Ji Hyun’s POV

I was busy cradling Hani in my arms trying to get her to sleep. She wasn’t hard to handle, she was relatively quiet for a baby her age. It’s just that every time I would lay her down in her crib for her to rest, she always looked at me with wide and urgent eyes, the exact replica of her father’s.

It haunted me every time she looked at me that way. So every time I would try and leave her for a little while, I would always find myself rushing back to her just to check that she was okay.

I was humming a soft lullaby to her and found myself feeling at ease when I saw her eyelids start to slowly droop shut. Her small mouth made an “o” shape when she yawned and soon enough her eyes finally gave in and I knew she was finally fast asleep.

As I was laying her into her crib I heard a creak coming from behind me and I knew who just happened to walk in.

“How was work?” I asked him knowing that he was very much stressed with the workload that was given to him lately. It’s hard enough that Abeoji decided to give make me the new CEO of YGEX but having to pass it over to Mark during my pregnancy was a bit too much for him to handle.

“You know. The usual. Papers here. Sign here. Letter of authorization needed here. Really. I imagined myself to be an independent business man managing one of my grandfather’s branches. But here I am, busy running errands for my wife. Because she is apparently too busy taking care of our beloved daughter.” Mark complained and I turned to him to shoot him a very much deserved glare.

“That’s what you get for practically lying to me for the course of six months. If you told me earlier about your prior engagement to our grandfathers none of this would have happened.” I told him and he nodded in reply. Before peeking over into Hani’s crib.

“Even if our grandfathers never reached this agreement. I would still love Hani the same way as I do now.” He told me and gently her cheek before turning to face me.

“We’re heading back to Seoul in two months. Are you ready to go back? Once we finalize everything here. You and I are going to have to face a whole new battle there.” He told me and I heaved out a sigh before nodding in reply.

“I know Mark. I’m just worried. Because now I’m the not the only person affected by the choice we’ve made. But another one has to be dragged into this mess as well.” I said and quickly looked over to my daughter who was sleeping soundly away in her crib.

Lu Han’s POV

“...On other news, just a year after being formally announced into the business industry Kwon Ji Hyun has managed to not only establish YGEX in Japan but she has made the company one of the fastest rising industries in history. Many foreign investors have already offered various offers to the company in hopes of owning possible shares in its rising boom. Many have said th-...”

Not wanting to hear anything else about her I quickly shut off the flat screen television that was in my office before turning back to the contracts that were sprawled all over my table.

As I was going over the contracts on my table. I caught a glimpse of a photo that was sticking out from one a stack of folders that came from my old office in Woolim Industries.

I gently took the corner of the photo that was peeping through and took a good hard look at it. It was a photo of Ji Hyun and I on our first time our together. Icing was spread all over our faces and I was staring at her in awe.

I mused at the photo reminiscing over the memories that we shared together. I knew for a fact that I still loved her. If not I wouldn’t feel so betrayed every time I heard her name being mentioned over the news.

Every time I saw or heard anything that would fall in relation to her I constantly found myself feeling my chest tighten with the pang of something missing inside. As cliché as it may sound she took a piece of my heart with her when she left without a word.

No. She didn’t leave me. Because if she did I would have seen it coming. I would have at least sensed that she was going to walk away from me at some point. She would have said good bye. To feel like someone left you would mean that you saw them make that first step away from you. Because if she really did leave me, the moment she turned away from me I would have found a way to latch myself onto her not letting her escape from my grasp.

I would have never given her the chance to escape. Because that is how much I love her. I just can’t seem to let her go.

But no. She didn’t walk away from me. She didn’t leave me. She didn’t say good bye. She just evaporated into thin air. Letting look like a fool at the Amphitheatre , worrying where she could have gone, the first news that reached my ears was her engagement to Mark. Clearly she saw this as something more important. Something more important than us.

I crumpled up the picture of us together and threw it skillfully towards the trash bin to my left. Just as I did my secretary buzzed in a new message for me.

“President Lu? Your grandfather is here to sign the final contracts regarding the transfer of SM Industries to you Sir.” She said and I pressed the pager button to reply to her immediately.

“Send my Abeoji in.” I said and with that I was faced by the same old man that I used to fear each and every part of the day before. He flashed me a quick smile before sitting down in one of the seats in front of me.

“You have come a long way Lu Han. Now that your president. These are my words of advice for you. Love is a weakness. Love nothing and strive for power. Do you understand?” He said and I looked at him squarely in the eye only to find that he was dead serious about what he just said.

“Neh Abeoji. Thank you for the advice.” I said and handed over the folder containing the final details of transfer.

"The Choice We've Made will not only affect us anymore, It will affect everything we have ever held dear and will wreck the system we were brought into."

Sequel to: It's a Choice Between Love and Tradition

***CREDIT: Once Upon A Time for the advice of Lee Soo Man, From Rumplestiltskin