Looking at the empty yard, Taeyang becomes weak, his legs feeling as if they’ll collapse from underneath him. He starts to stumble but Chaerin catches him, holding him steady by his arm. She helps him into a chair, quickly getting him a glass of water from the kitchen.

“Are you alright, Taeyang-ssi? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” Jiyong asks with a smile and Taeyang looks up at him sharply, his dark eyes narrowed menacingly. Chaerin notices this exchange and it shocks her. She doesn’t understand how two men who had only just met could have such a strong hatred toward one another.

“Is there anything wrong, sajangnim?” Her voice is thick with concern. “You looked a little unwell earlier in the car. Should I drive you home to rest?”

“That would be such a shame, he would miss the grand tour.” Jiyong begins with a sneer but Chaerin interrupts him.

“I think it would be better if I took him home.”

“You’re right, Chaerin-ssi, it would probably be best if I went home.” Taeyang says calmly as he slowly gets up from his seat, following Chaerin to the front entrance. They walk outside together toward the car, pausing as Jiyong calls out to them from the door.

“Goodbye, Taeyang-ssi, come back sometime soon!” Jiyong smirks as he waves to the two as they get into the car and drive away.

Chaerin is silent for a while until finally speaking up, her fingers drumming on the steering wheel. “Have you and Jiyong known each other before recently?”

“No, we met less than a month ago while Jiyong-ssi was at the company visiting you.”  

“Then why do you two hate each other so much?” She wonders aloud and Taeyang laughs at her openness. Chaerin mutters a small apology but still wants to know the answer. It doesn’t make sense for two strangers to hate each other for no reason.

“It’s a family thing, that’s all. YG Corporation versus GD Group. Yang-Park and Kwon.” And there’s you, he wants to add but knows better than that.

“I don’t think so.” She says, looking ahead quietly at the road as she turns onto the tree-lined path. He holds his breath as they pass the trees he has attached so many memories onto, their massive branches as intimidating as they always had been. Taeyang finally releases his breath as they get to the end but Chaerin stops the car suddenly before they can be completely out of the path.

“What are you doing?” He asks, trying to hide the growing panic from his voice.

“Dong Youngbae.” She says out of nowhere, nearly giving Taeyang a heart attack. His palms begin to sweat as he wonders if Jiyong had told her or if she had figured it out on her own.

“What are you talking about?” He asks suddenly. He doesn’t say anything else when she turns to look at him, too shocked to form words.

“I was there when Youngbae was kidnapped, here on this road. I saw it all.” Taeyang stays silent as she speaks, looking out at the road. He’s not sure what she’s thinking about. He can’t read her.

“I mistook you for Youngbae when we first met, you look so much like him that it shocked me. I actually had plans with Jiyong that night but I went to dinner with you because I was curious, I thought that you could really be Youngbae.” Chaerin’s voice is steady as she continues to look at him, daring him to return her gaze. He still can’t figure her out. “But that doesn’t make sense, you can’t be Youngbae. You have money and a family, he didn’t have either of those things. It doesn’t make sense.”     

The other night Chaerin went to Jiyong’s room to bring him tea but he was in the shower so she had to wait. She noticed his desk was a mess and set down the tea to tidy up some of the papers when she noticed a folder labelled Park Taeyang. Not sure why he would have something like that, she picks it up and reads through the contents. In shock she quickly puts the folder back exactly how she found it. Jiyong had Taeyang looked into because he must have suspected something.

Chaerin is sure that Taeyang is Dong Youngbae and that Jiyong may think so as well. She just doesn’t understand why he would hide his identity from her. There must be a reason, she knows that he wouldn’t lie to her if he didn’t have a good reason. She was naive to think that if she found Youngbae that everything could go back to how it all used to be.

Taeyang watches her as she stares ahead at the road, lost in thought.

“I know that you are not Youngbae,” She finally turns to look at him. “I know that you’re not Youngbae but could you become him for me? Please be Youngbae for me so that I can missing him.”

He doesn’t know what to say.

“You asked to be my friend once, that’s what I’m asking you now. I’m so lonely without Youngbae, I need him back.”

His eyes widen as he looks at her, his heart pounding in his chest. He’s quiet for too long and Chaerin looks away.

“I think I might be crazy for actually asking you that.” Her voice is shakey, desperate.

“No,” He shakes his head and Chaerin feels like she’s about to cry, she shouldn’t have said anything. “No, if you’re crazy then I’m crazy. I’ll do it, I’ll be Dong Youngbae for you.”

She looks up at him with a sad smile, wishing that it were true. She wishes that Taeyang would just admit to her that he is Youngbae. He has his reasons, she’s sure, but she just wants him to be honest with her when she’s been waiting for him all of these years.

Finally, she lets out a small laugh and starts the car back up again.

“Chaerin-ssi,” He begins to say but she stops him.

“Outside of work I think we should be less formal now.”

“Chaerin-ah,” He says again and it feels familiar and comfortable, the memories attached to when he used to call her that making his hands tingle.

“Ne, oppa?” She asks and he loses track of his thoughts. He doesn’t remember feeling like this when she called him oppa back then.

“Nevermind,” His face gets hot and he can’t believe how ridiculous he’s being. “It’s nothing important.” After an awkward quiet, he gives her directions and she drives to his apartment complex. Pulling up front, she stops the car and they sit in silence for a few minutes. He wants to ask her to come up with him but knows that he can’t. “Thank you for dinner and for the ride home,” He says finally with a smile and a small bow as he gets out of the car. Before he closes the door he gets an idea and opens it back up again. “I’m a bad friend, I don’t even have your phone number.”

She smiles at his cute behavior and agrees. They exchange numbers and Taeyang smirks happily to himself.

“Goodnight, oppa.”

“Goodnight, Chaerin-ah,” He says as he finally closes the door. She drives away and stands outside of his building, watching her car until it disappears out of sight. A wide grin develops across his face and he couldn’t get rid of it if he wanted to.

He’s an idiot, he’s a giant idiot.

---

When Chaerin opens the door to her apartment and kicks off her heels at the entrance, Jiyong is waiting for her. The first thing she sees when she walks into the living room is Jiyong sitting with his arms crossed over chest, looking at her expectantly. He looks unhappy like a child who has had his favorite toy hidden from him.

“I thought you would get home before me, what took you so long?” He sounds angry and she knows that it bothers him when she spends time with Taeyang. She shrugs as she stretches out her muscles sore from a long day.

“We talked about work before I dropped him off.” She says nonchalantly, not wanting to fight with him. “I’m tired so I’m going to get changed and go to bed.”

“Wait!” He shouts, jumping out of the chair and startling her. Taking a deep breath, he puts an arm on her shoulder.

“What’s wrong, oppa?” She asks, her voice full of concern. He’s acting strange tonight and she doesn’t understand why. It can’t all be because of Taeyang can it?

“It’s nothing,” He sighs, looking her intently in the eye. She tries to reach out a hand to check his forehead for a fever but he grabs her wrist. “I’m fine.”

“Oppa, that hurts,” Her eyes widen in surprise and he immediately lets go of her as if burned.    

“I’m so sorry, Chae.” He apologizes, trying to reach his arms out to hug her.

“If there isn’t anything you need then I’ll be going to my room now,” She turns away from him, walking to her bedroom and leaving his watching after her.

Jiyong sighs out of frustration, going to his room and loudly closing the door behind him. He takes a small velvet box from his pocket and examines it in the air before popping it open. A diamond ring glitters in the light, sitting prettily in its box. He looks at the ring for a long while before closing the box and putting it back in pocket again. Jiyong was too nervous but it wasn’t the right timing anyway.    

---

As soon as the door shuts behind her, Chaerin anxiously checks her phone.

Chae, we should talk.

Are you busy?

She received the text message when she was in the elevator on the way to her apartment.

I’m not busy

Can we meet now?

Grabbing a coat from her closet, she slowly opens her bedroom door hoping that Jiyong won’t come try to apologize later. She feels ridiculous for having to sneak around her own apartment but Jiyong wouldn’t be happy if she knew who she was meeting. Walking quickly and quietly through the rest of the apartment, she grabs her heels and slips them on as she rushes out of the door and down to the elevator.  

Your favorite place

Getting into her car, she pulls out of the garage and into the street. Chaerin taps her fingernails against the steering wheel as she drives the familiar route. She parks her car in the street in a trendy area, walking calmly into a bar she first discovered when she was in university. The atmosphere is quiet with R&B and jazz filling the air, not what the usual university students finds interest in. Chaerin had always secretly preferred the small bar to the loud and chaotic clubs Jiyong used to take her to when they were younger.

“Your usual?” The man behind the counter asks and she smiles.

“You lied to me, oppa.” She says, the smile still sweetly in place. He laughs loudly, causing the other patrons to turn to look at the interruption to their quiet evenings.

“Did I?” He questions coyly, adjusting his bowtie as he slides her drink across the counter. Park Hongjun was the only man in Korea who was crazy enough to turn down the inheritance of a major corporation to open up his own bar. He's also the only connection she's had to her lost friend the past five years. Despite all of the flirting and teasing he was fully aware that CHaerin only ever had one man on her mind. “Youngbae doesn’t know that you know about him yet.”

“Teddy oppa. You said you didn’t know where he was.” She frowns over her drink as he leans down on the counter so that he’s eye level to her. Chaerin wants to slap the self-absorbed smirk off of his face but knows that would disrupt the other customers. “Jiyong knows. He’s not happy.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured.” Teddy scratches his head, stealing a sip of her drink as she protests. He’s worried for Chaerin, worried for what might happen if she continues to get tangled in the bloody war between Kwon Jiyong and Dong Youngbae. No matter how much Youngbae cares for her, Teddy knows that she could very easily get caught in the crossfire. Jiyong is too unpredictable and Youngbae is still blinded by his rage toward the Kwon family. The older Park brothers stays quiet, though, not able to bring himself to tell Chaerin just how much danger she could be in. It wasn’t his place.

“He invited Youngbae oppa over for dinner and he showed us the place where the shed used to be. The shed where…” She can’t finish the sentence, knowing the pain attached to that night for both Youngbae and Teddy. He looks at her with a sad smile, grateful for her sympathy but pitying her for her ignorance. Was it better for her not to know? Teddy wasn’t sure but it was Taeyang’s decision, whether or not Chaerin knew the dark secrets that the Kwon estate held. He didn’t know if she could handle knowing that the house she had played in for years was the same place where her best friend had been tortured and his mother murdered. Some nights he couldn’t handle knowing that the house still stood, not able to understand how a place of such evil hadn’t crumbled at the foundations. He supposed it was because there were strong demons making sure that it didn’t fall. “Oppa, are you alright?”

“Huh? Yeah, sorry, Chae. I was lost in my thoughts.” He smiles reassuringly but she knows that there’s more. There’s always something more, something that no one will tell her. “So what are you going to do now?” He asks and it sounds like the simplest question in the world but both of them know that it’s not.

“I don’t know. I just want to try to turn back time.” She answers simply, a little smile on her lips.

“You know that you can’t do that, Chae.” He sighs, taking her drink again. This time she doesn’t protest, it happens every time she comes to see him at the bar.

“I know, but I want to try to be as happy as I can be. There’s still a lot that I don’t know but I want to know. I want to know everything about him.” She turns away nervously, embarrassed by the look of pure pity on Park Hongjun’s face. “Don’t look at me like that, oppa. I know I’m being stupid but I just want to be happy as I can be.”

“You won’t be happy if you know the truth.” Teddy replies darkly, pouring more of the amber liquid into the glass and taking a drink. “The truth will destroy you.”

“Oppa, what is that supposed to mean?” She asks quietly, a part of her wanting to leave the bar and never know. Chaerin knows that there’s something dark in their histories and she’s scared to learn too much about Youngbae’s disappearance. She’s terrified but she cares enough about the truth that she can momentarily ignore the demons threatening to eat her alive.

“The truth will destroy everything.” He says, his eyes glazed over in a way she’s seen too many times before. Whatever happened eleven years ago was still happening inside of Teddy. She knew it was time to leave. Standing up slowly from the bar stool, Chaerin quietly made her way out of the bar.

- - -

Author's Note: Hello, sorry this chapter was a little late. The next chapter will be updated by the end of this weekend and will be a lot lighter than the last few chapters so look forward to that. I hope you are enjoying the story so far, thank you so much to all of the new subscribers and everyone who supports and reads this story! Thank you so much to everyone who comments and please keep commenting. I love reading them and seeing what you all thought about the chapters.   

Any predictions on what might happen next?