Jiyong was at their hotel room and had just stepped out of the shower when Taehee barged in without any warning. "Dude," he shot him a pointed look. "Ever heard of knocking?"

"It's an emergency," said Taehee as he raised the morning newspaper.

"What? Is our flight delayed?"

"I'm afraid it's much bigger than that."

Jiyong glanced at his reflection and frowned at the growing stubble on his chin. "Well?"

"You're not going to like it."

"When have I ever liked the news, Taehee-ssi?" Jiyong scoffed, raking his fingers through his hair.

"You have a point. Anyway, I hate to tell you this, but you've made it to Dispatch's front page—again."

"And to think it's not even New Year's yet." He slid open the glass cabinet and started searching for a razor. "Who's the chick I'm allegedly seeing this time?" he nonchalantly asked. "Is it a model? An idol? Wait! Let me guess, it's one of those—"

"It's Dara."

The razor fell to the sink. He turned at the waist and narrowed his eyes at his manager. "Come again?"

"Pictures of you and Dara are all over SNS," explained Taehee with a sigh. "You know, the one where you had her in a headlock? Netizens think the two of you are dating."

I am dating her. "What does it say?"

"Well, it's not very pleasant—"

"What does it say, Taehee?!"

"Alright, alright. It says and I quote, 'G-dragon shows PDA in Tokyo with new flavor of the month.'"

New flavor?? What the does that mean?! He stomped toward Taehee and snatched the paper out of his hands, quickly skimming through the article. "Why am I only hearing this now?"

"Once the story was released, sajangnim requested a news blackout, but not before the others got a whiff off it and decided to spread them through social media."

He scowled at the vulgar and libelous accusations thrown at Dara. Calling her a 'fame ,' 'gold digger' and even going so far as to label her as GD's current 'side chick.' In his anger, he ripped the newspaper into pieces and threw it on the floor. "This doesn't make any sense," Jiyong clenched his fists in frustration. "How come Dara never mentioned anything to me?"

"Maybe she didn't want you to worry."

He ambled his way to the bed and tried ringing her phone. It went straight to voicemail. After four more times with the same result, he decided to leave a message instead. "Dara, it's me. Where are you? I need you to stay with either Bom or Chaerin until I arrive. I'll go visit you as soon as we land. Please call me when you get this message. I—" he wanted to say 'I'm sorry,' but it felt too insincere to be spoken over the phone "... I love you." He got dressed and instructed Taehee to book him the earliest flight to Incheon. When he arrived at YG many hours later, a number of reporters were still huddled outside the premises. He braced himself for another severe tongue-lashing from his long-time mentor and the man he considers his second father. President Yang sat on his table, arms crossed over his chest, a stoic expression plastered on his face. He did not look happy. After fifteen minutes of staring pointedly at his shoes, Jiyong couldn't take the silence anymore. "Please say something."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Lecture me, scold me...anything."

"What good will it do? The damage is already done." He moved from the table to sit on the leather couch. "I thought we had a deal, Jiyong. Focus on your work and stay away from potential problems. How hard could that be?"

Jiyong bowed his head in remorse. "I met a girl, hyung."

President Yang fought the urge to roll his eyes. He's heard this line before. "And you'll meet a thousand more in your lifetime. This is not the time to be dabbling on such trivial things, Jiyong. You still have a lot more planning to do for your—"

"I love her."

"Of course you do," he muttered, shaking his head in apparent dismay. "Or else you wouldn't be stupid enough to put yourself in such a compromising position." He leaned back and brought the tips of his fingers together, eyes trained on his troublesome stead. "Look, your personal life is none of my business and you are well in your rights to date anyone you want. What I do concern myself with is the fact that you chose to openly flaunt your relationship when you damn well know how it might jeopardize your career." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "How many more scandals will it take for you to get it through your head? This doesn't just affect you, you know. It'll also hurt the person you're seeing."

"I know that," he groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I had a couple of drinks and...I wasn't thinking straight. When I saw the crowd I just snapped."

"And what does Miss Park have to say about this?"

Jiyong's head snapped up. "How did you—"

"Secrets have a way of reaching my ears, my dear boy. You'd be surprised how a little prodding can make even the most loyal person open his mouth."

"You talked to one of my staff, didn't you?"

"Does it matter?" He waved his hand to dismiss the question. "How much do you know about Miss Park, Jiyong-ah?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"The kind that just might save you from the public's wrath," he said in rebuttal. "I'm assuming you've met her family, given that you've been together for...almost a year, I gather. I have to admit, it's quite impressive how you managed to keep your secret relationship under my nose all this time."

Left with no other choice, Jiyong decided to go with the truth. "She introduced them to me."

"This is the Ma's you're talking about, right?" He nodded. "And her biological father? Have you met him?"

"No."

"Well, I have. And I'm telling you right now, he's not the type of person you should be messing around with." President Yang stood and walked toward his filing cabinet. "Chairman Park is one of the most influential people in the business world. His profit comes from running multi-billion dollar global companies, a chain of luxury hotels, and his real estate business among others. He's a man of few words, but even from afar, you could tell he's the kind of person who gets things done. Rumors say he once fired an employee for accidentally pouring tartar sauce all over his leather shoes." He tossed a brown envelope toward the couch. 

Jiyong picked it up. "What's this?" He opened the envelope and retrieved a white folder with the word 'Classified' stamped at the front in bold letters.

"Those were taken at Yongsan Museum a few days ago. Someone had vandalized the building by posting pictures of Miss Park and scrawling offensive writings on the walls. Now you would think this is already alarming by itself," he flipped through the police report and showed Jiyong the next picture. "This was found in front of her condo unit."

"Is that—"

"A dead rat," President Yang confirmed. "And as if that wasn't enough, the box had been filled with pig's blood, along with an ominous letter that contained threats to Miss Park's life should she continue her relationship with you."

Jiyong loudly cursed and slammed the folder shut before pacing the room, his hands clenched into fists at his side. Clearly, this had been going on for a while and nobody even had the common sense to inform him sooner. Dara must've been traumatized and it's all his in' fault. "I need to see her." 

"And make matters worse?" He tried pounding some sense into him. "Let the authorities do their job, Jiyong-ah. It would be better for us to stay out of their way until the case is resolved. I suggest you head back to your apartment and take a much needed rest." President Yang opened the door and revealed Dong-Gil standing near the wall, patiently waiting for him to come out. "I will be releasing an official statement regarding the issue first thing in the morning. In the meantime, I want you to steer clear of any social gatherings until this dies down. For your own safety, of course."

Jiyong refused to move from his spot. "Dara's in this mess because of me," he seethed. "I can't just sit around and do nothing!"

"That is precisely the reason why you should." He leveled him with a pointed look. "This is no longer a game, Jiyong. You may have dealt with some big shot celebrities before and got away with it, but this ain't that." President Yang closed his eyes and sighed. "Trust me, you don't want to awaken a sleeping giant."

~~~++++~~~

"Chief Choi is here, sir."

"Bring him in," he answered without looking up from the array of numbers that blinked through the monitor on his table. Three knocks—a standard operating procedure that had been strictly implemented around the house—and a stocky man in uniform appeared on the doorway. He removed his hat and greeted him with a bow.

"Good evening, heojangnim."

"Ah, Choi daejang." The man rose from his chair and approached his guest. "It's good to see you, my friend." He shook his hand and gestured for him to take a seat on the couch. Once they were settled, his secretary appeared at his side and silently poured them a cup of tea. "So," the Chairman began. "I suppose you have some news for me?"

"Neh. We've found the culprit and he is currently detained at the station. A twenty-six year old man named Kim Jungha. He works as a courier and confessed to delivering the package to your daughter's apartment two nights ago. However he insists that he was framed and that he never knew what was inside the box since his task was to deliver it without question."

"I take it you found out the identity of the sender?"

He nodded. "Lee Heejung, the youngest son of Grand Industries' Lee Jaesoo."

Chairman Park tilted his head to the side, tapping his index finger on the arm of the chair in contemplation. "Lee Jaesoo? Hmm...Isn't he running for assembly?" His secretary confirmed this with a nod. "And pray tell what is his son's reason for threatening my daughter's life?"

"I'm afraid that Sandara-ssi might have been a victim of circumstance, sir." He fished out a small recorder from his coat and put it on the table. "We planted a mole on one of the clubs that Mr. Lee frequented. He showed up this morning and had been quite drunk according to my sources. You may want to listen to this," he pressed the play button.

'I don't get it. It's just a harmless prank,' the raspy voice of Lee Heejung echoed in the room. 'I mean, the blood wasn't even real.'

'Dude, the police was in there again last night. You're in a lot of trouble if your old man finds out.'

'He won't if you don't tell him.'

'Why'd you do that anyway?'

'Payback's a ,' he simply answered. 'That bastard wouldn't even know what hit him. Now we're even.'

"We discovered that Lee has had a long-standing feud with the famous singer, Kwon Jiyong, after the latter allegedly caused a rift between Heejung and his then fiancée which eventually led to their break-up. Apparently, he took it hard and was waiting for an opportune moment to strike back."

"And my daughter happens to be the perfect target," he surmised.

Chief Choi nodded gravely. "So it would seem."

Chairman Park stood from the couch and sauntered his way to the wine rack attached to the wall. He uncapped a bottle of Bourbon and poured himself a generous amount before returning to his seat. Crossing his legs, one on top of the other, he took his time silently swirling the brown liquid around the glass. "I've always liked my whiskey neat, you know," he said to no one in particular, the edges of his mouth turning up into a daunting smile. "Gives you that pure unadulterated taste of the spirits." 

Chief Choi and his secretary exchanged a look. 

"Daejang."

"N-neh, heojangnim?"

"Have you issued an arrest warrant for Lee Heejung yet?" he asked in an eerily calm voice.

"A-aniyo, heojangnim," he answered with a shake of his head. "Wae? Do you wish for me to—"

"There's no need," he interjected. "His father would eventually bail him, anyway." He raised his finger and his secretary immediately scrambled over. "How much stocks do I own with Lee Jaesoo's company?

She quickly typed something on her tablet. "About seventy-five percent, heojangnim."

"Good," he replied with a slight nod. "I want you to acquire the shares of minority stockholders who hold an alliance with the current CEO of Grand Industries."

"A-all of them, sir?"

"Every single one."

"Neh. Right away, sir."

The head of investigation merely nodded his head at the secretary who excused herself to make a phonecall. "Are you shutting down his business?"

"Not quite." Chairman Park brought the glass to his lips and took a sip. "That would be too easy. Tell me, daejangnim. How do you destory a formidable tree?"

He looked taken aback by the sudden question. "Um...you stop watering them?"

"You pull the roots out and watch it slowly shrivel," he muttered, a sinister undertone in his words. Chief Choi retrieved his handkerchief and wiped the sweat forming on his brow. Rumors about the chairman seems to have been watered down. He can truly be unstoppable once provoked. Better start treading carefully, then.

"And what about Lee Heejung?" 

"I wouldn't worry about him. You know what they say, never bite the hand that feeds you."

His forehead creased. "I'm afraid I don't understand, heojangnim."

Chairman Park simply smiled over the rim of his glass. "You will soon enough."