Seunghyun’s POV

I returned home right away to check up on Yoona. I was in the middle of a meeting when I received a message from my main guard that Yoona’s guards had a confrontation with Yoona’s father. In the short report, it was stated that Yoona’s brothers stood idly by, and Yoona was freaking out because a guard had punched her father. My jaw tightened as I stood up from my seat. Jiyong, Youngbae, Seungri, and Daesung were alarmed that I had actually stood up in the middle of a meeting and left. Never in my years as a businessman have I ever done that.

After speaking to Yoona shortly, I headed to a car waiting for me at the entrance of the building. I quickly got in as the driver hurried to his side to start the car. I could not get Yoona’s words to make any sense. She was said it was nothing worth going home early about. She said that she was fine. How could she lie about those things?

From the four years that I was married to her, I learned that she was extremely obedient to everyone in her life. She never picked an argument with me, but just this month, she blew up in front of me for firing her personal trainer. She never argued with her father, but today, she talked back. She was changing slowly.

I opened the door to the car once the driver parked the vehicle next to a large fountain at the front of my home with Yoona. The guards waiting outside bowed to me as I walked past them, but I was adamant on getting to see Yoona. When I entered the house, her brothers and father left no trace. They were gone, and I was sure that Yoona made it certain that they left before I came. Like cowards, they left without a single word with me.

“Where is she?” my voice filled the high ceilings.

A guard spoke, “She’s in the kitchen.”

I nodded with understanding and made my way to the kitchen. I saw two maids beside her trying to assist her with an ice pack. She had an ice pack pressed against her cheek as she winced in pain at the touch. She had gotten hurt, and she tried to cover up for her father. I stuffed my hands in my pockets until the maids noticed me. The maids then bowed to me as I gave a gentle nod. They soon filed out of the kitchen to give me the privacy that I needed with my wife.

I took a seat in front of my wife on the kitchen table. Her eyes were lowered with humiliation at what happened to her. I suspected that her family was abusive to her, but I always hoped that it was false. I thought my marriage with her would change their actions towards her. I guess I was wrong.

She was covering her cheek with a large ice pack. When I reached for her to remove the pack, she flinched as if I was going to hurt her. I knew I wasn’t the best husband, but I didn’t know what I had to do to convince her that I was never going to hurt her like that. I slowly removed the ice pack from her face as she looked away with shame in her eyes. Her cheek was reddened, and it had already begun to swell. He must have hit her hard.

My jaw tightened, and my fists formed a ball as I stood up from my seat. Yoona immediately stood up and pressed her hands against my chest as if she was begging me to stop whatever I had planned.

“I’m going to kill them!” I roared out.

Yoona begged, “Please! Don’t do anything to them! You should have not told the guards to hurt him. Now, my father is in the hospital.”

Was she serious? Her father had hurt her, and all she cared about was his well being. Did she not care about her own health? I helped her father in business, and it was clear that once she was married to me, he could no longer do those things to her anymore.

“Are you really siding with your cruel father?” I furrowed my brows.

I knew she was angry with me that I had ordered the guards to go to the extent of using physical force if it was needed. She was angry, but she would never tell me because she was frightened of me. She kept silent as I saw tears form in her eyes. Her body was shaking with fear, and I didn’t know how to fix this.

I didn’t know what got over me. She began to cry quietly, and from the looks of it, she was trying her best to hold onto her tears. This was the first time I had ever seen her cry. She never cried when I would leave for months at a time without a single word. She never cried with every missed anniversary, birthday, or holiday. She never cried when I had neglected her for work. That was how I knew she was a strong woman—silent about her pain but strong. For the first time in four years, she cried to me, and I had no idea what to do.

The anger melted away from my body. Yoona’s need for me to be by her side was stronger than my anger for her father. I had to let go of my anger for her.

“You shouldn’t have allowed him to get hurt,” she wept inaudibly.

She shut her eyes tightly. I don’t know what got over me, but I wrapped my arms around her tightly. This was the first time I embraced her without any public eyes or cameras on us. She buried her face into my chest as she continued to silently cry. I kissed the top of her head before I unwrapped my arms from around her and scooped up her shaking body into my arms. I carried her out of the kitchen and made my way up to the stairs. A few guards on standby saw the sight and widened their eyes with surprise.

Yes. Even I was surprised with my own actions. They then retracted their astonished expressions and stood by for further instructions.

“Tell the office that they cannot disturb me for the rest of the day. I won’t be returning to work for today,” I commanded, “She needs me.”

They quickly nodded as I carried my wife up the stairs.

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Yoona’s POV

Never in my life would I have thought that Seunghyun would be this caring. For goodness sake, he left me for three months at a time and never sent me a single message about how he was doing. I always thought that he didn’t have a heart, but here he was proving that he had a bigger heart than my father and two brothers combined.

I was traumatized at the fact that my father had struck me again after four years, and I was even more traumatized at the fact that I saw my father get punched in the jaw by a tall, strong guard who did it on my behalf. I thought I was over that chapter in my life. I guess I was wrong.

I originally thought Seunghyun would call a few maids in to help me change. I felt so weak that I couldn’t even stand on my own anymore. I told him I didn’t have to change. I just wanted to get some sleep, but he insisted that I change to something else. There was a little blood on my shirt, and he didn’t want me to be reminded of what just happened. He stripped me bare and changed me into a pair of pajama pants and a loose t-shirt. He then helped me into bed. It was only 5 pm, but I was so tired.

I lied in bed with a thick blanket over my body. Seunghyun was sitting on a chair beside the bed, and he was just staring at me for 20 minutes. I gave up trying to sleep and opened my eyes to see shock in his eyes that I wasn’t sleeping.

“You can go back to work. I’m fine,” I stated.

“Yoona, you lied to me,” he suddenly said.

I sat up from my position and tried to figure him out. What was he talking about?

He continued, “You promised that if anyone hurts you, you would tell me. You wanted to cover up for your father.”

I sighed in defeat. “It’s different, oppa. He’s my father, and you allowed him to get hurt. Tell the guards that they can no longer do that.”

“No,” he shook his head, “What if he hits you again?”
“I think he learned this time!” I groaned, “Oppa, you told me to tell you whenever anyone hurts me—even if it’s you. Well, you’re hurting me right now. There are other ways to solve this without violence.”
The look on his face softened and then he groaned as if he was just defeated.

“Fine. I will not utilize violence against them,” he negotiated, “But I will have the guards separate you from them and bring you to a safe place if they become violent. I will also have them call the police to handle with their abuse. If they don’t comply with the police and the police use physical force, it is not my fault or in my control. I’ll compromise for you.”

I finally smiled, “That sounds fair.”

He finally returned the smile, which was an odd sight. I hardly ever see him smile, and even his employees stated that after years of working for him, he had never cracked a smile.

I reached over to him from the bed. I rested my hands on his thighs for support and reached in to give him a quick kiss on the lips. The look on his face was priceless. He truly had no idea what to do.

“Thank you for compromising, oppa,” I beamed at him.

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Seunghyun’s POV

I actually kept my promise to her. I didn’t go back to work that day, and I stayed by her side. She mostly slept, but when she woke up at 7 pm, we ate dinner together like a normal married couple. It was 6 am, and I was on my way to the office for a new day. The driver saw a smile on my face, and when I realized that he noticed my smile, I quickly frowned. I stared at the road as the driver increased the speed.

She kissed me. She actually kissed me last night after we made a compromise. My mother always told me that marriage was all about compromise. From my experience, it was always my way. I did whatever I wanted, and Yoona never complained. She never searched for an argument, and she hardly ever wanted to fight. Things were moving very slowly for us, but it was progress…right?

“Sir, I just received a message that Ms. Park is at your office,” the guard in the front seat informed me.

I simply nodded and sighed deeply. Park Bom was my next-door neighbor growing up. She was very close to Jiyong and me, but she got married about five years ago. I heard in the media that she was going to file for a divorce soon, and from the reports in the media, she was blowing cash like it was nothing. For the past five years, she had been living in Canada, and it was a surprise that she was finally back. Ah, that woman was going to wreak havoc on Seoul with no doubt.

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