The night was still young so the pair decided to take a night stroll. Hand-in-hand the couple walked along the Han River. The weather was clear that night. Stars were shining here and there. The bridge up ahead was also sparkling beautifully. It was relaxing. It almost made Yujin forget that her uncle is after her life.

Yujin was pretty sure her uncle wasn’t trying to kill her. At least not yet. As long as Baek-Hyeon is still alive, he is the head of the Choi company. The heir to the Choi company is written in his will. Many board members assume it would be his one and only granddaughter. Yujin was personally trained by the current head, an opportunity only the heir could receive. Because of that, she possesses knowledge of the business world well beyond her years, combine that with her clever wit and tenacity, you have yourself a very successful business woman. Her business ventures very rarely flop and if they did, she would always find a way to make it work out. 

The driver Youngeun captured was found guilty for causing an intentional car crash and was sentenced to prison. It’s said that he wanted to get money from insurance coverage. After Yeseo did some digging around, the man needed the money to repay his debt. The debt was owed to none other than Dae-Jung. It wouldn’t be very difficult to persuade the desperate man to crash his car in order to wipe away his million won debt. Sadly, Yeseo couldn’t get concrete evidence to link Dae-Jung as the mastermind behind the crash. 

Dae-Jung was practically telling her that if she wanted to be the next head of the Choi company, he would be coming after her. He was trying to scare Yujin off. Unfortunately, Yujin isn’t a stranger to death threats and assassination attempts. Just being born into the Choi name already put a target on her back. Hers is even more so as she is the beloved Choi granddaughter. Yujin has been through a lot ever since she was young. As much as her grandfather tried to protect her, he couldn’t stop every tracker, spiked drink, secret camera, kidnaping, or even assault. Whatever came her way, she still persevered. She wanted to live her life as best she can for her parents sake. It wasn’t easy. There were times she wanted to leave the Choi name behind and live a normal life.That was when she met Xiaoting, the love of her life. Xiaoting was the one who brought colour and happiness to her life.

“I can hear you think from over here” Xiaoting’s voice pulled Yujin out of her thoughts. 

Yujin felt Xiaoting squeeze their intertwined hands a little. She turned and smiled. “I was just remembering when we first met”.

“Ah, it was at Hyyih’s after-party right?”

“Yeah, her first solo runway show”

“You were so grumpy back then”. Xiaoting let out a hearty laugh, remembering the look of disbelief on Yujin’s face that time. If looks could kill, Xiaoting would be dead from her glare. 

Yujin looked at her girlfriend, glaring at the taller one. “You would be too if a stranger dumped their drink all over you”

“I said I was sorry! Plus, It wasn’t all my fault. Hikaru shoved me”. XIaoting shrugged. The fault wasn’t entirely on her.

“Right, little Hikaru somehow manages to shove the great wall of Xiaoting”

“That kid is stronger than she looks, I swear. You could say I fell for you“. Xiaoting grinned and bumped her lover’s shoulders with her own.

Yujin rolled her eyes and let out a little laugh. “You mean fall on me. If I wasn’t leaning on the bar, we’d be all over the floor”

“I wouldn’t say no to that”

“Yah!”. Yujin slapped her girlfriend’s shoulders but that only made Xiaoting laugh.

“But honestly though. I’m glad we exchanged numbers that day. Even if it was for dry cleaning”. Xiaoting stopped them from walking. Looking straight into those hazel orbs she loved so much. 

Yujin stared back. Eyes flickering with love and mischief. “Is that how you get numbers from girls?”

Xiaoting laughed at the question. “So far it’s a guaranteed success. Never got the chance to try it again though”

“You better not”. Yujin leaned up to Xiaoting and gave her a peck on the lips. She leaned back and saw that Xiaoting was pouting.

“Just one?”

“You’ll get lots more when we get home”

Xiaoting couldn’t be more excited to get back to her apartment.

The pair never decided who would move to whose apartment. Both of them are very busy with their own careers and couldn’t really enjoy a relaxing weekend at home. Xiaoting would have to travel to some foreign country for a modelling job while Yujin’s travels are usually more domestic, all around the Korean peninsula. But when they do have time off from work, they’d spend it with each other as much as possible. Ever since their relationship was known to the public, they had more freedom in visiting each other at work. They didn’t need to be subtle anymore. Yujin would stop by Xiaoting’s photoshoot with flowers and food in hand both for her girlfriend and the ever hard-working staff members. Xiaoting liked to surprise Yujin at her office if her work finished early. As Yujin has a bad habit of forgetting to eat when she’s busy, Xiaoting makes sure that she always brings some takeout dinner to share. 

A few months passed and Yujin's arm was fully healed. It felt nice to have two working hands again. Never again would she take having both functioning hands for granted. There was a lot of work piled up. It seemed that today would be another day of coming home late. Xiaoting wasn’t at all pleased with her taking up so much work after recovering. She had said that she would drag the workaholic out of her office herself if Yujin kept working overnight. Today she made it her goal to finish by 8 PM and pick up Xiaoting from work. Looking over to the pile of documents on the table, Yujin let out a sigh and started working. Hours tick by and finally she was done with today’s work and with 15 minutes to spare. She got up from her chair and got ready to leave when there was a knock on her door. 

“Come in”. Yujin called out. Thinking it was probably her punctual assistant, she didn’t bother looking up before continuing, “Good work today, Yeseo. I’m also done here. Do you need a ride home?”

The door to her office opened a little revealing her assistant. “Yujin unnie, you have a guest..”. Yeseo’s voice was hesitant.

Yujin finally looked up and saw that her assistant was quite nervous. “At this hour? I need to leave soon, reschedule them for tomorrow”.

The door was opened wider and a figure walked into her office. “Is that how you treat family, my dear niece?”

Yujin’s eyes widened in surprise, “Evening, uncle”. She quickly composed herself. She nodded at Yeseo to leave them and invited her uncle in, “Please have a seat. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I was just near the area and wanted to check on you after the accident. Fortunately, It seems you’ve healed fine”. Dae-Jung decided to ignore the invitation to sit and opted to walk around Yujin’s office, seemingly admiring the interior.

That was a blatant lie. Dae-Jung never really cared for her. Heck, he didn’t even come and visit her once while she was in the hospital. “Thank you for your concern. As you can see, yes, I’m quite alright now”. Dae-Jung never does anything ‘just because’. He always has a motive. Yujin isn’t in the mood to play mind games with him now. Xiaoting was waiting for her. She eyes him suspiciously before asking, ”Why are you really here, uncle?”

“Always straight to the business. Father has taught you well. Well, what do I know? I don't know what sort of special education the heir gets”

“If you’re really here just for small talk, I’d gladly indulge you next time. I have some prior engagement tonight so if you’ll excuse me”. Yujin tells him as politely as she could and collects her bag, heading towards the office door.

“Shen Xiaoting is very beautiful”

Dae-Jung’s words made her stop. Her heart stilled for a moment. “What did you say?”. Yujin turned back to face her uncle.

“No need to get jealous, my dear niece. I’m merely praising your girlfriend. It seems that both you and your father have a thing for pretty faces”

Seeing Dae-Jung smirk at her only made Yujin’s blood boil. “Are you threatening me?”

“Threaten? No, not at all, my dear. I’m just merely observing your relationship” Dae-Jung walked closer with each word, “As your uncle, I need to know who my niece is dating and how much she cares about you”. He’s standing in front of Yujin with a small smile on his face.

“What did you do to Xiaoting!?” Yujin all but demanded. Fear and panic started setting in. Dae-Jung had been quiet these few months ever since her accident. She was sure that he was busy with his own business venture. Had she overlooked something?

“Calm down, Yujin. I haven’t done anything. Yet. Though, your little girlfriend might get tired of waiting if you don’t leave soon”

As soon as Yujin heard those words, she sprinted out of her office and headed straight for her car. She didn’t care if she left a guest in her office. Xiaoting was far more important. She cursed at the elevator speed, why couldn’t it move faster. Her heart was thundering in her chest, filled with worry and fear. She reached for her phone and dialled her girlfriend. Praying to hear the voice she loved so much on the other line. The call just went through to voicemail. She cursed under her breath. Xiaoting was supposed to be done by now. Yujin sprinted out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened to the parking lot. She got into her car and immediately searched for the gallery where  Xiaoting worked that day on the GPS navigation. Never in her life did Yujin think that she would be so tempted to break the speed limit. All she could think of is to get to her girlfriend as soon as possible. Praying that something came up and Xiaoting was just working late. 

Yujin finally arrived at the gallery. The gallery was mostly dark from the outside. The runway show had definitely finished. She brought her car back to the back entrance and parked her car as fast as possible. She didn’t care if her car wasn’t parallel to the parking line. Her main concern right now was finding Xiaoting. As she got out of the car, she reached for her phone and dialled her girlfriend’s number again. With each ring, her heart is filled with more dread. Was she too late? Where had her girlfriend gone? She sprinted towards the back door of the building. The moment her hand touches the door knob, she finally hears a response from the other end of the call. She all but yelled out her lover’s name and wrenched the door open. With a step forward, she bumped into someone, bringing them both crashing to the floor. She quickly apologised and searched the floor for her phone.

“Hey, hey, slow down. You okay?”

Yujin could recognize that voice anywhere. She stopped looking for her phone and looked up at the person she crashed into. It was Xiaoting. She was fine. She’s here right in front of her. A wave of relief washed through her whole body. Yujin lunged at the redhead and hugged her tight.

“Is everything alright? You’re worrying me” Xiaoting hugged her lover back, very concerned. 

Yujin only responded by hugging her tighter.

“Yujin, sweetheart, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here” Xiaoting offered assurance to the panicked girl in her arms. 

She patted her lover’s head and rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. The look on Yujin’s face when she saw her open the door was filled with panic. The way she rushed into the building too was unlike her. Yujin was not one to panic. She was usually calm and collected when something unexpected happened. Something must have happened, only something big could have shaken her girlfriend up like this.