The ribbons on floral wreaths sway in the wind, marking a colorful path toward the couple standing by the temple entrance. A sea of men in dark suits make up their sombre kingdom as Chaerin and Jiyong greet dry eyed mourners like a queen and king.

It feels like deja vu, a similar scene to less than a month ago. Chaerin stands like a rock by Jiyong’s side, waiting dutifully to put him together again if he should crack.    

“Yang Hyunsuk sajangnim,” Chaerin greets the lone man as he bows. She can feel Jiyong tense at her side.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” The YG Corporation CEO says in his uniquely nasal voice. Chaerin can’t help but notice that other than his assistant, the man is alone. Seeming to notice the question in her eyes, he smirks so subtly it would be easy to miss. “My children send their condolences, as well. Taeyang-ah is out of town or else he would have been here.”

As they watch the CEO leave, Chaerin holds onto Jiyong’s hand. The long line of mourners has paired down, most paying their respects to the altar or speaking to other guests. Jiyong looks at her from the corner of his eye, smiling as she playfully intertwines their fingers. He brings her hand to his lips, kissing the ring on her finger.  

“In my heart, you’re already my wife.” He tells her, his lips softly brushing against her skin, causing the fine hairs on her arms to rise.

“If only that’s how that worked.” A deep voice laughs, surprising the couple clad in black. Mr. Lee bows to Jiyong before kissing his daughter on the cheek. Chaerin untangles their fingers, stiffly putting her arm in Jiyong’s as her father smirks at her. “I’m going to stop by the Estate sometime to pick up a few documents from Kwon’s office, if that’s alright with you, Jiyong.”

“That’s fine, take whatever you want.” Jiyong replies with a wave of his hand.

“Appa, I could just bring them to you, that way you wouldn’t have to find the time to come by. Jiyong oppa and I are living at the Estate while cleaning up and preparing for a charity auction.” Chaerin offers, her elbow digging into Jiyong’s ribs.

“No, Chaerin-ah, don’t go through that trouble. I’ll do it myself, plus it would be good to see the office where we built our empires one more time.” Mr. Lee smiles, nodding to the young couple. “I will see you both soon.”

A tall brunette sits in the ornate office of GD Group’s young CEO, looking more like a model than a lawyer. Her long hair frames her face in shiny curls, her lips glisten with Parisian gloss, and her manicured nails are sharp like knives.

“I have something to ask you.” Park Bom finally speaks, her voice innocent and childlike as she lounges in the office chair. “A friend of mine recognized you at the hospital, how are you feeling? I didn’t want to ask you in front of Taeyang-ah.”

“I’m doing well, thank you for your concern.” Chaerin answers with a courteous smile. “It was just exhaustion.”

“I had an ex-boyfriend who gave me exhaustion.” Bom gives her a sympathetic look and Chaerin quickly turns away.

“What time did you say Taeyang-ssi would be arriving?” Chaerin changes the subject, looking at the clock on her desk. He’s late.

“Taeyang isn’t coming.” Bom says casually before laughing. “Are you crazy?”

“This is a business meeting.” Chaerin says indignantly, standing up from her chair.

The older woman stands as well, towering in her sky high heels.

“I came to you today as Taeyang’s noona, not his lawyer.” Bom’s voice changes dramatically, carrying more authority and less whimsy. “GD Group wants a merger all of a sudden? Stop playing games.”

Chaerin is taken aback, she hadn’t expected this. She had met Park Bom a few times but she had greatly underestimated her. The glamorous lawyer seemed silly and had even married an actor but she was no joke.

“This isn’t a game. It’s a way for Taeyang-ssi to take over more of the Kwon empire.” Chaerin responds, trying not to sound like a little girl defending her actions to a big unnie. She sighs, calming herself down. “Both of our companies have taken a hit. This is the best option for him.”

Bom’s face changes. She looks pensive, as if she’s thinking it over but doesn’t want Chaerin to win. After a moment, she looks back up.

“I’ll discuss it with my father. I assume it’s already been brought up with your board, now that your father is the new Chairman.” Bom says derisively before bowing slightly. “I’ll schedule a meeting as a lawyer soon.”

After the glamorous lawyer leaves the room, Chaerin rolls her eyes. She searches through her purse for her phone, quickly dialling Youngbae’s number.

“Pick up, pick up.” She whispers over and over again like a prayer but each time she’s met by his machine. She scrolls through her calendar and skims over her email before grabbing her bag and running to the door. “Assistant Gong, something urgent came up so I need to leave for a little bit. Call me if anything else comes up!”

Chaerin rushes through the building and into the parking garage, unlocking her car and quickly jumping in. She drives to a familiar restaurant with its peeling paint and crooked signage. She moves her glasses up to cover her eyes and moves her hair down to partially hide her face.

She can feels eyes on her as she walks into the restaurant. Feeling overly self-conscious, she moves even faster to the back of the restaurant where Youngbae is predictably seated with a bottle of soju. He stares for a long time as she stands in front of him. She says nothing but keeps her gaze carefully trained on him, begging him to speak.

Youngbae moves his eyes away suddenly to drain the last of his soju. He looks worn out and haggard, somehow out of place in his three piece suit and gold Rolex.

“Are you real this time?” He asks warily as she slowly sits down and fills his cup for him out of a new bottle.  

“I’m sorry I left without saying anything.” She apologizes with her head bowed and her voice low. “I heard about Kwon’s death on the news and panicked. I wasn’t thinking.”

Youngbae nods, pouring another cup and giving it to her to drink.

“I took my time driving back to Seoul and spent the whole time just thinking. I worried a lot about you but I realized I must be a bad man.” He pauses and motions for her to drink up.

She nods hesitantly and slowly sips from the bowl.

“If you hate me I don’t want to be around you. I don’t want to see you.” He tells her casually and she looks up in surprise. “I thought just seeing you was enough. I thought I could be patient but I can’t. You know I should be happy right now, Kwon’s dead. Jiyong’s suffering isn’t he, this is difficult for him?”

Chaerin stiffens at the mention of Mr. Kwon and Jiyong. She doesn’t saying anything.

“This is what I wanted.” He pours himself a shot and downs it. “I got my revenge.”

“You don’t sound happy.” She says softly.

“Don’t pity me.” He warns her. “That’s not what I want from you.”

“What do you want?” She asks and he laughs.

“I don’t know.” His expressions falls and he takes the bottle of soju, holding it against his lips and gulping the alcohol down. “I never got to just look him in the face and say, ‘I’m alive, you bastard!’ I never asked why my mom had to die, why he couldn’t kill me, too. I never got to ask any of that so I’m not sure what I’m even doing anymore. It’s over. It’s all over so why don’t I feel better?”

“Oppa,” Chaerin says sympathetically but he shakes his head.

“Don’t call me that, we have no relationship.” He demands gruffly.

“How can you say that?” She asks in shock, taken aback at his words. “After all that we’ve been through?”  

“All we’ve been through? We haven’t been through anything.” He sneers with a roll of his eyes. “You’re the one who told me to go away, the one who abandoned me. I used to think you were innocent and that you needed to be protected. If Mr. Kwon’s the devil then you’re just one of his demons.”

Chaerin holds back tears, rising from her chair loudly and looking down at him.

“Then does that make you God?” She asks, infuriated. “Do you think you’ve done no wrong? You don’t have blood on your hands?”

At her outburst she feels the eyes of customers on her again. The other patrons start to whisper but she ignores it as the two furiously lock gazes, engaging in a battle of wills. They each refuse to look away as everything in the small restaurant goes silent.

A small television at the front of the shop cuts to a breaks news report. The police station is shown with reporters and bystanders crowded around, a familiar brunette cutting through the pack.

“This just in,” The reporter announces, lulling the customers in the restaurant out of their trance. “Suspected murderer and son of YG Corporation CEO Yang Hyun Suk, Park Hongjun, has been released from police custody with all charges dropped.”

Chaerin whips around, staring at the television screen and watching Teddy leave the station.

“Hyung!” Youngbae calls out suddenly, rising to his feet and gazing intently at his older brother’s bearded face on the screen. He starts to walk out but Chaerin stops him.

“Where are you going?” She chastises. “You’re going to drive to the police station drunk? I’ll drive you.”

She grabs onto his arm but he shakes her off, moving away.

“No, don’t you dare.” He growls. “This is all your fault so don’t you dare!”

Chaerin drops her grip, causing Youngbae to stumble. Chairs and tables clatter as he falls, a drunken mess of arms and limbs. A couple customers rush to his as Chaerin stares down at him. She wants to help but knows that he’d just bat away her hand. She quickly turns to leave, running down the street to where she had parked her car.

She gets into her car, calmly driving out into the road. The road signs begin to blur as she slowly begins to cry. Hot tears obscure her vision and she pulls over, unable to drive. Her face contorts as the sobs take over her whole body. She wipes at her eyes and mouth but the tears won’t stop.

“I already know it’s my fault so you don’t have to tell me!” She screams, hitting the steering wheel over and over again. She yells again in frustration before covering her face with her hands.

Everything is silent in the large house except for the sound of a facet as Chaerin washes her face with cold water. She turns off the sink, dabbing at her eyes with a damp towel. She reaches for her makeup, attempting to mask the puffiness before Jiyong can notice. After refreshing her makeup she remembers her dad had wanted some documents.

Chaerin goes down the chairs to Mr. Kwon’s office, hesitating before opening the door as if expecting a deep voice to scold her for not knocking. She searches through the filing cabinet, finding a particular drawer full of dated ledgers. Flipping through one of them, she realizes they’re full accounts Kwon had personally inscribed. Skimming over the drawer she notices that two years are missing.

This wouldn’t have jumped out to her as strange if one of the years hadn’t meant so much to her: the year that Dong Youngbae disappeared. She opens up the other drawers but doesn’t see the missing years. Suddenly desperate to find the missing accounts, she searches through all of the cabinets and shelves. She finally finds a secret safe in his desk drawer and pulls out the two ledgers.   

There’s a knock at the door and she hides the two ledgers in her jacket before standing up.

“What are you doing?” Jiyong asks curiously, peering into the office as she awkwardly poses by the desk.  

“Nothing.” She answers less than innocently, a reassuring smile on her face. “I was just trying to find those documents for my dad to help him a little bit before he comes over. I’m just not really sure where they are.”

“Alright.” Jiyong says with a nod, not feeling like going more into it.

“It’s been a long day so I think I’ll go to bed.” She tells him with a yawn as she tries to leave but he wraps his arms around her, pressing against her back. Chaerin freezes, hoping he won’t feel the sloppily hidden ledgers.

“I’m so happy you’re not mad at me.” He kisses her on the cheek gently and she can feel his smile against her skin.

“I could never be mad at you.” She breathes out before strategically unwinding herself from his grasp. She smiles at him before giddily blowing a kiss, feeling like a spy that’s just narrowly escaped from her enemy. “Goodnight, oppa!”

Chaerin quickly runs up the stairs toward her room, locking the door before falling onto her bed and pulling out the ledgers.   

She opens the ledger dated the year that Youngbae disappeared, throwing the other one into her purse. There are multiple names and dates, a few are incriminating but she already knew that Kwon was a crook. She doesn’t understand the added secrecy until she comes across a page detailing large amounts of money transferred to her father’s security company the same week of Youngbae’s kidnapping.

Chaerin drops the ledger out of her hands in shock before hurriedly putting it into her purse as well.

- - -

Author's Note: Thank you to all of my subscribers and everyone who has supported this story, old and new! 29 votes, 157 subscribers, 6520 views, and 108 comments. Those might not be big numbers to some authors but to me I'm so amazed and grateful! I'm so happy I can share this story with you all and I hope that you continue to enjoy it.

So - A LOT is happening. GD Group and YG Corp might become the same company but it seems like Youngbae wants nothing to do with Chae anymore, hmm. What are you thoughts on this chapter? I'd love to hear them! (Also, that other ledger isn't important at all, nope, it's not going to come up in the story ever again...)