Her best friend sat with open the whole time as she scrolled through the venomous articles. “But this is freaking ridiculous,” she sputtered. “How do you even benefit from being around him? You need to talk to him about this. Tell him to blow this up into a big deal. Hold a damn press conference, something. You can’t just let this ruin your reputation. You are innocent.”

            “I don’t know how to bring it up to him. And I don’t even know if he would be willing.”

            “If you won’t talk to him, I will.”

            “There’s not much he can do, you know. Even with a press conference, it would seem too much like he’s just saving his own reputation.”

            “It’s been so long and the two of you still haven’t developed feelings for one another?” Lili gave her an incredulous look. “What is the point of sticking it out together?” Before Jinli could even respond with an answer she no longer believed in, the older woman cut in, “Spare me the contract bull. Sweetheart, you can lie to yourself, but you cannot lie to me.”

            The pity in her eyes made Jinli uncomfortable. “Forget it. I’m still getting customers anyway. It’s not like the actress decided not to use me. She just had a few opinions, that’s all.”

            “You asked for my help. I gave it. Now, do you want to get a mani pedi and put this behind us for now?”

            “If you throw in wine or tequila in the mix, I’m down there with you.”

            Lili rolled her eyes. “Please. I have to come back and take care of a screaming one year old.” But she still opened up their liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle. “Let’s go.”

***

            It wasn’t her first time at TS but it was her first time venturing in alone. After giving her ID and being told to go up to the eleventh floor, Lili took a deep breath. Even though Jinli had been in a better mood after being dropped home, she knew that her best friend was still hurting. It wouldn’t harm to try, and as the older one, she definitely had to try.

            She knocked on his closed door and heard a faint, “Come in.”

            The room was exactly as she remembered and she forced a smile at the man sitting in front of her. “Hello Daehyun.”

            He was definitely surprised. “Oh, nice to meet you again.” He had switched to formal speech, which was normal but even his gestures were stiff, and his smile definitely not genuine. If anything, he seemed completely tense, and Lili was sure that the previous encounter with Kira hadn’t quite vanished from his mind.

            “I know this is quite sudden but I have something very important to tell you.” He didn’t say anything so she took it as her cue to continue speaking. “Jinli is quite upset. One of her clients also happens to be an actress who has worked with you before. The woman was quite ungracious in her words and behavior towards your wife.” She chose her words carefully, trying to see which ones triggered a reaction. So far his face was impassive. This worried her. “She said some pretty nasty things.”

            “Who is this?” After Lili told him the actress’ name, Daehyun merely nodded. “She is a woman of strong opinions.”

            Because she hadn’t finished talking, Lili kept her temper in check. She wanted nothing more than to stand up and yell at Daehyun for his nonchalance. “She basically accused Jinli of marrying you for mercenary reasons and now that your company is going through issues, she wants out.”

            “Rumors fly all the time. I’m sure Jinli is used to people erroneously talking about her.”

            That was it. Lili was at the end of her patience. She stood up. “Somehow I doubt divorce contracts don’t just go up on the internet by themselves? If you don’t’ care about her feelings or her reputation, I had thought you would think about yours.”

            Daehyun looked at her coldly. “You have your motives for coming here and telling me this, and yet you think you can persuade me into action by emphasizing my motives? I’m sorry, that tactic doesn’t work here.”

            “Not everything is about motivation and personal gain, you know. No wonder Jinli is miserable with you. You’re colder than Antarctica.”

            Lili turned around and missed the slight flinch as Daehyun finally reacted to her final words. She didn’t know how her best friend endured. Just one two minute conversation and she was already near tears of anger.

            She angrily texted Jinli but regretted it the moment after she sent it. How would her words affect Jinli except hurt her even more? Your husband is an absolute jerk. I talked to him about what happened today and he had no reaction. What type of an -

            It was much too late to take the words back, much too late to say just kidding. So Lili swallowed and shakily raised her phone to her ear to leave her a voice message instead. “Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I am sure you can overcome this, with or without him. You will have me regardless.”

***

            The first thing Daehyun did after Lili left was scour the internet. It wasn’t difficult to find the internet articles, all of which came up as instant hits and were shared hundreds of thousands of times. He rolled his neck and groaned in frustration. Why were people so interested in his life? Who was he but the manager at an entertainment company? What was it about his every day doings that drew so much interest?

            The articles were nasty, as tabloids usually were. Those writers, they didn’t deserve to be called journalists, were merciless, with absolutely no conscience. They just wanted a good story. The only suspicious thing was the heading of the divorce contracts. He had never shown anyone the documents, and he had shredded them the night he was received them. Who, and how, did someone get their hands on the papers?

            Daehyun picked up his phone. “Jongup-ah, hyung has a favor to ask you.” After compiling the papers and then giving all the necessary information that Jongup had requested, Daehyun went out and bought a box of rare fruits dipped in the best chocolate before setting off to the richer mansions in Ulsan.

            “Hello, my love, this is a nice surprise.” The older woman smiled at Daehyun before looking at the bags in his hand. “You brought presents. For me?”

            “Of course, my angel. Who else would I drive the fifty minutes from Busan for?”

            The actress tutted and waved Daehyun into her home, her face beaming with her ego. “But I’m sure I know why you came, and why you brought gifts.”

            Daehyun lowered his head and pretended to be ashamed. “I’m afraid the women in my life tend to enjoy clashing lately.”

            “The women?” The actress’ keen ears picked up on the plurality and raised an eyebrow. “Who are you speaking of?”

            “Well you know one of them has to be you, and the other is my wife.”

            She chuckled and took a sip of the champagne that had been sitting on the coffee table. “Oh my goodness. I was merely speaking on your behalf. It wouldn’t do for the Jungs to house someone with ulterior motives right in their wings. I, after all, know your father very well, and you have been nothing but a godson to me.”

            Daehyun bowed. “And much appreciated. But, this time, auntie, I’m afraid you may be mistaken.” He switched to using the more affectionate name. “She’s a very sweet girl, and we get along quite well. It was only a little difficult in the beginning because we were still getting to know one another. But she takes care of me very well.”

            “Even now?”

            “Even more so now. They say behind every man is a pillar of strength, and she is mine.” Those words, although not completely true, did not seem utterly fake to him either. Daehyun was scared by how sincere he felt.

            “But what about the divorce papers?”

            “Auntie, with technology these days, so much can be faked. Why, I’ve even seen marriage certificates with my name and yours,” he smiled so she could fall for the flattering joke.

            It worked. Immediately, she laughed out loud and waved her arms in front of her. “Enough of you. You’re much too sweet for me. I won’t bother her anymore. Her work I will acknowledge and now with your recommendations, I will take another look at her person. Now get going, and go back to that sweetheart of yours. She might be worried if you’re not home.”

            Daehyun felt a breath of relief and bowed. “Thank you.”

            “I appreciate it,” the older woman added. When Daehyun gave her a confused look, she clarified, “I appreciate that you did not decide to hold a giant public conference. That would not have convinced me. I would have thought you were trying to save the reputation of the company.” Her expression softened. “Please give my regards to your father. I know he’s been under the weather lately, but please let him know that TS was his sweat and blood and as long as I am alive and acting, I will not allow anything to pull it down.”

            Her words touched him and Daehyun gave her a respectful ninety degree bow. “Thank you.”

            On the way home, he thought about telling Jinli that everything had been fixed. But he was scared that this would tip things in their relationship. It was him being a coward, him being afraid of his own feelings. Having feelings for your wife isn’t a bad thing. But when you also had someone you thought you loved, it was a disaster. He groaned and decided it didn’t matter whether she knew or not. She probably hated him anyway.

            When Daehyun entered their room, he heard the shower running. This bought him some time before he had to see her. Rather than hearing the usual sounds of someone showering, however, he saw a shadow by the bottom of the door and when he pressed his ears up to the wooden panel, could feel it shake. Her crying and her attempt to hide the sounds cut its way into his heart.

            He wanted nothing more than to knock and to hold her, to tell her that he wasn’t worth crying over, that whatever this was, it was all his fault. But he swallowed the impulses. They had a time limit, and it was better to just let some wounds open in order to heal. He had heard Jinli cry before, but that was always out of anger, out of frustration and those were sharp sniffles, quick sobs before she caught herself and regained her composure.

            This time, it was as if her heart was breaking. Her cries were barely muffled and her sobs were deep, and each time she drew a breath there was a thin keening, as if she had lost something that she couldn’t quite regain. Maybe he stood there for one minute, maybe five. But eventually her tears subsided and he heard her move. When he unclenched his fist, he saw that his nails had made sharp crescent indents in his skin.

            He walked away quickly, afraid that if she came out and saw him, there would be an unspeakable embarrassment. He knew the last thing she wanted was for him to know how much she was hurting. And the last thing he wanted to let her know was how much he cared.

I made a plan for the next few chapters, and it's going to be around twenty or so chapters. I'm excited to say that I am pretty satisfied with the rest of the arch of the story, although the next few chapters may be a little bit awkward as I get there. So please bear with me. I admit writing this chapter, my heart twisted a little, especially thinking about what is going to happen next. 

On another note, B.A.P has announced an August comeback and my heart cannot take it. That, and the release of Yamazaki has my feelings all twisted.

Thank you to everyone for the sweet encouragements on the LSAT! I'm going to do my best and make you all proud ♥