𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘆 • 𝘀𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗵𝘄𝗮

ｔｗｅｎｔｙ－ｔｗｏ

chapter twenty-two:
"yes, he's my friend"

"you survived? you're really difficult to kill, you know that?" yuri scoffs, scratching his head with the tip of the gun he's holding. "maybe i'm not meant to die in your hands" seonghwa leans on his car, arms crossed. "i supposed you're here to kill me" yuri grin. "finally! you got one thing right. but before that, i just want to say. i heard about you taking seola out to dinner. why?" seonghwa calmly asked. "i bribed her. i bribed her as if i knew everything. and she's surprisingly a big idiot and believes everything i said"

"i'm giving you one chance to tell me everything, seonghwa"

"tell me what exactly happened that you ended up killing her" seonghwa knew yuri was just hurt. he knew it. yuri was not like this. and seonghwa knows damn well it's his fault. this was his fault. "she...she did it to herself, yuri. i never want to hurt you, you know that" seonghwa gulps. "if she did, why apologize and just not tell me, huh?" the older questions. "because i can't live up to what i am right now if i say that she ended everything because she's hurt. she told me everything. she's hurting and she's not happy"

"she didn't want to tell you. her last will was to not tell you"

"i was just doing her last will. it's the least i can do. but right now, i think it's about time you know it." seonghwa started. "we were happy, seonghwa." yuri reasons. "you are happy" he corrects. "she said you always checked on her but she didn't want to admit it. she didn't want you to know. fuck! she doesn't even want you to see her alive yet dying. however, i admit it was my fault for giving her a weapon that day. she lied about saying she's curious about it. i was looking away for fifteen seconds, just fifteen seconds and there she is, bleeding"

yuri was listening to him. seonghwa sighs, he wasn't crying. he prepared himself for this yet he expects yuri to cry. he knows how much yuri loves the girl who was once alive. "do you know what i did in return? all because of your idiocy? i told the villa everything. where are you, what you're doing and i was the one who told them to shoot you in your own house." yuri slowly admits everything. "what are you saying, yuri?"

"i made wooyoung betray you, you understand me?!"

"what?" seonghwa let out. he could not believe it. all of the things yuri is spitting. he can't bring himself to believe it. "did you not hear me? i was the one behind everything. i..."

"i made wooyoung do things he won't do"

•

"seonghwa, you're back" wooyoung welcomes seonghwa upon his return. seonghwa sighs, his body is suddenly tired. "go home, wooyoung. i'll be fine here with seola" he closed his car door. "what? no, it's fine. there's plenty of room i can stay in" wooyoung shakes his head. "just go" he pushed. "did something happen?"

"i said go! did you not hear me?!"

with his burst, seola appears from the door with kyuwon behind. the girls hear his voice from inside. "just fucking go! i am tired and i do not have the energy to deal with you. i will call you when i want to. until then, don't show up" he throws the key to wooyoung and walk past everyone and to his room, slamming the door behind him.

"take care of him, seola" wooyoung sighs. "are you okay? i'll talk to him" seola gulps. "i'll be fine. call me if something happens, alright?" she nodded at that while wooyoung unlocked the car, sitting in the driver seat. "let's go, kyuwon" kyuwon nodded and gave seola one last glance before getting in the car as well. "call us, seola" seola nods at kyuwon.

"seonghwa?" seola knocks at the door before twisting the door knob and entering. she finds the room empty but the bathroom lights on. she walks towards the bathroom door, knocking. however, the door opens indicating it wasn't locked so she invites herself in and finds seonghwa under the shower. with cold water running. "seonghwa?" she calls, feeling weirded at the male's behavior. "aren't you cold?"

however, her questions were answered when she found seonghwa's arm trembling. she took a deep breath and reached for the handle to turn off the water. "what's wrong with you?" she snaps the male out of his thoughts. "let's go" she calls, reaching for the towel and wrapping it around seonghwa's shoulder while leading him back to the bedroom.

"did something happen? can you tell me?" she asked, drying the male's hair. "yuri told me everything and all the things he made wooyoung do" seonghwa starts, hair still wet and lying on his forehead. "i couldn't bring myself to look at wooyoung that's why i made him go. i wanted to apologize. i knew from the start he has no choice. he was given no option. and he don't get to choose either."

"he was kept by someone i know, clothed and given a roof above his head. all of that in exchange for working for me for his entire life. he has a life of his own, too. i never forbid him to live his life once he's done with work but even after working hours, he stays beside me. and upon knowing that yuri made him do things he don't want, i feel bad. it's like my chest were stabbed multiple times."

"the things i went through in the past few days were nothing compared to what i feel right now"

"i'm so hurt, seola. all this time i treated wooyoung as my friend and not as my employee. and i know he doesn't treat me the same, i am his boss in his eyes. he will do as i say but what's worse was he was being ordered what to do his whole life. yet i never heard him complain. i hate to compare him to dogs but he is."

"he's a loyal dog waiting for his master to throw a stick so he could run for it"

"and to think that he was forced to do things, i hate every thought of it. i wanted to kill yuri on the spot and i wanted to kill myself for not being aware of it." tears stream down seonghwa's eyes. his cheeks soak and nose red from crying but he continues. and seola listens. "i wanted to apologize to wooyoung. from everything and i know he will smile and just say it's alright. i know it's not. i regret every single time of not being aware of wooyoung's whereabouts"

"then, why did you push him away? you could've talked to him on the spot"

"I can't even bring myself to look at wooyoung. i could not meet his eyes nor have the thought of being around him. i feel like i made such a big sin and i was being punished by my own self." seonghwa sniffles. seola pull her sleeve, wiping the male's soak cheeks. "then, wait. wait until you're ready to talk to him. you can take your time and i'm sure wooyoung would appreciate whatever you will say to him. he's your friend, remember?"

"yes, he's my friend"

wooyoung stood outside the door, he had returned to the house to get kyuwon's belongings when he overheard the couple. he was not gonna eavesdrop but upon hearing his boss cry, he knew he had to. turns out he was the reason. he don't know what to feel knowing that seonghwa is deeply apologetic to him. what he knows is, he will always accept seonghwa. it's not even in his plan to leave seonghwa even if he fire him. seonghwa is right. they are friends.

"you're my friend, too"

at this moment, wooyoung knew he had to end everything. song kangmin's possession of his life and his connection with him. it's about time wooyoung live on his own. he's sure he has paid everything back already. the 25 years of his life, he spent almost all of it serving song kangmin like a dog. he won't do it again.

"i don't want to do it anymore" he spoke on the phone upon leaving the house. "you're back at it, you jerk. i thought i made myself clear. you don't have an option. you do everything i say!" song kangmin burst from the other line. "you can punish me however you want but i refuse to hurt seonghwa and your daughter. i will tell them everything tomorrow morning. our relationship ends here"

"again, i refuse to hurt my friend and your daughter"

•

the following chapters will be fillers to ending