Jumin's face blanched from intense shock and a tinge of fear. "Father..." He started, his lips moving by themselves. "How could you?"

He heard his father's breath hitch in the other side of the line; probably taken aback by his son's alienated words. He could tell Jumin felt betrayed from the sound of his voice.

But that didn't excuse the sense of disrespect it emitted. "Jumin. Do not speak to your own father that way," he stated firmly, closing his eyes while massaging his temples.

The raven-haired man forced his mouth shut, impeding himself from speaking ill of the chairman any further. "... My apologies."

"Listen," his father told him with a sigh, deciding to brush the past matters aside. "When it comes to tricky business like this, son, my advice is to never take it personally. You need to put your personal life and your work life in separate folders."

"What are you trying to say...?" Jumin glared at at the back of the car seat in front of him. "That I should marry Echo Girl, a completely impactful, personal decision, but somehow think of it as sealing a business deal?" he growled lowly, restraining his anger.

"That's not how it works-" Jumin abruptly stopped himself. A flashback took him back to just some weeks ago.

When he proposed to Jaehee.

That was the exact same sentence she said in response... So that's what she meant back then. Finally, he was able to understand her point of view.

"In this industry," his father reprimanded him as if he were a mere disobedient child, "It is. So Jumin, stop thinking only for yourself, and think for the company... please."

Jumin became unresponsive, glancing away with a lost gaze.

"That is what I'm doing," Mr. Chairman informed him grimly, the pain he was trying to hide seeping into his voice.

"I..." Jumin's distant glare through the window became even more intense and his words came out with just as much tenacity. "I refuse."

His father rolled on his cushioned chair. "Then deal with the consequences." Was his cold sentence. Defeated, the older man hung up.

Jumin heaved a distressed sigh; suddenly wanting the earth to swallow him whole.
-

That night, Jumin was entirely unable to conceal sleep. He wasn't completely sure why, but he supposed the Kyungju Choi issue was a strong cause of his insomnia.

He wanted to forget about it. To simply not care... that's what he usually would have done when it came to arranged marriages proposed to him (quite frequently, as well).

But this was different. Because of the blackmailing, the tight position his father and C&R as a whole were in, he had no choice but to care. Worry, even.

And he loathed it. Didn't his father know how much he despised those women? That literally the only way he would touch them was with a stick.

A stick at least five meters long.

At least his dear Elizabeth was there to comfort him. She slowly walked towards his tired figure, arms and legs extended all over his king-sized bed with what anybody would claim was a sweet smile.

She purred as she stroked herself against his feet and he returned her affection by caressing her head gently.

With his beloved kitten by his side, the corporate heir's eyes eventually drift off to slumber.
-

Unfortunately, what he dreams was of great contrast to what he expected.

"No! No! Don't go...!" He heard his own voice cry desperately. But there was a big distinction.

This self of him was four-years-old. He saw the child version of himself grabbing tightly to the ends of his mother's skirt, refusing to give up his grip. He remembered this moment, it was the last time he saw his mother: when the divorce happened.

"M-mommy!" he shouted, tears sparkling and falling from the borders of his scared eyes as he stared at her with breaking hope.

"Jumin, do not call me such a babyish name..." she nagged him with her usual stern gaze, face unusually pale. She was holding the door handle, about to leave.

She pulled back at her coattails, attempting to make her son let go of the fabric, but it was in vain. Not that she was trying too hard in fear of accidentally making him stumble and fall.

"Let go," Jooeun implored, pleadingly but firmly as well. Her eyes wavered, but she immediately forced them to become stone hard also.

"No!" the toddler begged again. "Don't leave me! Please..." He finally let go of her, his fingers slipping from the dress. There were burn marks on Jumin's tiny hands from how hard he held it and he stared at them before resolving to wiping the stream of cold tears from his eyes.

"Are you crying?" his mother huffed in disbelief. "Do you know what a disgrace that would be to your family name- Your father would be quite disappointed..."

The sentence that started harsh became inaudible as she muttered the last part; her forehead leaning on the door. Her son was making this more difficult than it needed to be, she was probably thinking.

The toddler of black locks let his head lower shamefully. The sounds of small hiccups escaped from his lips, warning him of the incoming sobbing he was about to face.

"Goodbye..." Jooeun gave him an empathetic glance. "Son." The wooden door closed and opened with a slam, and soon, she was gone.
-

Meanwhile, another door opened the next morning. The crystal door of the office. Jaehee Kang entered the building with a refreshed, content grin which took all the other employees by surprise.

"Jaehee!" Mi-Cha grinned as she basically ran towards her best friend and quickly gave her a hug. "Nice to see you again!"

Jaehee returned the joy with cheer. "Indeed. For some reason, another day of work doesn't seem as tiresome as before today," she admitted with a brightened up face.

Mi-Cha laughed. "Probably because of your date yesterday-" She gasped when she realized she had revealed a secret.

Jaehee gasped as well. "MC! How did you know?!" she exclaimed, before interjecting herself. "It was not a date, but I'm still inclined to wonder how you even knew of my outing with Mr. Han," she clarified while crossing her arms with an embarrassed blush.

The woman of long bangs chuckled apologetically, scratching her cheek. "I'm sorry, Jae... but I actually helped out with it. This redhead cute guy told me about everything, and I just wanted to lend you a hand-"

"Wait wait wait," Jaehee interrupted her mid-sentence. "Redhead cute guy?"

"Um, he said his name was Seven..." Mi-Cha remembered while glancing away; but then she giggled, covering her mouth. "Isn't he cute?!"

"Ugh, Luciel." The woman with spectacles groaned. "Cute?" she uttered in an almost repulsive manner.

"Hey, I have good taste!" MC argued, offended.

"Sure," Jaehee playfully scoffed, "I only believe you because of Zen."

"Hmph!" Mi-Cha pouted before softly punching her laughing friend in the arm. "You're so mean!"

Jaehee's laughter stopped when Mi-Cha suddenly began inspecting her face with widened eyes. She was about to ask what the matter was when MC got to it before her.

"Whoa, Jaehee," she murmured in awe. "You gotta give me your shampoo secrets."

"Eh?" Shampoo? What the-

Then Mi-Cha handed her a compact mirror she was carrying inside her bag, opening it wide for Jaehee to see her reflection. Her previously pixie short, auburn hair was growing it seemed.

And the roots looked healthier and shinier than before, she noticed.

"I didn't realize my hair was growing out already." The bemused woman sighed. "Mr. Han will most likely tell me to get a haircut as soon as he notices..." she expressed with a bit of sadness.

"What?!" Mi-Cha yelled, voice rising rapidly. "That's so unfair!"

The 26-year-old just walked away to finally sit behind her desk as usual. "It's part of the job," she explained. "It's a requisite... It's the reason I have to wear glasses, too..."

"It may seem strange, but Mr. Han is an extremely logical person, so I don't have a doubt there's a good reason behind it, I suppose," she said, clearly deciding to trust Jumin.

"You're too kind, Jaehee," MC puffed, still angry about it. "Jumin better not pull that on me."

Before either of them could keep the conversation going, one of Jaehee's subordinates broke into the office in a hurry. "Miss Kang, Mr. Han is in urgent need of your assistance," he informed her.

"Of course." She nodded, determined. She did want to see Jumin now for some strange reason even she couldn't understand yet...
-

Jumin heard a familiar knock resounding on his door, and relieved, he sighed and called out, already knowing who was on the other side. "Come in!"

"Yes, Mr. Han?" Jaehee's head popped out from the door frame. Her golden brown eyes widened at the sight before her: Jumin Han was sitting on his leather chair as usual, but his countenance was incredibly pale.

There were dark bags under his exhausted eyes that betrayed his effort to appear normal and alert. "Assistant Kang?" he muttered, lifting his head from the overwhelming number of paperwork laying all scattered over his desk.

"Mr. Han..." Jaehee said with a tone of growing worry. "Are you alri-"

"Please give this to my father." He didn't hear her about to speak and accidentally cut her off. His eyelids were falling drowsily, but he forced them open. "They're extremely important documents that must be carried with great care and urgency."

Then he immediately went back to signing more and more papers, reading, as well as examining them and putting them in separate portfolios. He was so busy he didn't even realize she still hadn't left until he heard the doorknob clicking.

His eyes reached for Jaehee against his will and he noticed something. While his brain yelled at him that he was just too busy to even talk to her, his mouth ignored it and decided to point it out.

"Assistant Kang... your hair..."

Jaehee gulped down a lump in her throat. So he did see it. She would need to make an appointment with scissors soon-

"It really suits you." Jumin finished, leaving his assistant gawking.

"W-what... What did you say?" She stuttered, feeling as if she had just been struck by lightning.

"Your hair looks pretty," Jumin repeated, completely nonchalant.

"Huh... but-" She caught her breath. "You won't tell me to cut it again?!" she questioned, eyes wide.

The tall man shook his head, his face leaning in while his intertwined hands served as support. "No." Was the simple response.

"You no longer need to wear non-prescription glasses, either. It'll only damage your sight if you keep them," he added with pure concern.

"Mr. Han..." Jaehee started in a dark, serious tone; cold sweat covering her face. "Did you... did you by chance get brainwashed by aliens?"

For a moment there was a long, dangerous silence, and Jaehee couldn't help but think that perhaps Mr. Han would break the contract keeping her at the office and just kick her out the door.

But what occurred instead, was the sound of a deep, alluring laughter resounding all over the closed walls. And it couldn't have taken her more by surprise discovering who it belonged to.

"Abducted by aliens?" Jumin's laugh ended in a chuckle. "I think you've been spending too much time with a certain hacker," he told her while he looked at her with a smile he covered with the back of his hand and a playful gaze.

"Ah, really?" She heaved a sigh she didn't know she was holding. "I just think this is a very sudden, unexpected decision. After all... I have followed these rules for three years... " she admitted, fidgeting with her fingers.

Jumin glanced away; a sense of guilt descending all the way to his chest. "I apologize... You probably disliked the decision." His eyes reached hers again with all sincerity. "But it was necessary. My father was the looming reason all of my previous assistants had failed their work before..."

Jaehee lifted her head, listening with interest.

"He always went straight after them, giving them money and attentions to convince them to leave. It always worked. After three left all during the same month, I had enough and contacted V to help me..."

"V?" Jaehee tilted her head to the side with confusion. "V helped you choose an assistant?"

Jumin nodded. "Yes. I was at my breaking point, where I just couldn't glance at the photo of another woman without doubting she would stay for more than a week." He sighed disdainfully at the memory.

"V told me about you," he said, voice gentle.

Jaehee's eyes perked up in astonishment: had something like that actually happened? The leader of the RFA introduced her to Jumin for the first time...

"About how you were the first in your class, how you knew Judo and..." He paused, unsure if he should continue his words. "How harsh... your past had been," he stated with both a tone of sadness and admiration.

The brunette woman didn't respond; she knew what he referred to. Her parents, her aunt and uncle...

He looked at her, her sorrow reflecting on his own eyes. "I'm sorry..." he uttered, blaming himself for her sudden pain. "I shouldn't have-"

"No." Jaehee interjected him, giving him a bittersweet smile. "It's fine. It's been a long time, that's all..." She attempted to reassure him.

Jumin kept his worried stare on her until he decided to continue the story for her sake. "Then, he told me you seemed like a very capable person, perfect for the job. I still wasn't fully convinced, but even then I knew he was right. V is never wrong about these kind of things, you see..."

"I told him the only problem was that you were exactly my father's type, with your long, glossy hair, your shapely figure and your sharp eyes," Jumin recalled, leaning back on his chair.

Jaehee couldn't help but raise a big question mark over her head as her eyes narrowed. Did Jumin just say she was too pretty to be his assistant...?

"He suggested you could cut your hair and wear glasses, since my father has never gone for that kind of woman before..."

"So you just tried to make me as unattractive as possible, yes?" Jaehee asked passive-aggressively, a disgruntled vein popping out on her forehead.

"Well... you're making it sound like a despicable action." A bead of sweat dropped down his cheek. "But we only had your safety and your work potential in mind..." he reassured her, trying to calm her indignation.

"I honestly didn't think the idea would help, since even after you made those changes to your appearance you were still beauti-"

He coughed repeatedly as if suddenly he had caught pneumonia. "What I mean is that you still looked the same to me. But as you know, it did work, since my father never once bothered you," he said with relief.

Jaehee sighed, just as relieved. "Thank God. But even if he had caught interest in me, Mr. Han, believe me, no money in this world would make me hook up with Mr. Chairman," she admitted with a secretive mutter and a shudder.

Jumin couldn't help but chuckle again. "I'm glad that is the case."

Jaehee held back a laugh, but either way the two exploded in short laughter. The chief assistant brushed away an amused tear with her hand. "I have to give this to Mr. Chairman before it gets later," she reminded him, grabbing the papers in front of her.

"Oh, right." Jumin remembered; he had gotten too distracted with Jaehee. Distractions he couldn't afford.