“They say that dreams can come true, but they forget to mention that nightmares are dreams too.” -Oscar Wilde.”

The process of finding the correct trail leading to the Mizuhara patriarch’s secret stashed funds took a significantly faster time than what Jiyong had initially expected, much to Jiyong’s surprise, not that he was complaining. Lady Luck had shined upon them and Jiyong knew not to look for a gift in the horse mouth.

It took the duo close to a week and a half with Youngbae stumbling into his private office one day in a rush as he waved the pieces of paper in his hands in excitement, “Holy Ji! I found it! We can nail the foxy bastard now!” And Jiyong was certain he had never smiled that wide as he did at that moment in his whole entire lifetime.

It took them another day or two to triple check everything was in place, making numerous copies of their findings to send to not only the various major broadcasting outlets but also renown online news journal sites. Neither Jiyong nor Youngbae were willing to take the risk of the Mizuhara hushing up the news by ordering a media blackout for the major broadcasting networks, not when they were so close to victory. And in the era of social media, small news sites can be very bit as powerful as major broadcasting stations.

The entire Seoul was in a state of uproar when the news of corruption and embezzlement of the Mizuhara company broke, the news of it catching fire, like a train engine gaining momentum, growing bigger day by day as investigation results revealed the identities of individuals who were embroiled in the scandal, including various political figures. The entire affair was akin of a carpet unraveling by tugging a loose thread.

It hadn’t taken long for the Mizuhara stocks to plummet, to crash beyond resuscitation. And as much as a small bit of Jiyong regretted that innocents were caught in the crossfire (brokers and citizens alike who lost their investments), the greater part of Jiyong felt gleeful, knowing that with every drop in value, the Mizuharas were making losses in the millions, that they were well on their way to a unsalvageable financial crisis.

But just when the Mizuharas thought that the worst had passed, Jiyong decided to save the best for the last; the proverbial icing on a cake; to have Kiko Mizuhara gain the notoriety (the jeers, stares and condemn) on a societal level as she has so richly deserved.

If Jiyong was completely honest, it really didn’t take much effort on his part. Just a timely anonymous report sent to the tabloids shedding light on the true Kiko Mizuhara with information detailing on individuals who would be more than willing to attest to the witch’s evil doing, payback for the mistreatment they had suffered under her hands.

It hadn’t hurt either that the said report contained compromising photos of Kiko with other men (a fitting payment for what Kiko did to Yoona, he thought). Jiyong smirked, thank goodness for the existence of private investigators. And when all was said and done, what was left was for Jiyong to sit back and enjoy the show as he watched Kiko Mizuhara burned.

Jiyong took a sip of his scotch, relishing the smoky aftertaste as he reclined comfortably in his office chair. Jiyong tore his eyes away from his desktop screen, its screen lit with a gossip column of netizens crucifying Kiko Mizuhara, as he spun to face his glass windows.

The city skyline twinkled back at him, alive and teeming with its nightlife. Jiyong basked in the silence of his office, Youngbae had left the office a couple of hours before, stating that he has important plans for today and Jiyong chuckled, wondering if his awkward turtle of a friend had managed to score himself a date. Today was February fourteen, Valentines Day, and Jiyong couldn’t help but to think how fitting it was that it was on this day that his act of vengeance to Kiko had came to fruition.

Earlier today, Youngbae had informed him that the Mizuharas had officially declared for bankruptcy and was forcefully evicted by the banks to leave their residence. Poetic justice, he thought.

Jiyong stared up at the full moon, his mood pensive.

“Are you seeing this Yoong?” he asked softly, “I did this all for you baby and I’m sorry it took this long. But better late than never right Yoongie?”

Jiyong took a deep breath, washing away the tell-tale burn in his eyes, knowing that he would never get an answer, with a quick gulp of his scotch. How his heart ever stop breaking at the thought of Yoona? Picking his phone up, Jiyong dialed a familiar number.

“Yo, Hyung!!”

Jiyong smiled at the upbeat tone of Seungri’s voice, hearing the familiar bass and EDM music greeting him from where Seungri is at.

“Save me a seat at my favourite table, I’m on my way over.”

To Seungri’s credit, he merely hesitated for the briefest second, acknowledging that his favourite hyung’s relationship must have been a bust for Jiyong to return to the clubbing scene, particularly on a day renowned for the celebration of couples, before screaming cheerfully into the phone over the loud music.

“Welcome back to the game Hyung!! Whoohoo! See you in a bit!”

Jiyong chuckled at Seungri’s enthusiasm. With a unconscious sigh, Jiyong took his keys as he left Peace Minus One, making sure the office was locked securely before leaving. Today might have been Valentine Day, a cause of celebration for some- but more importantly, it was also a Wednesday and Jiyong knew of the perfect solution to help him forget his woes.

Yoona sat on her couch, her packet of chips forgotten as she watched the news programme detail the latest updates of the Mizuhara family scandal. Her eyes tracked every frame of the news footage was airing, not wanting to miss a single thing.

Yoona watched as the cameramen trailed after Kiko and her parents as they made their walk of shame from their mansion, no longer having the means to stay there, their masks and hurried scramble offering no protection against the horde of reporters that were following them.

Yoona listened intently, hearing reporters shout out questions after questions to the disgraced trio.

“Kiko! What do you have to say about the blood money that your family has? Money that was siphoned away from hardworking honest employees. Money that you and your family supposingly used to pay people off.”

“Kiko! How do you feel about your would be father-in-law stating that your previous wedding engagement to Jiyong was a terrible mistake and that he’s glad that his son has nothing to do with, I quote, ‘a vile evil snake’.”

“Kiko, look over here! Is it true that you bullied a girl to death back in high school!”

It seemed like it hadn’t matter how many times Kiko or her parents said no comments, the questions kept pouring in.

“Kiko! Do you think the speculations that your family was involved in money laundering for the mafia to be true?”

“Kiko! There’re claims that Jiyong is the one responsible for your family’s current predicament as well as the compromising photos of you floating around the net. What do you have to say about that?”

And Yoona watched as Kiko faltered at that particular question.

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