Chaerin!” A voice calls out to her as she lurches onto her knees outside of the bus station after arriving in Seoul.

She braces her fall with the palms of her hands, the delicate skin scraping against the rough concrete. Lee Soohyuk runs toward her as she vomits on the side of the road, dry heaving through her body-wracking sobs. The lawyer places a consoling hand between her protruding shoulder blades, shielding her from passersby with his imposing stature. When her frenzy quells, he hands her a bottle of water and pulls her up to her feet.  

“Where have you been?” He asks out of both exasperation and concern.

Chaerin doesn’t answer and instead bows her head in a show of a thousand emotions. He knows not to press her any further, gently guiding her into the passengers seat of his car. The ride to his apartment is silent, Chaerin staring ahead at nothing in particular with glazed eyes. Only after the two get out of the car and step into Soohyuk’s apartment does she speak.

“You asked where I’ve been,” She begins with a gravelly voice as the tall lawyer hands her a garment bag that had been resting on the couch. “I was somewhere beautiful, somewhere I could only dream of going and somewhere I can never go again.”

He watches her intently as she silently composes herself before walking to the other side of the room and closing the bathroom door behind her. The lawyer smirks, taking his phone out of his suit pocket, lazily browsing through his messages and checking the news as he waits.

The door opens and scents of lavender and eucalyptus rush through the room as Chaerin walks out fully dressed, running her hands through recently styled curls. Color is returned to her face with bronzers and shimmers, her sad eyes outlined in black and her full lips an artificial pink.  

“There, you look so much better.” Soohyuk her cheek and then her fluffy blonde hair. His touch is so light that she barely feels it. It reminds her of the gentle breeze from a mechanical fan. “It’s a good thing you didn’t put on too much makeup, you look more approachable.”

He helps her slip a blazer on over her silken ivory blouse, brushing dust off of the stiff lapels.

“Whatever happened to you last night, leave it behind you.” He tells her sternly with a warm smile on his face that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Where is Jiyong right now?” She asks him as he further picks out specks of dust and smoothes down wrinkles.

“I haven’t heard from him.” He answers innocuously as he straightens up, leading the way out of his apartment and back down to the parking garage.

Chaerin isn’t sure she believes him but doesn’t push the subject further. She can’t help but remember Kwon’s cryptic request that she fire Lee Soohyuk, though she still can’t imagine why. Soohyuk has been a friend to Jiyong and Chaerin for as long as she can remember. She can’t understand why Kwon would be distrustful of him.  

Her fully charged ringing phone pulls her from her thoughts and she answers as she steps outside of Soohyuk’s apartment door.

“Assistant Gong?” Chaerin answers, listening patiently as the young woman relays the current situation within the company. Stocks are falling, investors are panicking, the media is flooding the front lobby. “Yes. I understand, I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

“I’ll drive you to the company.” Soohyuk offers and she looks up at him, wondering at what point he became more involved than just simply the family’s lawyer.  

“Do you know where Kwon Jiyong is right now?” She asks again but no one answers. Outside of her office is a frenzy. Analysts and secretaries and lawyers go over figures and speeches and hypotheticals with papers flying between hands and voices roaring. Not one person pays her mind as she passes by, going into her empty office. She wonders bitterly if she’s really the one in charge as she sits quietly reclined behind her desk.

Gong Minji bursts through the heavy door and rushes to her side, handing her a bottle of water and a report with a script attached.

“Kwong Jiyong-ssi is at his family’s Estate.” The young assistant belatedly reports and Chaerin feels comforted by her presence. “Everyone outside is so busy preparing for the press conference it seems they forgot the leading lady.”

“No kidding,” Chaerin sighs before sipping at her water nervously. The other woman doesn’t miss her shaky breaths, giving her a reassuring pat on the hand.

“Sajangnim, stay strong. You’re more than capable to represent GD Group.” Minji tells her with a small but genuine smile. “You’re the CEO for a reason. The Board unanimously chose you, you know that, right? Mr. Kwon sees… sorry, he saw you as his own flesh and blood.”  

Chaerin grimaces, knowing how he had treated his family. When he wasn’t cold or distant he was angry and belittling. The man most likely even had his wife killed in order to frame his eldest son.

She does not view being his family as any great honor.

Assistant Gong walks by her side along with bodyguards and an entourage of staff members as she enters the press conference hall. She steps up toward the raised podium with well-composed confidence, refusing to let her nervousness show.

The large room is filled with reporters, the flashes of camera bulbs going off like a million explosions at once. It’s loud, so loud she can barely hear herself think as she prepares to speak. She doubts anyone will quiet down or give her any peace as she takes a calming deep breath.

“Everyone, thank you for gathering here today and for showing your interest in our company as we regretfully mourn the passing of the former CEO Kwon.” Chaerin begins calmly, standing like a statue behind the wooden podium. She wonders if Kwon knew this was what he was throwing her into when he gave her his position that day. He had to have known. “I ask that you please respect Kwon Jiyong and his family through this difficult time. I will answer your questions to the best of my abilities but first I must say this: GD Group will rise from the ashes and we will overcome.”

“Do you believe that there is any involvement from YG Corporation in this incident?” A reporter shouts out from the crowd.

Chaerin looks sharply at the reporter as she stands confidently.

“No, I do not believe YG is involved.” She answers unshakably. “Contrary to the unfolding of recent incidents, YG Corporation and GD Group hold very amicable feelings toward one another.”

Daylight has begun to slowly ebb away by the time Chaerin escapes the chaos of the office to drive to the Kwon Estate. She wasted too much time on the bus ride back and at the press conference, the day is nearly gone. Jiyong won’t answer her calls and she feels guilty for abandoning him for a fantasy.

Kwon Jiyong is her reality.

She parks in the garage and calls out his name. There’s no response so she walks through the first floor of the of the house, calling out to him again. The house is still shrouded in quiet as she walks up the stairs, her heart heavy in fear and worry. She looks inside of room after room before arriving at his own. Slowly opening the door, she peeks inside but he is no where to be seen. With a sigh she turns around, once again descending to the first floor.

Her eye catches sight of the large windows overlooking the backyard and she wonders if he’s gone outside for a walk. She goes out through the glass doors but doesn’t see him, the night almost completely falling down over the horizon.

She suddenly hears the sound of muffled sobs in the darkness, the dusk sending shivers up her spine. The purple and blue sky fades into black and she becomes very aware that no one knows where she is right now. In the space where the shed once had been, she swears she can see a figure hunched over. Chaerin puts her hands in her jacket pocket to keep warm, her fingers balling into fists as she walks further into the darkness.

“Oppa?” She calls out softly as she approaches. “Is that you?”

The figure suddenly turns toward and she steps back in shock at Jiyong’s gaunt face and swollen red eyes. His usually immaculate hair is wild and unkempt. He looks like a feral beast starved out in the woods.

She remembers what her father told her once. You can domesticate a wild animal and keep it in a cage. You can can feed the animal, make it your pet, and believe that it loves you.

But as soon as the animal is let free it is as wild as before and there is no longer a cage to keep you from the beast.

“Chaerin.” His voice cracks as he speaks her name.

Jiyong slowly rises and she sees the dirt and grass stains on his jeans. He moves toward her and his eyes are like nothing she’s ever seen.

“I thought something had happened to you. I thought you were gone for forever.”

“I just went on a business trip.” She tells him calmly, trying not to let her growing fear show.

The way he looks at her, the way he walks toward her, he’s like a lion in the brush stalking its prey.

“I’m so sorry, I should have been here for you.” She apologizes, her voice barely above a whisper. “But I’m here for you now, you can have whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” Jiyong asks mockingly with a crooked smile. He turns suddenly to look at the space of empty grass behind them. “Dong Youngbae was kept in that shed by my father. I watched from my bedroom window as men went in and out each night, their hands and clothing covered in blood.”

Chaerin stares at him wide eyed, unable to speak.

“Youngbae was tortured in that shed and his mother was killed there, too. I could have stopped it all but I didn’t. Each night I heard Youngbae’s screams but I still slept peacefully. His mother made me breakfast in the morning while he was tied up and slowly dying in that shed.”

Hot tears roll down Chaerin’s cheeks as she stands petrified. Jiyong reaches out to wipe away a tear, his thumb rough on the skin of her soft cheek.

“You couldn’t have said anything,” She manages to choke out. “None of it was your fault.”

He tilts his head and his expression turns serious.

“Don’t you get it?” He asks her incredulously before his face transforms into a demented smile. “I don’t feel guilty at all!”

He laughs loudly without any humor and Chaerin swallows, looking at him in unmasked fear. His face softens as he reaches out to her again, her hair and attempting to give her a small smile.

“Whatever I want?” He repeats more quietly, almost as if speaking to himself.

“Yes,” She whispers, confused at his sudden change.

He moves closer, until his face hovers just breathes away, staring intently into her eyes. He brushes his lips against her own, his hand cradling her jaw.

“I want to lock you away forever so you’ll never leave my side and you can’t get hurt.”

Her eyes widen again.

“You can’t run away again.”

His lips crash down onto hers and she weakly meets his frantic movements. His hands roam from her to her hair, getting tangled in her curls. He deepens the kiss, his hand propping her head as the other moves to hold her hip. He grabs onto her roughly, making her collide with his body. She gasps out for air, shocked by the sudden contact with his sharp hip bone.

He continues to kiss down her jaw, leaving open mouthed kisses along her neck. His teeth scrapes along the sensitive skin, making her wince in pain.

“Jiyong, stop.” Chaerin tries to wriggle from his grasp as his hand untucks her blouse from her skirt.

She attempts to push him away with her arms but loses her footing. His weight leaning against her causes her to fall to the ground hard, her head slamming onto the grass. She feels a sharp pain in the back of her head as the young man straddles her. Her arms are limp at her side as she lays sprawled underneath his slender weight, his eyes staring down at her.

“Kwon Jiyong. You’re better than this.” She tells him, the breath knocked out of her with his weight on her chest.

“Chaerin.” He says her name in surprise as he realizes what he’s done. “I’m so sorry. Oh my God. Chae, I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?”

He her hair as she stares up at him blankly.

“You don’t look very good,” He mumbles and stops in horror as he takes his hand from her hair. There’s a glistening wetness on his fingers, dark red in the rising moonlight. “Oh God!”

He cries out in terror as a droplet from his fingers drips down, splattering onto her cheek.

“I can’t breathe,” She gasps out as her chest heaves weakly underneath him.

He quickly gets off of her in a panic, trying to take deep breaths as he lifts her up. She whimpers as he moves her too quickly and he curses under his breath. He kisses her forehead as her holds her, his body shaking in fear.

“Chae, I don’t know what to do. I don’t how to help you. Please don’t die.”

“Call for help, please,” She weakly says as she leans into him.

“Y-you’re bleeding more,” He breathes out roughly, tears welling in his eyes. Droplets of blood drip from her nose, falling onto his pristine white shirt.

“Call someone!” She tries to yell but her voice cracks and she feels dizzier.

“Okay,” He answers hastily, fumbling in his pocket for his phone. He shakily dials a number with one hand as he stills supports Chaerin with the other. “Soohyuk, please. Please, I need your help. Something happened to Chaerin… W-we’re at the Estate, you were the first person I could think of.”

Jiyong breathes unsteadily in panic, jarring the woman in his arms as she feels herself flutter in and out of consciousness.

“Why are you so angry?” Jiyong screams out and hangs up as he clings to her. He cries into her hair as she limply leans against his body.

Lee Soohyuk rests a large hand on Jiyong’s shoulder as the Kwon heir hangs his head solemnly. The lawyer looks up as a doctor walks from out of the private VIP room.

“You’re free to come and see her now.” The doctor tells them, holding open the door.

Jiyong walks lifelessly behind the taller man into the hospital room, stopping when he sees Chaerin. She lays motionless in bed, her eyes closed and face pale. There’s a bandage wrapped around her head and Jiyong feels sick to his stomach.

“She’s just sleeping, right?” He asks desperately. “She’s going to wake up?”

“I’m already awake.” A quiet voice announces.

Her eyes slowly open as she groggily stares at him without moving.

“She’ll experience headaches and nausea but otherwise she’s fine.” The doctor tells them. “We have to keep her overnight, of course, but that’s just procedure. There’s no sign of hemmorraghing, though she’ll have to take it easy for a while to lessen her chances of post-concussion syndrome.”

Jiyong kneels beside her as the doctor leaves. Soohyuk stands behind him, watching as the Kwon heir leaves desperate kisses on her hand. The young woman slowly moves her hand to brush her fingers across his cheek, lingering on his bruised bottom lip. A part of her wants to slap him but she decides he’s beaten himself enough.

“Oppa, would you go get me something to drink?” She asks in a raspy voice, her energy not fully restored. “I need to speak to Lee Soohyuk alone.”

He tries to resist but sees the look on her face and reluctantly goes.

“Do you want to press charges for assault, possibly attempted ?” Lee Soohyuk asks with a dry laugh after Jiyong has left the room.

“I was in control until I hit my damn head.” She mumbles, gingerly touching her bandage.

“You think you have everything under control but you don’t. He could have killed you.” Soohyuk scolds her as he leans against the wall with his hands in his pockets. “People like Kwon JIyong don’t have any sense of consequences.”

“What do you mean by ‘people like Jiyong?’” She asks with a glare. “Rich people? Because I’m rich, too, everyone seems to forget that. I come from a life of privilege and elitism. I’m capable of causing pain and destruction and hurting those around me.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He sighs. “I meant that Jiyong hurts others and doesn’t even realize or care.”

Chaerin grits her teeth at the man standing before her.

“Jiyong cares about me, he’s a mess right now. You saw him.”

“He cares about having you in his life, he cares about losing you.” The older man moves his hair out of his face and looks up at her. “You have this sick sense of guilt and loyalty you’ve convinced yourself is love.”

The girl sighs and turns away.

“This isn’t your business.”

“You’re my business.” He tells her and she laughs in a low voice.

“Abeoji wanted me to fire you, I wonder why?”

Lee Soohyuk freezes up, his eyes darting toward her and letting his stone face show shock for a moment. She smiles lightly to herself at cracking his facade and closes her eyes.

The sound of heels clicking on tile interrupts the thick tension in the room. Chaerin opens her eyes to see her assistant rushing into the room.

“Sajangnim, what happened to you? Were you badly hurt?”

“I’m sorry for sounding too urgent over the phone, she’s perfectly fine.” Soohyuk apologizes, bowing to the new visitor.

“Thank you for coming to see me, Assistant Gong.” Chaerin smiles at the younger girl who looks drastically different out of her work clothes.

“Really, you’re fine?” Minji sighs in relief. “I’m glad that you’re alright. But I was wondering about that text you sent me earlier. You want to contact the YG Corporation lawyers and Park Taeyang to discuss a merger?”

- - -

Author's Note: Plot Twist - this is really a ChaeHyuk story~ hehe just kidding. I'm really excited about this chapter because I feel like I got to really express more of Chaerin's feeling and emotions. One of the biggest parts of this story, even more than the romance, is exploring Chaerin's strengths and vulnerabilities. Also, grief is changing our characters. (I wonder how YB feels, hm...) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'd like to thank everyone who has been commenting and all of my subscribers, both old and new! I've been working on this chapter for a very long time so I would love to know what you all thought about it and what direction you think the story will be going now.

edit: I decided to make this little poll for fun. Wow, a lot of people want Chae to end up alone lol