Seohyun got home before her abusive, playboy husband did. In her hands was the musical box Kyuhyun gave her. At around 12 midnight, Yonghwa came busting right into the door, scaring Seohyun and nearly making her drop the newly given musical box. She looked at him with a look of fright. When Yonghwa was drunk, she knew what would happen next.

“WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS HERE, HUH?!?!” spoke the new owner of the Seo Steel Company. It was obvious that he had just gotten home from a drinking spree with his friends. Yonghwa was tripping and teetering all over the place, hitting the sofas and the walls. Seohyun was afraid so she stood up and bolted to the stairs. Yonghwa was vicious when he was drunk, and fast too! He hurriedly reached for Seohyun and grabbed her ankle, dragging her down the stairs.

“OUCH! OUCH! PLEASE STOP IT!!!” Seohyun cried. She dropped the musical box and left it on the 4th step of the flight of stairs. Yonghwa beat her up once again, as he would always when he was drunk.

“WHAT DID I TELL YOU? HUH?! WHAT DID I TELL YOU, YOU DUMB ?!?!” Seohyun couldn’t see anything because of the continuous blows that she was receiving from Yonghwa.

“I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything!” she begged and cried repeatedly.

“I TOLD YOU TO MAKE DINNER AND DO THE CHORES, YOU DIMWIT!! ARE YOU TRYING TO STARVE ME TO DEATH, HUH?!”

“No!”

“ARE YOU TRYING TO STARVE ME TO DEATH SO YOU COULD HAVE ALL THE MONEY FOR YOURSELF??!” Seohyun begged him to stop but he just wouldn’t and couldn’t. Her multiple sclerosis was starting to attack her, starting with the headaches.

“Yonghwa, please stop! My head! It’s hurting!” she cried. The merciless and intoxicated Yonghwa refused to listen to her and said,

“I DON’T GIVE A ABOUT YOUR HEAD! HOW COULD IT HURT? YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE A BRAIN!” he grabbed her by the hair and banged her head on the first step of the flight of stairs. Seohyun cried out loud for help and when Yonghwa felt that her screams were getting too loud and annoying and stopped. Seohyun passed out at the staircase while her husband left her there.

Yonghwa headed to the bathroom and vomited everything that he drank that night. After giving himself a quick wash, he realized how drunk he was and how badly he treated his wife yet again. He had to admire her for having a very long patience and for being able to stick with him though he was a total . Feeling remorseful, he walked over to the stairs where he left his wife and saw her nearly lifeless, frail body. With all his strength, he carried her all the way up but stopped when he saw the music box on the fourth step. Having a sturdy built, he bent down and took the music box while carrying Seohyun and with it, he and his wife went up the stairs.

Yonghwa seemed to be hot and cold, though. Right now was his cold moment or his cool-down moment. He carefully laid the beaten and bruised girl on the bed and tucked her in. Now that he was a bit sober, he sat down and her hair, her face, namely her cheeks. Seohyun looked like an angel when she was sleeping. Even in her sleep, her beauty radiated. Yonghwa was feeling very, very guilty. So guilty was he that in order to make up for the abusive way that he treated her, he promised to treat her right tomorrow.

But I have to start tonight, he told himself. Yonghwa laid down right next to Seohyun and tucked himself in. Seohyun was sleeping on her side so it provided Yonghwa and opportunity to embrace her and make her feel loved. Though Seohyun was asleep, she felt his warm embrace and it put a secret smile on her face.

[THAT MORNING]

Seohyun woke up to a tray on her lap. The tray had pancakes and hot chocolate. The smell was so good that she wanted to just stuff them all in . There, she saw Yonghwa standing right above her with a rose.

“Good morning, sweetheart.” he said sweetly. Seohyun was touched by this gesture of affection and blushed. Though she still recalled the vicious way he attacked her last night, this melted her heart and truly made up for whatever abuse he put her through.

“Good morning.” Yonghwa leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

“I prepared this breakfast especially for you. I want you to feel special. As a matter of fact, I’m taking you to work with me today.” Seohyun’s face lit up. Yonghwa was really sweet! This was quite unusual of him but she liked it and she didn’t care. She was going to be taken to his office.

“I would love that!”

“I want you to have lunch with me and my employees. I can’t wait to show you off to them.” he said with a grin. Seohyun was a bit suspicious as to why he was so sweet but she liked it and tried to shove that thought at the back of her mind.

“Thank you so much! Why are you so sweet today?” she just had to ask. Yonghwa rolled his eyes in a playful manner and bent down to give her a kiss.

“Because I love you.” he said. Seohyun blushed and continued eating. “Now you just eat there, alright? I’m going to get ready. And don’t bother cleaning up once you’re done. I’ll take care of that.”

“Thank you so much.” she bowed her head. Yonghwa smiled and left her to eat breakfast in peace.

After breakfast, Seohyun got ready for her date with Yonghwa and his officemates. Seohyun wanted to look smart and casual so she just put on a pencil dress which highlighted her beautiful figure. She stepped out of her dresser and showed the dress to Yonghwa, who was all praises. Yonghwa, as always, looked very handsome. With their clothes ready, husband and wife headed to the car to go to the office.

[AT THE OFFICE]

At the office, everyone greeted Yonghwa and bowed in respect while they stared at Seohyun who was looking immaculate. The two went to the luncheon room where the other employees of the Seo-Jung steel company were talking. Their young boss walked in with a lovely lady on his arm and introduced her to them.

“Everyone, this is Seo Joo Hyun, my business partner.”

Wait. What?

“Yes, she is my business partner.” Seohyun’s brows furrowed at the sound of this. Business partner? What nonesense was this? He was supposed to say wife and not business partner. Was he keeping her from them?

“Yonghwa?” Seohyun whispered. Yonghwa looked at her with a fake smile and whispered in between gritted teeth,

“Play by my rules or you know what’ll happen next.” Seohyun couldn’t believe how fast things went. At first he was sweet and caring and now he was going back to his old ways. Seohyun’s heart sank but out fear and love, as usual, she played his game and agreed to pretend that she was his business partner so as not to get hurt. Seohyun went around socializing with people but deep inside, she just wanted to curl into a small ball with her musical box.

“So let us start the meeting.” Seohyun, who was still hurting from the beating she received last night, still sat down next to Yonghwa and paid attention to the meeting. 2 hours of nonstop talking was all she got and she felt so bored. Honestly, Seohyun knew nothing about their agenda.

The meeting soon ended and Yonghwa took Seohyun to the luncheon room but Seohyun declined, having a lot of courage this time.

“Yonghwa, I’m not hungry. I’m sorry.” Yonghwa rubbed his chin and felt frustrated but decided to give her a break, promising to make the beating worse the next time around.

“Okay.” he said indifferently. “You’ll stay here?”

“Yes.” she said with her head down. The day started out so beautifully! Why did it have to turn out this way? Yonghwa left her in his headquarters and went to another room. Seohyun just sat around and went through his papers to keep herself from feeling bored. While rummaging through his belongings, she found a Tupperware in his drawer.

“Lunch perhaps?” she asked. Yes, it was lunch. Yonghwa brought lunch with him but why did he leave it? Maybe because he was informed of the luncheon. Having no choice and feeling hungry, Seohyun opened the Tupperware that had bulgogi and kim bap and ate it. Eating when lonely made her feel content and happy.

Where was Yonghwa?

You’re about to find out!

Seohyun got a bit bored after eating and decided to do a little bit of exploring, since she had no idea what an office was like. While making her rounds, Seohyun heard some noises in one room and decided to go there. Thinking that it was some big commotion or that someone was in pain, she rushed to that room. The room was the one at the very end.

. Groaning. Shouting. Drinking. Maybe some drugging? Seohyun heard all those. In order to ensure the situation of the people inside, she leaned on the door and heard it all clearly.

“OH MY GOD!”

Seohyun leaned a little bit too hard on the door, making it open. She fell falt on her chest and what she saw shocked the mighty hell out of her. There, in the room, was Yonghwa with three other female co-workers, having a fouresome while drinking. Yonghwa and the three girls just looked at Seohyun and the young maiden did the same. Seohyun got up slowly and sat down lifelessly, like all the blood from her had been drained.

Yonghwa? Getting drunk? With girls? How is this even possible? So this is what he’s been doing! No wonder he always smells like alcohol and women! Seohyun tried to get up but Yonghwa tidied himself up and did the getting up for her. Yonghwa picked her up by the arm and nearly dragged her down the hall.

“YOU OUGHT TO MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS AND STAY IN ONE PLACE!” he said. Yonghwa dragged Seohyun all the way to his office and locked her there. Seohyun wanted to get out but the fearful image of Yonghwa hurting her struck her mind, leaving her no choice but to sit helplessly on the floor.

I think I know what’s going to happen tonight.

Seohyun was crying and crying because of what she saw. Her husband was having an affair with three different women and drinking in a private room after he had told her that he was going to let her have lunch with the employees. He had been lying to her all this time and it really broke her heart. The crying made Seohyun’s head hurt so much that she had to take in some medicine. Good thing she brought her pills with her. Seohyun threw all her cares out the window and took three to four pills, downing them all with a glass of water from the water dispenser in Yonghwa’s office. Seohyun loved the feel of cold water so she poured herself glass after glass after glass until she coughed and choked on it. Seohyun had enough water and kept on coughing and because of this, she got the hiccups. She ran out of the room, still in tears, and straight to the bathroom to vomit everything that she had eaten. While kneeling down in front of the toilet bowl, vomiting, Seohyun just kept on crying until some lady employees noticed her and gave her some comfort.

“Are you okay?” they asked. Seohyun nodded but her head and stomach were in a world of pain.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” she said over and over again. Her head was still pounding and she still did throw up some more. The lady employees decided that it was time to take her to the clinic.

“Would you like to go to the clinic?” asked one lady employee. Seohyun nodded and felt faint. True to that, she did faint and the lady employees had to carry her all the way to the clinic.

When Seohyun woke up, she found herself in the car already. Yonghwa was right next to her, about to drive. The rain pour was heavy and the climate was cool. Seohyun felt cold but Yonghwa refused to give her any warmth. He just kept on driving. Seohyun spoke up about what she saw, not being able to keep it to herself any longer.

“I don’t normally curse, but you sir are an !” she said in tears, clutching her music box which she left in the car before going down. Yonghwa felt offended and screamed-note-screamed at her.

“YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO GO AROUND SNOOPING INTO OTHER PEOPLE’S BUSINESS!”

“You are my business! You are my husband! I can’t believe I loved you all this time and you were cheating on me!” Seohyun shrieked, tears flowing from her eyes each time she recalled that painful memory of him having an affair and her catching him.

“I have my own life. Don’t control me or tell me what to do!”

“You have been controlling and telling me what to do and I have been following obediently! Why can’t you do the same? I love you, Yonghwa. I really do. That is why I go through all this suffering in your hands just for you because every being of me loves you so much!” Seohyun inhaled and exhaled as she defended her love for him.

“But I guess that you don’t love me back. To you, I’m just a toy. Something that you could show off. You don’t even show me off. You called me your business partner whereas I’m clearly your wife!”

Yonghwa wasn’t able to say anything. Seohyun was right. She proved her point and her point was correct. Yonghwa was just using her. He never really loved her as a wife. He only wanted and notoreity, as well as the wealth that her father possessed.

“If you think that I’m going to let you have my father’s wealth, forget it! I know business and I will run this on my own! I don’t care how! I don’t care if I fail! I don’t care if it doesn’t go well the first time! I will run this-” Yonghwa smacked her across the face, leaving a red mark on her pale white cheek. Not only that, the smack was so hard that Seohyun bled from the mouth. This was the time when she felt really…

Strong.

Yes. Strong. Seohyun had enough of the abuse that he had been making her endure. Though Yonghwa was driving, Seohyun removed her seatbelt and gave him or at least tried to give him a blow to the face. Yonghwa was hit and it scarred his handsome face, thus angering him. Since Yonghwa was quick to anger, he grabbed Seohyun’s hair and slammed it on the dashboard. Seohyun screamed and screamed as the car went wayward and out of control. Yonghwa stopped hitting her and unlocked the doors.

“What are you doing?!” asked Seohyun worriedly. She tightly grasped her music box, preparing herself for the worst.

“Kicking you out of my life once and for all!” Yonghwa opened the door and with Seohyun’s seatbelt not strapped on, he pushed her mightily and out the car she stumbled and onto the cold, wet street she rolled. Seohyun suffered from injuries as well as some broken bones. There the beautiful young maiden lay, in the middle of the cold street on a rainy night.

All alone with her music box.

Seohyun stood up and clutched the little object in her hand. She ran and ran, walked and walked with no direction.

I always knew I was going to get lost.

Sadly for the young maiden, she landed on the bad side of the city where the criminals, bums, and es were. For an innocent girl like her who spent the first 18 years of her life in luxury, this was indeed very terrifying.

…