The protector

Breaking point

General warning: this last part of the story will slightly change its mood. From now on, consider every sensitive topic will be in. I mean: EVERY. If you need a refresh, go to the first chapter "warnings," and add more for good measure. Time has passed, all their relationships are changing, the characters are changing, and there are topics that hadn't been touched yet but that need to be. It's not by chance that I picked the darkest SYJ's movie to name this part, albeit I don't think it will be so much dark.

For those who don't feel like continuing: Jeong Hyeok has defected and he's actually busy in diapers changing for their two beautiful twins, Se-ri is too smart to get involved in the diapers gate: she always has a work call every time the girls need to get cleaned. The truth is that she's hidden in the bathroom playing 'angry birds.'

For those who want to continue: please be cautious, and if you peep something you think would trigger you, write me a DM and I'll provide you a vanilla recap. Don't be afraid to disturb me because I prefer to lose five minutes than to have someone triggered.

PART FIVE: WHITE NIGHT

Seoul, January, 2028

"Tshhhh." Holding in between her fingers a just read elegant card whom content seemed, by any means, written with a Montblanc fountain pen – she could almost see the author swiftly achieving that protocol duty with a hurried move of his chubby, pale white hand - Se-ri shot a second, arson look to the stack of greeting cards, mails, and flyers on the entry table, exhaling a loud, bitter puff.

The marble top of the furniture, the design of which coupled the shoe rack that was placed exactly in front of it at the beginning of their corridor, was hoarding – blameless, that had to be recognized, the table had had no role in getting stuffed like that, it was just being the Manager Hong of the house – all the usual piled-up mails that everyone used to find when coming back from a trip. Especially during the winter holidays. Especially when one was a public personality with two companies and a foundation, the woman tried to remember herself in order to calm down, while still trying to pyromaniacating the innocent furniture with her eyes.

Because oooh, it was absurd that it was happening right at that time. It really was absurd.

The deal with the US company had had great resonance, and that was not only a good thing, and of course it was what they wanted. The common use, in business, was to drop the news as soon as the deal was sealed, which meant months before the products would have been materially available, but they'd preferred to capitalise their fame and drop the news right when the products would have made their appearance on the market. And the sales numbers were awarding the choice, they really were.

Also, it wasn't as if the press had never shown any interest for their couple: it had always loved them, dedicating to her marriage far too space, like if they were some sort of Korean royal couple.

But still, that was a lot of attention.

Se-ri's usually proverbial farsightedness hadn't been able to predict that result. Their fame had suddenly become international, their photos were on every possible newspaper. The newsstand at the airport had felt like being in a hall of mirrors, everywhere she placed her eyes, she could meet her face.

And never in life she'd imagined that the news would have reached the Luxemburg, a place she wouldn't have been able to collocate in a map without a meticulous, eyes-stressing scavenging between Belgium, France, and Germany. It was exactly from Luxemburg, indeed, that one of the sponsors of the music school was sending her a bouquet of white flowers with that Christmas greetings card – no, he wasn't civilized enough to not mention Christmas to someone he didn't know the religious orientation of – and his congratulations for the deal.