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The walk back to the hotel was not as quiet as Jeongguk had expected.

Minhee is loud when the cabin takes them back down to the base of the tower, when she sees fireworks burst in the sky, beer bikes with dazzling lights driving around and the cruise on the Seine lit warm with soft music playing.

And it's all like a movie, like in a slow-motion to Jeongguk.

His eyes are fixed on Minhee as she walks ahead of him. He chuckles to himself when he realises it is Minhee's way of avoiding him, acknowledging what happened a few moments ago and he chuckles again. They are crossing the street when Minhee doesn't pay attention to the light and cars, just walks straight ahead to continue her attempt to 'Let's not make it awkward' but Jeongguk pulls her back, seeing a car approach her.

Minhee gasps when she faces Jeongguk, his face just before her as he looks at her with soft, heavy eyes. "Careful there, wifey."

And he doesn't let go.

He takes her hand in his but doesn't let her intertwine their fingers.

"Don't fall in love, I like it this way."

So Minhee lets him guide her across the street. They walk to the hotel when it is finally silent. Minhee doesn't know if she should pull her hand away or lean closer to him. She wonders what would happen tomorrow when they wake up. Do they go back to their old ways? Do they explore more of Paris? Does she get to kiss him again?

But when they enter the hotel, an unexpected scene greets them. Jeongguk immediately lets go of her hand.

It's Ryu and her mom.

Dahyun is standing there too, who immediately rushes to Minhee upon seeing her. "Why do I need to attend the hearing?" Minhee's mother says, holding a paper in her hand.

"You're the one who signed off the deal with us, you'll be the one to take the responsibility," Ryu says, calmly. She looks like she isn't interested in the conversation, and doesn't think it is worth her time.

"But the document doesn't even have my signatures!"

"What's wrong, Dahyun?" Jeongguk asks. Dahyun bites her lower lip and looks at him, "Wings just received an order for a hearing."

Minhee snaps her head towards her secretary who gives her a helpless look. "It says that Wings is accused of embezzling the profits to an illegal company..."

"Oh, Mrs Yoon, that is right..." Ryu says and notices Minhee. Eunhye turns towards her too, with a panicked expression. "The signature on the documents are of your daughter's. She is the one who has approved every fund and stock."

Minhee steps forward, raising an eyebrow. "What deal are we talking about here? What documents?" and she looks at her mom who refuses to look at her.

"Your mom had signed a deal with me, I like to call it the so-called attempts to save Wings."

"You fucking did that? Why?" Minhee scoffs. "And you lied to the officials that it wasn't you back then!"

Eunhye pointed a finger at Ryu, "She told me to do that!"

Ryu laughs, raising her hands up. "Oh the drama of the wives of a rich household," she says, smiling bitterly at Minhee. When Dahyun whispers the deal in Minhee's ears, she blinks, slightly confused. Finance has always confused her and that's why she has a team of professionals for it.

"So that means...the funds you were sending to the charities...were not actually to a charity?" Minhee says, looking at her mom. Eunhye slightly shakes her head, ashamed.

"Aww, you got that? Congratulations Ms Yoon, you actually understood that." Ryu claps, laughing hysterically.

Minhee closes her eyes, keeping her patience. "And what do you get in return?"

Ryu's smile widens and she touches Minhee's face, who flinches back. "Oh a lot, Minhee, a lot. But for now? Your mother's influence in the industry that got me the Evanesce deal, a French magazine and the Yang deal."

Jeongguk freezes. The Yang deal?

"Oh Mr Jeon, you are here too," Ryu says, turning towards him with a (fake) sad smile. "Why did you get yourself into the mess of the Yoon's?"

Jeongguk looks at her calmly.

"You're such a handsome, young and capable lad, you could have gotten anyone else in minutes," Ryu approaches him, touching his tie. He steps back, giving her a look of warning.

Ryu smiles, "Because now you're stuck with someone who has been cheating even after receiving the audit." She walks to Minhee, holding her arm, "The charity you were sending funds to is illegal. So more penalties, more taxes and more funds."

Minhee glares at her mom, the seething anger finally reaching a limit.

"Does Ms CEO have that? Money?" Ryu laughs, "Oh, she didn't even have an invitation to Paris but yet she is here. She'll find a way, won't she?"

Minhee doesn't know what to say. Her mind is going haywire with all the information being processed in her brain and the future consequences.

"But that solves your problem, Eunhye," Ryu says, "Minhee will attend the hearing in place of you because she is the one who signed it."

And that was the last bit of patience Minhee had. She un-clenches her fist, breathing hard and approaches Ryu. She fists the straps of her dress, shaking her. "Bitch, this was your plan all along, wasn't it?"

Jeongguk panics as the hotel staff becomes aware of the commotion and gestures to Dahyun to pull Minhee away.

And before they could do something, Secretary Kim comes out of nowhere, pulling Minhee back. "Let go of me! I am going to kill this bitch today!"

"Minhee!" Secretary Kim shouts. It makes everyone around shut up and let the silence settle. The younger looks at him, offended, did he just address me with my name?

But his next words he says, looking up at Jeongguk, makes her almost faint to the floor.

"Mr Yoon, he is hospitalised," he says. "His condition is critical."

...

"I have asked the hospital to not let any information reach the reporters until we get there."

"Thank you, Hyung," Jeongguk says, eyes fixed on Minhee. Jin pats his back, leaving him alone. They are currently on a private flight back to Seoul. Minhee had immediately rushed outside after hearing the news, followed by her mom and to the airport.

"Mr Daejun Yoon suffers from Coronary Artery Disease. Plaque buildup causes the arteries to narrow over a period of time, there is no cure to it. This morning he had complaints of chest pain and nausea, only time will tell us."

Jeongguk sighs. How could Mr Yoon not tell him or anyone else? He knew about his condition all along! The flight is stressful when Minhee sits still, staring outside the window into the darkness of the sky. Mrs Yoon has been crying silently as Dahyun comforts her and convinces her to take her daily medicines.

In the next ten hours, Jeongguk thinks it is better to give Minhee her space and not force her to do anything. Right now, he doesn't want her to think she's alone, he can't even imagine how much of a big shock it must be for her to hear all the news about her dad and the downfall of her company within an hour of time.

He sits on his seat beside Minhee's. She doesn't look his way, doesn't move an inch. Jeongguk leans his head back and closes his eyes.

Then he feels a head on his shoulder, an arm wrapping around his and the tickle of hair.

Everything is fine, he tells himself. Everything will be okay, he hopes she knows.

...

Hospitals. Jeongguk hates hospitals.

It brings back memories from his childhood when they spent days here, caring for his father. That time, Minhee's father made sure to be there on his side and right now, when he sees Minhee walk right into his mother's arms, he feels a heaviness settle inside him.

She isn't crying, but her voice is cracking and she speaks groggily as if she is holding it all in. Mrs Yoon is equally blank on her expressions, though her hands seem to shake when Mrs Jeon takes them in hers.

"His secretary brought him after he felt a pain in his chest," Mr Jeon tells them.

"Can we see him?" Jeongguk asks and his father nods. Minhee immediately grips Jeongguk's arm when he gestures to her to follow him to Daejun's room. When the door opens, Minhee almost loses her composure, a tear slipping down.

"Oh...Minhee..." her father croaks out. He has a smile on his face. It brings tears to Jeongguk's eyes.

Minhee is immediately holding his hand, her eyes glazed when Daejun looks over at her with the fondness she always yearned for. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"There is...no cure..." he sounds breathless, his chest heaving. "Wouldn't want you...to worry...and risk Wings' future...the board would have eliminated you..."

"Are you seriously worried about that now?" Minhee says, her voice sounding as if she's speaking through a clogged nose. Daejun moves his hands to have his tops of hers.

"I have to..." Daejun says, "You're my daughter..." and looks at Jeongguk. Jeongguk approaches him, leaning down towards, right behind Minhee. "And son..."

Jeongguk nods, tears rolling down his cheeks. He places his hand on top of his, the other hand coming to wrap around Minhee's shoulder and places a kiss on top of her head as she starts crying. "I have never said this...but son...you've made your dad...so proud..."

Daejun pauses, trying to breathe more. Minhee grips the fabric under her hand.

"You both have grown...so much..." Daejun says. "Take care...of each other..."

"No! Don't talk like that!" Minhee says, shaking her head. "I need you, I want you to take care of me!"

Daejun just breathes. "I am not going anywhere..."

Then they hear someone's choked gasp and turn towards the door where Minhee's mother was standing. "Eunhye..."

Jeongguk stands up straighter, letting his hands into his pocket. Minhee sniffs, wiping her tears.

"You fucking liar!" Eunhye walks in with her fists clenched. "How many things have you hidden from me?"

But Daejun has a smile.

"I was the one who broke your...makeup box..." he faintly chuckles but his breathing was ragged to make it sound like a choke.

"You're gonna have to pay for that," the elder woman says. "Come home, I will sell all your golf kits." and she holds his other hand in hers. Daejun laughs. It's only then Jeongguk can see the tears in his eyes.

"Ma'am, Sir, I am afraid I will have to ask you guys to leave," a nurse comes in, "The visiting hours are over."

"What do you mean visiting hours are over?" Minhee says, "I am not going anywhere, I need to stay here."

The nurse looks at Jeongguk for help and he sighs. "Just give us five minutes," he says to the nurse who nods and gets busy taking out something from the shelf.

"Five minutes? No, I am not going anywhere—"

"Go home..." Her father weakly says. "Rest. Paris is tiring..." Minhee shakes her head.

When Jeongguk places a hand on Minhee's shoulder, she sighs. "Go home...Eunhye, you've worked hard..."

"Ma'am, Sir, the patient needs to rest. Please leave." the nurse says again. Minhee stands up, walking out of the door but not before taking a last look at her dad lying on the bed and her mother leaning down as she holds his hand to her forehead and he whispers.

"I love you."

...

Jeongguk sends his parents back home. Minhee and Mrs Yoon refuse to do so and wait in the area outside the wards. He tells them to eat something at the cafeteria and they shake their heads, no.

Jeongguk sighs, giving up because he doesn't know if it would be a good idea to force them because both of them look extremely anxious.

When Dahyun comes, Jeongguk asks her to take Minhee to eat something. Reluctantly, the latter follows her friend to the cafeteria. Jeongguk thinks it would be better if he brings something to eat to Mrs Yoon here itself and turns around to walk towards the cafeteria when Mrs Yoon grips both of his arms.

She looks up at him with pleading and guilty eyes.

"Jeongguk," she sniffs. "I know I shouldn't be worried about this but someone has to. I fucked up, I fucked up," she cries, gripping his elbows tightly. "Do something or everything will be a mess in next week's hearing..."

Jeongguk exhales hard, placing his hands on the elder woman's shoulder. "I will take care of it, you sit down here." He guides her to the seat. It's interesting how both the mother and daughter don't want to break down in front of each other, hold it in till the other is away when they could be each other's only comfort instead.

"What was I thinking..." she mumbles, staring down at her feet. "Daejun must have been in so much pain all these years..."

"Mrs Yoon," Jeongguk says, crouching down and making her look at him. "This is not the time to blame yourself, please...stay strong. Your husband needs you and even...your daughter does."

Eunhye sniffs.

"I am going to bring water and something to eat for you, stay right here."

The fear and knowing Jeongguk sees behind Mrs Yoon's trembling eyes is quite familiar to him. He had seen it when he was eleven, in her mother's eyes, on his own later on in life.

However, behind Minhee's anxious eyes, he sees fear residing with a glint of hope. She seems composed and collected when the doctor updates them about her father's situation and Mrs Yoon pleads with her hands joined in front of her.

Minhee thanks the doctor and Mrs Yoon threatens him to do his best. It's surprising that, unlike her mother, she doesn't seem all over the place.

But maybe Jeongguk was wrong.

Because when he sees the fear materialise in front of them in the form of a doctor with his head low, he sees the hope crack and only hears a silent scream of pain.

"Yoon Daejun. Time of death: 11:37, death due to acute cardiac ischemia."

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