CHAPTER 1

Park Ha Ni’s POV

I stepped outside of my apartment, breathing in the refreshing cold air. It was a typical day in Boston, and the sun was partly hidden behind some clouds, but that didn’t put a damper on my mood. Leaning against the railing, I once again appreciated that I chose an apartment on the eighth floor rather than one closer to the ground floor. It might be annoying to have to carry my groceries up eight flights of stairs, but the view over the harbor was incredible.

            As I entered my apartment for a refill of coffee, my phone rang. It’s probably Omma or Appa, I thought. I picked up the phone and said hello.

“Hello? What ‘hello’? Have you forgotten Korean already? It has only been six months and you are already becoming a foreigner,” a very familiar voice scolded.

I sighed and corrected myself. Only my mother would start off a conversation like that.

“Anneyonghaseyo, Ommoni. How is Appa? Has he been going to the doctor regularly?” My father had cancer two years ago, but he’s now in remission, thanks to our family doctor.

“Aish, like you even care. You don’t call, you don’t write, nothing.” My mother sounded quite unhappy, and rightly so. But what could I do? I came here to go to college, and because I had to juggle classes, my job, and studying, I barely had any time to call back home. Honestly, they were lucky that I Skyped them every other Saturday. But I had holiday break coming up in a week, so I would probably talk to them more often then. Suddenly, I realized that my mother was still talking, and I quickly tuned back in.

“Listen, girl, you have to come back now. Your Appa needs your help.” My mother spoke the last thing I expected, and the last thing I wanted to hear. I didn’t want to go back to Korea. I didn’t want to go back to the formality of my family, or to the sky-high expectations they had of me. My friends back home thought I was crazy for not taking advantage of my family’s money, but I wanted to take a break. So, I went to the States and began attending Boston College with a business major. I could have done it in Korea, but as I said, I wanted to get away. But it seems like that dream has flown away.

“Help? Is anything wrong with the company?” I unhappily asked.

“Yes. Because he hasn’t been feeling well, your Appa has decided to resign, and he wants you to take over Ness Assn. ,” my mother responded. “He has wanted to do this for a while now, but he wanted you to have some fun in America first.”

“Jinja?! I’m going to become the CEO?” I asked. It was my dream to take over the company once I finished college, but I had no idea that my Appa would resign so early.

“Well… Not exactly,” my mother said. She sounded rather hesitant.

“What do you mean ‘not exactly’?” I asked, rather confused.

“See, the thing is… You won’t have complete control of the company. You will have a co-CEO. You should understand… your Appa loves his company. He wants a back up if anything goes wrong.”

“I guess so… But who is the other person?” I asked. But at the same time, I  wasn’t sure if I wanted to know.

“You don’t know him. Ah, its hard to explain. We already set out our jet, so just get to the airport. We’ll get your stuff later.”

“Ah… arasso… Anyeong, Eomma.” I put down the phone numbly and began to pack. If I had known, I would have had a bit more ‘fun’ in America, but oh well.