After an amazing night with Jimin in her spacious and modern apartment, Minjeong was back to the reality where she had to face her biggest fear.

But when would be a good opportunity? Before work? At lunch?

There didn't seem to be a good time to do it.

Maybe because instead of taking care of it, Minjeong’s brain kept telling her not now.

But at the same time, the nerves were eating her up, and she could barely focus on the simple task of counting bottles to carry inside the restaurant.

Her hands trembled as she searched for Jimin’s name on her phone.

“Hey, babe,” Jimin’s melodic voice answered.

“H-Hey.”

“Did something happen?”

“I just... need to be with you.”

“Oh, is that so? When?”

“Now.”

“I guess I can grant your wish. Wanna meet me at my office?”

“I need to be with you alone. Can we go for a walk or something?”

—

They walked side by side, hand in hand, but Minjeong couldn't look anywhere else but at the ground. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to go for a walk, after all.

"Can we sit somewhere?" Minjeong looked around, sometimes having the same old feeling of having someone following her.

"Of course."

Three more minutes of walking, and Jimin guided them to a nearby park, where they could sit and be alone.

"The weather's great, right? Such a shame I have to spend so much time stuck at the office. Thank you for inviting me outside."

Minjeong looked at her to find her gentle smile. She stared at it, at Jimin's features whenever she smiled, because she didn't know if she would still be seeing them for long.

"Jimin, I... I called you because I have something to tell you."

An eyebrow raised on Jimin's forehead. "And what is it?"

Minjeong's mouth opened and closed like a fish outside water, but still, no words came out. Then, a squeeze on her hand made her meet Jimin's eyes.

"It's okay, Minjeong. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I need to. It's something you need to know. It's just... I don't know where to start."

"Take your time."

It didn't matter how much time Minjeong took, she wouldn't be able to find a proper way to explain.

"R-Remember when I told you Yerim's father is dead, right?"

Jimin nodded.

"He had always been a business man, since he was to inherit his father’s company and all, but one day, he decided to try out the stock market. He thought that it was an easy thing, but... he didn't know what he was doing, and soon he started losing money and getting himself in debt."

Jimin sighed, shaking her head. "Unfortunately, there's a lot of people like him in this business, who think they can earn lots of money with no effort or knowledge about it."

Minjeong nodded and went on. "There was this time someone, a partner, gave him some inside information. That sort of practice you have been very vocal about. Turns out that information was pure scam, and on the same day he invested almost all his money, he lost all of it. After that... He killed the man who gave him the info as revenge and then killed himself."

Jimin widened her eyes and gulped, her lips apart. "I-I'm sorry Minjeong. I knew you had gone through something bad, but this is just... Why did you want me to know about this now?"

Minjeong gulped, looking away from her eyes.

"Because... Because the man who told Yerim's father the info was Hyoseob."

Jimin didn't blink. Her breathing got faster, her nostrils flaring with each harsh inhale. "Did you... Did you say Hyoseob?"

"I-I'm so sorry, Jimin, I know he worked in your father's company, and because of this, he tainted your-"

"How long have you known?"

"It's recent, Yizhuo told me."

Jimin's fists clenched on her lap. "Do you mean... Yerim's father was the one responsible? He was the one that killed Hyoseob?"

Minjeong gulped. "Yes. His name was Jaehyun." And even after all this time, his name still made her insides tremble.

The pain in Jimin's features, her clenched jaw… it hurt so much. Minjeong grabbed her hand.

"Hyoseob had a wife, Sooyoung," Minjeong went on. "Irene, her lawyer, contacted Yizhuo, who is my lawyer, saying they had grounds to investigate the case again because they saw me with you-"

"What ing grounds? Investigate what? What do I have to do with any of that? My father took care of everything. Hyoseob gave the false info to Jaehyun, then he killed him and killed himself. There's more than enough proof for all of that, why a new investigation?"

Minjeong recoiled with Jimin's harsh words. Anger started prickling under Minjeong's skin as well.

"I know. Believe me, I am as angry as you are. All I wanted was to get over this, but Sooyoung and Irene are convinced that you had something to do with it. Since he worked in the same company as you and now you're the CEO, they now claim you told Hyoseob to tell Jaehyun about the info, and that I was behind it. That in fact I've known you all this time and plotted to have you earn the amount that Jaehyun lost so I would get revenge on him and still take all the money for myself... for us."

Silence followed. Jimin's features softened, her eyes fixed down on the ground, and a weird chuckle left her lips. As if she couldn't believe her ears.

"Jimin, I know you had nothing to do with it. Since the moment I went to your office I knew it wasn't possible and you weren't capable of any of that."

"Since the moment you went to my office... And before that?" Jimin returned the stare.

"B-Before that what?"

"You thought I could actually, somehow be involved in that, didn't you? This is not the first time you assume things about me without being honest and asking me. I already told you how much it hurts me, and yet you did it again." Jimin scoffed. "And about this! I shared my troubles with you, how much it hurt me, and you knew exactly what I was talking about, who I was talking about, and yet, you stayed silent. Tell me, that day you came to see me at work... Did you go to my office because you were interested, or because you expected to find something about me?"

Minjeong’s heart beat alarmingly fast. “What the hell, Jimin? You told me I could take my time opening up about it and you would understand. Do you think this is easy to talk about at all? Do you have any idea how much courage I had to take out of nowhere just to have this conversation with you right now?” Minjeong’s leg started bouncing as she exhaled and tried to keep her cool. “You’re the one who’s confusing me now. And besides, you were also the one to invite me to your office. That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Well this, I absolutely don’t understand. This isn’t something you had the right to keep to yourself when it involves me and it’s this serious.”

Jimin stood up from the bench and gave her a last look before storming away.

"Jimin, wait!" Minjeong stood up and grabbed Jimin’s hand. "Let’s talk about this. For real, this time."

"We’ve talked enough, Minjeong." Jimin released her hand from her grasp, leaving Minjeong alone on that park bench with the realization that things were over for good dawning on her.

—

Minjeong drove without a destination with the Han River by her side, until she could drive off the road and stop the car under a bridge.

Work didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. She could at least look ahead at the river, something she always loved to do, while the faint sound of music played on the radio. She had a lot of bottles of alcohol in the back of her car, but she couldn't muster up enough strength in her fingers to open them and bring them to her lips.

The feeling of emptiness was so overwhelming Minjeong couldn't even cry. Her body had turned an empty shell.

Jimin had been nothing but the best person Minjeong could ever ask for. Jimin was kind, Jimin was understanding, caring, fair, all that Minjeong was not. It was too good to be true from the start and she had been foolish to believe she could let go of her past and move on.

But no. Jaehyun had to haunt her even after being dead.

Jimin had become strength. She had become another reason for Minjeong to wake up in the morning and go through another day, because she knew she would see her face, kiss her lips, hug her body, hold her hand, hear her voice, smell her scent.

And it had all been taken away from her. What did Jimin even see in her? Minjeong didn’t deserve her, and Jimin deserved someone better, way better.

Would Yerim be okay without her? She was a bright kid, far mature for her age, and her mother was stuck with a mediocre job, without proper conditions to give her the life she deserved. She would do just fine.

It was better if Minjeong just disappeared. She wouldn't hurt Jimin anymore that way, or herself, or make Yerim suffer and live a bad life because of her. She just needed to hit the pedal and everything would be over.

But then, her daughter came to her mind again. She had promised to take care of her and love her unconditionally, so just because she would manage without her, did it really mean it was fair to put that burden on her when she’d already been stuck with that horrible excuse for a father? Well, maybe, she was a horrible excuse for a mother too. Maybe this would be an act of love for her. Freeing her from her own hands. Give her a chance to have someone capable take care of her.

What was the point in anything? Minjeong was awful at being a mom anyway, had been a horrible girlfriend and she’d just been too far broken for it to be worth it to fix her life. It’s not like she could even if she tried, because look where it had gotten her. Jimin would never want to look at her again, the investigation would start soon, and Minjeong didn’t have the energy to go through all of that again. Going under interrogations, testifying, forcing herself to remember everything, reliving all that pain coming straight from hell.

Minjeong rested her foot on the pedal and looked ahead. How she always loved water, and swimming, and diving deep into the water, and how she actually missed the feeling.

She wanted to see Yerim one last time, so she grabbed her phone. Minjeong couldn't stop her eyes from widening when she unlocked the screen.

13 unread messages and 10 missed calls, from Yerim and Jimin.

And as she realized that it was way past the time to pick Yerim up from school, the screen of her phone showed an incoming call.

Jimin was calling her.

What good would it do to take it? To listen to Jimin's voice one last time? To tell her she was sorry one last time? Even if it was just for that, Minjeong's thumb moved to press the green button, and her hand took the phone to her ear.

"Minjeong?! Oh my god, you finally picked up... Where in the world are you?! Did you lose track of time, or did you forget to pick Yerim up at school? She's in panic because you didn't show up or answered her calls! Thank god we exchanged numbers. What's going on?"

Minjeong swore her chest had been stabbed, because the pain was so hard she felt it physically. And as her body started trembling, tears rolled down her eyes in sobs.

"Minjeong? Hello? Are you there?"

But she could only let her head fall back, with each sob harder than the previous one.

"Please say something, Minjeong!"

After a few seconds of silence, in which Minjeong thought Jimin hung up the call, she spoke again.

“Where are you?”

“H-Han River.”

“Oh god, Minjeong... Send me your location and please, please, stay there. Don’t move, don’t do anything. I’ll be there in a second. Are you safe? Is someone around? Did someone hurt you?”

"I'm alone."

"I'll be there before you know it."

Minjeong nodded, as if Jimin could see it, and complied to her request. She tried to stabilize her breath, but it felt as if all the emotions hit her at the same time, and now she couldn’t stop crying.

The sound of a motor became louder than the faint music. When Minjeong gathered the strength to turn her head, Jimin opened the door and met her eyes.

She looked beautiful as ever, like an angel that fell from the sky just in time to save her, even if her face showed a new emotion Minjeong didn’t know about.

“W-What’s gotten into you? What are you doing here?” Jimin asked with a trembling voice.

Minjeong wanted to jump from her car and hug her, but she looked away from her frown, shame overwhelming any other feeling.

The door to her side closed and a couple of seconds later, the passenger's door opened. Minjeong heard Jimin sitting next to her and the door closing.

“What the hell did you think you were doing, Minjeong?”

She still couldn’t look Jimin in the eyes.

“I-Is Yerim okay?”

“She is, I told her you got caught up with something and forgot to tell her and I left her in your parents' house."

Minjeong nodded. "Thank you."

"Now can you tell me what this is all about? You scared the out of me."

"Aren't you mad at me?"

"How would I have the time to be mad when you disappear and get me worried sick for your safety?"

Jimin stopped her sentence with her voice failing her. Minjeong finally managed to move her head and look at Jimin. It was now Jimin's turn to look down at her trembling hands. Jimin shut her eyes tightly and tears started streaming down her face and into her lap. The few seconds they had stared into each other's eyes were enough for Jimin to read the look on her face. To understand what she was trying to do.

“I-I’m sorry, Minjeong.” Jimin sobbed, squeezing Minjeong’s hand, making her widen her eyes. “I was so unfair. You tried your hardest to be honest with me even though it was such a difficult subject for you and I made it all about myself. It was something hard on me as well, but I didn’t want to snap at you like that and I would never, ever want to make you feel like this."

Minjeong let her lips come apart, but her mind was drained. So, she squeezed Jimin’s hands back and pulled her closer, burying her face in her neck and circling her arms around her, feeling Jimin doing the same. They stayed in each other’s embrace in silence for as long as they needed, until Minjeong pulled away and wiped Jimin’s tears away.

In the end, she even made her cry. But she was feeling weirdly calm. All those destructive thoughts vanished, replaced by hope and an overwhelming strength that translated to her vocal chords.

“I’m sorry for not being honest when you’ve given me more than enough room to rely on you.” Minjeong caressed her cheek with her thumb. “You’re right, no matter how hard it was, this was something I should have brought to you sooner because of how it involved your family and your business. And though I can’t deny that I was scared of what I would see in your office, I went because I wanted to see you work on what you’re passionate about and you let me in on that by inviting me. I also want to let you in... on everything.”

Jimin held her gaze and then leaned in, kissing Minjeong’s lips.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I just want to get this all over with and not have to prepare myself for days before I mention something new every single time. Enough secrets from me, Jimin.”

“I will be here to listen to everything you have to say.”

---

A/N - late, again, but here it is. you'll have the fullllllllll explanation next chapter and from that on, I promise y'all huge doses of fluff!!! 

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