Hidden Motives || Chae Hyungwon

[ one ]

Baek Ha Rim

i looked up at the sky tilting my yellow umbrella, releasing a deep sigh as i watched the droplets falling. on a day like this, it was that gloomy weather once again and i just had to be out of the house.

well in short, it was rainy.

and i, typically, wasn't a fan of rain. i thought rain was noisy and was also a nuisance to the people who had to get things done out of their house. besides that, i also hated the dark sky, the growls and roars of thunder, and the possibilities of lightning striking you from the sky.

but most of all, i hated rain because i lost my parents on a dark rainy afternoon.

i slowly adjusted my sunglasses and then quickly placed my hand inside my long gray coat as my senses began to feel the damp and chilly feeling rain brings.

scanning the area, i carefully walked through the muddy grass in search for my parents' graves. i brought them flowers to celebrate their death anniversary on this day.

"there you are..." i stopped on my tracks and turned to face the graves of my parents side by side each other.

shifting my gaze at the sky and back down to the graves, i released a deep sigh once more.

"it just had to be a rainy afternoon once again, huh?" i spoke, displeased.

lowering myself down, i gently laid the bouquet of flowers i had brought for each of them.

they were white lilies to be exact.

"mr. baek is taking care of me well even if his wife and son still seem to dislike my presence. hoseok, his son, changed his name recently. however, one thing that's never changed is probably the fact that he's still a bit rude to me. well at least, he's away in itaewon for now." i spoke.

"i turned 24 last month and celebrated my birthday with changkyun. i also quit my job at my previous company and applied to chae's couture about a week ago."

"... and if i get in, we're one step closer to getting revenge." i raised an eyebrow and masked the bitterness under a weak smile.

"before i even get to mr. chae himself, i'll have to start with his precious son, chae hyungwon, don't i?" rhetorically, i asked.

eventually, by bringing it up, i slowly fell into the trap of recalling it all.
those were the pieces that lingered in my memory and the dots that mr. baek had connected for me.

it was year 2002 when i had lost my parents. i was just a 6-year old named
seo ha rim.

i remained frozen on my spot as tears began flowing down my cheeks.

while my parents were being murdered by unrecognizable men that day, i was left to escape with my nanny.

my nanny did her best even though she feared for her life. she tried to hide me, but still failed. she was still killed along with the others while i fainted on the spot.

it was cruel. i was thinking i'd never wake up again and just face the same fate as my family.

but here i am, thanks to mr. baek who had saved me. his men brought me to his house and he cherished me like his own daughter. he helped me recover, and when i did, he allowed me to train along with his men so i could work towards my goal of revenge against the chae family.

i slowly snapped out of my thoughts the moment i suddenly heard the thunder roar. i realized the rain was getting stronger and i needed to get on a bus back home now.