The light illuminating the hallway allowed you to continue climbing the stairs to the roof of one of the Gangnam Union buildings, specifically the building where their office is located.

After running up the hundredth flight of stairs, you finally push open the metal door and run outside the building.

You look around for one person. Gi-cheol. He hadn't spoken since he left for the meeting with China and Japan. You learned from his people that he'd been on the building's roof for several hours.

You scan the roof until you spot him. Gi-cheol stood with his back to you, smoking a cigarette.

You quietly approach him, taking careful steps. You stopped two steps behind him.

"Gi-cheol? How did the trade meeting go?" you ask quietly.

"Good," Gi-cheol replied after a long moment. Just one word. That was it.

Gi-cheol always stopped talking when something was wrong. As if he were withdrawing. Again. He still hasn't turned to you.

"Talk to me," you beg him quietly. You'd known him since he was just a regular DJ with no money. You were there when he built his own business. You were close. Very close.

"Go back inside. It's cold," Gi-cheol replied. His tone was... emotionless? Choked?

Ever since Gi-cheol took over Gangnam and started his own business, there were moments when he didn't treat you like a friend, a girlfriend, or like now, a fiancée. He treated you without emotion. They were only brief moments, caused by a failure in his job, but it still hurt.

You stood in front of him and touched his cheeks. "Talk to me, Jung Gi-cheol. I'm your future wife. I have the right to know what's going on!" You shouted the last sentence directly into his face. As soon as he looked at you, it wasn't entirely a devoid of emotion. It was the look he always gave you during arguments. It said, "Calm down."

You sigh, exasperated. "Listen. One day I want to carry your child, so stop acting like a cold-hearted jerk!" You exclaim, slapping his chest. It worked. It always worked.

Gi-cheol grabbed your wrists and looked at you resignedly. He finally started telling you everything.

"And then... damn. They look down on me. They insult me. They think I'm stupid. Again," Gi-cheol confesses.