JASMINE’S POV

“They say time changes things, but I don’t believe it. You actually have to change them yourself, and look! Doesn’t it all feel the same? It feels as though you never left, yet where did those fourteen years go?”

I sighed and tried to force a smile, Halapoji’s words have always been so deep and wise.

It’s only been two weeks here in Korea and it does indeed feel like I never left.

Our family home in Old Daegu was still the same, that evergreen forest was still as welcoming as ever, the mountains were still majestically beaming and not to mention everyone looked exactly the same.

Anyone would think that my family aged tremendously over these fourteen years, but they were all still as fit and active as ever.

There were small changes such as Appa having permanent stubble and eye bags and Halmeouni now wore strong prescription glasses, but Halapoji and the twin uncles looked exactly the same.

Halmeouni did develop greater health issues, but she was still trying to keep fit and active, especially now that I was back with two more lively souls.  

It turns out Uncle Jiho is about to get married and Uncle Jihu is seeing someone, but I hadn’t met the lucky ladies yet, I’d only just about managed to compose my wavering emotions when I hugged them.

They came rushing from Seoul; I guess everyone lives there now.

I kept my word and dropped the luggage off in the penthouse provided by the sub company I was working for, before I video called Appa; it felt so good seeing their faces after such a long time.

If I’m perfectly honest, it just felt so good being back in Korea.

As soon as they laid eyes on the twins and the twins saw their Korean family, everyone was so desperate to meet each other, so I took the twins on the direct train to Old Daegu, it was a first time for them and so many memories flooded my senses.

They couldn’t stop gazing out of the window at the greenery, beautiful lakes and farms which whizzed past as I chuckled, remembering my reaction was exactly the same the first time I took the fast train too.

I was glad to see Taehee didn’t feel the need to always be on her phone unless she was taking pictures or videos.

I still can’t believe that I’ve finally come back to Daegu, for good.

It was one of the most emotional reunions ever when I finally turned up with the twins.

I was practically forced to live with Appa and my grandparents rather than the penthouse in Seoul.

It was impractical to travel everyday from my work to Old Daegu, and so I suggested that the twins could stay here until my job officially begins and then they’d have to come with me to Seoul.

However when I tried taking them, they naturally refused and so now they live here in the family home whilst I live in Seoul for work and come back on the weekends until the summer holidays are over.

Then they can properly enrol in Daegu High School.

School term in Korea was still in its final few weeks, but I couldn’t let them join so late, its better they join in the New Year.

Yes, they’ll be going to Daegu High, the school which holds all those painful, happy, yet joyful memories that each one of us has grudgingly moved on from.

Daegu High’s education facilities are one of the best in Korea, regardless of how my school life turned out.

And the thing which gives me the most hope is the love and protection Taewon and Taehee hold for each other.

Ever since I was a child, I was always moving back and forth without a consistent friendship, but Taewon and Taehee had an unconditional, telepathic bond which no one could break, not even me.

Wherever one would go, the other would follow and so it satisfied my anxiety that they’d never be alone or alienated like I was on countless occasions.

Right now, I was sitting with Halapoji on the balcony which was overlooking the beautiful mountains as we were both enjoying the serenity of the moment.

“My only regret is not being able to see Taewon and Taehee grow in front of my eyes. We made the same mistake twice, first when you were a child and now this,” Halapoji mumbled sadly as I snuggled closer to him.

No matter how old I get or how many problems we’ve encountered, we all truly loved each other and that was the magnetic force which always brought us back together.

“Halapoji, you were the one who always taught me everything happens for a reason and-”

He cut me off suddenly, “For what reason did I not have enough common sense? I was always so engulfed with how the public saw me that I never bothered to...I never bothered to take care of my family properly...”

I could sense which direction the conversation was headed and so I quickly blinked twice before jumping up and taking Halapoji’s hand.

“Gaja, let’s go and sit with everyone else. Halapoji, let bygones be bygones, the people who God wanted back are much happier up there,” I pointed to the sky as Halapoji’s eyes were sparkling with tears.

When I first came, I thought neither his looks nor personality had changed one bit, but it was now clear that ever since he wasn’t the governor of Daegu anymore, Halapoji became a simple granddad.

A granddad who just wanted his family around him, he just wanted the house to be filled with innocent laughter again.

He smiled and I let him go down the balcony stairs first as I heard laughter erupting from the main room.

We were on the balcony for so long that we didn’t notice who else just came home.

Before I went to the lounge, I turned into the kitchen and couldn’t stop smiling when I laid my eyes on Aunt Jeong.

She was leaning back on the kitchen counter, nibbling on chopped carrots and speaking with..ya!

It was Uncle Hwijae, my favourite uncle.

They both turned to me as I beamed at them, my heart expanding with happiness and delight.

“Jasmine!” They both jumped up and exclaimed in unison as I felt their arms constrict my bones.

“Hahaha! Uncle Hwijae! Aunt Jeong!” I was ecstatic and couldn’t stop hugging them both at the same time whilst struggling to breathe.

No one pulled away for some time, until Uncle Hwijae had to fix his glasses or risk getting them broken.

I analysed their faces and couldn’t see no visible differences, except Aunt Jeong cut her hair very short which complemented her heart shaped face.

They were analysing me back and couldn’t stop wiping tears away.

“No one knew where you went off to, ya, we weren’t even sure if it was London or America! It wasn’t until Jackson called everyone two years ago and told us you were fine...” Uncle Hwijae sniffed as he was shaking, his fingers pressed over his eyes.

Aunt Jeong’s lip quivered as she my face, “You haven’t changed a single bit. No one can say you’re the mother of two teenagers!”

She was desperately trying to lighten up the mood, but Uncle Hwijae couldn’t stop crying.

My eyes widened slightly with concern as I put my hand on his shoulder, “Since when has my favourite Uncle let himself go this much?”

He looked up, his eyes swollen as he pulled me in for another hug.

“Why would you go away for fourteen years? What did we ever do to you that you punished us like this?” His voice was losing control as he pretended to swat my back with anger.

I gulped and closed my eyes, savouring this hug; he was the only one who understood mine and Eonni’s mutual feelings of wanting to break free from society’s restrictions.

He was the only one who managed to pursue a career and life to his desire and successfully live to tell the tale.

He truly was an inspiration.

Aunt Jeong gradually calmed the both of us down and the lounge door burst open as two handsome twin boys came running out, followed by Taewon and Taehee.

My face relaxed with shock as they stood in front of me, out of breath at the game they were all playing.

My God...It was Seoeon and Seojun!

My mouth hung open as I gawked at both of them individually; they had developed into strikingly handsome young men.

They both had their dark brown hair styled in a mushroom type hairstyle, their fringes covering their eyebrows as their eyes were slanted and complemented their defined facial shapes and jaws.

Once I took a good look at them, I could see that Seojun had plumper, fuller lips whilst Seoeon had thinner shaped lips.

They were both Taewon’s height and had lean physiques, Uncle Hwijae and Aunt Jeong obviously taught them how to dress well and look after themselves.

I cupped my mouth with one hand as they laughed and to my surprise, both hugged me.

I was taken aback, thinking they’d not recognise me, until Seojun spoke.

“Eomma Appa have never stopped speaking about you, Gomo (Aunty).”

Seoeon nodded in agreement, “We’ve only ever heard stories about you, and now that we can put a face to the stories, we feel so happy!”

I laughed out loud, “Aigo! You’re both speaking too formally! I’m not that old! Ya, Aunt Jeong-ah!”

I turned to them with a pretend look of irritation as they both started laughing, “That’s what you get for not showing up for fourteen years!”

“Tkkkh!” I tutted as I ruffled Seojun and Seoeon’s soft hair.

“Eomma, can we go to the forest with Seoeon and Seojun oppa?” Taehee sweetly asked.

I looked down at her, she was the happiest I’d ever seen her since she came to Korea.

It gave me confidence in my decisions; maybe coming back was the best thing for all of us.

“Okay, but Aunt Jeong and I will come too,” I sternly told Taehee as she rolled her eyes, but nodded happily, oblivious to my tone.

On our second day in Korea, I was knackered and decided to take a nap and woke up to the penthouse door closing as Taewon and Taehee had just come back from a secret adventure together.

I was worried sick at the thought of where they might’ve gone and quickly rushed out of bed to question them, but Taehee looked too happy and in her own world, so I left it and decided to keep a closer watch on her in the future.

I don’t want to scare her away with my control, yet I don’t want her thinking she can do what she likes when I’m not looking.

Taehee rushed over to Seojun and Seoeon and we now had two sets of teenage twins in our home, filling it with unexplainable bliss.

I want them to form their own group and have fun together as a family rather than trusting outsiders with their feelings.

I quickly checked on Halmeouni who was resting; she never got enough sleep for the first week I was here, scared that I might secretly leave her again and this time, take the twins with me.

Uncle Hwijae had just left with Halapoji to the market, and Appa was in Seoul for some urgent meetings.

His restaurants were still doing well in Hong Kong, Osaka and London, but the one in Seoul had temporarily been shut down by angry protestors, whilst his name was cleared for the murder of Taehyung’s stepdad.

Last week, I spent the whole day with Appa as he poured everything out to me, we bonded again and it felt like nothing had changed, except he was concealing the truth behind the murder accusation.

I didn’t want to pester him further as I knew he felt uncomfortable speaking about it, so I haven’t uttered a word since.

And anyway, I hate having to speak about anything remotely to do with Kim Taehyung.

The world has probably never seen such a beautiful liar.

“What was your favourite place to play in?”

I turned to my right and saw Taewon swaggering beside me, with one hand in his pocket and the other brushing his hair back as I shook my head from a distant thought of someone else who used to do that.

“Definitely the forest. It held a mystical adventure each time we went...” I replied, drifting off as Taehee called out for Taewon to join in their game.

As we followed the twins into the park, I zoned out of the stories Aunt Jeong was letting me in on when I saw trouble sitting on the fences.

Aunt Jeong and I sat on a nearby bench, watching all four twins messing around as Taehee grabbed a swing and was trying to swing herself.

Although they were all innocently having fun, my eyes kept darting to a group of boys in their school uniforms who were sniggering amongst themselves whilst watching Taehee intently.

Daegu School boys were always known to be the most dangerous as I prepared myself to jump up just in case they tried anything.

“Ya, Taewon-ah! Can you push me please?” Taehee loudly called out to Taewon who was too busy wrestling with Seojun and Seoeon to hear her.

Just then, one of the boys jumped off the fence and approached Taehee.

He looked about 18 or 19, had familiar wide, hooded eyes and black hair whilst his Daegu High uniform looked messy as he had a dangerous look to him which immediately made alarm bells go off in my mind.

“I’ll help you if you like,” he offered Taehee, his voice deep and resonating.

Before I could even stand up, Taewon came rushing over and stood in between Taehee and this boy as his other friends had jumped off the fence and were now walking towards Taewon.

Taewon’s eyes were blazing, but Seojun and Seoeon came to his side as they stood firmly next to him and pushed Taehee safely behind them.

“Haha, do you know who I am little boy?” The black haired boy warned menacingly as Taewon clenched his jaw.

“I couldn’t care less who you are, stay away from my sister.”

I exchanged worried looks with Aunt Jeong as we both ran over and pulled our children back.

“Gaja, let’s go,” I tugged Taewon’s hand, but he still had his eyes firmly glued on the black haired boy.

“I said, let’s go,” I repeated firmly as I glared at the other boy and his friends who gawked at me before looking away.

How dare anyone try and intimidate my children.

“Leave it Manse, let’s go. School’s finally over.”

Manse...? That name sounds familiar, but then again, Manse could be anyone’s name.

Aunt Jeong and I watched the school boys leave before we turned to the four twins.

Taehee looked flustered and Taewon was still fuming.

Seoeon and Seojun looked at my worried face and put their thumbs up before they made a real effort to cheer Taewon and Taehee up.

Luckily it worked, as Taewon couldn’t keep in his smile and pushed Seoeon away playfully whilst Seojun was showing Taehee different hand tricks that only flexible people could do.

“How old are they now?” I asked Aunt Jeong as we all made our way home; trying to ignore what just happened as the Daegu sun was setting.

“Sixteen,” she replied as we saw Halmeouni waiting for us at the gates, hugging each of the twins individually before telling them to wash up as she prepared a special meal for them.

“Is Daegu High still the same?” I asked hazily as Aunt Jeong turned to me, the orange glow shining off her smooth face.

“Honestly, nothing has changed. Gyojang Yi is still the Principal and I’m pretty sure the twins’ favourite teacher is Mr Wang. Ever since Daegu High gave birth to the biggest stars of Korea, everyone wants to send their child here. It’s actually become quite prestigious over the years.”

I raised my eyebrows and chuckled as Aunt Jeong took my hand with a serious expression painted across her face.

We stopped on the stone steps as the sound of birds and trickling water from the marble fountain broke the silence.

“What is it?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

She took a deep breath and my palm, “Don’t you ever want them to meet their father?”

Tears pricked my eyes as I remember Yoongi asking me the same thing on the first day I got here.

It was past midnight and the twins were fast asleep in the Seoul penthouse when he called me out to the side road near Seoul Park.

I’d not seen him in fourteen years and so naturally couldn’t control my tears, whilst Yoongi couldn’t believe I’d finally returned after so long.

But what he really wanted to know was when he could introduce the twins to Taehyung.

When I said I couldn’t introduce them to him after raising them alone for so long, he was too calm about the situation and just smiled at a picture on his phone.

It was the first and only picture I’d ever sent Yoongi of the twins when he asked for one over the phone; it was an old picture of me in hospital with them in my arms.

I remembered how protective I was over them; I didn’t want anyone, not even Yoongi to know how they looked like, and so sent the earliest picture I had of them to keep him quiet.

I sighed and looked back at Aunt Jeong.

“No. They’ve lasted this long without him and they don’t need unnecessary drama in their lives.”

Aunt Jeong looked shocked, “Minnie, isn’t that a bit harsh on them? They have every right to know who their father is.”

I closed my eyes and knew Aunt Jeong was right.

“If fate wants it to happen, then fine. But I’m not going out of my way to look for him.”

The sun had finally set as Aunt Jeong hugged my surging pain away, before we both went inside to have dinner with our family.

*********

“And...that’s...done!” I said to myself out loud as I finished typing up the final email of the day.

I checked my watch, it was 9.30pm.

I had to translate two big meetings today, one with the Minister for Education and another with the South Korean Army general, that ran over my lunchtime and so the boring, client paperwork had taken me hours to get through.

This was the third time this week that I stayed back longer than usual as I stretched my arms in the air and tied my straightened hair in a loose bun, so shorter strands fell down my cheeks.

I took a deep breath and chugged the remains of cold coffee as I filed the paperwork and cleared my desk.

I was looking forward to having a lie in tomorrow morning before I’d drive to Old Daegu to spend the weekend with my children and family.

I jumped with joy as I remembered that I had Monday and Tuesday off, hehe.

With that positive thought, I quickly stuffed my laptop in my messenger bag and draped a thick wool scarf around my neck.

It wasn’t coat season, but summer nights in Korea get quite chilly so it’s best to wrap up with something.

All the doors had automatic locks on the outside and after I checked to see if I had my phone and car keys, I let every door shut behind me before fast walking to the car park which would now be empty. 

As I was humming to myself, I opened the car park door and looked around as my heart stopped.

That black BMW was now parked in here too.

Every day this week, a brand new black BMW car was parked at the front of our government office building and just this morning it was outside as well.

But now it had travelled to the basement car park, ya, everyone had gone home, who could possibly still be here?

I tried not to look at it for too long as my heels clacked behind me, making the only noise and echoing through the deserted car park.

Once I approached my car, my heart sunk even deeper.

I looked around once more before bending down to examine the front tyre, it was punctured badly.

How could that have even happened after I just got air pumped in them the other day?

It was the company car and I couldn’t care less, but why did it have to be punctured right now of all times?

It was very dark, and the white tube lights of the car park gave an eerie green glow to my surroundings as I quickly dashed past the sinister black BMW, I hoped my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, but I definitely saw something move in there.

I dashed up the flight of stairs and onto the main road of Seoul where I could hear civilisation and see people walking at long last.

I let out the deep breaths I was holding in as I clutched onto my heart, I don’t know what freaked me out more, the black BMW following me everywhere I go, or the punctured tyre which I’m sure didn’t happen by mistake.

Once I regained my senses and vowed not to watch any more horror films, I made my way to the Seoul housing association where all the luxury penthouses were situated.

It was colder than I thought as I pulled down my black cardigan sleeves to cover my freezing hands whilst my bare legs were shivering under the thin tights I had on.

I wanted to get back to the penthouse as quick as possible, so turned into a narrow side road which would lead directly to the tower blocks.

Just as I crossed over to get to the other side, I heard an empty soda can clunk behind me as I turned around, evidently still shaken from the creepy car park experience.

“Get a grip, it’s just a can,” I nervously said to myself as I looked down on the floor, oblivious to what was now blocking my path.

My eyes first landed on a pair of designer brogues before I looked up and jumped back at the dark, lean figure that was blocking the moonlight.

I stepped back and immediately lost control of my heartbeat as I screamed as loud as I could, I screamed from the top of my lungs before a cold hand tightly covered my mouth.

I was frozen with fear as a strange sense of butterflies invaded the