“You’re threatening your father? What ability do you even have to threaten me?” Mr. Cha bellowed.

“If I send even a fraction of the evidence I have to the prosecutor’s office, you would have to pretend to be sick for quite a while to avoid jail time.”

“You crazy b**tard! I raised you all this while, and you’re thinking of betraying your own father?”

“Thank you for raising me like this,” Muyeol snarled, “I’ll allow you to go down peacefully.”

As Muyeol left, he could hear Mr. Cha grab the back of his neck and faint. But he knew it was all an act.

* * *

Muyeol stormed to his office. The secretaries outside saw his messed up hair and guessed what had occured, so they wisely lowered their heads.

“Schedule a meeting. And prepare for a trip to Istanbul,” Muyeol ordered.

“Yes, sir,” the secretaries answered and started making the calls.

Muyeol went inside the office, closing the door after him. He felt like he was going to explode, the rage making him dizzy.

Failing to restrain his anger, he slammed the table with his fists. The pain ran up his bones, reaching his shoulder. Muyeol clenched his teeth, knowing he would go crazy otherwise. He had never displayed so much emotion before.

Muyeol had been less sensitive toward his life lately. Muyeol had become insensitive to his life lately. He no longer felt happy in the morning or depressed at night. He banged the table again; the sound of ripples in deep water surrounded him, breaking any semblance of tranquility. He could no longer think rationally, but he tried to stop himself, knowing that there would be no telling what he would do if he did not.

Then, he heard what seemed to be a text notification and froze. He was sure he’d heard it, and there was only one person who would text him. He grabbed the phone to check it, and practically slumped in the chair. He stared at the phone, one hand muffling his mouth.

The text message displayed Yiyoung’s picture; her hair was fluttering in the wind, and she was posing with a bright smile for him. Muyeol chuckled loudly and thought about how amazing she was. She’d been able to make a trip outside on her own. He knew how scared she had been to go out alone. Just how much had she practiced to make this happen? He could tell she had put in a lot of effort. Yiyoung was already amazing, and her beauty amazed him even more. It wasn’t just her new hairstyle, her pretty smile was making Muyeol lose all control.

Every time he saw her, she brought him great comfort. That thought made him emotional. In an instant, his eyes turned misty, the tears slipping down his cheeks.

The invisible wall he had built in his life was now broken, letting his feelings toward her burst forth with his tears.

‘Do you know’—Muyeol thought—‘that I’ve liked you since I first saw you?’

* * *

The moment Muyeol put a foot inside the house, Yiyoung—who had been waiting for him to come home—twirled in front of him so he could see her silky straight hair turn in the air with her. “How does it look? Don’t I look like a different person?”

But instead of responding, Muyeol took off his shoes, then grabbed her by the waist with both hands and lifted her into the air.

“Oh my gosh!” Yiyoung shrieked, “You scared me!”

Then she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “Are you taking me somewhere?”

Muyeol dipped his head and kissed her ear.

Yiyoung shrunk against him like a mimosa leaf. Goosebumps rose on her arms, the sensation making her feel faint.

“Can we do it all the way?” Muyeol asked as he walked to the bedroom with Yiyoung in his arms.

Yiyoung didn’t reply, so Muyeol stopped in front of the bed and waited for her permission. His dark eyes held an undeniable desire, desperate to finally free itself. The heat radiating from his body was even more serious than yesterday, and somehow even his scent carried hints of his desire.