It was strange returning to my old home the next day, almost like reverse culture shock. Everyone was so polite to me that I was taken aback several times and almost fell over once as well due to an unexpected bow from a gardener I hadn’t expected to pop up. What was also strange was that no one in the house seemed to touch me – maybe I just gave off an unfriendly vibe – but certainly at my new home and school, everyone was all for skinship. It really seemed like there was no middle ground anywhere.

Whilst I was there, I decided to head up to my old room for a quick peek. When I opened the door, I realised that Luhan was right, it was bigger than the entire apartment I lived in now. It was tidier too, but I imagined that was down to the cleaners more than anything else. Heading though the double doors to my study, I was almost surprised by the amount of files and books I owned. In the last couple months I had done hardly anything for the company; it had been nice. The balcony was the only thing that seemed less impressive than I remembered, but the plants had been watered often enough – not that I ever did it – so that they were lush as always even in the cold air.

A tap at the door surprised me and I turned to see an elderly woman tucking her head towards me. I recognised her instantly.

“Mrs Kim! How are you?” I asked as I excitedly bounded over to her. This was the woman who had taught me to read Hangeul when I was little so I’d always had a strong attachment to her.

Despite this, the woman looked nothing short of terrified as I approached her. Backing up a little, she motioned for me to pass her to get into the corridor. “Your father is ready for you now.”

It seemed that I had become a little too rambunctious for the woman in my time away from here. Bowing my head apologetically, I scurried past her and down the stairs to my father’s study. I knocked on the door and waited for his permission to enter.

If my study had a lot of books and files, then my father’s had a library full of them. Although I had never seen him doing it, when I was younger I used to imagine him sitting up all night to arrange them into the magnificent order they always had. In reality, it was probably one of Paz’s duties to tidy the office before she went home each night.

In my father’s study, my father wasn’t my father; he was my senior. That was something that had long since been established, and no matter how freely I floated about scaring Mrs Kim, there were some lines I wouldn’t ever cross.

“So what was so urgent that you had to see me today?” my father asked as he motioned for me to sit, only glancing up quickly from his paperwork.

With straight posture, I crossed my hands on my lap before beginning. “I think we should stop the deal with Oh Hotels,” I bluntly told him.

Looking a little perplexed, my father sat down his pen and pressed a button on his desk. “Paz, push back my eleven-twenty. This might take longer than I thought.” He then looked back to me, clasping his hands expectantly. “Explain.”

After running through what had happened at Christmas in greater detail, explaining the hostility between father and son as exaggeratedly as I could, I moved on to the reasons I believed would make my father change his mind.

“So there really isn’t a good relationship between Sehun and his father. Using Sehun to gain favour with his father isn’t going to work, and may even have the opposite effect. We should try a different route if we want to proceed with this plan. Although, looking at the figures, we could easily use Jenkins Hotels for the complex at less cost and with it being a more worldwide brand, we may even be able to improve our gross earnings by as much as two point nine percent per annum.”

My father took in all I was saying patiently, and much to my surprise, didn’t interrupt even once. In fact, I couldn't recall a time when he had ever listened to me so intently. When I finished he unclasped his hands slowly and nodded slightly. “I can see you’ve definitely given this a lot of thought.”

In truth I had spent most of last night preparing and researching what I was going to say. I had been more than a little nervous to come here and propose this to him. My father was a businessman after all, and what would appeal to him the most would be the number-side of things. I’m sure he didn’t really want to hear about how I had formed an overly-close bond with Sehun and that that was the main reason I now wanted to get out of this mess, and to do so without Sehun being hurt by any of the lies I had spun along the way.

“Yes, you definitely have thought this through well. As a good heir should, you’ve examined all the options and come up with a good and solid alternative. I’m impressed, Mira,” my father told me as he began writing something again.

I bowed my head a little, careful not to do anything that might ignite a negative reaction from him. Right now, I really needed him to be on my side. “Thank you. I just don’t want to see any profit lost for the company.” 

He nodded encouragingly as he continued to write. “Good, good. That’s what I like to hear.” His scribbling continued, but I didn’t know what else to say. It seemed like he was on the cusp of agreeing with me but maybe he just needed that extra push over the edge. It turned out, he needed nothing.

“Fine. Let’s do it your way,” my father announced, setting the pen down again and looking back up at me. “You can transfer back to your old school next week and be done with all this. Not having you around for handling paperwork has been a real strain. You honestly wouldn’t believe some of the incompetent morons we have working for us. It will be good to have you back.”

I fought back the smile that threatened to burst onto my face, concealing it by bowing my head, once again thanking him. “Thank you! I think you’re making the right decision,” I told him with a light conscience.

He motioned for me to leave with a flick of his wrist. “Just don’t make me regret it. Anything less than that two point nine you’ve promised me and the rest is coming from your wage.”

I nodded, not really caring what he was saying anymore. Because it was all going to be over. Sehun and I could be friends – or perhaps more – without anyone prying or pushing or prodding or predominating what happened between us. I felt light, and I felt free. And it had b