Hyewon was sitting on one of the white couches in the living room, bent over as she watches Chaewon, who was sitting on the floor, playing an RPG on her mobile. Then in unison, they peeped up when they hear the nerve-racking, sinister cranking sound that is their father’s wheelchair approaching.

There was a moment of silence before the grumpy man asks, “Where the hell is she?”

Chaewon sense Hyewon flinch behind her but isn’t influenced by it, she keeps a strong front and replies, “On her way. Why? Are you feeling sick?”

The man doesn’t care for her concern as he bluntly states, “See me in my office,”

Chaewon scoffs and rolls her eyes when her father turns his back to her. Then as he moves toward the direction of his office, Chaewon gets up and follows. Sitting alone in the room, Hyewon can’t help but wonder why their father keeps summoning Chaewon into his office. Just what was he discussing with her? 

Chaewon shuts the door and clears as she goes to stand across from him,” Yes?” she forces a kind sound.

And like always, she can’t ever predict what her father wants to talk to her about. “I thought about it and find that you’re unfit to bring me shreds of evidence of your stepmother cheating,” Chaewon frowns as she didn’t quite get his meaning but lets him continue nonetheless, “instead I have something else for you to do,”

Chaewon raises a brow, “And that is?”

“I heard from Yena’s father that you went to the police station, and if my assumption is correct, you went there to find out who I was looking for,”

Chaewon gulps down hard but tries to keep her cool. She knew her father is as sly as a fox and heartless as a tiger that’s willing to eat his own cubs if he finds them weak and useless so she can only compose herself. “That’s right,” she confirms.

The man readjust himself in the seat, leaning to one side to appear more intimidating, “Who do you think I was looking for?”

“Your second wife,” Chaewon utters without much thought. The answer was already there, at the tip of her tongue. Or so she thought.

“You refer to your mother as my second wife and not your mother. Good,” he coldly praises her then says, “but you’re wrong. I’m not looking for her. I could care less if she’s dead. However, I’m looking for the scumbag she left me for,”

Sadly, Chaewon has no real memories of the man who supposedly robbed away her mother. She knew her mother cared deeply for another man who wasn’t her father, but she has never met the stranger in person.

“His name is Kwon Hokjae,” she notices her father reaching for a package and as he speaks he takes out a picture for Chaewon, “When that wench left me, she withdrew all the money I’ve put into an account for her. I tracked down that money and found that he had gambled it away. After I sent men to confront him twice, they fail to catch him and,” her father gives her another picture that shows a man walking away with his profile shown, “ever since there has been no news of him. I reported him missing to the police so that if he commits a crime or ever runs into some trouble, it’ll be easier to retrieve him and my money,”

Chaewon lowers the photo in her hands and can’t help but ask, “What does any of this have to do with your marriage and hospitality towards Hyewon?”

The man blinks hard in annoyance then disclose, “That bastard and your stepmom have been in contact,” once the words were spilled, Chaewon didn’t know what to think, what to feel. Was it a bad thing for her, or for her hateful father? “I found letters and text messages between the two of them along with large sums of money withdrawn from your stepmother’s bank, but she denies it. She says the account I’ve opened for her is for Hyewon to use, but that girl knows nothing other than food. Why would that child carry cash?” the old man heaves a sharp sigh before adding, “how can I trust and love either one of them if she's seeing that man behind my back? When she was only a nurse, I married her and paid for her tuition so she could become the director she is today. But she went behind my back and did what that woman previously did. And you question why I act a certain way towards Hyewon. Women are no good, Chaewon,”

The lass tries to process everything her father was saying but couldn’t make much of it. The man used to share and teach her about anything and everything. Even the things her mother fail to tell her, but ever since his indifferences Chaewon develops this disdain towards him. She saw him as weak and a bully to mask his own instability. Although she knew that for a man to go from being soft-spoken to simply uttering rugged statements, meant only to hurt others, his mental state was heavily affected and altered. Why and how she doesn’t know and could care less at the moment.

Chaewon assumes her father is only telling her these things now to manipulate her thoughts and feelings towards her stepfamily. The only members she can tolerate so far. After what appears like forever, she blankly asks, “So, you want me to look for Kwon Hokjae through my stepmother?”

The man hums, “I would send Mr. Oh but he’s clumsy in that department. That thief, Hokjae, isn’t worth a penny, he isn't worth me hiring someone to track him down. Your stepmother trusts you so she won’t suspect you. I can’t sit and wait around for the police any longer. Before I die of exasperation, I must find them both and punish them or else I will never be content,” 

When Chaewon leaves the office twenty minutes later, she didn’t expect her father to be right again. Her stepmom isn’t coming home. She can’t make it because of work, or so she says in her text.

Rather than getting angry, Chaewon wonder if one day, work will keep her away from her family too.

Once the clock strikes midnight, Chaewon slips under her puffy covers only to feel the bitter cold of her bedcover underneath. She brr then hears the doorknob to her door click. Glimpsing up, she sees a curious Hyewon in her pink PJs with a teddy bear clutch against her chest. “Are you sleeping soon?” she asks in a soft voice.

Chaewon almost dismisses the lass due to her stepmother’s actions, but simply hums, “I am, need something?”

Upon hearing her question, Chaewon watches as Hyewon smiles briefly, “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

Her mind tells her to reject Hyewon but her heart wants the older to stay. However, only what comes out of mattered. “Why? Did you have a nightmare?”

Hyewon tightens her hold around the bear and shakes her head, “No, I just wanted to sleep with you,”

“Sorry,” Chaewon says in a millisecond, “let’s sleep in our own beds tonight. It’s more comfortable that way,”

“Oh...sure. Good night then,” Hyewon takes little steps back as she closes the door behind her with a sad smile.

Damn it, Chaewon thinks to herself. She fell for her father’s trap. 

In the morning, as Chaewon makes her way into the kitchen for a glass of water, she bumps into the housekeeper, who was wiping down the counters. To her surprise, the woman didn’t have breakfast ready, yet, like she normally does.

“Oh, good morning Miss Chaewon. You’re still here?”

Chaewon chortles, “Where else would I be if not here? No breakfast today?”

The petite woman, in an apron, wears a confuse expression then asks, “Oh, Miss Hyewon said something about eating out so I thought you were both going out together. Did she go alone?” Chaewon turns her head in uncertainty. Hyewon eating out is almost unheard of. As Chaewon tries to make sense of Hyewon’s sudden decision to try something new and different, she fails to see the housekeeper leaning in close to her. After scanning and clearing their surrounding for any unwanted presence, she asks, “Did something happen last night? I heard Miss Hyewon crying all night long. When she came to inform me of her leaving, she looked very pale and her eyes were puffy. Nothing bad happened, right?”

Chaewon pokes the inside of her cheek with her tongue, “Did she tell you where she was going?”

“No,”

Before Chaewon can come up with a list of places Hyewon would attempt to visit, the house phone begins to ring. “I’ll get it,” Chaewon insists and strides over to the living room where the wireless phone is. Surprisingly the caller ID belongs to none other than her stepmother. “Hey, mom,”

“Chaewon?” the woman’s voice melted Chaewon a little, “There’s an odd situation here at the hospital,”

Suddenly, Chaewon’s heart is beating 100 miles per hour, “Why? Is it Hyewon?”

“Hyewon? No. But she is here with me. She came to have breakfast. I called earlier to see if you wanted to have breakfast with me too but the housekeeper said you went out already, but that’s beside the case,” Chaewon raises a brow, “there was an accident earlier this morning. They brought in a girl and in her pocket, they found a piece of paper with our home address on it. Hyewon doesn’t recognize the girl but I wonder if you know her. She doesn’t have an ID or phone with her so we can’t get into contact with her family,”

Chaewon hums, “Interesting. I’ll be over shortly then,”

“Okay. Get here safely, we’ll wait for you at the emergency center,”

Once Chaewon hangs up, she returns to her room to put on some decent clothes. 

A/N: This chapter was rather short but I’m sorry to say that it might take me a while to update again. I’m not sure if you’ve all heard but there was a big fire here today in California. Basically, the city we know as Paradise (which is the city right next to where I live) is lost. The fire, currently, has spread over 20,000 acres and authorities and experts are looking to evacuate part of our city as well. It’s hectic right now with some odd 27,000 people right now just parked and camping on the sides of the roads in this freezing weather. Depending on the direction of the wind and if the fire can be contained, there’s a high possibility that my family will have to evacuate as well. So, we’ll see how things turn out in the morning! Bye-bye for now~

Edit: I've been informed that the comment section wasn't working. I didn't realize checking certain boxes would cancel one another out >_< I've removed all the 'options' regarding the comment section so it should be good now. Sorry guys >_<