On Saturday, Luhan had just made plans to spend the day with Seohyun when his uncle notified him of some last minute business meetings with two of their clients who were suddenly getting curious about the Kims‘ investment services. After apologizing to Seohyun, he joined his uncle and met the clients to update their investment portfolios.

“Am I going to have to do this every time someone panics and threatens to go with the Kims?” Luhan asked his uncle once the last client left the firm.

“I have a feeling that we won‘t be competing with the Kims for long,” Cheng replied. “Either they will bankrupt us or we‘ll be able to beat them at their game with Mr. Choi‘s and Mr. Zhang‘s help.”

Luhan hid his apprehension at the thought that they might be sitting ducks, just waiting for the Kims to wipe them out too. He struggled to not think about it. While he took care of business, Seohyun went with Heran and Yuri to visit Mrs. Choi and her newborn son before she came home from the hospital. Fortunately, he was done with the meetings in time to accompany

Seohyun to the play that her friend Yuri was starring in. To his surprise, his uncle was there as well. He couldn‘t recall a time when his uncle attended a play.

On Sunday, Luhan took Seohyun to the orphanage so she could see Yoogeun. He noticed that Yoogeun seemed to respond better to her than Mrs. Bae or Mrs. Jung who attempted to bring him out of his shell. Seohyun confided that she had started coming by to see him every day which explained why the boy was beginning to open up to her. Then she took him to see Heran.

“Where is Yuri? I haven‘t seen her since church,” Seohyun asked Heran.

“She and her father are teaching Xi Cheng how to sharpen his billiard skills,” Heran replied. “Apparently, she‘s better at the game than she thought she was. When she was at Mr. Nam‘s house Friday night, she beat everyone there. Some of the men weren‘t happy, but it did them good to realize that a woman can play just as well as a man can.”

Luhan couldn‘t recall a time when his uncle was interested in billiards. He had a nagging suspicion that his uncle was more interested in Yuri than he was in the game. He decided to keep the observation to himself. Instead, he joined Heran and Seohyun in their discussion. He was pleased that Seohyun thought to include him into her world by allowing him to join her at the orphanage and nursing home. It meant that she was getting used to the idea of being his wife.

When Monday morning came, Cheng threw a copy of the newspaper in front of him on his desk at work. Luhan glanced up from the proposal he was writing for Mr. Lee.

“You can forget the proposal,” Cheng told him. “He just went bankrupt yesterday.”

“What?” He wasn‘t sure he heard right.

Luhan picked up the paper that his uncle motioned to and had to read the headline twice before the news made any sense to him. Lee Seong Yeol Loans Goes Bankrupt, Taking Others Down With Him.

The article explained how the owner of the loan business made unfortunate investing decisions, based on the advice from the Xi Investing Firm.

“I‘m already getting requests from some of our clients to close their accounts with us,” his uncle said as he walked over to the window to look out of it. He solemnly crossed his arms. “With Lee Seong Yeol out of business, that leaves Zhang Shimin‘s bank and Kim Jongin‘s firm as the only places where people can obtain loans.”

“But our investments are sound. I‘ve made a considerable profit off of them.”

“So have I, but that‘s beside the point. I just talked with Seong Yeol and he told me that his investments were changed without his knowledge.”

“Isn‘t that what happened to Mr. Seo?”

“It is.”

Of course, this knowledge led Luhan to the conclusion that the Kims were behind this stunt too. How did they do it? He understood that Jongin pretended to be interested in Seohyun so that he could gain access to her father‘s files, but how did they take down Mr. Huang and Mr. Lee? Jongin married Im Yoona on Saturday, and his father was at the wedding. So what did they do on Sunday?

“Shimin is safe for the time being,” his uncle continued. “We‘re moving quickly to the top of the list. For all I know, we could be next on their to do‘ list. You‘ve double checked all our records this morning?”

“I have. Everything checks out.”

“Good.”

He detected the worried tone in his uncle‘s voice which only increased his own fears. He hadn‘t realized they were in an unstable position. After a couple of minutes, he finally asked his uncle, “Have you had a chance to speak with Shimin?”

“Not yet. We agreed to keep things as discreet as possible so that the Kims don‘t get suspicious. Choi Seong Hyun has agreed to act as a liaison between us and Shimin. I plan to meet with him at lunch.”

“I didn‘t get around to asking about Nam on Saturday. How did things go on Friday evening? Is he still our customer?”

“Yes, he is. Miss Kwon did an excellent job of reining him in for us.”

“So she willingly went to his dinner party?”

“I managed to get to her house before Kim Jongin new wife did. As you know, Yoona is good friends with Yuri. Anyway, I was explaining the situation to her, and letting her know she had the right to decline the invitation if she wished when Yoona showed up. Yuri graciously accepted and I escorted her to the dinner party, so Jongin couldn‘t claim being the one who got Yuri to show up.”

“She sounds like a bargaining chip.”

His uncle turned to look at him. “To Jongin, she would have been. To Nam, she certainly was. But that‘s not the case with me. I made it clear that she could refuse and I would make sure no one else would talk her into it.”

Luhan raised an eyebrow. “I never thought I‘d see the day when you fell in love.”

The older man shook his head and returned to looking out the window. “I‘m not falling in love with her. I‘m too old. I merely wanted to protect her.”

“It seems like I‘m as bad of a liar as you are when it comes to the affairs of the heart.”

“Luhan, I am old enough to be her father.”

“It‘s not uncommon for a man your age to marry a woman Yuri‘s age.”

“It would be better for her to marry someone closer to her age.”

“You‘re right,” he casually said as he recalled his uncle‘s words to him a week before. “Those investment reports are much more interesting to hold and kiss than a woman is. I mean, who needs to feel the soft warmth of a woman‘s embrace? I still haven‘t been in bed with a woman but heard it‘s one of life‘s most pleasurable experiences. Of course, there‘s pleasure to be had in the fact that we kept Mr. Nam on our clientele list.”

Cheng scowled at him and promptly left the room.

Luhan grinned. He could turn the situation around if he had to.

Seohyun decided that she had to get Kyungsoo and Yuri together. Since she wasn‘t able to use the excuse to alter Yuri‘s dress, she decided to ask Yuri over to sample one of his pizzas. She understood that Kyungsoo was below Yuri‘s economic class, but she had grown to know Kyungsoo well enough to understand he wasn‘t the kind of person who would only display an interest in someone because they were from money.

Since the summer day was actually cooler than the previous days had been, she decided to go for a walk and enjoy the nice breeze and sunlight. On her way to Yuri‘s house, she saw her brother. She grimaced. She was still miffed that he made that comment about her needing to be interested in marital relations at the dinner party. He didn‘t have to come out and say it in front of everyone. It was embarrassing for the entire group to be reminded of her awkward marital situation. She knew he said it because she tried not to laugh at another one of Luhan‘s odd analogies. She couldn‘t help it if she found his comparisons to be humorous. At least this time she had tried to hide her laughter. Who but Luhan would think to compare a movie to a visual book? She hadn‘t wished to hurt Luhan‘s feelings, which was why she coughed over her laughter.

She quickly walked down another street so she wouldn‘t have to run into him. If he knew what was good for him, he‘d leave her alone. As far as she was concerned, he had given her nothing but grief ever since their father announced his bankruptcy. It was even worse now that she realized he was right about Luhan all along. She no longer wanted out of the marriage, but she didn‘t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. At least not yet.

To her dismay, he followed her. He called out to her, but she pretended she didn‘t hear him and quickly ran into a dress shop. She knew he wouldn‘t venture in there. She turned to the window and saw him roll his eyes at her. She smiled and decided it would be good to pick up a gift for her friends while she was there. She did have the spending money that Luhan had given her. This would be the perfect opportunity to use it.

She decided to pick out a hat for Yuri, a shawl for Heran, and a purse for Yoona. She wrote a quick note to each person. She w