Chapter thirteen:

Yoseob’s POV:

I trudged back home, afraid of facing Lucica and my parents.

I had spent the whole night in Ji Eun’s house. How I missed cuddling beside her!
But now, I had to tell them.

They were not going to take it well, especially mom.

“I’m home” I called as I stepped into the house.

My mom ran to greet me.

“Yoseob ah! Where did you go last night? Did you spend the night with THAT GIRL?” My mom was furious. So Lucica told her. “How could you leave with THAT GIRL? How? You broke Lucica’s heart, and you better fix things!”

I shook my head. “No.”

“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean no! I won’t! I love Ji Eun, and you can’t make me marry someone I don’t love!” I shouted at my mom.

“Don’t be childish, Yoseob!” My mom sighed. “THAT GIRL is just a crush. Someone you’ll get over really quickly! But Lucica, she’s the ONE for you! If you let her go, you’ll regret it.”

I snorted. “The one for me? Please, she’s the one for YOU. You only like her because she’s rich. You only care about your money. It’s always all about the money, isn’t it? You don’t care that you’re marrying me off to someone I don’t even love?”

“But you love Lucica!”
“No I don’t!” I roared, frustrated. “I LOVE JI EUN, AND I WILL NOT LET HER GO. NEVER!”

I growled and locked myself in the room.

I could hear my mom banging the door from outside.

I didn’t care.

No one’s POV:

Lucica was furious.

How could he choose THAT GIRL over me?

“DADDY!” She yelled as she stormed into her house.

“Yes, my dear?”

“Yoseob likes another girl! He refuses to marry me! Can you believe it?” She sobbed.

Her father was furious.

“WHAT?” He bellowed and gave Lucica a hug.

“Don’t worry darling, I’ll cancel my deal with their family immediately. I’ll make sure they suffer!”

“I don’t want that. I WANT YOSEOB BACK!” She screamed. “DO SOMETHING, DADDY!”

Her father whipped out his cellphone.

“Hello? Yes, yes. Gather all the information you can get about THAT GIRL and report to me asap tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry darling, it’s all settled.”

IU’s POV:

The next day, the doorbell rang.

“Haishh…Yoseob! Go away! You’re annoying!” I whined as I opened the door.

Instead of Yoseob, there was a man. He looked like a businessman.

“Are you Lee Ji Eun?”
“Ne. Why do you ask?”

“I have things to discuss with you. Can I come in?”

I nodded, inviting him to sit in the living room.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Ma Sung Eun, the president of the Sung En food industries.”

I gasped. So this was the famous Ma Sung Eun, Lucica’s father.

Why was he here?

“I’m here to propose a deal with you, Miss Lee.”

“A deal?”

“Yes,” He said, laying a briefcase on the table. “You probably know that my daughter, Lucica Ma, is Yoseob’s fiancé, right?”

I nodded.

“Well, he’s calling off the wedding. And he said it was because of you.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “He did?”

President Ma nodded. “I told her to give him up, but she wouldn’t.” He sighed. “So, I’m here to propose a deal. If you agree to cut all contact with Yang Yoseob, I’ll give you a hundred thousand dollars.” He opened the briefcase, and in it was many, many piles of money.

I gasped. A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS?

“And,” he added, “In addition to that, we’ll get you a new house, and a new job, somewhere far, far away from Seoul. So, do we have a deal?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Do you seriously think I would accept this deal? Do you seriously think you could bribe me with money? Just so Lucica could be with Yoseob? Please!” I laughed. “If that’s all you have to say, please leave immediately.

“If a hundred thousand dollars is not enough, I can get you more. Just state the price.” He tried.

“Don’t you get it? You can’t buy me over. I can’t let him go! I love him! You can’t BUY love. Now, please leave!” I was starting to get frustrated.

“I tried to be nice.” He scowled and stood up menacingly.

“If you don’t leave, I’ll make sure Yoseob’s family goes bankrupt. I’ll destroy them.”

But…that wasn’t possible? Was it?

“Ha!” I scoffed, trying to look confident. “You can’t.”

“Try me.” He smirked. “I’m one of the most influential men in Seoul. I can do ANYTHING. And that includes crushing Yoseob’s family. Why do you think Yoseob’s family is so desperate to marry him off to Lucica?” He laughed. “It’s simple. Because they HAVE to be on our good side. Remember what happened to the Jin Sung food industries?”

Oh.

I briefly remembered hearing about the Jin Sung food industries’ plight. One day, they were extremely rich, and the next day, for no reason, they went bankrupt. The president of the Jin Sung food industries was ruined. He was in a huge debt, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he attempted suicide last year.

That could very much happen to Yoseob, if I didn’t agree to leave him.

But what if he was lying, and he was only threatening me by saying these?

But could I take that risk, that risk of ruining Yoseob’s life?

He seemed to be able to read my mind, because he asked, “Can you really bear to live with yourself if you end up ruining Yoseob’s life?”

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t be so selfish

I wanted him so badly, but…

I sighed. “You win. I’ll move out as soon as possible, and I promise not to come into his life again. As long as you promise not to touch his family.”

He smirked. “Don’t worry. After all, Yoseob will be marrying Lucica soon, why would I harm my own family?”

“And this money, you can take it back.” I pushed the briefcase to him. I didn’t want this dirty money. I wasn’t giving up on Yoseob because of it.

You’re doing a good thing, Ji Eun.

“You sure?” He looked surprised.

“Let’s just get it over and done with.” I snapped.

“Excellent,” he smiled. “I like this attitude. I’ll make the necessary arrangements as soon as possible. Meanwhile, you can start packing. My men will be here tomorrow, 9am sharp.”

“You are a horrible man. You DO realize Yoseob doesn’t love Lucica, right?”

“But my Lucica loves him. That’s all that matters.” He stated matter-of-factly.

“You sicken me.”

He smiled, then he left my house.

I got started on packing right away.

I’m sorry, Yoseob.

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Firstly, I really want to thank all you subscribers for the nice comments :D they really brighten my day (:

And NO! D: JIEUN. DON'T LEAVE YOSEOB.

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