the penthouse

36 | surrounded by questions.

dong yuan-yun looked at his son. something was off about sicheng, and, ignoring the fact that he had an odd layer of concealer on her face, mr. yuan-yun could tell that there was something bothering sicheng.

the dinner had gone well. while they did not talk much to the other bussinessmen, mr. yuan-yun knew that he was able to rely on the men. now, his issue was sicheng, who kept to himself and did not speak to anyone.

" sicheng, is anything bothering you ? i saw how quiet you are. please, let me know if there is something, or someone, that rubs you the wrong way. " yuan-yun sat down next to his son, who shook his head slowly. " what do you have on your face ? "

" nothing, well.. my twins drew weird things and i had to cover them up. " sicheng let out a laugh. though, he did not seem to be any better. he seemed sad, and worried. yuan-yun could not help but think of the worst scenarios. " nothing else is wrong. "

" it does not look like that, sicheng. trust me, if you could see yourself from another person's perspective, you would easily think that you were hurt. " mr. yuan-yun told sicheng, who tried to ignore his father. though, it did not work.

" it is all very weird, dad, and i have no idea what to do. it is beyond me, everything. " sicheng began. suddenly, yuan-yun became worried for sicheng, who seemed as he was about to cry. " all of the issues with mark are too much, and i can not handle them. "

" what is going on with mark ? " mr. yuan-yun asked. of course, he knew who mark lee was. the troublesome child of mr. and mrs. kim was no stranger to appearing in sicheng's words about stressing too much. it was like he just had to be there.

this time, however, it was different. sicheng never really felt that concerned and bothered about mark, and instead found it rather childish how his brother in law lived. now, sicheng showed different emotions. it was as if something had happend to mark.

" he needs to leave for oslo, even if he had promised ji-yoo to teach her how to play the piano. " sicheng told his father, " and ji-yoo mentioned seeing something strange about him. yeri is going to try and convince him to stay, but i doubt that will happen. "

mr. yuan-yun pat his son's back. of course, he cared for sicheng and his family, but this was all beyond what he was able to do. mark was a confusing man, that at often times, made no sense. with that, even a man like dong yuan-yun had no idea of what to do.

he could not imagine what yeri was going through, trying her best to handle her own brother and safety. she was not only taking care of her children, keeping the household together, but also having to look after mark. she was truly a strong woman.

" well, i have no reason to get into that part of your family's problems. however, it is sad to see that mark is not willing to open up a little more. " mr. yuan-yun sighed, and saw that sicheng nodded. " hopefully, yeri will bring him to his senses. "

" the problem is that he had been attempting to open up, but something made him stop. it was that phone call that ji-yoo overheard, that had to do with mark's sudden change. " sicheng suggested, but yuan-yun raised his eyebrow.

sicheng got up from his seat. it was late, and everyone in his family was probably asleep. that is when he decided that it was the best time to head home. even if he left his father in complete confusion, it did not matter to sicheng anymore.

" goodbye, dad ! i have to go. yeri is going to lock me outside of the penthouse, and then she will give me a lecture about coming home on time. " sicheng yelled, as he ran towards the exist. " and, i need to get this concealer off ! "

-

sicheng was out of breath, by the time he had gotten back to the elevator. the reception was empty, and no one else was in the lobby. sicheng was able to take a deep breath, and realise that smoking for eighteen years might have been a terrible decision.