A/N: This is the first of the fresh chapters I have to write. So expect shorter chapters from here on. If I can, weekly chapters will be posted in two parts, every Saturday and Sunday. Thank you for sticking with me.

“See for yourself.” Joonmyeon blew a raspberry, closing his eyes tightly.

“You called me from an important meeting for this?” He wasn’t even in his office. After the board meeting, he went straight to a luncheon meeting right across town. He received a frantic call from his sister, prompting him to leave the important discussion for a newly acquired project in Pyeongchang. Choi Builders won the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics venue. It was a huge undertaking and he’d hate to leave it to their executives no matter how capable they were. But family always came first and he left without explaining much thinking his only sister was in trouble.

Only to see blown up photos of himself.

She mentioned once that she will join a photography contest with a friend. But he didn’t know it was for the IPI. And the girl had the nerve to use his and his yacht’s pictures without his permission! He wondered if he can sue her to teach her a lesson. He knew about the exhibit and being the executive property administrator, he approved the use of the venue but he just didn’t bother with the invitation to grace the event. Which proved to be a wise idea considering the circumstances. But his sister who witnessed everything just had to call him there to open wounds of a not-so-distant past.

“This is not why I called you here.” She pulled him inside the booth and he almost forgot how lethal his little sister really was if not for her vice-tight grip on his arm. If this was Jongdae’s entries then she must be there and he didn’t want to see her. He kept telling himself that he had no reason to. But instead of stopping in front of his portrait like what he was expecting her to do, she pulled him in a corner where a small table of distressed wood lay.

All the oxygen was knocked out of him when he recognized a very familiar bottle of Chardonnay. The bottle that came with silly memories of his last birthday. Was she innocent all along? Did he really just accuse her of the things she didn’t do? Then he remembered all the hurtful things he said and wished for the ground to swallow him alive.

It really was a good idea not to grace IPI’s event. He really can’t see Jongdae. For a totally different reason, too.

“Can I help you?” A woman asked and he can tell it wasn’t Jongdae without looking. He’ll recognize her voice anywhere. He finally turned to the owner of the voice, her eyes automatically darted to his portrait then back to his face.

“Yes.” His sister did the honors. “Where is Jongdae-unnie? These are her stuff, right?” She took the wine bottle from the table. “This wine bottle and its contents?”

“Look, I don’t know what you’re doing here but I’d ask you to leave before she sees you.” She said, pointedly glaring at him. “You’ve done enough damage as it is.”

“Miss, it was a misunderstanding. We’ll wait for her.” Sehun said with finality, already walking away to grab a chair.

“But of course. How can I ask the mighty building owners to leave? Silly me.” Eunji mocked herself. “You can have the whole ing world but you can’t have my best friend!” Joonmyeon didn’t say a thing. The woman was correct. Jongdae didn’t deserve a jerk like him. He was about to take his sister with him when someone else spoke.

She was busy with a few takeaway bags from a famous food chain. “Eunji-yah, sorry I took a wrong turn and it took me sometime to find the right—“ Her eyes met his when she looked up. His heart lurched from the sadness that emanated from them. Her eyes widened a bit before she was smiling genially at him. “Hi! Good afternoon. Thank you for visiting our booth.” She placed the bags on the counter, smiling at the stunned Sehun. “Please note that everything on display are not for sale but we’ll do commission work in the future. Anyway, my name is Jongdae.” She even shook hands with both of them.

“Jongdae-unnie,” Sehun called. “I can call you that, right?” She looked a bit hesitant. She was expecting a very hostile reunion if only from what her brother said the last time they saw each other. And Joonmyeon still wasn’t saying anything.

“Huh? Yeah. Okay.” She said absentmindedly. Then more people came in to the booth and both women became busy turning down ridiculous offers to buy Joonmyeon’s portrait. Jongdae didn’t even spare them a glance after that. Her brother was frozen like a statue, probably not expecting her to act the way she did.

Someone was bound to recognize them and it was not very difficult to put two and two together. She didn’t want the media to get a whiff of anything they’ll be able to write about lest risking any chance her brother had of a happily ever after. She pulled Joonmyeon away from there and took him home.

He was looking out the window the whole journey home and she respected his silence. He was about to enter his room when she called him. “Oppa…I’m sorry.” She felt responsible because she was the one who threw that stupid bottle in the ocean.

He stopped in his tracks. “It’s not your fault.” It’s not your fault that I’m an .

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After the crowd cleared out, Jongdae’s smile fell. Joonmyeon and Sehun were gone and so was her energy. She slumped behind the counter, hugging her knees. She didn’t know why she to pretend like they didn’t know each other. But it was the only thing her small brain can think of to protect herself from further heartbreak.

And then it occurred to her that she wasn’t even pretending. They really didn’t know each other. She knew of one Suho. Not Choi Joonmyeon. And he was just another patron of the arts interested in the photos she took. Of him.

She didn’t even realize she was crying until Eunji handed her a hankie. “I won’t ask. You tell me once you’re ready, okay?” All the while, Eunji thought the man in the photos was familiar. She just had an idea he wasn’t an ordinary model when Jongdae lashed out on her after she learned what photos she sent for the contest entry. He was almost unrecognizable in the photos. She only did after seeing him up close. And who would even think her best friend got to know one of the Chois?

“Sorry—it’s just that—I thought my tears had dried but—“

“Hey, hey, cry if you must, okay? Actually, I think it would be best if you go back to the hotel. I’ll bring dinner later, yes?” Jongdae didn’t want to impose on her best friend but she’d have to take advantage of her generosity for now. She nodded, already reaching for her purse and her coat. “But don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

She had to laugh at that. What’s more stupid than falling in love with a fairytale anyway?

**************************************

“Hyung! It’s good to see you!” Chanyeol hugged his brother. It’s been months since he last saw him—well, save for video conferences of course. “When did you get here?”

“I came here straight from the airport.” He sat on one of the armchairs in front of Chanyeol’s desk without invitation. He didn’t tell anyone that he’s coming home. His mother will surely make this an issue but he’ll deal with her later. There were more pressing matters at hand.

Chanyeol must have sensed that there was something amiss. He put on his business façade when he sat down. “What can I help you with?”

“Chanyeol, I need to tell you something.” If his brother refused to go back for the company’s annual board meeting but flew back just to tell him something, then it must have been something serious. He nodded, telling him that he was ready to listen.

Luhan can’t think of any easy way to say it. “Minkyung is my daughter.” Chanyeol’s nod of understanding was suspended when it finally registered what his brother told him.

“C-Come again?” He’d like to think Luhan was joking but he certainly didn’t look like it. But how did it happen? It’s preposterous!

“I won’t go into details but I met Minseok a while back but something happened that I only found them months ago.”

Chanyeol clenched his teeth. Baekhyun told him a bit about Minseok’s struggles as a single parent. He didn’t know what to think after learning his brother was the cause of someone’s miseries. “Please tell me you didn’t purposely push away noona.” He wanted to give his brother the benefit of the doubt. Baekhyun could be wrong. Anyway, she can’t even tell him how Minseok and Minkyung’s father met because Minseok won’t speak a work about it. But Luhan’s face told him otherwise. He fought the urge to sock his brother in the face.

“I…I had my reasons.” Luhan fiddled with the hem of his coat. Baekhyun must have told him a few things. He wanted to know how much he knew. “What else did the bi—Baekhyun tell you?” What he did to Minseok was unforgivable and he was willing to suffer for it. But he can’t allow Baekhyun to hurt someone else because of his past actions.

But he guessed it can’t be helped. It was no question that his brother loved her very much. His brother was no less than a chronic womanizer before he met her but he gave up his player’s jersey for Baekhyun. And even if he told him now, what difference will it make? Chanyeol will still be hurt. But it will end Baekhyun’s charade.

He ignored his question to have a counter one of his own. “Is it true that you denied your own flesh and blood?” His voice was dangerously low.

“You didn’t know the whole story. Did she tell you she knew all along whom Minkyung’s father is? She knew all along but she didn’t confront me about it? Not even once for the years that I’ve known her? It’s safe to say that we became friends in the short amount of time that she came to work for the company. She treated me nicely even if her sister was suffering because of me! Why?”

“I don’t know, maybe because she’s a good person? Not like someone who’d abandon his own child!” Luhan, not in the mood to explain himself to someone who wouldn’t listen, threw a folder in front of his brother.

“I found that in her things. I really wish she’s with you because she really loved you and not because she’s like to hurt me by breaking you. She planned everything including that race in Surrey, Chanyeol. It’s a possibility that she planned for that guy to kill you as well!”

“What the are you saying? Baekhyun won’t do anything like that! Stop blaming others for your own actions! Be a man for once!” Deafening silence followed. Chanyeol wanted to take back what he said. He knew his brother was just looking out for him. But the damage had been done and he didn’t believe for one second that someone like Baekhyun can do whatever his brother was accusing her of.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you. I can’t do anything undo my previous actions but I’d like to set things right for my daughter and for Minseok. And I won’t live thinking that you’ll take the punishment that’s meant to be mine.” Luhan left after that, leaving Chanyeol to his own devices.