*SJK’s POV*

I sit quietly in my swivel chair, toying with a pen absentmindedly while stacks and stacks of documents rest in front of me, waiting for me to read them. I’ve been restless and distracted these days. I know I should start scanning through them, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

What’s the use, anyway? We haven’t heard anything from SGC yet, but I’m pretty sure that with what happened the other night, the deal would be off. So, why should I bother reading though all these papers when I know that it’s just useless?

I should be worried about SGC cancelling the merging and start finding solutions on how best to deal with it, but no, I’m not doing anything. Instead, I keep recalling what happened that night. The night that I got carried away by my emotions that I hurt her. That I hurt someone who I never wanted to get hurt. Hye Kyo.

I instantly regretted raising my voice at her the moment I saw her cry. I wanted to apologize, to take back everything that I said but it was too late, she was already too angry, too hurt by the words I spoke earlier to hear me out.

She walked away from me crying and I wanted to run over to her, to beg for her forgiveness, to take away her pain, but something unexpected happened.

The moment we realized that her father was there, hearing our conversation, we both froze. We were so caught up in the heat of emotion that we forgot to take caution and filter our words. He was looking at us with an unreadable expression, which scared me more since he wasn’t projecting the reaction we expected him to show. He should’ve been angry, but no, his face didn’t show it, which made me wonder what was going through his mind.

I know for a fact that Hye Kyo’s father is a good person, someone who only wants for the best his company even more for his daughter, but I also know that even good people have their limits especially if trust is broken.

What’s going to happen now? What will happen to her? This is bad, really bad. I can take all the beating, I can. After all, it was because of me that we had to fake an engagement and it was because of me provoking her that we got caught red handed. It should be me who should be punished, not her.

She doesn’t deserve this. All she ever wanted was to be happy, to find her happy ending and I took advantage of that. I found her weakness and used it for the sake of my own selfishness, to get her to agree to the deal. What a horrible person I am, no wonder my father looks down on me.

I tried calling her that night, but she wouldn’t answer. I tried sending her text messages saying sorry to her, telling her that I’d fix this and to ask if she was okay, but I received no reply.

Yesterday, I tried calling her office and even went there, but her secretary told me she didn’t go to work. Her father didn’t force her to resign, did he? Or worse, did he disown her? I tried calling her again and again to no avail. She already turned her phone off.

Talk to me, Hye Kyo. Just let me know that you’re okay.

It’s been three days and I’m still worried about her, I can’t take not knowing what’s happening to her any longer. It’s already past office hours and getting dark outside, I grab my car keys and head towards the elevators, determined to check up on her and make sure that she’s fine.

I decide to go to her house tonight, even if I know that her father might be there. Let me receive all her father’s wrath, let me take all the blame, after all, this is all my fault. I’m prepared to receive the worst, what’s important is I know that she’s okay.

---

I ring the doorbell for a few times and Min Ji finally opens the gate for me.

“Sir Joong Ki,” she gasps, surprised to see me.

“Min Ji, is Hye Kyo here?” I ask and she seems to hesitate.

“Uh, sir. I don’t think now’s the right time,” she says while slowly closing the gate but I stop her.

“Min Ji. Let me in, please. I need to talk to her,” I say, determined not to end this night without talking to Hye Kyo.

“Sir, the chairman’s here. And besides, I don’t think she wants to see you.”

“Why not? Let me talk to her. Please Min Ji,” I plead as she again tries to close the gate.

“Sir, please. You need to leave.”

“No, I’m not leaving until I talk to her. Please Min Ji.”

“Sir, please…”

“Min Ji, please. I just want to make sure that she’s okay,” I say, desperate now.

“She’s okay,” a man’s voice says and I stop from struggling to look at Chairman Song who emerges from behind Min Ji. “Leave us, Min Ji,” he orders and Min Ji backs away after bowing.

“Chairman Song,” I bow the moment he stops in front of me. Thankfully, he doesn’t look angry. Or he’s just very good at hiding his ager. “I’m sorry for disturbing you. I just want to check up on Hye Kyo. She hasn’t been answering my calls.”

“She’s okay,” he simply says.

“But sir,” I try to persuade him.

“You don’t have to worry. She’s fine. She’s sleeping,” he says calmly and I believe him. Still looking at him, I find myself wanting to apologize for everything.

“Sir, about the engagement,” I start and he holds up a hand to stop me.

“I already know about it,” he says, putting both his hands into his pockets. “Hye Kyo told me everything. Including the pressure your father put on you”

“I’m sorry, sir. I know I shouldn’t have even suggested it. It was foolish of me. I was only thinking about getting the partnership, about proving myself worthy of my father’s trust,” I say somberly, prepared to explain everything to him now as well as receive the consequences of my actions. “But that thing I did, coming up with a fake engagement to get you to agree with the partnership only proves how undeserving and what a lousy businessman I am. Instead of working hard to earn your trust, I took the easy way out,” I stay, stuttering on my words, realizing how cowardly that move was.

“Joong Ki,” he says and I turn to look at him. “I get where you’re coming from.”

“You do?” I ask, not believing what I just heard and he nods.

“I know that your father can be a hard man to impress sometimes and Hye Kyo told me about how hard he was being on you. I understand why you wanted to prove your worth to him. Trust me, I really do. But that doesn’t change the fact that what you did, what you and Hye Kyo agreed to do, was not right.”

“You see, I have been there once. I had to prove to people how worthy I was of managing this business, I had to show people that I also had the potential to succeed, that’s why I worked hard and did everything I could to establish this company and make it grow. And guess where I am now?” he smiles heartily, proud of his achievements. He, indeed, is an admirable man. “And you know what I learned from all my years in business?” he asks and I shake my head, wanting to tell him that I don’t know.

“I learned that you could never cheat your way to success. You have to work hard in order to achieve what it is that you want to achieve. Yes, there are some tricks that you could take, but if they’re not paired with determination and hard work, they would be useless.”

“I’m sorry, Chairman Song. I was too selfish. If I could only take everything back, I would. I’d understand if you will pull out from the partnership. I’ll take full responsibility of the repercussions. Just please, spare Hye Kyo from all of this. It’s not her fault that…”

“I’m not backing out from the partnership,” he says and I stop from speaking. What? “The merging of two companies is still on.”

“W-what?” I ask, dumbfounded. Why? Why is he doing this?

“Well, let’s just say you and my daughter have some things in common.” What is he talking about? “The moment I knew about what’s going on, she instantly pleaded that I spare you. That she will take all the blame and punishment just so I could let you be. That she’d do everything I wanted her to do just so I wouldn’t pull out from the partnership,” he says, smirking and I find myself getting shocked even more. I look at Chairman Song, confused. She did that? For me? How could she when it’s all my fault? Is she crazy or something?

“Surprising, right?” he asks then laughs softly. “My daughter can be bratty and spoiled sometimes, she can act all tough and cold and make you feel like she doesn’t care, but she does. She has a soft spot for people she cares about and she’d rather take the lashes than make the people around her suffer.”

“Do you even know that she doesn’t really like that I’m training her to take over the company?” he asks and I look at him curiously. This is the first time I have heard about this. “I’m going to retire soon, so I should be training my successor. But she told me she had no plans of becoming a CEO. She had no interest in managing this company, she told me that over and over. But when she saw how devastated I was that no one is going to take over my position when I retire, given that she’s my only daughter, my only family, she willingly said yes, but only if I gave her enough time,” he says, his expression showing that he’s recalling that moment.

“She didn’t want to do it, but she did because of me. She was willing to sacrifice her interests for me. And now she’s doing it for you,” he says, looking at me now. “She said she’s willing to take over the company in two years instead of six, only if I promise that I wouldn’t pull out from the partnership.”

How could she? How could she do that for me? I was a jerk, I don’t deserve it. No, she’s crazy, she’s crazy for putting her interests on hold because of a jerk like me. No, I couldn’t let her do that.

I am prepared to tell him that she doesn’t need to do sacrifice, that I’d willingly suffer all the repercussions when he starts talking again.

“And besides. I do want the partnership to happen. I was so impressed of your presentation, and even more so when I learned how hands-on you were on the project. You amazed me with the visions you have for both companies and their employees, your plans and how logically you pieced everything together. I have high hopes that we would all benefit from this partnership that is why I’m still pushing through with the contract signing.”

“Uh, thank you Chairman Song but Hye Kyo…”

“As I said, you don’t have to worry about her. She’s my daughter after all, I couldn’t stand seeing her getting hurt,” he says and I exhale, still not believing everything I’m been hearing. This all seems too good to be true. “You are a good person, Joong Ki, despite your lapses. I know it. And I know that you will be a very successful businessman in the future. I just hope your father sees that.”

“Thank you Chairman Song. I don’t think I deserve hearing all these from you. What I did was wrong and…” I say when he cuts me off.

“Everyone makes mistakes, Joong Ki. What’s important is that you learn from them and do not repeat the same mistakes again.” This is real right? Am I really forgiven? “But I have to ask you a favor.”

“A favor?” I ask and he nods.

“I want you to stay away from her,” he says and everything comes crashing down. I knew that this is all too good to be true.

“I don’t think I can, sir. This may seem hard to believe now, what with all I did, but I love your daughter, sir. I…” I love her so much.

“You see, the both of you making us believe the fake engagement isn’t the most painful part. What pains me the most is the reason why she agreed to the deal. I knew that she was fond of Park Hae Jin, but I didn’t know she liked him that much. It pains me to think that she went as far as agreeing to a deal just to get him back…”

“…That she was hurting for him while I was pushing her to get engaged to someone she doesn’t even know. I kept pushing her to marry you, thinking it was the best thing for her without even considering what she would feel. I was so stubborn to listen to her, I thought too highly of my decisions that I didn’t listen to her, resulting in her retorting to the only thing she thought would work…”

“…And now that the truth has come out, she feels really bad that she betrayed me. I’m afraid that she would again be pressured and feel the need to sacrifice her feelings just to please me and to make up for lying to me. And this is where you come in. I saw you two fighting and I also saw her crying. She has been hurt too much already in this whole ordeal, but she might still push through with the engagement knowing that it’s you who I want for her and not Hae Jin…”

 “I want to lessen the pressure on her that is why I’m asking you to stay away, to let her go. I know you might find this unreasonable, but just think of this as my way of protecting her from getting hurt more. Think of me as a father who only wants his daughter to be happy. This time, I just want to let her be with her feelings. To let her feel things because she wants them and not because she knows they’re what I want her to feel. So please honor my wish. Let her go,” he says and I stand there, speechless. Yes, she could be selfless, but does that have to include me? Did she only show interest in me because it’s what she felt her father wanted?

“But sir, I love her.”

“But does she love you, too?” he asks and I open my mouth then close it, not knowing what to say. I am absolutely sure that I love her, but I don’t know if she feels the same way. Yes, she may have shown concern for me at some time, but is that enough to call it love? “I’m asking you to stop, Joong Ki. Let’s not complicate things. You don’t want to burden her further, do you?” he asks and I find myself looking down, agreeing to what he just said. No, I don’t want her getting hurt further.

“If at some point she realizes that it’s you who she wants, then I won’t object. If you two are meant to be together, you will eventually find yourselves back to each other. But for now she’s still undecided and I don’t want her to feel pressured when making decisions. For now, I think it’s best that you stay away and give her the space that she needs. Good night, Joong Ki. Think about it,” he says as he starts closing the gate while I walk absentmindedly to my car, couldn’t seem to find the logic in this. I don’t want to lose her, but I don’t want to make things harder for her.

No longer knowing what to do, I sit quietly in my car, staring at her bedroom window while thinking about what her father said. I get where he’s coming from. He’s just being a father to his only daughter, I get that, but do I really have to stay away? Was she really pressured to like me? That’s not it, right?

While trying to convince myself of what I want to believe, the light in her room turns on and I watch as she slowly emerges from the balcony door. Wearing a white button down shirt and shorts, she approaches the railings and stops to look at the night sky. I’m about to wonder what she’s doing when I see her wipe her face with her hands, her face now glistening with tears. She’s crying.

I sit straight, prepared to bolt from my seat, go to her and comfort her, but then stop myself. Stay away from her, her father’s words keep repeating in my mind. You don’t want to burden her further, do you?

Is she crying because of me? Did I hurt her that much? I remember getting angry when she told me about how Hae Jin hurt her back when we were at my secret place. I remember cursing him in my mind, thinking about what a jerk he was for hurting someone like her, but it turns out I’m the same as he was, a jerk. I turned out to be just like the person I once hated.

She slowly turns away and walks inside, closing the door behind her, while I’m left outside, still watching her window, hoping to know how I can make everything better. I went here with the determination of making things right for her despite the consequences it might cost me. I was prepared to lose the partnership. I was prepared to be fired from my job. I was even prepared to receive my family’s wrath. I love her that much. What I wasn’t prepared for was the favor that Chairman Song asked me.

Stay away and give her the space that she needs.

Is that my only option? Is that the only way I could stop myself from hurting her? Do I love her enough to let her go?

----

*SHK’s POV*

I wake up from a dream with a single tear rolling down my cheek. I gently wipe it with my hands and slowly get up from the bed, checking my bedside clock for the time. It’s only 8pm, but I already feel so exhausted. I woke up to a terrible headache this morning and felt like spending the whole day in bed. I just wasn’t feeling fine and I need to feel better in time for tomorrow’s trip to Incheon. Thankfully, the pain has faded away, but still I feel weak, probably because I haven’t been eating well these past few days. Or maybe it’s because of the dream.

 I seldom dream about my mother, but when I do, it’s usually very vivid or a flashback of some memories that we had. Tonight is the first night in a very long time that I dream about her. It felt so real, like it really happened, which is why my emotions are still reeling.

We were in Serenity resort in the dream. She was busy gardening, tending to her plants while I was busy running around chasing butterflies. She was humming happily while I was screeching, amazed at the butterflies around. I was so excited to catch one that I tripped and fell flat on my face, s