Jonghyun entered his living room and found Yuna already fast asleep on her couch. He sighed and grabbed his blanket to wrap her in.

“You must be a mess right now,” he uttered to himself, patting her head softly.

He wasn’t sure what had exactly happened but he could tell that she was still not ready to tell him. Or perhaps she was still scared. He had noticed her trembling hands when she had hold her cup and all he had wanted to do was give her a hug to make her feel safe. He smiled as he watched her looking so peaceful while she’s asleep. He barely knew her but felt like he needed to protect her.

**

Jonghyun woke up early to buy some spray paints and headed to work on the door. Whatever she was hiding from him, it still seemed too serious for a girl like her to handle alone. He stared at the door, studying every detail. Who had done this? Why were they looking for Yuna? He shook the can and started spraying layers after layers, making sure there was no trace of the previous vandalism.

He heard footstep and turned to see two black-suited men approaching him. He studied them carefully and noticed the ‘X’ tattoo on their neck. Hold on, that looks familiar, he thought to himself. Yeah, I’ve seen these guys before. He stood up straight as they stopped in front of him, both their faces showing no sign of mercy. Jonghyun cocked his eyebrow.

“Lee Jonghyun-ssi,” they greeted him with a bow. “We didn’t know you live here now.”

“What can I help you with?” he asked, keeping his cool.

“What are you doing spraying this door?” one of them asked.

“Some hooligans vandalized my door so I was just fixing it back,” he lied. “Is this your work?”

The two men exchanged some looks between each other before one of them spoke out again.

 “Seo Yuna..do you know who she is?”

He gave them a cold stare before answering, “No. Who is she?”

“We’re tracking her down. Do you know her? We were sure she lives here,” they insisted, taking a step forward.

“Obviously you got it wrong. Is she your latest victim? What is she to you?”

“She’s different. We’re just following orders from our boss.”

“My father?” Jonghyun asked.

They didn’t answer but lowered their heads. Jonghyun smirked and bravely got closer to them. He leaned in to their ears and spoke in a low voice.

 “Leave,” he ordered. “And never come back.”

“Yes sir,” they replied and their heels nervously.

“Ah ah ah, hold up,” he called them again. “Who is this Seo Yuna?”

“Ah sir, I’m not sure if I can tell you. You’re not a part of us anymore,” one of them answered timidly.

Jonghyun stared at him coldly. They whimpered and quickly answered.

“Boss has been trying to avenge for your brother’s death.”

Jonghyun froze on his spot once he heard the mention of his brother. “And?”

“We believe she has something to do with his death.”

“Andwae..that can’t be,” he stuttered under his breath.

Too much in shock, his mind raced back and forth between having to choose family over the new girl he had just met. Finally, he tightened his grip on the spray can and made up his mind.

“You can go now,” he uttered blankly, waving them off.

As soon as the two men were out of sight, his door opened to reveal Yuna standing there with a terrified look on her face. She had clearly been peeking on what had just happened and was shocked too over the revelation.

“You..you’re his son?” she managed to say out.

He cleared his throat and put on his cool image again. He tried to stay collected and not scare her off because she was still fragile. He walked past her and entered his apartment.

“Did you have a good night sleep?” he asked, completely changing the subject.

She continued standing at the door, uncertain of her place. He walked back up to her and noticed her eyes were already teary. She backed away from him, keeping her distance.

“Look, those guys are not going to be bothering you here for quite some time now so you don’t need to be worried,” he told her.

“You..you’re his son?” she asked again, and he saw her lips trembling again.

Jonghyun sighed heavily. He grabbed her wrist but she quickly pulled away, tucking herself in a corner. He could see that she was scared. Her eyes were not even looking at him anymore.

“Neh,” he answered.

She tensed up even more, perhaps more afraid now that she was in a room with the bad guy. He didn’t want to scare her though. He had made up his mind to side with her on this. He stepped closer to her, but she immediately retreated.

“Hey, hey, don’t be scared!” he told her.

“Are..are you going to hurt me?” she stuttered.

“No, I’m not,” he smiled warmly to her.

She eyed him suspiciously and still maintained her distance. “Wae? You could have handed me to those people. Why didn’t you?”

“Because I won’t ever hurt my friends.”

She remained unmoved so he thought of other ways to make her trust him.

He placed his hand over hers and stared into her eyes. “I am not angry at you. I’m worried about you.”

She looked away and muttered softly, “Don’t. You can’t be worried about me. To me, you’re the bad guy. And to you, I’m the bad guy.”

“No, we’re not the bad guys,” he continued staying calm.

“I killed your brother! How can I not be the bad guy?” she raised her voice.

She breathed heavily, then finally turned towards the door. Jonghyun for a while stood frozen on his spot as the truth kicked in. He sighed heavily, wondering how things suddenly became so complicated.