“I’m not leaving until you get up from the floor.”

Taeyang looks up at her wearily, just wanting her to leave him be. He doesn’t want to see if he can’t have her. He survived for eleven years without seeing her but suddenly just hearing about her engagement to another man hurts this much.

“Chae, just leave.” He tells her but she tries to pull him up by his arms, her heels firmly planted on the floor. He pushes her away but she stubbornly holds her ground.

“Get up this instant, Park Taeyang.”

He stands up and roughly grips onto her shoulders.

“Don’t call me that.” He growls as he moves closer to her as she backs against the countertop. “Don’t call me that,” His voice gets quieter as he desperately pleads. “My name is Youngbae, you have to call me Dong Youngbae.”

“Dong Youngbae.” She whispers his name and he steps away, his hands still on her bare skin. “Dong Youngbae.” She says again and he releases his grip from her shoulders. She steps closer to him, her eyes dark and catlike. “Dong Youngbae.”

He looks away from her but she forcibly moves his head to face her, long nails pressing lightly into his cheek.

“Are you Dong Youngbae, my Dong Youngbae?” She asks him calmly and he nods. “Did you ever think about me like I thought about you?”

He puts his larger hand over hers.        

“I thought about you everyday. I still think about you everyday.” He takes a shaky breath, nudging her nose with his. He cups her cheek with his other hand and slowly leans into her as if he’s falling.

“I love you,” He tells her, and she can feel the words on her lips. The silent anticipation threatens to suffocate them but the door creaks open and she instinctually hides her face against Youngbae’s chest.

“I apologize for interrupting,” A man laughs and Chaerin turns around in shock, recognizing the voice as her father’s. “Chaerin-ah, be more subtle if you’re going to have an affair. It doesn’t reflect well on Jiyong-ah if someone catches you with another man.”

“Appa,” She calls out to him in shock, confused that he doesn’t seem upset with her.

“Clean yourself up and go back to the party.” Mr. Lee says with strange look directed at the other man in the room.

Chaerin quickly fixes her appearance before leaving but Taeyang stays behind.

“Are you going to stay and watch me pee?” Mr. Lee jokes as he turns around.

“I’m sorry, sir.” Taeyang bows and Mr. Lee responds with another laugh.

“Be careful, son,” The older man says. “You have more enemies than you think you do.”

Taeyang closes the bathroom door only to be greeted by a growing chaos in the hallway. Guests chatter in panic and uniformed policemen walk around as sirens wail in the background.

“What’s going on?” He asks an hotel employee in bewilderment.

“Madam Ahn, Kwon’s wife, was outside the hotel and a car hit her and drove away. The police don’t think it was an accident.”   

Chaerin stands in the hospital hall with Jiyong by her side, his suit stained with his mother’s blood as they wait for her in surgery. Jiyong cries as he paces like a wild man while Chaerin watches him in pity. She reaches her arms around him to stop his pacing and he sobs loudly into her shoulder. Hushing his cries, she his hair like he’s done for her so many times.

“It wasn’t an accident,” He says hoarsely. “It was Park Taeyang.”

She continues to his hair but his tears quiet.

“I invited Park Taeyang but I only saw him at the party once, he was speaking with Omoni before he disappeared.”

“I don’t think that it was Taeyang-ssi who hit Omoni.” Chaerin says as Jiyong pulls away from her.

“Why are you taking his side?” He asks with hurt in his eyes.

“I’m not taking his side, I just don’t think that it was him.”

“How can you be so sure?” Jiyong asks angrily. “You know how dangerous he is!”

A doctor clears his throat before Chaerin can respond.

“Are you the guardians of Ahn Miyoung?” Chaerin nods. “I’m sorry but there was too much internal bleeding and damage to her organs, Madam Ahn did not survive.”

“No! No, that’s a mistake! My mother is alive!” Jiyong howls as he launches himself toward the doctor but Chaerin pulls him back. He falls down onto his knees as he cries out, Chaerin rubbing his back as shocked tears fall down her cheeks. Chaerin knows that Jiyong’s mother wasn’t perfect but she didn’t deserve to die.

She hears the sound of shoes on the floor and looks up. Rounding the corner is Mr. Kwon with his assistant and bodyguard closely following behind him. He looks down at his son causing a scene in disgust with a scowl on his face. His eyes travel to Chaerin, more composed and poised than the heartbroken Kwon heir, and bows his head to her.

“Miyoung didn’t make it,” He says more than he asks and Chaerin nods. He sighs but she doesn’t see any sign of mourning. Mr. Kwon only looks inconvenienced and it scares her, he’s always scared her even as an adult. “You should probably go call your mother.” He tells her and she quickly nods.

“You’re right,” She says before bowing and leaving. As she walks toward the door she overhears Mr. Kwon speak to his son and cringes.

“Get up, you pathetic idiot. You’re being embarrassing.”

Chaerin stands in a well lit office, organizing papers and folders on Jiyong’s desk. The phone on the desk rings and she presses the speaker button.

“Lee Chaerin-ssi, there’s a detective here.” The voice over the phone says, causing Chaerin to stiffen.

“Jiyong isn’t here, he’s still taking personal time.”

“He says he’s here to see you, Chaerin-ssi.”

“Send him in.” She replies, her voice breathy and strained. She doesn’t understand why a detective would be wanting to see her. Hadn’t she told them all that they wanted to know when they first spoke to her and Jiyong?

When the detective walks into the office, she’s surprised by how young he looks. He doesn’t seem to be that much older than she is and his casual clothes only serve to make him look younger.

“Thank you for your time, my name is detective Bang Yongguk.” He shows her his badge before bowing slightly. She motions for him to sit down and he clears his throat before speaking again. “I have some questions to ask you.”

“Is this about omoni?” She asks quietly as she crosses her legs.

“Ah, yes,” The detective nods, looking away from her legs. “Where were you during the accident?”

“I was in the washroom and then I stopped to speak to my father for a little while.” Chaerin answers calmly. It’s the truth, though not all of it.

“A witness said that you left the party twenty minutes before the accident.”

“I was just trying to calm myself down and freshen up. I’m not very good with crowds and there’s been a lot of stress lately.” Her words are careful and meticulous as she tries to remain poised. She hadn’t done anything wrong so she shouldn’t be feeling like a criminal.

“What has been causing you stress?” He asks casually, tapping his fingers on his knee.

“I just got engaged,” She laughs lightly but he looks at her as if that’s nothing. “And then I started working here, at GD Group, so I’ve been transitioning to the new office.”

“The victim called your cellphone and visited your apartment multiple times.”

“She was mother-in-law,” Chaerin says sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at the detective. “I don’t understand why I’m being questioned. I already made a statement with the police that night.”

“We’re just trying to figure out the truth.” He says calmly and Chaerin wants to ask if he doesn’t think she’s telling the truth but decides she better not. “The victim was a high profile figure and so everything should be fully investigated.”

“Well, I’m really busy right now so if that’s all then I’d like you to leave.”

“I just have one more question,” Bang Yongguk says with a smile. “How do you know Park Taeyang?”

Chaerin pauses and the detective’s smile widens, knowing that he got her.

“My partner is questioning Park Taeyang right now so you should be honest, we will find out the truth.” He continues and Chaerin looks at him nervously.

“I used to work for Park sajang but I resigned recently.” Chaerin answers after taking a deep breath to calm down. She has nothing to be ashamed of, she repeats to herself inside her head, she’s done nothing wrong.

“Employees at YG say that you had more than just a work relationship.”

“Those are just rumors,” Chaerin laughs, tossing back her long hair. “To me, it’s as if Park Taeyang doesn’t even exist. He was once my boss but now I’m dedicating all of my focus to GD Group.”

Detective Bang watches her for a moment, trying to see through the shield she’s put back up again. He’s positive that she’s hiding something but isn’t sure what. He had made her vulnerable for a moment but her confidence was back completely and getting anything more out of her would be difficult.

“I really am busy,” She says again and he nods.

“That’s enough for now,” He gets up from his chair and gets ready to leave. Right before he’s about to go out the door, he stops. She looks at him curiously as he turns around. “Actually, there’s just one more thing I need to tell you before I go.”

“Sajangnim, there’s a detective here to see you.” Taeyang’s secretary tells him over the phone as he sits in his office, staring off into space.

“Let him in,” He says calmly even though his legs under his desk shake nervously.

Taeyang stands up to greet the detective as she walks through the door, shaking her hand before directing her to sit down.

“My name is detective Sandara Park,” She begins, getting out a notepad and pen from a bag. “I have a few questions to ask you about the hit and run at Kwon Jiyong’s birthday.”

“Of course, I will answer to the best of my ability.” He smiles charmingly but she at least pretends not to notice.

“You were at the party that evening?” She confirms and he nods. “Had you ever met the victim before?”

He nods again.

“I met her at a dinner she hosted at the Kwon estate, with Kwon Jiyong and Lee Chaerin.”

“Do you have any idea why Kwon Jiyong would believe that you’re the one responsible for his mother’s death?” Detective Park asks sharply, tapping her pencil on the notepad.

“No,” Taeyang answers, shaking his head. “I don’t know why Jiyong would think that. We’re just business rivals, we don’t have any personal issues with one another.”

“Perhaps because of your affair with Lee Chaerin?” Sandara asks as if she’s only wondering it aloud and he stares at her in surprise. “Maybe Jiyong’s mother found out about the affair and you killed her.”

“No,” Taeyang stands up from his chair quickly. “There is no affair and there is no proof.”

“We found the perpetrator’s car abandoned by a bridge.” She says in a light, almost happy tone. “It’s a YG Company car so I suggest that you sit down.”

Taeyang’s eyes widen in surprise, which the detective takes as a sign of guilt. She doesn’t notice the extra hint of fear in his face as he slowly sits back down.

“We don’t have enough evidence to convict you quite yet so we’re still being polite now. This conversation could be happening at the station so I suggest you cooperate fully.”

He adjusts his tie out of frustration and confusion, remembering what Mr. Lee told him that night.

You have more enemies than you think you do.   

Was this all Mr. Kwon? He couldn’t possibly have had his wife killed just to frame him, could he? As far as Taeyang knew, Mr. Kwon was still unaware he was in Seoul but he didn’t know if Jiyong had told him or not.

Sandara observes him quietly and watches the multiple emotions flickering across his face. She sees it now, the fear.

“That’s enough for today,” The detective closes her notebook and gets up from her seat. “I probably don’t have to tell you this but you should stay in town.”

After she leaves, the young president sits alone in his office, raking his hands through his hair. Everything had become so complicated so quickly and he hadn’t seen any of it coming.

- - -

Author's Note: I really love mysteries so this chapter was fun to write, I hope you all enjoyed it and look forward to even more action in the next chapter. Everything is changing and getting more exciting! Thank you to all of my new subscribers and to everyone who has been reading and supporting this story. Thank you to everyone who voted in the poll and I hope you enjoyed Detective Dara and her trusty partner Yongguk. We also got to meet Jiyong's evil appa this chapter~ Please leave a comment and tell me how you're feeling about the chapter and the developing drama, I love to read them!

(Also, there might be a Lawyer Soohyuk in Ch. 12 haha!)