Don't worry, love
None of this is a coincidence
We're totally different, baby
Because we're the two who found our destiny

***

Jeongguk parked the car and switched off the black Mercedes engine, but sat still for a long moment, staring at his hands. His fingers still clenched around the leather steering wheel. After talking to his father, he had a constant race of thoughts in his head. He knew Lisa's words and the documents shown to him indicated that Taehyung was guilty of all these charges, but he couldn't believe that the man he loved would do something like that. Yesterday, he promised him that he would never doubt him. So he couldn't let Lisa's words destroy his faith in Tae. But he couldn't forget it and pretend the conversation in his father's office had never happened. He knew he needed to talk to him about it and find out the truth about it.

He sucked in a gulp of air and finally managed to open the door and get out of the car. He didn't have to look around, he knew exactly where to go to find him. He ran the distance with quick, springy steps, as if he were afraid that if he didn't do this now, the demons that lurked somewhere in the back of his head would come to the fore. He felt the characteristic pain in his chest again and felt sick, but he forced his body to take the next steps as he made his way to the playground.

When he had almost the feeling that he was about to choke, his dark eyes finally found the one he so longed to see. It was enough to ease the pressure on his chest. He couldn't explain it, but every time he saw him, he felt he could overcome all odds.

He paused and looked at him for a moment. The man he was looking at was nothing like the monster Lisa had told about in his father's office a while ago. That Taehyung was a stranger. Someone cruel, calculating. Taehyung, whom he loved and knew, was now a few meters away. He was sitting on one of the swings, holding his little son in his lap and swinging with him while the little one laughed out loud. His handsome face was adorned with that beautiful smile that made his heart involuntarily beat twice as hard each time.

Holding his breath, he strode forward, slowly making his way toward them. As he stopped one step away from them, the tattoo artist looked up at him, as if sensing his presence. Upon meeting his gaze, he curved his lips into another beautiful smile, clearly pleased to see him.

"Googie!" The toddler squealed, and the tattoo artist stopped the swing carefully, then helped his son to get off of his lap, so he could fall into the arms of the young CEO.

"Hello, Little Tiger," the brunet greeted quickly, crouching in front of the little boy to lower himself to his level. His lips formed a gentle smile. To Taehyung's surprise, however, the smile stopped below the line of his beautiful eyes. "Will you go and play a little more on the carousel?" Jeon suggested after a moment, running his fingers through the boy's dark hair. "You'll play for a while, and we'll go eat soon, huh?"

"Yes! Jae wants a calousel!" The toddler called, then ran towards the playground.

Taehyung watched his son go away, then shifted his gaze to the young CEO. Jeongguk was still crouched, also looking towards the playground where Jae had just run. Even though he said nothing, he felt the man had a hard day. He was oddly pale, as if his stomach was heavy. He felt a strange unease involuntarily. As the boy finally straightened up again, Kim got up from the swing and walked towards him.

He stopped a few inches from him and slid his hand into that of Jeongguk, lacing their fingers together. The young businessman turned to face him. But he wasn't looking at him, his eyes fixed on their clasped hands. His thumb began to stroke the back of his hand almost involuntarily. Even though the businessman's body was standing next to him, it seemed as if his thoughts were far away.

"Gguk..." the tattoo artist finally said, feeling a strange unease, and only then Jeongguk looked up to find the gaze of his onyx irises.

"Tae..." the brunet began in an uncertain voice, as if he was not sure how to direct this conversation. "Who is Junsu Hwang?" He asked finally, looking him straight in the eye.

Taehyung stared directly at his dark irises for a moment, but something in his gaze changed. But there was no trace of anger or fear in it, as might be expected. Jeongguk found completely different emotions in it — sadness and guilt.

The tattoo artist exhaled loudly, as if he'd been holding it so far, and instinctively slipped a hand into his fiery red hair, but still didn't explain who the beaten man was. Only after a long moment did he look at the young CEO again and pointed at a nearby brick wall.

"Let's sit," he proposed, then without waiting for the brunet's response, he moved in the indicated direction.

He quickly sat down on a small wall and took a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket, feeling an irresistible need to smoke. He grabbed one of them with his lips and slipped the box back into his pocket. He lit a cigarette, leaning forward slightly, then took a long drag and looked at the young CEO. The boy was still standing in front of him, his body strangely tense, he was playing nervously with the slender fingers of his left hand.

"What did Lisa tell you?" Kim finally asked, squinting his eyes slightly as the glaring sun crept intrusively into his pupils.

"I love you, Tae and I don't want anything to come between us..." the brunette said, taking a step towards him.

He tried to choose his words carefully, fearing that Taehyung might think he was doubting him. He denied believing in Lisa's words. He refused to believe that there was a shred of truth in what his ex-fiancée said, but he had to talk to him about it. He needed to know what he had to say about these events.

"Whatever happened between you... Between you and this man... Whoever he is... It won't change how I feel about you... I love you and trust you, but... There have been too many lies in my life... I need to know the truth."

"Sit down," the tattoo artist said again. "It's quite a long story," he added.

The young CEO nodded and obediently took the seat next to him. He deliberately sat close enough that their thighs almost touched, as if to show him that nothing that happened next could separate them. The tattoo artist raised his cigarette to his mouth again and took a drag. He held the smoke in his lungs for a long time, waiting for it to begin to rebel. Only then did he part his lips. After letting the gray smoke slide through parted lips, he finally confessed something he had never told anyone else:

"Junsu Hwang... He is Jiwon's father."

Jeongguk looked at him, surprised by his admission. When he read the name on the file, he found it strangely familiar, but he couldn't gather his thoughts and he didn't know where he had heard it. Now he knew...

'My name is Jiwon Lalisa Hwang. Manoban is my mother's maiden name.' He heard in his head.

This explained where Lisa had these files from, but why had she decided not to mention the fact that Junsu was her father?

He had a million different questions on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't push it. For a moment, he stared at the beautiful profile of the man sitting next to him. The tattoo artist did not look at him as if he was afraid to meet his eyes. His gaze was strangely absent, as if he had moved to Daegu in an instant, reliving the events of a few years ago.

"Jiwon's father was an alcoholic," he finally began, breaking the heavy silence. "He didn't take care of her. Honestly, I don't think he ever cared. He didn't care if she was going to school, if she had what to wear or what to eat, but he wasn't really aggressive. At least not against her. He never liked me. He didn't like the fact that I was hanging around his daughter. Ironically, he always said I was a bad influence on her..." That said, he snorted delicately.

He remembered well how Junsu told him more than once to get out of their apartment and stay away from Jiwon, and he almost staggered on his feet, standing on the threshold of the living room with a bottle of alcohol in his hand.

He never listened to him.

His rebellious nature did not allow him to submit to someone like that, and he felt a strange need to protect Jiwon. He really cared about her, and he didn't want to leave her alone with it.

"I was quite a problematic kid," he confessed, though, remembering well how many times his bad tongue had got him into trouble. "I had a lot of anger in me because my father left my mother and disappeared, god knows where. That's why my mom sent me to boxing classes. So that I could take this out. Direct my anger at the punching bag, not at peers or myself. It helped me. Boxing helped me to get my anger out, and painting calmed me down and helped me to reconcile with my emotions. Until now, this is the way I get out all my problems — I paint.

Jeongguk didn't have to ask. He understood it perfectly well. He used to express his emotions in this way too, but then this accident happened, and he couldn't paint anymore... That's why he focused on sports. He was running, boxing, swimming, exercising in the gym. He literally did everything to tire his body to the point that he couldn't even think anymore.

"Junsu hated me, but I tried not to worry about it. I ignored his drunken taunts. There was no point in arguing with someone who was mumbling and barely kept upright. Usually he would end up insulting me, calling me names, or telling me to stay away from his daughter and telling me what he will do if I don't listen to him. But I knew it was just his drunken talk. Nothing ever happened. Until then... A few months before we left for Seoul, Jiwon told her father that she was going to leave with me, and he didn't like it. I still remember how she came running to me that evening..."

Taehyung paused for a moment, then lifted the cigarette to his mouth and slipped it between his lips. He took a long drag, once again in the last few days, thinking back to the evening he had so much wanted to erase from his memory.

"She was shaking, crying... But what was the worst thing... It was the fact that her entire left cheek was blue and swollen, her lip was all bloody, cut heavily. For a long time she did not want to say what happened, but finally she confessed to me that it was her father who hit her when she told him that she was going to leave with me... When she told me about it... I was furious. I couldn't understand how someone could hit a woman... How a father could hit his own child... Without thinking about it, I just ran out of the house and ran to their apartment. Our houses were only one block away. Her father was alone when I burst in, so I asked him how he could have done something like that. How could he hit her? I screamed at him. I threatened that if he touched her again, he would deal with me, and he laughed in my face. I felt my anger buzzing in my veins ... I didn't want to take my anger out on him, but when I was about to leave, Junsu swung at me and hit me on the head with a vodka bottle. I pushed him away and we struggled. I was much stronger than him, so I won this fight without any problems. I don't even know why or how it all happened, but after a while... After a while, I was sitting on him and hitting him with my fists... I don't remember much about that moment. I was so damn pissed at him for raising his hand against her because of me... that he had hurt someone who was so important to me... Everything was happening so fast... and then I was handcuffed and pushed into a police car..."

The tattoo artist paused for a moment, as if he needed a moment to breathe. The memories of that evening were still vivid in his mind, as if it had all happened yesterday instead of a few years ago. It was only after a few breaths that he was able to continue his story.

"Then Junsu testified that I just ran into his house and started punching him. He said I attacked him for no reason whatsoever, and I... I didn't tell them why I did it because Jiwon didn't want to testify against her father. The case did not look good... I would face a sentence, because I was already an adult, and the evidence and testimonies of witnesses were to my disadvantage. So my mother took Jiwon for a forensic examination and threatened Junsu that if he did not withdraw his testimony, she would denounce him for beating his daughter. I think he got scared, because after a few days he withdrew his testimony and the case was discontinued."

"Why have you never told me this before?" The young CEO asked, still staring at his beautiful profile. It was only after he said this that the tattoo artist shifted his gaze to him.

"Because there is nothing else I'm ashamed more than that night," he confessed. "I didn't want you to see that boy when you looked at me."

Jeongguk stretched out his hand without hesitation and stroked the tattoo artist's cheek with his fingertips, staring directly at his beautiful onyx irises. His dark eyes were gentle and full of sincerity.

"Looking at you, I only see this wonderful man with whom I fell in love and a wonderful father who loves his son the most in the world. Nothing's gonna change that."

"I should have told you this yesterday," the tattoo artist said suddenly, taking a drag on his cigarette. "When Jiwon mentioned that I was aggressive towards her, when she mentioned that she had photos to prove it... I knew she meant photos from her forensic examination... these photos..." Taehyung ran a hand through his fiery red hair and looked him straight in the eyes. "I know that I shouldn't have beaten Junsu then, and there wasn't a day when I didn't think about it and didn't regret it. He should be punished for what he did to his daughter, but it shouldn't be up to me to decide. I got carried away, but I'm no longer the angry teenager I was a few years ago. And I swear I never touched Jiwon. I would never be able to hit a woman. I don't know why she said that..."

"Tae..." Jeongguk said finally, running his tongue over his bottom lip.

The tattoo artist noticed that the boy was oddly pale, and in an instant all the contents of his stomach were in his throat. Looking into his dark eyes, he knew something else had happened.

"You saw these photos..." he choked out, once again reading him as if he was an open book. "Did... Did Jiwon tell you I beat her?" He asked, though his words didn't sound like a question at all. When he saw how pale the boy was, he knew. "Jeez," he groaned, running a hand over his handsome face. He was silent for a moment, as if trying to put it all together in his head, then looked at him again. "Why is she doing this to me?" He asked, clearly not understanding the intentions that might have been driving the girl. "What if... If she shows it to someone, and they want to take Jae away from me?"

"Hey, Tae... Honey..." Jeongguk said quickly, taking his hand. "Look at me," he instructed, and as the tattoo artist looked at him, he gently grasped his chin. "Nobody is going to take Jae away from you. We will not allow it."

"If it's her word against mine... Who will believe me?" He asked, clearly nervous. "I-I'm just an ordinary tattoo artist, and she..."

"Tae, listen to me. Lisa... Jiwon..." he corrected himself quickly. "Jesus, I don't even know what to call her now..." he assessed, rolling his eyes. "She never wanted a baby. She doesn't care about Jae. She wants my name, and she certainly won't get this. I'm not going to have anything else to do with her. Especially now that it all has come out. She could convince my father, but not me..."

"Y-your father?" the tattoo artist repeated.

"My father knows about everything... About us. About the fact that you are a man... And surprisingly he did not take it as bad as I expected, but Lisa... She showed him a police report on the attack on Junsu and... And photos from her forensic examination... She said that you beat her..."

"Oh, God..." the tattoo artist groaned.

He raised a slightly trembling hand to his mouth and took one last drag on the cigarette, then crushed it against the sidewalk, then pulled out another cigarette. He was so upset that he couldn't help himself. Jeongguk watched him grab the pipe with his lips. Holding it, he grasped the lighter quickly and ran his fingertip over the igniter, but it only spat out a few tiny sparkles. The tattoo artist resumed his activity, but his hands were starting to tremble so much that the lighter slipped out of his hand and fell onto the pavement next to his feet.

"Fuck," he cursed, irritated.

He leaned in to reach the lighter, but Jeongguk beat him. So he looked at him. The young CEO ran his thumb over the little circle, setting the fuse in motion, and as the lighter spat out an orange-yellow flame, he pulled it towards him. Taehyung slipped the pipe into his mouth again and stuck the tip into the flame, setting the cigarette on fire. He took a long drag, holding the smoke in his lungs for a long moment, and closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to calm down enough that his hands finally stopped trembling. Just the thought that Jiwon might want to take his son away from him made him feel sick.

Jae was his whole world. He couldn't lose him.

"Honey," Jeongguk said softly.

"Gguk, what am I supposed to do now? Nobody will believe me... Your father... He'll think I'm some kind of monster..." he choked out, feeling that with every word that rolled out of his mouth, he felt more and more sick.

"Tae, it doesn't matter to me. I know who you are. How amazing you are..."

"But it matters to me!" The tattoo artist protested. "I don't want you to be ashamed of me... For you to..."

"Honey, look at me," the brunet ordered, slipping a hand under his chin to turn his face towards him. "The truth will defend itself. Lisa can lie and cheat, but that won't last long. Sooner or later it will all come out, and they will find out who is telling the truth. And I will never, ever be ashamed of you. I love you and nothing can change that..." As he spoke, he leaned towards him and kissed his lips. "I know you would never lie to me. I believe you, and nothing Lisa says will change that."

"You don't even know how much I love you, Gguk," Kim whispered, finally curving his lips into a gentle smile.

"We'll survive it, baby," the young CEO said confidently. "Nobody and nothing can keep us apart... Not even Lisa."

***

Jeongguk looked at his laptop screen one more time to make sure he hadn't missed any point in his presentation, then looked at the men gathered in the office. He looked slowly over each of them, as if to see if the crowd had any doubts, but everything seemed clear. He moistened his lips and looked at his father for a few brief moments.

Jiseok, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, was sitting on the opposite side of the table. He wasn't looking at him. His eyes were fixed on the documents in his hand. So Jeongguk cleared his throat and shifted his position. His right hand almost involuntarily reached his tie to tighten the knot.

"For my part, that's all for today," he said finally. "Are there any doubts or questions?" He asked, glancing at the audience again, but none of the people present spoke. "Okay, great. In that case, thank you all for your presence. If any questions arise, please let me know," he added, relieved that the meeting was finally over. "You can all go back to your duties," he added, then began gathering documents.

The crowd began to gather their belongings and slowly left the office, bowing gently to him before leaving. And he just smiled shyly at them, feeling a bit awkward. He was not used to being treated that way by people older than him. Ever since he took over as CEO, everyone has treated him with even more respect.

As all the other staff members had left his office, leaving only him and his father, he looked back at him. Jiseok said nothing, but he seemed to be reluctant to leave, to be alone with him. The man folded the documents in front of him into a neat pile and removed his glasses from his eyes. He folded them and put them in the black case, then got up from his seat. Only then did he look at him.

"I must admit, I was a little worried about how you would handle this meeting," he finally said. "Because of... What is happening now..." he added, then paused for a moment. "You did great, son."

"Seokjin helped me a lot," the younger one replied. "But thank you, father. I know it was an important meeting. I wanted to do well," he admitted.

Jiseok nodded and grabbed his papers as he started to leave.

"Father," Jeongguk called him, and the man looked at him questioningly. "I wanted to talk to you for a while," the boy announced, feeling nervous growing.

For a moment, his father looked at him with a hard gaze, as if he wondered if he should stay and talk to him, or if he'd better turn on his heel and leave. Feeling his father's appraising gaze upon him, he shifted nervously from foot to foot, swallowing hard. His right hand lifted almost involuntarily, smoothing his tie.

"Y-you probably already know, but... Yesterday, I called the Grand Hyatt and canceled Saturday's wedding..." he confessed. "I also sent messages to the invitees saying that the wedding was canceled, but Lee Yeongmin was also on the guest list. I couldn't find any contact to him, and I know you are friends..."

"I'll let him know that the ceremony is canceled," Mr. Jeon replied quickly, reading his intentions. His voice was oddly impassive, as if he didn't want to show too much emotion that might reveal what he really thought about it.

"Thank you," the younger one said softly.

"Are you sure about this, Gguk?" Jiseok asked after a pause, looking back at his son. "That you want to cancel this wedding?" he clarified, although he knew that it was probably not necessary.

"I have never been so sure of anything in my life," the brunet replied, finally gathering the courage to look his father straight in the eyes. "No matter who I am with or how my relationship develops... I couldn't get married to someone who had lied to me for over three years. Especially since... I would never be able to love her..."

Jeongguk paused for a moment, then slipped his hand into his suit jacket pocket, sensing a velvet box under his fingertips. He clenched his hand on it and found his father's gaze again. Involuntarily, the heart in his chest began to beat twice as hard.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly. "I-I know I let you down..." he confessed suddenly. He didn't look at him as he spoke, not daring to meet his father's eyes. He was afraid he would see disappointment in them. "I cheated on my fiancée and lied to you... I got involved with... with another man and... I know that you'd rather have another son..."

"Gguk, I can't say I'm proud of what you've done... But you're still my son. Everyone makes mistakes... It's important to learn from them and not repeat them again. And frankly speaking, I don't mind if you could have a relationship with a man, but this boy... It is a huge mistake to be in a relationship with him."

"Taehyung is not a mistake," Jeongguk interrupted. Even though he felt nervous, his voice sounded remarkably confident.

"He hurt Lisa, Gguk!" The man protested. "Maybe she also messed up a lot. She shouldn't have been hiding her past from you, and I won't press you for a wedding if you're sure you don't want it, but that doesn't mean I'll suddenly start tolerating your relationship with this boy. He hit her and beat this man..."

"He didn't hurt her!" The brunet replied quickly, raising his voice a little. "This man from the report, Junsu Hwang, is Lisa's father, and he beat her then. Taehyung told me everything. He... Tae was trying to protect her."

"Gguk..."

"You may not believe me, but I believe him. I know he would never hurt her."

"I don't know what to tell you, son," Jiseok admitted. "Why would Lisa lie about such a thing? This police report, forensics... These documents are real."

"The report is real, but Lisa has cleverly bent the facts so that you think Tae is aggressive. It's not true. He just wanted to protect Lisa. In fact, it's his only offense, and she is trying to manipulate us..."

"I don't know, son. Lisa has no reason to lie to us."

"She can't accept the fact that I broke my engagement with her. That is enough reason to discredit Tae in the eyes of my family, to turn me against him and lead to our breakup, but she will fail."

Jiseok sighed loudly, but was silent for a long moment, only staring at his own hands as if he didn't know what to do next with that knowledge. He wanted to believe that his son was making the right decision, trusting this boy, but something kept him from believing it. He had known Lisa for almost four years. Could the girl fool him like that?

"I wish your mother was here with us..." he confessed suddenly, looking at his son. "She would surely know what to tell you. She knew people like no one else..." he added, looking ahead with a strange nostalgia, then laughed softly, as if he was just remembering something. And the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "She even had a feeling about your orientation... When you were maybe ten or eleven, she told me that she thought you had a crush on a boy from school. Yeona had a gift. One look would be enough to know if this boy is worth you..."

"Do you miss her?" Jeongguk asked, feeling his throat clench painfully with too much emotion at the mention of his mother.

His father was right. Yeona Jeon was special. However, he was convinced that she would love Taehyung.

"Not a day goes by that I don't miss her, son..." Jiseok admitted, smiling sadly. "Yeona... She was the love of my life. Don't get me wrong, Keiko is wonderful, and I love her, but you can love so strongly only once..."

Jiseok looked at him again and for a moment stared at his face as intently as if he had scanned every inch of it. Jeongguk was so similar to his wife, who died tragically. All he had to do was look at him, and he could see her. Sometimes it made him avoid looking at him. The resemblance to his mother was so great that he was flooded with a wave of such longing and such sadness that he couldn't handle it. This time, however, he wanted to see her again, and he knew it was enough for him to find the gaze of Jeongguk's dark, doe eyes to see her gaze.

"You look so much like her," he said softly, before he realized he had spoken the words aloud. "All I have to do is look at you and I can see her... She loved you so much. I wish she was here because she would surely know what to do. I don't know if this boy is telling the truth, and I won't tell you what to do. You are an adult, and you decide for yourself, but please... Be careful. If what Lisa says is true, this boy could be dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Tae would never hurt me," the brunet replied without a trace of hesitation.

"I hope you are right, son," replied Jiseok.

After a while, there was silence again between them. The two men remained silent, letting the words spoken a moment before remain in their memories. Jeongguk slipped his hand back into his suit jacket pocket and tightened his fingers around the satin box, finally slowly pulling it out. He shifted his gaze to it, feeling a strange pressure in his chest. He grabbed it with both hands and took a few steps towards his father, reducing the distance between them almost to a minimum, then pulled the box towards him.

"I-I guess I should give it back to you, since..." he began, and Jiseok looked at the hand that was extended to him.

The box on Jeongguk's hand was closed, but he knew exactly what was inside — the wedding rings he had given him a while ago, hoping it would be his son and Lisa's wedding rings.

"S-since I'm not getting married to Lisa... I think I should return those wedding rings..." the boy explained, feeling his throat close.

When his father gave him these wedding rings, he did not want to marry Lisa. Still, he remembered how touched he felt that this was something his mother had left for him, believing that one day he would be able to give this ring to someone who would be his whole world. He felt a strange sadness and pain as he gave the gift back, but he knew he should. His father gave them to him, being sure that Lisa would get one of them. Lisa didn't deserve this ring, but neither did he.

"No, son," Jiseok protested, looking at his son's dark irises. He reached out and closed the brunet's hands, clenching his fingers around a small box. "Your mom wanted you to give this wedding ring to someone you love as much as I loved her, and she loved me. It might not be Lisa, but it's up to you to decide who's worth wearing this ring. I believe when the time comes, you will make the right decision."

Jeongguk wanted to say thanks, but emotions tightened an invisible fist around his larynx, tying the words together in his throat. So he nodded only to show that he appreciated his father's gesture. He felt his eyes pinch, and he blinked quickly, not wanting to let the tears pool in his eyes. Jiseok smiled gently, then patted him on the shoulder and pulled away, increasing the distance between them. He looked at the desk and took his papers from it, then headed for the door. He opened it and was about to step into the office when suddenly the young CEO called him again.

"Father!" He shouted and in an instant ran to his father, standing in front of him. He parted his lips but closed them again, as if he didn't know if what he was about to do was the right thing to do. "D-Do you have a moment now?" He asked finally, gathering his courage.

Jiseok looked surprised by his question. He glanced through the open door toward the hallway, where he had just spotted his older son, then looked back at Jeongguk.

"I was supposed to go to lunch with Seokjin..." he explained. "Something happened?" He asked, frowning together.

"N-no. I mean... Yes," the brunet choked out, feeling nervous.

He looked over his father's shoulder and saw Seokjin just walking towards them, and for a moment he thought maybe he should back off, but he knew that if he did now, perhaps this strange moment between him and his father would never happen again. He rarely had the opportunity to talk to his father about anything unrelated to TJE.

"I-I'd like to take you somewhere," he confessed quickly, looking directly at his father. "P-please..." he added in an almost pleading voice.

"I'm ready, dad. We can go," a voice said suddenly behind them, and after a moment Jin stood in front of them.

Jiseok looked at Seokjin and nodded that he had heard his words, before shifting his gaze to Jeongguk. Even though the dark-haired man said nothing, he noticed that his upright silhouette somehow shrank strangely, as if the boy curled his shoulders under the influence of his brother's words. The young CEO was no longer looking at him, he was now staring at his own hands. The man looked at the older son again, then curled his lips in an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, son," he said. "I have to do something with Jeongguk. I don't have time to go out to lunch with you now. Go alone, I'll eat something quick in the office later," he explained.

"Oh, okay. Then maybe I'll get you something to take away," Jin said, then patted his father on the back and headed for the exit.

When Jiseok shifted his gaze back to Jeongguk, he was already looking at him, fixing him with the dark gaze of his doe eyes, deceptively reminiscent of the love of his life.

"Then where do you want to take me, son?" He asked, and although the younger one didn't answer, he could have sworn he saw some strange glimmer of hope in his gaze.

***

Only when the car slowed down, signaling that they were approaching their destination, did Jiseok shift his gaze to his son. The boy didn't speak to him all the way from the office. He only glanced at him surreptitiously, as if he wanted to make sure his father didn't blame him for almost kidnapping him from the office without explaining a word where they were going. The young CEO looked nervous, his hands gripping a little too tightly on the black steering wheel, showing anxiety. The lips were pressed in a narrow line.

Jeongguk mentally thanked that his father couldn't hear his heart pounding in his chest, bouncing erratically against his ribs like a bird trapped in a cage. He moistened his lips, dry with nervousness, and turned the car over to one of the vacant parking spaces. He turned off the engine and for a moment stared at his hands, gripped a little too tightly on the black leather steering wheel. His own milky skin was cut with unsightly scars.

It took a moment for him to find the courage to look at his father. He unfastened his seat belts quickly and tightened his fingers on the doorknob, slowly opening the Mercedes door.

"Here we are," he said, and the man nodded and unhooked his seat belt as well.

They got out almost at the same time, but Jeongguk still hesitated to close the car door for a while, as if he feared that if he did, there would be no turning back. He felt nervous because he knew he was about to do something he had always feared — to expose himself to his father, allowing him to destroy himself.

Jiseok looked around as if his eyes were trying to find something that would tell him what they were actually doing here, but he saw nothing of it. There weren't many restaurants in the area, although he doubted his younger son would get him out of the office, as he was going to take him to lunch. There was a different reason for it, he guessed. While they were driving here, he thought that maybe Jeongguk wanted to confront him with this assaulted man or the red-haired boy he was dating. However, when the young CEO parked the car in front of one of the parks, he quickly put the idea out of his head.

"What are we going to do here?" He asked, looking at his son.

"I want to show you something," the boy replied laconically, then pointed ahead, thus showing that the man should follow in his footsteps.

Jiseok asked no more where they were going. He followed Jeongguk, who began to lead him deeper into the park. The young CEO was walking quite slowly, but his step was sure, as if he knew the way well. And it must have been so, judging by the way he efficiently passed the people by, heading towards a goal known only to him. When they came to a fairly large playground, the brunet suddenly stopped. His eyes quickly scanned the area around, as if looking for someone. Jiseok looked around as well, wondering who or what the boy might be looking for.

"What are we doing here?" He asked again, not knowing why Jeongguk had brought him here.

The young CEO ignored his question once again, he took his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at the display to check the time. Usually his left wrist adorned a watch that was a gift from Lisa, but he had stopped wearing it for some time, and now it was lying in one of the drawers in the penthouse.

"They should be here soon," he said, more to himself than to his father, slipping his cell phone into his pocket and looking back at the playground.

Jiseok furrowed his eyebrows together. He didn't understand what was actually happening and what they were doing here. He parted his lips to ask something, but before any words rolled out of his mouth, he saw Jeongguk move as if he recognized someone. He shifted his gaze to him, studying him closely. Something in his posture had changed, as if all the tension that had pierced his muscles had disappeared somewhere. He could almost swear that the corner of his lips lifted involuntarily for a few seconds.

"They are here," the boy suddenly whispered. Jiseok wasn't sure if the words were meant for him, or if the brunet spoke them to himself.

But he shifted his gaze in the direction his son was staring at. At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He was scanning quickly people gathered around, finally focusing his attention on the playground that his son seemed to be looking at and after a while he noticed him — the red-haired boy he saw with Jeongguk in front of Seokjin's house was just heading towards one of the merry-go-rounds, leading a little boy by the hand.

They watched him for a long time in complete silence, watching the boy play with the baby. The little one was laughing out loud, and even though they were standing quite far away, they could still hear his melodious laugh. Only when the redhead led the boy towards one of the swings and sat on it, placing the boy on his lap, Jeongguk moved and looked at his father.

"What do you see?" He asked.

The man shifted from foot to foot as if he were a bit nervous about his question, or as if he didn't know what to answer exactly.

"What do you see when you look at him, father?" The brunet asked again.

"Y-your friend..." the man replied.

Even though it was meant to be a statement, it sounded more like a question on his lips. Jeongguk wanted to snort at the phrase "friend". But he restrained himself.

"I'm not asking who he is to me, but what do you see," the brunet corrected him, waiting for his father's answer.

The man looked back at the tattoo artist and only stared at him for a long moment. The boy rocked on the swing, holding the toddler in his lap. There was a wide smile on his face, so much like the one on a child's face.

"I see..." he began hesitantly, as if he didn't know what Jeongguk was expecting from him. "I see a red haired boy with a lot of tattoos. He has quite an extravagant style. He looks like someone I'd rather stay away from, although when he smiles he looks friendly. Carefree. He may be in his twenties. If I did not know, I would rather think that this little one is his little brother. He looks too young to be a father..." he finally assessed, describing the image in front of his eyes.

Jeongguk smiled a little under his breath, though the smile did not reach his eyes. His father said exactly what he expected to hear. This was what most people saw when looking at Tae. But he looked deeper. He saw what others could not or did not want to see.

"Do you want to know what I see when I look at him?" He asked, though he didn't expect an answer at all.

And so he was going to tell his father what was on his heart. He felt he had to do this. So he sucked a gasp of air into his lungs and continued talking.

"I see a boy raised only by his mother, who worked two jobs and still barely made ends meet. Nevertheless, she did everything to fulfill his dream that her son could paint. And when Taehyung got the chance to pursue his passion, he worked hard not to let her down. With his talent and hard work, he won a place at the Academy of Fine Arts in Seoul. You know how hard it is to get there. Only a few have such a chance, and they knew he was worthy of this place. I see a boy who at the age of twenty became a father, but nevertheless took up the challenge. He didn't run away, he didn't blink out of responsibility, as probably most men his age would have done. On the contrary. It was he who persuaded his partner not to terminate the pregnancy because he could not imagine that he could kill his own child. He would never have allowed his son to grow up without a father. I see a boy who gave up his own dream and dropped out of the studies he worked so hard for to support his family and raise his child as best he could. I see a boy who takes extra hours at work so that as a single father, he can provide his son with everything he did not have as a child. He wants his son to have the best of everything, but most of all, that he would have the love and attention of his father. I see a boy who is the only one who has never been interested in my money, who has never tried to use my name and my influence. I see a boy who loves me despite knowing that I have panic attacks for over ten years and I can't cope with myself. It was he who held my hand when I asked him to come with me to my mother's grave. It was he who rode with me to Jeju and held me in his arms until I stopped crying like a baby when I entered her studio. I see the boy who made me paint again. Thanks to whom I smile again and laugh as if I have a right to be happy. And for whom I want to be a better man. A boy who doesn't abhor touching my scars because he thinks they're part of me, not something that only disfigures my body, as Lisa thought. I see someone who loves me so much that he would jump into the fire for me if I only asked him to..."

Jeongguk paused for a moment, feeling his throat tighten so much that he wouldn't be able to say a word. He wasn't looking at his father. His gaze was on Taehyung, but he knew Jiseok was watching him closely. Almost involuntarily, he slipped his hand into his suit pocket and felt with his fingertips the velvet box he had put in there before he left the office. He took it out and lifted the lid. On a small velvet cushion were the wedding rings his father had given him. He took one of them in his fingers and held it up as if he wanted to get a better look at it.

"You told me that my mother would like this wedding ring to be given to someone I really love and who would be worthy of my love..." he said finally, staring at the jewelry he held in his fingers. "If anyone ever gets this wedding ring... It will be him..." he confessed with a certain voice.

Until now, his relationship with Tae had seemed like a beautiful but unattainable dream. Now, looking at him, he knew he could spend the rest of his life with him. He had never been so sure of anything.

"I love my family. You and Seokjin are very important to me. And I hope it never comes to that..." He began to speak again, slowly verbalizing his worst fears. "But I want you to know that if I ever have to choose between my family and him... I will do exactly the same as you did..." saying that, he put the wedding ring back in the box and closed its lid, then slipped the box back into his black pocket.

He said nothing more. Without looking at his father, he walked forward, slowly walking the distance between him and the man sitting on the swing. When he was about a meter from him, Taehyung, as if feeling his presence, raised his head and their eyes met. The tattoo artist's lips curved into a beautiful arc, and Jeongguk quickly covered the last centimeters between them and, not caring about the fact that his father was most likely still watching them, pressed their lips together in a tender kiss.

***

Jeongguk slept unusually well that night. He felt strangely calm as he fell asleep in Taehyung's arms. After talking to his father, his demons finally calmed down. He didn't know if Jiseok believed his words. Perhaps the man will decide to believe Lisa's words anyway. It didn't matter anymore. Jeongguk did everything he could to show him who Kim Taehyung really was. It was his father who had to decide which side he would be on.

As the young CEO rolled over and, eyes still closed, reached out to pull his beloved's body against him, he realized that he was lying in bed alone. He opened his eyes quickly and saw that Taehyung was not there, though the sheet on his side was still matted, as if he had just stood up.

The brunet pulled himself up to a sitting position and quickly lowered his feet onto the wooden panels. He ran his hands over his sleepy face and checked his watch. It was four in the morning. He looked around the room, which was still dark, as if he wanted to find some clue of where Tae might be, but a familiar scent crept into his nostrils, and it was enough for him to know where to find him.

He got up and picked up the sweatpants from the cupboard to slide them quickly over his naked body and, placing his bare feet carefully so as not to wake Jae by accident, he headed for the art studio. The door was unlocked, so he pushed it lightly and slipped inside. The room was filled with a pleasant, slightly yellowish light and the smell of fresh paint. As expected, Taehyung was sitting on the floor in the middle of the studio. The boy had his back to him, and he was obviously so engrossed in painting that he didn't even hear his footsteps.

So Jeongguk stopped at the threshold of the studio and, leaning against the door frame, looked at him for a moment with impunity. The boy was painting, almost as if he were in a trance. He stared at the canvas and ran his brush quickly over it, making long, confident strokes. He couldn't see exactly what the tattoo artist was painting from where he was standing, so pushed by his curiosity, he took a step forward.

As he did so, he could see the picture painted by the redhead in almost all its glory. This time, however, his own eyes were not looking at him from the canvas, though the ones he saw were just as familiar. But there was something else in their gaze, something new — hope? The girl in the painting had softer features and slightly rounder cheeks. Her dark hair was just below the shoulder line, exactly like the photo from the police forensics he had seen in the office. Her beautiful face, however, was not decorated with disfiguring bruises, but a beautiful, sincere smile.

Lisa was beautiful. He would say even much more beautiful than the girl he called his fiancée, perhaps because there was some truth in her gaze. The looks of Lisa he knew were not so sincere.

Taehyung ran the brush over the canvas once more, then threw it abruptly to the floor at his bare feet and gripped the canvas with his hand as if to destroy it.

"Don't!" Jeongguk called quickly, and as the tattoo artist turned his surprised look at him, he added quickly, "It's beautiful. Don't destroy it."

The redhead withdrew his hand and smiled shyly. He looked a bit embarrassed that Jeongguk saw him painting Jiwon.

"You can't sleep?" The young CEO asked, cautiously approaching him.

Taehyung watched his movements. The brunet moved nimbly, gently swaying his hips, as if he was walking down the catwalk, not the damaged panels of a small art studio. He wore only sweatpants that hung low over his hips, exposing the sexy V-line and the still visible bruise that graced the lower abdominal muscles just above the line of fine, dark hairs covering his underbelly.

"I was lying in bed and I thought I was going crazy... I had to do something, and painting... You know..." he explained quietly, shrugging his shoulders.

"I've never seen her like this," the brunet suddenly confessed, stopping a step away from him.

As Taehyung looked at him, he noticed that his dark gaze was fixed on Lisa's face as she emerged from the white canvas.

"This is one of those days that I have in mind. It was shortly before our arrival in Seoul. I got into the Academy, and Jiwon got into the university that she dreamed of. It was supposed to be the beginning of something wonderful, and it turned out that it was the beginning of our end..."

"I'm sorry," Jeongguk said suddenly, and as the tattoo artist pinched his eyebrows together, not understanding why he was apologizing to him, he added quickly, "I was so focused on myself and Lisa lying to me these three years that I sometimes forget that it applies to you too... That you suffer from it too... It was because of me that your life shattered. You loved her, and I..."

"Gguk, honey, you didn't do anything," Kim quickly protested, and almost involuntarily pulled him towards him. The young CEO sat on the ground in front of him, letting the man's tattooed arms wrap around his bare chest. "Me and Jiwon... It was doomed from the beginning," the redhead continued. "She always wanted to live differently from me. When I was a teenager, I was under the illusion that I could make her dreams come true, but now I know that I wouldn't be able to make her happy. We were too different from each other. Besides, I am not even surprised that having you and me, she did not hesitate which of us to choose..."

"Don't say that, Tae," the brunet scolded him, turning to face him. "I had a chance to taste life with and without you... Lisa is stupid to ever let you go."

"I'm just a stupid loser who has barely graduated from school and who puts all the money earned into this apartment and my son's kindergarten."

"You are the greatest man I know, Tae. You're too good for her. She never deserved you... Not then, not now. I will probably never deserve you either... We both know that the only thing I have better is a thick wallet. If it weren't for this, Lisa probably would never have looked at me."

"Since I met you, I have been thanking myself silently that my relationship with Jiwon has broken up. What we had in common was a stupid puppy love. Back then, I didn't know what it really meant to love someone. After she left me, I lost faith for a moment that I could ever be happy with someone. I did not believe that someone could love me as I am. I thought I would always be insufficient, because Jiwon made me feel like that... And then you showed up..." That said, the tattoo artist took his chin with his hand, accidentally staining his cheek with paint. However, he wasn't concerned about it, and he knew that Jeongguk didn't mind either. He smiled gently at him. "And I think I'm starting to believe that our fairy tale can have a happy end..." he confessed, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Is... Is what you told me on Jeju the truth? Have you thought we might get married someday?" The brunet asked suddenly.

Taehyung was silent for a moment, as if he thought back to that conversation when, under the influence of emotions, he said too much. He then admitted that he had thought about their wedding, but lied, saying that it might have happened once or twice. He thought about it a lot. He didn't know why. Perhaps because only Jeongguk could get where he had never allowed anyone else before.

At this memory, the image of Jeongguk on this beautiful beach in Jeju again appeared in his mind, walking towards him in a white shirt, unbuttoned from several top buttons. His dark hair, much longer than it is now, wavy with moisture, blown by a fresh breeze, and that beautiful smile on his handsome face, illuminated by the rays of the setting sun.

"You don't even know how many times," he finally admitted, feeling strangely touched that he could finally say it out loud. "I don't know why, maybe because I have a son and I wanted us to be a real family after all... I thought you might adopt Jae someday... that if anything happened to me, he would have you. His other dad..."

"Oh, Tae..." the young CEO whispered. "Nothing's going to happen to you. Not with me. Neither you nor Jae. I will take care of you..." he said quickly. "Honestly, I never had the courage to allow myself to think about this... I wanted to be with you. I wanted to be part of your family. Yours and Jae. But I never even had the courage to dream about it..." he confessed quietly. "It seemed out of my reach... I still can't believe that after all that has happened and what you have learned, you are still here and still want to be with me."

"Jeongguk, never doubt my feelings for you. I love you. All of you. Even what you are ashamed of. And I want you to know that if I ever have the honor of being able to call you not only my partner but my husband... It will be the happiest day of my life."

"You can't tell me things like that, Tae," the young CEO said quickly, looking up to keep the tears from coming from his eyes. He bit his lower lip involuntarily, feeling that he was about to cry.

"Why not?" the tattoo artist asked, cupping his chin again to face him.

Jeongguk avoided looking at him for a moment longer, but when the tattoo artist did not give up, he finally looked at him. His eyes were wet with tears. Taehyung almost instinctively wiped the rolling tear from his cheek with his thumb.

"You are the best thing that has happened to me in my life," the brunet choked out. "When I was talking to my father today, for the first time I thought that I could really have it all... Everything that I did not even dare to dream about... I thought that without family acceptance it wouldn't be possible, but I think I finally realized that even if my father wouldn't accept that we were together, I would not give up on you, Tae. My last name, all this money and privileges, everything I have, it doesn't matter in the slightest if I don't have you. I got to know the taste of life without you... And it was... It was like hell on earth... I read a book by Mark Twain once, and there were some words that stuck in my mind, but I never understood their meaning as well as I do now. It's about what Adam wrote in his diary. He said he understood that it is better to live outside the Garden with Eve than in the Garden without her. In the past, I did not understand this, because there had to be everything in the Garden. It was Eden... But I realized that even Eden can lose its meaning and can turn into a real hell when you lose what is most important... You are my Eden, Tae. So no matter where we are, as long as we're together. "Wheresoever she was, THERE was Eden."

"And you complain that you can't talk beautifully?" the tattoo artist asked, smiling broadly.

"This is not the end..." the brunet quickly said, slipping his hand into the pocket of the sweatpants. "I have something for you," he confessed, smiling shyly. "And before you start to protest, I immediately say it's nothing expensive," he added, well aware of Taehyung's approach to expensive gifts.

"Oookaaay," the tattoo artist nodded, folding his lips into a gentle smile.

The brunet took his hand out of his pocket, but still Taehyung could not see what the boy had prepared for him, because his hand was clenched into a fist.

"Close your eyes and extend your left hand to me," the young CEO ordered.

Kim stared at them for a brief moment, but quickly surrendered to his will. He lowered his eyelids and held out his hand to him. Jeongguk took it gently, then, resting it on his thigh, finally spread his fist. He took the purchased thing in his fingers and carefully wrapped it around the tattoo artist's wrist, tying it tightly.

"Do you remember what you once told me about destiny and the red string..." he said, still not letting him see what he had bought for him. "You told me you wanted to believe we didn't meet by accident... And now I'm sure of it," he confessed. "That day I was supposed to show up at Kinky Heaven and you were supposed to tattoo me. It wasn't a coincidence, Tae. I think that something bigger connected us. Something we have no control over. It was destiny, Tae. You and me. It was written."

Jeongguk made sure the binding was well done, then looked at the tattoo artist. The man's eyes were still closed, but he could see his lips curved into a soft smile. He couldn't believe that someone could sit on the floor in a small art studio, with their hands dirty with paint and in their usual sweatpants, and look like an angel. In the yellow light of Taehyung's studio, he looked as ethereal as if he were the most beautiful man ever created.

Unable to resist, he stretched out his hand and ran his fingertips over the man's cheek, and feeling his touch, the red-haired man raised his eyelids again. They stared straight into each other's eyes for a magical moment, but finally the young CEO broke eye contact and took a gentle grip on the tattoo artist's wrist. Only then did Taehyung shift his gaze to his hand. Seeing what was on his left wrist, his lips curved into a beautiful smile.

"This is to remind you that none of this is a coincidence, baby. Me and you. That's what it was supposed to be..." Jeongguk explained.

Taehyung reached out and grasped the red string that now adorned his left wrist, then looked up to find the young CEO's chocolate irises.

"Because you and I... It's destiny, Gguk."

"I can feel it too, and I know our situation is not easy, but if you ever start to doubt it, take a look at this string. Do you remember what you told me?" He asked, then, without expecting an answer, continued, "It may be tangled, but it will never break... Whatever happens, I will always find you... Because you are my destiny, baby."

***

Ayashee:

It got a bit more romantic.

Lisa thought she could turn Taekook against each other and make them split, but Jeongguk stands behind Tae and finally has the courage to fight for that love, even if he has to choose between his family and Tae.

Do you think that Jeongguk will be forced to make such a drastic decision?

Can Lisa do anything to keep them apart?

xoxo