“Yunho you better behave properly with her.” Mrs Jung whispered harshly as she sipped on her wine.

“it is very important for us to clinch the alliance with the Kwons.” His father emphasised to the cold man.

The entire family was in a fancy 7 star restaurant for their meeting with the girl’s family. They had arrived 15 minutes early and had were sipping on expensive wine till the rest of the party arrived and they would order their expensive-microscopic-portions-of-food. Though really, Yunho’s parents were just going on and on about this girl.

“Jihye? Is that you?” a young man, around Jihye’s age exclaimed.

“Kangin-ah, it’s been so long.” Jihye stood up and hugged the man she called Kangin, though Yunho could see a tell-tale blush on his sister’s cheeks. “what are you doing here?”

“Ah! I just had a meeting with a client and was about to leave. Say, do you want to go to the bar? Catch up over a drink?” Kangin invited.

Jihye blushed more and turned to her parents, “mom, he’s my friend from high school. Can I go with him? I’ll be back by dinner.” The old couple gave their permission faking interest since they couldn’t care less.

Yunho was the important person here.

Jihye had gone with her friend, whilst chatting animatedly on the way to the restaurant bar. A few minutes later, a waitress escorted two women to their table, an older one and a younger one.

Mrs Jung rose from her seat to lightly hug the older woman before turning to the younger one. “My! Boa, you look gorgeous!” Mrs Jung complimented though she would say it even if the woman wore a trash bag. After exchanging pleasantries, they took their seats.

However, before Yunho’s could land on the chair, his mother halted his movement by a claw-like arm on his bicep. “Yunho, why don’t you and Boa go for a walk?”

“oh yes,” Boa’s mother interjected, “I hear they redesigned the outdoor landscape. You two should explore it and take this opportunity to get to know each other.”

Yunho resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the over-used antic. Boa however didn’t hesitate to roll her eyes. She unceremoniously grabbed the glass of wine and stood up and called Yunho to follow with a flick of wrist.

The deluded adults thought their plan had worked.

~~~            

To say it was awkward was the least.

After gulping down the wine in one go and dumping the empty glass on the filled tray of a waiter, Boa had chosen to maintain silence through the walk in the garden.  Yunho thought he would admire the ‘redesigned landscape’ but that was far from happening. Apparently while renovating, they didn’t think that lights would be necessary. So it was total darkness with the lights of the restaurant coming through the windows for lighting up the cobble path.

Yunho ran a hand on his face and decided to end this thing.

“look if you don’t want this , join the club. Let’s just go and tell them it’s not working out. It will spare us a lot trouble, really.” Yunho complained.

Abruptly Boa who was a few steps ahead of Yunho turned around and looked at him inquisitively. “do you perhaps have someone you like?” she asked.

Yunho didn’t want to disclose that he not only has someone he likes but also has a son. He didn’t want his parents to know that he was aware about Changmin. His parents had kept it from him that Jaejoong was pregnant and as long as they don’t feel any danger from Jaejoong and Changmin, they are safe. So Yunho just nodded, “and you too? You wouldn’t behave rebellious if you didn’t.”

Boa broke into a self-deprecating laugh, “it’s pitiful really. I love my best friend but he doesn’t see me as more than a friend.” She had tears welled in her eyes which Yunho could see even in the darkness, “I’m such a joke. I’m scared to tell him or I will lose even our friendship. I’m just a coward.”

“then tell him.” Boa looked irritated when Yunho said that.

“have you been listening at all?”

“Boa-ssi, could you perchance think that your friend feels the same way?”

Boa looked contemplative, “well, he did save me from that drunk guy once and he’s quite possessive when I interact with other men.’ She smiled a bit, “he threw a fit when I told him I’m meeting you today.”

Yunho found himself smiling as well, “then there’s a possibility that your fears are misplaced.” Yunho walked towards an alternate exit away from the restaurant building. “I’m at my limits Boa-ssi. I don’t want this life. It’s too painful. If you don’t want to end up with this pain, I suggest you go now and confess to your friend.”

Boa smiled, “then let’s make a pact.” She took his hand and Yunho was surprised by the move, “I’ll confess to him if you go back to your lover. Let’s put aside our fears Yunho-ssi. Let’s fight for our loves.” Yunho was smiling now that he felt encouraged.

“yes, let’s fight for our loves.”

~~~

Yunho ran through the palatial house like a bat out of hell. He didn’t even acknowledge the house staff’s greetings and was heading towards his bedroom.

After dropping off Boa at her friend’s place, the two wished each other luck and parted. Yunho hoped it would work our well for her while he utilised his new-found determination to escape his filial hell-hole.

Yunho grabbed a suitcase and rummaged through his old belongings. He didn’t want anything from his parents’ money, so he only took what held value to him. Anything precious to his heart was in the boxes from his childhood. He took the albums dumped them in the black suitcase. He looked through the old toys to see if there was anything worth passing on to his son. He found an old chess board he used to play with his grandfather and oddly Jaejoong’s doll. He put those in the suitcase and then searched in the clothes box. The more