The elders always said that if someone belonged to you that was fate, and then it would depend on timing and circumstance to get you together. The three sisters, however, were often flighty and enjoyed playing tricks on people. Daehyun chuckled as he stared at the ink blotted paper in his hands. Truer words have never been spoken. If only he had realized earlier, if only that night hadn’t happened, if only he had acted earlier.

            The last three weeks went by in a blur. He had managed to gather enough evidence to pin all the embezzlement on Mr. Im, and he had watched Hyosung stand up in court and testify. He watched her stare straight ahead, answering all the questions as she was confronted with the recording that he had taken. And then, when she was taken away in handcuffs, he had looked stoically back at her, relieved that she didn’t even look back at him once.

            Dealing with his former father-in-law was the worst. Mr. Cho was irate, naturally so, and didn’t stop blaming him for chasing his daughter away and treating her “worse than you would an inanimate object”. All those were true and he took the anger, took the mockery in stride. TS’ stocks started to plummet once more from the rumors that were swirling and finally, he was here, in his best suit, looking down at the work that had taken him days to perfect.

            The press conference was announced early that morning and the entire company gathered, unsure what their manager had in mind. Daehyun stood backstage and saw his friends sitting in the front row, looking as puzzled as the rest of his employees. The media was lined up next to the podium and he took in a deep breath.

            When he walked out, he avoided eye contact with Youngjae, who was shooting daggers at him. It was the end of the investigations, and surely Daehyun just wanted to clear things up for everyone on the outside. He straightened his tie and smiled.

            “Greetings, and many apologies for having everyone gather here on such a short notice. As you know, the last few months have been particularly tough on TS. I hereby stand here to thank all the executives, board members and employees who have stood by the company. We would not have gotten to the bottom of the investigations without you.” He dropped his waist into a ninety-degree bow.

            When Daehyun straightened, he again smiled out at the crowd. “Besides the good news, I also have news to announce. Throughout this process, a lot of my private life has been dragged into the light, and I wanted to give you all the whole story.”

            This time, he could feel five pair of eyes staring holes into him. He cleared his throat. “One of the persecuted, Jeon Hyosung, is my ex-fiancée, and the woman I had an affair with for the first six months of my marriage. I do not say this to bring pain to my now-divorced wife, Cho Jinli. I am merely stating that I have made many mistakes and I apologize. If it were not for old feelings, perhaps the company would not be in the state that it is now.”

            From the bottom corner of his eye, he saw Youngjae stand up to protest. Daehyun raised his hand to fend off the buzz of questions arising. “I hereby announce that I will be resigning as manager. I will be taking a hiatus to reflect upon myself, and my actions. And when I return, I will once more start at the beginning. In my absence, I wish to nominate my trusted advisor, and a well distinguished member of our team, Bang Yongguk, to take my place as the Executive Manager. I trust Mr. Bang would be able to lead our company well. Thank you.” This time, when he bowed, he closed his eyes to shut out the uproar his words have caused.

            “I also want to take this opportunity to thank Jinli for her immense support, and to apologize deeply. I am sorry for hurting you, and I wish you all the best.” And with those words, Daehyun gave another tight smile and his heel.

            He was halfway to the garage when Youngjae caught up to him. His best friend tugged on his arm. “Are you ing crazy?”

            Daehyun pulled out of Youngjae’s grasp. “No. I did what I had to do.”

            “Which is what? Leave the company? But what about your parents? This is your family’s company.”

            “I said I will be back. I just need time to really clear some space right now. Maybe I’ll sell the house, live abroad, do something else with my life. I need that. Now that the investigation’s over, the house seems too big and lonely.”

            “You can always go find her,” Youngjae muttered.

            Daehyun’s eyebrows rose. “And do what? Hurt her more? Youngjae, you don’t get it. I caused this damage and I won’t go search for her to only bring more pain. She made the choice and I will only respect it.”

            By this time, the other four had caught up with them. Yongguk stared into Daehyun’s eyes. “Hyun-ah, is this what you want?”

            Daehyun nodded and his hyung brought a hand to his shoulder. “Then you go, take all the time you need. The position will be waiting for you when you come back.”

            “Hyung, thank you.”

            He turned to Jongup and Junhong and smiled lightly. “Are you still angry at me?”

            The younger two were looking at the floor and Daehyun pulled them into a hug. “Do well. I’ll see you sooner than you think.” He then looked at Himchan and smiled. “Take care of them for me?” Himchan nodded and Daehyun threw his jacket over his shoulder as he walked to his car.

***

            “You’re so lucky you never sold the apartment, otherwise you’d be holing up with me again.” Lili ran her hands over the dusty windowsill. Jinli rolled her eyes.

            “No thanks. With another baby on the way, you two would be unbearable. Besides, it’s nice to be back. It’s almost like nothing’s changed.” She carefully placed all the decorations from before and stood back to admire her handiwork.

            “Jinli,” Lili started. When she turned back to face the older woman, Lili continued, “Are you really going to be okay by yourself? I can have Kira Unnie move in with you.”

            Jinli smiled. “Your maternal instincts are kicking in again. But I really am okay.” She took in a deep breath. “I’ve had three weeks to clear everything up and now I’m ready to start back to zero.”

            “Did you hear the news though?”

            “What news?”

            “Daehyun resigned. And he apologized. To you. On national television.”

            The stone sank back in Jinli’s stomach and she swallowed. It has been a while since she heard his name, and she had been actively avoiding any news. She heard through the grapevine that the investigations were finally over. She had thought about Hyosung and the unborn baby and wondered if Daehyun knew. But other than that, she hadn’t kept up.

            “Oh.”

            Lili stood up and took her hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up. I just wondered if this would change anything.”

            Jinli shook her head and smiled tightly. “No, it really doesn’t. Hyosung’s pregnant remember?”

            “She’s in jail.”

            This was news to her too. “Oh. Well, I’m sure she’ll tell Daehyun and then we would know how the story would go from there. Please, Unnie, I’m ready to start anew.”

            Lili sighed and kissed her cheek. “Understood.”

            After she was left alone in the apartment, she had to fight her self-control to not look up the video on the internet. She said she was moving forward, and that is what she had to do. It didn’t matter if he stood up in only his underwear and shouted his apology to the world. She was done, and it wouldn’t be productive to do anything that could potentially change her mind.

***

            Daehyun looked at the beautiful night view of the skyline and wondered whether Jinli was up and looking at the sun on the other side of the world. He took a sip of the whiskey in his hands and focused in on the twinkling light of the Empire State Building.

            There was something comforting about being twelve hours removed. His apartment was silent, only the slight hum of the central air. Somewhere in his bathroom, a drip of water dropped into the sink and he leaned against the curtains. His eyes traced the zig zag, up down of the famed skyline and couldn’t help but play a child’s game. With every fall of the buildings, it represented a low in his life, and with every peak of a skyscraper, he had succeeded. Now, he was staring at the iconic tower, steadying climbing up. His eyes traced to the right, at the Bank of America building and wondered if that would be when he and Jinli could meet again.

            He had been wanting to bring her here, to the city that never slept, and to walk hand in hand on the streets with her. It has been at least thirty-four days since he’s last seen her and an odd craving built in him. Suddenly remembering, Daehyun walked over to his drawers and pulled out the photos they had taken so long ago on their one trip together.

            Daehyun’s fingers ran fondly over the features of her face. Her scowl when he lifted her up in the river, their smiling faces when she took the photo in the waterfall, and the last one, where she kissed him. His heart tightened and he placed his glass on the table to hold the picture up to the light.

            An urge came over him and he shrugged on some clothes before padding down to the twenty-four seven pharmacy. When he came back, he sat cross-legged on his bed and laid the photos out in chronological orders. He took the scissors and glue that he bought and proceeded to paste them into the hardback photo album also newly bought.

            With every photo, he thanked her for the happiness she brought him, and apologized for what he had done. When the photos were done, he grabbed a pen and wrote down all his thoughts and finished off with, “Love you, Daehyun.”

            It was silly; a project for his own sentiments. But once he flipped it through cover to cover, he found himself wiping away at tears. He carefully placed the book at the bottom of his drawer and turned off the lights.

            Outside, the busy clutter that was Times Square continued to blink on. Daehyun took a deep breath. It was going to be alright.

Oof, thank you for still being here and supporting me. It means so so much to me to read all of your comments.

I also am feeling extremely homesick, hence the slightly nostalgic descriptions of NYC haha. Please indulge my late night feels.