I gently pulled the chair out and plonked myself onto it, letting the exhaustion wash over me. The past month had been crazy. I had to deal with a funeral, a lawsuit and the business. Life was certainly taking a toll on me as I sat there with dark eye rings, dishevelled hair and rough skin. 

"Hey."

I inhaled deeply before lifting my head up to look at my fiancé who was dressed in blue from top to bottom. This was the first time in four long weeks I was meeting him. Taking in his appearance, I felt my heart lurch as I realised that he was in no better state than I was; I guess it wasn’t easy for a rich boy to do time. Unable to find both the time and strength to face him without my heart shattering, I was the last person in his life who had yet to pay a visit since he started serving his sentence. All our family members had come by a couple of times and even all my friends dropped by for a chat as well. My cheerleading teammates Hoya, Dongwoo, Lizzy and Raina all came by and even Myungsoo had tagged along with Sungjong on his visit, updating me on the situation the moment we met up subsequently.

“How are you?” I asked, more out of formality than questioning since the answer was obvious by sight.

It seemed like Woohyun felt the same way as he ignored the query and began throwing concerned remarks back at me instead; making me feel like my old loving fiancé was back; almost.

“You look tired babe,” he gently began.

“Is the stress getting to you? I know how tough it gets for you when the pressure increases. It mustn’t have been easy for you to handle the emotional funeral, a trouble-causing fiancé’s lawsuit and on top of it bear the responsibility of thousands of employees and shareholders worldwide. I’m sure it hasn’t been…hasn’t been easy at all for you for the past month and…and…I’m so sorry babe.”

Woohyun started stammering towards the end as his hands placed on the table started trembling slightly. Observing his pained and guilty expression, I felt his genuine apology for the first time in ages. Was my Woohyun really back?

As the tears started flowing down his sunken cheeks, I knew I had my answer.

“I am really sorry for what I have done this past year. I know I’ve let everyone down; our parents and especially you. I’ve been nothing short of an and you have suffered. I made countless grave mistakes and you had to pay for it. I just wanted to say that I’m really really sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me but I want you to know that I regret each and every thing I’ve done and I promise to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

Staring at Woohyun who had his face within his palm and shoulders heaving with every heavy sob, I guess he has changed. Maybe, just maybe, something good did come out of his association with the two jerks at the end of the day; at the expense of their body. Woohyun had been my superman, swooping down to rescue me from the assault, leaving me unscathed apart from a few bruises and temporary mental and emotional damage. He had been in the neighbouring room the whole evening and had begun knocking the door down the instant he heard my first cry for help; he recognized my voice immediately. Apparently the sight of his two friends hurting me drove him mad with rage and acted as a wakeup call. Despite all the torment he had put me through for the past months, he still cared a lot for me. Despite all the fun times he had with Sungyeol and Sunggyu, he found out that they were no good for him.

However, his revenge spun out of control as he battered his ex-friends to an unconscious bloodied mess of broken bones and deep cuts. They were both sent to the hospital immediately and declared alive but badly injured; requiring dozens of stitches and were expected to face a long recovery period. The sentence for the physical assault was three years in prison and Woohyun had accepted it without any hassle. The victims knew that Woohyun was well-off and had attempted to persuade him to agree to a large sum of compensation in exchange for the case dropped. Our family lawyer had also offered to put up a strong case to defend Woohyun but he wanted no such thing. He stepped up as a man and informed our parents that he wanted to pay for his mistakes and would like to serve his sentence in jail with no special treatment, an option the adults were proud of him for taking. I personally applauded his choice as well, being able to recognize his mistakes and manning up to it instead of running away. I guess he was applying the same tactic here in trying to win me over; maybe he does deserve a second chance.

But of course, I did not voice out my thoughts, remaining quiet as I shot him a gentle gaze to show that I wasn’t as mad anymore. There was no way I could move on from what he had done just yet but maybe as they say; time will heal. Holding my gaze, I waited for him to calm down before we carried on with our conversation; fully utilizing half the time left of visiting.

“So how’s the business dear? I managed to catch you on the news in the evening. Sole heir of the empire; how’s that working out?”

“I’m struggling really. The shareholders and especially the media have been putting me down; doubting my ability to handle such a huge responsibility at such a young age. I hear bad remarks about me being in the position by pure relationship and that I was not actually capable of it. But I guess I’m doing an ok job…wait, are you having doubts?” I cut short my ranting as I glared at Woohyun who seemed to have a sly smile on his face.

“No way. I know you’ll do amazing; I know you. I’m just…worried about how you…feel. I mean, we’ve always been rather dependent on each other you know? Our lives were planned together; marriage, the business, everything. Our future was strategically planned, shaping all our actions thus far, including our different assigned courses to study and…I know how you hate it when things don’t go according to plan.”

I could only let out a soft chuckle and a nod of the head, acknowledging the characteristic of mine my fiancé knew so well.

“Also…you’re kind of lacking in the business theories aspect which is quite essential,” Woohyun commented while displaying a sorry look on his face.

“You’re absolutely right. But…I have Myungsoo to help.”

I hesitated telling him the truth, knowing how he viewed my close friend.

“He visited me you know.”

“Yeah I know, he told me.”

“He’s a great guy,” Woohyun stated in a matter-of-factly manner.

“He is,” I admitted without hesitation.

“So…how’s the two of you?”

“What do you mean?” I shot Woohyun a confused look.

“I mean…” he took a gulp before continuing the rest of his sentence.

“…are the two of you together?”

“What?!”

I was both shocked and pissed at his question; was this the only thing he had thought of while in jail? Seems like his possessive nature did not fade, acting like he still had rights over me. I can’t believe that after all that has happened, he was still jealous of Myungsoo.

“When will you stop your accusations Woohyun?”

My fiancé was immediately taken aback by my question, a pure look of shock painted his face.

“No no no no no,” a flustered Woohyun protested with the wave of his hands.

“No, I didn’t mean it that way at all.”

Woohyun bit his lips and turned his head away before continuing slowly, “I think…I think….the two of you are meant for each other.”

I stared at him wide orbed and waited for him to proceed.

“The only thing standing between the two of you was me wasn’t it? You have always been too sweet, kind and caring to have done anything to hurt me. If you weren’t already engaged to me, I’m sure the both of you would be together; I was simply in the way.

After all the horrible things I’ve done to you, the only thing I could wish for was someone to be there for you, to comfort you, to hold you tight and tell you that everything was alright; something I never failed to do before…before I became the monster that I am.

Seeing you cry breaks my heart and for the past months, I have been the cause of it. I know Myungsoo was there to wipe away those precious tears, together with your other friends and I’m grateful to them for that. Remember Myungsoo and I spoke when he came to visit? I thanked him; I thanked him for being there for you and I mean it.

We might have been destined for each other, we might have loved each other but what I’ve done; it’s absolutely unforgivable. Myungsoo is honestly a gentleman and you, a true noble princess. I drove you into his arms a million times and not once did he take advantage of it.

I love you a lot Yuri, but I doubt I can make you as happy as he can. He’s perfect Yuri, you can never find a better guy than that.”

I was left dumbfounded by his heartfelt confession. Amidst all the chaos happening in my life, I only saw Myungsoo as my saviour, my knight in shining armour; my close friend. He was the unwavering friend who was always there for me…could we really be something more? And…was this Woohyun’s way of saying that he was letting me go?

The ringing bell disrupted my thoughts, signalling the end of the twenty minutes. As Woohyun slowly got up to say goodbye, I shouted my parting words.

“I love you, Woohyun.”

Eyes b with touched tears, Woohyun gently placed his palm on the glass window before allowing the guard to tug his arm, ushering him back to his cell.

As I stood up to take my leave, I found my body weighing a ton lighter than when I had entered. Clutching my stomach with my right hand, I slowly walked out of the prison area, silently promising that I was going to wait for Woohyun.

With a click, the key had finally freed me from the handcuffs.