He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nevertheless, he had mastered the great pokerface over the years of his rule. The fact that the information came his way through the phone only made it easier to hide his surprise. Obviously it had been a personal purchase instead of a company approved one. If it had been any other thing, jewellry, clothes, cars, amongst others, he wouldn't have even flinched. His son is human too and he sometimes liked to indulge in these too. But knowing Won, the Chairman knew he would rarely see this purchases. So when it did happen, he would be there, on the sidelines, hoping he would get himself a little more. 

This time however, the purchase had been a little out of the ordinary and not to mention expensive. He was surprised to receive the call from an old friend that morning but had thought nothing of it because Lee HyongJong go way back and even when progress came, he trusted nobody else with the security systems."Send me a copy of the invoice, I would really appreciate it..." 

Lee Ahjussi would have been lying if he had said he hadn't hesitated. Kim Nam Yun is an old friend, one that stemmed not only to their partners but also to their children as well. When the kids were little, they had had play dates at each other's homes and when they had the time to, abroad as well. So he knew full well how both of his friend's children are. He didn't ask much these days since they were all adults and the little that he did know came from his son and daughter but still he was surprised to be the one that Won had reached out to first instead of the other way around. "The young.." He thought, "...never have time for the old, never look back when there's so much in front of them for them to grasp."

And when it had turned out not to just be a social call, he had wondered even more. "Now what would a young man like that would want to have anything to do with an old one like me?" But when they did meet up, he was charmed by Won's air of control, reminding himself that this was the same boy that had cried when he had fallen off his bike and scraped his knee. 

There was no delaying the reason that Won had wanted to see him. It had been a business call as well as a social one when the young man had laid out the floor plans for a shop he hadn't heard before. And from the looks of it, it had bee located in a shut in place too, a back alley. The young man asked if it was going to be doable and he ha said that it was no problem at all. He could send a team out there and get it done in a second. The grown up chuckle that the young man had emitted scared him even more. Time was ticking and his was running out fast. 

When they had parted ways, they shook each other's hand and the young man had promised him his payment that very day. When he saw the bank statement however, he had gotten curious. He too felt it was weird that the payment came from the man's personal account instead of being cut from the annual budget of the company. 

What could have been so special about this bookshop that he had wanted surveillance all around the area and a high tech security system on top of that? By the end of the day, his curiosity reached a burning point and he thought it could be a good thing to get in touch with his old friend again. True enough, the man had not told him to keep quiet, just that it be done as soon as possible. 

And by the end of the night, both friends knew exactly what Kim Won had been up to. And the very next day, he was summoned the way he always was whenever things hadn't run smoothly, at least not by the Chairman's standards. Lee HyongJong had felt a slight guilt but like most things these days, he had forgotten about it soon enough. Because when you're old, life's already too short to hold on to things. 

...

The reason why Won had reached out to Lee Ahjussi and not Hoseok, his friend was for the fact that he knew the former would ask less question. But he shoud have known better than to not have reminded the old man to keep it just between the both of them. He gave the oak double doors  a sharp knock. Even before he heard the throaty voice reply with a "come in" he had already let himself slip through the doors and head straight for the chair opposite his abuji. If the elder had notice this subtle bit of rebellion, he hadn't shown it. Instead, he just silently slid the invoice over to Won. 

He guessed old bonds are hard to break, especially between two, rich, old men, waiting for their time. He pretended to scan the document, even though he had already seen the whole thing the night before, when he was seated on the computer in SooJin and his' bedroom finalizing the whole thing. The entire time he tried to act as normal as possible so SooJin won't have the suspicion or the urge to lean over and look over his shoulder to see what he was up to. 

He was after all, doing this behind his back. Thankfully, SooJin had been busy on her own laptop, her fingers flying through the keys. If he had had to guess, she was working on a story idea or a story board, whatever you called them. She tended to do that. He had noticed, that even when they were out she would pull out a little book that she had in her bag to write something down. It was too long and paragraphed to be a to do list or a note to self. And if she hadn't had her book with her,she would grab a paper towel and write everything down there.

Once, she had caught him staring and with a smile, she had said, "It's faster to write every detail down....typing it up in your phone is slower and when the idea comes, it stops by only for a second. So, to not lose any detail, it's faster to just write." He couldn't help but smile but remembering where he was, he tried to relax his expression once again. 

She was going to bring her stubborn self to the table if she found out what he had been doing behind her back, insisted that it was too much. No, he couldn't let her know. Why did he feel the need to do this anyway? But then one look at where SooJin was perched on the bed, laptop on her lap the bracelet he had gotten her twinkling in the lowlight emitted by the device made everything seem worth it. So long before SooJin had shut her laptop down, the invoiced had already been emailed to his personal email. 

"Why were you looking into security systems?" He nearly blurted out that it was none of the old man's business. But looking at the look on his abuji's face, he knew that by doing so, he would have earned himself a slap across the face. 

"It's for SooJin's shop, for safety." All the truth. Withholding information doesn't count as lying so his abuji can't fault him for that. The old man understood well enough and nodded readily. Okay, your excuse is accepted, the nod had said.

But wait, why would the shop need further protection? This was the question lingering in the Chairman's mind and exactly what Won had been afraid would be asked of him. Nothing could deter the old man as he was used to speaking his mind. His son however, had been force to think of an answer that was sufficient enough to convince him. 

Instead of the articulate, excuse that Won had wanted to tell his abuji, what came out of his mouth sounded juvenile and totally unconvincing. "Just..for safety... In case something happens..." The look on his abuji's face told him that he won't be fooled. 

"In order to get to this train of thought, something must to have happened. What is it then?" His abuji was challenging him, sitting there, in his comfy seat. And once again, Won had that overwhelming urge to tell him it wasn't any of his business. 

But the two ended up just sitting there, the Chairman in a resilient silence and Won in the antsy pose he thought he had left in his childhood. He weighed up his options, thinking about the best route that he could take. Trying as hard as he could, he couldn't deny that being truthful was the only way to go in this situation. Hopefully, he would be left off lightly this time. 

So that's what he did. At first he had told his abuji about the threats that SooJin had gotten, but as he was relaying everything to his abuji, he found that it was hard to stop and so everything just naturally tumbled out, including the culprit behind everything and the reason for the harassment. By the end of it all, both father and son were seething as the two had come to be very protective of SooJin. And the Chairman, in turn had been impressed by his son's actions. 

Won had been glad someone else knows, but he didn't know just to what extent. He had no idea of knowing that that day would end up with him officially moving back into his old room and having a pillow thrown at him. He only knew that he was glad his abuji understood and now he didn't have to bear the burden of the secret alone. And, he felt the lightness in his chest when he was excused and was allowed to leave the room.

....

SooJin, like Won had suspected, had taken herself off the internet and had turned her attention towards something else entirely. She had been assured by everyone back at the office that they didn't need her and that filming was going smoothly. Pretty soon, they would be entering the editing phase. Everyone had sent their congrats and told her to expect baskets of gifts once she returned to the office. They also told her, rather suggestively that she better enjoy the week with her soon to be husband to the fullest, doing whatever their hearts desired before the baby comes. 

And when she had snapped, "What baby?!" the entire office gave her a tactful merong before hanging up the phone. Alone then and not knowing what to do with herself since she was so used to having something to do. She had turned to what she did best, writing stories. She asked herself, if she could write about anything right then, what would it be? 

Way too many was the answer, but then, she decided to take inspiration from reality and wrote about a girl who had her entire life upended inside out. The story about this girl, Maria started out as a short story and just like any piecer that is started out for fun, it started taking the life of its own. Pretty soon, she had mapped out the beginning, ascent, , descent and the ending. She paid extra attention to the ending because she knew that to be a good storyteller, you needed to know the ending first, so you can craft your way there. 

Maria, would move to Seoul, with nothing much but a degree in graphic design, and a small, freelance business. All because she had caught the eye of an entertainment company producer. There, she would find that fame isn't what it was made out to be, but in the process, she would find herself falling for someone wholly unexpected, someone she had tried to avoid with everything in her being. 

Satisfied with the ending, she closed her laptop with a little smile. She could already feel the throbbing of a headache coming on in the back of her head. This happens truly to every storyteller working with a screen. Even when with the proper glasses, the bluelight would still be damaging, at the end of the day. It was around noon then and her stomach had been an equal factor as to why she had decided to quit it for the time being. 

So that was why one of the house attendant had found her in the kitchen, eating a sandwich when the house attendant had been tasked to deliver a message from the Chairman. "The Chairman wants to see you..." She said politely before sauntering off to her work. SooJin dusted sandwich crumbs off her hands and covered the remaining food with another plate. 

Her knocks on the door were soft and unassuming, nervous even. Why had she been summoned on that fine day? The look she saw on the Chairman's face told her nothing. She wanted to say he looked angry but then there was something sad about the way he was looking at her. She almost didn't hear him tell her to sit down, but she intuitively did so anyway. 

The Chairman was contemplating something, she knew. All she could do was to stop herself from fidgeting too much below the oak table. The silence made her uncomfortable and in the presence of the Chairman, it had the added effect of making you feel like you've done something wrong, like a school child. Thankfully, the Chairman broke the silence the moment that it became too unbearable. And the first thing he had said didn't make any sense to SooJin. But at least, she was keeping herself distracted from the anxiousness. 

"Why did you keep it a secret from us?" 

She had genuinely no idea what secret he was talking about, just the same way that Won genuinely hadn't thought about also telling his abuji that SooJin wasn't supposed to know. Before she could even answer his question with one of her own, the Chairman had continued. "I used to have so much respect for Manse Group. Of course, knowing the Chairman ever since I was little...but I would never have thought..." The shake of his head conveyed his disapproval. It also sent an uneasy feeling through SooJin. She had an idea what this was all about, but even as she was thinking it, she didnt think it was possible. No one was supposed to know. No one knew. Unless...

"But I never told anyone...no one except...." She let the sentence hang and as she expected, the Chairman finished it for her. 

"Yes, yes. I know, it's none of my business. But something this serious, the both of you can't just keep it to yourselves. Actions need to be taken. And I already talked to our team of lawyers." Still, SooJin couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was too much of a shock to her system, when everything that day had gone almost idyllicly normal. Now here was a new slap to the head that she needed to deal with. 

"About the bookshop...it's...I can handle it.." It was like her brain had lost its steam in that short amount of time and had turned to mush. What else could she say? This was a battle she would much prefer to fight on her own. It was...afterall...her family. 

"Threats? Vandalism? Trespassing?Destruction of property? I believe legal actions should be taken now." No. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was worse than being a student, face to face with the principal. This, felt like she had been stripped and paraded through a crowd of people. She was embarassed, ashamed of what she had gone through, and most of all, she was angry. 

She caught snippets of what the Chairman had said next but mostly, she was seeing red. "We will confront them of course, but we need proof...Won did a good job on that." This part particularly caught her attention. Won had done what? As if he hadn't done enough until then. 

"Won?" she vaguely remembered hissing. 

"Yes, anything that we could catch on the CCTVs or even if the security system does its job and we could get some witnesses, then we could do something legally." As much as the Chairman had expected her to feel grateful at this point, all SooJin could feel was a violation so strong that she felt sick. And so, not remembering whether or not she had excused herself or whether she had said anything before leaving, she practically staggered across the space, legs weak from what she had heard and pushed her way out the door. 

Outside, she almost bumped into the Chairwoman who was taken aback by the blank stare on her face, but she didn't care. Despite the expression devoid of emotions, she was boiling on the inside. Did he tell his father about the reason behind it too? Probably did since he can't seem to fight back most of the time when it came to the Chairman.

She stalked her way upstairs and just as she expected, Won was seated at the PC in their room. Lately, the two had shared use of the space, with Won sneaking out in the middle of the night, long after she had fallen asleep to go sleep who knows where. But in that moment, she couldn't even bear to look at him. The way that he was so unconcerned, so oblivious to her anger made her boil even more. She reached for what was closest to her, a throw pillow and did exactly what its name had implied. It hit Won squarely on the head and now the two have the matching ringing in their ears as Won turned to her, shock written all over his face. 

"What.." He sounded breathless, staring at her wide-eyed. 

"How could you?" She growled, not caring how crazy she looked. And all Won could do was repeat the same question again and it made her want to punch a hole through the wall. "You told him. You told him and never bothered to even tell me first." Realization showed on his face and that confirmed everything, meant that it was real to her brain. 

"Listen....I..." Won began but SooJin wouldn't let him. Something that people always said about being careful with the quiet ones interrupted her blind rage for a moment. But she couldn't care less. She had thought that maybe he would respect her wishes and not do anything like this. Apparently she had set her expectations way too high again. And in the end, she was the one who ended up getting hurt. This was unorgivable. Just because he had the money to do something doesn't mean that he should. Which reminds her...

"You rigged the bookstore with CCTVs too? Well you might as well ask me to sign the deed over to you!" She let her arms fall to her sides in exasperation. At this point Won was getting annoyed too at being bombarded by all of this when he didn't have the chance to explain himself yet. And by then, he was feeling an anger of his own. His, was directed at the Chairman. Why did his abuji have to interfere with everything?

"What are you talking about?! It's not like I'm doing anything that is going to hurt the store more." SooJin couldn't believe what she was hearing. 

"Huh, so everything I have been doing has been hurting the store huh?" She was well aware that their voices were starting to get shriler by the second and that in a house like that, voices would travel. She didn't care. It felt good to let off some steam and it felt good to shout. 

"Oh...I get it...I'm not competent enough? I haven't been doing my job?! Is that is?!" They were eye to eye now, not wanting to give in. 

"You know that's not what I'm saying! I just....want to help, that's all!" He felt like there was an injustice against him and he too, wanted a hole through the wall.

"Then what is it?!" She was fighting back tears. She hated it when people resorted to tears when arguing, so she was going to hold herself to a higher standard than that. "You don't have the right." the flame in her was starting to come down a little but she still couldn't get rid of the glower on her face. 

Won was huffing and puffing, the only way he knew how to diffuse some of the emotions he was feeling. He felt guilty too, not knowing how hard SooJin was going to take it, but he still thought he did a good thing. So why then was she blowing up in his face like this? "Look, I wanted to help okay? And if we could do something now, it won't affect the bookstore as much later." She hadn't said anything, listening to the angry beat of her heart in her ears. He took this as a signal to carry on. 

"And I know...it was wrong of me not to ask for permission..." He looked at her with a pained expression. "I'm sorry." He sounded sincere, but she was simmering still. She couldn't just let this one go. It was too personal, cut too deep to be able to do that.

"Just...get out...go away...don't come near me..." She held up a wavering hand, shaking her head. Even then, she had her attention directed to a spot on the floor near the bed. She couldn't bear to look at him. She was afraid that if she did, the anger would flare up again. But she was exhausted and all she wanted was "....space...give me, some space. Please....If you still respect me enough to respect that wish..." She held up a weak hand before sinking onto the offensively soft bed and holding herself together with a self-hug. 

There was nothing else to say, or do and Won slipped out the door with a sigh. It had been the first time that they had fought like this and it gave him these chest pains and all of a sudden the huge mansion felt all the more suffocating. 

...

The madame had been on her way to get a glass of water when she had come across the two fighting. But she was tactful enough to not interfere and when things had quieted down enough, she crept away noiselessly. That water would have to wait. She had to make a slight detour. Unlike everyone else in the house, she didn't bother to knock. Inside, the Chairman was already in a heated conversation with the Chairwoman. 

"Yah, I heard the two fighting upstairs." The click clacking of her heels although already synonymous with the madame's presence still annoys the Chairwoman. But right then, what had gotten the couple's attention was what the madame had said. To the madame however, it was so weird to gather the rapt attention of both persons. The two were normally the important persons in the entire house and their attention was not easy to get. 

So amazed was she in fact, that she had completely forgotten why she had made a detour in the first place. "Mwoya.." Both her hands flew to her heart. "....why are you two so shocked?" 

The Chairwoman was taking none of it. She had not only witnessed SooJin walk out in a zombie like state, as if she didn't know what was going on around her, but now, there was talk of the two fighting. There was no question on who the two were since anything that everyone in the house could talk about was about the engaged couple. Even the madame, who usually favours her son had gone on to wedding talks. 

"Stop it and tell us what you heard." The way the Chairwoman had looked so eagerly to her had rendered the madame speechless and without knowing it, she had recounted everything that had happened, from the moment she had rounded the corner upstairs to when she had ran downstairs to the office. 

The response was somewhat disappointing since the Chairwoman had retreated into her own little bubble of thought and the Chairman although usually stoic, had done some thinking of his own. In response to that, the madame had given the Chairman a hard smack on the arm. "Stop that! So what are we going to do now?!" The question was addressed to both husband and wife but she might as well have asked the walls because the two ended up just staring at her. On account that the two had their thinking faces on a.k.a they looked to be glaring at her, she had decided that it would be bette for her to just keep quiet.

"That is weird..." The Chairwoman was the first to speak. "I wonder..." Truth be told, she had done some reasoning in her head and she could only come to one conclusion. In the house, trouble usually comes with one common denominator. She directed her attention slowly towards him then and knowing that there were eyes on him and sensing that he might have something to do with it. All he could do was to pull himself loose from under the table, just in case he had to run. As much as the two couldn't stand each other, he was aware, in that moment he was severely outnumbered. 

"Did you.. perhaps...maybe....possibly...have anything to do with this?" The Chairwoman's glare was enough to turn anyone into stone and that was exactly what had happened to her husband just then.

"Don't tell me.." This time it was the madame, with her arms across her chest and her crimson mouth trembling in anger. "Did you interfere again?" Both women had their attention on him now and he just wished he was fit enough to run. 

Instead, he cleared his throat, tried to sound as dignified as possible and with as much confidence as he could muster said, "I did not. In fact, Won had taken the initiative to actually do something this time." Encouraged by the power of what he had said, already half convincing himself that he wasn't in the fault here, he brought both hands down onto the oak table. 

"Is it wrong to want to help one's son further?" Then another thought came to mind. "And you must understand how hard it is on our future daughter in law to be in such a situation." The women stared in disbelief. 

"This old man must have lost his mind..." The madame growled. 

"You're crazy if you think we know what you're talking about right now." Which was might as well since the Chairman's recount of what had happened was interrupted by the madame. 

"Well..." Just as he was about to appease the two very angry women however, he was once again interrupted. This time, with a loud bang as the door swung open and he had to bring a hand up to steady his already weak heart. 

"Abuji, how could you do this?!" His son roared and he wondered what was wrong now. "She wasn't supposed to know! How could you tell her?!" The Chairman is sweating at this point and he figured the best way was to just keep his mouth shut until everyone has calmed down. 

When he didn't get the response he wanted from his abuji, all Won could do was the petty act of pushing stuff off the great oak table and despite himself, the crashing sound sent a shiver of satisfaction through him and as the cherry on top, he left the room with a bang which made the parents flinch in unison. "Oh! That little..." The Chairman growled, forgetting that he was still in the presence of the two women. "I swear, that door is going to break pretty soon." He heaved a relieved sigh not knowing he was still in trouble. 

The clearing of a throat to his side brought him back to reality and that had been the one of the very first time that he genuinely felt his blood run cold. "He looked to one side, where the madame had her arms crossed with a glare that could cut anyone. And when he turned to his other side, it wasn't any better. The look on his wife's face could bring on the apocalypse and he knew that he was in trouble. 

"What did you do this time?" His wife growled. 

"Did you interfere again?" The madame took her turn. 

"I just wanted to help..." He cleared his throat to assert some kind of authority but he might as well just kept quiet. Because then, he probably won't get a knuckle to each side of the head. No matter how hard he cried out or complained that he had a heart condition on top of all his other medical conditions, the two simply reminded him he should have taken better care of his own health instead of complaining now. Only the clack clack clack of their heels could be head when they both stormed out of the room. But what could he do when he was already involved. All he could do was call off the meeting. Thankfully it hadn't been long since he asked for it. And if anything, he knew Chairman's rarely had the time. 

...

She was pretty sure that this was the reason why rich people had heart conditions. But they were so rich that they could manage to stay alive even then. She needed to take a walk she was pretty sure because even with the winter air coming in through the window she had cracked open wasn't helping the flush in her cheeks the very least. 

Her heart was still racing even when she had only been seated on the bed after kicking Won out. She started taking deep breaths, trying to stop the room from spinning. And at this exact moment, her phone had called out to her, indicating that a message had been sent. It wasn't the best of time to have someone reach out to her. But then again, it could be something urgent from work. 

She then changed her mind and thought that maybe it would distract her enough so she would calm down. She reached over for her phone, deciding to settle on the bed instead. Why not? Might as well get comfy, prop her feet up. When she looked at the message however, she felt her head start to throb again. Why, does it have to do with Kim Won? Why does everything have to be about the heir to Jeguk Group. 

HyeonJu had messaged her to let her know that they hoped to see the couple day after tomorrow, if they were available. Time: 730 p.m. Dress code: Dinner casual. 

SooJin sighed. What could she do? She couldn't just ignore HyeonJu and she would feel too sorry to lay all her grievances on the lady. So she replied. What had gone through her mind was that if Won was busy with HyeonJu, then she could finally do her own thing. Maybe she could be free. 

Her reply had been short and sweet, because that was the only thing she could manage. 

"That would be great! I will tell Won. See you there!" 

It had sounded overly cheerful and fake to her but if she hadn't answered that way, she felt like she would have been way too impolite, since all she wanted to say was a monosyllable : nae.

...

Hyeon Ju hadn't been sure about all of this but she felt like she had no choice. She chuckled bitterly. Just when she thought she had gotten her life. It seems like she would never have a choice, ever. Despite being comfortable with Jae Ho, she couldn't just erase whatever feelings that had been between her and Won. So even while getting ready, she wasn't sure this double date was a very good idea after all. 

Jae Ho, on the other hand had been humming with excitement. At the moment, he had been picking out the shirt he would wear with his suit. He had changed for four to five times already and hopefully, this would be the last time. "Chagiya!" He slid into the room, doing a 360 turn. "What do you think?" Despite being in deep thought before that, she had to force a smile and said that he looked great. Given, she didn't really care because she liked him in anything that he wore. 

"Hmmm...you know what, I think I'll wear that first one..." He said with a determination in his eyes. He came over to her then, with a smile. "Mian...I just wanted to match my beautiful girlfriend...." He gave her the tight hug that she loved and did a little whine into her shoulder. He gave her shoulder a little kiss and as HyeonJu watched their reflection in the mirror, she couldn't help the fluttery feelings in her stomach. 

She clearly had strong feelings for JaeHo. Why then did it matter that she was meeting Won? There was nothing between them now, because she loves someone else now. She can't love two people at the same time right? She held his hand in both of hers as if she was afraid that the feelings would disappear when he pulled away. And she brought it up to give his knuckles a fluttering kiss before letting it rest on her shoulder. All the while, she didn't let go. Still unsure. Still afraid. 

...

Won, on the other hand, had worries of his own. Since the fight that they had a few days ago, the two hadn't spoken to each other. Not face to face, at least. SooJin had texted him once, and that was only to tell him that HyeonJu had set the date for their dinner. He couldn't help but groan at the information. This wasn't something he could deal with right then. He was already busy dealing with an angry fake fiancee so he couldn't be dealing with his ex at the same time. 

When he had seen her at the bakery, his system had gotten into a shock, just by seeing someone that he had dated, made his heart jump. But the shock too had come from how 'fine' and 'okay' he felt. After they broke up, he thought that he would go insane if he saw her with someone else besides him, couldn't bear the thought of it. He couldn't believe what he had seen and for a split second he had felt his heart nearly beat out of his chest and couldn't help but hate the guy a little. 

Then again, he was surprised at how fast the indifference had set in. It didn't even take the entire day. Huh? Maybe he had just been preoccupied, what with the engagement party coming and all. Wait. He had to bring his mind back. Why would he care what happened to the engagement party? First of all, they had an event planner for that. And second of all, this engagement wasn't real. 

He had dressed himself in a turtle neck under his suit and had waited out in the foyer for SooJin, feeling himself sweat. He had picked this outfit out for the dresscode, but also because he wanted to be warm. But seeing as how even the palms of his hands were already slick with sweat, maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. 

He was thinking that he still had time to go and change, but all of that went out the window when he heard the clack clack clack of heels come down the stairs. He didn't know why he felt the room spinning and he had to blink to get himself together, but all he could see was SooJin, trying not to fall down the stairs with the heels she had on. 

SooJin, on her part, had chosen a white off the shoulder blouse with short sleeves that had the cabbage cut on its sleeves and the cropped hem barely showed any skin because of the high waisted jeans with the sailor buttons running on each side, the type that was usually on school blazers that made two lines of buttons down the front. For foot wear, she had chosen something unusual, especially for SooJin's style which had been strappy white heels that buckled on the ankle. Her hair was up in a messy bun with a few stray strands coming down that Won was itching to touch. He didn't know why, but he wanted to do it. 

All of a sudden, his persperation intensified. "You ready to go?" When she got closer, he noticed the faint pink eye makeup and the slight tint of her lips. In that moment, he didn't think he needed the help of the red heart shaped earrings or the dainty diamond necklace she was wearing to get anyone's attention. She could easily get anyone to turn in her direction. 

Before she put on the long jacket, probably her only defense against the cold, he had spied the daisy bracelet on her wrist and it made his heart jump. Turns out she wasn't waiting for his answer. She walked ahead of him and all the way to the restaurant, the car ride had been a silent one. SeungHo had found it weird that the two weren't talking or even looking at each other but he was too busy wanting to go home. The three were in Won's car. SeungHo was supposed to drive them to the restaurant, hand the car over to the valet and walk home from there. 

Up until they arrived at the restaurant, the two hadn't talked, with SooJin not being bothered enough, and with Won being afraid he might mess up if he opened his mouth. The only semblance of normality was when Won held his arm out for SooJin and despite everything, she still took it. So the two walked in to see that the other couple was already seated. There wasn't a need to even ask for assistance since Jae Ho had immediately waved them over. "Over here!" Everyone turned to see who it was but lost interest in a second. 

Won, however, couldn't take his eyes off HyeonJu and couldn't stop the twinge in his heart. The two walked over and sat across from HyeonJu and JaeHo. The couple, all the while, wasn't aware that they were being watched. Not that it mattered. Whatever their stalker had come to find, they won't find that night. But by being a reporter, there had been days when a disguise was useful. That night, a waiter was the disguise of choice. 

Not noticing the weird waiter that was hovering close to them all the time, everyone at the table for four was preoccupied with their own problems. JaeHo, despite himself was trying to impress HyeonJu, HyeonJu was eyeing Won trying to test her feelings, SooJin looking from HyeonJu to Won trying to grasp their reactions to each other and Won, the one with the most on his mind had a million thoughts going through his mind. 

He hadn't really reacted as strongly as he thought to seeing his ex with another guy, but he would have prefered not to see it either. Because you can't really erase your feelings for someone immediately. That takes time. But maybe, his was beginning to. And so was hers. 

...

HyeonJu watched the two, trying to observe how they were interacting with each other. Trying to spot how and what Won had seen in her and if any of that had applied to herself back then. She noticed the little thing, the way that Won had instinctively put a portion of the food on SooJin's plate first before his. And the way he had moved the wine glass when it had gotten dangerously close to tipping over and the way he had discretely tugged at the napkin on her lap so it won't slip off. 

The way his eyes would constantly stray to the side to just watch her. Of course, she had no way of knowing that he was gauging SooJin's reaction to eating dinner with his ex. But she did notice the way he was angling himself closer to her and occasionally leaning in close to laugh along with her at whatever JaeHo was saying. Dinner was going great, if you don't include the eating portion. They were just mindlessly eating, for some of the time. But mostly, they were busy with their own thoughts. 

That is, until, SooJin's phone started vibrating. In the soft instrumental filled space, even a vibrating phone sounded jarring. She had tried to cover it with a smile, reaching into her bag to decline the call. But on the 7th or 8th time though, nobody could ignore it anymore and it was JaeHo who had first said something. 

"Um, do you want to get that? We won't mind if you do." He added the second part hurriedly and HyeonJu knew he didn't want to sound rude. She grabbed for his hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

SooJin nodded a thank you and everyone watched as she answered, most of all Won. HyeonJu and JaeHo tried to not make it obvious but it was hard not to when you consider the alarming tone that SooJin was speaking in. They could catch just a little bit of it, but they thought maybe there had been some kind of problem. 

"Yeoboseyo? Oh Hyuna ya...wae?" 

"Eh?! What?!" 

"Oh. Oh. Araeso... Unnie will be there." 

As she said this last part she was already grabbing for her things and putting on her coat. And by the time she hung up, she was already up off her seat and ready to go. "Wae? What's wrong?" Won looked alarmed at how she was acting. 

"It's the bookshop..." HyeonJu noticed then that was enough for him to understand what was happening. Something that only the both of them know. She felt the pinch in her heart but ignored it. "I'll go with you." He immediately got up, the two almost forgetting they weren't alone. SooJin went on ahead and like an afterthought, Won had turned to the other two and said, "Sorry, I'm so sorry but can we do this another time? Something just came up." He said. 

HyeonJu had a feeling that he would still go without the answer that JaeHo had to offer. "Yeah, sure...whatever it is, good luck." Because what else could you say? And just like that, Won hurried after SooJin. Without looking back. And HyeonJu felt that surety of a closure. She had to see Won. Soon. 

...

The drive over to the bookshop had been almost automatic. Won went as fast as he could, wishing he could go even faster. But by the time they pulled into a parking spot, around 15 minutes had past. Forgetting she was wearing heels, SooJin had half walked, half ran in the direction of the bookshop. Won who had suddenly remembered he should call the police had his phone to his ear as they ran. 

They could hear the ruckus before they saw it. The worst of it had been a couple of burning wood that was thrown here and there and some of the furniture was already catching on fire. In a bookstore, it was easy for it to spread. The growing fire was like a representation of anger that Won was feeling in his chest. 

"Yah!" He didn't know he had it in him to roar the way he did. And coincidentally the police rounded the corner just then and in the distance sirens could be heard. He was convinced that this was the only reason that the men had stopped what they were doing and had ran off as fast as they could. But he wasn't having it. Law or not, he wanted to grab a hold of them and smash their faces into the frozen ground. After everything that has happened that week, the crunch would sound so good. 

But when he had gotten a hold of one straggler, a police officer had intervened just in time to stop him. "Thank you, we'll take over from here." He grabbed a hold of the man and cuffed him before dragging him away. Another officer was asking for the owner and the part timer that had been working there. Already the place was cordoned off with firefighters at the scene. So they had to stand a little ways away to talk. 

Then they heard a wail from behind them and all he remembered from that night had been the way Hyuna's hair was disheveled with mascara running down her face and  snot running down her nose. But in that moment she didn't care. She was shaking too badly to care. 

SooJin immediately hugged had her in her arms, not hesitating to take her jacket off to put over the shivering Hyuna. It took a while for the girl to calm down and give her statement, but once it was done, SooJin had fallen into a deep thought with a sobbing Hyuna in her arms. When she had finally come to a conclusion, Won only remembered that it had been the first time that she had been willing to talk to him in days. 

"Won ah..." He whipped his head in surprise. " Can you abuji do something about this?" There was something angry in her gaze and of course, they both already know the answer to that. 

"I'll tell him right away." Before walking away to place two very important phone calls, one to Lee Ahjussi and one to his abuji, he took his coat off so that SooJin could have some cover and for his own reassurance too. He stalked off to somewhere less crowded and decided the course of their future. It was time that this all stopped. 

A/N : To the very few still sticking to this story, I thank you so so much for staying with it for as long as you have. But I feel this is reaching the end soon. Knowing me, it would probably drag on to around 10 more chapters? I think? But after this, I would like to write something with an original plot and original characters. The cast will be mentioned in the first chapter of course, but I don't know how everyone will react to it and if anyone would read it or not. But still, I wanted to try something new this year. Ah! The hint for the upcoming piece is in this chapter too. Btw, do you guys like k-pop?