He wipes a hand over his face, pressing the pads of his fingers to his eyes. His hands shake, his heart is stuck in his throat and then is dropping to the bottom of his stomach. Jung does not waste time to think over his actions - the mighty crash still echoes in his ears.

He stumbles out of the hastily parked car, in a back ally leading to his mother’s high end office building and creeps out.

As a child he had played in this area, still as a grown up man, he knew exactly which corners to avoid when he wanted to be discreet. He takes the stairs and is having by the time he reaches her floor.

Secretary Han’s eyes are wide as saucers, but the good woman keeps the scream to herself, clasping a hand over her little mouth.

“Omma?” He rasps, “Is she inside?”

She nods like a puppet, her eyes darting towards the closed door to her office room.
The marriage of his parents is failing, as an attempt to save its last tatters they avoid each other like masters of some endless dance. His mother works long hours - longer each day. This is the first time he is glad to find her still in her office at midnight.
He tries not to look at the refection he makes on the polished wood of the door. But a glimpse is enough to rattle his core.

He pushes the hideous image away from him, in the attempt barging inside the office.
His mother is buried in paper work, wearing her glasses and tapping the end of her chin with a limited edition carved pen. But the second she looks up, she lets it drop and crack on the floor - red ink spilling like blood over the polished wood.

“Jung - ah!”

His knees buckle and he drops to the floor, kneeling at his only altar. She reaches him in a flash, worried hands cupping his face. It takes some effort from her to make him look at her and the guilt in his eyes makes her stop short.

“Who did this to you?” There are embers in her voice, ready to avenge each bruise on his skin. Jung shakes his head.

“I did it -”

“Jung - ah”

“Omma -” he pants, not that the moment is here the confession is a knot in his throat. He could swallow it easier than spilling it out.

“Save me Omma!”

“Why - why sweetheart? From whom?”

He shakes his head again, and his shaking hands go around her waist as he presses himself to the warmth of his mother’s embrace. She holds him, fingers stroking his sweat matted hair. Dry sobs wrack his shoulders and Jung heaves a sigh.

“I was going home -” his tone is muffled against her. “And I - I didn’t see until I was too close. He came out of nowhere - he was going fast.” He bites his lip. “I was going fast too!”

“Jung - ah,” his mother sounds a little bothered. “Did you hit someone?”

“So hyung!” He rasps in the end. “I hit So hyung!”

**
The boy cannot die… the thought shifts in her mind, repeating itself. She had to see it with her own eyes. Stop him before he gives any statement to anyone. Before the cops turn up pulling CCTvs from intersections. She has to act quick and shield Jung before another son is taken away from her.

What she doesn’t expect is the girl curled up on the white tiled floor. There is a dried stain of blood across her cheek, blotches that taint her hands and run up to her elbows. Her clothes are soaked with blood and her eyes are empty. She rests her cheek against the cold glass that separates the emergency care unit, from the waiting area. There are some other people who makes no attempt to pull her up, instead circling her protectively, keeping their distance.

They look up as she arrives and Yoo doesn’t have to put up a worried front because worried she is, by the looks in their faces.

“So?” She asks in her trembling voice. “How is he? How did this happen?” She adds for good measure.

The manager - she recognizes him vaguely from the clips abroad she had unwillingly caught of So, reaches a hand to offer her comfort.

“He is in surgery.” His tone is clipped, as if he is privy to their troubled relationship, but his eyes are trusting - as if willing to extend an olive branch. Yoo as drowning as she is would grasp at any branch offered.

“Oh I was such a fool - I - I was -!”

“A cruel, ruthless demoniac creature!” Hae Soo offers standing on her wobbly knees. The other girl, tries to pull her back, but she shrugs her hold away, her eyes burning and her jaw set. “You have no business here Attorney Yoo, please leave!”

There is nothing politely submissive about the girl anymore and the ice in her glare is as hard as her own. This is no Hae Soo, Yoo knows even before she opens her mouth.
“I don’t for a moment believe you’ve found your inner motherly feelings suddenly, a few hours would never render such a miracle!”

“Hae Soo!”

“Ha Jin,” she corrects her automatically. “I’ll be damned before I let you anywhere close to him.”

“And what business do you have here?” Yoo knows how to play that game, find the missing scale under dragon’s throat. The girl does not miss a beat.

“I’m his friend - the same you tried to murder, just for standing between you and him. Remember Attorney Yoo?”
Her words are sharp, and her eyes glitter. Unbidden images swim her mind, Tae in a pool of blood - the monster who killed him - the girl who kept hindering her. In the meantime Hae Soo - Ha Jin steps closer.

“You didn’t listen to me then - you were lost to all reason. Monster you say? What do you think you had become?”

“My son - he killed my son…” She mutters like a chant, trying to block away the girl’s words that were boring into her conscious.

“You want to know who killed Tae, do you really have guts to hear?” She hisses, there are ghosts in her eyes, her cheeks flushed with anger. “You didn’t hear us then, will you hear me now?”

“Hae Soo!” Wook comes as a blessing, still dressed in his surgery outfit, an unyielding hand at Soo’s elbow. “Come with me!”

**
He tries not to think about it. He commands himself not to, but as they enter his office and the door is closed with a snap - all Wook can think about is that his fiancee is covered in the blood of his brother. It feels like a claim he can’t wash away etched to her very being and mocking him with each moment of silence stretching between them.

“Why didn’t you let me tell her?” She rages, her tiny fists waving. “She needs to hear the truth - somebody needs to wake her up!”

“Soo -”

“Ha Jin,” she snaps at him. “Don’t call me Soo, I’m not Soo - my name is Ha Jin.”
Then she stops, catching the flash of hurt in his eyes and inhales shakily.

“I’m sorry - so sorry! But this can’t go on. I’m not who you think I am - Now that I know - that I remember… God, it feels so wrong!”

Out of habit, he embraces her, but she is a storm that his arms cannot contain. Wook tugs at his collar and tries to smile. For all he is worth, he cannot bring his lips to stretch. So instead, he directs her to take a seat at his sofa, and kneels before her.

“You and So -” he starts cautiously, “you were close - yes?”

She nods, knew tears forming in her eyes, they spill over his hand that is holding hers.

“Did you -” it takes a while for him to form the word. “Did you love him?”

His heart skips a beat in the pause that follows, before she nods again.

“Then why do you think he asked me never to let you remember him?” He muses softly. “Why did he go away and never checked up on you again?”

Ha Jin’s fingers tightens around his hand and Wook takes effort not to wince.

“That’s because of his mother -”

“Oh you think so?”

“I know So,” she says him with conviction. “And I know your mother as well.”

There is a tortured silence as he stands up and paces the length of his office.

“I think you don’t know either of them.”

“So used to hate Tae - there was competition in everything they did. Did you know that?” he doesn’t wait for an answer. “You must have met during high school, do you know he was sent home from his previous school for substance abuse?”

“What?”

“On the other hand Tae had a clear record, a bright future - a soaring career - do you think he would have the need to dope?”

When she stands up, her knees are protesting - there is a mild ache building up in her joints.

“You are lying!”

Wook looks into her eyes unfazed.

“I believe my mother - just like you believe my brother.” He lays a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it, the weight makes her knees buckle. She keeps the wince off her face with effort.

“You know my own mother never loved me. I know what it is to go through what you claim So went through. She hated the mere sight of me.” His eyes are distant and his jaw rigid he recalls the bitter past. “Remember the burns on by back - you asked me once - I averted the question - that was her favorite method of punishing me.” He exhales a rattling breath. “Then one day - she set the house on fire, I escaped - but I couldn’t save her.”

Soo watches the memory flash across his pale face and when he looks at her, there are flames in his eyes.

“It took me so long to get used to being loved, the woman who taught me what a mother truly is - can never do things you claim she did.”

“You don’t -!”

“He told you those things right?” He cuts in without letting her finish. “They are not his experiences Soo - yah, he is just borrowing my story to victimize himself. So must be many things - but he likes to delude himself too much!”

“No - I’ve seen her! I saw her with my eyes!”

“Soo - yah, Soo - yah!” He coos, his hands on her shoulders tightening. His fingers dip into her flesh and shakes her a little. “Your condition is fragile. Your mind can conjure up anything. And you’ve been skipping meds haven’t you?”

“Why are you doing this?” Her voice shakes as she struggles to get away from him.

“”Shh…Shh..” he pulls her closer, a hand running through her hair. “Go home - take your pills, sleep - clear your mind.”

“Let me go!”

He doesn’t yield, his hold too strong, almost suffocating her. Instead he reaches out and opens the door.

“Thank you for coming Mr. Hae!” He says politely. Ha Jin finally manages to free herself but stand rooted on her own. Her eyes are wide and fixed upon the man standing at the threshold.

“Let’s get you home Soo - yah,” her uncle offers a hand. His silver hair and silver eyes glows eerily. “Come on child!”

“No -” she steps away, but Wook’s hand is at her back pushing her forward instead. As soon as she comes within range Hong Ha Jin, grips her arm in an unforgiving hold. “I won’t go! I won’t! NO!”

“Bye Soo, see you later!” Wook closes his door, with a flash of an empty smile. “Drive safe!”