out of bed. Sojung just rolled over to her side, continuing with her sleep. Johnny froze, he watched Sojung stop moving before darting into the toilet.

He stared at himself in the mirror, noticing the nail marks over his torso.

“, we really did it.” He whispered. “We had .”

He patted his cheeks.

It’s not like it’s your first time, why are you acting like this?

He straightened his back, “It’s not my first , but it’s the first with her.”

His thoughts were like the Devil and Angel on his shoulders, discussing back and forth as the memory of their intimacy kept flooding his head.

He leaned over the basin and splashed his face with water. He stayed inside for a couple more minutes before coming out, Sojung was already awake.

"Hey," she greeted, reaching for her silk robe to cover her glory. "Morning."

His eyes trailed all over her body, he could see the marks he had left on her and felt strangely proud - happy even - that he could be the one to do that to Sojung.

She laid back down on the bed, patting the space beside her.

Johnny went over obediently. 

Sojung tugged on his arm, making him fall on the mattress and proceeded to cuddle him.

He stilled at the way she was behaving.

"Why? Are you not going to touch me?" She asked while her finger drew circles on his tummy.

He cleared his throat, wounding his arm around to hold her close. She hummed and closed her eyes. Johnny was figuring out what to say when he recalled the scar he saw on her body.

"Sojung?"

"Hmm?"

"I--" He coughed. "That scar on your body…"

"Oh right, it's a scar from 6 years ago," her fingers subconsciously reached down to the area of the scar. "Changkyun and I were in some sort of trouble and I got stabbed. It wasn't deep but it left something on me. One of the reasons why Sehun always has WMW follow me around."

Johnny nodded quietly.

"Sojung…" 

She glanced up at him, "Yeah?"

He was curious now.

Did their intimacy the night before result from a moment's folly?

"I, uh..."

 Did he really want to ask about that just right after they consummated their marriage?

“Hold that thought. I gotta go pee."

Sojung removed herself from him and got up. Johnny shot out and grabbed her wrist, tugging her back. She fell onto the bed, he hovered over her, caging her between his legs.

“You used to be so against us being together, but now…”

She searched his face for any hint of distaste or disgust, she relaxed when she didn’t see any of that - she saw plain curiosity.

“I’m not going to say it’s because I was drunk last night, that would be too irresponsible of me.” She whispered, slowly dragging her foot up. “I will only say yes to things that I’m very interested in doing. I am very vocal about what I want and what I don’t.”

Her knee brushed against Johnny’s groin, making him shudder.

“And… if you are worried about Changkyun,” she took a deep breath. “You don’t have to be. Changkyun's… not around anymore. Although he’s my first love, you’re my husband. You’ll just have to worry about yourself.”

She s her hand down, replacing her knee as she rubbed him through his boxers.

“Besides,” she smirked at the look of pleasure on his face. “You have bigger things to be concerned about.”

He watched her eyes. He gulped, waiting for her next words but she just pushed him off her. She got out of bed while he groaned.

“Like what?” 

“My brother."

Johnny froze.

"Wait, he would know if we… you know… were intimate?"

Sojung laughed, "Do you think he is psychic? Why would he know? Besides, just say the word . Changing the word doesn't change the fact that we did have ."

Johnny blushed, following Sojung into the bathroom. She bent over the sink to brush her teeth, he settled down on the covered toilet seat.

"So… Changkyun."

He noticed how her body posture changed at the sound of his name. She cleared and plastered a smile to her face.

"What about him?"

"Who is he? I mean, I know he's an ex but did you love him very much?"

She in a slow breath, "What?"

"You always have this look when his name comes up."

Sojung felt conflicted, Changkyun had always been a sensitive topic for her but Johnny was her husband, he should know about him, right?"

"Okay," she turned around, her back pressed against the sink. "I can give you a brief overview of my life before you. You wanna hear it?"

Johnny got to his feet and placed his hands on her hips, lifting her up onto the sink counter and he stood between her legs.

"Changkyun and I met when I was 11, after I got kidnapped by some rival gang. My father brought in Shownu, Hoseok and there was this little kid, not more than 16, behind them."

He brushed her hair away from her face.

"No wonder you were closer to Wonho, you guys go way back."

"Yeah," there was a fond smile on her lips. "Apart from Hoseok, Changkyun was the biggest prick I ever knew. He would follow me around, till the point of standing outside the toilet I was in. He wouldn't let strangers come within 6 feet of me. I hated him for being so controlling, but he was under my father's orders."

"We fell in love when I was 17. He was 22. He would go training with Shownu, Wonho, Wonwoo and Mingyu. The Elders loved him, he was kind but ruthless, and had all the qualities of a natural-born leader."

She let out an amused breath.

"He was already set to be the next head of the Clan. He was much, much, favoured by everyone. My father had already approved his position as upcoming leader."

"What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"You are your father's daughter. What about Sehun?"

"Oh," she chuckled. "I had zero interest in taking over. I had already been training to take over Samsung, it's tons of work. As for Se, he would rather be the one supporting me instead of being the face of the Clan."

She smiled, "Not one Elder rejected the idea of him taking over."

"Where is he now? Why are you--"

He paused when he realised where the conversation was going.

"No… Sojung, you didn't have to."

She reached up to his face, curling his hair with her fingers before using her thumb to gently massage the shell of his ear.

"Changkyun passed away when I was 21," she whispered. "It was nearing our 4th anniversary, I was so positive he would ask me to marry him. I was at home, the guys were so hushed around me like they were hiding something."

She dropped hands and rested her forehead on his shoulder.

"I was just waiting for him to come back, he was out for way too long. Longer than I had liked. I tried calling him but he didn't pick up. Then the news came."

She took a deep breath, Johnny rubbed circles on her back.

"There had been a turf war between two other smaller rival gangs. Changkyun was caught in the middle of the crossfire. He was shot in the head. The shot would have killed him but he held on."

Johnny wrapped his arms around her.

"Changkyun was in the hospital for a week before we decided to pull the plug."

She looked up.

"After his death, I went overseas to get my double Masters done. Came back and took over Samsung and the Clan."

"You are so strong," Johnny muttered into her ear. "So, so strong."

"Yeah, I know."

They stayed like that in silence until she patted his arms, "Let's go."

Johnny stepped aside, giving Sojung space to hop off the counter.

"Where to?"

"Breakfast. I'm starving."

"Give me 5 minutes," Johnny closed the door. "I'll be quick."

Sojung changed out of her robe and picked a casual outfit. She looked at herself in the mirror and threw a glance at the toilet door when she heard the water running.

"Is it really okay for me to let my guards down?" She asked herself. "I can't let what happened to Changkyun happen to Youngho."

She stared into her eyes in the reflection.

"I'm done!"

Sojung looked up, plastering a small smile on her lips.