Italics for conversations in English

September 29: 12:32am, Matthew Room, Sheraton Grande Walkerhill, Seoul

Jae Joong finally got to unwind. He throws the tie and jacket on the bed and s his dress shirt, pulling it out of his pants at the same time. He’s really not much of a tie and jacket guy but for work and special occasions, he perseveres through with them.

He looks at the time. Is she still awake? He feels a little guilty that this is the first time he’s got to thinking about checking in on Hayaley. Everything had been hectic and having decided before hand to take charge of the whole event, he had not have a chance to sit down for more than a few minutes since this afternoon. 

He lies down on the bed, exhausted. He had felt a little torn leaving Hayaley behind earlier. If he didn’t believe her to be emotionally strong, he would not have left. He toggles with his phone some more before deciding to call her.  

A few rings later, “Hello?” she mutters in a very sleepy voice.

Arghh, she’s asleep. “Hayaley, it’s Jae Joong. Sorry to wake you up. Just wanted to make sure you are okay. You can go back to sleep now,” the words rush out.

Hayaley had woken up as soon as she heard Jae Joong’s voice. Her own voice clearer now, “It’s okay. I’m awake now. How did the event go?” She props her pillow up against the headboard and leans against it.

“It went really well. Everyone was happy, including my parents, which was most important anyway.” Then, he remembers, “Did you ask Ji Hoon to give me a complimentary ice carving?”

“Ice carving?” Her mind went blank for a moment before she recalls her conversation with her mum in the morning. Mum had asked about Jae Joong and how things were going. One thing lead to another and she had mentioned about his parents' anniversary event at the hotel. Mum had asked if there was going to be an ice carving. She wonders…. “No, I didn’t.” But maybe my mum did. She makes a mental note to check tomorrow. “You must be tired.”

“Yeah, I just got back to the room. I’m going to take a quick shower and pass out.”

Hayaley chuckles. “Yep, sounds like a good plan. I’ll let you go then. Good night!”

“Good night!”

Hayaley fluffs her pillow and lies back down. She had fallen asleep early.

After her meltdown, she had had to call Ji Hoon for an ‘SOS’ since her make-up was ruined. She was supposed to meet with his mum and her friend at 4pm. He had gotten one of the resident make-up artists to come and fix her make-up. She cringe to think what rumors may have spread from her request. But she couldn’t help it. She can’t possibly meet Ji Hoon’s mum with her face looking like that especially when her other guest is from one of Korea’s biggest chaebol family.

After dinner with Ji Hoon in his office – she didn’t feel like seeing people that evening – she had drove straight home, showered and went to bed at 10, emotionally spent from her crying episode.

Now, she can’t seem to fall back asleep. She is thinking about waking up to pack. After wrestling with the idea some more with no possibility of slumber in sight, she gets out of bed and starts packing. Not much to pack really since she has almost everything she needs in her LA home. But that small exercise helped, as she falls asleep almost immediately when she hits the sack again about half an hour later.

“Unni, why do you like butterflies?”

“Metamorphosis.”

Hayaley looks up from the sketch she is working on, “Care to explain?”

“The butterfly is not always beautiful and free. It starts as a caterpillar, who most people try to squish when they see them. Then, it gets confined in a pupae before finally emerging as a beautiful butterfly flying free and loved by most. It’s like it goes through a difficult journey, trying to find itself. When it finally does, it won’t let anyone stop it anymore. To me, it signifies a change for the better, a new start.” 

“I see.”

“What about you?”

“Me?” Hayaley switches her