After ending the call, Ulyana immediately got up and began preparing dinner properly.
She hurried around the kitchen marinating and seasoning the meat while trying not to overthink the strange tangle of emotions currently living inside her chest.
Several hours later, just as promised, Hak arrived.
The moment she opened the front door, Ulyana hugged him instinctively.
"Hak."
He smiled softly before effortlessly lifting her slightly off the ground and placing her back where she stood.
"Yan," he sighed fondly, "I know I literally saw you yesterday."
Then more quietly, "But there was a time we were practically inseparable."
Ulyana sighed softly at that.
Because he was right.
And unfortunately, hearing it aloud only tangled her feelings even further.
Hak studied her expression for a moment before stepping inside.
Then he sniffed the air. "…You're making bulgogi?"
His eyes narrowed slightly. "My favourite?"
Ulyana immediately looked smug. "I put you on."
Hak laughed softly.
And just like that, they slipped back into the easy playful banter they'd always shared.
Comfortable.
Sarcastic.
Natural in a way that came from years of closeness and being similar in age.
For the first time in months, they simply hung out casually together again.
They talked while cooking.
About Xenovia and Amos.
About the internet losing its mind over her and Rowan.
About Rowan visiting her company all week.
Hak listened quietly to most of it while helping plate ingredients.
Then suddenly, Ulyana noticed something.
As Hak reached upward into one of the cupboards, the collar of his shirt shifted slightly.
A bandage wrapped over part of his shoulder.
Immediately her expression changed.
"…What happened?"
Hak glanced down briefly.
"Occupational hazard," he answered lightly, trying to brush it off jokingly.
But instead of easing the mood, it immediately made Ulyana uneasy. Her expression fell slightly.
"Hak…"
She stepped closer now. "Does that have something to do with what happened at the warehouse?"
Hak blinked.
"Uncle told you about the warehouse?"
He immediately looked annoyed. "I swear that guy—"
"No," Ulyana interrupted quietly. "He didn't."
Hak paused.
"Rowan had to leave suddenly from here last night because of it," she explained softly. "And Deda mentioned it this morning."
That immediately made Hak more serious.
Ulyana looked at him carefully afterward.
"It must've been bad," she said quietly. "If Deda came himself to make sure I was safe."
Hak went quiet for a moment before sighing softly.
"I can't say much."
Ulyana nodded immediately. "I know."
Hak leaned lightly against the kitchen counter afterward, his expression more serious now.
"We had deliveries come into one of the warehouses last night," he explained carefully. "Routine shipments."
Ulyana listened silently.
"But there was one container too many," Hak continued. "The numbers didn't match."
That immediately made her uneasy.
"So all the containers had to be manually inspected."
His jaw tightened slightly afterward. "And when we were about to check the last one…"
A pause.
"It exploded."
Ulyana's eyes widened slightly.
Hak looked away briefly.
"Half the warehouse went up in flames. It was a mess."
The atmosphere in the kitchen became noticeably heavier.
"I only caught some shrapnel in my shoulder," he added calmly. "Considering everything, we got lucky."
Ulyana looked visibly unsettled now.
"And Rowan?" she asked quietly. "Graham? They're okay?"
"Yeah," Hak reassured her immediately. "They're fine."
Then with a tired sigh, "They're just tied up dealing with local authorities and the investigation."
That explained everything.
Why Rowan suddenly left.
Why Nikolai looked concerned.
Why nobody knew when he'd be free again.
Hak rubbed at the back of his neck afterward.
"I had to head over too once media crews started showing up several hours later."
Ulyana quietly absorbed everything while standing there beside him in the kitchen.
The heaviness in her chest from earlier made far more sense now. Ulyana looked at Hak carefully for a long moment.
"And you?"
Hak blinked slightly, "Hmm?"
Her expression softened.
"You're okay?"
The question caught him off guard a little, because despite everything happening: d despite Rowan, despite her confusion —
She was still looking at him with genuine concern first.
Hak's expression gentled almost immediately.
"…Yeah," he answered quietly.
Then after a pause: "I'm tired."
Ulyana stepped a little closer instinctively.
Hak laughed softly under his breath seeing the worry on her face.
"Don't look at me like that," he murmured.
"Like what?"
"Like you're about to patch me up and lecture me simultaneously."
"That's because I am," she replied immediately.
That made him smile properly for the first time since arriving.
Standing together quietly in her kitchen, things almost felt normal again between them.
Ulyana and Hak eventually settled into cooking dinner together properly.
And strangely, it felt natural again, like slipping back into an old rhythm neither of them had truly forgotten.
They moved around the kitchen side by side while casually talking, stealing ingredients from each other, and arguing over seasoning proportions like they used to.
At one point Hak playfully bumped her shoulder with his own while teasing her about the internet edits of her and Rowan.
Ulyana laughed and immediately retaliated with sarcasm of her own.
Soon enough, the two had dinner plated and set out across the kitchen island. Somehow their conversation devolved into a ridiculous mock argument over who liked who first years ago.
"You absolutely liked me first," Hak insisted confidently.
Ulyana looked offended. "That is objectively false."
"You used to follow me around everywhere."
"You were literally attached to my hip."
"You cried when I went on holidays."
"You cried first!"
Hak gasped dramatically. "Defamation."
"I'm telling the truth."
"No wonder Uncle Ro likes you," Hak muttered while grabbing a nearby tea towel. "You're evil."
Then he snapped the tea towel toward her dramatically.
Ulyana immediately ran. "Hak!"
She chased him around the kitchen island while laughing, eventually managing to smack him lightly across the shoulder.
Unfortunately the injured one.
Hak instantly winced.
Ulyana froze. "Oh my God—Hak I'm sorry!"
Immediately she rushed toward him worriedly.
But then Hak laughed.
And before she realised what was happening, he grabbed hold of her playfully.
"Ah," he teased smugly. "So you do care."
Ulyana stared at him in disbelief. "You're horrible."
"You were worried."
"You tricked me!"
Hak only grinned while still loosely holding onto her.
The laughter between them slowly faded.
They were very close again.
Too close.
The playful energy shifted quietly into something heavier as they stared at each other.
Ulyana could feel her heartbeat quicken slightly.
Hak's gaze dropped briefly toward her lips before returning to her eyes.
Neither moved away.
Neither spoke.
Then Her phone rang loudly from the kitchen bench.
Both of them startled slightly.
Ulyana looked over automatically and immediately saw the caller ID glowing across the screen: Rowan 💓
The atmosphere shifted again instantly.
Awkwardly, the two separated so Ulyana could answer the call.
Ulyana picked up her phone and answered while trying to steady herself slightly after the moment she and Hak had almost shared.
"…Hello?"
Rowan's voice immediately softened through the speaker.
"Hey Angel."
Just hearing his voice somehow shifted her mood again.
"Just checking in," he said gently. "You okay?"
Ulyana glanced briefly toward Hak before answering honestly.
"I'm good. I've just been keeping myself busy."
Rowan hummed softly. "Miss me already?"
Ulyana rolled her eyes automatically despite smiling.
"You're unbelievably smug."
"And yet," Rowan replied smoothly, "you still answer my calls sounding happy."
That made her laugh quietly.
The conversation settled into easy playful banter after that. Rowan flirted with her lightly while casually checking in on how her day had gone.
Then eventually his tone softened more seriously.
"And… I'm sorry again for leaving the way I did last night."
Ulyana immediately shook her head even though he couldn't see it.
"It's okay, Rowan. Really."
A brief silence followed before he asked casually, "What are you up to tonight?"
Ulyana hesitated only briefly before deciding to answer truthfully.
"Hak and I are about to have dinner together."
There was the faintest pause on the line.
Not angry.
Not cold.
Just quiet.
Then Rowan responded: "Got it."
And somehow that response almost made her feel guiltier than if he'd reacted badly.
Still, Rowan's tone remained warm afterward.
"I'll be in touch, Angel."
"…Okay."
"And don't stay up too late."
Ulyana smiled softly. "No promises."
That earned a quiet laugh from him.
Then the call ended peacefully.
When Ulyana looked back up afterward, Hak was quietly watching her from across the kitchen.
Hak watched her for a moment after the call ended before casually commenting:
"You smile a lot when you talk to him."
Ulyana immediately pointed a warning finger at him.
"Don't start."
Hak raised his hands slightly in surrender.
"Got it."
"Quit while you're ahead."
That only made him laugh softly under his breath before the two finally settled down to eat dinner together properly.
And despite the complicated emotions lingering between them—
The evening itself felt easy.
Comfortable.
They ate bulgogi together at the kitchen island while talking about random things the way they used to.
At one point the conversation drifted toward a famous painter they both loved.
Hak immediately began complaining dramatically about the artist's latest exhibition piece.
"It looked unfinished."
"It's called abstract expressionism," Ulyana argued immediately.
"No," Hak replied flatly. "I understand money laundering."
Ulyana burst into laughter. "oh shut up."
"I'm right."
"You have no vision."
Hak pointed his chopsticks toward her accusingly.
"You only liked it because the artist is attractive."
"That is completely false."
A pause.
"…Mostly false."
Hak groaned dramatically while Ulyana laughed again, the warm comfortable atmosphere returning between them little by little throughout the evening.
After dinner, the two cleaned up together and loaded the dishwasher side by side. Then eventually Hak slid open the back doors leading out into the garden.
The night air was cool and calm.
Together they wandered outside and settled near the koi pond tucked away within the villa gardens. Soft lights reflected across the water while the koi drifted lazily beneath the surface.
For a while, they simply sat there quietly beside each other. Their conversation somehow drifted backward through time.
Back to the night Hak first entered her life.
Ulyana rested her chin against her knees slightly as she looked out over the pond.
"I was fourteen then," she murmured softly.
Hak nodded. "And I was seventeen."
The memory still felt surreal even now.
The storm.
The blood.
The fear.
Hak arriving injured and half dead after his father attempted to kill him following the murder of Hak's mother.
Ulyana still remembered seeing him for the first time beneath the harsh lights of one of the Vasily safehouses.
Thin.
Angry.
Grieving.
Dangerous.
And yet young.
"So tiny," Hak muttered suddenly.
Ulyana looked offended immediately. "I was not tiny."
"You were terrifying," Hak corrected while laughing softly. "But tiny."
That made her smile to herself.
Then more quietly, Ulyana admitted. "I remember thinking you'd probably stay in my life forever."
Hak looked at her in surprise.
"You knew that already?"
She nodded softly.
"I just did."
The sincerity in her voice made something shift in Hak's expression.
Then he laughed quietly to himself.
"You know," he admitted, "when we first met, I genuinely thought you hated me."
Ulyana blinked. "What?"
"You were so cold," Hak defended himself immediately. "You kept staring at me like you were assessing whether I was worth the trouble."
Ulyana burst into laughter.
"That is absolutely something Deda would do."
"Exactly," Hak pointed at her. "That's when I realised you take after Chairman Vasily more than anyone else in your family."
That made her laugh while Hak smiled watching her beneath the soft garden lights.
Eventually their reminiscing faded into quieter conversation about the present.
About everything currently tangled between them.
The changing dynamics.
Rowan.
Their lives.
Hak leaned back slightly beside her near the koi pond, his expression calmer now beneath the garden lights.
"I don't really have answers right now," he admitted quietly. "But I am trying."
Ulyana listened silently.
Then Hak sighed softly. "This warehouse situation…"
Immediately Ulyana looked toward Hak.
"It's a minor setback."
Ulyana continued staring at him for several long seconds. Then flatly, "You sound exactly like your uncle."
Hak looked offended immediately. "That's harsh."
"You both downplay everything."
Hak laughed quietly under his breath. "Maybe."
Despite the joke, Ulyana could still see the exhaustion sitting beneath his calm exterior.
And somehow that worried her more than if he had openly admitted things were bad.
After a while, Ulyana quietly asked, "When he goes overseas tomorrow… are you going too?"
Hak nodded slightly.
"Yeah."
For some reason, hearing that actually eased something inside her chest a little.
"That gives me some peace of mind."
Hak looked at her curiously. "How?"
Ulyana rested her chin lightly against her knees again while looking out over the koi pond.
Then honestly answered, "You're both at your best when you're together."
Hak went quiet at that. Because despite everything complicated between the three of them—
That statement was true.
Rowan and Hak trusted each other completely.
Eventually Hak smiled faintly to himself.
"You know," he murmured, "most people would probably be uncomfortable hearing the girl they like say that about another man."
Ulyana glanced sideways at him calmly.
"Most men aren't emotionally intelligent enough to understand nuance."
Hak burst into laughter immediately. "There's the Vasily in you again."
"Hak…"
Her tone grew quieter, more serious. "I can tell something has shifted in the air lately."
Hak looked at her silently.
She continued softly, "You don't have to explain it to me."
The koi pond lights reflected faintly across the water between them while Hak studied her expression carefully.
Then Ulyana sighed. "Just… please be safe out there."
A pause.
"And help him."
Hak's brows furrowed slightly.
she continued, "He never asks for help."
Hak leaned back slightly. "He's a big boy."
"Hak."
"I'm serious."
"So am I," Ulyana replied quietly.
The concern in her voice made him pause.
Then more softly, she admitted, "I just need both of you to come back in one piece."
That answer visibly affected him.
Because there was no manipulation in it.
No choosing.
No games.
Just genuine fear for two people she deeply cared about.
Hak looked away briefly toward the koi pond before eventually nodding once.
"…Okay."
Hak looked at her quietly for a long moment before gently lifting a hand to her face.
His thumb brushed softly against her cheek.
Ulyana instinctively closed her eyes for a moment, her brows furrowing slightly beneath the emotion building inside her chest.
Then she opened her eyes again and looked at him intently.
"Take care of yourself."
Her voice had grown quieter now.
More fragile.
"How many more times are you going to hurt me?"
Hak's expression shifted immediately.
"Hurt you?"
Ulyana's eyes glistened faintly beneath the garden lights.
"Hak…" she whispered. "I care about you."
A shaky breath escaped her afterward.
"When you get hurt… it hurts me too."
The tears forming in her eyes visibly caught him off guard.
Because despite everything changing between them, despite Rowan—
She was still sitting here worried sick over him.
Hak's expression softened completely.
And for the first time in a while, he looked and felt genuinely guilty.