Hongjoong watches in awe as the paintings are presented to him, not believing his eyes as the art that he has been admiring on the screen is now physically in front of him. He walks around the studio, his eyes scanning every one that he can see, and just like Danbi had told him, the feeling is different.

While Danbi is resting after a full day at the orphanage, Hongjoong had asked Mingi to come together with him to the studio, so that he wouldn't feel too lonely if he were to spend some time in there. He doesn't know what he'd expect to see with every piece, but he might as well try anyway since the search for Soyeon so far has lead to nothing, and they couldn't even get a glimpse of a clue on where she could've run to.

His brain goes into overdrive; trying to analyze if he could've picked up any messages that Soyeon had wanted to deliver through her paintings, while at the same time marvelling at the fact that the artist he has been admiring is Danbi's twin all along. He goes to the paintings propped up against the walls first, they are layered over each other so he has to pry them apart to observe them individually.

All 99 pieces of the paintings that she had done are all in sync with those uploaded on the soyesul page, but even as he gets a second look at them he can't seem to piece the meaning together, if there is even one. Now that every painting is gathered in the studio, the meanings seem to get further from him. It just seems like an outlet a tired and cooped up mind, finding freedom in the colours she used.

"There are splatters of paint on the floor," Mingi speaks up, before correcting himself. "Well, it doesn't matter since it's a painting studio anyway. Forget about it."

Hongjoong walks up to the place where Mingi is observing, feeling chills running down his spine as he sees that the said paint is red in colour, making it eerily look like it's blood. The colour of the hardwood floor has reduced the intensity of the paint, but they can still see that it's red in colour. From where he's standing only then he turns around to face the unfinished painting on the easel, feeling as if the room is now extra cold as he sees the same one Danbi had seen on the day she decided to enter the painting studio.

"Oh-" Mingi says, reacting much calmer than Hongjoong. "That must have been where the red paint came from. It's splashed all over the painting."

"Mingi," Hongjoong utters, "isn't that two people who look very much alike on the same canvas?"

"Are you saying that's both Soyeon and Danbi?" Mingi frowns. "She knew she had a twin and drew this?"

Hongjoong stares at the picture, drawn in by the way the paint does resemble blood. The spooky feeling is replaced by suspicion, before it shifts to confusion. "Do you think... Danbi is related to Soyeon's disappearance?" He asks out of the blue as his eyes keep looking at the two portraits of seemingly the same person. "Everything lined up perfectly, Danbi wanted to be Bae Wonshik's daughter so bad-"

"Kim Hongjoong," a tone of disbelief underlies his words, "you knew Danbi better than anyone else, and now you're suspecting her too? She took us in because she trusted us, but now whose side are you on?"

Hongjoong releases a heavy breath, finally realizing the gravity of his words. "I'm sorry, everything just seemed so sinister at this point. Not to mention how our prime minister doesn't even care for his daughter who went missing now that he's already high up on the throne. I didn't want to say it because I know how much Danbi had always wanted to be the daughter to somebody... but I don't want to see her hurt again. People have always pushed her away, and now it seems that things are finally going her way."

"Can we leave first?" Mingi speaks up. "This room is seriously giving me the creeps, and it's located at the end of the hallway. I feel like something bad happened here."

Hongjoong doesn't protest as they walk out, switching off the lights and shutting the door behind them. He thinks back to the portraits splashed with red paint, wondering whether if things didn't happen this way, it would be soyesul's 100th post. Out of habit he takes out his phone to check the page, but as he had last checked it, the post count stays at 99.

They decide to step out of the house to lounge beside the pool, surprise etched across their face when they see Seonghwa sitting on the edge, his legs dipped in the pool.

The bodyguard looks up when he hears two people approaching, shrugging as a gesture of greeting before turning his focus back to his legs submerged in water. No, it doesn't seem like he's focusing on particularly anything, as his mind is wandering somewhere else- to someone else.

Mingi and Hongjoong gesture silently to each other before sitting on either side of the bodyguard, letting their legs submerged in the water even without any invitation from the latter.

Seonghwa doesn't say anything, while either being too lost in his own thoughts or he really didn't mind having some company. It's a habit of his to be playing with his wedding ring, that Hongjoong can't resist asking why he's still keeping it despite already being a divorcee.

"Like I told you," he replies absent-mindedly, "I still love her."

"So she was the reason that you knew sign language?" Mingi asks. "You looked pretty cool, I have to admit. Even Somin was really happy."

He chuckles. "Well I did pick it up because of her. It's kind of ironic how I learnt sign language, but in the end, she left me because I couldn't understand her. I couldn't read the signs that she was giving me." He pats a hand on the surface of the water, making small waves. "I lost her."

Mingi sighs before leaning forward, bending his body so that he can rest his elbow on his thigh. His eyes shoots upwards and unknowingly he's started counting the endless stars on the night sky.

"Why does it seem that every person I've come across has lost someone dear to them?" Mingi utters, sighing heavily. "Is there not a single happy person in this household?"

Seonghwa leans backwards, propping himself up by placing his palms on the ground. "It's just a matter of what we lose; of course everyone would experience it. You seem to be exaggerating though; know about my story and you're already equating everyone."

Mingi shrugs. "A few people..." He trails off as he thinks back to Danbi and he looks at Hongjoong, who are intently listening to their conversation. "...seem to be losing someone dear to them; that's enough for me to come to a conclusion like that."

Seonghwa laughs, clearly amused. "I feel like you're... simple-minded but at the same time you're smart. I'm jealous of you."

The tallest of them looks up before smiling, "That's just how I cope with life. Trying to make something simple out a complicated situation."

Hongjoong still hasn't lifted up his gaze from Seonghwa's wedding ring, somewhat having more questions yet he knows they're not close enough to be telling each other their detailed life stories. He feels like there is more than the story the bodyguard had told them, but he's not about to pester him for some bed time story when he probably just wants to forget about his separation from his then wife.

"Till death do us apart," Seonghwa suddenly says, gaining the attention of the other two. "The wedding vows that we exchanged, witnessed by no one except the marriage officiant. We exchanged no verbal words but those were the wedding vows we took that day, promising to each other that we would be together until the end."

Mingi and Hongjoong's faces change at the realization on what Seonghwa is alluding at; his eyes are dry but there is no mistaking the extreme pain radiating through his expression. They realize what he meant when he mentioned about being divorced, because it was how far their vows held their meaning.

---

4 years ago

Seonghwa grumbles as the other trainees had sent him off for an errand, asking him to buy bread and pastries from a bakery for tea. It's the fact that he's the youngest in the group so they've been giving out orders to him, to which he carries out less than willingly. It never involves anything extreme, but petty tasks like grabbing something from the other room or going out to get some drinks for the rest.

Today is no different as his task is to get food for the team from a bakery different from their usual, because their usual is out of the charcoal buns one of his teammates had wanted. So he's left walking under the hot sun, sweat pouring from his face and dripping onto his clothes. He tries to find other bakeries in Linaria district, hoping to find one that is not too far from their security company.

He feels like he's been walking to no end, already feeling like he's about to step into another district by foot alone. He's pretty sure there should be another bakery that sells a variety of breads, doubled as a cafe that serves amazing coffee and tea. At least, that's what the reviews say about the bakery-slash-cafe called Dream when he searched for bakeries near their building.

As he bends over to catch his breath, he feels like he's ascending to the sky as he finally spots the sign that tells him he's in the right place. He almost drops to the ground and kisses it, too happy that he has finally found the bakery. The bakery takes up two floors of the building, with an external staircase allowing customers to head for the sitting area on the second floor.

He goes straight to the first floor because he doesn't intend on wasting away the evening lounging at the cafe, and he opens the door to be greeted by the delicious smell of baked goods. A few customers are picking out their choices to bring back home, while others are picking them out on trays so that they can consume them right away.

The design of the cafe makes it look much bigger than it already is, that he has to spend some time to even locate the trays and tongs so that he can pick out the breads. His nostrils flare as he takes in the amazing smell, standing in the middle of the bakery as he momentarily forgets about the list of things he's supposed to buy.

He walks along the length of the display glass, being more amazed at the fact that there are so many kinds of bread he never knew existed, or even thrilled by the fact that the baked goods can take on a variety of shapes and sizes. As he moves to the chiller, he looks inside to see whether he can spot any strawberry cake, but slightly pouts when the tray is empty with only the label left. He plans to ask about it after he's done with the list for his teammates, hoping that maybe new slices of the particular kind would be available once he's gotten the rest.

He has managed to secure the baked goods they sent him to, including the charcoal buns that wasn't available at their usual bakery. He looks around for any staff member to ask about the strawberry cake, and spots a young woman standing in front of the chiller, replenishing the slices of cake. As he puts the breads he has picked up onto the counter, he leaves the payment on hold as he goes over to the chiller once again, hoping that the strawberry cake is available.

He almost pouts again when he sees that the strawberry cake's tray is still empty, so he scoots over to the female staff who's putting in other types of cake inside the chiller next to it.

"Excuse me," he says, but it elicits no response from the staff. Her hands are still busy restocking the cake slices. "Excuse me," he tries again with a louder tone, but he's ignored yet again. Frowning, he taps a finger on the door of the chiller, but he hasn't managed to catch her attention.

Then slowly he tries to tap her shoulder with minimum contact as possible, only meaning to catch her attention but it startles her to a great degree. The tray in her hands, having three slices of black forest cake flies upwards as she's surprised. The tray lands on the floor with a sharp clack, but one of the slices of cake finds purchase on Seonghwa's face before it slides down to his clothes then to the floor.

There is a look of pure horror on the staff's face as he sees that Seonghwa is now a human cake decorated with cocoa powder, whipping cream and melted chocolate. Her hands automatically fly to his face, using the long sleeves of her work uniform to wipe off the mess she made on his face first.

Seonghwa is too stunned to even react or say anything, because even as he blinks his vision gets marred with whipping cream, heavy on his eyelashes. His face is still being wiped unsuccessfully by the girl who's mouthing her apologies, alternating it with putting her palms together in front of her face.

"Akira Hwang!" One of the cashiers who's behind the second counter rushes to them, looking horrified as her mouth is busy saying sorry to the customer who just got attacked by the slice of cake. "Sir, we're really sorry for the blunder. Our staff right here-" Her hands quickly snatch Akira's hands, forcing her to stop her attempt to fix her mistake. "She's- can you stop?!" she shouts at the girl before gripping her wrist and pushing her back, away from Seonghwa.

"It's fine," Seonghwa finds his voice back, finally working the moment he sees the staff named Akira being treated roughly. "It's not her fault," he says as he steps in front of the girl, stretching out his hand so that the cashier won't be able to lay her hands on Akira again. "I can pay for the cakes she dropped, I can wash my face and clothes clean. Not a problem, but you shouldn't be shouting at her like that."

The cashier with the EUNAE nametag looks guilty but she's still trying to defend what she did, clearly dissatisfied that the customer is siding with the staff who made the mistake. Several customers and other staff look on with curiosity, even more attracted by the man who turned into a cake himself.

"She's deaf, so that's why she didn't hear you. So even if I shout to her she can't hear me," she sneers, jutting out her chin. "That was why she couldn't hear you, she can't hear anything."

Seonghwa frowns as he looks over his shoulder, and notices the small notebook tucked in the pocket of her uniform. His face softens as he looks at her expression, because even as he tries to say that it's not her fault she's not looking at him, only training her eyes on the floor as she clasps her hands in front.

"You can talk to her nicely, you don't have to shout even though she can't hear you," Seonghwa's voice is hard. He glances at his watch, realizing that his teammates might start looking for him if he doesn't go back now. "Talking is more than just verbal words, your expressions and gestures are more than enough to tell her that you're shouting."

He turns back to Akira before trying to catch her eyes. He tries not to appear too intimidating so that he'll scare her and make her think that he's angry, but he realizes that he doesn't know how to communicate with her properly. Instead he waves his hand in front of her face so that she'll look up and getting an idea, he takes out his phone before typing away on the notes app. Then he turns the screen towards her; she flinches slightly before her body relaxes and she nods sheepishly, mouthing the words 'thank you' and 'sorry' repeatedly.

Eunae tries to stretch out her neck to get a glimpse of what he has written on his screen, but he has already shut off the screen and kept his phone in his pocket.

He nods once to Akira before smiling, and the latter bows a lot of times before she scurries away, looking to clean the mess on the floor. As he turns to look at her, there's a look of mild annoyance on his face, all directed towards the staff named Eunae.

"I'd like to pay for everything," he throws a hand over his shoulder with his thumb pointed towards the counter, where the rest of his purchase are still there. "And the slices of cake she dropped. After that maybe..." his mouth twists as he looks at the other types of cake inside the chiller, "I'll take one full red velvet cake."

Grudgingly, although knowing that she can't go against the customer she takes the whole tray of red velvet cake, and he pays for them. He leaves the baked goods at the counter for a short while as he goes to the bathroom at the back, bumping into Akira who's about to fill the pail with water and mop the floor.

When she sees him going out of the bathroom, rinsed as much as he could, she gestures for him to stay for a while, taking out her notebook and pen. She writes hurriedly, worried that he would deem her unworthy of his time and leaves her before she can finish writing. Much to her relief, Seonghwa waits patiently, eyes blinking curiously at what she's about to show him. She turns the page to him, and he leans forward to take a look at it.

He smiles when he reads it, before giving a gesture to her that it's alright; she has written Thank you for not being angry on the page. When he catches a glimpse of his watch, he curses silently before scrambling to step out from the back, realizing that he's late. Him being frantic has managed to make her laugh, and that's the starting point of how he realizes that Dream Bakery will be his favourite thanks to her alone.

Over the course time Seonghwa has managed to convince his other teammates that Dream Bakery has much better breads and cakes, strengthened by the fact that they are. He doesn't bump into her every time though; he figures out that she's one of the bakers and she's made to work at the back most of the time, so sometimes he would step out slightly pouty when he can't see her.

Whenever he does, he would greet her using sign language that he has picked up bit by bit, her eyes widening in surprise as she realizes that they can finally communicate through another medium. However when she signs back to him, he would only look confused before slightly chuckling and scratching his head, telling her that he would need to learn more to understand better.

He does; he has never been so dedicated to one thing at a time. Even his teammates are amazed at how he would be crouched in front of the laptop, brows furrowed, hands flying and expressions matched as he learns the language. He would communicate with Akira in a mixture of written or typed notes and sign language, until one day it comes to a point that he has managed to get his points across using only his gestures and body language.

He wouldn't say it's love at first sight; at first he was just feeling slightly sorry to the staff who seemed to be pushed back because of how she was born as, but as he spent some time conversing with her he realized how she didn't need the pitiful looks people give her. Just because she can't hear, it doesn't mean that she should be treated different than the others. It's only that she has a special way of communicating, and he was more than willing to learn it.

The day that he has finally learnt how to fully use sign language is the day that he confessed to her; it's around a year after that incident they first met.

She gets taken by surprise that he is the one who confessed to her first, and even then her answer isn't immediate. She's worried that he would be changing his mind after, but after much worry she finally accepts his confession. They start dating, with him taking extra care of her whenever people start to look at her differently when she doesn't respond to them calling her.

Their relationship grows steadily, and when Seonghwa proposes to her more than a year after their relationship started she responds much faster than when he first confessed. There is not a ceremony but only them, their vows and the sole witness, their love being enough proof to make it a memorable day.

When they move in the small apartment that only has one bedroom and a bathroom, they couldn't be more than content. Seonghwa has finally received his first job as a bodyguard, and that's when they start seeing the first cracks in their marriage. She's silently pleading for him to resign, to find another job that is not so dangerous for him, yet he doesn't listen.

He regrets not understanding the reason why she's so adamant on wanting him to find another job, and he realizes how much more he doesn't know about her.

When he holds her in his arms, her heartbeat slowed down and his hands pressing on her wounds but not being able to stop the blood from flowing out, he wishes he could pick up the signs much earlier.

He's so determined to learn so that he can communicate with her.

Yet the only moment that she wishes he would have understood her the most, is the moment when he has chosen to close his eyes.