14 June 2013, 7:05 PM

Hye Kyo was nervous…she can’t recall being this nervous…ever.  ‘It’s just dinner,’ she kept reminding herself, and they’ve had plenty of dinners together in the previous 2 years.  But she knew that this was different.  There will be many firsts with this dinner.  This is the first time that they would be eating dining together since that Valentine’s Day ambush.  This is the first dinner where they are not meeting at the country cabin but rather in her own house in the heart of Seoul, where she can finally be a proper hostess to them.  And this is the first dinner since she became their grandson’s girlfriend.  She had to chuckle at the thought of the words ‘girlfriend’ and ‘boyfriend,’ which seemed too insignificant, too mundane, too trivial for what she and Joong Ki shared.  Hye Kyo smiled as she reminded herself to thank In Sung yet again for his glorious present.

The sound of the timer snapped Hye Kyo out of her daydreams.  She checked and then rechecked all the dishes as she gave a quick glance at the clock.  Joong Ki had said they would be here by 8 pm, and that gave her just enough time to get the chocolate soufflé into the oven and for her to shower and change.  The rest of the dinner menu was a combination of Song Il Woo’s and Park Eun Hye’s favorite traditional Korean dishes, but for dessert she had been extravagant and made the classic French dessert, knowing how both loved sweets.  She had thought about hiring some waitstaff for the dinner, but decided against it.  Joong Ki and she wanted this dinner to be special, to thank his grandparents for their support during the long and sometimes tortuous road that led them to tonight.  And to her, it was important that she did everything herself for this dinner…from the cooking to the table setting to the flower decorations. 

“Where are we going?” Eun Hye asked her grandson.  Joong Ki had invited them to dinner a week ago, but he said he wanted to keep the place a surprise.  Truth be told, she had not seen him so happy, so full of life, than in the past month.  She had her suspicions, but she waited patiently to see if her hunch was correct.  Now, as Joong Ki turned off the highway and headed into this particular residential district, a smile slowly crept over Eun Hye’s face and she turned her head to make eye contact with her husband, who also was grinning from ear to ear.

“We’re here,” Joong Ki declared as he opened the gate to the property with a remote control and drove them inside and up to the circular driveway.  Eun Hye and Il Woo found Hye Kyo waiting for them under the portico.  She bowed deeply to both grandparents as Joong Ki helped them out of the car and welcomed them into her home, leading them through the front foyer and into the spacious living area, whose back floor-to-ceiling windows gave them a magnificent vista of the nighttime Gangnam skyline. 

Sliding easily next to Hye Kyo and slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him, Joong Ki took a deep breath before stating, “Halmeoni, halabeoji, I would like to formally introduce you to the woman I love, Song Hye Kyo.”

Eun Hye surprised everyone when she gave a loud whoop before engulfing both Hye Kyo and Joong Ki in a hug.  “Oh I’ve been waiting for this for such a long time!” 

Il Woo’s eyes glistened over as he saw how the young couple glowed, how they looked at each other.  He pulled out his wallet and took out two ₩50,000 notes and handed them to his wife. 

“About damn time!  What took you so long?”  He thundered.  “you could have saved me from losing the bet to your grandmother here if you had just hurried it up a little!”

Eun Hye laughed happily as she pocketed the money.  “I told you to have faith in our Joong Ki, even if he is a little slow.”

Joong Ki and Hye Kyo momentarily looked at each other in shock, not knowing what to say.  And then Hye Kyo’s laughter filled the air as she gave both Eun Hye and Il Woo warm and hearty hugs.

SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK |

27 August 2013, 1:52 AM

“Sir, please come with us,” In Sung heard as he exited the elevator of the subterranean carpark that was attached to Joong Ki’s apartment building.  He had just said his goodbyes to Joong Ki after a “last night of freedom” celebration.  Joong Ki would be reporting for his army enlistment in the morning, and In Sung had treated him to a final night of beer, fried chicken, and male bonding.  He left his young friend with a promise to look after his girlfriend, as he always did, and to help with his older brother’s wedding since Joong Ki would not be able to attend due to his army training period.  Now, he was face-to-face with 2 men dressed impeccably in dark business suits and earpieces.  In Sung didn’t recognize them, but he knew who they were.

“My car, if I leave it here, it will be suspicious,” In Sung replied, already knowing the answer.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take it back home for you,” the elder of the 2 men replied, holding out his hand for the keys, which In Sung readily handed over.

The drive was not unfamiliar to In Sung as he sat in the back of the sedan.  They were moving along a pre-determined course through the streets of Seoul to make sure they were not being followed.  The dread, the panic was bubbling up through his psyche again, but he fought to remain calm.  ‘I am not a boy anymore; I will control this.’

It took them 45 minutes to get to their destination, the NIS headquarters complex in Naegok-dong.  The car pulled into another underground carpark, and he was greeted by a familiar face as he opened the car. 

Bowing deeply to the waiting older man, he couldn’t help but ask the question, “Sir, I thought you had retired a few years ago.”

Lee Kwang Soo’s father didn’t reply, but instead led his young charge to a comfortable meeting room deep underground, where In Sung found, to his surprise, both his parents and Hye Kyo’s mother waiting for him.

Lee Juk Bin’s face was heavy as he faced his assembled guests.  In Sung had been correct, he had retired from the NIS some 5 years earlier, and there was only 1 case that could have gotten him out of retirement.  Before he could go on, the Director of the NIS came through the door to join them.

“I wish we could be meeting under better circumstances,” the Director began.  “I’ll let Senior Detective Lee fill you in on the details.”

Lee Juk Bin took a deep breath, deliberately choosing his words carefully.  “Ten hours ago, we got word from Interpol.  Alan Song has escaped from the maximum security facility in Germany.”

In Sung stared at the elder Lee in disbelief.  Escaped?  How?  It was supposed to be the most secure prison on the planet.  In Sung found that he couldn’t breathe.  He remembered seeing the rising sun not yet 24 hours earlier, but that seemed so far away right now.  The room started spinning around him; he couldn’t focus his eyes; he gripped the sides of the conference table for support.  And then everything went black.