“We’re here, Ms. Park.”

It was six-thirty in the evening. Dara woke up and roamed her eyes around the area only to squint them to let her vision adjust to the light of the establishments in front of her. Ever since she left after that incident in her office, she asked Seunghyun to drive around. She wanted to clear her mind; let herself forget of things that happened yesterday and that day. Panicking won’t help and will just consume her strength.

But the message on her wall written in red paint. Now, she was sure everything was not a coincidence. She can still deny the incident that happened in the theater and the phone call but not the wall message. She cannot deceive herself by saying that it was just a product of her imagination or that it was just a case of mistaken identity. The evidence was clear, written in red paint for her to see.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine, Ms. Park?” Seunghyun asked.

“Aigoo.” She chuckled. “That question had been asked to me numerous of times already since this afternoon. Do I really look not, Seunghyun?”

“But the phone—”

“That was a prank call.” She cut him off. She hadn’t told him yet about the wall message. If possible, she wanted to figure out everything alone. It would be too much to drag everyone to her problem. “I’ll be going now. I’m late. Surely, Jiyong is already inside.”

“I’ll wait in the parking lot, Ms. Park.”

“No need. He’ll drive me home, for sure.” She smiled at him and taps his shoulder before getting out of the car.

She took a few deep breaths to somehow stop the uneasiness in her chest. When she felt like she can contain her emotion now, she started to walk towards the place were her boyfriend was.

Jiyong was waiting for Dara when she arrived at the restaurant. He stood up as she approached the table.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” She tried to sound normal.

Gentleman that he was, he pulled out her chair. “Where have you been?” His forehead was creased then went back to his sit. “I received your message confirming our dinner. I tried calling you but your phone was off. When I called in your office, Donghae said you immediately left the moment you arrived from your lunch break. Something’s wrong, I know.”

She wished now that she had not agreed to have dinner with him. She was too nervous and upset. Her palms were sweating and the painful thump of her heart was still there. She pressed her hands together to keep them from trembling.

He was observing her; eyeing her next move. He wanted her to say something, tell him what was bothering her, she knew. But decided against it and just content his self in letting out a sigh. “I’m getting worried. Are you really alright, babe?”

“Yes,” she said. “I’m fine.” You’re mine. If not, then I’ll just have to kill him. “I think I’d like a straight Scotch, please.” She hated Scotch, but she hoped it would relax her.

Her boyfriend was still suspicious but then he didn’t say anything and just ordered their drinks. “It can’t be easy being the boss of a company.” He said all of a sudden.

Dara forced a smile. “How was your day at work?” Anything to take her mind off the threat.

“I’m afraid there is not much to tell that is exciting.”

“You mentioned that there was a 300-million-dollar project that you wanted to get. That sounds exciting.” Jiyong was a Civil Engineer in their family firm.

He leaned back on his sit and shrugged. “We live in terrible times. I believe that every man must risk something so that in the end he does not have to risk everything. The bidding situation was literally that—terrifying. Some people can do anything for the sake of money. I would rather risk something than risk everything.”

He’s always like that, Dara thought. Normally, Jiyong was a man who could not be easily swayed. Often times, he was a go-getter. But he is also someone who knew when to stop. It’s not like he was being a coward. He just doesn’t want to waste anything that he has.

Maybe part of the reason was his sister. He had one according to him but she didn’t have the chance to get to know her, not even once. Jiyong said his sister died, or was killed to be exact by one of their business partners. He didn’t elaborate the details, probably because the topic was very sensitive for him. Chae Rin, his sister, and him was very close. He just said that what took her life was the heating competition regarding their business.

“Forgive me. We didn’t come here to talk about work related problems. Let me recommend the