Chapter 15

Tiger and Wolf

8:03PM, Gangnam.

Minho walked out of the elevator of the 12th floor. He made his way to his unit. He is tired. But everything is doing well on his plans.

And then Minho stopped.

Sulli is standing by his door. She was looking at the ceiling while her hands were at the back of her neck. She’s wearing a dress just like yesterday. She has her hair tied in a half up. She has earrings on. It made her face glow more. And she looks like a gift ready for him with that red dress. She’s beautiful.

Sulli turned sideways and saw him. She stood straight letting her hands fall on her side. She looked a bit tired. Minho can guess why. And Sulli’s first words confirmed it.

“Did you do it?” asked Sulli. “Did you… send the competitor the Myrr Corporation records?”

Minho crossed his arms over his chest.

“Are you really not going to even give me a ‘Hi’?” asked Minho.

Sulli’s eyes are thinning into slits.

“Why are you attacking Empire? The company you’re working for? The company my Dad worked hard for.” Said Sulli.

“You’re soon going to be a major stockholder of the company, and you’re going to be the CEO’s daughter in law. Why would I answer your questions?” said Minho.

He was right. Sulli would look for him.

Minho entered his house.

“Why? Why would you do that?” asked Sulli. “Empire has been good to you. You even reached level 7. People look up to you! And my Dad… he devoted his entire life to that company. Why are you doing this to a company which did nothing against you?”

Minho kept the door open asking Sulli to come in.

“No…I’m not going in.” said Sulli.

“Then you won’t get any answers.” Said Minho.

Sulli hesitated. Minho could see her confusion. She bit her lip. She couldn’t decide. Minho smiled and then he pulled Sulli inside his house, locking the door behind her.

Sulli was startled. One second she has decided to not enter his house and then she’s inside Minho’s house the next.

  “I said I do not want to come in.” said Sulli.

“You’re already in.” said Minho. “And you went here to get answers. You won’t get it if you were still outside.”

“Does that mean you’re going to answer my questions now?” asked Sulli.

Minho sat on the sofa.

Sulli sighed.

“Are you going to answer me or not? Because I can’t stay here any longer.” Said Sulli.

“Were the memories here so repulsive they make you wanna run away?” asked Minho.

“That’s… not it.” Said Sulli.

Being with Minho like this brings back memories. Her heart is beating fast. She just can’t stay in this place so close to him like this.

“My Mom is alone in the house. I need to go back. She will be worried.” Said Sulli.

“Your Mom?” asked Minho.

“She came to Seoul this morning.”  Said Sulli.

David Choi’s ex wife, Wendy.

“Come here, Sulli.” Said Minho.

Not a good idea.

Sulli’s stomach growled to the rescue.

“That really has an awesome timing.” Said Minho. “never fails.”

“Do you have some ramyun?” asked Sulli.

“Stop eating ramyun.” Said Minho.

Sulli sighed. This scene is so painfully familiar.

“Do you have eggs?” asked Sulli.

Minho nodded.

“Are you going to cook?” asked Minho.

“Did you already eat dinner?” asked Sulli.

“I would tell you No even if I did.” Said Minho.

Sulli went to Minho’s kitchen remembering where to get the pan and the other stuff as if she was still living there. The scene made Minho’s chest ache. What would he do to make her return to him like this?

After Sulli cooked some egg pancakes, Minho and Sulli sat across each other to eat.

There was a long awkward moment of silence.

“Do you want to hear a story, Sulli?” asked Minho.

“A story?” asked Sulli.

“Yeah, I watched a drama the other day and it stick to me.” Said Minho.

“This better be good.” Said Sulli.

“Yeah, I hate dramas so I’m sure this one is good.” Said Minho.

Sulli nodded for Minho to proceed. Anything to erase the awkward silence.

“There were once two men who had a dream, a dream to make it big in life eventually.” Said Minho. “Let’s give them names… umm… Let’s calls the first guy Tiger and the second guy Wolf. They were best buddies. They met in college and decided they want to do business after graduation. But it wasn’t easy, earning money was hard those days.”

It’s a really serious drama. It wasn’t the normal romantic comedies.

“Tiger married a lovely lady he met in one of his out of town meetings. Wolf also got married to a Seoul beauty. Wolf and his wife, they had a son. Unfortunately, the operation of the business was mostly done in the province. That is why Wolf and Tiger had to travel to the province a lot. It was then that Wolf met a lady that he will be a big part of the story. She was Tiger’s Wife’s best friend.” Said Minho.

“Why is she a big part of the story?” asked Sulli.

“Because Wolf had a relationship with Tiger’s wife’s bestfriend.” Said Minho. “And they had a son.”

“So Wolf now has 2 sons.” Said Sulli.

Minho nodded.

 “How about Tiger? Did he have a child with his wife?” asked Sulli.

“Yes, at first they thought they would no longer have a child. But later on, they did. They had a daughter.” Said Minho.

“So what happened?” asked Sulli.

“Tiger and his wife took good care of Wolf’s mistress. They cared for her and her son. The son was grateful for the kindness but he was so curious why his dad never came to see him. During that time, the operations of the company was already in Seoul.   So the Mistress’ son went to Seoul to meet his father. The Mistress learned what her son was up to so she followed him. The Mistress faced Wolf and asked that he meet his bastard son even once. The woman begged. But Wolf said he can’t. He said he needs to protect his family. And he asked the Mistress to disappear from his sight. Wolf did not know that his bastard son was just around the corner, hearing everything.”

Sulli’s heart beat accelerated. It was just a drama…but it still affects her so.

“What happened?” asked Sulli.

“The woman went out of that place. Wolf called someone and told that person to follow his Mistress.” Said Minho. “The next day, the Mistress was found dead.”

Sulli dropped her spoon.

“Could it be… Wolf had his Mistress killed?” asked Sulli.

“The son grew up with hate in his heart. He never stopped investigating his mother’s death. And then he learned of Wolf’s other crimes.” Said Minho.

“What other crimes did he do?” asked Sulli.

“The Bastard son entered college and met some friends, as if by fate, he met some friends who had some connection to Wolf. The first one was a beautiful girl, her Dad committed suicide when his business had to close due to threats from Wolf. The other friend had his Dad unjustly fired from his job because of Wolf too. Since then, their family’s life became miserable.” Said Minho.

“Wolf is such a bad man.” Said Sulli.

“Do you think the bastard Son and his friends deserve justice?” asked Minho.

“If there’s evidence, then yes. They deserve justice.” Said Sulli. “So did the bastard son get his justice? What did he do to get it?”

“The bastard son did not get his justice yet. But he’s doing steps to get it.” Said Minho. “He had long planned it.”

“How?” asked Sulli.

“He planned to enter his company as an ordinary employee, make it to the top fast. And then once he has access to confidential files, sell it to competitors. He became a corporate spy.”

Sulli gulped. It was suddenly hard to breathe.

“And once he gets the big files, stock prices will surely go down for Wolf’s company.” Said Minho. “And the plan does not stop there. He will make sure Wolf would be so troubled that he would seek the spy out. And when he learns who it really was, he’ll be shocked to know it was his bastard all along.”

Sulli’svoice suddenly became breathless and pitchy.

“And Tiger? What happened to him and his family?” asked Sulli.

“He and his wife divorced years ago. Nobody knew they had a daughter, a very beautiful and fighter daughter. For some reason, Tiger did not meet his wife and daughter for so long until he died. But four years after his death, the daughter emerged to claim what is rightfully hers.” SaidMinho.

Sulli clasped her hands together.

“What is the bastard son’s plan against Tiger’s family?” asked Sulli.

“The Bastard son’s enemy is Wolf. Tiger’s family is not supposed to be part of his revenge. Their appearance was not part of his p