The morning brought bright sunlight along with the loud knocking on her bedroom door. Ye Jin awoke to find Suga already up and washed up. He smiled at her sleepy face as he opened the door.  

On the other side of the door, Nam Joon stood with a strained expression. Immediately, Ye Jin rose to her feet and snapped her fingers, signally the magic to give her minty-fresh breath and a clean face.  

"What's wrong?" Suga asked the cousin. 

"Your father is here," Nam Joon replied, sending shocks of nervous energy through the couple.  

Suga turned to look at Ye Jin and rushed to embrace her. With his face buried in her hair, he whispered, "He can't do anything now; the law has been removed." 

Ye Jin nodded slightly and moved away from him, motioning for him to follow her into the living room. 

"I knew you'd be here," Suga's father said once he saw the pair emerge from the hallway.  

Ye Jin noted that her Aunt and Uncle stood while he sat comfortably. Suga bowed his head in  greeting to his father and Ye Jin followed suit.  

"Are you happy now?" His father asked, aiming the question at Ye Jin. "You got what you wanted, at last." There was a tinge of bitterness in his voice that Ye Jin didn’t appreciate.  

"Yes," Ye Jin simply replied. "But that's not really a reason for you to visit us here." 

The elder chuckled and slowly rose to his feet. Once he stood, he glared at Ye Ji and said, "Just because the law is gone, doesn't mean that I, as a father, give you two permission to be together." 

"Father-" Suga tried to interject, but one stern glance silenced him like a lost puppy. 

The elder returned his stare at Ye Jin. "I will do whatever it takes to make sure that my son doesn’t get involved with a Park witch." 

The way he said her clan was with such disgust and force that Ye Jin was tempted to conjure scorpions to devour him. But, she quickly banished such thoughts, knowing that it wouldn’t lead to anything.  

"Come, son. We have to get home before your mother gets anymore furious at your disappearance," Suga's father instructed.  

There was a moment where Ye Jin wished deeply that Suga would refuse, that he would stand up for their relationship. However, as she watched him follow his father out the front door, with his tail between his legs, she knew that all hope was lost.  

But, Ye Jin wasn’t about to let go of him so soon, not when she just got him back. She hurried to the front gates, just as Suga was about to enter the back seat.  

"Wait!"  

Suga turned to her, worried and somewhat guilty for leaving like that. 

"Min Yoon Gi, if you leave like this now, I won't ever see you again," Ye Jin said, with watering eyes. She meant was she said, hoping that an ultimatum like that would be enough to wake him up. 

However, her heart deflated as Suga bent his head and took his place next to his father in the car. Once the driver closed the door and took his place behind the wheel, Ye Jin stared at him through the glass. Even as the car rode off down the street, she stared after it, hoping that it would stop and he would emerge and run back to her.  

She remained in place for the next 10 minutes. It was only when Nam Joon joined her outside that she realized that she had been stuck in place, hanging on to a thread of hope that was ready to fly in the wind.  

With a heavy heart, she followed her cousin back to the house and slowly made her way to her room, dragging her feet along the carpeted floors.  

She used her eyes to shut the door and made her way to her bed. She lay down silently and smelt where Suga's head had been on her pillows. The scent was intoxicating and, even though she knew it wouldn’t last forever, she still sniffed away. Her appetite had disappeared and she refused to leave her room for the remainder of that day.