Chapter Eighteen

"Oh god, sorry I'm late," he apologized, running his fingers through his hair.

"It's fine, it's fine," she responded, dragging him inside the house. "Was it raining?"

He nodded and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I swear to god, I was going to bring my umbrella, but I forgot it when I left home."

"Go take a shower. The food's in the oven."

"Together?" he smirked.

She leaned in and smiled. "Nope!"

Jiwoo ran to her bedroom and he chased her down as he stripped off his damp jacket. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist and she laughed. 

"Jaehwa, you're getting my PJ's all wet!" she exclaimed. 

He buried his face into her neck. "I missed you so much."

"Okay, fine," she sighed and turned around. "Let's go take a nice, hot shower together."

Jaehwa grinned as he lifted her shirt up. "I'll be right behind you."

Jiwoo snapped back to reality and stared straight at the city in front of her. She leaned back against her chair and let out a sigh. It was tiresome to dwell in the past, but she could never forget what Jaehwa did for her. He died in order to save her. She knew that he wanted her to be happy—always; even when he's gone. Jiwoo couldn't deny it; she loved Sangbae as much as she loved Jaehwa, but what worried her was Sangbae's fate. Would he end up the same as Jaehwa? No. No way in hell would she let that happen again. 

Her phone rang and she looked down and saw Hyunwoo's name. She picked up her phone and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, where are you? Why aren't you home yet?"

She responded. "I'm still busy."

"Is everything all right? You sound exhausted," Hyunwoo said, with a worried tone in his voice. "You should go back and get some rest."

"I'm fine."

Hyunwoo already sensed something wasn't right. "You're not. Jiwoo, what's going on?"

"I'll be home soon, okay?" she said. "I have to go. I have a call coming in."

Jiwoo hung up and picked up the next call. "What do you want, Minhyuk?"

"I see you're out here instead of at home with Sangbae... Would be a shame if something happened to him."

"I'll deal with you another time," she growled and hung up on him.

Jiwoo deleted all the data on her phone and threw it out the window, then drove back home. Once she arrived home, Hyunwoo opened the door and she looked up at him, then gave him a small smile and walked inside. She plopped down on the sofa and looked directly at the TV. Jiwoo tried to figure out what she was going to do, but nothing came to her. Hyunwoo shut the door and sat down next to her, trying to get some answers from her.

"Minhyuk's using Sangbae to threaten me," she explained. "I just need to hope that Sangbae and the others aren't gullible enough to trust him."

"You can explain it to them."

She chuckled. "Minhyuk knows something that nobody else knows."

"Even I don't know?"

Jiwoo nodded. "Yes."

"What was it? Or is it too secretive that even I can't know?" he asked, nudging her. 

She chuckled. "Remember Jaehwa?"

"Of course, we all hung out together. What about him?"

"I was going to marry him and leave the country, but Minhyuk found out about it and tried to kill both of us before we were able to flee."

Hyunwoo furrowed his brows. "Wait, you were 18 when he passed. How long were you guys together for?"

"Awhile," she smiled. "I broke too many rules already; Minhyuk will use this as an excuse to kill me, however, I can still go back to Hong Kong and stay safe there since I have strong ties with different bosses."

"You can't just drop everything now. Why don't we take Minhyuk down?"

She shook her head. "I can't put you and the others in an extremely dangerous situation. Going up against Minhyuk is like going up against the devil himself. We don't have a high success rate. Minhyuk controls a lot of different business in Korea; especially the imports. I don't want to drag you down with me, so I'll hand everything to you and lay low in Korea or go to Hong Kong."

"I'll go back to report to the boys. You should spend the night with Sangbae," Hyunwoo said and grabbed his jacket. "I'll call him to come over."

_____

Jiwoo laid her head on Sangbae's chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. He held her close and wanted to ask what was wrong, but he kept his mouth shut. It didn't matter what she was keeping away, he was glad that she returned safely. 

"You're not curious?" she asked.

"I am," he responded. "But you didn't say a word, so I figured you didn't want to talk about it."

She laughed. "How considerate of you."

"I'm just glad you're safe," he smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"I wish we could have more moments like these, but I have to leave soon," she sighed. 

"Permanently or just temporarily?" 

"Temporarily... I hope."

"...Is it because of Minhyuk?"

She replied. "Correct."

He sat up and looked at her. "What did he do?"

"Don't worry about it," she shook her head as she held his hand tightly. "Just don't listen to a single word he says. Hyunwoo will guide you through everything. Follow him closely and you won't get hurt. He'll grant protection to both you and the others."

Sangbae frowned. "I'll go with you."

"Please stay here," she begged. "You'll only be in danger if you linger around me."

"I'm in danger every single day. How is this different?"

"Minhyuk has a lot of control of the imports and exports; which means he has access to firearms and other weapons. It's true, I have more backup than he does, but he has more weapons and skilled people hidden within his gang. I've seen one of them in action... going up against one of them is like going up against ten. They're swift—blink once and you'll lose," she explained. "Anyways, if I don't return in a year, marry somebody who's affiliated with gangs; someone who's the daughter of the high ranked; it'll secure your position—"

Sangbae interjected "But I—"

"No, listen to me, you have to. Securing your position is a must. You need connections in order to survive, otherwise, you will be kicked aside."