One of Ha Jin’s favorite parts of the work day was closing up the shop at the end of the day. Not just because it was time to go home, but once the main doors were locked for the day and the customers were gone, she and the other clerks could relax a little. Their supervisor even let them change the music on the store speakers from the quiet classical pieces that normally played during business hours to the local pop music station, and Ha Jin was humming to herself as she pushed a broom across the floor.

It had been a good day, all things considered. Business was good, her customers were pleasant, and she wasn’t bothered by either of the banes of her existence. Hong Chan Ki had passed by once near lunch time, but she’d resolutely kept her eyes away from him and just talked to Sang-mi as they did inventory. Hopefully he’d get the hint. As for Kim So, the new owner of Bella Bella didn’t make an appearance today. Part of her was grateful for that since she was still a little embarrassed about confronting him yesterday, but part of her lamented it, since he really did brighten up the scenery around here…no no no…grateful. She was definitely grateful, she told herself defiantly, ignoring the other part that just kind of pouted.

Maybe she’d get lucky, and now that the whole official business of the takeover was done, Kim So would go back to whatever it was millionaire businessmen did all day, meetings and power lunches and whatever, and she could forget that he’d ever shown up and that she’d made a fool of herself like that. Boy was she glad she’d talked to him without anyone else around. She’d never live it down if anyone else had heard her.

Nope, this was good. He was gone and she could go back to life as normal. Dancing around now as she pushed the broom in time to the catchy tune playing on the speakers, Ha Jin was in mid spin when a loud pounding on the glass of the main door startled her, causing her to drop her broom.

Damnit, don’t these people know we’re closed? Ha Jin thought to herself, wiping the glare from her face to see who it was that couldn’t read the business hours on the sign next to the entrance, only to see Kim So standing there, a large box in his hands and a grin on his face.

So much for my good luck…

Barely managing to hold back a sigh, Ha Jin went and unlocked the door.

“Hello Mr. Kim, how can I help you? We’ve closed for the day so pretty much everyone has gone home, but if you come back tomorrow I’m sure…”

“Well you can move out of the way and let me in, for one thing.” Kim So said, cutting her off. “This box is kind of heavy. There’s a second one in the front seat of the car over there” he continued and moved past her into the store, nodding toward a little black sports car parked at the curb. “Can you grab it please then follow me upstairs?”

“Oh…um….of course!” Ha Jin said, not understanding what he was doing here after hours carrying boxes, but she hurried outside to his car and found the box in question. He was the boss after all, so she couldn’t exactly say no. Ha Jin couldn’t help but admire the car as she nudged the door closed with her hip. She didn’t know much about cars, she didn’t even know how to drive, so she couldn’t tell what kind it was. Jae Yoon would probably know. Neither of them could afford a car but apparently it was a popular topic of conversation when he was doing his military service. All Ha Jin could tell was that it was beautiful and probably really expensive. That figured, given who the owner was.

The box wasn’t very heavy, but it was bulky and so she was glad that Mr. Kim propped the door open with one foot so she could get in.

“Thanks.” She said.

“Of course. Now come on, I need to find my new office.”  Not bothering to look back at her, he headed towards the elevator for the upper level.

“…okay.” Not sure what else to do, Ha Jin followed him.

Eun Bi looked up in surprise from where she was counting out the cash from the registers.

“Hello Mr. Kim! Can I help you with anything?” she exclaimed, a big smile splashing across her face.

Don’t look so eager…Ha Jin caught herself thinking, then reminded herself that she didn’t care. Eun Bi could smile at whoever she wanted. It didn’t matter to her at all.

Kim So didn’t seem to pay her much attention as they passed by the registers. “No, I’m fine. Miss Go will help me. But you can go pick up her broom please, she dropped it while she was dancing.”

Ha Jin glared at the amusement in his voice as they left the room, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t have much luck the last time she did, and she didn’t want Eun Bi as a witness if she ended up embarrassing herself again.

Entering the elevator first, he was slightly behind her as they rode up, and she didn’t want to look at him, dreading the look on his face. Was he laughing at her? She didn’t have any retort; she was dancing while she swept. But what was wrong with that? It was after hours and Sang-mi told her the supervisor tended to look the other way if they unwound a little while cleaning up. Ha Jin wondered if the new boss would try to put a stop to that (the nerve of him if he did though. Seriously? What was he DOING here anyway?), but he didn’t seem angry at all, not if he was teasing her about her dancing. Maybe it would be okay.

Ha Jin stepped to the side after leaving the elevator, not knowing where they were going. Other than to fill out her paperwork at Human Resources when she was first hired, she didn’t go up to this floor.

Kim So looked around. “Okay, so which office is mine?”

“Any one you want?” Ha Jin shrugged as she stood waiting for him to decide. It was his company now.

He nodded. “Good attitude. The way it should be. Actually though, I think they told me it was down here.”

He set off down the hall, eventually stopping in front of a door with a plaque on it.

“CEO. This must be the one. But it’s not the corner. What was he thinking? It must not have much in the way of windows.” Bracing his box against the wall, Kim So freed one hand to open the door.

“Yep, this is it.” He pushed the door open the rest of the way with his foot and carried in the box.

Ha Jin followed him in, trying to decide what to make of him. His casual, almost flippant attitude didn’t really seem to fit the picture she had in her head of what a CEO should act like. Not that she met that many. But not even the managers she’d known didn’t act like him. Maybe it was the freedom of knowing there wasn’t really anyone above him to answer to.

Must be nice.

The spacious office was already emptied of the former inhabitant’s belongings, just leaving a desk, chairs, and some cabinets. The new CEO set his box down on the desk and looked around. Ha Jin did the same. There was only one window, and it wasn’t very big, at least not as big as she’d imagine a CEO would have.

“I can’t say much for his choice in offices.” Kim So commented. “I would have taken one on the corner. More window space.”

“Are windows really that important?” Ha Jin thought he’d be more concerned about running the company, not looking out the window.

“Of course. If you have nothing but walls to look at, you start to feel insulated. You need to be able to see the world outside to help you remember your place in it.”

That was an interesting idea, but it could have multiple meanings, not all of them necessarily good.

“And where is your place?” At the top? That would be typical chaebol thinking.

Kim So glanced at her as he started opening the first box.

“Among it. Different places depending on where I am. It’s a reminder that business isn’t the entire world.”

Okay. That was reasonable. Actually that was good. It sounded like an attempt to stay grounded. Maybe there was something to this man other than a pretty face, a fast car and an attitude.

“Keep a balance between life and work? Don’t become a workaholic?” Ha Jin asked, watching as he took things out of the box. There was a laptop, a phone charger and other various office items.

“Something like that.” He paused and glanced at her again. “I didn’t bring you up here for you to stand around and watch me, even though I know you’re into that. Start unpacking.”

Ha Jin scowled. “Hey, I’m not…” she stopped before she said something to embarrass herself again. Besides, technically she was standing around watching him, but only because he hadn’t given her any other instructions. “I don’t know where you want this stuff.”

“That box is mainly folders. They can go in the cabinet over there.”

“Okay.” This she could do. The bonus was that it allowed her to look away from him.

They worked in silence for a few minutes; Kim So arranging things on the desk to his liking while Ha Jin putting folders into the cabinet. Not knowing if they had a particular order, she just kept them in the same way they’d been packed. If that was wrong then he should have packed them in the way he wanted them filed.

“So are you going to be working out of this building now?” Ha Jin asked, trying to break the quiet.

“No, I just like to decorate offices. I’m practicing for my degree.” He said, deadpan.

Ha Jin rolled her eyes. “I was trying to make conversation.”

“And I was answering you.”

She scowled at the amusement in his voice.

“Don’t glare at me in that tone of voice.”

“How…” she asked, turning to look at Kim So, only to see him grinning at her.

“It seems like something you’d do.”

“But…you don’t know even know me.”

“You’re easy to read.”

Ha Jin stared at him for a moment. What a strange man.

“There you go again, staring at me.” Kim So smirked and set the now empty box on the floor.

“I’m not…” then she realized she was. Damn him anyway. “I’m trying to figure you out.”

“And your conclusion is?” He actually looked interested in her answer.

“You’re weird.”

Kim So laughed, and she wanted to swat herself. What the hell was she doing? He was the new boss, and here she was insulting him. Thankfully for her, he seemed to have a sense of humor. He wouldn’t fire her for talking back to him, right?

“Weird. I haven’t been called that in a long time. Usually it’s worse things.”

Ha Jin couldn’t help herself. “Were you asking for it?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes.”

Why am I not surprised?

There was a knock at the open office door, and Ha Jin looked over to see Sang-mi standing there.

“Sorry to bother you Mr. Kim, but it’s started to rain and I wanted to ask Ha Jin if she needs a ride home.”

Ha Jin looked over at the window. Indeed, the rain had started coming down and she’d not even noticed. Maybe he was right; if you didn’t have big enough windows you’d miss what was going on in the world.

“Thanks Sang-mi, I’d appreciate that. Excuse me Mr. Kim, but I should go now.”

The new boss nodded. “Of course. Go on home now. Thank you for your help.”

Ha Jin followed her coworker downstairs and grabbed her things before they left the building, where Sang-mi’s husband was waiting with his car. She was glad that her friend had gotten her out of there. Not that Kim So said anything inappropriate, but he seemed to know how to push her buttons, and what was worse, he liked it. She wasn’t sure how to deal with it, with him. She could only hope that once he got settled in that she’d rarely see him. That he would become just another suit walking the halls.

They were halfway to the car when that suit raced past them like his life depended on it.

Sang-mi stared after him as he ran through the rain. “What the…”

Ha Jin looked to see where he was headed, and smirked. “He left his windows open.”

0-o-o-o-0

So grumbled to himself as he ducked into his favorite noodle shop. After dropping his car off at the car wash to get cleaned after his seats got soaked (also soaking his pants when he sat down to drive) he’d decided to grab a bite to eat while waiting. Thankfully he kept a long coat in the trunk, and while he looked like a drowned rat when he entered the shop, at least nobody would be able to see the wet spot on his behind. It was still embarrassing though. He’d had fun today poking fun at Go Ha Jin, and he thought he was ahead in the game, only to lose points by having her see him run out to his car like that. Yeah, he could hear her laughing still.

But when he was settled in and eating his dinner, he couldn’t help but smile as he remembered talking to Ha Jin earlier. And seeing her dancing around the store as she swept…it wasn’t just her face. The more time he spent with her, the more he saw Hae Soo. She was just the way he’d wanted Soo to remain all those years ago; spunky and free with both her joy and her annoyance. Palace life had crushed her soul and he’d selfishly kept her with him as long as he could despite the heartbreak it gave him to see her suffer. Now though, she was free to live the way she wanted. They both were.

If we had met in another world and at another time, I was thinking how great that would have been. If only that could be, I wouldn't fear anything. Truly, I could freely love you all I wanted.

So could still hear her words in his mind, and it felt like a promise. Just like he had promised her on the night before his ‘official’ wedding, to be hers in that life and the next.

If I remember nothing else in this life…

He took a sip of his tea.

Well here I am, Soo. I’ve kept my promise. But your memory seems to have been swept clean. It’s been so long and I don’t know what’s happened in the time between then and now. Did we love each other in the lives between? Did we not meet? I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter now. All I know is that I’m here, I’ve found you and I’m ready to make good on every promise I couldn’t keep before. But will you let me do it? Can your heart open to me again?

It was too early to say. So found hope in the fact that he could provoke Ha Jin the way he did Soo in the past. She was affected by him, and that could only be good. Now he just needed to fan that into something more, and nudge her in his direction.

So sighed as he took another bite of his noodles. He just hoped it didn’t take years this time.

0-o-o-o-0

In another part of Seoul, the rain drummed against the windows as a thin paintbrush moved slowly, carefully over a canvas, the brushstrokes delicate. The hand holding the brush was steady as a rock, with barely an unnecessary movement made. Biting his lip, the artist moistened the tip of his brush in the paint and went back to work, his entire concentration fixed on the picture coming to life beneath his hand. It was not his first; its’ siblings leaned against the wall of the spare room his friend allowed him to paint in. Historic in nature, but these pictures gave a depth and color to the lives of their subjects that would never be found in any history book.

Beneath his brush the past lived again. Warriors in masks fought to the death. A figure in white looked up to the heavens as rain poured down. Young men gazed happily as a lovely young woman sang for them. A man carried his wife through the snow, another woman walking behind. The man who previously stood in the rain was now alone in front of a palace. Scenes of joy and pain, love and war.

It might seem odd for him to do this work, and to hide it away like this, but it was something he couldn’t talk about to his family or most of his friends. He wanted to, but there would just be too many questions. And he didn’t know how to answer them. Why did these thoughts, these images that after a long time he realized were memories, why did they plague him? The dreams that sometimes left him with tears in his eyes, what did they mean? Technically he knew what they meant; reincarnation wasn’t a new idea to him after all, but he didn’t understand why he had to relive these moments that were heartbreaking in both their joy and sorrow.

So came the idea of the paintings. It was a way to deal with all of the emotion. If he couldn’t make them go away then he’d turn these memories into something useful. He didn’t have a venue for them yet, but with historical dramas so popular it was inevitable that someone would want them. And maybe there were others out there like him, people who retained the pain and happiness of lives that both were and weren’t their own, maybe they would see these memories and understand. And he wouldn’t have to carry this on his own anymore.