The first step in her plan was to get him into bed. One step at a time. He thought he had so much self-control. But she was going to chip away at it. From the start, Daehyun had somehow managed to take her self-esteem and tear it into a million pieces. Yes, she wasn’t Hyosung but she sure as hell wasn’t the trash bag he often made her out to be.

            With work and the general bitterness she held towards Daehyun, losing weight wasn’t difficult. Her appetite went down and she could feel herself becoming smaller.

            “Wow, you look different.” That was Youngjae’s first comment when Jinli walked into the restaurant.

            “Good different or bad?” Daehyun hadn’t even noticed.

            Youngjae leaned back against his chair and appraised her slowly. “Definitely nothing with you is bad. But why?” He got up and held the chair out for her. “Is it for Daehyun? Did he say anything?”

            “No.” Jinli colored. It was a little embarrassing how easy it was to see right through her. “Why does everything I do have to be related to him?”

            The man across from her shrugged. “He’s not worth it.”

            “I’m doing this for me.”

            “Watch, he doesn’t even notice. He’ll walk in in a few minutes, surly as ever and not say a word.”

            There was a hard, displeased look on Youngjae’s face. It wasn’t something Jinli was used to seeing on the usually congenial man. “What’s wrong?”

            “What’s wrong is how crappy he treats you and yet you always seem to be there for him. Don’t get me wrong. He’s my best friend but damn. Sometimes there should be some justice in this world. And here he comes.”

            Daehyun plopped down unceremoniously next to her and immediately picked up the menu. “Have you ordered yet?”

            “No. We were waiting for you.”

            “Oh thanks. You didn’t have to. So why have you called this meeting?”

            Jinli could feel the deliberate coldness emanating from Daehyun. His body was angled away from her, and his face was staring straight at Youngjae. After she had rejected his outright offer to be friends, he had almost lapsed back to how he had been. Almost as if sensing her thoughts, Youngjae glanced at her and raised his eyebrow.

            “The reason I called you both in here is I think you guys need some marriage counseling, and before you think I’m being a busybody, I am being a busybody, but I’d like to see two of my friends get along.”

            “Youngjae, you are way over line.” Daehyun’s hand clenched into a fist.

            “I am your counselor. I just think it’s important for you two to talk things out. Like, what made you sign that contract, and what is making you stick to it even after he’s hurt you over and over again? And what about you, Daehyun? What madness is it that you will throw away two years worth of healing the moment Hyosung shows her s to you?”

            “That’s enough, Youngjae.” By now Daehyun’s voice was loud enough to be heard a few tables away. “Put the tab on the company card. I will sort out the finances then. We’re leaving.” He stood up and without waiting for Jinli to follow, walked out the door.

            Youngjae held out his arms and shrugged. “I tried. I guess he couldn’t handle the truth.”

            “Please stop. You’re only making it worse for me.”

            At this, he looked hurt. “I’m honestly trying to help you here.”

            “Youngjae, thank you. But I need to do this my way. I’m sorry.” Jinli covered his hand with hers briefly and gave him a sad smile. “I know you mean well. But I just need your support, not your intervention.”

            When Jinli walked out the restaurant, she saw that Daehyun was still sitting in his car. He was gazing angrily out the windshield, his fingers tapping a fierce rhythm on the steering wheel. Her car was parked behind his and when she moved past his car, he rolled down the window. “Get in.”

            “I drove here.”

            “Get in.”

            She hesitated a few moments longer and he started the engine. “You’re wasting my time. I will have someone bring the car back. Get in.”

            Jinli slid into the passenger seat and sat very still. He threw the car into reverse and she clenched her jaw. If she even showed any reaction or made a comment, that would be enough to set him off.

            They drove down the highway in silence until finally, he made a sharp turn left and drove off onto a bumpy road. They came to a stop and he turned off the headlights. They sat in darkness for a few minutes before Daehyun spoke.

            “What do you want from me?”

            The tone in his voice was not one Jinli was expecting. It held a desperation, something hollow that also had an edge of frustration and melancholy. “I don’t quite understand.”

            “You don’t want to be friends. You don’t want to be strangers. You pull this stunt with Youngjae.”

            “I didn’t.”

            “So what do you want from me? Is the only reason why you signed the contract because of our parents?”

            “What other reason would there be?”

            “There are no- no feelings?” He asked that question delicately, as if knowing that any confirmation would be setting off a bomb.

            “There are no feelings.”

            Daehyun stared at her a little more, and she could feel him scrutinizing her in the dark. She didn’t dare turn to see the expression on his face. Because if there was anything other than relief, Jinli would have lost. Hope was the worst poison for her to die from.

            “So can we agree on boundaries?”

            Her heart thudded painfully. “Yes, we can.” The less she gave him, the less he could hold over her.

            “We have another year left. We don’t need to be friends. We can just be civil. But we cannot have another of this episode happening. Please don’t drag my friends into this. It’s embarrassing for the both of us.” No, it was embarrassing for him to have his dirty laundry aired, but she wasn’t going to say that. “We’ll still put on an act for everyone outside.”

            “Are you done?” Her words were curt. “Because this should have been all outlined in the contract if I remember correctly. Why are we going through this in such excruciating detail?”

            “I just feel like there have been some misunderstanding. So I figured reiterating would make it clearer for all of us.”

            Jinli shifted in her seat. “You’ve made your point clear enough. I think we can stop this now. I’m tired. I’m sorry Youngjae felt like he had to intervene. I hope it doesn’t happen again.” But even as the words came out of , she knew that this episode only made her more determined than ever to see Daehyun fall.

***

            The glaring discrepancy on the bank statements came to Daehyun’s attention as the company began to calculate its losses throughout the year. As he checked the numbers for every department, his heart sank when he saw the glaring red when it came to Jinli’s father’s shares. The entire newly added department was doing poorly.

            He ran the numbers through with different equations and found the numbers to be the same. “Jongup, can you come in here please?”

            When the younger man walked in, Daehyun slid the papers towards him. “What’s going on? I thought acquiring the company would help to make our shares grow? Instead, it seems we’re losing profit. And from where? Our sales went up in all the departments, but why is there such a discrepancy and a loss?”

            Jongup’s eyebrows furrowed as he examined the numbers, his mouth moving silently as he did the calculations in his head. Daehyun watched him anxiously. Jongup’s mental math was known throughout the company, and if he found any errors, then maybe things weren’t as bad as they appear to be.

            “All the numbers make sense mathematically. But, there appears to be shares taken out from the earnings to subsidize something that isn’t listed. And that percentage I’m going to need to calculate and we will have to track each individual bank account. Because, as things look, it seems Mr. Cho, or someone with access to the earnings, is purposely reporting lower profits in order to hide the fact that there is extra money being taken out.” Jongup looked at Daehyun. “But Mr. Cho wouldn’t do that, would he?”

            Daehyun stared at his computer screen. Jinli was given to the family as a way of cementing ties between the two business tycoons. And yet, rather than fusing the companies, Jinli’s father had insisted on only collaborating one department. The only way to make sure that the company wasn’t gaining would be to gain access to their account. And that was only done through his father-in-law. Could he be up to something?

            “Hyung, you’re going to need to do a more thorough investigation. I’m looking at the other alliance, and their numbers are unusually high the last two months. I know you just closed out the deal in London, but even then shares shouldn’t have skyrocketed. I should have Himchan-Hyung check on that. The main department project is ran by Ms. Jeon.”

            Daehyun caught the deliberate exclusion of Hyosung’s name but had more pressing matters to think about than his dongsaeng’s clear disapproval. “Alright. I’m going to have to find a way to see if I can access Cho’s finances. I guess it’s time I had a heart to heart with my father-in-law.”

***

            Daehyun wanted to make sure things were good with Jinli before he went to see her father. As much as he knows that there is no love lost in that father-daughter relationship, he knew that Mr. Cho would maintain a pretense of fatherly concern, and if he caught wind that the marriage was anything but going smoothly, he may be even more guarded.

            He went home early that night and dropped by her favorite restaurant to pick up a few dishes. The bribery was obvious but he had little time to care about any possible negative backlash. When he pushed open the door, however, the house was empty.

            Eunah emerged from their room and bowed when she saw him by the stairs. “Mr. Jung,” she greeted him. “Mrs. Jung instructed me to clean up and informed me that she will not be back tonight.”

            Daehyun checked his phone and didn’t see a single text or missed call from Jinli. Suddenly the bag in his hand seemed too heavy and he set it on the floor. Suppressing an eye roll in front of the maid, he smiled thinly. “Thank you.”

            “Hello?” His father-in-law’s voice came over the phone.

            Daehyun settled into his chair. “Hello, Father. I believe we have an issue.”

            The phone call turned to be a disaster. Mr. Cho had sworn up and down that he had no idea what was going on. The elder had started off willing to cooperate, before demanding to see the numbers and screaming that Daehyun was just a useless bastard who "wanted to use my daughter and throw us both away like useless trash.” He was only appeased when Daehyun promised to send him all the reports and to sit down with him to redo calculations.

            It was past midnight when they finally got off the phone and Daehyun stared at the wall across from his desk. With a heavy sigh, he stood to walk to his room. It was strange, not having Jinli already there. He rubbed at his chest and wondered why he felt a small twinge of sourness there.

            “Get a grip,” he muttered and slid under the covers. Even though he had the whole space, he still kept to his side. Through his mind ran the problem with the money and with another sigh, Daehyun threw open the covers and walked to his desk. He slid open the first drawer and stared at the photos he had printed out from their trip.

            He flipped through them quickly until he got to the last one. He once again traced her head bent over his and shook his head. Yongguk’s words came back to him. “You can be a decent human being.” But how could he be that if all it meant was giving her false hope?

            Daehyun placed the photographs back into his drawer and climbed into bed again. It was only as he was falling asleep that he realized he could have gone to Hyosung’s but the thought faded. He dreamed about Jinli that night.

It's senior year already and how time flies.

I'm grateful for all of you, and I hope to continue receiving and giving love.