The following morning, Seohyun fell asleep on the floor, seated right next to the stairs with the lantern in her hand. Before falling asleep, she managed to blow the small flame off the candle. Seohyun was just lifelessly leaning on the wall with the lantern in her hands. In short, she looked like a bum sleeping on the sidewalk while her husband slept in the comfort of his bed. Their bed, actually.

 It was around 5 am when Seohyun realized that she had fallen asleep and decided to get up. She dusted her knees and still in her black dress, she walked to the music room where her instruments were. Somehow, Seohyun sought refuge and comfort in playing the piano. It was a way for her to release stress. Seohyun sat on the bench and carefully laid her fingers on the white keys. She inhaled and exhaled and played the piano with her thin, pale, bruised hands. Each press pained her. Seohyun found herself crying while playing her favorite piece. The melody reminded her of her childhood days when everything was simple.

Yonghwa woke up to the sound of the beautiful piece playing. He knew it was Seohyun so he got up to check on her. Luckily for Seohyun this time, Yonghwa was in his right mind and was still quite mellow having just woken up. The young heir walked to the music room and leaned on the door, listening to his wife’s talent. He decided to greet her and apologize for his actions the previous night. Yonghwa turned the knob and Seohyun, despite hearing this, still went on playing, the tears in her eyes persisting.

“What have you come here for?” she asked in the middle of her playing.

“I’ve come to ask for your forgiveness.” Yonghwa said with all sincerity in his voice. Seohyun ignored him, continuing to play her piece.

“You are forgiven.” said the young maiden wholeheartedly. Yonghwa didn’t feel the sincerity of her forgivness so what he did was plead before her for forgiveness, once again.

“Do you really mean that? I’m really sorry, Seohyun. I know you’re kinda hard to deal with and hard to understand but I’m really trying my best to work things out with you.” Seohyun felt the tears coming once again.

Liar. said her mind. She knew Yonghwa didn’t mean any of those words that he said. Time and time he asked for her forgiveness, time and time she forgave him. She didn’t know if it was already enough. Seohyun was just too kind and forgivng to hold grudges against him.

Besides, she loved him. At this point, she really did love him.
Seohyun stopped playing and looked at her husband. His eyes were flooded with remorse but Seohyun saw it the other way. Still, because she loved him, she chose to forgive him.

“I love you.” she placed both hand on both sides of his face. “And I forgive you.” Seohyun smiled lovingly and sweetly at him, her tranquil face melting his heart. Seohyun leaned forward to kiss her husband and automatically forgave him. Yes, it was out of love but it was partially, maybe just a little bit, out of fear.

That very morning, Seohyun and Yonghwa were having breakfast. Time together was spent either in silence or fighting but this time, it was in silence. Seohyun was having her red bean paste rice cake while Yonghwa ate a lot of meat. No, he wasn’t starving her, it was Seohyun who chose to have a simpler breakfast than her husband, officially placing herself below him. Yonghwa just ate like a beast, chomp after chomp, gulp after gulp while Seohyun just demurely bit her rice cakes.

After breakfast, Yonghwa felt satisfied and ready for work. Seohyun, who had no idea how to run her business, had no choice but to just follow Yonghwa’s orders.

“I’m going to do business. Do your business here, okay?” Yonghwa told her sternly, treating her like a slave. Seohyun on the other hand allowed him to treat her like a servant and nodded in affirmation.

“Yes.” she bowed before him and got to work, cleaning the table up. Yonghwa headed to his room in order to fix himself up. While on his way, he took his phone out and called his advisers, most presumably.

“We shall proceed with the plan…” he said slyly, shooting glances at his wife who was busy with the chores.

What was the plan? Well it’s kinda complicated but I’m sure you’d understand. The reason why Yonghwa married Seohyun was because aside from the fact that he was a young boy looking for , he and his family wanted to buy the Seo Steel Company. Knowing that Seohyun didn’t have the ability to run a business and handle money, he figrued he could buy the company and get all the earnings. As for Seo Joo Hyun, he would just make her his petty housewife slave.

“When do we buy the company?”

“Whenever we can…” replied Yonghwa. He continued to his room and got ready. Seohyun had already finished the chores and decided to get herself a glass of water. While drinking, a lot of thoughts ran through her mind. Randomly, the picture of the young boy came into her head and it prompted her to think about the boy. Who could he be and what was his connection to their family as to why her father had a picture of him.

With this thought disturbing her, Seohyun decided to go up and explore the family albums and try to figure his name out as well as look for other, more recent pictures. In her hurry up the stairs, she bumped into Yonghwa who was getting ready for work, fixing his polo. Seohyun fell to the floor and fearfully backed away but Yonghwa stopped her from continuing this act.

“Hey I got some entrepreneurial things to do and if you don’t mind, kindly roll my sleeves up and smoothen my polo a bit.” Seohyun stood up gently with Yonghwa’s assistance. Seohyun really felt the love because of this gesture, hence lovingly fixing her husband’s clothes.

“I gotta go now, sweetheart. I’ll catch up with you later.” Yonghwa pecked her on the cheek and rushed down the stairs. Seohyun was proud of her young enterpreneur husband. He was young in age but knowledgable in business and money, making Seohyun feel confident that he will help her run the family business which she had no idea how to run. Now that she was alone at home, Seohyun figured that she could make some time for herself.

A little morning bath wouldn’t hurt. Seohyun decided to take a warm bath in the jacuzzi. She filled the tub and lit some candles as well as filled the tub with rose petals, giving it a relaxing atmosphere. Seohyun took her bathrobe off and stepped into the jacuzzi, letting the warm waters come over her and remove the stress and tension in her body. So relaxing was the bath that Seohyun closed her eyes and let her heart, mind, and body be immersed in relaxation. Her hair was done messily in a bun which she would remove later to submerge herself in the warm waters. Seohyun emerged and allowed the soap to work its magic on her body. For a short while, Seohyun forgot about her hurt and pain and inhaled the sweet scent of the candles along with the rose petals. Once again, she submerged herself in the waters.

In there, she felt a calm come over her. Everything seemed to have disappeared and she fell into nothingness. Seohyun felt as though she could stay in this forever. With her eyes closed and her body submerged in water, she disappeared in the waters, feeling as though she was being swallowed and brought to a world of peace and nothingness, far from the world that she was living in now.

A few seconds later…

Seohyun felt as if a hand was grabbing her ankle and dragging her down. But there wasn’t anything down there. She felt a shortness of breath and witht his she struggled to rise above the waters, unfortunately finding herself unable to do so. Seohyun flapped her arms in the seemingly shallow and harmless jacuzzi, gasping for air. The petals and foam enshrouded the surface, making it hard for Seohyun. Fortunately, she was able to rise above the waters. Seohyun hyperventilated and grasped the sides of the jacuzzi, trying to figrue out what had happened to her and she just drowned there.

I must’ve fallen asleep. Seohyun thought to herself. Not wanting to waste another moment in the whirlpoolthat could possibly swallow her alive. Seohyun stood up and drained the waters, hurriedly grabbing her bathrobe and making her way out of the bathroom still soaking wet. Snatching her towel, Seohyun rushed to her room and dried herself up there. Upon entering, she encountered the photograph of the young boy again and this time, felt extremely curious as to who he was.

I want to see you. I want to know you. Where can I find you? Seohyun finished towelling herself up and got dressed. Taking the picture with her, she headed to the music room where she left the other sentimental, memory lane things. She walked past her favorite instrument and bent down to look for something. She opened the cabinet where the albums were kept and took one out. The brown album that she pulled out read ‘Family Memories’. It was kind of dusty but she managed to open it and scan the pages. There were pictures of her father and mother, childhood pictures of herself and other relatives. After turning the pages even more, Seohyun finally found his picture.

“There you are!” she exclaimed. She took the picture frame and placed it next to the picture of the young boy in the album. No doubt in the world that it was him!

The boy was quite thin in frame but tall in height. His face wasn’t what you would call innocent but mysterious. The kind that spelled ‘rebel without a cause’. His sly smile, something that was very rare for a child to have, was captivating and Seohyun found herself sort of attracted to his physical attributes though she knew it wasn’t allowed. She shook it off and continued to scan the album, trying to figure out the name of this boy but she couldn’t find it.

Why is this album here? Shouldn’t it be with the other albums? Why is it being hidden? The boy’s pictures in the albums were smudgy and showed signs of neglect, signs that they weren’t looked at often. Seohyun wondered why.

After a short while, Seohyun got up and eyed the piano-her favorite musical instrument. Figuring that she could use a little music to calm her nerves after the drowning incident in the jacuzzi, she pulled the bench and sat on it. Stretching her fingers and cracking her knuckles gently, the demure lady played another one of her favorite pieces. Seohyun played her heart out and you could see in her movements and in the way she pressed down on the keys that she was really emotional and that the piece reflected her current emotion. Whenever Seohyun felt stressed or sad, instead of ranting and venting out her inner feelings, she’d just take it out through the piano. The cool wind breezed through her hair and her face and this tempted her to stand up and take a look out the window. The bright and warm rays of the sun hypnotized Seohyun, making her stand up and walk towards it. She pushed the curtains aside and allowed the cool breeze to penetrate her skin and hair even further. Surely it was tempting. Seohyun decided that the weather was perfect for a little walk in the morning. She left the music room and headed to her room where thought she’d get dressed. Seohyun went through her closet and found a pretty white dress that looked perfect for some morning sunshine. She slipped it on and along with white sandals, she was good to go.

Seohyun left the house and walked outside with a novel in her hand. The morning sun and wind combination was perfect on her skin. Not too hot, not too cold. Seohyun enjoyed frolicking around the subdivision when she chose to go to the park for a little bit of outdoor relaxation. Seohyun walked to the park which looked very tranquil and idyllic. There were children playing and some adults either walking, sitting on the benches, or standing. She found a bench to sit on. The bench was underneath an apple tree, making it easy for her to pluck and apple to eat while reading her book. Seohyun reached for the shiniest one and sat down on the bench, opening the book on the page where the bookmark was. While Seohyun was reading and eating, she felt a slight movement on her feet.

“What was that?” she asked herself as she removed the book from her face and looked down. An apple rolled to the side of her foot, suggesting that someone dropped it. Seohyun bent down to get it but a manly hand acted ahead of her and picked it up. Seohyun was taken by surprise as the stranger’s handsome yet familiar face greeted her.

“Sorry for that. Rolled out of my hand.”

“No problem. It’s okay.” the handsome stranger sat down beside Seohyun and looked at her. He smiled at her gentleness. His calmness wasn’t hard to love, either. Seohyun continued reading her novel but felt awkward because of the stranger’s presence. Finally, she put her book down and looked at him. Boy, he had the most beautiful eyes!

“I’m Seo Joo Hyun.” she extended her hand for a handshake. The stranger’s eyes widened as if he had discovered something. Nonetheless, he accepted the handshake but never took his gaze off her eyes.

“Are you Seo Joon Soo’s daughter?” he asked. Seohyun nodded.

“Yes. Why?”

“My name is Cho Kyuhyun.” the handsome stranger introcduced himself. “And this may not be the right place to say it but…” he looked down, hoping to come up with the right words to say. “You’re my sister.” Seohyun dropped the book in shock.

“What? No! I don’t have a brother! I’m an only child!” she said.

“I’m afraid that that is no longer the case.” he said. “We’re related.”

“What?” Seohyun was in a world of confusion once again. Just when she thought her morning was going fine, something like this came up. She stood up and leaned on the tree, rubbing her head.

“Is everything okay?”

“No!” she said. “I barely know you but you’re already giving me a headache.”

“Don’t tell me father never told you!” Kyuhyun asked.

“No. He never told me.” Seohyun teared up. “He never told us anything.”

“Well here I am. I’m your illegitimate brother.” Kyuhyun admitted. Seohyun walked away from him but found it to be a harsh thing to do so she turned around and talked to him.

“I can’t hate you. It’s not your fault. It’s dad’s.” Seohyun sat back down on the bench. “But I can learn to love you though it’s too late.” Kyuhyun sat next to his sister.

“I’m sorry that I shocked you. I thought you knew.”

“I never expected any of this.” Seohyun looked down in despair and humiliation. Dirty secrets that her family kept. “I never knew you were my brother. I didn’t even know you existed.”

“Would you like me to walk you home? You seem tired.” Kyuhyun said.

“Do you even know where I live?” asked Seohyun.

“I do.”

“How? Father never even let you visit him.”

“I keep track.” he said. “I know where my illegitimate sister lives. I’ve known you all my life because you grew up in the public with your father. I was kept a huge secret.” Kyuhyun and Seohyun continued walking. Kyuhyun hung his head in shame while Soehyun did the same, only in loneliness. The siblings walked down the road together. Seohyun was still trying hard to fathom what she just heard and when it finally sunk in, they were at the gate of the Seo mansion.
“Do you want to come in?” asked Seohyun. Kyuhyun nodded his head though he still felt a bit ashamed. Seohyun was very hospitable and accomodating that she let this person, who was once just a stranger into her house after finding out that he was her brother. Inside, Seohyun led him to the guest room and even serviced him.

“Wine? Tea? Coffee?” she asked like she was the maid. Though they had maids at home, Seohyun preferred to do the work herself.

“Coffee would be fine.” said Kyuhyun. Seohyun walked to the kitchen to make some coffee. Kyuhyun sat on the luscious sofa and took a look at the snapshots in frames. He happened to have noticed the pictures and recognized them. Seohyun sat beside him and flipped through the pages of the album.

“Wait.” he used his finger to stop Seohyun from flipping the page. Seohyun was taken aback but stopped nonetheless. Kyuhyun pointed out the pictures of the young kid that Seohyun was so fond of.

“That little kid…” she said. “I’m dying to know his name. Do you know him?” Kyuhyun and Seohyun shared a sentimental gaze, as if trying to convey a message too heavy for words.

“I know who he is. Why are you so fascinated with him?” asked Kyuhyun.

“I don’t know. I just saw a picture of him and his charm struck me. I wonder who he is. I’d like to know him. He seems kind.”

“Do you still have that picture.” Seohyun nodded.

“Yes.”

“Will you please get it for me.” requested Kyuhyun. Seohyun obediently stood up and went to her room to get the picture from the table. Kyuhyun remained in his seat, pondering upon the memories of his childhood. He took the photo album and looked through it. Sure enough his face was there, all over the album. Within a few minutes, Seohyun had returned with the picture frame in her hand and the hopes that he would tell her who the young boy was.

“Is this the picture?” he asked. Seohyun nodded. Kyuhyun took the photo fram in his hands and recognized the young boy immediately.

“Not a doubt in this world.” he mustered upon it. He looked at Seohyun and said the most explosive and shocking words, words that she didn’t expect.

“This young boy is me.” he said. Seohyun’s eyes widened in shock.
“Really?”

“Yes. You have long been fascinated with this picture. This young boy here is me.” Seohyun glinted her eyes in curiousity and sat down next to him.

“Will you please tell me how everything happened?” Kyuhyun looked down and back up at her.

Then began his story…