Daehyun’s POV

            “It’s too late, Daehyun. I love him.” Jieun’s voice sounded miserable, yet I knew she was confident with what she just said. Though she said it just once, I felt like her words had automatically become engraved in my mind, and I wished very much to have never heard it. I wasn’t sure what Yongguk did to change her, but I knew without a doubt that it was dangerous for him to stay close to her any longer. Psychotic or not, something about Yongguk seemed unstable and threatening.

            “Jieun, please just hear me out first…” I myself wasn’t sure of what I wanted to say, but I felt compelled to warn her somehow. There was no answer, so I took her silence as a green light to continue.

            “I know you think very highly of Yongguk, and you’ll probably disregard what I say next, but please consider it first. I’m not sure what affections you two share, but I think there’s an ulterior motive as to why he’s warming up to you.” How I chose to get my message across took less thought than it should have. Jieun wasn’t in the mood to consider my side of things right now, but if I didn’t say it all now there might never be another appropriate time.

            “You don’t even know him.” She defended; her voice was calmer than I expected. I had to give her credit for how much she’s matured since she left Korea.

            “I’ve spoken with him.” I sighed, unwilling to go further into the story. Our “speaking” was barely even a sufficient discussion, but it was enough for me to guess what kind of a person he was. There was a long pause. I waited out the silence by fiddling with a button on my suit jacket.

            “By any chance, have you recently lost something?” Jieun asked almost suspiciously. Her question caught me off guard and I didn’t give time to think over why she asked it.

            “Actually… Yeah—“

            “Is it a golden ring?”

            “How did you—“

            “That’s enough, Daehyun.” She interrupted. The topic change happened so fast I felt like I barely had the opportunity to even breathe. She switched to her professional tone, the voice she always used when she dealt with other staff or company affiliates. It was a serious and cold voice that had a way of demanding respect and silence from whoever she was speaking to—including me.

            “I understand that you have every right to be upset… But… I don’t understand why you’d come to the hotel while I’m not around and still have the guts to cause trouble here. I put Yongguk in charge, and whatever happens in the hotel has nothing to do with you. The fact that you couldn’t even own up to the problems you’ve caused us is really disappointing…” Jieun vented without leaving a space for me to insert a thought.

            “I really, really, thought you were better than that.” And with that, she hung up. Still holding my phone to my ear, I tried to recollect everything that had just happened. She must’ve been referring to the hotel’s vandalism incident. I was dumbfounded that she didn’t just directly ask me about it. I would’ve been nearly blameless anyway. It wasn’t me who threw the vase, after all. I hated that Yongguk was constantly being favoured and given the benefit of the doubt. It seemed like time in years invested in a relationship meant nothing to Jieun.

            “Aish!” I kicked the streetlight’s pole in front of me and then retracted my toe that throbbed with pain. I’ve already been rejected by her so many times, why was I even trying anymore? I no longer hated Yongguk for entering into the company without so much as breaking a sweat, but hated him for having the capacity to potentially hurt Jieun. I was debating whether helping her was even worth my time anymore, because it felt like she didn’t even value the friendship we had. It was all in the past now, anyway.

            My phone vibrated in my hand and I held it up to see the caller ID. Jieun’s father honestly had the worse timing to call me, but I knew that if I didn’t pick up now I’d never hear the end of it later.

            “Yeoboseyo?” I gulped, bracing myself for another slam of irrational demands and redundant favours to fulfill.

            “Daehyun, my son,” He greeted strangely in a happy manner. It was unusual for him to be so good hearted when contacting me, but I didn’t want to question his good nature today. However, I still cringed at the way he called me his son, as if it was so simple for me to really live up to it.

            “It’s been weeks since you’ve contacted me. I imagine that by now you’ve won Jieun over and was having too much fun with her to relay this news back to me, yes?” He optimistically reasoned for my tardy reports, and regretfully I could not give him the news he wanted.

            “Suppose… Jieun loves another man. What then?” I immediately regretted asking the moment I heard him grunt, like an angry bulldog ready to tackle a wandering schoolboy.

            “It doesn’t matter to me who she loves. I’ve already chosen you to be her husband.” He sternly assured; his previously joyful mood had completely dissolved.

            “It’s not that simple to win over a woman’s heart.” I tried to reason out. I still loved Jieun, but the more I pushed it the more she seemed to hate me. Suddenly I regretted ever trying to court her under her father’s wishes. Since we were teenagers she always ran to me crying during lunch breaks at school about how her father always tells her to do things she doesn’t want to. I already knew that their relationship wasn’t good, yet as the years passed I found myself liking her more and more—not just as a friend. At school we seemed to have no one but each other. I thought I had a really fair chance with her, but it seems I already ruined whatever possibility I had of being with her. Now I was just barely struggling to keep that friendship alive.

            “You have much to learn about women. They are simple minded creatures, just flash a bit of cash or your bank balance and they’ll be crawling after you. Jieun is no different.” He ignorantly instructed me. I couldn’t believe that he was being serious right now. He spoke of females as if they were not even human. I finally understood why Jieun had always despised her father and refuted any advice I gave about reconciling with him.

            “Jieun has more dignity than that.” I hung up afterwards and then pulled the battery out of the back of my phone. Even though I acknowledged that my chances of being with Jieun in the end was slim to none, knowing that she was always around Yongguk made my blood boil. He has her under his spell, but there has to be a way to break it.  Even if I’m not the right one for her, there was no way that Yongguk was.

Yongguks’ POV

            Jieun split to a separate hallway to answer a call and ushered me to head straight to the lobby. I wasn’t expecting anyone, but when I finally saw the man’s face, I felt a soothing nostalgia wash through me. He looked intimidated being in the hotel, inching around to find an appropriate place to stand while unwilling to even brush against one of the walls. His shirt was sweat-stained but he wore a bright blue vest with a label too small for me to read at my distance.

            “It’s been a while!” I greeted, walking straight up to him. His eyes were fleeting between different floor tiles up until the moment I called him. He looked up and smiled brightly at me. Though his posture was still a little obscure, something about his expression meant good news was coming.

            “Annyeonghaseyo, Yongguk-sshi,” He greeted politely with a 90 degree bow. I was impressed with his mannerisms, and just as curious about his visit. This was the second time I’d seen him and had been wondering about what had happened to him every now and then during the down times at the hotel. It felt like a sweet reunion.

            “I came back to thank you one last time…” He began, looking down at my shoes. I could feel that he was insecure about being here, but a man like him had to have immense courage to even walk in.

            “Actually after your act of kindness that day I was blessed to find a freelancing job at a nearby construction site.” He looked up from time to time to smile at me, and of course, I smiled back. I knew how hard it was in this day and age to find a job, especially when unemployment rates were rising. This man was unwillingly forced onto the streets, but now he was finally getting back on his feet.

            “This is great news! Congratulations!” I gleamed, patting him on the shoulder as if I were a proud father. This man was probably decades older than I, but the pat seemed to recharge his enthusiasm to work hard.

            “It’s not a permanent position in the construction company yet… but if I continue to do well they’re thinking of employing me full time.” He explained his situation, and I was extremely happy to hear his redemption story directly from himself. I’d only been in Canada for a short while but I learned that when construction projects were initiated, companies often didn’t have enough manpower to fulfill the plans by the deadline and so projects are always being delayed. It became an acceptable solution to hire needy folks for however long they’re willing to work to do the bulk of the manual labour and were paid by cash depending on their time and effort spent.

            “I know you’ll work hard. You’ve become an important asset to the completion of this project—and many more to come.” I assured him; it seemed like just the encouragement he needed to harbor a new dream to chase. We couldn’t exchange phone numbers because he had none, but I was sure that even if I never saw him again after today, he would be going nowhere but up.

            “Congratulations!” Jieun’s cheery voice applauded the man’s story. I turned to see her approaching us with a medium sized gift bag with the handles tied together in a bow.

            “Thank you…” He smiled, still as gratefully as ever and bowed 90 degrees when Jieun arrived beside me. She handed him the gift bag and explained,

            “There’s some non perishable food in there as well as towels and other necessities. Work hard, but remember to eat well too.” He took the bag graciously and nodded with both surprise and happiness. The two of us sent him off on a positive note, and by the time he was out of sight, we were wondering when he’d come back to share his success stories again. 

A/N: Whee another update ^^! Hopefully Daehyun doesn't seem too evil anymore? I'm in a writing mood... so expect another update tonight. -Goes to work on it now- Oh and the bit about hiring homeless people for construction actually happens in Canada from what I hear ^^ Just a little fun fact, I guess.