Jihoon entered his family mansion with heavy steps. His eyes were filled with dullness as he walked forward absentmindedly. His parents were there, in the living room, waiting for him. They stood up the moment they saw his figure but was surprised to see him ignoring their presence. Mr. Park’s anger sparked at his son’s behaviour.

“Park Jihoon, come here!” He ordered with a strict tone. Jihoon heard his name was called so he turned to face them. He only noticed their presence there when his name was called. His face was expressionless that it surprised Mrs. Park to see her son. She immediately stepped forward to reach her son halfway and cupped his face.

“Love, are you alright?” She asked in concern, trying to meet his eyes. Jihoon looked at his mother’s face but he felt nothing. The only thing that crossed his mind was Aeri. Jihoon’s lack of reaction worried Mrs. Park so she hugged him and his back to comfort him. Jihoon was still not giving the reaction she needed as he was standing still doing nothing. Mr. Park noticed it too that his son was staring blankly in front of him. Mrs. Park pulled away, holding Jihoon’s hands in hers and looked at her husband.

“I don’t think it’s the best time to talk about this.” Mrs. Park persuaded her husband, but it was in vain as he turned deaf at her words. Mr. Park stepped forward to face Jihoon.

“Now that you created this problem, how would you handle it? The reporters already knew her identity and guess what, she’s just a poor woman. You dare to play around with that kind of woman instead of being loyal to your fiancée? The Kangs are going to announce about your engagement tomorrow. How do you deal with it? How?!” Mr. Park yelled at his son’s face. His face went red and his eyes were as wide as a saucer. He was trembling with rage.

However, Jihoon stood there with a stoic face, making his father burned with anger. Mrs. Park saw both of their reactions, so she hurriedly stepped in, placing her hands on her husband’s chest, trying to calm him.

“Honey, he must be in shock too and probably exhausted. Let him rest first, okay? Then we’ll discuss about it again.”

“What do you mean ‘shock’? He was the one who played around last night, why must he be in shock instead of us? He deserved this and I’m telling him that he is going to fix this by himself! You take responsible of this matter and I’ll think what to do with you later. You hear me, Park Jihoon?”

Jihoon looked up to see his parents’ face. His lips were pursed. He was trying to control his facial muscle, but his eyes were getting blurry by his tears. He gave in to all voluntary action his body wanted that moment so he bursted into tears.

“I don’t want to lose her.” He cried, finally which caused Mrs. Park to panic and rushed to comfort her son. She patted his shoulder this time.

“There, there. I’m here, love. You can talk to me. Just ignore your dad. I’ll handle this matter for you.” Mrs. Park said while giving look at her husband. Mr. Park was taken back as his forehead puckered.

“I don’t mean this to happen, mom. I-I love Aeri with all my heart. I-I can’t let her go just like that. Please help me, mom.” Jihoon told her and it broke Mrs. Park’s heart to hear that from her eldest son. Her eyes were getting teary as well. She knew how in love Jihoon was with Aeri. He kept thanking her for arranging the marriage between them because he liked Aeri so much. She also remembered Jihoon told her recently that he could not wait to get married to the woman of his dream. Mrs. Park raised her hands to wipe the tears on Jihoon’s face.

“I’m sorry, love. I’m so sorry. I’ll try to fix this, okay?” Jihoon tilted his head down as he nodded to his mother’s words. Mr. Park shook his head upon the scene. He did not agree that Mrs. Park promised him to fix the engagement. Mr. Park, as a business partner, knew very well that Chairwoman Kang would not change her mind regarding that. It was known to every business partner that Chairwoman Kang was strict in regards of their family name. What Jihoon did had scarred their family name so there was no way to revive whatever they wanted to.

“Now, go to your room and rest. We’ll discuss this again. Rest well, love.” Mrs. Park said before she kissed Jihoon’s cheek. Jihoon nodded his head and bowed to his parents before walking up the stairs, with slumped shoulders.

His parents eyed him until he disappeared on the second floor. Mr. Park let out a huff as he sat down. Mrs. Park followed suit.

“You see, he really loves Aeri. I don’t think it’s right to scold him without knowing the truth.”

“I know. Everybody can see that but who will believe it after this scandal? They caught him with another woman, they even have pictures of it and it is now spread all over the country. To make it worse, they knew about the woman. How can we cover all of this? Chairwoman Kang is not helping us at all by calling off the engagement. And you! Why did you promise him that? You know there’s nothing we can do to change her mind.”

“I said I’ll try.”

“Don’t give him false hope. It’s going to be hard for him to move on. Look at him, he is not even in good condition to fix all of this within days.” Mr. Park argued. He leaned his back on the chair and let out a frustrated sigh. Sadness started to cloud Mrs. Park’s face as she thought of what her husband said and remembering Jihoon’s condition. She was thinking of the solution until something popped up in her mind.

“I think it’s time for him to return home.” Mrs. Park blurted out her idea, earning a questioning look from Mr. Park.

“Who?” At that question, Mrs. Park’s turned sour. She took her phone which was placed on the coffee table and searched for a name before pressing the call button. She put it to her right ear, waiting for the person she called to answer. Mr. Park observed her in curiosity and his eyes sparkled the moment he heard a familiar voice answering the phone. The husband and wife grinned in relief simultaneously.

A loud sound of slap echoed in the small living room. Kim Yena’s head was turned due to the impact on her cheek. Her cheek flushed red on her pale skin. Her eyes were blurred by tears, her whole body was trembling, and her breath was heavy. She slowly raised her head to look at the person who used to be loving towards her. He was standing in front of her, shoulder moving up and down as rage churned inside of him.

“You, ungrateful child! Do you need to bring shame to this family when we’re poor enough to be shamed of?!” He barked in fury. A flood of tears gushed down her cheeks upon the harsh tone.

Yena had lived with him for 24 years and it was the first time she was yelled at like this. The man who used to spoil her and love her like no other was gone the moment he found out about her on the news. Yena had no excuse for what happened. It was a mistake, it was her mistake. Had she ignored the miserable state of the CEO of Ennoia, she would be at her office right now, admiring the CEO and his fiancée who looked so in love with each other. Yena regretted it for being so kind to stop him from drinking only to end up being in trouble the next morning.

“I’m sorry, dad. I don’t even want this to happen.” She answered. A great sob escaped her, and she covered her face with shaking hands.

“Then what? Did he you?” Her father asked in total seriousness, his hands cuffed at his waist. Yena’s heart drop upon the question. Last night event flashed in her mind. She never meant it to happen. Yes, she was a bit tipsy last night, but she could remember everything. She remembered stopping him from drinking more. She remembered him mentioning his fiancée’s name. She remembered being pulled into his embrace. She remembered every area he touched her. She also remembered where they were heading to. She just could not process the whole thing rationally because it happened so fast.

Perhaps, it was her fault for being distracted by his charming face and gentle voice. Perhaps, it was her fault that she liked him that she allowed her heart and her body to fall for him last night. However, she remembered refusing him, only to be trapped between his arms, regret spinning around her head. Yena’s breath hitched for a moment as she was reminded of what happened after that. She looked at her father with shaken eyes. It was wrong to say he her because she was partly at fault too. So Yena ended up crying again, causing her father simmered with anger.

“He did, wasn’t he? Huh! So rich people can do anything and whatever to poor people like us? Then when it become a problem, we are going to face it for them? Bull! I’m not going to stay still. I’m making police report!” He said and dashed out of the house. Yena quickly held his hand, trying to prevent him from doing so.

“No, dad. Please! The reporters already know my identity. This can cause more problem if the police are involved.” She pleaded, shaking her head while crying. She was scared because she knew partly, it was her fault. If the Park family caught her for that and the police was involved, she would be doomed. Unfortunately, her father did not fancy her thought.

“Are you crazy? He you! Why must we let him live freely? Why must you suffer from this?” Yena continued to shake her head, refused to answer the exact reason.

“No, please! Please, don’t!”

“You’re crazy, Kim Yena! Move away!” Her father pushed her away, making Yena fell on the floor. Her long black jet hair covered her wet face as she faced the floor, her arms prevented her face from kissing the floor.

Yena immediately turned around to catch her father but he was gone instantly. The door was left open. Yena’s body wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears as there was nothing she could do. She did not have the willpower to stop anything already. So, she laid there, on the floor, tears continued to spill over and flowed down her face like a river escaping a dam as the thought of aftermath came to her like a bullet.

Aeri went to her room after she was told to stay at home, knowing that the reporters might be searching for her at her office at this time. As much as Aeri did not want to stay at home doing nothing and as she remembered the document she left behind just now, she knew it was not a good choice to head back to her office. Hyemi already contacted her on what was happening at Ennoia building. Reporters were very eager to see her or Jihoon after the news. Some staffs from other floor and department also came to their floor to see if she was there but left after Daehwi scold them, Hyemi reported. Aeri sighed at that. Of course, this breaking news would gain a lot of attention. A lot more than they needed but she regretted that it was affecting her team. For a moment, she wanted to blame Jihoon for this but she took it back after she remembered what he told her about an hour ago.

Aeri let out a sigh again. The memory of being kissed by Jihoon played in her mind. She did not expect the kiss and most importantly, she hated that he did it by force and out of being desperate. Aeri had always saw Jihoon as a gentleman who respected her as a woman even though he annoyed her for being such a love-fool for her. She never expected him to take such measure to make her stay with him. Aeri shook her head. Was it her fault? She started to think. Jihoon was in love with her and she left him frustrated last night that he went and wasted himself at the night club. Frankly, Aeri was surprised when she read the news about Jihoon being caught in a night club and went to a hotel with a woman. Jihoon and night club? It was a very rare combination. Jihoon even told her once that he did not like being in a night club because it suffocated him. To have Jihoon in the night club, Aeri realized she must hurt his feeling a lot.

Aeri bit her lips as the guilt started to engulf her. She was relieved because the engagement was resolved but to let Jihoon deal with this issue alone was cruel. Aeri tried to comfort herself by reminding that she already offered him help just now which he persistently rejected. However, the guilt was still hanging in her heart, making it heavy. Aeri lied on her bed, her hair sprawled all over the pillow as she looked at the ceiling. She closed her eyes to calm herself, being careful to not doze off to sleep. Her eyes opened after a few moments when her phone rang. Aeri lazily sat up to reach her phone which was placed on the bedside table. Her eyebrows were raised as she saw the caller.

“Yes, oppa?” She answered the call as the ringing last. She took time to answer the call because she was surprised that Jisung was the first one to call her among her cousins, except Sungwoon, after the news. It had been a long time since they contacted each other. She used to talk to him via chat because they had a group chat which consist of her and her cousins including Dongho who was in Los Angeles. So it was very rare to have a one to one talk with Jisung via call.

“Aeri-ya, are you alright? I heard about the news. I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine, oppa. Don’t worry. I’m home right now. Grandma told me to get back home before the situation worsen.” Jisung let out a long sigh as if he was holding his breath for a long time.

“Ah, that’s a relief. I bet grandma is angry with this. Did she tell you anything?”

“Yes, she is definitely furious over this. Well, as a result, she called off this engagement.”

“What?! How about you? Are you alright with this?” Aeri expected the questions from him. If the one talking to her was Seongwu or Daniel or Dongho or Minhyun, she knew they would asked her the same question. Truthfully, Aeri did not know the answer to this question because she was supposed to be satisfied that the engagement was off but she felt bad that it ended like this and she was one of the reason this thing happened. To answer yes would give others the chance to wonder if she loves Jihoon and answering no would make people worry. Aeri hated both possibility.

“Grandma made the decision, oppa.” She gave him an absolute answer because she knew he would never questioned any decision by their grandmother but he proved her wrong.

“Yes, I know but are you alright with it? First, she decided to marry you with him and now, she cancelled it when you’re getting married in a few months. I want to know what you feel about this. If you’re affected, I will try to talk to grandma for you.” Aeri never thought Jisung would go that far for her. She thought no one would do anything if it was her grandmother’s decision but Jisung told her that he wanted to try for her.

“Oppa, you don’t have to. You know that I’ll follow everything grandma said. I’m- I’m okay. I’m fine with this.” Aeri answered hurriedly, stuck at the part she lied.

“Are you serious? It’s your fiancé. You don’t love him or something like that?” Jisung was not convinced. He had always thought Aeri was in love with Jihoon especially whenever he caught her reaction towards his wife’s teasing.

“I don’t feel like that for him.” Aeri had no choice but to admit it. It was not a big problem since it was Jisung she was talking to, she thought.

“Oh, really? I thought you two like each other.”

“We’re just being nice to each other.”

“Is it so? I got to say that I had always thought you’re head over heels for each other. Maybe my eyes are playing with me. If you’re fine, I think I can worry less. Just be careful with the reporters. It’s better if you just stay at home until this situation is well controlled.” Aeri’s heart warmed at his concern.

Jisung was eight years older than her so she found it hard to have a talk with him since they were little. Nevertheless, he cared for her like a brother should be which she was grateful for. She was even thankful for his never ending care and worry for her. It lasted even after he got married and had a child.

“Alright, oppa. Will do so. Where are you by the way?”

“I’m in office right now. People keep asking me for you when I went out just now so I decided to call instead of texting. Perhaps you will be better after hearing my voice but you said you’re fine so this oppa can save his voice for other purpose.” Jisung answered and joked at the end. Aeri chuckled at that. She could imagined Jisung’s facial expression when he said those sentences. His eyes looking up and one hand on the shoulder.

“Well, I’m fine and I am finer than before. Thank you, oppa!” This time, Jisung laughed.

“You are one sweet talker, you know that? That’s why Jaehwan was left hanging. Luckily he’s married now.”

“Oppa! Do you need to bring his name in this?” Jisung laughed even more at Aeri’s flustered reaction. Jaehwan was Minhyun’s best friend since high school. Aeri and her other cousins knew him through Minhyun. Apparently, Aeri knew Jaehwan had a crush on her when she was in college. She never knew by being friendly with him could mislead him until he confessed to Minhyun which Minhyun conveyed it to her. It was hilarious and awkward at that time because Minhyun was enjoying it a little too much that he laughed so hard and told the others about it. Seongwu was the one who assumed it was probably because of the way she talked that mislead Jaehwan. Now Jisung was going to use it on her. She was so sure if the next time they brought up his name, she will never hear the end of it.

“Alright, I’ll stop now. Talking about him, I am thinking of grabbing a drink from his café later. We should do a gathering at his café later with the others. What do you think?” Jisung suggested his idea which popped out on the spot.

“Sounds great. I’ll suggest in the group chat later.”

“Nice! Aeri-ya, I have to go now. Work is coming. If anything, you can call me. Okay?”

“Sure, oppa. Thank you for calling. Don’t work too hard. Seungyeon will be sad.” Jisung on the other side of the line smiled in bliss at the mention of his only daughter.

“Okay. I’ll keep it in my mind. I’m hanging up now. Take care.”

“You too, oppa.” With that, they ended the call. Aeri put down her phone, ignoring the mounting number of notifications on her phone screen.

She might not get over the feeling she had but she was grateful that Jisung called her. Her heart felt lighter after knowing that someone got her back anytime. If only Jisung knew how much the conversation just now affected her, he would be happy to his heart content. Aeri smiled once again as she imagined Jisung’s reaction. There was nothing special on Jisung’s reaction. It was more to comical in Aeri’s eyes that it was funny to her. Aeri allowed herself to let out a deep breath as she lied on her bed again, this time trying to bring herself to sleep because she had nothing to do. Besides, worrying without the ability to do anything was frustrating her so she decided to keep it to her heart and just do whatever. Turning on her bed, she secretly hoped that it would be okay for Jihoon when she woke up later.