Chained by Expectations | Park Sunghoon

Twenty-four

Haneul rushed around the penthouse, tears streaming down her face as she packed her belongings in a frenzy. With the knowledge that Sunghoon would be returning home soon, she felt an urgency to leave before facing him. In the midst of her emotional turmoil, she called Sunoo for help.

"Hello?" Sunoo answered, concern in his voice.

"Sunoo, can you please come pick me up?" Haneul pleaded, her sobs audible.

"Haneul? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Sunoo questioned, panic overtaking him.

"Please just come and help me pack all my things. I need to be out before Sunghoon gets back, please hurry," she begged through her tears.

"Okay, I'm on my way. Don't leave, okay?" Sunoo assured her before hanging up and rushing to her aid.

When Sunoo arrived and rang the doorbell, he was met by a disheveled Haneul. Her eyes were red and puffy, marked by the aftermath of her father's slap earlier. Sunoo, unaware of the details, immediately became defensive.

"Did he hit you?!" he demanded, ready to confront Sunghoon.

"No, it was Dad," she clarified as she closed the door behind him.

"Uncle hit you?" Sunoo asked in disbelief, shock written across his face.

As Haneul explained everything, Sunoo's emotions fluctuated between anger, confusion, sympathy, and back to anger, hearing the pain in his cousin's voice.

"Please help me. Can I stay with you just for tonight?" Haneul requested.

"Of course, now let's hurry up and get everything you need out of here," Sunoo said, his protective instincts kicking in. Together, they quickly gathered Haneul's belongings and loaded them into Sunoo's car, leaving the penthouse without any trace of her presence.

As she closed the door to her room, Haneul couldn't resist looking at Sunghoon's closed door. She entered slowly, tears flowing freely as she surveyed the room that had become so familiar. She spotted the t-shirt he often let her wear to bed, lying on the ground. Picking it up, she balled it up and placed it in the last bag, her tears staining the fabric. Despite her current resentment, she couldn't deny the happiness he had brought her in the past few months, she loved him and that's why this betrayal was hitting her like a brick wall. As she left the room, shutting the door behind her, she heard Sunoo calling for her downstairs.

"Is that everything?" Sunoo asked.

"Yes, that's all," she replied, wiping her tears.

"Okay, let's go," Sunoo said, assisting her with the last of her bags.

"Okay, go ahead. I just need to leave one last thing," she said. Sunoo nodded and left. Haneul took out the folder from her bag, her tears staining the paper as she looked at the edited pictures used to frame her. She left them on the counter next to the wedding pictures and the bracelet before taking one last look around the place. Exiting, she left without a trace, her heart heavy with the weight of her shattered marriage.

On the drive to Sunoo's apartment she could not help but sob quietly at the thought of everything that had happened today. "Can you believe it? Here I was like a stupid idiot confessing my love to him and this whole time he was scheming how to get get rid of me? Those late night at the office were all bullshit he was just there to be with So-he, he even gave her my bracelet Sunoo," She ranted in between sobs "my favorite bracelet that I gave him she had it on. There probably together right now actually. They're probably laughing at how pathetic I am and how he was able to do this because of how naive and stupid I am!" She said. Sunoo felt bad for her as he looked over at her crying her eyes out in his passengers seat.