The car moves silently through the night as Taeyang drives back to his apartment, the streetlights flashing across his solemn face. As he pulls into his spot in the parking garage he notices a strange car parked by the elevator. Slowly, he walks toward the shiny black foreign car, tapping on the window. Inside, the driver jumps in surprise before glaring out through the glass with her cat-like eyes.

“What are you doing here?” He asks her as she gets out of the car, careful not to stand too close to him. She looks down at the oil stained floor and doesn’t answer right away.

“I just need to know that you’re not involved,” Chaerin says after a moment of quiet, still not looking at him.

“What?” He scoffs, putting his hands in his pockets as he stares at her in disbelief. “Of course I’m not involved! You know more than anyone that I couldn’t have possibly killed her.”

She’s quiet again before hugging him tightly. He returns the hug in surprise, patting her back reassuringly.

“I’m sorry, oppa. I’m just so confused, I don’t know what to believe anymore.” Her voice is like a scared child’s and he’s startled when she looks at him as if she’ll burst into tears any moment. “A detective came by my office today asking questions, I was worried about you.”

He’s not surprised she was visited by a detective as well, based off of the questions he was asked.

“You don’t need to be worried.” He tells her in a soothing voice. He’s not really sure if that’s true but for the time being it seems as if all of the blame is on him. Kwon most likely wouldn’t harm her, not when she was the only one who could effectively manage his son.

“I should probably get going now,” She says as she pulls away from him but he grabs her by the arm.

“I don’t want you to leave yet.”

She looks at him and sighs, pulling his hand off of her arm with her delicate fingers.

“We shouldn’t be seeing each other like this anymore. I have a duty to Jiyong, I can’t hurt him.”

Taeyang laughs incredulously, the sound bouncing off the concrete walls.

“You don’t owe him anything!” Taeyang shoves his hands into his pockets again as he kicks the ground in frustration. “You’re dependent on him. But you don’t really know Kwon Jiyong.”

“I know him better than I know you.” She says looking down, knowing she’ll lose her confidence if she sees his expression. “Why didn’t you ever wonder why I never asked you where you were all of those years? Why do you seem to think that I’m so innocent?”

“What are you talking about?" He asks in confusion.

“I know that it was a YG car that killed Omoni.” Her eyes sting with restrained tears. She refuses to cry, she refuses to show that she’s really just afraid. “Are you going to kill me next?”

“Chaerin-ah,” He says her name in a desperate whisper, not wanting her to be scared of him. “You’re not involved in any of this, I don’t want to hurt you.”

She’s quiet for a long while before slowly looking up at him.

“It’s true,” She whispers shakily, as if she doesn’t mean for him to hear her. “It’s true that you really were involved.”

“No!” He shouts suddenly, pleading with his eyes for her to not think of him like that. She was the last person in the world he wanted to be afraid of him. “Please. That’s not what I meant.”

“I’m leaving.” She turns toward her car but he grabs her again.

“We can run away together. Whoever killed Jiyong’s mother might try to hurt you, as well. Please, Chae.” His eyes are like those of a small child’s, with more terror and pain than she could ever imagine. She doesn’t want to look. “Someone is trying to blame everything on me, someone is trying to frame me. Kwon, it’s probably Kwon.”

Kwon. Her eyes widen at the name and he knows that she thinks so, too.

“Run away with me, I’ll protect you.”

“I can’t.” She tells him, her confidence breaking apart. “Jiyong needs me.”

“You don’t have to be Kwon Jiyong’s slave.” Taeyang’s grip is still on her arm, his voice low.

“I’m not his slave. He’s the most important person in the world to me. I wouldn’t have been able to spend seventeen years with him if I didn’t want to.”

“Stop talking.” He begs but she continues on with tears in her eyes.

“I can’t. I can’t just run away and abandon him. I’m all he has now.”

“Why did you spent such a long time missing me? Why would you act like that if you didn’t like me?” He asks desperately, tightening his grip on her. “Why did you change your mind when you loved me for so long?”

“Oppa, I never loved you.” Chaerin sobs, shaking her head back and forth slowly. “I was just a little girl, we were kids. That wasn’t love.”

He steps away from her in shock.

“What about now?” He chokes out, his voice cracking.

“I need to go,” She says quickly as she opens her car door.

Taeyang puts his hand on the door to prevent her from leaving and she looks up at him frightened. He looks deeply into her eyes.

“Lee Chaerin, I love you. I know that I what I feel is love.”

He closes the door as she hurries into her seat before driving away, leaving him watching after her in the dark and cold parking garage.    

A long arm holds out a crystal glass as Jiyong pours the amber liquid for his guest before pouring himself a glass as well. The other man holds up his drink to cheers before leaning back into his chair, crossing his spider like legs.

“The police found YG Corporation’s car abandoned by a bridge.” Lee Soohyuk says after taking a sip of his bourbon. “It seems there were a lot of rumors about Park Taeyang and Chaerin. That seems the most plausible reason for why she’s currently being implicated.”

Jiyong nods as he studies the contents of his glass.

“I’m just worried for her.”

“Nothing will happen to her, Jiyong.” Soohyuk reassures him with a charming smile.

“I hope not,” Jiyong says, taking a long drink.

The front door opens and the two men look up at Chaerin walks into the living room. She sets her bag down on the coffee table and takes her jacket off, before folding it and laying it on top of the bag. Without a word, she elegantly seats herself on the couch next to Jiyong.

“You look like you could use a drink.” Soohyuk laughs after watching her.

“Yes, please.” She tells him as he hands her a glass with ice and pours her a drink.

“If the detectives come again you need to call me.” The Kwon family’s lawyer tells her.   

“Don’t let them even look at you unless Soohyuk is around.” Jiyong demands and she nods as she drinks. He turns his head to gaze at her lovingly and Soohyuk smirks before suddenly remembering something.

“Ah, that’s right, I forgot to congratulate the two of you on your engagement. I was in New York for business and couldn’t attend the party.” He smiles and is glad when Jiyong doesn’t seem to negatively react when he mentions that night. “You will make a beautiful bride, Chaerin-ah.”

“Thank you, oppa.” She tries to smile but can’t hide how tired and worn down she’s become after her stressful day.

“It’s been a long day for all of us, I should get going and let you have your rest. Goodbye Chae.” Soohyuk says as he slowly stands, towering over both of them with his long limbs as they remain seated.

“Let me see you out,” Jiyong offers, following his friend as Chaerin waves goodbye. When he comes back, he stands in front of the couch looking at her instead of sitting down.

“Oppa, what is it?”  She gives him a confused look, furrowing her eyebrows and pouting as he continues to stare. He laughs at her unintentionally cute expression.

“You really will be a beautiful bride.” He tells her with a warm smile. “When I fall asleep I have nightmares but when I’m awake I daydream about you in a wedding dress. Thinking about you makes it easier, I can forget about all of the pain and be happy. I want to get married as soon as possible. I want to call you my wife.”

“I think that we should probably wait a little bit.” She says gently.

“Why don’t you want to get married?” He asks with a hurt look on his face.

“I do, oppa. It’s just that you know Omoni would have wanted us to have a huge, extravagant wedding. You know she would haunt us if we just went to the district office or only had a small ceremony.”

“I just want to be married now.” Jiyong pouts as he falls down next to her on the couch. He holds onto her hand, massaging the smooth skin in slow circles. “And then after we’re married we’ll have children. I hope that they’ll have chubby hands like their mother.”

Chaerin smiles as Jiyong wraps an arm around her shoulder as they lean back against the couch, their hands still entwined.

“Let’s stay like this, just for a little while.” He asks quietly, playing with her hair absentmindedly while she stares at the wall lost in thought.

“How have you been feeling lately?” She asks after some comfortable silence.

“It’s getting better. I still miss Omoni but I have you so I’m able to smile and laugh.” He playfully pokes at her cheek with his finger and she wrinkles her nose in disapproval. “It was hard on me when you were cold but everything is back to normal now. I don’t know what happened but I want you to stay like this forever.”

“I was confused,” She says quietly. “But now I know exactly what I need to do to protect myself and be happy.”

“Are you happy when you’re with me?” He asks and he sounds so hopeful that she can’t help but smile.

“Yes.” She answers, still smiling. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had and I’ll always be here for you.”

Jiyong sits up straight and Chaerin looks at him curiously.

“You don’t know how much I appreciate that,” He turns to face her, her hair with one hand and gently cupping her cheek with another. He kisses her forehead and looks into her eyes with so much love and adoration she feels her face get hotter. When he leans in closer toward her she knows what will happen next. Jiyong closes his eyes and tries to kiss her but she leans back slightly to avoid his lips. His eyes open wide and he looks at her, hurt and confused. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have tried to kiss you.”

“No, it’s my fault. I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She reaches out to him but he pulls away, getting up from the couch.

“Don’t worry about it.” He tells her bluntly. “I have work I need to finish before I go to bed. Goodnight.”

Chaerin watches as he walks to his bedroom, leaving her on the couch. The young woman sighs before reaching for the bourbon, pouring herself a drink. She can’t stop thinking about Youngbae and Jiyong, she didn’t want to hurt either of them. Now she just feels lonely. She knows that she has to sever ties with Youngbae, she can’t control herself when she’s around him. He stirs up her heart, making her feel frustrated and confused. She hadn’t lied about not loving him when she was younger but she knows that she’s grown to care about him now as an adult. She cares about him but there’s so much that doesn’t understand. Her heart refuses to believe that he could have killed Omoni but her brain isn’t so sure. It still doesn’t make sense to her why the Kwons would have wanted to harm Youngbae and his family.

There’s so much that she still doesn’t know and the thought of finding out the truth scares her. She knows that Youngbae and Jiyong are right and that she could possibly be in danger. She knows the best way to stay safe is to pretend she knows nothing, the best way to protect herself is to remain quietly by Jiyong’s side. Her heart hurts thinking about becoming Youngbae’s enemy but she’s terrified even thinking about what would happen if she went against the Kwons.

- - -

Author's Note: Hello everyone, thank you to all of my new subscribers and to everyone who has been continually supporting this story. I tried to go more into Chaerin's character this chapter, then in Ch. 12 I will go more into her relationship with her father. Can Chaerin really just ignore everything or will she be forced to play the dangerous game between Youngbae and the Kwons? Please comment and tell me how you feel about this chapter and how the story is developing, I love to read the comments!

Also, please keep all of the victims and loved ones of the Sewol ferry tragedy in your prayers!