He’s simply lost for words. His people, each one of them gaped in bafflement.

Not only that they saw him in such a vulnerable state, the secret he has been safely keeping for the longest time is out and not in the way he had planned. He looked at Yerin but she looked just as clueless as she stood there in tears. “So? I believe you owe your employees an explanation. I mean. . . don’t you have a dating policy rule? Most companies like yours should have it. This woman could be a gold-digger, you don’t know.” Sunhwa interrogated, obviously unaware of the real story.

To make things even worse than it already is, Mr. and Mrs. Do arrived. Behind them were some of their men in suits.

“What is happening here?” The old man looked around him, confused of all the employees out while Kyungsoo, one more employee and Cho Sunhwa at the middle of the hallway. “A-abeoji. . . Eomma.” Kyungsoo weakly greeted as he bowed. Not acknowledging his greet, Mr. Do turned to Sunhwa right away. “Miss Cho, you came for a visit. Is everything alright?” He asked. Mrs. Do on the other hand immediately went close to Kyungsoo and held his hand. “What happened?” She mouthed softly while cupping his face.

Sunhwa bowed before sighing. “Well unfortunately, your son rejected me, Mr. Do. You see, he seems to be dating this employee.” She pointed at Yerin who immediately lookwed down as she took a few steps again. “N-no, stay here with me.” Kyungsoo grabbed her wrist to stop her. She kept her head low, still crying. It was silent for a while as the old Mr. Do looked at the employees. “This is all a misunderstanding, everyone. . . What are you all still looking at? Get back to work!” He yelled making everyone flinch in fear.

But before they could all hide back in their offices, Kyungsoo stepped forward still holding Yerin’s hand.

“No, stay. Everyone. You saw what happened and it’s all true. Yerin and I are together.” He confessed making Mr. Do block him. “You’re not going to do this, we will go in your office and talk about it, son. You are coming with me in the office. Now. And leave this woman.” He said in a warning tone as he glanced at Yerin. “No. I’m not going anywhere. These are my people not yours and they deserve an explanation.” Kyungsoo said bluntly. Yerin put her other hand on his arm to signal him to stop. “K-kyungsoo, don’t. Please.” She cried.

Mr. Do groaned as he turned to Sunhwa. “Miss Cho, I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding. If you could come with us to the office and we can discuss things. You know, I just recently found out too that he’s seeing someone who works here. I was not aware at all.” He tried to explain as kindly as possible. Kyungsoo widen his eyes a bit but he didn’t seem surprise anymore, he saw it coming. He knew his father would eventually find out in his own way. The old man chuckled and continued. “Besides, this seems to be still a very new relationship so we don’t have anything to worry about. I will talk to him an—”

Kyungsoo cut off. “No, it’s not a new relationship, Abeoji.”

Mrs. Do held his other arm while Yerin did the same. “Son, please don’t make this worse. Let’s just go in the office and talk about this.” She suggested, fearing that her husband would do something reckless if he doesn’t stop yet. Kyungsoo looked around him, his employees. “Everyone, Kwon Yerin is. . .” He paused for a moment as he looked at her. She shook her head, heavy concern collected in her face as she looked back. “Y-you know her daughter who came here once or twice before? K-kwon Inyoung.” He continued as he breathed heavily. He lifted his head higher, held Yerin’s hand tighter.

“She’s my daughter too. Inyoung is our daughter. We. . . we recently became a couple. It’s true but this. . . is deeper than what it looks like. But we had to keep it. Years ago, I was forced to abandon Yerin and our child together. I was told to stay away from them by my own parents. . . so I could take over Avantgarde and later on the whole corporation. I secretly took responsibilities for my daughter though, all this time, for years, I’ve been trying my best to still be a father to my child without my parents’ knowledge. Now you all know. Sorry if we have caused all this trouble until now.” He finally let it out, loud and proud. He didn’t miss a single detail but made sure to make it straight and short.

Mr. Do looked at him in shock, not expecting that additional information. He just recently found out that he was indeed living with this woman and recently started dating her but he wasn’t aware of who she really was. “What do you think you’re doing?! You dumb son of a b—” Mr. Do screamed before throwing his hand to give him another one of his loud and painful slaps.

But then, Yerin blocked the way and received the hit instead. She lost her balance because of how strong the slap was. Even Cho Sunhwa who was still standing close by covered in shock. “What the hell—did you just hit a woman? Wow, I can’t believe I’m seeing this right now, I did not come for this, unbelievable.” She glared at Mr. Do, not expecting him to be acting this way. He obviously had lost it. With that, she walked away while making a phone call.

“No—oh my god. Yerin. . . hey, look at me.” Kyungsoo caught Yerin’s body and cupped her face. Anger started building up even more in his head as he looked at her instantly red cheek. “I-I’m fine.” She hushed while covering her face. Turning to his father, Kyungsoo immediately walked forward to attack back. “You don’t ever touch her, you sick bastard!” His father’s bodyguards then came into the scene to hold him in the arms, protecting their boss.

That’s when all the employees, fearing for their own safety, went back into the office like nothing happened. None of them want to get involved any longer and worse, lose their jobs.

Mr. Do laughed sarcastically. “You’re fearless now, I see. You think I can’t dismiss you like I did to your brother? Once I do that, you’re done.” He warned as he glanced at Yerin. “So, you’re the girl. You have the nerve to work in my company. You’re just like Anna, his brother’s wife. Well, her nerve put my son into where he is now, he can’t even go back here. He tried to but he lost his chance with me. Now, where are they? Stuck in Japan living paycheck to paycheck, they’re miserable because they were against me.” He continued. Mrs. Do stood there with her widened eyes filled with tears. “H-honey, what do you—what do you mean? W-what are you saying right now?” She asked, her voice trembling.

The old man turned to her with a smile. “What? You think he’s still doing his charity bull? The institution he built before he stepped down as CEO? I bought that business long time ago, that’s still my money at the end of the day. He wasn’t very clever about stealing money from me, is he? If anything, he’s probably just a weak salary man there who barely makes anything, he probably can’t even afford going back home. And you know why? Because he’s selfish and he disobeyed me, his father.” He turned to Kyungsoo. “Do you want to turn out the same as he is, son?”

“What the hell did you do to Seungsoo? Where’s my son, you ! All this time, I thought he didn’t want us anymore—you freak!” Mrs. Do went close and started hitting him on the chest. He just laughed before holding her wrists away. “Honey, calm down. I just did what I had to do. You know that, right? He asked for it, you heard it from him. He wanted that kind of life, you know?” he asked kindly but his grip on her wrists were tight enough to make her yelp. “Stop! What is wrong with you?!” Kyungsoo screeched as he tried to push the bodyguards away from him. “No, we’re just talking. She’s fine. She’s just getting emotional.” Mr. Do held his wife’s hands down and rubbed her back. “I know you’re shocked and that’s why we need to get in the office to talk this out more properly.” He calmly said and tried to drag her to start walking.

She pulled away.

“No, I’m done. I’m so tired of this.” Mrs. Do stepped away and went to her son. “You bastards, let go of my son.” She pushed them off one by one before grabbing Kyungsoo’s hand. Then she went on to hold Yerin next. “What do you mean you’re done, dear? Remember what we talked about a week ago? Just breathe and get back to your senses.” Mr. Do chuckled, not believing her at all. Turning around to face him again, Mrs. Do smiled back. Tears continued to stream down her face. “If this is the help you’re saying your parents offered my parents, then I’m very disappointed at them. I remember them being very kind to us, I don’t remember them being as disgusting as you are. I’m done with you, go marry your money because I can’t do it anymore.” She burst. Yerin covered in complete shock, not expecting the old lady to do this.

“E-eomma. . .” Kyungsoo hushed, shocked yet proud of her. “And also. . .” Mrs. Do breathed heavily, more tears streamed down her face. Both Yerin and Kyungsoo could feel her hands trembling so heavily that they had to hold her tighter. “D-don’t you ever. . . ever lay your hands on my kids. You may have done it to me continuously behind closed doors for so many years and I let you do it, fine. I was weak, I admit. You damaged me in many sorts of ways over and over and over again but not my kids or I will ing kill you with my own hands.” She cried hard but made sure she was firm with her warning.

Mr. Do’s face darkened but he responded with a laugh. “What, you want a divorce? You know how old we are to do that, still? And let’s be honest, you’re too old to start over. You signed a pre-nup, remember? What do you think you’re gunna do huh? You’re just being too sensitive, honey. Just come back here with me and let’s discuss everything in the office.” He tried to convince her again. This