Chapter 96 - Secrets

Jiwon stared at Mirae's sleeping form. They had been living at the apartment for almost a year now. It was difficult living there without the comfort of his mansion, but there was no choice. He mostly did odd jobs and singing gigs at different events while Mirae was a freelancing technician for different restaurants. Even though they had some income, it was difficult to scrape by.

The lack of money and basic necessities also soured Jiwon's mood. He returned late every night, tired and exhausted. He tried applying for a regular job but firms would not take a high school graduate. Mirae had suggested him to apply to college instead, but Jiwon shot down the idea. It was too expensive.

Living in these conditions made Jiwon realize how much he depended on his grandfather's money. First at the mansion then at the school, he never lacked any comfort and luxury. He thought he would be able to get the same comforts after becoming an idol but that dream was far fetched now.

Jiwon sighed and got off the bed. He headed towards the living room, settling on the couch as he picked up a paper and pen. He began to write a song. Whenever he felt stressed and tired, he would compose songs. It gave him a peace of mind.

He was scribbling till 3 am, crumbling and throwing papers all over the floor. Meanwhile, Mirae stirred in her sleep. Her hand stretched forward only to find the space beside her empty. She frowned and opened her eyes. Jiwon was not there beside her but the light of the living room was turned on. She got up and put on a jacket.

She entered the living room to see Jiwon writing. Paper balls were curled up around the floor. He does this whenever he is stressed.

"What happened?" she asked, taking a seat beside him.

"Nothing," he said, still occupied with his music. 

"You're stressed." It was not a question but a statement.

"I'm not," he replied.

"Yes, you are Jiwon!" Mirae insisted. "You are stressed about something! Did something happen at work?"

"Nothing happened Mirae!" Jiwon retorted. "I just felt like writing lyrics. Can you not nag at me?"

The words escaped his mouth before he could stop himself. Mirae was taken aback. 

"Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother you anymore."

Mirae was hurt but she did not show it on her face. Jiwon was a difficult person to read but even she reached her limits at times with his mood swings. He would be either indifferent or completely withdrawn. Even though he was heedful towards her needs, he remained in his own shell. 

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I-I just had a bad day at work."

"Everyone has bad days at work," Mirae said. "Which is why you should talk about it openly. Withdrawing yourself, will only make things worse."

"My boss had an argument with me," Jiwon lied. Even though he wore an impassive expression, Mirae knew he was lying. Something else was bothering him, but he would not reveal it to her. 

"I hope you can solve it," she said, getting up and turned around to return to bed. Jiwon knew she did not buy his excuse. He felt bad for lying to her but he could not tell her the truth either. She was probably even more hurt by his lie.

"Do you wanna go out tomorrow?" he suddenly asked. Her steps stopped short. 

"Go out?" she asked, her voice had a hint of surprise.

"Yeah," he said. "I realized that this past year, we haven't really gone out on a date. It's a weekend. We can go somewhere."

Even though Mirae was apprehensive about his lie earlier, she could help but feel a little touched.

"Okay," she smiled and returned to the bedroom, feeling giddy. Maybe, we can finally start to reach out to each other, she thought as she returned to bed, feeling ecstatic.

Jiwon picked up his phone and looked at the message Hyun Jung had sent him earlier.

"Ziko had escaped again," it said.

Frustrated by this, Jiwon snapped his phone shut. Even though he had refused his inheritance, Jiwon never gave up searching for Ziko. His grandfather's businesses may have been divested, but Jiwon was still leading the underworld mercenaries in secret. 

The Cartel was still a threat to him, even though they had stayed away from him for a year. Nonetheless, Jiwon was still trying to get to Ziko through his connections. They still had some unfinished business.

It was impossible for him to let go of those dreams. Entering the entertainment business would have been easier; he could have kept tabs on the illegal trading Ziko did there. But now that he could no longer join the industry, Jiwon had to look for other options.

He had Hyun Jung run their mercenary team, while he remained in the shadows. The Cartel could not trace the activities back to him but they probably had an inkling of what he was doing in secrecy. They had their eyes on him, which is why Jiwon kept them distracted by posing as odd job worker while he fished out their activities on the side.

It was difficult to track the Cartel down without his grandfather's money and power. But he did not want that inheritance. It already marked him into a cursed life and he did not want to use it anymore. 

He hid all this from Mirae. It was difficult but it was necessary. She would not approve of his obsession with the Cartel and would be even more distraught if she found out that her parents were killed by the same men. It was bad enough that he dragged her into his bleak world but he did not want to hurt her. Even though his actions and secretive nature irked her, he would not risk her life.

He put the pen and paper down. Looking around the mess he made, he slowly picked up all the crumpled papers and threw them into the bin before returning to his bedroom.

Mirae was sleeping on the bed, tossing and turning restlessly. She was frowning as she began to mumble. "Ahjumma...the onions cost one dollar yesterday…"

She kicked the blanket off her body in frustration. Jiwon sighed. She was sleep talking again. He got into bed and pulled the blanket over themselves. Mirae reflexively wrapped her arms around him and clung to his back. 

"Fifty cents…" she mumbled. Jiwon could not help but let out a snicker. 

"She really knows how to bargain," he commented as he too fell asleep.