Chapter 9

“Come on, guys. Chill.” Jiyong laughed in the middle of an excited crowd, shakily signing someone's shirt while chugging champagne straight from the bottle.

“First place, Ji! First plaaaace!” Tabi bumped him by the shoulder, grabbing the bottle and poured the content down his own throat.

“Hey, that's my victory bottle!”

“This is MY victory bottle.” Tabi slapped the back of Jiyong's head, laughing hard.

“Those are yours.” He then pointed at the many girls around before vanishing behind the crowd.

The crowd laughed. Someone handed Jiyong a smaller bottle. Vodka. Jiyong grinned, throwing another sign across his poster before drinking again.

“Sign my shirt, G!” A girl pushed forward, puffing out her already puffed chest.

“Alright. Alright!” Laughing again, Jiyong started scribbling across the tight pink shirt.

“Me too!” Another girl, in a striped tube top and mini skirt, in.

“Girl, you already have my name on your chest.” Jiyong smirked at the letters GD written with lipstick under the girl's collar bones.

“Not where it matters the most.” The girl lowered the top a little bit more, displaying more cleavage.

The crowd cheered. Jiyong shook his head.

“Come on, your team number one fan here.” The girl trusted herself up.”Been here since Seungri.”

The mention of his late bestfriend did it. Jiyong tilted his head to the side, smiling at the girl. “Thank you, Seungri would have loved to meet you.”

“Oh, I met him.” The girl winked. “He was a great man.”

Smirking, Jiyong lifted the marker and signed across the freckled skin.

The crowd got loud again. Someone started chanting kiss, kiss, kiss. The rest followed. Jiyong could only laugh, opening his hands for a hug as a safer option.

To his surprise the girl jumped on him, kissing his cheek. Stopping her from falling, Jiyong put an arm under her bottom. “Girl, I'm not Seungri. I'm taken.”

“I know.” The girl tightened her hold, winking again. “I know.”

As the crowd went even louder, the girl got extra brazen. Her hands moved everywhere on him to the point Jiyong could only grin. Between his ultimate win, all the drink he had had, and the fans around, he felt like this was the top of the world.

He was on top of the world.

Scanning the crowd, he basked in the feeling of victory, the taste of being the best. Until he saw a pair of beautiful eyes behind the crowd. A pair of eyes filled with disappointment.

Jiyong stopped grinning. There behind the crowd, he saw his wife.

“She's a fan. They are all.”

Silent.

“I didn't mean to grab her. She jumped on me first.”

All she did was staring blankly at her computer screen.

“You didn't tell me you'll come.”

Her eyes went wide as she turned to face him. The stare was so cold Jiyong could feel himself shrink in the corner of the couch.

“Had you know I'll come you wouldn't have your hands all over that girl's , is that what you were saying? That I'm nothing but manner police for you? Not your wife? Not the mother of your child that deserves some respect no matter the distance between us?”

“Taeyeon, I'm so sorry. That's just... that's how the circuit is. The fans, they got all crazy sometimes and I got caught in the middle of it. I'm sorry.”

She sighed, closing her laptop. “Don't be sorry. For all I know you love getting caught in that world so much.”

He tried to reach for her hand. Too late. She already stood up, bringing her laptop to Jinwoo's room.

He came home to an empty house. This was the third time for the past two months and Jiyong hated it. He hated not being greeted by Taeyeon's smile or Jinwoo's excited jump. He hated this feeling of being abandoned, of being ignored. He was the man of the house, he expected them to be there when he needed them.

Kicking his shoes to wherever corner they destined to be, he went straight to the couch and lied on it, staring at the ceiling. Grabbing his phone, he punched demanding message and sent it to Taeyeon. When she didn't reply within the first minute, he fumed and tossed the device to the floor.

Since the fight, they had over the crazy fangirl. Taeyeon never really talked to him that much anymore. Given the rare frequency of their eye-to-eye meeting, stuff only got worse. Texts were no longer exchanged. Video calls were rarely made.

He missed her. He missed his son. The fact that he had no one to blame but himself made Kwon Jiyong even more restless. He stood up, opening the fridge. There were cans of light beers on the top shelf now, a change of rule he didn't realize. The realization that Taeyeon had started drinking beer at home oddly hurt him a little. Before Jinwoo, there were times when they used to spend one six-packs in front of the TV, cuddling, and kissing, worrying about nothing.

Jiyong didn't do light beer, Not when he already had stronger drinks on the plane. He resorted the cabinet under the sink again. His tools and other stuff were still there but his bottle of whiskey was not.

He mumbled his discontentment. If Taeyeon could have beers in the fridge why couldn't he have whiskey in the cabinet?

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jiyong walked to the door. He still had stuff stored in the mini fridge of his car.

He reached the lobby with anger thumping in his mind. Where was his wife? Had she been busy with her courses again?

“Going out again, sir?” Dave's attempt of chit-chatting upset Jiyong even more. Mumbled something about the need to take something from his car, Jiyong hurriedly walked for the basement elevator but it was used.

“Damn it.” Still in upset mode, he punched the button and threw a glare at the innocent security guard. “Apartment so expensive but only one elevator available for the basement.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Bet they paid you so little too, huh?”

“Enough to make my family happy, Sir.”

Dave's smile didn't do Jiyong good. Everybody seemed so happy lately. Everybody but him. Jinwoo seemed to be always in a good mood about his school. Taeyeon had been busy with her artwork again, attending courses, making new friends. Sometimes Jiyong even caught her smiling while pouring over her laptop. A genuine smile that had been so rarely given to him.

He wanted to be in the center of that happiness. He wanted to share his joy of racing with them but they didn't even watch him race any more.

The elevator dinged open. Jiyong stepped forward, lifting his head and immediately greeted by a not-so-pleasant view.

Taeyeon was inside. Not alone. She had a man's arm around her shoulder. Her eyes closed as she leaned her head on the man's shoulder.

Jiyong could feel his blood curdling.

A wide grin plastered on the man's smile as he said something to Jinwoo who was standing behind. Jinwoo's laugh rang like happy bells, filling the lobby, draining common sense out of Jiyong's head.

Something in him snapped.

He threw a punch, landing his fist square on the man's jaw.

Jinwoo yelled in shock. Taeyeon opened her eyes.

Jiyong sent another hit at the man, this time hitting the stomach. He was so angry. So frustrated. How could someone hold Taeyeon so close? How could she lay her head on a stranger's shoulder? What did the man say that make Jinwoo laughed so hard?

Lifting his fist for another punch, Jiyong stared Taeyeon dead in the eyes. He waited for her lame excuse, for apology.

She didn't make any. Her body slid to the floor as the man tried to catch her fall.

“Stop, daddy! Stop!” Jinwoo shouted, standing in front of Jiyong with outstretched hands. Tears of fear falling from the little boy's eyes.

“Stop, please.”

Jiyong never felt this stupid before, nor he ever felt more terrible headache. He rubbed his temp