Deceitful Rules of Romance
───────────────────────────────────

Ara didn't return to work that day. Jimin was actually the one who told her not to show up with the excuse that Eunha was probably catching onto him. She felt relieved because she couldn't even face him after the kiss in the kitchen. To be exact, she didn't want to face him. She thought he was trying to avoid her, which hurt her because she wasn't even the one who began the kiss. It was him. Regardless, she kept quiet about it. She didn't even tell Minji.

Her classes were about to start soon, and she was still short of money. However, she didn't want to return to Jimin's house. She didn't want to see him or his fiancée. She had enough of the drama and wanted nothing to do with it anymore. A rich man engaged to a whore as a girlfriend that had multiple affairs. A rich man who also had an affair while engaged to the woman he was supposed to love. There was no love anymore. No respect.

It was evening already, and Minji was out doing a photoshoot. To be exact, it was a recreation of one of her mother's past photoshoots, which is why she was such a natural when posing for the camera. It naturally came to her. Back at home, Ara finally left the house and walked to the nearest cafe to do some peaceful research on the remaining classes she needed to take to graduate. She had finally abandoned the house from her self-imposed isolation.

At the cafe, she sat down at the bar area and ordered food. She opened her laptop and opened up her university student website. As she looked over her academic progress, a young man sat next to her. He ordered his food and then looked at the girl next to him. He saw the website she was scrolling by and realized they went to the same university.

"Excuse me," he said. "You go to SNU?"

Ara looked at him and nodded her head.

"Wow. Me too," he said. "Actually, I'm starting there as a new student this semester. I'm in the Engineering program. What about you?"

"Business," Ara said as she smiled. "And you're starting new this semester? Wow! I'm graduating soon."

"Already?" he asked, in a state of shock. It surprised him because he thought she looked very young, maybe even younger than him, but he had dropped out of college for a few years, so he was indeed very behind. "May I ask, how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-six. I started a bit late trying to get my master's," she said. "And you?"

"This might seem like I'm lying, but we're the same age," he said as he chuckled. He extended his hand to Ara and said, "My name is Jang Jiyong."

Ara chuckled and extended her hand to his as she said, "My name is Ara. Byun Ara."

Both smiled at each other for a few seconds until her food arrived. Ara turned to her food as his food had also arrived. Both looked at each other and then at the food, concluding that eating was more important at the moment.

After taking a few bites, Jiyong turned to her and said, "I need some help with registering for my classes. I'm pretty slow with this. Do you mind helping me?"

Ara nodded at the handsome man in front of her. For just a moment, she had forgotten about all the drama she had been living the past few days at Jimin's house—and it made her happy. That was until she heard her phone buzz with a message from Kim Namjoon.

+

The room was silent. Once again, just like that night.

Namjoon sat down with Jungkook, Jimin, Baekhyun, and Yoongi. Jungkook was there for him, just like the day Namjoon called him crying at the hospital. Namjoon didn't deny being there. He didn't deny being the intern that night. He didn't deny what had happened. All he felt was guilt. He held onto his trembling hand as he heard a knock on the door. He looked down and shook his head, recalling Haneul's lifeless face. Finally, he stood up and opened the door to see the face that he was expecting to see. Ara.

The young men sitting down also stood up, confused, as they saw Ara take a step inside the house. Jimin was even more perplexed to see her there, as she had not gone to work for two days. After he had told her not to show up, she didn't appear the next day either. He even tried contacting her, but she never answered his calls.

"I told her to come," Namjoon said. "I told her what happened to her dad—the truth."

Baekhyun turned to him immediately, as that was not what they had agreed upon years ago. That was when Ara walked closer and pushed him, making him stumble back. She was about to push him again when she felt someone grab onto her arms and pull her back. It was Jimin.

"Stop," he said. "He didn't kill your father."

Ara looked to the side and saw her brother stand up. She walked over to him and slapped him immediately. He knew he deserved it. He knew it was coming. Ara wasn't a little child any longer. She didn't need to hear a sugar-coated lie. She was a grown woman and deserved to know the truth as much as he did.

"A-Ara, I didn't mean to hide it from you," he said. "I just wanted to protect you."

She scoffed. He was always too busy for her. Too busy to be part of her life unless it was to marry her off. It was his fault that she had lost all her parent's money to that man. Kim.

Kim Sunggyu.

For a second, Ara felt anger rushing throughout her entire body. Jimin saw that. He saw and felt it. He passed by her and held her hand, moving her behind him.

"Let's sit down," he said. "We all need to talk."

+

Sunggyu walked around the house, back and forth, struggling to figure out what to do. The problem was that he couldn't. The drugs were confusing him, and they restricted him from thinking. He scratched his arms once again as he walked around. Eunha just slept on his bed, fully naked.

Once she opened her eyes, she saw Sunggyu walking around, which disturbed her. She grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at him.

"Stop fucking walking around!"

He stopped his tracks and looked at her. For a moment, he remembered the events from the night before, once he saw her naked body. He remembered how she served him a drink and placed something in it after, as she said,"Don't worry, trust me."

Then, after that, she started unbuttoning his shirt. Whatever came afterward was a complete blur.

"What are you doing there?" she asked. "I told you to get back to work! Baekhyun is after us! We can't just do nothing!"

He looked down and then around the room. His clothes were all around and he had a towel around his waist. He had been walking mindlessly for the past hour, but he couldn't stop himself.

"Yes, Eunha."

+

"I was there, and I saw him, but I couldn't see his face," Namjoon said. "I told my superior, and we called the police. We told them everything that day, but he left no trace. He disappeared. Then the funeral happened in the hospital and I called Jungkook for support because I couldn't talk to Baekhyun alone. When they both left, Ara returned from her trip and came immediately to the hospital."

"I met Jungkook and Namjoon that day," Baekhyun said, looking at Ara. "You came when the funeral had ended, but I had already rehearsed with Namjoon what to tell you—that our father had died from the hit-and-run. I told Namjoon to keep quiet about the situation just in case you ever went back to the hospital. When you showed up, the police had already declared his death by blunt force trauma and closed the case."

Ara looked up at Baekhyun and then at Namjoon. Anger boiled over her body, realizing that both were in on it—that both kept the truth from her for so long. Baekhyun looked at Jimin and Jimin then looked at Ara. He knew they had to tell her more about the issue, but no one could. He looked at her and said, "Kang & Co. They own the hospital your father was in. Eunha, she's the CEO of Kang & Co."

Ara turned to him and widened her eyes. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't hear anything else for a moment. All she could see was Kang Eunha's face.

"We believe Kang & Co. had something to do with his murder," Baekhyun added. "Yoongi found out that someone had replaced the recordings. No one knows who ordered it, but it had to be someone involved. Kang & Co. had pending business with our father. He told me once that they had secured a lot of stocks from our company in a single day. That someone had leaked information about the company so that they could invest in those stocks at the best moment. There was a mole."

Jimin turned to him. He knew a lot about business, so he knew something illegal was going on with Kang & Co. He couldn't oversee everything that was happening with the Byun Corporation, but he knew there had to be a mole, and he knew that Kang & Co. had to have strategically planned it all like they always did.

The news shook Ara to the core. Just as she thought the drama had left her life, it just kept coming back. Now, hearing about all the comments her brother and her ex had to say about that night really disturbed her. She didn't want to hear it anymore. She didn't want to believe in the possibility of her father being murdered.

"I'm done," she said as she stood up. She had tears in her eyes due to all the lies that she had been told for years. "D-Dad, he died because of a car crash. It was a hit-and-run. Stop lying, Baekhyun!"

She walked over to the door and left.

+

At work, Jimin was in a crucial reunion discussing his future marriage with Eunha—technically, his future bond with Kang & Co.

"Ms. Kang made some arrangements to have the wedding by next month," said an older man sitting beside Jimin. "We could make it by the twentieth of January. Is that alright with you, Mr. Park?"

Jimin sat there in silence. He couldn't utter a word. He was like a mindless zombie. The man beside him kept mentioning his name until Jimin finally came to his senses. He sat up and looked at the room full of his closest associates. He wanted to cancel the wedding—he desperately wanted to announce it to the world. Then he remembered Baekhyun had told him to wait. To at least pull through for a little longer. At least until they found the mysterious man and a connection to Kang & Co.

"Yes," Jimin finally said. "Prepare everything for January. We'll have the wedding in a month."

He stood up, and everyone around him did so as well. He fixed his suit and walked out of the room as the man beside him followed his tracks. As Jimin went into his office, the older man also sneaked in. Jimin chuckled and closed the door.

"Come on, Dongwoo. Why are you following me?" Jimin asked, making no big deal out of the situation.

Dongwoo was like a second father to Jimin for so many years. He had worked in the company as the CFO ever since Jiseok was in control over twenty years ago. He taught Jimin everything he needed to know when his father died, and Jimin was always very thankful. Without him, he wouldn't know anything.

"I saw your face," he said. "You don't want to get married, do you? It bothers you."

Jimin's smile faded with those words as he looked at his desk and walked over to it. He ignored his elder's words as he sat on the chair and started looking over at his papers.

"Come on, Jimin. Tell me something," Dongwoo insisted. "Or at least get mad at me for asking. Come on! Tell me 'This is none of your business, Mr. Lee' or something like that!"

Jimin stayed quiet, but he chuckled at the way Dongwoo tried to imitate him. He stopped flipping through his pages as he looked up and smiled. Dongwoo smiled as well as he clapped his hands. All he wanted was to see Jimin happy.

"Look at that smile!" he said. "Such a handsome young man!"

Jimin rolled his eyes but stayed smiling at Dongwoo. Without saying anything else, Dongwoo knew the answer to his own question.

When Jimin went back home, Eunha was there waiting for him. She sat on the couch wearing only a bathrobe and nothing underneath. She stood up when she saw Jimin and walked his way.

"Hey baby," she said. "I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier. I had to take care of something important."

Jimin stayed quiet, but just smiled. She didn't believe in that smile. He was about to walk away until Eunha stopped him. She stood in front of him, and in a swift motion, she removed her bathrobe. She was standing completely naked in front of him. Jimin didn't look down. He just looked at her face.

"Come on, baby," she said. "It's been a while."

"I'm tired, Eunha," Jimin insisted. "Really, I can't tonight."

He walked away and went directly to his room. Eunha just stayed there, furious. It had not been long since Jimin would go insane for her, but now he wouldn't even dare look at her like before. Eunha grabbed her bathrobe, wore it again, and went to get her stuff. She grabbed a ziplock bag from inside her luxurious purse and took it to the kitchen. She served a drink and placed the powder that was inside the bag directly in the drink. Once it dissolved, she went to Jimin's room and gently knocked on his door before walking in. He was texting someone on his phone when he looked her way.

"I'm sorry for insisting, baby," she said, getting closer. "I know work can be really stressful."

She handed him the drink and said, "Relax a little. I know you're tense, baby. Let me give you a massage, okay?"

Jimin hesitated for a moment, but he took the drink and chugged it down before placing it on the nightstand. He then walked over to the bathroom, ignoring her words until he felt dizzy. He held onto the wall for support as she walked by him.

"Baby, come on," she insisted. "Let me help you. You need to rest."

She grabbed onto his arm and led him onto the bed to sit him down. She then sat on the bed behind him and placed her delicate hands on his shoulders as she started massaging them. Slowly, Jimin closed his eyes as his head started falling to the side. Eunha noticed and laid him back on the bed.

"Baby," she whispered in a seductive voice. She suddenly moved on top of him and leaned into him as she said, "I want you."

Gently, she passed her hand by his chest and unbuttoned his shirt. Jimin groaned, feeling her touch as she slid her hand down his chest and towards his pants. She then reached for her robe and removed it from her body. Jimin was at a point where he couldn't process the fact that she was sitting on him fully naked. He couldn't even process that it was her. All he knew was that he was feeling a rush of adrenaline throughout his body as he passed his hand up her thighs and around her waist. At that moment, Eunha smirked, clearly pleased with the result of her actions.

───────────────────────────────────
• 2700 •