Seokjin was worried.

After he visited Luisa three weeks ago, he was sure that they had reached an understanding. He closed his eyes and revisited that glorious night when he fell asleep in her arms after their frenzied lovemaking. The next morning he emptied himself into her two more times, taking his time to make sure that she felt his undying love. They spent the entire day in bed. Luisa seemed sad, but he promised her that he would return soon and asked her not to despair.

He went back to Seoul and decided not to marry Youngsoon. He told her father that Taehyung would take over his position at Kim International and that if he wanted his daughter to marry the Kim heir, she would marry Taehyung. He smiled to himself when he thought that he'd solved the problems.

He had spoken privately with Youngsoon. She was on the verge of making a scene until he reminded her that the plan was never for her to marry him in the first place. She was supposed to marry Taehyung. He reassured her for over two hours that his was the best course of action. He reminded her that he had a girlfriend back home that he was planning to marry. He also promised her that he would never reveal to Taehyung what had transpired between them when she'd asked him to have sex with her.

Youngsoon bit her lip, holding back tears.

He was as gentle as he could be with her. He wanted her to feel as if she was the one who made the choice to return her affections to Taehyung.

He didn't want to stay in Korea. He didn't feel it was his home anymore. Taehyung had more than proven he was capable of running the company. His tenderhearted cousin deserved a chance to be happy with the woman he loved. Seokjin hoped Youngsoon would forget about him and accept his cousin.

What was causing him to worry was the fact that Luisa hadn't answered any of his calls or texts for the past week. School had dismissed for summer two weeks ago. The last time he had heard from her was when he called her after he'd landed in Seoul.

"I need to take care of a few things here, and then I will return. I promise," he had told her excitedly. "I love you, Lu. You know that."

"I know now how much you value our love, Seokjin," she had replied.

He had laughed and asked her what that meant, but she'd simply told him she had to hang up.

He sat back on the sofa pensively. Had she meant something else than what he thought? Of course he valued their love. It was the only thing he cared about. Was he missing something?

The front door opened and closed. He looked up as the steps led into the living room.

"Oh, hi, Tae."

Taehyung took a breath and sat on a chair opposite the sofa. "So, hyung, you're sure about this?"

Seokjin nodded. He'd told his cousin several times that Lee Jeongho had eventually accepted his decision to leave Taehyung in charge of the company as the Kim heir, and he was welcome to have Youngsoon marry Tae if he still wanted to unite their interests.

Seokjin smiled at his cousin. "Yes, of course I'm sure. This was the plan all along, wasn't it?"

The younger man also smiled. "Yes. I just can't believe that it's going to work out." He paused. "For a minute there, I thought that you would decide to marry Soon for real. She really acted as if she loved you."

The older man's smile dimmed, and he averted his eyes. "Well, that was all pretend, remember?" He rubbed his sweaty palm on his pants leg.

"What about you? You've been out of sorts lately."

Seokjin glanced down at his phone. "Yeah. I haven't been able to get a hold of Luisa. It's been a week."

"Maybe her phone isn't working," Taehyung offered. "Have you tried calling any of her friends?"

The older handsome man nodded. "You're right. Let me see if someone can tell me what's going on."

"Hyung," Taehyung said. "Isn't it the middle of the night over there?"

Seokjin nodded. "Oh, yeah, right. I guess I can call later." He couldn't stop smiling. "Tae, I'm so glad that everything worked out. Things are as they should be. In two weeks, I'll go back home, and when I return for your wedding, I'll bring Luisa with me. When she sees your wedding, I hope she'll want to immediately plan ours."

Taehyung nodded. "It sure seems that everything will be perfect. I'm happy for you, hyung. I'm happy for the both of us." He paused. "And your Korean had just gotten better, too. You no longer sound like a school-age child." He giggled.

Seokjin pouted. "What do you mean? My Korean has always been perfect."

The younger man laughed. "Perfect? Oh, please! You sound like you're ten years old!"

The older man reached out and gave him a light kick on the leg. "Oh, be quiet. Ten? Not even."

Taehyung was wheezing with laughter. "Okay, okay. Stop!" He dodged his cousin's playful kicks. "Maybe...maybe twelve years old."

Seokjin's phone rang, interrupting their horseplay.

"It's Yoongi," Seokjin said, surprised. He answered immediately. "Hey, Yoongi. Isn't it late...? What?"

The sudden change in tone made Taehyung's ears perk up, and he stared intently as his cousin's expression became agitated.

"Wait...wait. What do you mean?" Seokjin jumped to his feet and began pacing. "Where did she go? Selina must know...I don't believe that! They're fucking best friends! She knows!" He ran a hand through his hair, leaving some parts sticking up messily. "Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I just...No. She didn't tell me anything. I haven't been able to speak to her for a week. Someone has to know! Um, Megan?... Shit! That can't be true! They know! They must know!...Yes, sorry. Hey, what about someone from her school?...Yeah, that guy Jimin...No, I don't have the number..."

The call went back and forth for a few more minutes. Seokjin's agitation grew by the second. When he finally hung up, he flung himself onto the sofa and tossed the phone aside into the cushions.

Taehyung sat on the edge of his chair. "Hyung? What happened?"

Seokjin rubbed his hands down his face. "Shit, Tae. She left. She left."

"Who?"

The handsome man covered his face with his hands. When he moved them, his eyes were brimming with tears. "Luisa. She left and didn't tell anyone where she was going. She moved out of her apartment and disappeared."

Taehyung gasped. "M-Maybe she went on vacation or...or she went to her family's home. Or..."

Seokjin shook his head. "Her friends have already checked. She's been gone for five days. She left right after we last spoke." He scrambled to his feet and began pacing the room. "Why? Why would she do that? That's why she isn't taking my calls. She just left without a word. I don't understand. None of her friends know where she went. She just told them she needed to leave for a while and asked them not to look for her or ask anything."

The younger man also got to his feet. "It's probably nothing bad. Maybe she really just needed time to herself."

"She left without telling me anything, Tae," Seokjin exclaimed. "That doesn't make any sense! I told her I was going back as soon as I took care of things here. I told her I would return as soon as I could."

"Are you sure she didn't say anything? Give any hints?"

The older man shook his head. "No. Nothing." He stopped his pacing. "She...she said something that I didn't understand. I remember laughing about it. When I told her I loved her, she said something odd...something like 'I know how you value my love,' or something like that." He furrowed his brow. "What did she say? Oh, yes! I know now how much you value our love, Seokjin. I remember because it sounded strange that she'd used my name like that. She made it seem that she knew something now that she didn't know before."

Taehyung's eyes were wide. "What do you think she knew? This isn't about the fake engagement with Youngsoon, is it? You told her it was fake, right?" When his cousin didn't reply, he gasped. "You didn't tell her it wasn't real?"

Seokjin turned to look at his cousin with red, watery eyes. "Not really. I told her that I was expected to marry Youngsoon for the good of the company, but I swore I loved only her. I told her it would be a marriage in name only because at that time, I thought I had no choice."

"And why didn't you tell her that things changed?" Taehyung asked, his eyes wide.

"I tried! She never answered my calls. She didn't give me a chance to explain. I wanted to tell her that I wasn't getting married, but I wanted to wait until I had everything worked out." His voice broke as tears streamed down his face. "She...she must have given up hope. Why? Why did she give up on me, Tae? I...I love her so much."

"Mr. Kim?"

Seokjin hid his face from the maid, and Taehyung got up to intercept her. He shielded his cousin with his body.

"Yes?"

"This came in the mail for Mr. Kim Seokjin. It's from America," the woman said, handing the envelope to Taehyung.

"Thank you, Mirae," the young man said and dismissed her with a curt nod.

"Hyung," he said and held out the letter to Seokjin.

Seokjin took it and ripped it open. His eyes moved rapidly as he scanned the letter. It was from Luisa.

And it broke the last piece of his heart.