Kwon Yul awoke to a persistent pounding, and briefly wondered if it was in his head. But then he remembered that he didn’t drink anymore and knew that couldn’t be it. He realized it was coming on the other side of his front door, and lifted his head to look at the clock. It was six o’clock in the morning. Who in the hell would be knocking on his door at this hour? He scowled and got out of bed, grabbing his bathrobe off his bedpost and throwing it on. Other than that, the only thing he was wearing was a pair of pyjama bottoms. He strode quickly down the hallway and into his living room.

“This had better be good!” he said threateningly, throwing open the door. He froze when he saw her. “Yoona,” he said softly, so relieved to see her that he didn’t notice the red around her eyes, or the mascara tracks on her cheeks.

“Have you ever seen these?” she asked, angry and broken all the same time. Before he even had time to wonder what she was talking about, she lifted a hand and pushed a pile of newspapers into his chest with such unexpected force that he stumbled backwards. She walked hastily past him into the room and he closed the door, turning around. She was standing in the middle of the living room. Still, he didn’t say a word. She motioned towards the papers in his hands. “Go, ahead, husband,” she said bitterly. “Take a look at them.”

He opened one of them and read it out loud. “Was the Death of Their Son the Demise of Their Marriage?” There were two separate pictures, one of him on the court, one of her on stage. He took a deep breath and lifted his eyes to hers. “It was, Yoong,” he said softly.

“But the press doesn’t need to know that!” she yelled, hysteria kicking in.

He threw that one down onto the couch and unfolded the next one. “Did Yul Only Marry Her Because She Was Pregnant?”  He sighed. “We both know that’s not true.”

“But the world doesn’t!” she exploded.

He discarded that one, too, and opened the next one. When she saw him flinch, she knew which one it was. “Where do you suppose they got the picture?” she asked.

He looked at the picture of his son on his first birthday, blown up to fill the entire front page, and his vision blurred. Exclusive! It read. Yul Jr. Kwon...Unveiled. Yul shrugged in answer to her question. “I don’t know,” he said, trying to keep his voice controlled. He knew the press would find out about their son, but he hadn’t realize that it would be this soon, or that it would hurt this much.

“And my personal favourite,” she said bitterly, grabbing the last one from Yul’s hand and opening it. “Did Yul Jr. Really Belong to Yul? Or, Like His Name Suggests, Did He Belong to His Uncle?” she read aloud, holding it up so he could see the pictures of Jessie and a pregnant Yoona embracing on graduation day. Beneath that headline, it read, “What other secrets are the Kwons hiding? The Horvejkul talks!”

“That’s ridiculous,” Yul said fury rising up in him. They were questioning Yoona’s loyalty, and that was nearly his undoing.

“Yeah, you think so, and I think so, but what will the rest of the world think, Yul? Huh?” she sat down on the couch, and put her head in her hands. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” she asked. “I can’t believe you did that,” she whispered. “You took our story, our story, Yul,” she said, lifting a hand to her chest, “and you sold it to the press! You me even further into the spotlight when you knew I didn’t want to be there.”

 Yul shrugged arrogantly. “What does it matter, Yoong?” he asked tiredly. “When you came back to me, they’ll find out then. This was a pre-emptive move. It gets things out of the way now. Now you can make a clean break from fame.”

“And from you,” she said softly. “You don’t understand. I… I can’t forgive you for this,” she told him, her eyes welling up with fresh tears. “You have no idea what you’ve done. This is just the beginning of the aftermath, Yul,” she warned him, standing up. she looked at him sadly, and then started walking for his front door.

“Yoona… if you walk out that door, this is it. Forever!” he promised her, anger and frustration in his voice. “I let you walk away once and come back, but I won’t let you come back this time.” He sighed and deliberately softened his voice, a need and desperation so strong coming over him, that he was surprised he was still on his feet. “This is a once in a lifetime love, Yoona. You won’t get this again,” he said, shaking his head. “If you walk out of this door…today…then you’ve lost your once in a lifetime. And I’ve lost mine,” he told her gently but firmly.

She looked up at him, tears running down her cheeks. Then she turned around, and walked out the door.

In that instant, Yul knew this was the last time he’d ever see his wife again. He had all he could to not drop to his knees or get a drink.

FOUR DAYS LATER…

Tiffany sighed and let the curtain fall closed. “I cannot believe the uproar this is causing,” she said to Jessie, who was sitting at his desk pounding away at the keys on his laptop. “How can you just work like this?” she asked, exasperated.

Jessie leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together, resting them on the back of his head. “What did you think was going to happen?” he asked.

“I’m not sure, but I certainly didn’t expect them to speculate about you being Yul Jr’s father,” she said in a tranquil tone. She’d been lived when she’d seen the headline and it had been reflected in her tone for days. The fact that they’d question Yoona’s loyalty to Yul shouldn’t have shocked her. They were, after all, dealing with the press, but it had. Yoona may have put Yul through the wringer lately, but she’d never been unfaithful to him. And the fact that anyone would suggest otherwise was absurd. Tiffany had to keep reminding herself that the world didn’t see Yoona and Yul fall in love. But she had. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Hey,” Jessie said softly. She looked up and he was holding a hand out for her. She smiled softly and walked over to him. He took her by the hand and pulled her onto his lap. She rested her cheeks on his shoulder.

“You’ve written more today than you have in ages,” she said.

She felt him nod.

“Anything I can read?”

He shook his head. “Not yet,” he said, then after a pause, “Babe, I need you to do something for me,” he said earnestly.

She pulled away from him and met his eyes questioningly. “What is it?” she asked.

“I have to be here for Yul. He’s my brother,” he said emphatically, then sighed. “But someone needs to be there for Yoona.”

“Me?” Tiffany asked in a surprised tone.

He nodded.

She stood up and started pacing. “Jessie… I don’t think I’m the person for this,” she said. “I’m not happy with Yul right now because of what he did…ambushing her like that with the press, but Jessie…she keeps leaving him!”

“She’s scared,” he said with conviction.

“Jessie…”

“You didn’t know her before Yul, Tiffany. Without him by her side, she has little chance of making it through this. And with no one… she won’t make it all,” he said feelingly.

“What…what about her family?” Tiffany asked.

Jessie shook his head. “No way would she subject them to this. She’d leave first and not tell them where she was before she’d let them come near this city.”

“Jessie…”

“Are you that mad at her, Tiffany?” he asked.

“I’ve given her a lot of tough love over the past few weeks,” she pointed out, feeling guilty now. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so hard on Yoona.

“Maybe she needed it,” he said.

“But maybe she didn’t,” Tiffany said softly. “maybe she just needed someone in her corner, Jessie, to tell her everything is going to be ok.”

“You can be in her corner now,” he told her.

“What if she won’t let me back in?” Tiffany asked

“She will,” Jessie said confidently. “She will.”

“Do you think I can get her without the paparazzi following me?” she asked. Their building had absolutely no security. They had rented a small apartment in a small apartment building, liking the homey atmosphere. Jessie was a best-selling author, but he’d never been so sought after that they’d had to remain housebound before. They weren’t used to this kind of attention, and quite frankly, it was disconcerting. She didn’t mind fielding the press for others, but she didn’t like hiding out from them herself. Tiffany sighed as she thought about what it must be like for Yoona and Yul.

“I doubt it, but I don’t think it matters,” Jessie told her. “I think she just needs you,” he said.

Tiffany nodded and stood up from his lap. “I think so, too,” she said.

“Babe,” Jessie said as she was leaving the room.

She turned around. “Thank you,” he said.

She smiled. “It’s not just for you, Jessie,” she said.

“One more thing before you go…” he started.