Like every summer, it was her job to care for the farms because she was free from her teaching job. Holding a yellow umbrella above her head, she began to pick out the wheat that was growing near her vegetables.

“Dara!” a feminine voice rang out from behind her.

“Yeah, what is it, jisoo?” she asked without bothering turning her head.

“Mr kwon fainted again!”

Hearing so, she leaped off the ground and ran toward the kwon’s house. She cared for the kwons, even though she hasn’t married into the family yet. Both Mr kwon and Mrs kwon were very nice to her and the people of the city. They always donate money to almost every possible charity and helped around the city. But since their son, jiyong went oversea to further educate himself, they have began to miss him dearly. They would sometimes forget their meals and wait patiently for their son’s email arrival. Jiyong only wrote once in a while. And it had already been seven years since he left. Trying to keep up with what their son was doing had become tiresome for them. Mr kwon had also developed a poor body health in waiting for his son’s news. It had become more evident when he aged. Now, at nearly 50, he couldn’t walk properly and faint easily. Dara knocked on the gate of the mansion, and it open automatically. She stepped in and was taken to the master bedroom. Inside the bedroom, she saw the old man laying on the bed helplessly, staring out the window, and maybe hoping for the return of his son.

“Uncle?” She asked before taking the seat next to the bed.

“Oh, you’re here,” the old and drained voice responded.

“Yes, how are you feeling?”

“Well, my dear. I’m actually feeling good today.” The old weary man smiled at the girl.

“That’s good to hear. But I heard that you fainted again. Did you skip your meal again?”

“Oh dear, you've caught me,” chuckled the weary man.

“You have got to stop doing that, uncle. It’s not good for your health.”

“But I was waiting for any news of jiyong."

Only once or twice a year that he thought of his parents, which caused his parents to be ill. To reduce their suffering, Dara and her friends would try their best to forge an email to them. However, being the clever businessman that he was, Mr kwon knew it was the doing of his future daughter in-law. He wanted to tell her to stop pretending to be his son, but he also liked the idea of deceiving himself into believing his son had actually care about them. It had been three or four years since dara pretended to be her other half and wrote for her future in-laws. It had been that long that the kwons deceived themselves into believing the fake email was send by their son. It wasn’t healthy but there was no other way of doing so to reduce the stress of a parent.

“Hope he will…” “Uncle, why don’t you rest for a bit while I cook you something?”

“That’ll be nice…”

Soon the old man fell asleep, and dara quietly existed the room. She made her way to the kitchen and began to brew soup. The cook also helped her. Around nine at night, she brought the soup and some vegetables to the master bedroom. At that time, Mrs kwon was already by her husband’s side.

“Oh, dara, you’re here,” spoke the old lady.

“Yes, I’ve made soup and some vegetables for you guys.”

She placed the food on the counter and walked toward the old couple.

“Thanks, I’ll wake him up later for it. Why don’t we talk for a bit?”

“Sure.” Both of them left the room and wondered into the living room.

“I’m so sorry for bothering you again. It seems that every time where we are in trouble, you’ll come to our rescue. Thanks.” The exhausted old woman held onto dara hand and gave it a squeeze.

“It’s alright,” the young lady smiled.

“It’s my job, isn’t it? To care for the elders, and especially when you two are my parents.”

“Not yet,” the aged woman replied with her eyes redden.

“Oh, how I wish you can be my true daughter. I’m so sorry about holding you back in your life. You could have disregard the engagement and marry someone of your dream, and then you wouldn’t be the laughing stock of the town, for being 23 yet still single. You don’t have to wait for my useless son.”

“Auntie, I’m happy to wait. I’ve already prepare myself since youth that I’ll marry whoever my parents pick for me. They have chosen jiyong to be one for me to share the rest of my life with. So I’ll follow their words.”

“Being filial is one thing but pursuing your own happiness is another. Unless you truly love jiyong.”

She thought about Auntie words after the sun had set. She couldn’t bring herself to sleep when the sentence of her having romantic feeling for jiyong or even loving jiyong? Was that possible? All she knew was that he wasn’t a good son to begin with. He was nice and gentle but to her, she can see right through his act. She had been with him since birth; she should be able to distinguish his actions. She knew he was only trying to keep his image clean and pure, to be like his parents’. He wasn’t any of that nice person that he carried himself as.

Over the years, she had gotten stronger and more independent. She didn’t need a hero to rescue her like before. She wasn’t as easy to be manipulated as before. In other words, she had fulfilled her own promise, and became an independent woman. It was ideal for women to marry at age of 18 to 20. She was supposed to be married at age 18 but he bailed out and went oversea to study. Now, by 23, many people of her age group have already married and become parent as well. But she was still unattached, at least not being married. She doesn’t mind the constant stares and whispers of others about her not able to get married. What she does mind was that people still see her as a weakling.

Maybe because of her baby face or maybe because of her charming smiles that people refuse to acknowledge that she had matured, and more autonomous. She didn’t know how jiyong and her old crush, youngbae, turned out, but she knew that they were not as filial as she was. If they were, then they would have at least considered the feeling of their parents. Yet, after so many years of being oversea, they’ve never written more than twice a year. This showed how much they have cared for their parents.

In the past, she had written them an email, explaining the situation of their parents to them, yet they show no care at all, it took them half a year to reply, asking her to care for them. She knew at that moment that her feeling for them had turned cold, even the little crush that she carried for youngbae was not there anymore. Her love for youngbae was gone and she couldn’t bring herself to love again. She was afraid of love, afraid of disappointment.

She had told herself not to worry about love because whether she love someone or not, she would have to marry jiyong. So why bother when in the end, everything will be back to the original. So instead of worrying about how she would spend the rest of her life, she focused on her family and her future in-laws. She also did charities for the needs and the help around the city. After being graduate form high school, she became a teacher for the local elementary school. After so many years of building her image and her career, she had finally gained a place in the city. She didn't want anything to ruin her position in the city.