A/N: [italicized – past event]

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It was supposed to take him less than thirty minutes to reach the Esplanade Park from the Marina Bay Sands by walking. However, with the slow paces he took after he exited the hotel, it took almost an hour to reach there.

The park was free from a crowd. Only a few had just passed by him and did not seem to realize that he was a foreigner. The grayish river gently flowed, sparkling under the bright, orange sun. A soft, musty breeze of the evening caressed his porcelain skin, lightly tousling his crimped hair strands. A soft buzz from the ship and ferry tempted to break the calming silence. A linear row of trees stood tall behind a line of concrete benches, shading him occasionally from the setting sun.

Alone and surrounded by stillness, that was all he needed. Lost, hopelessness consumed him. Upon hearing the news, his world shook furiously and drowned him in emptiness, confusion, regret, and despair. What more word could he use to describe his agony? All dark words came surrounding him, playing unmercifully.

All the words were blaming him. Blaming him for not stopping Jiwoo, for allowing Soohyuk to take her away. If he had stopped her that day, the boss position would not have been handed to Hoseok, Jiwoo would still be with them, and the mess between Hoseok and Seokjin would not have happened.

His world painfully crawled. Gradually, each step he made felt heavier, forcing him to stop. His gaze fell aimlessly to the ground as he felt numb.

Soon, light water droplets poured down, but the chaos in his mind could barely register the wetness. Only after a few seconds, the drizzle turned into a heavy downpour, sending other visitors running out of the park. On the other hand, his feet rooted to the ground, refused to budge.

What happened a few years ago flashed before his eyes, vivid and unrelenting.

That time, Hoseok, Jiah, Namjoon, Jimin, Taehyung, Wheein, Jisoo, and Jungkook weren't part of Bejiwoo yet. Those days were way calmer. After years of working for Bejiwoo, those times were also when he was considering his feelings for Jiwoo.

But Soohyuk presented in their lives, forcing Yoongi to stop.

**********

As usual, Yoongi came early to work despite the hangover because of yesterday's hangouts with his friends from the alma mater. His walk to the boutique was sluggish, his face bloated.

His hair still knotted as he did not think of combing it. Comb it or not, his hair would remain tangled anyways. There was nothing he could do since he was born with that hair. Straightening it made it even more useless as it would not last long.

Shoving his hand into his favorite denim jacket pockets, he fished out a bunch of keys as he got closer to the boutique. However, just as he was a few steps away from the entrance, his steps stopped. He looked at the glass display to see the curtains were still there.

Suspicious, he carefully sauntered to the unlocked door. He tried not to make his footsteps loud as he entered the premises. He went to check the clock to see if there were staff who had clocked in earlier, but he saw none of the cards had new marks.

One of the office doors screeched, indicating that someone was around that area. He took a cloth hook, positioning it to one side with both hands. Once he stood behind the divider, he took a peek. His eyebrows furrowed as the stick was placed on the ground, resting it on the wall. Striding to Jiwoo's office, he saw Jiwoo bending down to look for something on her table.

"Noona," he called, causing Jiwoo to whip her head to the back. She gulped, her hands behind her as if she was hiding something. "What are you doing?" he asked.

He realized she came barefaced, revealing the healing bruises at the corner of her lips. No answers came from her, and that pushed him to emphasize her name. "Jung Jiwoo."

As if it had brought her back to the present, she displayed a questioning look and gave out a short hum, "hm?"

Yoongi repeated, "what are you doing?"

Jiwoo stuttered, "n-nothing. I was... I was looking for my w-wallet."

His eyebrows lightly creased. He said, "you can't fool me." Once again, he asked, "what are you doing?"

"I've said, it's nothing."

"Then, why are you looking scared?" Yoongi asked, moving his head to one side and looking at her from the corner of his slanted eyes. Assuming Soohyuk might be nearby, he looked left and right, checking the toilet and the pantry from the spot, but he was nowhere. It was impossible if he was behind the premise as the key to the back door was in Jungkook's hand.

Jiwoo looked away, laying her buttocks on the edge of the desk. Her palms rested on it, both thumbs flicking against her index finger. He heard Jiwoo let out a soft hiss before sending him a glare. She grunted, "damn it."

Concerned, he asked, "what's wrong?"

"Look, Yoongi," Jiwoo said, closing her eyes, both palms lifted and faced down. "Please don't tell everyone you've seen me here today."

Worried look finally spread across his face. "Why?"

"Just don't!" Jiwoo pressed.

Yoongi's tone came out exerting when he said, "I need to know what's going on with you."

"You won't understand if I explain. Just don't tell them I've been here."

Yoongi tried to remain calm as he asked, "Does this have something to do with Soohyuk?" Jiwoo ran her glance somewhere else, her eyebrows furrowing. His question was unanswered, inviting an unwanted silence. His stare at the founder of Bejiwoo broke when a square, yellow memo pad on the table caught his eye. It was marked with black ink. He could see Hoseok's name.

"What's this?" Yoongi asked, taking the memo pad from the table. Jiwoo tried to take it away from him, but he flicked his wrist faster with a click of his tongue. The message written on the memo got him overwhelmed. He questioned, "what is this all about? Why does Hoseok gotta take your job?"

Jiwoo sighed. She tried to explain in a calm manner, "so that I can retrieve my position when I return."

Her statement surprised Yoongi. "What?" he asked, almost exclaimed. "Where are you going?"

"That, I can't tell."

"Why?"

Jiwoo pursed her lips before saying, "because I can't. You won't understand."

Throwing his head to the back, finding this annoying, Yoongi said, "how can I not understand when you don't tell me things?" He returned to look at Jiwoo. "You're making me worried. What are you hiding?"

Inhaling a deep breath, Jiwoo said, "Yoongi, there's so much going on right now. I wish you to understand why I have to keep this a secret. I'm doing this for Bejiwoo's sake. I'll return, I promise."

"What bullshit are you spitting right now?"

In a warning tone, Jiwoo said, "Yoongi!"

"But really? Handing your position to your brother? He's barely a high school graduate, and he has no experience! Why are you doing this to him?"

"He will learn," Jiwoo said.

"Oh, come on!" Yoongi exclaimed, almost turning around, slapping the air. "With all the bullshit you're hiding from us, don't think I'll be willing to get involved."

"You have Seokjin and Amber with you!"

"And you're saying with them teaching Hoseok, he would learn something properly? I get that our fashion store isn't as big as the huge names, but we are busy every hour. Explain to me, how are we going to teach him?" Yoongi said.

"You can hire staff!"

"Staff?" The man let out an exasperated chuckle. "We're still tied with the In-Kang! Our profit's barely covering the average wage. And you want us to hire staff? What's gotten into you?"

Jiwoo pressed her fingers against her temples. Her voice came out brittle, saying, "I don't want to fight with you. I love you. I love all of you. So, please, Min Yoongi." She raised her head up, her face was glossy with tears, reflected by the dim light. Her gaze bore into his soul, in a mixture of fear and urgency. "What I'm trying to do is saving us from the In-Kang's tie. That's all I can tell you."

The man's Adam's apple bobbed up and down before a sigh was released. Yoongi ran his palm against his untangled hair and asked, "when are you returning?"

"I don't know," Jiwoo spoke softly. "That's why I want Hoseok to handle my job."

"Why not Amber? She's the co-founder."

"Because it means I'm transferring my position permanently to her. Or, at least, that's what we agreed in our contract," she explained.

Then, silence pursued their area, making the younger man think of ways to stop her. However, as they felt a presence standing before the corridor, his thinking came to a halt.

Soohyuk in a black turtleneck and navy blue jeans was there, staring at them dozily. "Are you done?" he asked, his tone came out insincere.

His unexpected presence got Jiwoo alert. She said, "uhm, I need a few more minutes."

Soohyuk shot a lazy glare at Yoongi before returning his glance to Jiwoo. As he prepared to walk out of the scene, he said, "quick!" Then, he gave a last glance at Yoongi and walked away.

Yoongi's attention returned to the woman in front of him, looking at her with a worried look. He could not push himself to utter a word this time; he didn't know why. In the end, he just watched Jiwoo peeling a piece of marked memo pad and sticking it on a stack of files.

Upon seeing her turning around, he asked, "you promise you will come back soon?" His intonation almost revealed desperation.

Jiwoo softly smiled at him. She replied, "maybe not soon? But I promise."

In that promise, he trusted her.

She walked out of the office with thick books in her embrace. However, her strides halted for her to turn around and told Yoongi – who was showing his back, "Yoongi-yah" (he looked at her over his shoulder), "please take care of my brother. I love you. Thank you!"

As she walked out, a question popped up in his mind. How long did he have to wait? How long until he could profess his feelings for her?

Being perceived as the most laidback staff among them, he wished there would be a moment for him to admit that he could lose it too. Not that he had a big bad temper, but everybody had their limits.

Because of that day, he had to make sure no traces of them entering the boutique could be found. He made sure that he had not inserted his card to the clock, to lock the door again and go somewhere, to purposely clock in late, to keep a poker face when Amber clocked in.

In that promise, he waited. Because of that promise, he had to be patient with Hoseok's drastic changes and sudden breakdown. When he told Amber he wanted to resign, he wasn't lying. But that was also an excuse, so that he could go find Jiwoo by himself.

But then, Bejiwoo needed him.

Because of that promise, he had taught himself to be more patient with everything.

In that promise, he trusted her.

**********

That promise broke him.

In a park where laughter and joy usually lingered in the air, a lone figure knelt with vulnerability in the middle of the platform. The pit-pattering of raindrops tuned down Yoongi's heart-wrenching sobs. His fists on his thighs, his head hung down with his shoulders sunk as they shook.

Drenched, his clothes clung to his body like a second skin, the continuous patting of the rainfall and chills reached down to his bone, felt numb.

If someone had the ability to force a thousand raw emotions in him, that would be Jiwoo.