The following morning, Jinyoung arrived at the office forty minutes late.
His secretary stood as he entered.
"Good morning, sir."
He barely acknowledged her.
"What's on my schedule?"
"Your nine o'clock meeting has already started. The directors are waiting in the conference room."
He glanced at his watch.
"Tell them I'll be there shortly."
"Yes, sir."
He walked into his office and shut the door.
The room smelled faintly of the whiskey he had spilled on his sleeve the night before.
He removed his jacket and tossed it over a chair.
His head throbbed.
He had barely slept.
The previous night had been spent scrolling through old photographs.
Kyrah at a café.
Kyrah laughing at something he had said.
Kyrah leaning against his shoulder.
Kyrah looking at him as if he were the only person in the world who mattered.
He had stared at those pictures until his eyes burned.
Then he had opened their old messages.
He read them from the beginning.
The teasing.
The promises.
The conversations that had once made him smile.
And then he reached the messages from the day everything changed.
He couldn't bring himself to read them again.
He locked his phone.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Sir, the directors are waiting."
Jinyoung grabbed his jacket.
"Coming."
The boardroom was already full when he entered.
Several directors looked up.
The chairman of the meeting glanced at his watch.
"Mr. Jang. We were expecting you forty minutes ago."
Jinyoung took his seat.
"My apologies. I was delayed."
The director at the far end of the table studied him.
"Are you feeling well?"
"I'm fine."
"Then let's begin."
The meeting moved through the usual agenda.
Quarterly performance.
Investment projections.
Expansion plans.
Jinyoung tried to concentrate.
But the figures blurred together.
He missed a question.
Then another.
When the financial director asked him to explain a decline in one of the company's major divisions, Jinyoung stared at the report in front of him.
"I'll have my team review the figures."
The director frowned.
"Your team has already reviewed them. We need your assessment."
Jinyoung's jaw tightened.
"I said I'll review them."
The chairman of the meeting exchanged a glance with another director.
Then Director Han spoke.
"With respect, Mr. Jang, this is becoming a concern."
Jinyoung looked up.
"What is?"
"Your recent performance."
The room fell silent.
Director Han continued.
"You've missed several meetings. Your reports have been delayed. Your responses to questions have been incomplete."
Jinyoung's face darkened.
"Are you questioning my work?"
"I'm questioning whether you're giving it the attention it requires."
"Be careful how you speak to me."
Director Han didn't flinch.
"This is a board meeting, Mr. Jang. My responsibility is to the company."
Jinyoung leaned forward.
"And mine is to the company as well."
"Then demonstrate it."
The words landed hard.
Another director cleared his throat.
"We need to discuss the succession plan."
Jinyoung went still.
The director continued.
"Given the responsibilities attached to the position, we need confidence that the next chairman will be prepared to lead."
Jinyoung's fingers tightened around his pen.
"Are you suggesting I'm not prepared?"
Director Han met his eyes.
"At present, your performance is giving us reason to ask that question."
Jinyoung pushed his chair back.
"That's enough."
The chairman of the meeting raised a hand.
"Mr. Jang, sit down."
For a moment, Jinyoung looked as if he might refuse.
Then he sat.
His face burned with anger.
He wanted to remind them of his achievements.
His years of work.
The sacrifices he had made.
The responsibilities he had carried.
But deep down, he knew they were right.
He had stopped caring about the company.
He had stopped caring about the future he had spent years preparing for.
All he could think about was Kyrah.
Where she was.
Whether she was happy.
Whether she had forgiven him.
Whether she still thought about him.
And whether there was any way to undo what he had done.
The meeting continued.
Jinyoung barely heard another word.
That evening, he sat alone in his office.
The lights of Seoul stretched beyond the windows.
His phone lay on the desk.
He opened the photograph again.
Kyrah.
He remembered the way she used to look at him.
The way she trusted him.
The way she had believed him when he told her he would take responsibility.
He pressed his fingers against his eyes.
"What did I do to you?" he whispered.
But he knew the answer.
He had abandoned her.
He had denied her.
He had allowed his family to convince him that the life he wanted was less important than the life they had chosen for him.
And when he finally realized what he had lost, he had already destroyed the person who had loved him.
His phone buzzed.
A message from his assistant.
Assistant: Sir, would you like me to arrange your travel schedule for next week?
Jinyoung stared at the message.
Next week.
Hong Kong.
The city where Kyrah had rebuilt her life.
The city where she was working, growing, and preparing to welcome her child.
He opened the flight search.
His fingers moved across the screen.
Seoul to Hong Kong.
He studied the available flights.
Then he stopped.
What would he say when he saw her?
That he was sorry?
That he still loved her?
That he had finally understood what she had meant to him?
Would any of it matter?
He thought of the last time he had seen her.
The hurt in her eyes.
The way she had looked at him as if she no longer recognized the man standing in front of her.
He had caused that.
And now he wanted to walk back into her life as if regret could make him deserving of another chance.
He closed the flight search.
Then opened it again.
He couldn't stop.
His phone displayed an old message from Kyrah.
Don't forget to eat. You always skip meals when you're stressed.
He stared at it.
A painful laugh escaped him.
Even then, she had been taking care of him.
And he had repaid her by making her feel disposable.
He pressed the phone against his forehead.
For the first time, he understood that regret was not the same as love.
Love should have made him protect her.
Instead, he had protected his pride.
He had chosen his comfort.
He had chosen the life other people wanted for him.
And now he was watching the consequences unfold.
His phone slipped onto the desk.
He stared out at the city.
Somewhere in Hong Kong, Kyrah was building a life without him.
And he was still sitting in Seoul, trying to find a way to return to a past that no longer existed.
The worst part was that he knew exactly who had destroyed it.
Himself.
Yet he still couldn't stop searching for a way back.
Because the man who had once believed he could have everything was finally beginning to understand what it meant to lose the one thing he could never replace.
Kyrah.
And the child he had never given himself the chance to know.