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He spent all morning fuming. Upset, still, at Namjoo. For not coming to sleep with him. He had even left the door unlocked for her. But she hadn’t come. To him.

All emotions disappeared when he received a message that the Chairman wanted to see him. Treading down the orange carpeted hallway, Sehun wondered if he was about to receive another lecture from his father-in-law. Maybe to bash him. Remind him now much better Namjoo was than him. She would be better off without him in her life. That he wasn’t worth it.

Sehun gulped. Knocking on the hardwood door when he reached. Pushing the door open he stepped in. “You wanted to see me.”

This time, Namjoo’s father stopped what he was doing. “Take a seat.”

Walking toward the chair Sehun sat. Prepared to take on any punches.

“Here.” Namjoo’s father pulled out a sheet of paper from the black leather folder at the side. The white sheet ominously slid in front of him.

Divorce papers.

His heart dropped.

“This is yours,” he explained. “I will give Namjoo’s copy to her. Believe me, this is for the best.”

“The best?” he repeated. “Or is it for you?”

“How dare you?”

“Sir,” Sehun stated, “do you love your daughter?”

The elder man stared hard at him. “Do not question me. Who do you think you are? You are just an ordinary blue office worker who got your job by your father’s means!”

“I am,” Sehun deflected, “your daughter’s husband.”

The Chairman’s hands trembled with anger. “Namjoo will leave you. Your father will convince her to drop the marriage.”

The confidence that had just stricken his expression fell flat.

Kim Bonhwa glanced at his watch. “They may be talking right now.”

The chair toppled backwards when he shot to his feet. Staring behind him at the door. On impulse he ran out of the office. Abandoning his work station as he punched the elevator button to go down. Too slow. He moved toward the stairs with his heart racing. Moving his legs as fast as when he ran through the woods behind his house. Imagining the wind brushing his face. The lungs inflating, deflating. This time he breathed harder. Panicked.

This morning he should have been nicer. What if Namjoo was swayed? What if she changed her mind about him? What if she thought he didn’t love her?

She would leave him. Leave the house. Raise their baby by herself and he would never know if it was a boy or girl. If the baby would be like him or her. His child would never know him. If Namjoo left…

He didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t want outside forces to decide every step of his life the rest of the way. He couldn’t let anyone decide his future for him.

This was his life.

This was his love.

Kim Namjoo. The love of his life.

Swerving toward the house, Sehun parked. Nearly tripping as he clambered out of his car. Moving on fast heels when he saw Namjoo walking down the stairs. Crying. So hard that she couldn’t see him. His heart broke again and again.

Slowly closing the distance between them. Until she bumped into him. And he was so sorry. So sorry. For everything.

“Lets go home.” He said.

They drove in silence. Nerves so wrecked. The air so tight. Their hearts so fragile. One hard movement and it might shatter.

Sehun pulled up to the house and stepped out. Seeing that Namjoo hadn’t he opened the door for her. She shook her head. Croaking, “I can’t walk.”

She weighed less than he remembered when he carried her out. When he placed her in bed, she turned from him. Pulling the blanket high over her shoulder. It was painful.

Laying down he hugged her. Afraid, too, that things wouldn’t work out no matter how high he held his head. He didn’t want this to be the end. This couldn’t be the last of them. So they lay there in silence. Recuperating in each other’s warmth as the hour waned and they fell asleep.

When he awoke Namjoo was still asleep. Quietly leaving the room he headed downstairs. Coming back with a bowl of warm chicken soup. Sitting on the bed. Brushing her hair back. Wishing he didn’t have to as he woke her up.

“Eat something,” he said when she stirred. Sehun showed her the bowl of food and helped her up. Tucking her hair behind her shoulder he handed her the bowl. “It’s hot. Be careful.”

Namjoo took a sip of the broth bringing a smile to his lips. Wrapping an arm around her he asked, “Is it good?”

She nodded. “Did you eat?”

“Later.”

“Do you want some?”

“You eat first,” he urged. Smiling, “Then you can come sit with me later.”

His heart fluttered when she looked into his eyes and smiled. Enamored, he traced her cheek with a finger.

“I heard my father had a talk with you.”

“He wants you to marry Hea?” Namjoo looked at him.

“I don’t want her.” She turned away worrying him. He tried again, “I never liked her.”

“Your father promised child support.”

Clamping his eyes shut he sighed frustrated. “God…”

“He apologized for making me a chip in the marriage,” Namjoo told. “And he’s sorry he pressured me to get pregnant.”

“The old man can say what he wants,” Sehun said. “Everybody can say what they want, but I’m not going to leave you. I won’t leave you. They can do all sorts of things, but I will never do it.”

Kissing his cheek, she promised, “Me, too.”

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“I’ll go get your car later,” Sehun told the next morning, “so just stay home.”

“Ok.”

Fixating his tie on he turned to look at her. “I mean it.”

“I won’t go anywhere,” Namjoo promised.

“Good,” he said. Walking over he gave her a kiss. Took her hand, “Then lets go eat before I go.”

They kissed two, three times before he finally left for work. Namjoo took part in cleaning up and loading the laundry into the washer. The doorbell rang as if it had been waiting for her to finish her chore. One look out the front window and she saw Seoyun on the doorstep.

Namjoo waved Hyesoo off, “I got it.”

Opening the door Namjoo stared into the woman’s face. opened but Namjoo interrupted by taking a step out forcing her a step back. Closing the door behind her Namjoo stared at her. Today she was feeling a lot healthier. More energetic. More like her savage self.

“You’re not invited here,” Namjoo sternly stated.

She blinked. Lowered her eyes sadly. “I just want to apologize.”

“Your life is full of , you know,” Namjoo bluntly said. “Are you sorry for being alive, too?”

prodded open. Then asking, “How can you say that?”

“You can say sorry the next fifty times, but I’m not sure if you mean it anymore,” Namjoo told. “Are you more joyous over the fact that your husband did that to humiliate me? Or are you happy to have witnessed my crumbling state in your home?”

Offended, Seoyun frowned for perhaps the first time. “Of course not! It was not like that at all!”

“I think you’re more like Sangki than you think,” Namjoo told, “or you really would have left him when you realized he didn’t love you.”

Tears erupted in her eyes. She stubbornly held them back. Maybe she was even holding her breath. And maybe, Seoyun was more like her than she thought. Maybe her horrible life filled her with hate, too. Like her, she thought it was retribution for not being able to birth a child.

“He doesn’t love you. Sangki who used to love you doesn’t exist anymore,” Namjoo coldly told.

And maybe, she needed to hear it to her face in order to face the cruel reality. Fantasy could never become reality. What she had long held onto had been nothing but empty hopes.

“You should divorce him,” Namjoo advised. “It’s not too late to find yourself again or start a new life. But Sangki?” She shook her head, “He’s never going to make you happy again.”

“You really are a ,” Seoyun snarled upset. Namjoo breathed a sigh when she turned to leave. Tried not to roll her eyes as another vehicle turned into the yard. She recognized the vehicle at once.

“Great,” she mumbled underneath her breath.

Her father’s chauffeur parked the car a yard in front of the staircase. Left his seat, opened the back door for her father, and closed it for him. Servant on hand just like her step-mother’s and Hea’s. People who lived on demand.

No longer in a welcoming mood, Namjoo remained where she was. Refusing to open the door for him. She would wait for him to climb up the steps to her. He had a leather folder with him. Namjoo stared eerily at it. Sehun wasn’t home, what business did he want to conduct?

“Open the door,” her father commanded when he arrived.

“What are you doing here?” Namjoo asked.

“We’ll talk when we sit.”

Narrowing her eye at him she studied his facial expression for any possible clue. None. Unwillingly opening the door, she let him in without offering him any beverage. Walking right into the lounge and sitting down adjacent to him.

Setting the leather folder onto the side table he opened it with cautious fingers as if revealing a secret of firearms. Then he held out a white sheet of paper to her. Namjoo’s eyes lingered over it. Disinterested.

“Take it,” he offered it to her.

She snatched it out of his hand. Seeing lines. A lot of lines and boxes. Then she saw the big bold letters at the top.

Namjoo scoffed loudly. Tossing it at him. It hit his chest square on before landing on his lap. “I won’t do it.”

“You will,” he steely stated confidently.

“No. You’re not going to do this to me,” Namjoo refused. “I want you to leave right now.”

“You are better off without him!” her father raised his voice. “That man will never be able to give you what you are worth!”

“That man is my husband!” Namjoo yelled back. “He is your son-in-law. His name is Oh Sehun!”

His face bloated. He huffed. “No. Break up with him. He will never be able to do anything for you.”

Baffled, Namjoo scoffed even louder. “Who are you to decide, father? You made me marry him. Going back on your decision now makes you a coward.”

“Because I regret it!” he screamed. “Yes, I am a coward. Your father is a coward!”

Namjoo’s eyes went wide. Astounded.

Taking the paper, he slammed it onto the coffee table. “So, you will sign it as he will his.”

Disconcerted Namjoo stared at the divorce paper. Listening to her father fumble around and brush past.

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The divorce paper was the first thing he saw on his desk the moment he walked in. The Chairman isn’t in he was told when he walked to his office. Assuming he was on a business assignment, Sehun would deal with it later. First, he would deal with his father. The old man wasn’t in either. Probably with Namjoo’s dad he thought.

He waited until after work hours to go fetch Namjoo’s car. Arriving with a cab he noticed his father’s car in the garage. Then deciding against his plan, he headed up the stairs. Inviting himself inside. Each and every step he took felt more purposeful the further he went. Dinner was on the way. He could smell the food from a hallway down.

Light chatter roused the atmosphere when he arrived at the doorway. His father first noticed him. Then Sangki and his wife. Sangki breathed a scoff. Rolling his eyes in dismay.

“What? Are you here for revenge?” he asked.

Ignoring him, Sehun stared straight at his father, “I want to talk to you.”

“Come join us. Eat first,” Seoyun welcomed.

Blocking her out he continued eyeing his father. He would stand and wait stubbornly. Like a dark shadow until it was enough to ruin their giddy hearts. One bite. Two bite then his father sighed. Setting down his spoon he scooted out of his chair. Walking past him. Led him toward his office and shut the door.

“Sehun,” his father turned to face him.

“I’m not marrying Hea, so stop it,” Sehun sternly stated.

“Son…”

“Just…” he held out his hand, “please, stop, dad.”

“I’m doing this for you,” his father told. “For your future, so you will never have to look behind you and regret your mistakes.”

“I don’t need you to decide for me.”

“Hea!” he yelled so loudly the veins in his throat popped to the fore. “Will ensure you have a good life. She’s the good daughter you should’ve married, but I was careless. She has a good educational background. She graduated from an elite university with top grades. She will land a job where heads will bow to her. You should have married someone formidable like that! No one! No one will ever be able to touch you.”

“I am not an extension of your ego, dad,” Sehun said.

“Kim Namjoo will only make the outside disrespect you,” his father remarked. “She has no ambition. She lives off her father. She’s a wildcat you will never be able to tame. I’m saving you son. Do it for your mother. You have to make her proud.”

Sehun airlessly laughed. Befuddled, because his mother was being brought up. Again. Maybe, he was starting to think, his father knew his weak point.

“Mom,” Sehun breathed. Looking at the old man, “I don’t know how many times you brought her up in the past. To corner me. To make me your prisoner.” He laughed bitterly. Finally seeing the bigger picture now. Doing a three-sixty, he wheeled on his father, “Leave my wife alone. Don’t you try to talk to her again.”

“Because you are foolish!” his father screeched. Hands bundling up into fists at his sides. “You’re naïve! I will not let you become like your brother!”

“I am not,” Sehun gritted his teeth, “my brother.” His chest rose and fell.

“No,” his father shook his head. “I still can’t let you do this to yourself. You are absurd!”

“Maybe it’s high time, dad, that you try to stop manipulating me,” Sehun stared him on. “So don’t. Touch. My. Family. Or we’re over.”

“You don’t know what you’re doing!”

“You can’t control me,” Sehun glared.

“I am looking out for you!”

“Telling me what to do is not it,” Sehun lowered his tone. “I’m going to walk away from you dad, until you beg for forgiveness from my wife. Until she forgives you, I won’t.”

Pulling the door open Sehun walked out. Slowly then faster. Needing to leave this hell of a house. Wondering how he had managed to stay under his father for so long. He must have been crazy.

“Oh Sehun!” his father screamed after him as he charged out the door.

Along the way Seoyun chased him out. “At least stay to eat something.”

“Out of my way, Seoyun,” Sehun brushed her off. Not sparing her a glance as he hurried toward Namjoo’s car.

Thinking of home. Of his wife’s embrace. A soothing evening in her presence. It was all he needed to take everything off his mind. Stepping on the accelerator he left the home he’d grown up in behind in the dust.

Namjoo was drinking a warm beverage Auntie Park had given her when he arrived. Deciding to shower first he headed upstairs. Rummaging through the closet for something comfortable. Turning upon footsteps. Smiling when he saw Namjoo behind him. She didn’t return it.

“What?” he asked, concerned.

She held out a piece of paper to him.

“What is it?” he asked again without looking.

Her face was expressionless. Finally taking the sheet he stared at the bold letters.

Divorce papers.

***Two down. Sehun finally went off on his father. I planned a bigger explosion, but it turned out this way (I'll save that explosion for Namjoo and her dad since they have an icier relationship). He cares about his dad so it's not like he can say he's going to cut ties with him for being a crazy, controllable arse. His refusal to marry Hea this time may be the bigger blast to his dad than any other thing he's done, because he's been doing everything his father wanted him to; marry Namjoo, get her pregnant, you name it. Sehun wins this round.