Last night event remained in Aeri’s mind. However, she could not let it get in her way. So, she entered her office as usual. This time, without Jihoon’s morning greeting. Aeri felt odd when she did not receive any from him. That guy never missed to greet her in the morning. She assumed he was still upset at her. Aeri shrugged it off, thinking it was better if Jihoon decided when they will talk to each other again. After all, that was what Aeri wanted. To be away from Jihoon. Hence, she filled her mind with her job. There was a lot to settle, according to her plan, given that she was the type who finish her task early.

Time passed, and it was near lunch time. Her phone rang. Her ears perked up at the sound, so she glanced to see the caller. She was curious after she saw the name of the caller. It was her grandmother. She picked it up in no time.

“Yes, grandma?”

“Come home, Aeri. As soon as possible. And cancel all your appointment for today.” Aeri grew curious at her grandmother’s order. She pondered if there was any emergency.

“Is everything alright, grandma?”

“Just come home. We have thing to discuss.” Was the only answer she got. Aeri did not asked further as she recognized the tone used by her grandmother.

“Alright, grandma. I’ll be there in 15 minutes.” Aeri promised. She hung up the call and let out a sigh. She checked her schedule and was relieved she only had one appointment that day so it was easy to postpone it to another day. She pressed the telephone in front of her to inform her assistant.

“Hyemi, cancel my appointment with Elly this evening. I need to go home. Make sure to submit every report which due today. I’ll check it tomorrow.”

“Noted, Miss Aeri. Is there anything else?”

“Nothing. Text me if there’s anything.”

“Sure, Miss Aeri.” Aeri ended the call. She swiftly stood up to reach her handbag, ready to head back home. The opened document in front her was left as it was.

She was about to step towards the door when she received another call. This time, it was Jihoon. Her eyebrows were raised as she did not expect his call after what happened last night. She answered it after three ringing.

“Aeri, I’m sorry! I am really really really sorry. I never wanted this to happen. I’ll fix it, I promise!” Aeri frowned at his exaggerated pleading. It was out of blue and she did not welcome it at all.

“Can you please chill? What are you sorry for?”

“You-you don’t know about it?”

“About what?” Right after she asked that, another call from her grandmother came. Aeri had no choice but to prioritize her grandmother’s call.

“Jihoon, grandma is calling me. I’ll get back to you later.” She said before ending the call right away. She could hear his faint sorry when she was about to end the call. Aeri was curious on what he was freaked about but she would get the answer later. This time, she needed to know the reason her grandmother was calling her.

“Yes, grandma?”

“Are you on your way now?”

“I’m leaving now, grandma.”

“Alright. Be careful and please be fast.” With that Chairwoman Kang ended the call. Aeri was dumbfounded right after the call. She really wanted to squeeze her brain to think of the reason her grandmother urgently asked her to go home but she was out of time.

She walked out of her office in rush to see all her female staffs were gathering at one of the cubicles. They were surprised by their appearance. Hyemi, her assistant was among them. Aeri frowned at that. She did not like it when her staffs were procrastinating by gossiping in group like this. Hyemi noticed the look in Aeri’s eyes so she immediately stepped out.

“What’s going on here?” Aeri asked, trying to contain her irritation.

“I’m sorry, Miss Aeri. But I hope you’re okay.” Hyemi braved herself to speak up. She was concerned, hoping that Aeri understood the reason she was gathering with her colleagues.

“What happened?” Aeri’s eyebrows met, her forehead scrunched. She was starting to think that it had something to do with the call she received from Chairwoman Kang. Her heart was beating harder than before as she was nervous to hear the answer. At the same time, Daehwi walked out of his office, with the intention to look for Aeri. His stepped halted when he saw Aeri was in the middle of the office, in front a group of the staffs. He heard the question uttered by Aeri, so he resumed his steps to walk towards her.

Hyemi was about to answer to Aeri’s question but a voice stopped her.

“What are you doing, gathering like this? Go back to your place and do your work!” He scolded them, making them scurried back to their own cubicle. Hyemi did the same as she beamed an apologetic smile and walked pass Aeri. Aeri did not stop any of them as she was looking at Daehwi. She studied his face and he was having a worried expression on it.

“What’s going on?” She asked in perplexity. Daehwi sighed once he heard the question. He felt bad, but he had no choice except to show her the news. He showed his phone to Aeri. Aeri wasted no time as she read the article displayed on Daehwi’s phone. After reading the title and looking at the picture attached, Aeri scoffed by herself. She finally understood the reason her grandmother asked her to go home instantly, the reason Jihoon was apologizing to her, the reason her staffs were gossiping in the middle of the office, the reason Hyemi hoped she was okay and the reason Daehwi was worried for her. They were all expecting a reaction from her after the news when she did not even know what was happening. There was no wonder everyone was flustered.

“I’m alright, if you are going to ask that, Daehwi.” She showed him a fake bitter smile, as if she was hurt by the news. It was the right reaction to show the public who did not know the truth. Aeri returned Daehwi’s phone on his palm and walked away towards the lift. Daehwi did not say anything as he wordlessly trailed her until she disappeared into the lift. He saw the way she smiled and remembered what she told him just now. From his interpretation, he knew Aeri was not okay. As a friend, he was genuinely worried about her. Daehwi sighed and then looked to his side to see his best friend’s reaction. He was sure Jinyoung knew what was happening too.

True to his expectation, Jinyoung was eyeing him while raising his eyebrows. His lips were forming a wide smile, as if he won something from this matter. Daehwi threw a dagger through his eyes and shook his head. He was disappointed that Jinyoung was happy over this matter. Daehwi then turned around and entered his office meanwhile Jinyoung decided to ignore the disappointed Daehwi. All he knew, he loved it now that Jihoon was in trouble.

Aeri left the building by her car. She pressed the gas harder to speed up as she was reminded to reach home as soon as possible. The journey to Kang mansion usually took 15 minutes but now that it was near the lunch time, it would probably take her around 10 minutes. Aeri drove calmly as her mind was thinking of the situation in the office just now. She cackled because people thought Jihoon and her were very much in love with each other that she would be affected by the news. She wondered why on Earth people believed with such act when it was clear their engagement was for the collaboration of Ennoia and The K’s. Did they think that they fell in love after getting engaged? Was it that easy to fall for Jihoon? They never considered her feeling, wasn’t it?

Aeri shook her head. She laughed again. This time was upon remembering what Jihoon told her the day before and previously on how he loved her, and he was serious with her. Now that the news was out, she thought that Jihoon was making fun of himself. She wondered what he felt right now. Was it shame or guilty? Or he did not feel any of that even though he was begging for forgiveness just now. She was sure her grandmother would not let Jihoon live peacefully. Aeri was eager to reach home because she wanted to know what was the end of this issue, knowing her grandmother. Deep inside her heart, she was wishing for something.

Aeri’s thought was distracted by the ring of her phone. She glanced at her phone to see the caller. Her face brightened up instantly. Her fingers immediately slide on her phone screen to answer the call. She put the phone into a loud speaker mode as she was driving.

“Have you read the news?” Aeri laughed as it was the first question he needed to ask. She expected it by the way.

“Of course, yes.”

“So how?”

“I don’t know, oppa but I’m on my way home. Grandma called me and asked me to come home as soon as possible.”

“Let me guess. She must be fuming right now. You know how she hates scandals and it is a taboo in our family.”

“You bet.” Aeri replied, simply. She agreed on what he said too. Chairwoman Kang always warned her children and grandchildren to avoid any scandal. Rumour was okay because it was baseless, but scandal came with evidence and she hated it to the core. All this while, Aeri and her cousins had been very cautious about it. Now that it was caused by Jihoon, the fiancé of Aeri, Aeri could say it was beyond saving.

“Then how about you? Are you okay?” Aeri loved the gentle tone Sungwoon was using to ask her if she was okay. She smiled in glee upon that question.

“Why wouldn’t I?” She chuckled while answering. Sungwoon laughed at the other side of the line.

“Who knows if you feel betrayed by your one and only fiancé?” He . Aeri smiled at that. She loved it when he understood her very well. Sungwoon was probably the only person who could guess her real reaction towards the news.

“I feel betrayed but I’m grateful this thing happened. Grandma might break the engagement.”

“You hope so?”

“Yes. I want to only belong to you, oppa.” She said sweetly. Sungwoon on the other side sighed heavenly.

“If only we can run away from all of this without losing anything.”

“I have nothing but you, oppa. You know that.” Aeri replied, this time she was whispering it. Sungwoon groaned at that. Aeri bit her lips, knowing that he hated it if she mentioned that.

“Don’t say that. I’ve told you countless of time, Aeri.” Aeri smiled bitterly. She knew it was not totally the truth but at some point, it was the truth. Aeri was adopted by the Kang family. Everything she had belonged to the family. She did not have anything to lose meanwhile Sungwoon does.

“Oppa, I’ve reached home. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Alright. Take care. I love you!”

“I love you too.” With that, they ended the call. Aeri parked her car at the designated place and turned off the engine. She grabbed her handbag and phone and hurriedly left the car to enter the mansion.

The moment she entered the living room, a maid was waiting. She approached her and Aeri was expecting some information from her.

“Miss Aeri, Chairwoman Kang is waiting for you in the library. Mr. Park is there too.” The maid informed her. Aeri was surprised by Jihoon’s appearance. She silently complimented him for being valiant to face Chairwoman Kang. Aeri nodded her head and dismissed the maid. She took the stairs to head to the first floor, where the library was located. After knocking the door, she pressed the knob to open the door. Upon widening the view by pushing the door, she saw her grandmother was sitting at the office table in the middle of the library and Jihoon was sitting with his head down in front of her.

“I assume you know what happened already.” Chairwoman Kang started as soon as she saw Aeri entered the room. Aeri noticed that her grandmother’s expression was not good. She was frowning, and her lips formed a thin line. She was breathing heavily, as if she just finished venting out her anger. Aeri wondered if her grandmother did so or she was just holding herself from doing so.

“Yes.” Aeri answered in a soft voice as she made way to sit on the chair beside Jihoon, facing her grandmother.

“Good and I’ve finished talking to Jihoon about this too.” There was a pregnant silent after what Chairwoman Kang said. Aeri was curious of the thing they discussed without her presence. She turned her head to watch Jihoon who was gloomy and could not meet her eyes.

“I’m breaking off this engagement.” Chairwoman Kang continued. Aeri was surprised but she expected the decision nonetheless. So, she remained calm. She had no say in their relationship after all. She would get engage if her grandmother said she had to, and she would break it off too if her grandmother said so.

“What happened to the collaboration then?” Aeri asked, concerned of the future plan between the two big companies. It was the original purpose proposed by both side when they agreed on marrying Jihoon and Aeri. Jihoon was hurt when she asked that instead of discussing more on their engagement that was about to be broke by Chairwoman Kang. He was already dejected with what happened, and she just needed to do that to him.

“We still can continue with the collaboration, but it will probably take time since I want their side to clean this up instead of us. By tomorrow, the whole country will know about this news, so be prepared.” Chairwoman Kang told her. The news she mentioned was referring to their called-off engagement. Aeri nodded her head obediently. Of course, her grandmother would not delay anything when it comes to family name. Jihoon could only gulped at that. His heart and mind could not accept the fact that their engagement was called off and it was because of his mistake. He was still hanging his head down, refused to look up. His heart felt like it was being squeezed and he hated that feeling. His ears perked up when another knock on the door was heard.

Chairwoman Kang’s assistant entered the room with an iPad in her hand. She bowed her head before walking up to Chairwoman Kang’s side to show her an article displayed on the iPad screen. Chairwoman Kang let out a cynical giggle right after she read the news. She then dismissed her assistant who bowed before leaving quietly. Aeri looked at her grandmother in anticipation. That day was the first day she was so curious on something and she really could not wait to understand the situation. Aeri’s eyes were directed to Jihoon as she followed her grandmother’s eyes. Aeri assumed it was a news related to Jihoon and not them.

“You see, the paparazzi already have the background of the woman.” Chairwoman Kang pushed the iPad towards Jihoon whose eyes were widened in shock. His heart was beating harder than it was supposed to. His breathing became heavy and he had to open his mouth slightly to calm himself.

Aeri was observing Jihoon’s reaction from the start. From what she saw, she had a feeling that Jihoon knew the woman involved in this scandal. It brought her to a conclusion that Jihoon was deceiving everyone by declaring that he was totally in love with Aeri and he was hiding the identity of the woman all this while. Now that her identity was revealed, he was afraid of the consequences towards the woman.

“I will leave this matter to Park family to decide on this. I’m not going to give my resource to make things clear. We have been taking care of this relationship and the company image, and you ruined it like that.” Chairwoman Kang said while leaning her back on the chair, judging Jihoon.

“I’m really sorry, Chairwoman Kang.” Jihoon apologized for the nth time. Chairwoman Kang did not even bother to count or notice how many apologize he did today because she could care less about that. All she wanted from him was to restore Kang family reputation after the scandal he caused. Aeri felt bad that her grandmother kept on attacking him, so she thought she wanted to give him a break from this. She looked at her grandmother and asked.

“Grandma, can I have a talk with Jihoon for a while? Just the two of us?” She asked for permission which Chairwoman Kang nodded her head simply and was ready to stand up.

“I’ll leave the two of you to talk then.” She said then walked out of the room. Before doing so, she did not miss to give one last look at Jihoon who cowered immediately. He was intimidated by her presence. Right after the sound of the door being closed was heard, Jihoon immediately turned to face Aeri and held her hands in his.

“I’m sorry, Aeri. I’m really sorry! Please forgive me. I don’t know what happened and I don’t know how that woman was there.” Jihoon tried to explain. Aeri’s eyebrows furrowed at that.

“What do you mean you don’t know what happened?”

“I-I can’t remember what happened.” He answered, eyes looking everywhere as he did not know how to explain to her.

“What? You had a night stand with her? Is that what you mean? And you got caught?”

“I was at a night club last night. I drank so much that I can’t remember anything. All I know is that I was awake in a room in the same night club and I was alone. But the paparazzi caught us, and I don’t know how that happened.” With that, Aeri finally understood what actually happened. Jihoon was drunk that he did not remember he ended up on bed with a woman and paparazzi caught them. To make it worse, the paparazzi knew about the woman as if Jihoon and that woman had something between them. Aeri sighed and shook her head. The situation was out of control.

“As you heard from grandma just now, we’re breaking off this engagement.” Jihoon squeezed Aeri’s hands and pulled it in fright. He shook his head repeatedly.

“No, please. Please, Aeri. Please, no. I don’t want that.” He begged her. Aeri stared at his face for a while, contemplating on what to say to him for a moment. Her heart pity him after looking at how messy his hair was. He was at the verge of crying from all the pressure too.

“Why shouldn’t I? You know I can’t return your feeling. Don’t you think this is a chance for me to break this engagement?” Aeri came back to her right state of mind before letting herself being swayed by her pity for him. She knew what she said would not help him at time like this, but she needed to take this chance to put a stop between both of them.

Jihoon felt like his heart stabbed by a knife with every question and statement by Aeri. His face seemed so hurt that Aeri could almost feel it. He looked at Aeri, directly into her eyes. Aeri remain unfazed by keeping her composure.

“Do you hate me that much?” The question was accompanied by a cracked voice belonged to Jihoon. Aeri shook her head at both the question and also the guilt and pity coming to her.

“No, Jihoon. I don’t hate you. I just can’t bear hurting you anymore because I can’t love you.”

“Because you have someone else, right?” Aeri could not believe Jihoon was still stubborn on that matter. She was taken aback but quickly regained her composure.

“It’s not the issue.” She gave her excuse.

“If there is no one, you would have considered me at the very least.”

“The issue here is that I don’t hate you as you think. And I want you to be responsible of this woman you slept with.”

“Why should I?!” Jihoon was taken aback when Aeri asked that. He grew wrathful when the woman was mentioned. He blamed her for the scandal without even thinking that he might be at fault too.

“Grandma asked you to handle this. The right thing to do is to be responsible to this woman, Jihoon. After all of this, the most likely person to be affected is her. I’ll be okay, my family will be okay. Your family have the power to make all of this right. But what about her?”

“I don’t care about her. I want you.” Aeri could not believed her ears. How could Jihoon behaved like this even after she mentioned the aftereffects of the situation?

“Jihoon, you know my grandma and you know me too. There’s nothing you can do for this engagement. And don’t you dare say you don’t care about her. This thing happened because of the both of you. Both of you are responsible in this. But the difference is that she’s powerless. Reporters are probably hunting her right now.” Jihoon shook his head. He still refused everything Aeri said. He could not accept the fact that they were going to break up in the first place so how could he accept everything she mentioned just now? Why did he have to care about the woman who destroyed everything he had in one night? Why did he have to care about the woman who caused him to lose Aeri, the only woman he loved?

“Jihoon, I always know you as someone who are caring and responsible but how can you decide like this?”

“Because of you! I love you, Aeri.” Jihoon could not understand why Aeri could not accept the fact that he was behaving like this because he refused to let her go. He was frustrated that he could not think straight even though she was holding his hands tightly. Well, who would be in their right mind after receiving such mind-blowing news to his perfect life? However, Aeri’s heart was as hard as rock. It could not be moved at all by his confession.

“Listen, Jihoon. I’ll make a deal with grandma. I’ll be working by your side. I’ll never leave Ennoia. But you, you have a deal with me. You’re going to take care of her and save her from people out there. You know how dirty our world is. So, please…”

“What’s the point if you can’t be mine?” Jihoon questioned her and that turned her speechless. Aeri gave up on persuading him. She let out a heavy sigh while pulling away her hands from his grip. Jihoon started to panic as he saw her hands retracted away from him. He looked like a child who was scared that his mom was going to leave him.

“Jihoon, you’re not in your right mind. You talk with your family first about this issue then you can contact me.” Aeri stood up, ready to leave him to reflect on his mistake. Jihoon copied her, trying to reach her with his hands as if he would collapse without her.

“No, Aeri. Please…” He pleaded again but Aeri could care less about that. She was trying to help him because Aeri was someone who thought of the possible things in the future be it positive or negative. She was guilty enough for not being able to return his feeling and could only watched him being miserable and yet he was stubborn and refused to accept the reality. Aeri started to step away so Jihoon immediately grabbed her hand, pulled her closer and kissed her right on her lips. Aeri was stupefied for a moment when he claimed her lips with his. She blinked her eyes, could not believe it that he dared to do so. She shoved him with all her strength. The heartbroken Jihoon that day was not strong enough to go against Aeri, so he was pushed, making him stumbled backward by a few steps. Aeri sent him one incensed look before bolting out of the room. Jihoon’s eyes trailed her figure until the door was closed. Jihoon was left alone in the room, head hanging down, shoulder slumped as his heart felt heavy in his ribs. He stared at the floor, his mind drifted further into the abyss of sorrow.