The next few weeks passed by him in a hazy blur. It didn't help that on some days he allowed his work to eat him whole - amazing how fast his mountainous paperwork would rise almost as soon as he stepped out of his office! And just how dull and frequent meetings were supposed to be, anyway? Long, monotonous meetings should be outlawed!

Woo Bin shared these intelligent insights with his father one rare morning they were both indoors to enjoy breakfast together, and Song Senior merely laughed. "Bear with it," he said. "It's just part of our many responsibilities - which I'm sure you're realizing, by now."

Stabbing a sausage as though it was its fault he was in such a miserable state, Woo Bin grunted. "Remind me again why I'm working for you?"

"You asked for it."

Woo Bin pushed his plate away in disgust. "I'm beginning to regret doing that."

"Do you?" His father eyed him. "I did create your position because you asked me to. I can just as easily dissolve it - if you wish."

He sighed in response. "No, of course not." Woo Bin had plans, after all. And knowing he had plans for the company gave him something else entirely. Something that all the money he had could not possibly buy.

A purpose.

Still, knowing he had a purpose in the world couldn't get rid of the deep-seated tiredness in his bones, which was surely aggravated by the mind-numbing activities he had to endure every day.

He wondered how Jun Pyo - the short-tempered, pampered, spoiled Jun Pyo - managed it. Perhaps he'd give the Shinhwa heir a call to find out, one of these days.

He rubbed his nape. "I just- Maybe I need to take a break soon."

"If you think it'll help."

Woo Bin was sure as hell it would.

A few comfortable seconds passed. Then, quite suddenly, his father pushed his plate away and regarded him keenly. "Woo Bin. I've been hearing some... interesting developments, ever since you came into the company. I thought it'd be best to hear the explanations straight from you."

He raised his brow, but said nothing.

His father reached for his coffee. "Is it true that you discontinued our business with the Parks?"

-ah. Woo Bin was starting to wonder when his father was going to hear about this. "-yes," he said cautiously, feeling a bit nervous and being annoyed by it. "I thought it was a good time to disassociate ourselves from them."

"Why?"

He remembered all the files he read, all the people he talked to, and the facts painted a gruesome picture: "I don't like how they're bleeding us dry," Woo Bin said. "We could always source our steel from someone else. I've already had my people draw up a list of other-"

The sound of china cup being slammed against the hard wood of their table made him pause and wince. "No."

"What?"

"Do you even realize what you've just done?" His father barely managed to keep his temper, this time. "Do you think I'm not aware of what's going on in my company? Of course I know how the Parks are practically stealing from us."

"Then why-"

"You forget, Woo Bin, that we profit from them, too. What you did isn't at all wise, since it's a mutually beneficial relationship from both our ends. What they charge us for in steel, we charge them for our loyalty, our... services."

Protection, he meant. All the dark deeds that the Park wanted done - the Song drones did, for a very steep price.

Stupid of him to forget that, while they have a legitimate business front, it's the back dealings that were even more profitable. His suit suddenly felt uncomfortably stifling. "Father-"

His father signaled the butler, and his broken cup was replaced with another. "I've already ordered a renegotiation of our contracts with them, though I'd wager they'd want a pretty penny in return. I suggest that today, you make yourself scarce from work while I attend to it."

Woo Bin said nothing, but inside, he felt as though he was choking.

His father patted him arm and regarded him not unkindly. "I'm sorry, Woo Bin, but there are some things that I simply cannot allow you to change, no matter how right you think you are."

It's times like this that Woo Bin was reminded that Song Senior might be a kind father, but he was also a ruthless businessman - and an even more formidable Mafia Lord.

"Just come and visit me here."

Woo Bin laughed. "I have a single day off, bro - not a whole week. Unless you know a magical way for me to get there and go back to Korea all within twenty-four hours-"

"Then take a whole week off. You sound like you need it."

"Don't I know it."

"I think you'll like Sweden. There's a lot of pretty things to see here."

"Yes, because I've always been fond of sightseeing." Woo Bin rolled his eyes.

"Well... you can accompany me when I hold my exhibit this Thursday. You'll be my date for the night."

"Hold me, I'm swooning." Woo Bin kept his eye on the road. "We'll see, bro. I'll probably take you up on your offer, though it won't be any time soon since you're making Sweden sound really exciting right now."

Yi Jung laughed. "You're expecting me to have brilliant ideas at three in the morning?"

"What good are you for, if you don't have brilliant ideas whenever I call you?" But he was smiling as he hung up the phone.

A few minutes more, and Woo Bin was parking his car in front of his favorite hangout. The place was practically deserted this time of day, but he had nowhere else to go - a sad testament as to how plain and boring his life had become.

Oh, well. The place served the tastiest cocktails in all of South Korea, and with how his morning went, he sure as hell needed a cocktail or two. Or twenty.

He was opening the door of his car when his phone rang again. Without looking at who was calling, he replied with, "'Yo."

"-Woo Bin-sunbae?"

The voice gave him pause. He stole a glance at the caller ID, and true enough, it was- "Ga Eul?"

"Oh thank goodness you didn't change your number. I thought you might have."

Ga Eul was calling him? Woo Bin frowned, his gut churning uncomfortably. "Why are you calling? Are you all right? Where are you?" Already he was reviving his car and pulling out of the parking lot.

"I'm at home." She was quiet for a bit. "Sunbae, I-"

Woo Bin cursed as he swerved sharply while overtaking a car that was so goddamned slow-

"A-Are you on the road? I'm sorry if this is a bad time. I'll just-"

"You're at home?" That meant she was safe, right, and not at all in the middle of any emergency that might warrant her to call him at this hour? Besides, her voice sounded- relaxed. Unhurried. Which meant that she was safe.

Already his pulse was starting to return to normal - and so were his thoughts.

"Mm. There's no school today, so I thought I'd take a short break and go home."

Sighting a vacant lot, Woo Bin decided to park his car - again. Adrenaline was still pumping in his veins and at this rate, he'd be a danger to all that moved. He just needed to calm the hell down. "University keeping you busy?"

"More than I thought possible," she replied with a short laugh. "I haven't had a lot of free time lately. This is the first time I was able to go home in- what, two or three months?" Guiltily, she added, "I haven't been able to help around the porridge shop, either."

"Ah. So that's why you weren't around the last time I went there."

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "But it's not like you told me you'll be dropping by that day! I could have-"

Woo Bin laughed. "Don't get yourself worked up. I didn't mind." He remembered that day clearly; it was odd that something so inconsequential as that managed to leave an imprint, somehow. "Besides, I did get that little 'something' you left for me, so I didn't really leave empty-handed."

"I'm glad," she said. "Though I suppose you owe me something now?"

He lifted a brow. "I do?"

She sighed loudly. "Woo Bin-sunbae. What do you say in return to someone who's given you something?"

He grinned, and remained quiet as though he was thinking really, really hard about the answer. Ga Eul was already beginning to bemoan his lack of manners when he said, "Let's see. 'Thank you'?"

"You're welcome." And she sounded so smug about it, too.

"Tell you what. Why don't I thank you properly?"

"-how?" It's cute how suspicious she sounded, right then and there.

"Go get dressed. I'll pick you up in an hour."

And suddenly he had plans for the day.

Woo Bin grinned.