Nervously fidgeting in the seat as she changes her seating posture, her tongue darting out to wet her dry lips and she makes slight eye contact with the middle aged man across her. Her eyes drift to the other end of the table where the mother of Donghyuk sat with a grim look despite having her favourite food in front of her.

Donghyuk notices the tense body language and slips his hand into hers under the table, shooting a small encouraging smile. She pushes the food in front of her slightly, in no mood to digest anything. "Does the food not suit your taste buds, Miss Min?" Mrs Kim asks and her head shoots up to disagree with widen eyes.

"I just have no appetite today," she replies politely with a slightly forced smile.

"If I was you, I would have more than no appetite," the older woman mutters under her breath loud and clear.

Donghyuk shoots a warning glare to his mother but it was ignored. "I was wondering, Miss Min," she starts again. "When were you going to tell us about your real background? Have you just been using Donghyuk the whole time? How did you and our precious Donghyuk actually meet? Has these couple of months been a total lie to all of us?"

Youjung takes a deep breath and grips tighter on his hand to calm down. "In all due respect Mrs Kim, I have never told Mr Kim nor you about my life before meeting Donghyuk because neither of you have enquired about it before. The café alleyway is a lie but it is because I'm pretty sure Donghyuk wouldn't appreciate me exposing how we met. These couple months, I can assure you that it is not a lie to any of you," she replies calmly and as polite as possible.

Before Mrs Kim can speak again, Donghyuk cuts in; "Youjung and I met when I was about to have with a girl I met at a club. She thought I was the girl when I was just releasing my side and played police siren to distract the both of us. The girl got away and I saw Youjung hiding. But when I made eye contact with her, as cheesy as it sounds, I knew that I was gone."

She gaps and then closes before returning to the meal in front of her. "Miss Min, I would like to know about the relation between Chairman Min and you," Mr Kim says, making eye contact.

She gulps but doesn't look away, knowing that it would make things worse. "There is no kind of relation or relationship between the both of them," Donghyuk says before she could start explaining. "I don't think either of us should elaborate further since Youjung is uncomfortable with talking about her family."

"I was talking to Youjung, not you," Mr Kim states firmly and the younger rolls his eyes. "Have manners towards me. We have spoiled you too much! Your head has grown big."

He was about to retort and she grips his hand before shooting a look to not continue anything. "Mr Kim, I do feel uncomfortable in talking about anything between Chairman Min and I but I can assure you that nothing is happening. It is all one-sided, wishful thinking from him," she answers politely. "I actually do not wish to be associated with him, despite our... ties from my birth."

Mr Kim studies her face closely for any sign of lying and when he detects none, he nods but doesn't seem fully satisfied. As dinner continues, more questions were thrown across the dining table, further decreasing the appetite and confidence of Youjung. When dessert was presented, she didn't even touch it, just frozen in her spot.

Their intertwined hands long gone as he just looks worriedly at her but she doesn't reply in any form that she was fine. He stands up halfway through dessert, not wanting to hear any of the questions thrown at her, attracting his parents' attention. "It's been a great meal, Eomma, Appa. But unfortunately, Youjung and I have to leave for other commitments that we're already terribly late for," he says with a smile and grabs her wrist before leaving without looking back.

She bows quickly in the midst of being dragged and when they enter the car, she rubs the red spot gently. "You didn't have to do that..." she whispers. "But thank you."

He starts the car, allowing air to flow through the interior. "Sorry for the tight grip..." he apologizes and she waves it off.

Silence envelops both of them, as they stayed wrapped up in their own thoughts. He starts to drive and she looks over to him with her peripheral vision. She silently admires his features, seeing some signs of maturation as compared to when she first met him. "Why did you... help me... just now," she asks.

He looks over to her quickly before his gaze stays on the road. "You've helped me so many times... Cleared up so much rumours for me... When I hid, you stayed and fixed things for me – big or small. Back then, I was a just a fresh and immature CEO, not wanting to bear the consequences and fix things. You took over whatever I didn't want to tackle," he says softly before he scoffs slightly. "I was a coward. And after all that, if I still hid when my fiancé is in trouble, what kind of fiancé would I be?"

"Let me protect you from now on, Youjung," he promises with a grin. "And let me bear the consequences I caused, myself."

She smile, proud of how much his thinking has matured. She was pulled out of her thoughts when he holds her hand and drives with one hand only. "Donghyuk, it's dangerous," she mutters but not wanting to let go.

He shrugs before continuing to drive. When they came to a stop, it was a secluded area next to Han River. He gets out and she follows before they both sit on the hood of the car. They both lie down and just admired the night sky for a while. "Will you... leave me if they tell you to do so?" he whispers even though there was no one around them.

She looks upwards and notices the distant look in his eyes. "You should already know my answer," she replies with equal softness.

"I want to hear it from your mouth," he reasons.

"Then, yes. I will leave you," she assures but a bitter taste was left in . "Do you want the reason too?"

He makes a sound to agree and she sighs softly. "It's for the greater good. I hate the words I'm going to say but just you getting hurt is better than almost a thousand people getting affected by a tiny decision like being in a relationship with me," she continues. "But before you rebuke, it's becau-"

"Because if I'm hurt by you, it doesn't matter too much since... I can find another girl to fill that hole even though it will never be fully healed," he interrupts. "Whereas, if a thousand people are affected, it will go down in the media and I can never be trusted again. My whole life is built around the company, anything done wrong can cause my life to be taken away."

She moves closer and he puts his arm for her to lie on. "You've matured," she comments and a soft smile falls upon his features.

"No thanks to you," he replies. "I actually never thanked you much about a lot of things... You came into my life unexpectedly. I thought that we would just be dates for one night and forget all about it but you stayed. You drew me in and took care of me in ways no one has ever done before. You try to think about the bigger picture and even it hurts you, you will make the best decision."

"That's why I'm requesting you this time... please don't make the best decision for everyone... but for the both of us," he says, looking at her the same time she looks at him. "Disregard other people for once and put us as priority. I don't know what is this between us but... I want a future with you."

Her eyes dilate and he smiles once he notices it. "I know it sounds crazy but I never thought about settling down till you. You changed my mindset in so many aspects of my life," he explains and when she opens , he stops her. "This isn't a rash decision I made in an hour or something. I... thought about it for days – weeks actually. Having observed you for months, I realized a side I never saw in girls."

"Hardworking, able to deal under stress and making important decisions despite everyone's thinking," he says before he chuckles slightly. "I never thought I would see these kind of traits in a girl but I found them in you. With recent events, I also admire how strong you have been and don't try to hide away. I know that you respect me, hence you allowing yourself to lay low. But it may be also because you feel that this way is better."

She grimaces, breaking eye contact but he cups her face gently to look at one another again. "You're so mature that I would have thought that you were older than me if you didn't tell me your age," he continues. "You only revealed your family only months after. It shows that you want secrecy and privacy till you fully trust someone. I know that settling down is a scary thought for a relationship for ours but I want a future with you, just don't know when. Till then, Min Youjung, can you be my girlfriend, fiancé officially?"

The action of her chewing on her lower lip allows worry to appear in his mind. "What's wrong?" he asks and she looks away. "Youjung, did you do something."

"No, I didn't," she immediately replies with a reassuring look. "I was just thinking of something that could possibly doing..."

He tilts his head slightly but no reply came and he gets a grasp of what she was thinking. "You were thinking and have already planned to leave, just in case anything," he says and she slowly nods, head down. "Youjung, please. Don't think about everyone else. Do the selfish decision. You want to give up this thing between us just for a small matter that can be solved easily?"

"There isn't any solution at the moment, Donghyuk. Everything in the reports are true and since Chairman Min doesn't bother to do anything, me doing anything will allow people to think that I am trying to make a uproar," she rebukes. "On the other hand, staying low makes other people think that I actually am a mole in the company."

"What happened to our relationship being private?" he asks softly and she sits up to look at him.

"Our relationship could never be fully private. You're always under the media eyes for gossip. Your reputation for being a tabloid prince directs everyone's attention on you. But it isn't your fault, your mother told you to do so," she says. "Also, there are things you have to explain and there are things that you don't have to explain. This is something that has to be explained."

"I wish we were normal," he wishes softly. "Maybe then, our relationship would be stronger since it will just be our friends' opinions that can be shrugged off easily."

"Friends' opinion in a relationship is important. Usually when they say that your partner is bad, it is true, unless they're just trying to mess with you. But seeing your group of friends, they will tell you if your partner is worth your time or not," she says with a soft smile. "You're fortunate."

"You have your family too, don't forget that, Jungie," he reminds. "Whether you like it or not, they will tell you their opinion about your partner. They will even go over the line; they will stop your partner without you knowing because they care. They won't joke around, especially when it comes to relationships in your life."

She smiles once again. "Can I change your mind in leaving?" he asks, sitting up to be equal, his hand behind her to support to his weight.

"Why do you want me to change my mind?" she counters.

"I just said it, I want you to be my girlfriend, fiancé officially because I want a future with you," he replies, moving forward to their noses together. "So what do you say?"

"Which part of our conversation did you hear that I wanted to leave?" she replies with a small smile and he thinks hard, nothing coming up.

The small smile stays in place as she gets up the hood of the car and walks into the car. "Yah Youjung!" he calls out and she stops, hand on the handle. "Does that mean you'll be my girlfriend, fiancé officially?"

She releases the grip on the handle and walks towards him, whose legs were dangling from the edge of the hood. She slips in between his legs, looking up to him. He cups her face gently and moves downwards, landing a soft kiss on her lips. When they part, she simply enters the car and a goofy grin was left on his lips as he joins her.