THE PRINCE (Ryeji fanfiction)

CHAPTER 9

Ryu sits on his desk, checking the emails that he got from Chris. He said that it's 80% complete. He just need a confession from Yeji so all these can be used to make the report. Still, it's up to Ryu whether he wants Minho to be arrested or just keep it to himself.

It's been a month of investigation and Yeji still doesn't want to take it to court. Ryu can only respect her decision. Speaking of, Ryu feels his phone vibrates. He quickly picks it up without looking at the caller.

"hello?" Ryu placed the phone between his shoulder and ear.

"my mom..."

"Yeji? What happened?" Ryu stops scrolling, focusing himself on Yeji.

"Minho told her."

Ryu immediately grabs his coat. He hurriedly jogs out of the building, soon finding Wonpil chilling beside his car.

"I'm on my way. Did he come?" Ryu enters the car.

Seeing Ryu in a hurry, Wonpil follows his pace.

"I don't know. I'm afraid to go out."

"okay. Wait for me." Ryu keeps the call connected. "go. Quick." Ryu commanded his driver.

-

Ryu knocks on the white wooden door. Soon, a maid lets him in. as soon as he gets into the living area. Minho is already standing. Looks like he wants to go already.

"perfect." Yejin looks at Ryu with furious gaze. "have a seat."

Ryu is a little confused. Minho doesn't seem scared or bothered. He sits down across the angry woman.

"explain." She commanded.

"before anything, may I know the reason why you seem to be angry at me?" Ryu asked.

"I know what you did, young man. You better explain it to me you'll never see Yeji again." Yejin kept her gaze sharp. "and your baby."

"a baby?!" Ryu's eyes widened. "what is going on? What did you tell her?" Ryu looks at Minho, trying his best to not explode.

"don't act so innocent. I saw you that night. What you did was very despicable." Minho shakes his head, putting on a mask. "I saved Yeji."

"whoa... there must be some misunderstanding. How dare you twist things? I have everything filed. Along with the evidence that you're the one that did those things." Ryu chuckles. "I'm not stupid, Minho. I'm not you."

"you both will stay. Wait for Hyunbin to come home. I'm telling him everything." Yejin stares at both of them. "sit."

Minho sits a little far from Ryu.

"look, ma'am. With all due respect. I will never do anything to hurt Yeji or you and your husband. I know how precious Yeji is for both of you. I will never let anyone put her in danger." Ryu glanced at Minho. "if you wanna hear the truth, I can tell you right now."

"you can have your right to speak in front of her father."

-

After about an hour of silence, the parents and the two men gathered.

"which one of you... ruins my daughter's pride and future?"

"he did." Minho easily said, pointing at Ryu.

Ryu takes out his phone. his intention is to prove that he's not guilty for any of this. one of the types of evidence that he wants to show is the one he got from the restaurant.

"this is the recording from the restaurant's CCTV. The night that he did his... crime." Ryu shoves his phone on the coffee table, allowing the parents to watch. "they've done an enhancement on the clip. They're certain that that's Minho."

Hyunbin looks at Ryu and Minho back and forth.

"I'm not that powerful to gather some evidence. He can do anything to turn the facts around." Minho starts raising his voice.

"have you heard about deep fake, son?" Hyunbin looks at Ryu. "if you wanna frame him, you have to do better than this."

"if Yeji didn't call me, I wouldn't be here, sir. I can't let her be with someone who can't even keep her safe." Ryu looks down. he can just show everything that he got at this point. But, he decided not to.

"oh, so you threat her? what Minho said was true, then?" Yejin folds her arm.

"what? Why would I do that?" Ryu furrowed his eyebrows.

"I don't know. maybe you don't wanna get caught?" Minho chimed in.

"I heard about the baby." Hyunbin stares at both of them. "if that's true, I want it to be tested. I can't let my daughter bear the child of a rapist."

"that can be done, sir. I can help you handle that. I don't even know that she's pregnant." Ryu looks around. "what if she isn't?"

"are you scared? You won't be able to see your child?" Minho mocks Ryu. "you're unbelievable. I thought you're nice, Ryu." Minho purses his lips. "I will take care of Yeji better for you." Minho said to the parents.

"she refused to see you, Minho. I can't force her." on the other hand, Yejin starts to doubt Minho's statements.

"did you say Yeji called you earlier?" Hyunbin looks at Ryu.

"yes, sir."

"or maybe you're the one that called her to keep track of things." Minho chimed in again.

"shut it, kid. We've heard enough from you." Hyunbin looked at Minho then he noticed that Ryu's phone that's still on the table vibrates. His daughter's name popped up on the screen. "answer it. Put it on speaker."

"hello." Ryu clears his throat.

"are you downstairs? I hear some things. I'm scared, Ryu. Is Minho there?"

Ryu looks at the parents. Their expressions changed. This isn't how it supposed to happen. Not in one sitting.

"yes. He's here." Ryu keeps his eyes on the parents, seeing how they react. "your parents are too."

"oh no." Yeji's voice cracked. "what would they think, Ryu? I'm not ready."

Ryu's heart aches so bad. He doesn't know what to do with this much pressure. He stays silent. Feeling so desperate, he can feel his eyes watered. As he sucks it all in, he let out a long breath.

"can I talk to you later? I'm gonna talk to them about what happened." Ryu massages his temples.

"no. the world will find out. they will, Ryu. Please."

Ryu looks back at Hyunbin. He asks Ryu to end the call.

"I'm sorry, Yeji. I'll call you again." Ryu quickly ends the call.

Hyunbin stands up, walking towards Minho. Hyunbin swings his open hand towards Minho's face. A hard slap land harshly on him. Ryu immediately stands up, pulling Hyunbin away from Minho.