bnc | lookism.

9 × past, present

Chae Eun was a fool to think that it was going to be different. She didn't want to admit it—didn't want to fall into the idea that for once everything in her life was going fine—that she was happy and most importantly her mom was. Going home from school that one night was a wake-up call for her.

The Jeongs' house never failed to take her breath away whenever Chae Eun comes home. It's been over a year now since she and her mother first stepped foot in the house—over a year now since her mother married the CEO. Their lives may seem like the typical rags-to-riches story but Chae Eun doesn't like to think so. True, they've been living a lot more comfortable life than before but they don't treat the Jeongs' fortune as theirs now that they're family has been legally merged. Her mother certainly didn't marry for money, Chae Eun can vouch for that. The woman had lived a simple life and had been accustomed to simple things that marrying into this lifestyle wasn't even in her wildest dreams. Chae Eun knew for certain her mother married for love.

The house was empty when she came home, as per usual. Only the three of them were the current residents of the house—the CEO's son, Min Chul, moved out just a few months prior. She was expecting the usual silence she'd gotten used to as a welcome but there were noises coming from the left wing of the house—crashing noises. That was where the CEO's home office was. For some reason, Chae Eun immediately thought of a burglar. Are they home? Her mother did call her on the bus earlier so she must be. Then where is she?

Chae Eun made a tour to the kitchen. She decided between the meat mallet and a knife and picked the former. Her fingers gripped tightly at the tool as she tip-toed her way to the office. When she reached the room, she peeked at the ajar door and her heart dropped to the floor. And so did the mallet, the sound of metal hitting the floor alerting the people inside the office of her presence. But Chae Eun was already charging into the room.

"Get away from my mother!" She screamed.

Song Eun Mi was on the floor with the CEO over her, hand raised and face red. It wasn't a pleasant picture to happen upon and Chae Eun was quick to assume a scenario she knew all too well—she came home to this a painful amount of times in the past. She was powerless then but she wasn't now. She slumped down beside her mother on the floor, taking her into her arms. When the CEO made a move to reach for her mother, Chae Eun inched away. "Don't you dare touch her!"

Jae Wook had anger management issues, that he was guilty of. He's been going to a therapist for years now and he thought he was getting better—he was told of it. But something triggered him tonight. It was work-related and he just exploded. It wasn't as severe as his past episodes but he was still all over the place. That was how his wife found him.

She was aware of Jae Wook's anger tendencies but she was yet to witness it. She'd been told what to do by his therapist if he ever did go through one again—in which the therapist noted was unlikely and even if he did, it'll be quite manageable—and so Eun Mi approached her husband cautiously. She was calming him down for a while when Jae Wook received a call and he got worked up again. He stood up from his chair, angrily shouting at the phone and swiping at his desk. Objects clattered to the ground. Eun Mi reached a hand to calm him down once again but he shrugged her off, a tad too aggressive, sending her down on the floor. That was how Chae Eun found them.

This scene was all too familiar. Chae Eun was bracing herself for a fist but it didn't come. And she know it'll never will, at least not the same fist her skin had been violently familiar with all these years. But still, she couldn't help but flinch in anticipation as she held her mother close.

"I-I'm sorry, Eun Mi. You know I would ne-never..." Their huddled forms on the floor was a cold water to his face.

Before they got married, Eun Mi laid out the skeleton in her closet for Jae Wook to see. She bare herself to him—all the good and the bad. And he accepted her. He promised her that that chapter of her life was over and that he would never do anything that would make her remember the past. He said in his vow that he would sooner drive his company to bankruptcy than lay a finger on her. And he meant every single word of it.