The news surprised Chaewon greatly because one her father is talking about Minju’s parents and two she doesn’t know how Minju will react if the other ever catches wind of Siyeon and Sangho conspiring to imprison the other’s parents. Although Chaewon has never truly admired the couple, she feels the need to defend them for Minju. 

“No, don’t let Mrs. Jang do that. Please, Manager.”

As the white spot in her father’s eyes seems to be expanding, his pupils narrow, “What do you mean? Her divorce is none of our business—”

“No! I mean Mr. and Mrs. Kim. If she has them arrested and imprisoned, what will Minju do?” 

A disbelief sigh escapes the man’s mouth and his irises start to wander in both excitement and confusion. “Minju? You’re holding her name now. Did something happen? You agree to marry her after all?” 

Chaewon removes her torso from off the table and begins massaging one of her palms with the other hand. Quietly she avoids her father’s intense gaze, in hopes that he wouldn’t make light of the situation. 

Yes, she knows he told her so that Minju isn’t as bad as she thought. 

Yes, she knows her first impression of Minju isn’t accurate. 

Yes, she wants to be able to talk to him about her new relationship with Minju and wants to be taken seriously because believe it or not, she has moved on from Goeun. 

“Saying that I agree makes it sound like we have no affections for each other,” drawing in a deep breath, Chaewon reaches over the table and hovers a hand over her father’s. This time she looks him directly in the eyes and smile, mostly to herself. 

“Turns out I completely misjudged her character, dad….Makes sense since I’m not the judge here and Wonyoung is right?” She jokes and chortles briefly to kill any awkwardness between them. Then with a deeper smile continue to confess in a slow, calm voice,

“When I saw you and Mrs. Jang today, all I wanted to do was hide...you know, somewhere safe, for a while until I’ve calmed down because it felt like I was telling mom it was okay when my back was turned to you. It’s not okay. I don’t know if you have anything to do with her filing for divorce, I’d hope not because it would hurt Wonyoung very much. After all, she’s still my cousin and Mr. and Mrs. Jang are still like family. As for Minju and me, our meeting today was meaningful. I want to get used to her. I can see me liking her just as hard as I did Goeun once.” 

“You’ve already cast aside your feelings for Goeun?”

Chaewon shakes her head with a small smile, “Dad, I’ve loved her for years. My feelings for her don’t vanish just because I like someone else. Some days I love Goeun as a friend and other days we’re sharing a bright future together, but I know now that that isn’t possible. My love for Goeun can’t ever be replaced and it doesn’t mean I can’t ever love Minju just as much or even more. Right now, I want to make you happy and I’m ready to be happy. And if you’re fine with it...I don’t want us to rush it. I want to take it slow with Minju and enjoy dating life first.” 

Sangho carefully retracts his hand from under Chaewon’s then sets it on top of Chaewon’s. He smiles tenderly, “If your mother is here, she would be very proud of you. You’ve grown up a lot in a matter of days.” 

Chaewon beams effortlessly. Her father’s words were warming to hear. He’s always been a good dad and manager who paid close and extra attention to her. Before Sangho can see her blushing, the lass quickly revisits a conversation they had earlier. “Dad, about you and Mrs. Jang—”

The older male hangs his head for a split second as if wanting to avoid the subject. “I’ll convince her to stay with Jitae and Wonyoung. Since I couldn’t say no to her, things got out of hand. Don’t worry.”

“What I was going to ask was how long has it been like that…? Between you and her.” 

The man moves his hands off the table and heaves a hefty sigh, “You know your mother and I dated for six years and didn’t get married until she was three months pregnant with you. The reason why I didn’t rush to marry your mother was because of Siyeon. Siyeon and I were raised at the same orphanage for a few years before I turned 18. After paying my way through college and working odd jobs, I was able to help Siyeon go to school too to achieve her dream. After I started seeing your mother, I learned that Siyeon harbored feelings for me. But for her to do well in school, I told her I thought of her as a sister. Since it was too late to give up on my relationship with your mother, Siyeon asked to be siblings. But during outings when she’d visit with Wonyoung, I thought about her a lot. Your mother was sicker by the day and Siyeon’s kindness toward her touched me deeply. However, there was no physical contact until what you saw today.”

Chaewon exhales loudly. Her eyes widen for a second then she nods as her brain digest all that’s been said. Nodding her head momentarily she couldn’t help but utter, “But you both had impure thoughts when you were still with mom.” She states, rather than asks, to herself. 

“Chaewon—”

“It’s fine, dad. It’s all in the past now.” To the best of her ability, Chaewon tried not to sound mad or upset. It’s disappointing that her dad of a great man isn’t exactly the one-woman man she thought he was. 

Sluggishly Chaewon pulls herself onto her feet, her legs ached from kneeling too long on the floor, “Alright well, I’m going to get ready for bed. I have to study the script Director gave me so tomorrow if you can make yourself scarce I’d appreciate it.” 

As Chaewon leaves the room, Sangho could only sigh as he watches her hurry away with the packet. 

In the dark, Kriesha struggles to find the right key for her front door. She groans, her hands full with bags of groceries, “C’mon you piece of shi--.” 

When the ring of keys hit the ground with a splat, she th