A knight in the shining armor. How good it sounds to call her that way silently. Suits the Ahn the way a knight would treat any other woman out there.

“Ms. Jang.”

For a high-demanded actress like her, the job would be a perfect excuse to spend the time together almost 24/7. Perhaps, she couldn’t have it any other way either. Perhaps, this was the only chance, if ever they were impossible.

“Excuse me, Ms. Jang.”

The Ahn clan has been devoting to the family through centuries-old contract and annual inauguration. Having the current youngest Ahn in line as a family’s lawyer in disguise makes her wonder how to have her in the family as well– to cross the boundary that has been there for history knows how long.

“Wonyoung, we have to move.”

The nickname drags her back to the ground. Oh no, no, it’s not about the nickname, but how close the Ahn should lean to her to call her that way. The crowded airport sure was hot but was it possible to get burn during winter?

-

“We expect you to complete the black belt qualification for taekwondo and judo by the end of this year, do you hear me clear?”

A little Ahn stood still bowing her head low after nodding slowly. Eyes stuck on the wooden floor as she could feel the ground shakes a bit when he starts to walk away.

“And Yujin, 900 at least for TOEIC this month.”

The sound of strides stomping the ground shook her small figure, the body disappeared into the shadows among the majestic old Korean mansion. A word that had been stored for a long time seemed to choke in the throat, so difficult to escape until the shadow disappeared completely into the night dust.

“… dad.”

Stream of cold sweat trickles from her temple. Her heavy breathing scratches the hotel’s wall and all she could do was staring at the door. She could’ve known who was there, knocking at 3 am aiming for absolutely something peculiar.

But there was no regret. She was thankful it did wake her up from an unbounded dream. The sorrow that has been kept from the crowd only to bottled up inside and crawls back wanting to be out.

She walks to the door and turns the knob thingking that she doesn’t even need to peek through the hole.

“Hey…”

For how many years she has seen this girl in front of her, she was still the little girl that she knows– and this morning might just be one of the reasons.

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