Hyejeong says: There’s a perfect match for you; it just isn’t me.

By the time Seolhyun reached Hyejeong’s office, she’d worked everything out. She’d rehearsed her speech all day. Her one hope was that Hyejeong would admit that she shared her feelings.

The assistant greeted her warmly. “Hello, Ms. Kim. It’s good to see you again.”

“You, too, Sojin. Oh, nice tree.” That was the extent of the Christmas decorating in Hyejeong’s office—a small Christmas tree in the corner, draped with tiny white lights. Simple, classy, elegant. Given her previous experiences visiting his office, Seolhyun automatically took a seat and picked up a magazine.

“Dr. Shin will see you now.”

“Already?”

“Yes, she told me I was to bring you into her office as soon as you arrived.” Seolhyun set the magazine aside and stood. It was now or never. The only thing left to do was forge ahead and pray they could discuss this with openness and honesty.

Sojin held the door for her. “Ms. Kim,” she said, announcing Seolhyun.

As she had at their first meeting, Hyejeong sat behind her desk, studying her notepad. She glanced up, acknowledging Seolhyun with a nod, then resumed reading. Seolhyun took a seat, crossed her legs, uncrossed them, then folded her hands as she waited. She knew Hyejeong now and was familiar with her ways.

When she did finally look up, Seolhyun could see that the other girl was on edge. She wondered if the blonde had managed to sleep after she had left her apartment and suspected she had tossed and turned, the same as Seolhyun had.

“You said you wanted to speak to me.” Hyejeong's voice was expressionless.

“Yes, please.”

She checked her watch. “You have ten minutes.”

That bossy approach didn’t fool her. Hyejeong wasn’t going to intimidate her, nor was she going to scare her into being silent.

“Ten minutes,” she said softly. “I doubt it’ll take that long.”

Hyejeong leaned back and Seolhyun leaned forward. “If you’ll recall, it was my friend Mina who suggested I make an appointment with you.”

She indicated with a slight nod that she remembered. “You turned her down, right?”

“Yes.” She sounded bored. “You know very well I did.”

“For an excellent reason,” Seolhyun said, “as you and I are both aware.”

Hyejeong checked her watch again, as if to point out that the minutes were ticking away.

“Even though you rejected her, Mina thought highly enough of your skills as a matchmaker to recommend you to me.”

“I know my business, Seolhyun.”

“You won’t get any argument from me.” She grinned and looked down at her hands, surprised by how calm and controlled she sounded. While her heart continued to beat at an accelerated rate, she remained outwardly collected. “At first I thought doing those three tasks was ridiculous, but I agreed. In fact, I was willing to do just about anything to prove myself.”

Once more Hyejeong glanced at her watch.

“I understand now why you chose the tasks you did. Each one served a specific purpose. You knew all the facts I could list on a sheet of paper, and as a psychologist you could get a great deal from that, but you didn’t know the real me.” Seolhyun had given much thought to the psychologist's motives. “You didn’t know my heart.”

“Yes, well…”

“You wanted to find out how I interact with strangers as a volunteer. You wanted to see how well I deal with kids and then you were interested in my social skills.”

“Practical aspects of any good relationship. But these tasks also told me that you have compassion and flexibility and a sense of humor.”

Seolhyun bowed her head to hide her pleasure at the words and the blush on her cheeks.

“Joong Ki is looking for a woman who enjoys socializing and wants to be part of a community. And someone who possibly wants children in the future. You are all those things.”

Hyejeong had introduced the subject of Joong Ki, so she’d better get that out of the way right now. “Oh, yes. Joong Ki, the match you chose on my behalf. I hope you cancelled the appointment.”

“Per your request I did. However, I feel you should know Joong Ki was extremely disappointed, as I expected he would be.”

“I would’ve been, too, if I’d been waiting to meet my perfect match. Or as you’d probably say, my most suitable match,” she said with a grin.

“And you aren’t?” Hyejeong challenged.

“No, unfortunately I’ve already made her acquaintance.” Hyejeong’s eyes narrowed.

“Before you say anything else, I want you to think this through very carefully.”

“I have,” Seolhyun said.

“I beg to differ.” Hyejeong spoke in the same unfriendly tones she’d heard at the beginning of their relationship.

“I brought up Mina’s name for a specific reason. You knew after reading her answers to your questionnaire, and during your initial meeting, that she was in love with someone else.” Seolhyun paused. “As I told you on Saturday, that someone happens to be my sister. As I also told you, I was impressed by your insight in recognizing her feelings for Yuna so easily.”

“As I’ve repeatedly said, I’m good at my job.”

“You knew it would be wrong to introduce her to another man when she loved my sister.”

“Yes.”

“It would be just as wrong to introduce me to Joong Ki when I’m in love with…you.”

Hyejeong bri