~~~~~

“I’ll take care of this,” Yeji noted to the security who immediately gave way. The rowdy men calmed when she stepped forward and gave her a onceover, a smile of amusement appearing on the bald man’s lips.

“I want to speak to the owner.” He got right to the point.

“I’m afraid he’s caught up in something right now.”

“I just saw him come down.” The man huffed.

Yeji smiled calmly to show she had the upper hand, “Then he’s gone back up to take care of more business. If you have an issue, I can take care of it for you.”

The man scoffed taken aback by her persistence. With a deeper tone he repeated, “I want to talk to the owner of this place. Take me to him.”

“I won’t repeat myself.”

The bald man narrowed his eyes at her and stepped forward to express threat. “Will he come down if I tell him this is about his pretty little wife?”

Yeji’s brow twitched at the topic of Namjoo. Curiosity perked she leaned back to look him over. “Who are you?”

Glad that he had her attention he tugged on his brown leather jacket victoriously. “In Gangnam, I’m the most feared. You really don’t know me?”

She stared flatly at him unimpressed.

As if getting her point he fell back onto his heels, “I’m a loanshark.”

~~~~~

They were on the second floor of a quiet café blocks down from Jongin’s company. If she was going to find out what the loanshark wanted, she wanted to do it in secret. And if this had to do with Jongin’s future, she needed to deal with it quietly.

Waving his minion hurried forward to hand the bald man a packet of papers, prepared beforehand to show Jongin proof.

“Almost five-thousand in total and in less than two weeks,” the shark explained handing the paper to her. As she flipped through the recorded transactions he continued, “You see, Namjoo, here, I’ve known her for a while. Pitiful thing she is, so when she lagged on payments I let her off the hook with a warning. Out of the blue she comes to me with large sums. Here’s one thing I’ll tell you,” she glanced up from the top of the paper to eye him, his tone completely fit for storytelling and she wasn’t falling for any of it, “even as a loanshark, I’m quite righteous in my own ways. Right boys?”

“Yes, sir,” the two minions chanted in unison.

Grinning, the shark went on, “I don’t take dirty money, so I investigated. Namjoo’s suddenly gone from rags to riches.” He laughed with amusement. “What do you know, she’s caught herself a fish with gold.”

Slapping the paper down onto the table between them she leaned back in her seat. “What do you want?”

Adjusting position in his seat he leaned forward, held out all ten of his fingers. “Payment she owes me with the ten percent interest included.”

A sly smile s its way onto her lips. “Ten percent? Wouldn’t you have gone for fifteen, maybe thirty?”

The shark’s brows twined together, insulted but realizing he should have done so. Strictly returning his expression to gruffness he warned, “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, lady.”

“Really?” she asked then leaned forward to taunt him. “For a measly loanshark, do you really think you can get out of scamming when you’re dealing with millionaires?”

His eyes inched slightly wider.

Scoffing at how pathetic he was for trying to absorb money out of Jongin, Yeji said, “That’s right. Mr. Righteous, you should’ve checked your charts before coming this far. It’s best you fall back, because between us, who do you think the cops would rather listen to? Putting it fairly, you have money but I have the more valuable assets and more money.”

~~~~~

After sending the loanshark away Yeji was back at the company, currently strutting down the hallway toward Jongin’s office. Chest stuffed with disbelief and dismay she tightly gripped onto the paper she’d taken from the loanshark.

There were quite a few things she’d weighed while walking back from the café. If Jongin had met the loanshark, he would have paid for Namjoo including the interest the shark demanded. Then the loanshark would have continued coming back for more until Jongin had nothing left. And the downfall would be all because of Namjoo.

Then there was the one thing. Did Jongin know about this huge debt Namjoo had inccurred before marrying her? Was he aware she was using his money to pay it off? His money, did he know she was after it?

That liar! The mere flashback of Jongin diving into the pool to save Namjoo made her angrier. What did he see in her to make him such a fool?!

Footsteps halted in front of the tall doors. On the other side Jongin would be at his desk. Impulsively, she would have gone straight in and given him the sheets; demanding to know whether he knew what was going on and if he was letting Namjoo get away with everything. Then she would tell him to get rid of her. For such an educated person, how could he fall this low?!

But she wasn’t in the right to determine the outcome of his marriage for him. His only problem would be if he knew why Namjoo married him. For love or personal gain?

Inhaling, she reached for the knob and twisted it.

~~~~~

“Why so suddenly?” Jongin asked, phone cradled between ear and shoulder as his hands fiddled with sorting the paper on his desk. “I can make some time and we can go together this weekend. Plus, I want to introduce Namjoo to Shinae.”

“Jaegeun’s been having nightmares recently. I think going to see his parents will help calm him. We’ll be staying overnight at the temple, so don’t worry about us.” his mother assured.

“Nightmares?” Jongin worried, immediately lifting his head up. “What kind of nightmares?”

“They’re nothing you should worry about.” His mother assured yet again. “Focus on work. Is there anything you’d like to eat? I can prepare dinner beforehand.”

“No, don’t worry about me. Namjoo and I will be fine.” He said. “Tell Jaegeun I’m sorry. I’ll try to spend more time with him when you return.”

“Don’t be silly,” his mother softly chided. “Everything will be all right. Go on back to work.”

Yeji opened the door and walked in just as he hung up. The urge to groan became strong when he spotted the sheets clasped within her hands.

“Did you have lunch?”

He glanced at his watch, “In a bit.”

“Are you eating here or out?”

Jongin stared at her, weirded out by her question. Yeji usually never prompted him about having lunch with her nor did she ever seem interested in trying to hook up with him again. What was this with suddenly being friendly?

“What is it?” he wondered. “If you have something to say…”

She looked away and toward the doorway as if someone was standing there. “Lets have lunch.” He frowned, watching as she turned to walk away. Leaving his desk he followed her out and they made way downstairs to the built-in cafeteria busy office workers often frequented to save time in their schedules so they could finish work and leave on time without going the distance to eat out.

After grabbing his share of food and receiving curious stares he sat with Yeji far in the corner with a glass view of the trees outside. She set the papers she had come with onto the table beside her tray but they were upside down and he couldn’t place what they were really about.

“When we first had our date,” she began, “do you remember the story I told you?”

Jongin let the memories soak in. As if impatient with the time given and incapability of responding, Yeji continued. “His name was Haejin. I met him in university. I loved him the moment I saw him. I just had that feeling that it had to be him and like that, I put my everything into us. Haejin was the one person whom I was willing to give everything to. Heart, soul, youth, time, and money. Everything and anything I had. It was that kind of love because I believed he felt the same way.”

Her food remained untouched. Smiling sadly she turned to take a view of the scenery outside. Jongin had heard about this story before passed from mouth to mouth but never from the person who lived it. He felt sorry for her.

“After fighting with my father, we were going to get married with his approval or not. I was willing to go that far, even give up my family. The money I gave to him without father’s knowledge was to be spent on the wedding. Reservations for a place, decorations, cake, and so on. When I arrived at the venue, I waited. We expected no one but the least I expected was for him to show up. My groom, my husband, my lifelong partner. I really looked forward to it.” her gaze forlorn she stared quietly through the window then turned to him. “That was my non-existent wedding. I found out that the money that I gave him was what he used to start up his own business. It’s about to go global.”

Feeling for her, Jongin didn’t know what to say. He sat there quietly, wondering what she expected.

“I get envious when I see the way you look at your wife,” she honestly admitted. “I want someone to look at me the same way. That’s why I believe you’re a good man, Jongin.”

Of course. Namjoo was his everything. He loved her.

“When you think you know someone, you actually don’t know them at all. When a person smiles at you, you begin thinking if that’s a real smile or do they have something up their sleeve? That’s how we live because we can never be too careful.” Yeji said. “I live on edge and I’m always prepared for the worst. You should too.”

Jongin frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m just saying,” she said, tone lighting up. “You see, Jongin, when there’s a gap in society greed eats everyone’s soul. Everyone on both sides of that gap always wants more than they have, and we become split farther apart. Thinking of it another way, you have something I want and you have something your wife wants and she has something you want.”

“What’s your point?”

Yeji glanced down at the paper beside her then pushed it over to him. “I hope the gap that exists in society does not exist between you and your wife. I also hope, your marriage will be a happy one and that you won’t have to carry arrows in your heart like me.” Seeing the unhappy but defensive expression growing on his face she added, “I’m sincere, Jongin.” Glancing again at the papers she said, “If you know what these papers mean, forgive me for today. And if you don’t, I hope you can find a way to be at peace.”

Yeji left without even touching a bite of her food. The papers she left him with ate at his curiosity and he yearned to flip them over to see what kinds of things were on them, whether they would make a difference in his life or not. Hunger won, so he ate first then carried the papers up to his office. After making a few phonecalls he forgot about the papers and left.

Namjoo was home alone when he got back. Instead of eating in he wanted to take her out as a gesture of apology for constantly being held up with work. And he very much wanted some alone time with her now that Jaegeun and his mother weren’t home.

“That’s a dress I haven’t seen before,” he commented when Namjoo walked out of their room and they started toward the door together.

Latching onto his offered arm she said, “I went shopping again. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not,” he smiled. “It makes you pretty, so I don’t mind.”

Namjoo let out a cry of complaint, “You and your words.”

Scoffing happily, Jongin pulled her along. They stopped at a fancy restaurant for a course meal and drove back home with bloated stomachs. Parking his car in the driveway with no plan to head in yet, they walked the block together with arm linked around each other.

“You must be bored at home lately,” Jongin said. “Do you want to come work at the company with me?”

Namjoo looked at him in surprise, “I don’t know anything about business.”

“I’ll find a position for you,” he offered. “Or you can just follow me around like my secretary. I think I like that idea.”

Snorting, Namjoo gently elbowed him in the side. Jongin let out a shout, pretending get hurt and listened to her laugh which brought a blissful smile to his face. Gently leaning his head against hers he commented, “This is nice. After a day of work, there’s nothing better than coming home to this.”

“You tired?” she wondered.

“Kinda.” He replied then said, “Yeji told me about her non-existent wedding today. I actually feel sorrier than I expected for her.”

“What happened?”

“Her boyfriend used her. They were supposed to get married, but he ran off with her money.”

“That is sad.”

“But lets not talk about that.” He kissed her cheek. “Lets go home.”

“You’re the one who mentioned it.” she reminded.

Kissing her longingly this time he pulled her closer, “I said lets go home.” Smiling against her he reached down for her hand and began dashing down the street anxious to curl up with her under the sheets.

“Slow down!” Namjoo called after him.

Suddenly thrilled and excited he called back, “Hurry up!”

~~~~~

The first thing Jongin did when his eyes opened the next morning was groan when he realized Namjoo was already up. The shower was running from the bathroom which told him she’d gotten up first to take a shower without him. Turning onto his side and pressing his face into her pillow to smell her he closed his eyes. Minutes later he listened to the bathroom door open and Namjoo walk out.

“You’re not up yet?” she called, drying her hair with a towel. “You’re going to be late for work.” Calling out louder, “Jongin, get up.”

He refused to budge and listened to her move around before finally walking around to his side of the bed. Grabbing his arm she shook him. “I said get up. Come on, you’re really going to be late for work.”

Abruptly jolting up he pulled her down onto his lap, arms wrapped around her to keep her still. “You weren’t supposed to get up first.”

“You reek of sweat. Go take a shower and get dressed.” She scolded.

“You slept with me like this,” he teased.

“Jongin!”

“You’re such a kid,” he made a face at her. “Still embarrassed over this. We were supposed to go for another…”

Slapping her hands around his face she stared him in the eyes, “You’re going to be late for work.” Giving him a quick peck and slapping his she urged, “Now, get up.”

~~~~~

Still in his undying good mood, Jongin smiled to himself as he walked into his office. He didn’t want to focus on work. Damn work if he could spend all day at home with Namjoo. Closing the door behind him he started toward his desk and turned to lean against it. He wanted to give her a call just for the heck of it. As he listened to the dial tone he turned and let out a shout when a stack of binders slipped off the edge of the desk. Clamping the phone skillfully between ear and shoulder he bent down to pick the binders up and paused when he discovered the packet of papers Yeji had handed to him yesterday, sprawled out on the ground now flipped over.

It was a list of transactions and at the top was his wife’s name. Attention caught, he hung up when Namjoo didn’t answer and snatched the packet up. His eyes quickly roved over the numbers on the paper, quickly flipped through them, and turned when the door opened. Jongin gritted his teeth together when he spotted Yeji who stared back somewhat surprised.

Holding the packet out as if displaying an item he asked stiffly, “What is this?”

***Jongin is about experience the biggest doubt of his life and Namjoo is going to be very unlucky