A week went by as tortured to Jong Kook. He checks his monitor every day hoping Ji Hyo will show up to work but she didn’t. Her chair was empty. The whole company seemed to be empty as she was not around even though hundreds of employees were still walking back and forth around the company. To him, all their existence is invisible. He even lost his interest and focus on work.

A few days ago, he found out that his sister transferred all her stocks to Jin Hyuk. Except a little scolding at his sister over how trusting she was and what she would do if Jin Hyuk left her, he didn’t make any big deal out of it. He worried about his sister but his mind was too occupied to drag the issue any bigger. Even when the time came to decide on who was taking over the CFO chair, he didn’t even put on a big fight as his sister suggested Jin Hyuk for the position. Since Jin Hyuk already keeps too big of the stock share, Jong Kook let him take over the CFO position. He had the feeling that it was not the best decision but he hoped that at least Jin Hyuk would treat his sister right as he got what he wanted.

Today just as any other day in the last week, the first thing he does as he arrive at his office is turning the monitor on and he almost drops his hot cup of coffee out of happiness as he sees Ji Hyo is sitting in her office. He even rubs his eyes to make sure that he doesn’t see it wrong. A bright smile unknowingly spreads on his face. His heart can finally beat again as he sees she is safe and sound in front of his eyes. He lifts his fingers on the monitor, caressing her hairs, he misses her very much. He even stands on his feet and attempts to run to her right away but then they are at work. He still has to keep his face as the CEO of the company. He decides to send her a text message – “When did you come back?” then he watches her closely on his monitor. She received the message. She reads it, stares at it to be exact, for a really long while, more than she needs to read only 5 words. But then she puts the phone down, without even replying and pulls her focus back on work.

His heart sinks. Why didn’t she reply his message? And this is not the first time either. He sent her a bunch of email the last few days as he couldn’t get a hold of her by cellphone. He figured that she was in America so she couldn’t use Korea phone number. That was the reason he emailed her not one or two but hundreds of them. He almost felt as he was a creepy stalker but she didn’t reply any of them. He told himself that she was just busy with whatever family emergency that she had. However, today, he had no more excuse for himself.

She clearly avoided him again as they are back to square one again. They went too far. He was too close to have her. She almost agreed to be his girlfriend. No, they can’t come back to beginning. It was a tough journal to get to where they were 1 week ago. He can’t afford to go through that again. It was too painful and frustrated. He isn’t sure if he will have so much patience to pursue her as he did before. He used up all the tolerance that he had on her the last few months. And his heart … he isn’t sure if his heart can endure any more pain. Now, he only can pray for the best.

The whole 8 hours, he can’t do anything. He ignores all the reports brought to him. He neglects all the documents that need his signature. Files keep piling on his desk and he has no intention to touch then anytime soon. His eyes are gluing on the monitor, staring at her. Every slightest moment of her makes his heart throb. Every time she leaves her chair, he is waiting, hoping that she is walking toward his office. But then she comes back to her chair and his face turns dark. She makes absolutely no attempt to see him.  

The clock finally chimes 5. She is getting up on her chair and leaving. He also rushes out of his office. He wants to catch her and drive her home but he is one step too late. By the time he gets to the entrance, she is getting into a Roll Royce Phantom. From afar, he can’t see clearly who the driver is clearly but he can tell that it is a guy in suit.

 Who is that guy?

Ignoring his mother request to go home right after work, Jong Kook drives straight to Ji Hyo’s apartment. He drives furiously as if she will run away if he is a minute slower. Standing in front of her apartment, he presses the doorbell continuously. It is not the usual him. He knows better that doorbell doesn’t need to be pressed too many times like that but his heart is burning. He needs to see her. He misses her as crazy. He has to talk to her, asks her what happened and who was the one in Roll Royce. There are many questions that need to be answered and he is seriously losing his patient.

 From inside the house, she sees him through the monitor. Her heart throbs looking at his anxious face. She misses him so much. Her nose can’t even do its job of inhaling or exhaling.  She is suffocated; tears almost drop from the corner of her eyes. She has been trying very hard to forget about him, about the beautiful moments they had together but he didn’t make it at all easy on her.

All the emails that he sent, she tried her hardest to not read them but it wasn’t easy. Her finger kept pointing on his emails. His words were desperate and sorrow. They cut right through her heart. Her eyes tear up every time she read them. She wanted respond to his message. She wanted to tell him that she was okay, don’t be worry but … She couldn’t.

She didn’t allow herself to give him more hope. This time she had to give him a clean cut. She had to make it clear to him that there are no hopes between them. It is better to hurt him this one last time than pain him a million time later when he finds out the truth, when he realizes that the woman he loves is the wicked woman who is going to hurt his sister big time.

Yes, she has to be strong as she tried the last week. It is best for him. Her hand is shaking on top of the doorknob. As soon as she turns the doorknob, she will see him, in person, not through the pictures that she has been looking at the last few days. Her heart is thudding hard. Even though she keeps her left hand on her chest to calm her crazy heart down but it doesn’t seem to listen. Her heart misses him very much. It wants to jump out of her ribcage to see him right now. She isn’t sure if she will be able to face him without spreading a few tears or burying her face on his warm chest. Her right hand grips tightly on the doorknob while her left hand squeezes her shirt tightly, the part on top of her heart. She takes a deepest breath, trying to swallowing all the tears that are about to run out.

 Now she is ready,

Maybe …

The door is opened. His hand stops pressing on the doorbell. He freezes for a moment, staring at the familiar figure that he has been longing for the whole week, slowly revealing behind the door. She is still the same, pretty and flawless but something about her has changed, different than the Ji Hyo of one week ago. Something is not the same … He realizes it now … The look in her eyes are different. It is not the warm and happy look of the girl that nursed him as an angel one week ago. The woman in front of him right now, her eyes are cold as ice and dark as hell. Even his heart gets frozen from the cold look in her eyes.

“CEO Kim, how can I help you?” – Her tone is as emotionless as her eyes.

She just called him CEO Kim. Before she left she at least called him by his name, but now, she called him CEO Kim, as the first time they met, as when they were just two strangers in a job interview. Is what he thought true? Do they back to square one again? He thinks he just dropped something.

Yeah! He just dropped his heart on the floor and also drops his mind. It takes him more than a minute to function again.

“Why are you calling me CEO Kim? Are you kidding me right?” – He tries to put on a wry smile.

Behind her back, she grips her hands tightly, trying to suppress the messy emotion in her heart. She is about to hurt him … again.

“What do you mean, CEO Kim? You are my CEO so it is only right to call you CEO Kim.” – Her voice is calm but her heart is shaking as an earthquake, saying those words are not at all easy to her.

He puts his hands on her shoulders, shaking her as if he can shake away the cold attitude that she is throwing at him. – “Are you losing your mind? Don’t you remember what happened last week? We had a wonderful time together. We kissed and even talked about dating.” – His voice is desperate because he is desperate. He can’t stand a moment more of her coldness. He can’t even breathe and the pain on his heart keeps building up.

“It was a mistake.” – She tells him, cold as snow and sharp as a blade.

She just stabbed him, right on the chest, with her words.

He is bleeding, internally.