Hakyeon was woken up from his light sleep by loud knocking on the door. Hakyeon groaned and turned around in bed. What loud knocking it was to wake him up like that. Had they been knocking for a while or not? It did not matter. Jiwoo would get it.

Or so Hakyeon thought. They knocking persisted for a couple of more minutes. Was Jiwoo really tired, too? Hakyeon yawned. Who could be knocking this early in the morning?

Was it the house cleaner? Nana had told Hakyeon that she would be coming by in the afternoon. Hakyeon could not think of anyone else.

The knocking got louder, and Hakyeon sat up. Okay, he was awake. Please stop knocking now. Hakyeon yawned and stretched. He sat in the side of his bed and sleepily stared at the floor.

Another set of knocking brought him back to reality. “Okay, I'm coming. I'm coming,” Hakyeon muttered and rapidly put on a pair of pants and a white, plain t-shirt. He opened his room's door and quickly ran down the stairs to open the front door.

Hakyeon did not know who to expect when he opened the door, but he surely did not expect his mother-in-law. “Mother?” Hakyeon blinked a couple of times. Mrs Jung had a pout in her face, and her hands were on her hips. She looked angry. “What are you doing here?” Hakyeon stepped aside to let Mrs Jung in.

“You know exactly why I'm here, Mr Cha Hakyeon,” Mrs Jung entered the apartment and looked at him.

Hakyeon tilted his head, “No, I don't think so.” Maybe she's there to visit her daughter. “Do you want me to go get Jiwoo?” Hakyeon moved to go to Jiwoo’s room when Mrs Jung grabbed his wrist.

“I'm not here to see Jiwoo. I'm here to see you,” Mrs Jung said with a stern voice. “My daughter was with me at my house, and she'd been there since ungodly hours of the night. Left less than two hours ago to who knows where.”

“What?” Hakyeon muttered quietly and looked down.

“She's been crying, and she's super upset, and I need to know why,” Mrs Jung tightened her grip on Hakyeon’s arm. For a tiny lady, she had a strong grip. Hakyeon almost hissed in pain. Instead, Hakyeon kept his mouth shut, and he looked at Mrs Jung. “Hakyeon,” Mrs Jung said in the most serious tone he had ever heard her speak in, “What did you do to make my daughter so upset? Because I know it was you.”

Hakyeon’s eyes widened at the realization. Jiwoo found out yesterday night. She looked okay. Something felt off, but nothing that alarmed Hakyeon that much. She was devastated? She ran off while Hakyeon was sleeping to her mother's. Why? They were not soul mates. They were only married.

“Ma'am, I-I r-really don't kn-know what's wrong,” Hakyeon shook his head and said as formally as possible, “I didn't even know she was gone.”

Mrs Jung sighed and let go of Hakyeon, “What is a mother to do?” She put her hands on her hair and turned away from Hakyeon. She took a deep breath and turned back to him. “I may not know what is going on. You say you don't know, but I don't know if I can believe you. I have some power, Hakyeon-ssi. I find out, and I make sure the partnership between our two companies is over.” She sounded serious, and it made Hakyeon gulp. That partnership was all his father ever wanted. He can't ruin it.  

Still, Hakyeon couldn't say anything. He didn't know how to answer. Mrs Jung looked at him for a couple more seconds before sighing and looking down. She walked to the front door. “Don't run it, Hakyeon,” She muttered. “She's all I've got,” Mrs Jung went out the front door, and Hakyeon was left alone in a state of confusion.

Jiwoo was not here. She never left without telling Hakyeon where she was going. It alarmed him.

Hakyeon ran upstairs to Jiwoo’s room. Out of habit, he knocked on her door before entering. After hearing no answer, he let himself in.

Jiwoo was not there. The room was clean. The bed was made. No one slept there last night. Hakyeon looked around, looking for any clues to why Jiwoo might have left. All he found was a note on the bed. Hakyeon walked to it and grabbed it. He read every single word it had.

Dear Cha Hakyeon:

By now, I should be gone. Don't worry! I won't be gone permanently. I just need to clear my head. Too much has been poured into me lately. I need to cool off. So I'm taking a break!

I don't know when I'll be back. I think I’ll just go and lose myself. People say that to find yourself, you need to lose yourself first. I'm going to do that. I've always wanted to, and I think it's the perfect time to do it.

I feel like you'll feel sorry and guilty. Don't! This isn't about what you've told me. This is about what everyone has told me. I want to let go of everything for once. Think of it as a self-discovery period of my life. When I come back, I will be a new woman. Though hard, I think it'll be fun.