Sangwon's smile thinned, then disappeared altogether. He straightened in his chair with the kind of authority that didn't need to be forced.
"Let me be frank," His tone turned stern. "I know my son is attached to you. Obsessed, even. But that is precisely the problem. Taeryn doesn't love the way we do. His emotions aren't… shaped like ours. If something happens to you, he won't panic, he'll become violent. If someone touches you, he won't get jealous, he will kill them."
He folded his hands neatly. "This isn't a romance novel, Rihan. This is real. I don't want my son hurt, not by how you might be treated, and not by the mistakes he might make because of you. Impulse can turn him catastrophic. I need him focused. Do you understand?"
Rihan's breath caught. He absorbed every word, not with fear, but he was studying the warning instead of being threatened by it. For a moment, speech simply refused to form on his tongue.
The table rattled. "That's enough, Papa."
