Her heart plunged into her stomach. The panic swelled like a bruise. She glanced past him to the lamp on the bedside table. Side stepping around him she purposefully traced the mattress. Thinking of the nights she lay here with Sehun. Of how secure he made her feel, but right now he wasn’t here. She had to stand up for herself.

Sensing his eyes trailing after her fervently. Every one of her muscles tensed. She worried if she would be able to function as per the image in her head. Smashing the lamp into his head. Running out the door toward escape.

Namjoo’s throat went dry. Then her finger reached the pillow. Her end. It was now or never. Immediately grabbing the lamp she did manage to slam it into his face. Only hitting him in the chin. Sangki lost balance toppling onto the bed. Namjoo darted toward the door. Three steps away.

She failed miserably.

Sangki snagged her shirt, tugging her backwards. Namjoo tripped over the heels of her feet colliding into the bed. She thought he smelled a little of liquor when he crawled over her. She quickly swatted at him. Thrashing all four of her limbs. Kicking, hitting whatever possible.

Her voice was nowhere. Betraying her in the most crucial moment. Sangki grunted when she managed to make a successful hit. Impatient, he spider webbed her face with his big hand. Twisting her head to the side and dove in to on her neck.

Every nerve cell burst to life and Namjoo screeched as loudly as she could. Hoping that if someone was outside they’d hear her through the balcony door she had left open. Upset, that she was fighting him he tried covering . She bit him.

Flinching, he shook his hand to ward the pain off. Pissed off, Namjoo spat at him. He wiped it off with his sleeve. Recovering he grinned at her, “You’re hot when you’re angry, you know.”

“I’ll kill you,” Namjoo hissed.

“Not before I show you how much of a man I can be.” He had the audacity to wink as if they were in the middle of . Namjoo screamed when he tried kissing her. She twisted her head. Left, right, dodging him.

Grabbing her chin to restrain her he growled, “You’re going to be the mother of my baby. I will take everything Sehun has.”

Namjoo spat at him again. “You’re a jealous bastard who can’t do anything for himself. Coming after your brother. You should be ashamed. That’s why,” her voice shook, “you’re not a man.”

Her face stung when he slapped her. Slicing her cheek with his nail.

“Shut up, .” Sangki whispered. Grasping her shoulders he shook her. “I’m going to finish you. And when you’re pregnant you’ll belong to me.”

Namjoo slammed her hands into his shoulders when he forced his mouth onto her. He squeezed her . She squirmed. Managing to twist her head again and screamed even louder. Shuddering with a cry when there was a furious knock at the door.

“The cops are coming!” A male voice screamed. The doorknob turned. Kept turning. He pounded on the door again. “The cops are coming!”

Clamping her eyes shut she let Sangki nibble her neck. Grip her waist to urge her lower body up into him. Then she bit his shoulder. Hard. With all the strength she could manage. So hard the pressure felt like her teeth was sinking back into her gums. He yelped from the pain. Namjoo pushed him off, immediately moving toward the door but her legs tangled up with him and she clambered onto the floor. Slicing her hands, her wrists, her knees on the shattered lamp.

Sangki tripped over her. Namjoo let out a cry when her arms slid across the littered floor. The door opened and whoever was outside let out a shout when Sangki bumped into him. She listened to his uneven footsteps disappear down the hallway. Finally crying when she looked at her bloody arms where some of the lamp pieces were embedded.

“Madam! Madam!” Auntie Park’s husband rushed in. Kneeling beside her, “Oh no…oh no…”

The tears poured uncontrollably. The shock finally settled in as she trembled.

“I’m fine,” she wiped her tears. Momentarily feeling like she could withstand it but bawled the next second. The fear sank in like the fangs of a snake. She had never been so scared before. The aftermath burst through her like impending waves. An angry hurricane that refused to die.

Again, Namjoo uselessly wiped her already drenched face. Hiccupping. Flinching when she heard footsteps running up the stairs. Auntie Park’s husband rose up halfway ready to defend if needed. Blinking when another figure appeared in the doorway. At once the sobbing ceased and she stared at Sehun.

“…” she heard him mutter. Then he spun around and disappeared the way he’d come. Namjoo started after him, but there was no strength in her legs. She dropped back onto the ground. Shaking once more. Covering her face. Ashamed. Crying again from a perplexing amount of pain, and because she hadn’t wanted Sehun to find her like this.

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The tires squealed. Burning concrete as he skid toward the front of the manor. Slamming the car door with vehemence Sehun hurled up the steps. Tightening his fists. Adrenaline pumping. His heart thundered in his ears. With every step he promised Sangki would get his pay.

He spotted his brother walking with uneven steps down the corridor. Quickening his pace he tackled the man to the marbled floor.

“Bastard!” Sehun screamed flipping Sangki over. Slamming a fist into his face. Warm blood oozed from his nose. Sangki cried out. Sehun slammed another fist across his face. His lips split. Blood poured out. “I’ll kill you!” Screaming louder, “I’ll kill you!”

Punching him twice more before Sangki managed to toss him over. Straddling him. Owing him back with a swing into the face. Shoving him off Sehun got to his feet. Anger roared through him. Grabbing Sangki’s shirt he ran him into the wall. Yelling a language of fury slamming his older brother again and again into the wall.

Sangki’s knuckles burned into his cheekbone. Sehun momentarily lost balance. Flailing backwards.

Sitting on him, Sangki punched him senseless. “You don’t deserve her! You don’t deserve the house!” Laughing as he sat back. “She liked it.”

Infuriated, Sehun shoved him off. Snatching the collar of his shirt. Slamming him again and again into the floor. “ you! You can go to hell!”

Drawing his arm back he prepared for another swing.

“Stop it!” A voice cried out. He paused, registering it as Seoyun’s. “Oh my god…” her voice trembled. “Sehun stop. Please.”

He thought about his poor sister-in-law, who knew nothing. That Sangki was disgusting. She still couldn’t face the fact that he no longer loved her.

He was sorry toward her, but he would do it over Sangki’s dead body.

Sehun rammed his hard fist into Sangki’s face. One time. Two times. Another time knocking him out. Unable to restrain himself, because he was so angry. For Namjoo.

He would never forgive his brother.

Sehun drew his arm back, but Seoyun put her arms around him. Her voice quaked. “Please stop. Don’t hit him anymore.” She cried into his shoulder. “Please, stop.”

Sangki really was unconscious beneath him. Bleeding and swollen. Dropping his hand Sehun slowly rose to his feet. Without sparing his sister-in-law a glance he left.

The rage was still combusting through him. Seeping into his blood maddeningly. This wasn’t over yet. He was going to come back to show Sangki who exactly he was messing with. For trying to hurt Namjoo. For trying to…

Sehun pounded the wheel. Angrily yelling. At nothing. At no one. Huffing and puffing like he’d just done the mile run. Everything he was feeling wanted to explode. And then he drove up to the house he called home. Namjoo was sitting on the bottom step with her knees drawn up. Her head buried in her arms. Looking so small and hurt.

Stopping the car he stepped out. Wanting to fall onto his knees for her.

He was so sorry.

She lifted her head up when he closed the door. Standing. Nature whirled around them. The earth spinning as the clouds drifted overhead. Their eyes caught, held. The moment stretched. His heart melted at the same time it broke. To see her arms bandaged, her knee was bleeding again.

He was so sorry.

Namjoo stepped forward in slow motion then dashed toward him. Swaying him as she threw her arms around him. Sobbing into his shoulder. And he wished they didn’t have to live like this.

He clutched onto her. Burying his face into her hair.

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“It hurts, huh?” Namjoo asked gently touching the cuts on his face after he had taken a shower to wash the blood off. Bruises were starting to form on his face. An impending headache was starting to ring throughout his head.

He flinched. “Ow.”

“You’re a fool.” She told.

Hyesoo had vacuumed he heard. Cleaning up the mess while Auntie Park pulled shards of the lamp out of Namjoo’s arm and bandaged her injury, but he didn’t think Namjoo’s scars had been bandaged.

“You should’ve run,” he said brushing his fingers up through her hair.

She smiled accentuating the cut on her cheek. He it. Upset still. Leaning up Namjoo kissed his cheek. Then his lips. Making his heart run into his sore ribs.

The soft of her breathing when she landed on her soles enticed him. His eyes settled on her injured form. Accepting the grace that she was. In her shattered state she could still think about him. How lucky he was.

Sehun gave her a quick peck. Meeting her eyes. Then another desperate one. Then another one and another desperate peck. Until their mouths were opening for each other with a kind of passion that whispered words of I love you, I want you, I need you.

“Ow.” He flinched when she accidentally brushed a bruise. They laughed about it before she kissed him again. Wrapping her arms around his neck pulling him down toward her. He thrived for her. Tightening his arms around her he lifted her. Crushing her as they made love yet again.

When they woke up in the wee hour of the night their bodies brushed. Giggling the second their eyes locked. The both of them cut up and injured, one like the other. Curling up into each other until her stomach growled and they finally crept downstairs to look for something to eat.

The euphoria was still surmounting by early morning. Auntie Park caught them making out by the kitchen sink. Letting out a yelp and shooing them away.

He didn’t go to work that day. Strut around with the fresh bruises on his face? The Chairman would be mortified if he wasn’t already yet. By now he assumed his father would know he had gone to beat Sangki to a pulp. Wouldn’t be surprised if Sangki got on his knees, clinging onto his father’s pants shamelessly. Concocting a web of lies to put bad on his name.

Right now, none of it mattered. He wanted to be with his wife. The unborn child that was theirs.

“Ow, it hurts,” he whined as Namjoo rubbed ointment over the cuts on his face. He turned away when she attempted again. “Stop. It burns.”

“How do you expect to get better?” she clicked her tongue. She shoved aside the pharmacy bag Hyesoo had gone out to get for her. It rolled across the bed.

He complained again when she rubbed the smelly cream onto his face again. Pouting, he buried his face into her shirt. He would take sick leave for a week if they could just do this. Soaking the hours up in each other’s presence. In their home where his and her family couldn’t bother them.

“You’re making my shirt smell.”

Sehun smiled and adjusted his head onto her shoulder. Sliding his hand across her belly. Where perhaps it was his son growing. Maybe a daughter. He would protect them. His family.

He felt Namjoo press her face into his hair. Touch the back of his head. Affection from the small gesture poured through him.

“I don’t want the baby to grow up like us.” Namjoo somberly told. “I don’t want the baby to be like us.”

“I know.” He hugged her. “I’ll make sure of it.”

ꜛꜛꜛꜛꜛ

Namjoo patiently waited for things to blow up. Sehun’s side of the family would ultimately have something to say. The ripped skin on his knuckles spoke of how viciously he’d beaten up his older brother. She hoped Sangki had a broken nose.

Despite what storm they may cook up, she was ready to defend Sehun.

He reluctantly went to work the following day. The house was emptier without him. She missed him already. Kind of anxious and nervous when he wasn’t here. Doubting it, but what if something happened and he wasn’t here? Covering her belly she paced the house. Soon, she’d be in her second trimester. Soon her belly would start showing.

Namjoo grew ever more anxious by the day. Sehun’s family would make demands with the baby. Confident of this. All along they had pressed for a child. Now that it was here what kinds of things would they want next?

Her heart rate shot sky high when her phone rang. It wasn’t Sehun. It was her father.

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Sehun expected this when his office door flung open and his father angrily stepped in. Each step weighing with the sins of his sons. His eyes coiled with undying wrath. Closing the gap between them. Sehun’s entire face throbbed when the elder man slapped him. The sound echoed in his ears. His eardrums vibrated. Hearing at last the man panting exasperated.

“Oh Sehun!” he raised his voice.

Regaining his composure, Sehun turned to face his father. His face stung like hell. It was even worse than a bee sting. The bruises on his face throbbed, even unaffected ones.

He thought about cuddling with Namjoo last night, figured he could forgive the old man. Just this once.

“Are you insane?” his voice trembled, his eyes bulged. The hand curled into a hardened fist at his side.

“No, father, I am not.”

“How dare you?” he breathed. “What has gotten into you?!”

Standing his ground, Sehun said, “Maybe you should be asking Sangki.”

“You have the guts to say his name?!” His father’s face reddened. “You gave him a concussion! His nose is broken, his lips are torn! He doesn’t look like my son! Do you have nothing to say?”

Sehun blinked. The extent of Sangki’s injuries surprised him and also, didn’t. Swallowing, he firmly pressed his lips together. “He hurt my wife.”

Breathing hotly, his father turned. Exhaling. “It’s that little girl.” Raising his voice again, “It’s always her! I thought she could change. I was wrong about her.” Glancing back at him, “You should’ve married Hea regardless.”

“Dad!”

“That woman is tearing your life apart! Don’t you see it?!” His entire face strained. Veins popped along his temple. “I will not have you brothers warring over a despicable woman who has no self-control!”

“I won’t,” Sehun shook his head stubbornly. “You made this happen.”

“What?” he asked shocked.

“I’m not letting her go.” Sehun steeled his voice. “You can touch everything else, but not my family.”

Their heated gazes locked then his father swiveled and walked out. Slamming the door on his way. Finally breathing Sehun turned around frustrated. Kicking his desk.

ꜛꜛꜛꜛꜛ

No one greeted her when she walked inside. The hallway expanded forever as she slowly stepped inside. Home that was really not a home. Had her mother’s ghost been lonely since she was gone?

Namjoo stared into the lounge room. Stocked with lovely plush furniture. Tall doors that were mistaken for French paned windows. Outside was a beach chair she had lain on on long days. Falling asleep under the hot sun. That had been her place of solitude outside. Was the chair still there?

At the sound of footsteps Namjoo turned. A housekeeper she didn’t recognize walked up to her. Her uniform was stoic and black. Giving her a polite nod, “Your father is upstairs waiting.”

She wasn’t thrilled to be back. Yet she was curious what business her father wanted with her. He didn’t just call to talk. Her father was not a warm man like that.

Ascending the stairs Namjoo thought about the things he would want to say to her. Scold her for mingling with the housekeepers. Lecture her about obeying her husband’s wishes. Be on better manners; it’s about time she straighten up. Stop being an embarrassment to me, your father. Show some respect to your in-laws. How old are you? Have some dignity.

Namjoo could sit there for hours listening to him rant nonstop. Coming to a pause in front of his office door Namjoo stared at the white polish. She should just walk away. It would be better for everyone that way. Despite all urge, she opened the door without knocking. Closing the door behind her she remained standing.

“What do you want?” Namjoo started.

Her father was behind his desk. Taking off his glasses, he said, “Sit.”

Namjoo eyed the chair in front of her. She sat. Looked at him, waiting for the bombshell to drop.

“I heard there’s been a series of unfortunate incidents in your home.”

Namjoo pulled on a monotone smile, “You’re suddenly worried about me, father?”

“It is a shame, Namjoo, that you choose to live like this.”

“I think that’s my choice.”

“I did not have you marry him, so that you would live poorly.” Her father said. “Look at you.”

“I’m not very sorry to say, father, but I don’t care what you think.”

“I heard from Assistant Oh,” her father said. “That his sons are giving you trouble.”

“That is not true!” Namjoo blasted.

“What is with your face?” he narrowed his eyes.

“Nothing.” Namjoo bit down on her teeth.

He observed her, as if he knew something. “If you want, come back home.”

Namjoo’s brow twitched.

Say what?

“I’ll renounce your marriage,” her father offered.

***/drum rolls/ wait for it