Junghee still hadn’t had her answer even after three weeks later. She hadn’t met the man yet even after her father told her that he came twice a week to see her. He had asked for her number from Mr Kim, but the father refused to give as not wanting to betray Junghee’s trust on them as parents.

After almost a month since their last short encounter, Junghee learned that his name was Choi Minho and a year younger than she was. For living, he sold cars from an automobile company his father owned, not just some cars but those imported ones and the very expensive ones. Junghee was not slightly impressed at all. What money could do to her shattering heart? In the end, you’re going to die and the money you owned would be someone else’s.

Junghee, to be honest, was dying to know why he suddenly wanted to marry her when he stood her up before. But her ego and pride were so high up to the sky she refused to ask. She ended letting the matter and him as far away from her mind. She didn’t want to think anymore.

Junghee’s relationship with Jinki was now going back to after they had bumped each other one day and him forgetting about her. They barely talk now. They only see each other when there’s work to do and during meetings. He didn’t even smile at her like he used to do. Well, he did smile at her like usual, but the smile was more of formality than friendly. They acted as strangers around each other.

Jinki and Gwiboon’s relationship was all over the media, especially the tabloid and magazines. As Gwiboon was a gold medal holder during this year’s Grand Prix season, everyone had their eyes on her. Whatever she did, whatever she wore, whoever she went out with, people were dying to know. Not only she was a good athlete, she was also very fashionable. She was more like a model now than a figure skating athlete. Junghee thought if Gwiboon retired from the sport world, she might as well start on modelling. She had the look and the body, so why not.

Actually, whenever she thought about Gwiboon and Jinki, it made Junghee’s heart swell. She hated it, she hated them. She knew Gwiboon was a very nice and sweet woman but…

At the thought of Jinki being truly in love with Gwiboon made Junghee want to breakdown right there and then. 

When the news of the couple’s engagement broke off around the office some weeks later, Junghee went home earlier than everyone. She lied down on her bed, hiding behind the thick blanket of hers and cried again. She hated herself for crying because of a man who never liked her.

-*-

She didn’t go to work the next day. Or the day after. Or the third day. She spent most of her time immobilized on the bed. Her parents were starting to get worried about her as she refused to eat or to at least drink. She just lied on the bed, sleep and woke up to cry before going back to sleep. Junghee had turned off her phone as there were so many calls from whoever knew.

On the fourth day, her mother came barged in her room. The old woman woke Junghee up. “Sweetheart, wake up, please. Come and eat, I bring your favourite food.”

Junghee blinked her eyes a couple of times. Her head was spinning like mad. Her visions blurred. She was seeing double of her mother. “No… sleep…” she muttered before closing back her eyes.

“Junghee? Junghee!” was the last thing she heard before going back to sleep.

-*-

When Junghee opened her eyes again, where she felt a lot better, she made out right away that she wasn’t in her room. She looked around and learned that she was in a hospital ward. An IV tube was stuck in the back of her hand. She ran her eyes around the room. A humidifier sat on the bedside drawer on her right. There was also a basket full of fruits on the drawer, a jug of water and two glasses; there were flowers in a very beautiful vase as well. 

“You’re awake,” said a very husky and deep voice which shocked her. She turned to her left and saw Choi Minho standing at the window, looking at her with a smile she remembered he didn’t give her when they first met. She realized then he was a very tall man.

“What…” she croaked and felt how dried was. She grimaced, and the man came closer to her. He poured a glass of water, he took a straw from the tray and put it on and brought the glass closer to her. She drank until the glass emptied. She was feeling the bliss with closed eyes when felt much better.

“Better?” he asked, with a frown on his face.

She nodded. She opened her eyes slowly and saw that he had taken a seat on the chair. He had his big doe eyes fixed on her. She saw how worried he looked, and was wondering why the hell he should be feeling that way. She averted her gaze from him and stared at the celling. “How long you’ve been here?” she asked finally.

“Long enough,” he answered curtly.

“Where are my parents?”

“I asked them to go and eat first. I promised them I’ll look after you.” She was not going to lie that she was touched.

“What happened to me?”

“Three days ago-”

She snapped her eyes on him. “Three days?”

“Yes, you passed out three days ago in your room. Your mother called me and said you were hospitalized due to dehydration and lack of nutrients. Apparently you have skipped meals for four days, huh?”

Junghee sighed and closed her eyes. She felt so stupid for being like that. She felt ashamed of herself for torturing herself like that. All because of a man.

“Your parents assumed you were shocked because of the marriage proposal,” said Minho. Junghee caught traces of amusement in his tone.

She chuckled and she felt hundredth times better for having to laugh for the first time in what she felt forever. “That’s stupid, I am not.” She opened her eyes and looked back at him, he was smiling again.

“Thought so.”

“But…” she said after a long silence. “Why did you do that? The proposal, I mean.”

He stared at her, making Junghee almost covered herself with the blanket because she thought his eyes had the ability to look past through her clothes. He backed away from the bed and suddenly he got on his knees, he sat back on his calves. He bowed down to Junghee, making the latter shocked. She sat up instantly. “Because I felt terrible and guilty at what I did to you. I’m really sorry for doing that. I was the worse man ever,” he said in a low voice.

"What - what are you doing?! Get up!" the woman shrieked. "Please, Mr. Choi. Stand up." 

Minho stood up hesitantly, when he did he still had his head down, eyes avoiding Junghee's and looking very apologetic

They were quiet before Junghee said, "You could've just come and apologize but why did you ask to marry me?" It was true. She's probably going to forgive him whether she was angry or not at him.

He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “To be honest, I did return back to the restaurant after I left that night. But the waitress said you left afterwards.”

Junghee couldn’t believe what she was listening. Was he really telling the truth? Was he making it all up? To make her feel better?

“You know, when mother gave me your picture, I thought we could get along. I don't know why but... I feel like..." he went quiet for a while. "I was actually looking forward on seeing you. I don't know why. Something about you - just from the photo mother gave me - attracted me." 

Junghee thought her heart stopped beating for a while. She couldn't believe what she just listened to. 

Minho let out a very deep sigh. "But that day, on out meeting day, everything went downhill to me. I was having a really bad day that day. Everything didn’t turn out well like I wanted to. I was angry at that time, I didn't want to see you with me having a temper. But then, mother called me and forced me to go.” Junghee vaguely remembered how stressed he looked back then. “I was terrible for letting my anger on you. I left the restaurant, and after I felt a lot better, I went back and you were gone.”

“And…?”

He sighed, he looked down, inspecting his fingers. “And I made a big mistake, didn’t I? I went home and thinking and keep on thinking. My mother really likes you, you know?”

She scoffed. He was lying, then. What a very convincing tale. “How the hell she supposed to like me when I don’t even know who she was.”

Minho looked up and stared at her with an eyebrow raised. “Of course you do. She was the woman who your mother brought home months ago. When your mother didn't have enough money at the market before.”

Junghee scrunched her eyebrows, thinking hard. She remembered her mother bringing home a lady at her age. She said the lady helped her paying the groceries because Mrs. Kim didn't bring enough money and that she left her credit card at home. Junghee remembered meeting the woman, that day she was on leave so she stayed at home. She helped her mother entertaining the woman. The two of them - her mother and the lady - became friends instantly. The lady would come visiting Mrs. Kim once or twice a week.

“She… she was… she was your mother?”

He smiled at her. “Yes. And she was very fond of you.”

formed the letter ‘O’, well that’s surprising. “And then, what she’s got to do with everything? With the proposal?”

“When your mother called mine and told what I did, she came screaming at me and told me how I put a big shame on her. Telling me how I don’t know how to respect woman, her favourite young woman in addition.”

Junghee bit her lower lip.

“And I agreed with her, I was such a shame. I told her I regretted for doing so but I didn’t know how to contact you either so…”

“That still doesn’t explain everything.”

“Long story short, my mother gave me your address and I went and asked to marry you. In all honesty, I didn’t  know why I said I wanted to marry you instead of asking for forgiveness but I’m sure I did the right thing. I’m getting old anyway. Sure, we don’t know each other very well but we can learn about each other after the marriage. We can…” his ears turned red suddenly.

“We can…?” Junghee thought she knew what he was going to say but it looked fun to tease the man.

“We can… uhm…” he stuttered and cleared his throat. “We can fall for each other afterwards,” he said very quickly and looked at everywhere but Junghee.

She held back a smiled and hummed mockingly. “Hmm, who knows…” she said with teasing tone. She noticed how flushed he looked. Cute.

-*-

After the talk with Minho, she still hadn’t given him the answer as she needed more time to think about everything. He said it was okay for to take as much time as she needed, he’d wait.

“What if I still haven’t given my answer in the next 60 years?” she asked, half-teasing half-serious.

“I will still wait,” he said seriously.

“What if I get married with another man?”

“If you don’t tell no to me, then I will wait until you divorced with the man.”

She laughed at him. “What if I don’t divorce?”

“Then I will make him divorce you.”

She laughed again. What was he playing at?

“What if I said no and married with another man?”

“I’ll make the man divorce you and marry you.”

He was a funny man.

-*-

She was still hospitalized after she woke up. The doctor said they wanted to make sure she was well rested before she could go and went on with her life like normal.

Junghee lied on her side one noon and she heard soft knock on the door, she had her back on it. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. If it was the nurse, and they found out she was still awake, they’d know she had skipped her medicine. But it was her mother. 

“Junghee?” her mother called. But she remained still. Their relationship was a lot better now. Junghee had been asking for forgiveness for her rudeness towards her mother meanwhile her mother had apologized to her for pressuring her that made her daughter hospitalized. Though no matter how much Junghee told her mother it was because of her work, the old woman still felt like it was her fault. No, it wasn’t your fault mom but Jinki’s and your daughter herself.

“Junghee, Jinki is here to see you,” her mother said softly and by her voice, the woman was right behind her. Junghee was so close on turning so fast but she held herself back and remained silent, pretending to be sleeping.

“Oh, what to do? She’s probably had her medicine and fallen asleep,” she heard her mother said to Jinki. “Why don’t you go home first and come back later?” No, just go home and don’t return here.

“It’s okay, Mrs Kim. I’ll wait here,” she heard Jinki said and Junghee was stuck at how much she missed the voice.

Junghee heard her mother muttered “Okay” before leaving the two of them together. Junghee heard the door being closed and on the right side of the bed scratched, as it was being pulled back. Junghee’s heart was thumping loudly that she was afraid that Jinki might hear.

Jinki was being so quiet that Junghee had the urged to look back to make sure if he was there or not. But then she heard him sighed, as if very frustrated about something. Then he said that made her surprised than ever, more than when she heard about Minho’s proposal or Jinki going back to Gwiboon.

“I’m sorry,” that was what he said. And that was all he said. She heard the chair being pushed back again and she felt him standing right behind her. She then felt a hand was closing in on her hair but it seemed to be stopping mid-air before the hand rested on her shoulder. He patted her shoulder gently twice before she heard his footsteps going to the door. The door being opened and then closed. And it was quiet again; the only sound was from the humidifier.

She turned and found the room was empty.

What was that all about?

-*-

Junghee returned to work a week later. And the welcome she received from everyone made her feel appreciated. They all welcomed her back with open hands. They treated her with so much care. And they told her not to make her worried again.

“I didn’t know you guys are worried about me?”

“Of course we do! We are like one big family here!”

She thanked them and after the small feast they had prepared she retreated back to her room. She didn’t see Jinki though at the feast. They said he was out of the town to check a constructing site with a client.

-*-

Two days later, she went home like usual. Took a shower like usual. Eat like usual. Did her work like usual, when her phone was ringing like mad as messages came bombarding in. it was probably the chat group she was in. she picked up her phone and opened the message.

‘OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! IS THIS REAL?’

‘YES IT IS!’

‘OH MY GOD! CONGRATULATIONS!’

‘SHE WAS THE LUCKIEST!’

‘OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!’

She frowned and smiled a bit. What were they screaming at? She scrolled up to see what she had missed. There was a picture attached. She downloaded it. She put down her phone and went back to her project plan she was checking. Probably some artist they liked getting married.

Minutes later, she picked back up the phone to see the picture. The smile on her face disappeared instantly. 

      “Figure Skating Athlete, Kim Gwiboon is Engaged!”

Jinki’s and Gwiboon’s picture was below the title, seemed to be leaving a fancy restaurant. They were holding hands. They weren’t looking at the camera, acted as though the camera was nothing to them, but instead they were looking at each, smiling widely. Looking like a very happy couple.

Junghee deleted the picture and turned off her internet connection.

It was more than enough to tell how broken she was.

---

lol sorry