“There was another home I didn’t know about?” She muttered while staring up at the house. It wasn’t anything big like the main home they had been staying in but it was hardly something to just look over once. 

“You’ll only cause trouble if you did.” Jongup remarks as the three and a few men from Nabang make their way inside. 

Though they were safe, the mood was still somber. 

Once entering, Haru realizes that not all is lost. 

“Mogi has also stayed loyal.” Barom leans over to mention as their eyes fall on the group sitting inside with her dad. 

“The rest?” She quietly asks back.

“It’s safe to assume that they’ve turned their backs on us.”

As Haru watches her dad on the couch, she has one question to ask– is he finally done playing safe?

***

“Are you hurt badly?”

Haru was leaning against the wall in the living room when she heard the question directed towards her. She pushed her thoughts aside to find all their attention on her. Staring at the various scattered throughout the living room reminded her once more she should be focused on the situation at hand. 

But, she had been like this the whole day. And the whole day she has wondered why was she not freaking out. 

“No.” She answered her dad. 

He had the couch all to himself and suddenly tapped the free spot beside him. 

“I’ll just stay over here.” She responds when Jongup catches her attention for a moment. He appeared to be judging her response but if he cared so much than he should just sit there instead. 

“Boss, we should check the state of things.” Gunwoo says before nudging Mogi’s head, Seyong, who is standing beside him. “We’ll keep you updated.”

With a nod from her dad, they move out. 

“Boss, I’m going to check up on Insoo.” Jongup says and disappears with Barom once he receives permission. 

With just the two left in the living room, the father and daughter duo bathed in uncomfortable silence. 

“Are you afraid?” The older man breaks the silence.

“Aren’t you suspicious of me?” She questions him back instead.

“I’m not suspicious of you.”

“Then, why did you test me?” There was no other explanation for why he sent her to the pier without telling her that the cops would show up. 

“I was testing you–,”

That was easy.

“But, not because I thought you were the mole.” He finishes. “It confirmed something for me.” 

Both him and Yongguk said the same thing. What did she confirm for them? 

Well, whatever. “Back to what you asked– surprisingly, I’m too calm.” She responds. She didn’t have an explanation for it. Maybe reality hasn’t sunk in yet. She wanted to ask him the same question because in her opinion, he didn’t look like a man who may just watch his entire empire crumble to the ground. “What are you thinking?”

He sighs. “There was always a chance of it happening.”

Again, was he ever going to show panic or even stress? Any normal human in his position would. “Was this somehow a part of your plan?” There is no other explanation.

“My hands are tied in many aspects.”

“In other words, you were powerless against them.” In response, she receives silence. “How? What’s the point of you being the big boss then if this was how it was going to turn out?”

“How did it go? Standing up to them?” He asked. “I know you tried a few times.”

“I was more successful the third time.” The first time, she beat up a car out of anger and the second time, she tried to confront Jinyoung in that stupid restaurant–, “I don’t know why you’re being so lax about this.”

“Lax?”

“Whatever you’re planning or going to do– you’re being too careful and it’s taking too long.” She just wished he had realized it. “Why are you being so careful?”

Not even a flinch. In all honesty, their conversation being more than a few minutes was already an improvement. She wasn’t expecting much.

“Because I’ve already lost your mother.”

And, she was proven wrong. “That has nothing to do with this.”

“It has everything to do with this.”

Haru stiffens. 

“Do you think Geomi just suddenly started acting up?” He asks before his voice drops to a whisper. “It started with your mom.”

She suddenly felt the urge to cover her ears. It wasn’t that it was a sensitive topic but rather, she didn’t think she had the capacity to feel anymore hate. She felt like she was at her limit already. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” She asks. 

“You were nine–,”

Memories of the gunshot, the thud, and the red– so much red –flashes through her mind. 

“Do you remember?” He peers back at her.

She never saw the face but she remembers the gun just above her head going off. She remembers her mom’s fearful face as she drops to the ground as the red spills from her. She remembers her mom’s hand still reaching out for her. 

“In the hallway?” She responds barely above a whisper, suddenly finding herself still faltering. 

“The burglary.”

“Are you about to tell me it wasn’t?” Haru wanted to chuckle in such a humorless situation. 

Her dad doesn’t answer right away and she feels like suddenly running out of breath. “It wasn’t. In public records, it’s listed as a burglary. But…,”

She knows exactly what he’s going to say. “Geomi?”

Seonwoong’s silence confirms as much. She looks away from him, allowing herself time to comprehend the new information. 

She’s mistaken for a second time.

There is really no limit for hate. 

“For years, they have tried to gain the upper hand.