Love is Stronger than Blood (Snowdrop Oneshots)

28- someone else part 3

Ok ok THIS is actually where all the drama's at. The last two have both been building up to here.

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"Lee Kangmu-ssi?"

Upon hearing his name called from behind him, Kangmu turned to see a familiar face, albeit one he wasn't happy to see. His fists clenched behind his back.

"Park Taein-ssi," he said, voice dangerously calm even as anger burned in his dark eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Kangmu had stepped out of the stuffy ANSP office to the parking lot for some fresh air while a few members of his team went over the file on Professor Han's son. He'd told them to call him back in if they found anything interesting.

Taein didn't seem to notice how on edge Kangmu was. He just gave him a friendly smile.

"Oh, I was just checking in on Hannaie. She told me you were back."

"I'm sure she did," Kangmu muttered, redirecting his glare to a random pebble on the pavement.

"Six years," Taein said. "Why did you leave all of a sudden, without a word to anyone, for six whole years?"

"I had some business to take care of," Kangmu said curtly. "How long did it take you and Jang Hanna to get engaged after I left?"

Taein blinked. "What? Hanna and I-"

"That ring on her finger," Kangmu interrupted. "That's yours, right?"

"Well... yes, but-"

"How long did it take?" Kangmu repeated, taking a step towards Taein, who backed away nervously. "I'm sure both of your families were thrilled that I was out of the picture. You and Jang Hanna were the more advantageous pairing for them, right? You, who came from a wealthy and powerful political family like I didn't. I guess you're more in her league than I could ever be."

"Kangmu-ssi..."

Taein backed away until he was against the door of his car, less than a meter away from where Kangmu stood, still glaring daggers at him.

"I know it's my fault," Kangmu said. "I could've ignored her father's threats. I could have asked her to come with me. But I didn't want to risk her life, so I left without a word. It was stupid of me to hope that she'd wait for me to come back."

"She-she did," Taein stuttered, terrified. For the first time, he understood why Kangmu was also known as the Black Tiger. He felt like a small prey animal that had no chance against such a powerful and lethal force of nature as Kangmu was.

"She did?" Kangmu echoed, almost laughing bitterly. "If she did, she wouldn't be marrying you."

"We're not engaged anymore!" Taein said. "I told her to go and get you back! We only agreed to the engagement for our families' sakes, to keep them distracted while she kept on looking for you. She's been looking for you for six years, Lee Kangmu-ssi. She never abandoned you, even when she thought you'd abandoned her. You're the only reason she joined the ANSP in the first place."

Kangmu clenched his jaw. His hands shook as he took out his pistol from his inside coat pocket, leveling it at Taein's face. Taein yelped and cowered against the door of his car, hands raised in surrender.