TWENTY FIVE

Jinwoo was greeting the senior generals who used to be his mentors. He with his cold demeanor tried to be friendly with the generals who now looked old. Inadvertently the corner of her eye saw Nara walking into the hall with a long red dress and blonde hair that was rolled up to reveal her beautiful back exposed. Coincidentally, Kim Nara was also staring at him and he gestured for Jinwoo to follow her.

"I am sorry I have to go now."

Jinwoo asked the generals for permission to go see Nara who was currently waiting for him behind a large pillar near the exit. Together they left the hall and looked for a quieter place to talk one-on-one.

"I'm glad to see you here."

Nara suddenly hugged him while patting him on the back a few times. Jinwoo only responded to Nara's embrace disinterestedly with his hands perched stiffly on the exposed surface of Nara's back.

"You came with your wife?"

"Yes, and she is seeing her father."

"In that case, good," said Nara relieved. She then invited Jinwoo to sit on an empty park bench to talk about the problem which was quite serious.

"I need your help," said Nara directly with a frustrated face.

Jinwoo raised his eyebrows while waiting for Nara's further explanation. What other problems will Nara bring to him? He was actually quite bored to see Nara being chased by trouble. But indeed she was a stubborn woman. She never gets tired of her problems and continues to create new problems after the old problems are solved.

"Help me out of this country," said Nara sounding panicked.

The woman tried to take Jinwoo's sympathy by holding Jinwoo's hand tightly and showing her pitiful face that looked pathetic. Meanwhile Jinwoo looked unfazed and chose to interrogate Nara first.

"What else are you doing? So far I have helped you to get out of every problem you caused. If you weren't my best friend, I might have thrown you in jail."

"Please Jinwoo help me, I promise this is the last one. I... I'm involved in a money laundering case and some parliamentarians have smelled my rottenness. But that was all I did with Jang Hyesong, the Jeolla district head and several other regional heads. They threatened to take me to rot in prison with them if their rottenness was discovered by other high-ranking officials. And this all happened because of my stupidity. I was too rash to make transactions at the bank using the money. Now they are investigating the origin of the counterfeit notes. Please Lee Jinwoo help me." Naru whined with fake tears.

Jinwoo pursed his lips in annoyance while holding back all his emotions that were about to explode. His best friend should have been stopped because the list of crimes was already piling up. Starting with the case of his affair with one of the councilors a year and a half ago, then she became involved in embezzling funds that were supposed to be used to improve infrastructure in the Gwangwon district. After she separated from the councilor, she began to look for other prey to be tricked. From day to day Nara kept acting up until Jinwoo was furious with the woman's behavior. Nara will run to him when the woman is already desperate and can't move anywhere. She with a pitiful face and the pretext of past friendships will whine to her to help her escape the snares of the law.

"Jinwoo please. I have no family other than you. You have to help me. Don't you love me? All this time I was just trying to live a better life. I don't want to be poor again like when we lived in an orphanage. I hope that after I have everything, I want to live happily with you. I like you Jinwoo. I love you not because of our friendship, but I really love you as a grown woman. If you had been aware of my feelings, I wouldn't have gone this far by being the mistress of the officials. Please protect me."

Nara hugged Jinwoo tightly and burst into tears on Jinwoo's shoulders.

Seeing that Jinwoo just kept quiet and let Nara cry as much as she could on his shoulder.

From a distance, Yujin watched all the scenes with a sore heart and teary eyes. What Jinwoo said was in fact unproven. The man confessed to her that he had never met Nara, but what she was witnessing now was quite the opposite. The two of them looked very close to each other and looked like a couple. Plus the way Nara whined at Jinwoo made Yujin very sick. The woman liked her husband and her husband seemed to care so much for Nara that he would do anything for her. Even according to what Yujin heard, Jinwoo was willing to violate the applicable laws in order to save Nara from her rot.

With unsteady steps, Yujin immediately left the garden, wiping the tears that kept flowing down her cheeks. She didn't want to be in that place anymore and wanted to go home to calm down. To hell with Jinwoo who would look for her. She didn't care about the man.

"Yujin."

Yujin looked up with puffy eyes when someone suddenly stood in front of her and looked at her with a worried face.

"Hyuki oppa..."

Yujin immediately burst into Hyuki's arms and cried again in the man's arms.

Again she cried in Hyuki's arms because of Lee Jinwoo. How long will Jinwoo continue to play with her heart? Was her sacrifice not enough to make the man look at her and return her love?

-00-

The next day Yujin woke up alone in her cold room. He had been crying all night and it seems like last night Jinwoo didn't come home. With her eyes still puffy, Yujin reached for her cellphone to see if Jinwoo called her or not because last night she just went home with Hyuki without caring for Jinwoo who might be looking for her. And it turns out that she got two missed calls from Jinwoo and one unread message from the man.

Next time don't make me look stupid by looking for you here and there. Tell me if you really want to go home with Hyuki. Rest at home, I'm not coming home tonight.

That's roughly the content of Jinwoo's short message that made Yujin even more furious. The man casually blamed her for suddenly disappearing from the dinner party, even though it was all because of that cold man. If he hadn't casually hugged other women and lied to her, she definitely wouldn't have felt this messed up.

Bruk

Yujin again dropped her head limply onto the soft pillow. This morning her heart really felt empty and sore. She wanted to give up. Surviving with Jinwoo was not as easy as she thought. There were so many sharp pebbles that hurt each of her journeys until she really felt helpless. She missed her father. She wants to go back to her beautiful childhood so she doesn't have to think about her complicated future.

-00-

"Arghh shit!"

Jinwoo hit the steering wheel hard and continued to swear loudly to channel his anger. Today the mission nearly failed. The plan he carefully devised actually turned towards him like a boomerang that actually injured its own owner. With an aura of anger so thick from his body, Jinwoo immediately got out of his car and walked hastily into his house. He needs vent his anger. He wanted to kill and torture someone right now.

"General Lee, you're finally home."

Yujin greeted Jinwoo's arrival with a sincere smile that she tried to show in front of Jinwoo. Even though it hurt to see Jinwoo, Yujin tried to suppress it and thought about resolving the problem between them amicably. But seeing Jinwoo's condition looking chaotic this afternoon made Yujin feel worried for the man. She hurriedly approached Jinwoo to ask what happened, but the man stopped her and pushed her away.

"Do not come close! I don't want to hurt you again."

"General, what's wrong with you? Tell me."

Yujin ignored Jinwoo's warning and still stepped closer to Jinwoo. Yujin tried to touch the face of Jinwoo who looked so terrible in front of her. But unexpectedly, Jinwoo pushed him hard on the floor and swept away all the dishes that Yujin had cooked this afternoon.

The sound of shattered plates and cutlery falling immediately sounded so loud in Yujin's ears. The woman looked so shocked and could only stand on the spot without being able to move an inch. Her joints felt stiff. And she really couldn't dodge anything when the glass shards hurt her left foot and palm.

Seeps of blood began to slowly flow from Yujin's injured leg.

Seeing the slow flowing blood on the white floor made Jinwoo unable to think rationally. He had always loved blood, and his madness would only increase when he saw fresh blood flowing before his eyes.

Instantly Yujin inched backwards as Jinwoo slowly approached her. With a face that looked terrible, Jinwoo tried to reach Yujin to taste every drop of blood that flowed out from the surface of Yujin's scratched skin.

"I warned you to leave, but you didn't heed my warning Yujin. So don't blame me if you get hurt again." Jinwoo grinned horribly.

Yujin shook her head in fear as she wiped the tears that were pouring down her cheeks. She was afraid. She was really scared when she saw Jinwoo who started to turn so scary like this. Now her position is really cornered. There was no longer any room for her to avoid Jinwoo because behind her was a large, sturdy wall that prevented her from going anywhere. Jinwoo's grin in front of her looked even more terrifying. The man seemed so satisfied to see his prey that she could no longer run away from him.

"General Lee… please open your eyes. You're not a monster, you're a good man. Don't make yourself look like a monster. Please don't hurt me."

Yujin lowered her head in fear and closed her eyes tightly as Jinwoo lowered his head right in front of her. She was very afraid of Jinwoo's next action. She might just grab her or strangle her like he used to. Anything can happen when Jinwoo is being overcome by his terrible madness.

"I am a monster, Yujin. You shouldn't come near me and dream of having a happy life like a princess. Now look at me! Look at this monster man's face, Yujin!"

Yujin looked up and looked at Jinwoo's dark eyes with her eyes filled with tears. She was so sad to see Jinwoo's condition like this. The man deserves a better life.

"I will never think of you as a monster, because you are my husband. The man I love so much," said Yujin weakly with her bloody hands trying to caress Jinwoo's face.

Jinwoo closed his eyes in pleasure, enjoying every gentle caress from Yujin's palm which gave off the sweet scent of blood. He couldn't believe that the woman in front of him was still determined to live with him who had clearly hurt her over and over again. He has shown all his dark side and Yujin is still with him. Is that a sign that Yujin is his destiny? The woman who will accompany him when he grows old, and the woman who will give birth to his offspring.

Imagining it made Jinwoo's heart feel like it was being squeezed so hard. He felt the pain Yujin felt. He felt it all after he saw Yujin's tearful face trying to stay strong in front of him. Jinwoo then opened his eyes and kissed Yujin's forehead passionately. He couldn't hurt Yujin. He wanted to see Yujin happy with him. And he will soon make it happen.

"Forgive me."

Jinwoo lifted Yujin's body and carried Yujin to their room. Then he immediately treated Yujin's wounds silently without saying a word. The only sentence that Jinwoo spoke after the madness subsided was the word sorry. Yujin really did not believe what she heard, that Jinwoo apologized to her. But she was happy if in the end Jinwoo managed to control his terrible madness.

"I'll take you to your father's house." Jinwoo said after he finished treating Yujin's wounds. The man stretched out his hand in front of Yujin which Yujin immediately greeted with a hug.

"Why? Why should I go to my father's house?"

"You're safer there."

"Then what about you general? You're not doing well," said Yujin hoarsely. Jinwoo stroked Yujin's back gently while inhaling in the soothing scent of Yujin's hair.

"I'm going to meet Kim Nara. Stay at your father's house for a while."

Yujin froze on the spot with jealousy rumbling in her chest. Jinwoo was going to meet Nara. A woman who clearly likes her husband. Was that why Jinwoo told her to stay at her father's house? Jinwoo would go with Nara and help the woman escape from the snares of the law. Yujin almost let out a protest, but Jinwoo immediately silenced her with a sentence with a firm tone that showed her that the man did not want to be denied.

"I don't accept rejection!"