Aeri was woke up by the sound of her phone. She knew well that the sound was not her alarm clock. Plus, it was too early for her phone to ring because it was weekend. She usually woke up late on the weekend and she would not be this sleepy whenever she woke up. She opened her eyes lazily to grab her phone which was placed on the bedside table. She finally realized it was a phone call and the caller’s name made her frowned in curiosity. She answered the call nonetheless as it was ringing for a while.

“Aeri-ya, have you read the news?” Sungwoon’s voice reached her ears. She frowned even harder at his question. She just woke up from her sleep. There was no way she already read any single thing except for his name on her phone screen just now. She did not even know what time it was. Aeri groaned at that.

“What type of news this time?” Aeri asked. She removed the thick comforter from her body and walked out of the bed to grab her iPad. While on her way, Sungwoon replied her.

“Bad news, for you.” Aeri’s eyes widened in instant at that. She grew nervous. Her hand quickly tapped on her password on the screen and went to surf on the search engine. She tuned to the Naver page to see the top 5 news in the country that morning. Her eyes widened in disbelief. Sungwoon who was on the other line was ignored.

‘The K’s only heiress spotted with a mysterious man’

‘Park Jihoon and Song Aeri fooled everyone, never been in love’

‘Jihoon and Aeri claimed to cheat on each other’

‘Song Aeri’s hidden man’

‘The dark side of chaebol marriage: Park Jihoon and Song Aeri’

Aeri’s heart thumped hard at all the news title. Her fingers were shaking as she tapped to read the first news. Based on the views, it seemed like the very first news released which was followed by the rest of articles. Aeri did not bother to read the news because she knew the press would not release this news without a concrete evidence. Hence, she scrolled down only to have her eyes widened at the pictures attached. Unbelievable, that was what she thought. Even after her disguise, the paparazzi was still able to spot her.

On the site, there were plenty of pictures of her and Jinyoung. As she observed the pictures one by one, she realized the pictures were taken when she had dinner with Jinyoung and Daehwi at Glossa. The pictures were taken when they were about to enter the café. Another set of pictures showed her trip with Jinyoung to Hongdae. Aeri grew scared when she saw how the pictures could cause people to misunderstand. There were pictures of her eating with Jinyoung and he was touching her face. There were also pictures of Jinyoung fixing the crown hairpin on her hair.

As she scrolled further down, she was surprised to see a set of pictures from her first visit to photoshoot, where she went to support Nara, was included. She cursed at that because paparazzi was able to trespass the photoshoot when it was supposed to be secured because of the confidentiality of Nara’s latest design. For the pictures, there was a caption saying that Aeri came to the photoshoot because of the mysterious man who turned out to be a photographer. Aeri shook her head in regret. It was so easy for people to make speculation about it when she came to support her best friend. Luckily, Jinyoung’s face was not revealed by the paparazzi and Aeri wondered why.

However, it was not as important as the issue she was having right now. Aeri was startled when she heard Sungwoon was calling her through the phone call.

“Have you read the news or not?” Sungwoon asked again.

“Yes.” Aeri answered quietly.

“Who is that man?” Well, here we go with the interrogation. Aeri expected this from Sungwoon because he knew Aeri would never involve herself with random people, especially those who he did not know.

“Please don’t misunderstand, oppa.”

“What is his name?” Sungwoon could not wait for it. He was furious when the news came out, but he trusted Aeri, so he demanded the truth from her first before making assumption. Plus, it was frustrating him because he was unable to meet her for a long time already, since the news of her broken engagement.

“It’s Jinyoung, my photographer.” Aeri answered, knowing that Sungwoon was upset by the news. Sungwoon on the other line raised his eyebrows at the name. He knew Jinyoung because Aeri had been telling him that she loved his work and how he did a good job ever since Seoul Fashion Week.

“Why are you with him? Especially at Hongdae.” Aeri bit her lips. She was contemplating if she should tell the truth behind the trip with Jinyoung to Hongdae.

“Well, I was upset that night because you can’t fetch me because of the dinner you had with your in-laws.” Aeri finally decided to be frank. She could hear an angry sigh from Sungwoon at her explanation.

“So, you decided to go out with another man?” Aeri felt attacked by the question. Her eyebrows met at the accusation.

“So, what? He’s just a colleague!”

“So? So, you think people will think the same as you? Look at what happened now. Grandma must be furious over this.” At the mention of her grandmother, Aeri closed her eyes. She knew she was doomed by this news. As mentioned previously, Chairwoman Kang hated it when they were involved in a scandal. The scandal caused by Jihoon already caused their engagement to be broken. Aeri could not imagine what punishment she will receive from her grandmother. She sighed hopelessly.

“I’m sorry, oppa. It’s not my intention. I am just stressed with the recent situation and all the disguise thing.”

“That doesn’t mean you can wander around with another man.”

“Nara was not in the country at that time. I’m sorry, okay? He is just being nice by accompanying me that night.” This time, it was Sungwoon’s turn to sigh. He felt bad when he heard that from her now that he understood the situation.

“I forgive you because you never did such mistake. I’ll take it as a misunderstanding, but I won’t forgive you if you are really cheating behind me.” Aeri shook her head. How can she cheat on him? She loved him too much to look at other man.

“I promise you, I’m not.”

“Fine. Get up and talk to grandma, then. I don’t know what she’s going to do with this.” Aeri hummed at that. She was dispirited already. She did not know how she could face her grandmother to prove that she was innocent because she knew Chairwoman Kang would never give face to people around her. When she decided on something, there was nothing that could change her mind.

“Okay, oppa. I’m sorry for what happened.”

“It’s fine. Take care, okay? I love you.”

“I love you more.” They ended the call right after that. Aeri let out a deep breathe as she placed down the phone and the iPad. She did not dare to read the news further. What crucial right now was her grandmother and her reaction. Aeri cupped her face and wiped it tiredly. She decided to take a bath and quickly meet her grandmother to explain the situation.

Aeri went to search for her grandmother in the library. That morning, she skipped breakfast and headed towards the library after she was informed by the maid. When she asked them if her grandmother was furious while having breakfast, they did not dare to assume because she was especially quiet that morning. Aeri knew she was done for after hearing that. She knocked on the door and was allowed inside. Her grandmother was reading something from her iPad, Aeri assumed it was her news she was reading about. Aeri nervously walked towards the study table and sat quietly in front of Chairwoman Kang.

“Who is that man?” Chairwoman Kang’s voice sounded cold, if it could be felt.

“Bae Jinyoung. A photographer from my department.”

“What is your relationship with him?”

“A friend, a colleague.”

“Do you think the public will think that way? When they saw the moment you had together?” Chairwoman Kang asked exactly the same question as Sungwoon. Aeri knew she had no answer for that.

“He’s just being nice.” She reasoned out but it was unaccepted by the elder.

“Why do you think it’s good to go wandering around in public with another man when you just broke up with your fiancé for like two weeks?”

“I was stressed and wanted to relax my mind.”

“With him?” From the tone, Aeri knew her grandmother did not only hated the news, she hated Jinyoung too.

“Just like I said, he’s being nice.” Chairwoman Kang scoffed at that.

“You’re lucky they didn’t expose his face because they obviously trying to drag this issue.” Aeri finally understood the reason the press did not revealed Jinyoung’s face. They were trying to make the public wonder and they wanted to hold the public’s interest on this issue.

“I’m sorry, grandma.” Her apologize were ignored as Chairwoman Kang proceeded.

“I’ll have the PR team to clear this issue and negotiate with the one who spread the pictures, but your punishment will come later.” Aeri was grateful for that because it could save Jinyoung the trouble, but she was nervous for her punishment.

Usually her grandmother would come out with a punishment right away, like what she did to Jihoon. But when she delayed it, it means the punishment would be something bigger. Deep inside, Aeri was hoping it was not another arranged marriage, or she had to leave her position at Ennoia. She did not say anything to the decision and nodded her head instead. After a pregnant silent between them, Chairwoman Kang dismissed her. Aeri was hurt because Chairwoman Kang did not spare a glance at her when she bowed to leave. She knew how much she upset her then.

Aeri sighed for the nth time that day. Now that her disguise was blown up, she was unable to go to the office and that also mean, she had to anxiously stay at home waiting for the issue to die down and waiting for her punishment to come. Aeri groaned and stomped on her feet as she made her way to her room. This week is going to be , she thought to herself.

“I am 100% sure it’s me, Daehwi!” Jinyoung stated panicly while on the phone with Daehwi. He happened to read the news this morning when he was scrolling down his Twitter timeline. Only God knows what he felt when he knew that he was the mysterious guy people were wondering about. Jinyoung had read all the comments on the internet and he knew he screwed up. It was his luck that the reporters did not catch his face, or he will end up like the girl caught with Jihoon. Because of his worry, he called Daehwi in no time who was as surprised as he was.

“Dude, I don’t know what you did with her will be this scandalous.” Daehwi commented in disbelief. He was scrolling down the page with his jaw dropped because whatever shown in the pictures will immediately made people suspect that the two of them had something going on between them.

“I’m worried for her.” Daehwi frowned at that. Shouldn’t Jinyoung be worried for himself? However, realizing how foolish Jinyoung was for Aeri, Daehwi did not comment on that.

“Relax, bro. I’m sure The K’s PR team is going to take care of this. You know they are good at maintaining their image.”

“How about me then?” Daehwi secretly was glad that Jinyoung was finally thinking of himself now.

“I think you should apologize to her for this.” Jinyoung sighed at that. He was massaging his forehead to calm himself.

“Alright. I’ll do that later. Thank you, Daehwi.”

“No problem. Tell me if there is anything. I’ll be sure to help you.”

“Okay, talk to you later.” Jinyoung ended the call and sat on the couch. He rested his head, facing the ceiling while thinking of a way to escape the crisis he never intended to cause.

After a while, he could not come out with anything. Hence, he braved himself to call Aeri. He was left upset as the call was not returned. It turned out that she turned off her phone. Jinyoung did not have any choice except for texting her even though it was better to apologize to her directly. After sending the text, he was surprised by a call from his older sister, Bae Joohyun. Jinyoung groaned because he could guess that his sister knew about the news and she could recognize him from the picture. After all, he told her everything about Aeri. Did not want to run away, Jinyoung decided to answer her call.

“Yes, sis?”

“Is that you, Bae Jinyoung?” Jinyoung sighed. He expected this to happened.

“Yes.” He admitted. He was ready to hear her explode.

“Are you in your right mind?!” Just like Daehwi, Joohyun did not really like the idea of Jinyoung liking Aeri. The difference between Daehwi and Joohyun was that, Daehwi did not approved of him liking her while she was someone’s fiancée while Joohyun did not want Jinyoung to be involved with Song Aeri at all.

“You know I like her a lot.” He defended himself. Jinyoung could not understand his sister. She was simply saying that she did not like Aeri for him and would always criticize whatever he did with her.

“Don’t you learn, Jinyoung? This is why I don’t want you to be involved with Song Aeri. You have to stop this unless you are sure she feels the same as you.” Jinyoung could tell his sister was telling him that while clenching her teeth. As usual, he would not be bothered by it.

“I’m going to confess to her so that we can admit to the claim.”

“What?! Don’t be delusional, Jinyoung. This thing will not affect her feeling for you even a bit. She will get away from this and you, what will you get out of this? Don’t do this to yourself, Jinyoung. It’s enough that you’re attacked by the people on internet.”

“Then how can I know if she feels the same as me?” Jinyoung was slowly growing mad from his feeling for Aeri. The situation was forcing him and at the same time was warning him that it was dangerous.

“You can confirm that later, Jinyoung. But not now. Her family is making sure every article on the internet is deleted right now. They are clearly not happy with this news. And you, better calm yourself and don’t act rashly.” She advised him. Jinyoung sighed harshly. He was starting to get pissed off. Jinyoung knew he should stay quiet, but it was wrong for him to do that. He wanted to protect her too. He felt useless when he could not be responsible of the situation. After weighing his decision and his sister’s advice, Jinyoung chose to calm himself until he got to be in contact with Aeri. Until then, he would make the decision to confess to her or not.

“Fine.” He replied, in defeat. His ego hated it that he had to admit defeat, but it was for the better. Jinyoung also knew his sister was right most of the time. It was him who tended to be reckless and hopeless.

“Good. Now take care and don’t read whatever on the internet. It’s not good. I’ll come and visit after my photoshoot.” Joohyun ordered him with her authority tone. Bae Joohyun was nine years older than Jinyoung and she worked as a model. Her name was not big, but she had been modelling for six years. Her job was what inspired Jinyoung to be a photographer. Since high school, he had been watching her during photoshoot and he loved to see how cool a photographer was.

Jinyoung had another two elder sisters, Bae Suji who was six years older than him and Bae Yoobin who was three years older than him. Among the three of his sisters, Jinyoung unexpectedly was close to Joohyun who had a very big with him. He had always been following her everywhere since he was little and Joohyun never hated it. She enjoyed having him by her side all the time. That was why Joohyun was so concerned over Jinyoung’s life. She made him tell her everything and she would always do the same to him. They shared secrets with each other, and they knew each other inside out unlike when they were with Suji and Yoobin. The two sisters did not mind it at all, knowing that only Joohyun understood boys better than them.

Jinyoung could be stubborn but thanks to Joohyun’s guidance, his life was pretty much controlled. All of his life decisions were made together with Joohyun. That explained how easy it was for her to change his mind just now. And Jinyoung could not ask for more from his sister.

“Alright. Buy some food on your way here.” Jinyoung replied.

“Sure! See you later.” Joohyun ended the phone call with ease. Jinyoung put his phone aside. Even though he was tempted to see what was happening on the internet, he could not ignore what his sister said. So, he laid down on the couch, trying to sleep his worry away while waiting for his sister. After all, he can ask what was happening currently from his sister later. Hence, Jinyoung drifted himself to sleep even though it was hard to do so.

Jihoon looked outside the window of his room. There was nothing interesting out there, but his eyes lingered there. Woojin sighed at his behaviour. Ever since he entered the room and talked to Jihoon about the latest news, the latter was quiet. Woojin was unsure if he was thinking of something or just let himself being swayed by sadness over the news.

“Yah, what’s on your mind?” Woojin decided to break the silence. He shifted on the bed he was sitting on, to leaning on his hands behind. Jihoon finally darted his eyes on Woojin and it lingered for a moment before he looked down at the floor.

“I know who is that guy.” Woojin’s eyebrows scrunched in surprise.

“You know? Who is it?” Curiosity had him on the mysterious guy who was rumoured to be Aeri’s lover. Woojin knew Aeri had no feeling for Jihoon but it amused him to know that Aeri had a lover. It was probably the reason she was unable to return Jihoon’s feeling. Little did Woojin know, his assumption was correct.

“It’s Bae Jinyoung. The photographer in her department.” Jihoon gritted his teeth while saying that name. His face hardened and it was obvious to Woojin’s eyes. He was even more curious now that Jihoon was showing such expression.

“How did you know it’s him?” Jihoon scoffed at the question.

“He’s my employee and I always see him in Aeri’s department. Of course, I can tell it’s him. And I know from the start that he likes Aeri. Never expect him to make a move on her though.” He mumbled the last sentence to himself, but it was clear to Woojin’s ears. Woojin raised his eyebrows at the new information. He never expected it too that Jihoon noticed his competitor. He watched Jihoon again as his twin brother was talking by himself.

“I feel so stupid. What did she see in him? I’m better than him though. I am the CEO and he’s just a photographer I employed. I put her first in everything. I went to her favourite restaurant instead of mine. And what did this guy do to impress her? Was it on par with what I did for her? Or was it because he’s good in bed? Heck, I can bet that I’m better.” Woojin shook his head at Jihoon’s mad thought.  He put a stop on his nonsense with a snarky remark.

“So, what? You did the same to her and this is mean to say but Aeri is better than Yena though.” Jihoon turned his head with a sharp glare at Woojin.

“Mine is a mistake.” Woojin shook his head again.

“You can’t expect her to like you when you’re just betrothed to each other. She doesn’t even want it in the first place. You should be grateful that she wants to stop this because she cares about you and your feeling.” It was harsh but Woojin needed to say this for Jihoon’s sake. Woojin thought the said guy was becoming better after two weeks but it seemed like Aeri’s news triggered his feeling. Woojin knew Jihoon was hurt and his feeling was fragile. He was sorry for it, but he needed Jihoon to face the reality and move on.

“I’m going to marry Yena.” Jihoon announced out of nowhere and Woojin was taken aback by it. How could Jihoon jumped from talking about Aeri to his decision to marry Yena?

“What?!” Woojin’s voice squeaked upon the statement. He scanned Jihoon’s determined look in disbelief. His mouth was slightly ajar.

“I’m going to show her that I can do the same.” Jihoon continued. He did not bother at all by Woojin’s reaction to his words. At that, Woojin felt like he wanted to explode. He stood up and charged towards Jihoon.

“Don’t be foolish, Jihoon. She won’t be affected even in the tiniest bit. You’re going to make it worse for our company and hers.” Woojin reminded him. Woojin was not fond of the idea of Jihoon marrying Yena, even if his father said it was the only way for them to mend the situation. To Woojin, marrying them off would not do them any good for long-term, especially after Jihoon was caught sleeping with Yena while being Aeri’s fiancé. It will make the public believed that the fault was in Jihoon. Woojin did not want his brother to be labelled anything negative. It was not fair. Woojin preferred it if they let the public forget about the issue as if something like that never happened. As for the company, they could work hard to gain trust and respect from others again.

“Why should I care? People assume we’re cheating on each other when it’s her who did that. Why the heck I’m being accused when mine was an accident and hers is intentional? This is not fair!” Jihoon told, straight in front of Woojin’s face. Woojin squinted his eyes as he frowned at his twin brother. He understood that Jihoon was upset but he was unable to brain how Jihoon, the brother he always looked up to and was chosen as the CEO of Ennoia could be this foolish.

“Jihoon, it was just yesterday you can’t get over her and now you want to avenge her? Are you in your right mind?”

“Then, should I accept this like a fool? You know why I ended up being with Yena that night.”

Woojin knew very well why it hurt Jihoon so much. He wasted himself that night because of the thought of Aeri loving someone else who was not him, but he was the one punished for it. And to learn the so-called truth from the news broke Jihoon’s heart even more. Woojin knew Jihoon was drowned in his misery and the latter could not accept the drastic changes in his life. Heck, Woojin even knew that Jihoon could not accept what he did to Yena even when he already apologized to her. However, to make a rash decision like this was selfish and as he mentioned before, foolish.

“I know, Jihoon but this is not right. Look, you want to marry Yena? Okay, go ahead. Because dad suggested it and it will help our company. But I don’t want you to marry her just because you and your ego are trying to prove a point to Aeri who will not bat an eyelash on this. Yena is a human being, Jihoon. Don’t treat her like a tool.”

Woojin hated himself for changing his mind on this marriage thing but on second thought, it was better to tie Jihoon in this marriage so he could move on and never look back on the past. Jihoon turned silent at the speech. He looked away from Woojin. Being close enough, Woojin could see Jihoon’s glassy eyes. He knew Jihoon was about to break down. Woojin sighed and raised his hand to land on Jihoon’s shoulder to comfort him.

“We care about you and your feeling, Jihoon. That’s why dad is giving you more time to fix this. You might cause our stock to drop but he is still willing to help you. I am here to help you and I think, Yena is trying to help you too. Did you hear what she said that day? She wanted to disappear if we wish for it when her father never come back, when she lost the chance to work at Ennoia again, when she has to run away from her normal life. Can’t you realize how selfless she is when you’re at fault too?”

Woojin was trying to prove a point to Jihoon. He cannot be selfish. And Jihoon absorbed the point faster than before. He started to realize his mistakes in their argument just now, but he remained quiet. Woojin was observing him and after a moment, Jihoon spoke up.

“I want to be alone right now.” He whispered the request. Woojin let out a relieved sigh and nodded his head. He took a step back.

“Alright. Call me if you need anything.” Woojin said. With one last look, he turned around and left the room. As soon as the sound of the door closed was heard, Jihoon threw himself on the bed, facing the ceiling as he the thought of Yena was filling his mind.