warning for a sensitive topic! is mentioned once (as a word only, not described, and not as a joke). this chapter is still okay for non-mature audiences.

seulgi meets joy's boyfriend for the first time the next morning, when she's headed off to work at the coffee shop. she'd went out late the last night and come back home to an unusually empty apartment—yerim had presumably stayed the night at jungkook's, and seungwan had been gone lately anyways.

"hello," the conversation begins when the two of them are waiting for the elevator doors to close.

(seulgi had been the first of the five to overcome their shared elevator trauma, having decided climbing twenty-two flights of stairs was too much exercise for her liking, especially when she was always carrying home various appliances and coffee bags from work to post to the website when she had extra time. she was working hard for that seasonal bonus on her paycheck, after all.)

23.

seulgi replies to his greeting with a polite bow and a sleepy "good morning."

she adjusts her choppy bangs just the slightest, the rest of her hair having been gathered in a messy bun atop her head.

22.

"you're joy's boyfriend, aren't you?" she piques innocently in her usual friendly nature.

the man nods with a sheepish grin. he's dressed in a button-up shirt and a comfortable cardigan, and he's overall relatively well-groomed save for a slight lipstick stain on his cheek in an oh-so familiar shade of vibrant red.

"i'm kim seokjin, nice to meet you."

kim seokjin is beautiful in a way that is autumn leaves and playing the piano and ocean breezes, seulgi thinks to herself.

"kang seulgi. joy's neighbor." she introduces with a chirp to her voice. "nice to meet you too."

20.

19.

after a moment, seulgi lets out an apologetic laugh. "you and joy sound like an interesting pair." she says, and it's quite true.

at a glance, a filthy rich, spoiled heiress and a quiet pulmonary surgeon seemed like two puzzle pieces which would never fit together.

"yeah." seokjin chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "if someone had told me two months ago that we would get together, i don't think i'd believe it either."

"i guess she can be scary sometimes, but she's a good person." seulgi offers.

"actually, i thought she was annoying at first." seokjin admits, pink tongue reaching out to wet his lips. "she was—and still is—entirely without a sense of shame."

"but," he counters, "i admire her fearlessness, you know? she has a strong will to make her life the way she wants it to be."

he's talking to seulgi, yes, but his eyes are full of calm waters which foam gently in the sway of the breeze, and that's how seulgi knows he's far enamored in the ghost of a certain park sooyoung to realize he's still in a conversation with his girlfriend's neighbor.

"and sure, sometimes she seems rude, and a lot of the time it's like she's too mischievous for her own good. it's almost like she doesn't have the most basic human kindness and sympathy." he continues, his voice filling with awe as he speaks, on the verge of rambling, because kim seokjin is truly, truly in love. "but she cares on the inside, you know. i hope you'll forgive her when she's in one of her moods."

at that, seulgi lets out a soft giggle, and when the elevator door opens once more to reveal their arrival at the first level, seokjin meets her smile with a gentle one of his own.

"see you around, seulgi-ssi." he says with a small wave.

seulgi nods, bidding seokjin a polite good-bye as they each part their separate ways.

as she takes the subway to her workplace, kim seokjin's words leave the young girl in much thought. seulgi doesn't want to be like joy—no, she's much too poor to afford a temper like that—but she decides she can learn from a happy medium. to take her life in her own hands, and to do things she's always wanted to do.

it is with this conclusion that seulgi enters the quaint, two-storied coffee shop, the familiar scent of early-morning espresso being brewed behind the counter providing a sort of familiarity that she could cling to.

seulgi always liked having that comfort. she also liked to think of herself as a simple girl with simple expectations, and this she was—the only exception being that she always saw too much of the good in other people.

waving a cheerful greeting to the barista, son naeun, seulgi starts to make her way towards the staircase. her steps halt abruptly when she hears a familiar voice call out her name.

"seulgi?"

she turns, only to be greeted with that all-too pretty smile which never fails to send her resolve plummeting at her feet.

kang seulgi realizes she misses the odd feeling of her heart skipping a beat, of her spine tingling and her cheeks turning a pink hue, because seulgi's been living the life her parents have wanted her to since she can remember—perhaps this is her little rebellion, in which her heart gets to decide for itself.

"jimin?" seulgi laughs pleasantly, skittering up to the boy and pressing "i didn't know you liked coffee."

"i said i'd come visit you sometime." jimin answers with a tentative tinge of scarlet blossoming on the tip of his ears. "also, i'm supposed to buy some new coffee supplies for my office, and i figured you could use some promotion, even if it's not much—"

seulgi feels a grateful feeling settle as she suddenly hugs him excitedly, leaving jimin quite flustered and blushing profusely.

she doesn't quite realize she's hugging him even when she lets go and gestures for him to follow her up the stairs.

in the shop, seulgi has her own little room upstairs, furnished with a plain, white wood desk which an old, thick-screened desktop resides upon. beside the desk is a small trashbin that is eternally filled to the brim with crumpled yellow sticky-notes and various candy or pastry wrappers. seulgi's endless appetite and affinity for sweets, it seems, is well matched with her occupation. in the front of the room is a display of various bags of coffee beans.

"these beans make coffee that is more bitter, but it's very aromatic and has a rich aftertaste." she begins cheerfully, pointing to the first bag, and for a while, they take guesses at the best type of coffee for jimin's coworkers.

"i'll see you tomorrow?" jimin waves a timid good-bye when seulgi hands him the three bags of coffee beans they've decided were the best fit.

his eyes crinkle as he smiles softly at her with his blonde hair brushing his eyes—dark irises in which seulgi seems to see her own reflection. park jimin is pretty in a way that reflects the world's burdens, she thinks, a window to the soul. it's an almost feminine beauty, like a flower, or a cat—a calico cat.

their dance studio was having a showcase the next week, with a casual rehearsal tomorrow. seulgi was assigned a position adjacent to jimin's, who had been aptly placed in the center. seulgi was still somewhat struggling with the choreography, however.

at jimin's words, seulgi nods, watching as he walks out the door and disappears around the corner of the shop as she mumbles to herself, "tomorrow? tomorrow."

—

taehyung is at irene's office for the nth time that week, reviewing the marketing models which irene's team had proposed and providing his insights. with namjoon off to singapore for a conference, irene and yixing had been particularly preoccupied, and the former had increasingly begun to rely on taehyung to complete deadlines.

since the start of their collaboration, the two of them had started somewhat of a quiet sense of appreciation for the other. after all, taehyung shared most things that irene favored, save for food preferences and her cold demeanor. because, despite his high-off background, kim taehyung was a humble charmer—it was as if surrounding him was a mesmerizing glow.

one meal together, spent bent over a flurry of papers, had led to another after another, and eventually the two had developed some sense of companionship.

taehyung is out the room running a meeting for irene when an unfamiliar man steps in through the glass door of her office.

irene, immersed in a stack of the latest financial summaries, doesn't notice he's in the room until she hears him speak.

"joohyun." the man seems to rasp.

no one except namjoon and yixing has addressed her by her true name, as irene had become so adjusted to her western name in the states that she hadn't quite introduced herself otherwise in korea, either.

she finally glances up from the binder in her hand, peering at the middle-aged, graying man who stares back at her. he wears horn-rimmed glasses in front of an apologetic expression, and is dressed expensively. irene's brows furrow as she asks, "hello, may i ask who you are?"

he doesn't answer her question, however. "joohyun, i've finally found you." he says instead, his voice breaking as he approaches her tentatively.

irene smiles uncomfortably. "nice to meet you, sir. i'm assuming you're my four o'clock appointment?" she says as professionally as she can muster. she begins to extend her hand for a handshake, albeit cautiously.

said hand, however, falls immediately when she hears what the man says next.

"joohyun, i'm your father."

time is halted in its mechanisms for a full second as irene blinks, unresponsive.

"i'm sorry?" irene finally spits out, feigning ignorance. perhaps she had heard wrong.

"joohyun, it's me." the man repeats, dull eyes staring straight into hers, "i'm your father who was separated from you when you were five."

my father.

irene goes silent once more, her fingers curling into fists at her side, her nails digging angry, pink crescents into her skin. her small frame begins to shake uncontrollably.

she doesn't quite believe it at first. she stares closely at the man, willing to find anything but recognition. her heart sinks, almost completely, when she finds a 

her father, the one that had abandoned her mother, the one that had left her and her brother to fend for themselves. her father, who had never bothered to find her all these years.

"how dare you." she begins, quietly, rising from her desk, pink marks on her palm turning red. "why show yourself now, after all you've done? you ruined my mother. you ruined me. you ruined my brother."

"joohyun," the man begins, calmly despite the anger evident on irene's face. "your mother was insane—"

"and who's fault is that?" irene interrupts, pointing an accusing finger. "if you hadn't left her at home for so long, none of this would have happened. none of it."

"joohyun, if i had known her condition was that bad—"

"what do you mean? are you saying you didn't know?" irene laughs coldly, with a bitterness so deep that she can taste it on her tongue. "my mother was already out of her mind by the time she was pregnant with your son."

at this, the man seems taken aback. "your brother is not related to me, joohyun." he shakes his head gravely, eyes wide and unforgiving.

irene only tightens her jaw in pure disbelief.

"joohyun—" he tries again, but she cuts him off before he can say anything, holding her hands to her ears and shaking her head profusely.

"don't say my name!" she shrieks, barely managing to contain her fury as she hisses, "i hate you. don't ever come back again—don't ever let me see your face—" her voice begins to rise dangerously, escalating with every syllable.

a broken bae joohyun would have never been a pretty sight, although few things could push her to that point. but the man doesn't seem to have the intention to listen to her warnings.

"your mother," he continues, mistakenly, "while she was not right in the mind, they say she was —"

the pens on her desk clatter to the ground as her fist knocks the container that previously held them clean off her desk. she's breathing heavily, her vision blurred with tears of anger as she grips the desk with her hands.

"get out!" irene shrieks hysterically in between punctuated breaths. "i said get out!"

the man presses on even still. "joohyun, if your mother's condition really is genetic—"

then, irene screams.

the sound is guttural, desperate, and contorted with pain. when she begins to laugh in a manner that is so maniacal that it scares even her, she realizes she's truly lost the one thing she'd valued the most in life: control.

"so what if i go crazy? i'm going crazy right now." she threatens hoarsely. tears are streaming down her cheeks as she pushes everything on her desk to the ground.

it is then that she feels strong arms wrap around her shoulders, pulling her back to rest in a solid embrace.

"irene-ssi," taehyung's deep voice sounds near her ear. "irene-ssi, i'm here. it's me."

"taehyung-ssi," she manages to gasp when she sees the pained look on his face, her angry screeches reduced to sobs. "taehyung-ssi, please make him go away. m-make him go away." she pleads, her entire body trembling in his hold.

she presses her head into taehyung's chest, gripping the fabric of his black turtleneck with both hands and twisting the soft material with her fingers.

"what are you still doing here? leave!" she hears taehyung bark furiously at the man, who then seems to finally recover from shock and come to his senses.

"listen," the man stutters, "she's my daughter. her mother had a mental illness that drove her to death—i'm simply concerned the condition may be hereditary—" the man begins, but he doesn't get to finish his sentence when taehyung releases irene slightly to stare at the man directly.

if a look could subject a man into the depths of an inferno akin to the reincarnation of hell, such was the threat emanating from the coal-black embers of kim taehyung's eyes.

"i said leave." taehyung snarls, and the man finally scrambles out the door.

"how did that bastard even get in here?" taehyung curses quietly under his breath before turning to the still-shaking irene in his arms, whose hand is still clutching the fabric of his sweater as if it was her last hold on the world. taehyung doesn't have to hear the entirety of the conversation that had taken place in the room a few minutes earlier to pick up on the shattered pieces that were left.

it's after a long moment when she speaks again, and it hurts him, for some reason, to hear her voice sound so unusually small.

"can you do something for me, taehyung-ssi?" irene asks, her voice almost a whisper.

she peers at him, wiping her tears hurriedly, though when she looks back at him there are still some remaining in her eyes. "take me home? i don't think i can drive today."

he nods as she adds, "actually, can you take me to that place you've told me about, that one time?"

—

it takes two hours to travel to daegu and another two hours back, and once the two are back in seoul, it remains late into the night. irene had asked taehyung to accompany her for a little longer when they reach her apartment, and taehyung had obliged.

irene changes into her pajamas before coming back out to the living room, where taehyung is standing in the corner, in a phone call with his secretary.

"the contracts need to be done by tomorrow." he instructs before hanging up with a polite "thank you, good-night."

irene knows without asking that he's taken care of whatever she should have completed today, and, as she sits defeatedly on the leather couch, she lowers her head gratefully.

"am i going to go crazy, taehyung?" she asks him softly when he settles beside her, and he shakes his head, the locks of his hair framing his eyes.

"no," he affirms, staring at her quietly, somewhat surprised that she had addressed him informally. perhaps it was because she was in such a frail state, that even the formal affix had been dropped between them.

he can see that she doesn't quite believe his words, and, when he catches glimpse of the genuine fear in her eyes, he murmurs, "irene-ssi, i'm going to tell you something, okay?"

"okay," irene answers, slowly meeting his gaze and feeling its warmth caress her gently.

"you are the most powerful woman i know." he says, intently.

"don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

irene nods slowly, and, pride cast aside, her arms suddenly wrap around his waist in a childish manner, seeking the most basic manners of human comfort that she had been denied since she was young.

she leans in and lets his warmth envelope her, to which he cradles her in return, gently, silently, with his everything.

—

music is pounding in her ears, vibrating through her bones and jarring to her senses.

yes, son seungwan is drunk, again, in an upscale club that she didn't belong in, no less.

she hates it, the throng of bodies that push against each other to the pulse of the music, almost like it is suffocating her—but she doesn't allow herself to acknowledge that she prefers the quiet, resilient presence of min yoongi, because that thought is no longer a luxury seungwan allows herself to have.

why was she here again? ah, seungwan remembers quite clearly.

she had to make yoongi hate her, she had to make him turn away. she would become one of those women he despised, so that he would forget her.

and that debt—how could she ever repay him? jackson had given her money, but that money had only felt dirty in seungwan's hands.

seungwan drags herself to the club entrance, hailing a taxi home. she pays the driver with a crisp hand of dollar bills she'd just attained from some rich womanizer at the club before stumbling into the apartment lobby.

if only yoongi would realize that she would never be worth his heart, she thinks as she collapses at the staircase.

she pulls out her cell phone, her eyes narrowing at the bright screen which greets her. in her drunken state, she somehow calls irene.

"seungwan?" irene's voice comes from the phone after the third ring.

"unnie." seungwan slurs in reply.

"seungwan, are you drunk? where are you?" irene's concerned voice echoes in the staircase.

"taehyung-ssi, can you carry her?" she hears irene ask the stranger, who nods in the corner of seungwan's vision.

"seulgi, yerim." irene knocks on the door as seungwan feels her body weight sink into strong arms. almost like it had when yoongi had held her, but this wasn't yoongi.

yoongi...where was he?

gone, like he should be. like she had wished for.

a sleepy kang seulgi, hair mussed and eyes half-closed, points taehyung in the direction of seungwan's bedroom.

seungwan rolls to the side, curling her legs against her chest as soon as she is placed gently on the bed. the tears she had been holding back begin to stream down her face, and a concerned seulgi sits at her side, patting her back comfortingly.

"we'll take it from here, unnie. thank you." yerim says from the corner of the room, before bowing gratefully to taehyung as well.

"call me if you need anything." irene replies, placing a comforting hand on the younger blonde's shoulder before exiting apartment 2302 with taehyung behind her.

once they are out in the hall, irene begins to return to her own apartment. but once she realizes taehyung is no longer following her, she stops in her tracks and turns to stare at him silently. she knows what he means to say by the look in his eyes when he walks instead to the elevator, pressing the downwards arrow without another word.

she knows he's giving her space, telling her in his own, silent way that he wouldn't question what had happened a few minutes ago, before seungwan had called. that he doesn't mind carrying that very moment, in which she had left herself vulnerable in his care, with him to the grave. that she could trust him in that he would be there for her, even if it was only behind closed doors, whenever she needed.

(kim taehyung knows that in the end, he doesn't mean all too much but a temporary moment of comfort to her.)

irene feels an unfamiliar pang in her heart, a gratitude towards kim taehyung for understanding her like so.  a wistful part of irene thinks, perhaps if she believed in soulmates, kim taehyung would be hers.

the elevator doors open, and when they finally close after five ticks on the clock, irene feels her heart race uncontrollably against her chest.

fate, destiny—she doesn't believe in any of it. but as taehyung's presence draws farther and farther away from hers, she feels her chest tighten—as if the string tied between her and taehyung grows tighter, likewise.

so she begins to move—her feet step forward one by one.

then all of sudden, she's running down the stairs, the sound of her slippers hitting the floor echoing in the staircase, and before she knows it she's pushing open the door to the lobby just as the elevator sounds its arrival at the first floor.

the steel doors open and kim taehyung is staring at the ground when he glances up to see her standing in front of the elevator, arms wrapped around herself and shivering in her pajamas.

"irene-ssi?" taehyung approaches her, his deep voice rumbling in his throat, full of concern that makes irene feel oh-so warm even though she is freezing underneath the thin silk fabric of her nightdress.

"i didn't get to say thank you." irene begins, glad that, at this late hour, there is no one else in the lobby save for the half-asleep clerk in the corner.

"thank me tomorrow." he murmurs roughly, quickly shrugging off his black coat and placing it over her shoulders. he's careful not to touch her directly when he does so, his breathing placid even as he leans over her slightly and his arms reach behind her. "you look cold."

irene lowers her head gratefully, feeling the last of his warmth seep from the coat into her veins. "kim taehyung-ssi." she begins assertively, but her voice softens almost immediately when she realizes she has nothing to object to his actions. she has, however, resumed the formalities between them like the rebuilding of a barrier between her and him.

"i'm in a building, taehyung-ssi, you're the one that's going out into the cold." irene tries instead, but she soon realizes her words have only made her look like she cared for him.

which she didn't all too much, more than the usual, right?

irene had always kept most people at a six-foot radius—she preferred them as strangers over friends, as a passerby that she would be able to easily forget. so what had went wrong with kim taehyung?

maybe it's the way even his eyes seem to mesmerize her on their own accord—with their crackles, fizzles, and sparks. maybe it was because kim taehyung radiated power, how he consumed those in his path almost hungrily, because kim taehyung was a mystery that irene could observe, but never touch. something that provided warmth and comfort, but was simultaneously, oh-so-very dangerous.

"but you're my business partner." taehyung responds, his gaze trained on her as he says, "and i take care of what's mine."

irene resists the urge to blush furiously as she frowns, "kim taehyung, you're also my business partner." she states, tilting her head to the side.

"and if i'm honest, i tend to break what's mine."

if taehyung is affected by her words, he doesn't quite show it in the way she'd like him to. he faces her with amusement, not fear, on that beautiful face of his.

"on accident of course." she adds quickly, and taehyung dips his head good-naturedly.

"irene-ssi, i think i've observed you long enough in the office to know that if there's one thing you hate, it's messiness." he says with a slight purr in the deep tones of his voice, "breaking things is what causes a mess, love."

he speaks to her as if it's definite, as if he knows, knows that they're more than just strangers, that to her, he's not just another face in the crowd.

irene narrows her eyes, peering at him from underneath her eyelashes. she approaches him, ignoring the fact that she is wearing slippers and a plain night dress, that her makeup is still watery and that this man had seen her at her worst moment just a few hours ago. she forgets, for that moment, that she could be going insane in a few years.

her hands slide up his shoulders slowly as she tilts her chin sideways so that their noses touch, and before she knows it, he is doing the same. his hands grip her tiny waist, his fingers smoothing the silk beneath their wake.

they are two magnetic forces, opposite poles, powerful in their own right—irene marvels at the overwhelming energy which radiates off of him as she stares into his eyes.

"bae irene-ssi," he whispers harshly, so roughly that it almost resembles the nature of a snarl. "do you know what you're doing right now?"

irene laughs under her breath, tilting taehyung's chin downwards with one hand while the other rests on the back of his neck. she feels the push and pull of pure peril, and she relishes every moment of it.

it's a fraction of a second, a small sliver in the glass shards of time, when everything seems to lie silent, waiting, watching, holding in a breath.

but then taehyung closes the gap between them, and fire meets ice.