Chapter 21 – Fated Meeting

(Get ready for my favorite plot device EVER. I’m sure you people that read any of my previous stories would know what it is. I’m sure you’ll get it once you read the chapter. Oh and I know I know. I make draggy and angsty stories blah blah blah lol. I’m sure people are already getting tired of it)

An obnoxious noise startled a man in his mid-twenties out of bed. It was the same noise that woke him a little over three years ago during his last day in the United States. A smile crept up on his face when he made sense of the situation. It almost felt like that day a few years ago when he first came back to his homeland from Los Angeles. It wasn’t just the alarm going off that reminded him of that day, but the feeling of the morning in general. Yonghwa let out a small chuckle when he remembered his old roommate Alex. It had been ages since he talked to his American friend that he spent four years of his life with.

“Aigoo, I wonder what you’re doing now jashik,” he asked himself as if talking to Alex.

Yonghwa shook out the memories from his still cloudy head in order to make his way to the bathroom. His eyes surveyed the mirror carefully, as if not believing that the face reflecting back at him was own. In three years, he hadn’t changed a bit. Then again, the jump from 23 to 26 isn’t really that much of a change.

(There it is, my favorite plot device. Good old time skipping!)

“Oppa!” a female voice called from behind the bathroom door. “Hurry up! You’re going to be late for the flight!”

“Coming!” he called back. Sure no physical changes could be seen, but the situation was so much more different than before. He exited the fancy bathroom of the house he now lived in to see what the girl was yelling about.

For some reason, he felt like he was taking his first steps in the house he lived in for almost three months now. Even though it was his own house, he felt like a stranger in it. He missed living together with Eun Jung and Jang Woo, but they needed their space. Krystal moved into the dorms at the university this past semester, leaving him to be the third wheel. The couple begged him to stay, but he knew they secretly wanted their alone time.

Yonghwa walked down the spiral staircase cautiously, as if fearing it could fall any second. Once his foot touched the third to last stair, it responded with the usual creak it gave him. That was probably the one thing he was used to in that house which he found pretty strange. His feet brought him into the elegantly designed kitchen with marble counter tops which he was sure five star chefs would be jealous of. At the stove was the figure of the woman he shared the house with.

Every single morning it was the same routine. He would walk down the stairs after being called down by the kind hearted woman, and then proceed to scold her for cooking when they had someone to do it for them. It happened every day, yet it always felt like it was happening for the first time. He noticed her apron wasn’t tied up in the back, reminding him of the ‘honeymoon’ trip he spent in Hawaii three years ago.

“How many times do I need to tell you to tie up the apron?” he scolded in a warm voice. The woman turned back to look at him before he reached over to put the fabric in a knot. “You never listen do you?”

“Ah, mainhae,” she bashfully replied. “You know how I am.”

Yonghwa admired the smile she gave him. It wasn’t a full blown grin, but rather a faint smile that was stunning in its own right. He brushed a stray lock of her dark brown hair out of her face to see the entirety of her beauty at once. She looked down in embarrassment when she realized he was staring at her.

He couldn’t help but smile at the way her large eyes were cast down towards her feet at the contact. The woman’s pale skin was dusted with a faint layer of pink across her cheeks. Yonghwa let his hands fiddle with her hair absentmindedly while not tearing his eyes away from her face for a second. When he finally realized what he was doing, he promptly backed off.

“Ah, sorry about that,” he apologized after clearing his throat a few times. She only nodded and resumed cooking what he assumed was his breakfast. “You know you could have asked the assistant to help you with that. You should be resting.”

“Oppa, I’m pregnant, not disabled,” she shot back. The woman really did appreciate the way Yonghwa took care of her, but sometimes he suffocated her. Still, she never complained about it since it was just the way he was. “I want to be of use since I had to leave school for a bit.”

Yonghwa hated the way she said that last sentence. She was such a bright girl that would have gotten so far in life. After one mistake that she made, all of that went downhill. Pregnancy wasn’t the end of the world, but she didn’t feel right amongst all the university students sporting a baby bump. Not only was it embarrassing, but with the commotion of university life, it could be dangerous. Yonghwa, being a doctor, albeit a freshly graduated one, recommended she stay at home.

“Don’t say it like that,” he comforted her. “You aren’t useless. I only tell you to be careful because you’re not in the best health in terms of your pregnancy. We already had one instance where you almost lost the baby.” That moment was one of the scariest moments that he had to deal with in his life. To have someone you care for almost die along with the life they carry inside of them was enough to make one go insane.

“Yeah I know,” she responded with pity towards herself. “I just wish I could be of more use. I should be out becoming someone great. Instead I had to make a mistake and end up like this.”

Yonghwa walked back towards her to give her a hug. The girl was going through hell and he felt responsible. After all the mistakes weren’t all on her part. “That baby won’t be a mistake. I’ll make sure of that.” Yonghwa rubbed the girl’s stomach, catching her off guard. He dropped to his knees in order to put his ear to her swollen belly. “Come on little guy, kick for me.”

“Oppa, you know he won’t be able to move for at least another month or two,” she pointed out. Even though there was nothing strange about Yonghwa’s behavior, she felt uncomfortable with the contact. “You should get going. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure? My mom and grandma are going to come up to Seoul today. I hate to leave before greeting them, but I can’t postpone the flight,” he explained while taking a bite of banana. “They’ll be sure to take good care of you while I’m gone.”

“I’ll be the one taking good care of ahjumma and halmeoni,” she responded. “It wouldn’t be fair to force guests to take care of me.”

“Min Young ah…” Yonghwa growled in a rough voice. That was the voice he used when he was putting his foot down and she knew it. As much as she wanted to protest, she had to agree. “I’ll be calling often to see how it’s all going.” Min Young rolled her eyes at his comments as she always did.

Over the years, Min Young relied more and more on her sunbae to get through life. Being a girl from a humble background with absolutely nobody to help her in life was extremely difficult for her. With the hard work she put in at the university as well as her two part time jobs, she wore herself out. After making a mistake that cost her the opportunity to become a doctor just like Yonghwa, she had to sit back and watch everyone else become successful.

Yonghwa on the other hand felt no burden by caring for her as the years went by. She was someone very special to him that he was glad was in his life. Min Young was always bright and happy around him, a quality that reminded him of the girl he loved for the longest time. If he were to be completely honest with himself, that’s probably the reason he spent so much time with her. It was wrong of him to use Min Young as a tool to remember Seohyun, but it’s not like he could help it.

“Kamsahamnida,” she thanked while he was lost in his thoughts.

“Just make sure that little guy inside you isn’t hurt while I’m gone. I can’t have him unprotected while I’m out working,” Yonghwa remarked lovingly.

It was those types of words that Min Young appreciated the most. Ever since she was a little girl, she was attracted to Yonghwa. She never once acted on it, acting more like a little sister more than anything. She knew that he was always in pain and heartache over a girl that remained forever nameless to her. Even so Min Young couldn’t help her feelings. Now that she was living with him expecting a child, those feelings became so much stronger.

Yonghwa too began to care her for little by little. The memories he shared with Seohyun were always forever present in the back of his mind. They were something he would never be able to discard for as long as he lived. Those feelings aside, he could feel himself slowly warming up to the idea of living together with Min Young and the little boy she was expecting. Seohyun hinted at the possibility of their relationship working all those years ago, but now it didn’t seem likely.

Seohyun became so involved with her father’s work that she wasn’t even in Korea for more than a week or two at a time. Being a newbie doctor, he was given the shifts that nobody wanted. Whenever she was free, he wasn’t. Whenever she could make those five minutes to have a cup of coffee with him, he would have to attend a lecture by the director. As always, fate seemed to work its hardest to keep them apart.

“Don’t worry about us. I’ll greet them for you. You really should go now,” she pointed out.

“I’ll try to be back earlier but I can’t promise anything.” Yonghwa grabbed hold of her hand to give her a reassuring squeeze. She smiled at the gesture before pushing him towards the set of spiral stairs he came down from just a few minutes earlier.

Grudgingly, he followed her directions in order to tie up all his loose ends he had. Thoughts of Seohyun invaded his head while he searched through his briefcase to find the documents he had to present at his meeting. In the past three years since her wedding was called off, he had seen her a few times a year. Each time they met, everything seemed normal. However, it had been a while since their last meeting in January and it was now late July.

“I wonder how you’re doing right now Seohyun?” he asked himself. Thoughts of a pregnant Min Young pushed Seohyun out of his head a moment later. He regained his senses shortly after. Once he was sure he had everything ready, he set off to catch his flight that would take him to the Land of the Rising Sun.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Arigatou gozaimasu,” a woman thanked the clerk at the front desk of the traditional Japanese inn she would be staying at.

Once again, she was forced to travel to another country in order to make a deal with some investors. This time, however, she was all alone. Normally she traveled with her father, but he couldn’t make it due to a conflict in Taiwan. As this was the first time she flew solo, it was a little nerve racking. Not only would she have to make the deal with the investors, but she also would have to attend a convention that the Korea-Japan trading union was holding.

“Aish…” she whispered in frustration. This was definitely going to be one of the most difficult tasks of her career. The only thing that could comfort her was the fact that if she could do this, she knew she could do anything. “Room 115,” she pointed out to herself when she found her room.

The event she had to attend would be held at a convention center nearby. The hosts of the event reserved the rooms of the inn to give everyone a feel of traditional Japanese culture. The paper walls along with the decorations reminded the woman a lot of the traditional Korean customs. No matter how similar they were, the place still had a feel very different from her home on the Korean peninsula.

“Director Seo,” a man called through the door. “We will be having dinner in the inn’s restaurant.”

“Ne, I will be there in a second,” she answered politely.

The sliding door opened, revealing her personal assistant that greatly admired her. “Everyone on the team is here waiting for you. There are even some Japanese people that want to meet the ‘Great Seo Joohyun’ as they call you.”

“Ugh, you know how much I hate that kind of stuff Myung Joo,” she informed him in a warning voice. “If I didn’t know any better I would say you were the one starting those kinds of talks.” Myung Joo stiffened at her threatening words.

The man was madly in love with the powerful and confident woman that was his boss. At first he greatly resented that a woman that wasn’t even 25 became his superior. Once he saw her at work however, he couldn’t help but feel entranced by her confidence and beauty. In fact, he wasn’t the only one. Every male on the team had some form of a crush on the director that they relied so much on.

It was Seohyun’s turn to stiffen when she saw the way the small restaurant was decorated. If she were crazy, she would definitely believe that someone took the restaurant Yonghwa’s parents owned and teleported it to Japan. It was almost scary to see how the details of the place were so similar to the restaurant she visited in Busan three years ago.

“Director, are you okay?” one of the female members of the team asked her. “You look a little pale.”

“Ah, yeah Ji Min I’m fine,” she responded when she came back to her senses. “I’m just a little tired from all the traveling I’ve done lately.” Everyone present had no reason to doubt Seohyun’s words, so they could only hope Seohyun would be fine after some food.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yonghwa sighed when he finally managed to get away from the crowd of doctors that swarmed him with praises. The young doctor arrived at the Japanese airport at around 10 am, but found no time to rest since then. It was now almost time for bed and he was exhausted. “We’re here Yonghwa,” the director of his hospital pointed out to him. “I’m sorry that we kept you out for so long but they all were curious to meet the youngster that managed to outshine so many experienced doctors.”

“It’s alright,” Yonghwa assured the older man. “I’m used to it. Although I wish they would stop making such a big deal out of everything. I didn’t do much. I was just on that team that made the breakthrough discovery. I don’t know why they act like I did it all alone.”

Director Lee walked to the entrance of the inn together with Yonghwa while giving him a pat on the back. That was why the elder liked the boy so much. Even after all the praises and awards he was winning, it never went to his head. The humble boy always turned down the offers for better positions, always saying he was content with what he had.

“Well after tomorrow we will be able to relax a little,” he assured Yonghwa. “The team will receive the award at around 11am then we have three days to ourselves. You should enjoy yourself a bit. You work yourself too hard sometimes.”

“Would I be able to leave early then? As much as I appreciate the vacation, I would rather be back home,” Yonghwa explained. Min Young’s health was more important to him than a vacation he could take any time he had days off.

“You miss your woman that much?” Director Lee asked. “I heard she was in the hospital not too long ago. Is the baby okay?”

“Ah… ne, he’s okay,” Yonghwa responded shyly. Everyone at the hospital always asked him how Min Young was doing since then. It was a little embarrassing to be asked that, especially when they about how he got her pregnant at such a young age without being married.

“Hahahahaha,” his director laughed enthusiastically. “You don’t have to be so bashful Yonghwa. It’s nothing embarrassing to talk about your pregnant girlfriend. Don’t let those other guys tease you about it. They’re just mad they don’t have a pretty girlfriend of their own.”

“Hehe, yeah I’ll do that,” Yonghwa agreed with a nervous chuckle. “I’ll see you later Director Lee. I think I might hit the hot springs before going to bed.” With another pat on the back, the two men made their way to their respective rooms.

Yonghwa reached room 116 after a small trek through the Japanese inn that reminded him of a drama set in a pre-modern period. He wanted to do nothing more than roll out his bed and sleep for hours. He knew if he did that without getting rid of the stiffness in his body, he would definitely wake up sore. “I could rest for just a while right?” After quickly ripping off all his clothes and throwing on a bathrobe, he sat down to rest against the wall of the room. He hoped that he wouldn’t be tired enough to fall asleep while sitting or else he wouldn’t get a chance to try out the hot springs. Even then, he was much too lazy to get up just yet.

“Aish!” he heard a girl complain in the hallway. “Stupid machine ate my money!” The voice then disappeared as it faded into the rooms nearby. Yonghwa wondered what kind of person would be yelling in the hall with paper thin walls at 11pm when everyone was surely sleeping.

Ignoring the rude woman’s complaints, he thought of how things were going to be in his life after he went back to Korea. Min Young would be at home trying her hardest to please his mother and grandmother. His friends would be busy finishing up their school or heading to work. He would be sitting in the office for hours on end until it was finally time for everyone to head home. The only person he couldn’t speak for was Seo Joohyun. For the second time that day, his thoughts wandered off towards her.

Without realizing it, his throat began to hum the tune to the song he wrote for her engagement party. He hadn’t actually heard anyone sing the lyrics since all those years back, but they were etched into his memory. Those words and tune were something he wouldn’t forget even if he were to go crazy.

Seohyun was currently searching through her bag for more change to get the candy bar the machine refused to give her. Her grumbles then stopped when a familiar tune hit her ears. The sound was muffled even by the paper walls, but she could distinguish it. As curiosity got the best of her, she brought her head closer to the source of the music. Her ankle twisted awkwardly in the process, sending her flying towards the wall.

Yonghwa heard a weird noise hit the wall behind him, forcing him out of his dreaming. After giving himself a light slap on the face he decided it was time for him to finally get into the hot spring or else he wouldn’t be able to get a good night of sleep.

Seohyun frowned when she heard the music stop. She figured she was just hearing things. After all, the only other person that could possibly remember that song was Yonghwa. Last she heard of him he was living in a new house he bought with a large sum of money some organization granted his research team for making some kind of discovery. The one detail that really got to her was the fact that he shared that house with a woman that was expecting a child.

“I guess you waited too long to fix your love life,” Seohyun sadly told herself. She knew Yonghwa understood what she said back in Hawaii. She knew Yonghwa would be there for the rest of her life if she asked him to. Back then there was too much going on for her to drag him along with her. Now that she had so much time to realize who she was, she planned on jumping back into his life.

It was once someone told her that Yonghwa was living with his ‘pregnant girlfriend’ that she realized she was being selfish. She should have expected that Yonghwa wouldn’t wait forever. It hurt her to think that Yonghwa hadn’t even told her that he was living with Min Young. Then again, Seohyun figured she didn’t owe her an explanation since she basically lived outside of the country and almost broke all contact with him.

Seohyun finally resumed her search for a couple of coins. Once she found them, she headed out and noticed that a man hit the machine and received a candy bar in return. Even though she was a few meters away, she could tell that he was stealing the candy bar that got caught before. It was the bar that she paid for but never came out. Her first instinct was to yell at him to give it back to her. Before she yelled she remembered she was in a place where people were sleeping behind paper thin doors.

“Damn!” she whispered to herself. “Just wait you jerk, I’ll get my candy back.” She sprinted to follow the man wearing a white bathrobe but was met with disappointment when he disappeared after he turned a corner. “Damn it!”

Her chase led her to the door that Yonghwa had been looking for earlier. Seohyun’s anger faded when she realized she was only a few steps away from the hot springs. The team members earlier told her that this place was known for having the most relaxing hot springs in the entire area. She figured she could get rid of her anger after a relaxing soak before bed.

She quietly entered the room marked for women and discarded all of her clothes. Seohyun wished she had a bathrobe, but she hadn’t even known she was going to unexpectedly visit the hot springs. With just a towel covering all of her exposed skin, she made her way to the steam filled fenced in area where the hot springs were.

“Nobody else is out here,” she whispered when she noticed how barren the place was. “Guess it’s kind of late out anyways.” Seohyun walked towards the water’s edge and daintily dipped her toe into the water. After confirming it was the perfect temperature, she allowed herself to sink into the comforting waters. She half walked-half swam over to a lone rock at the far edge of the pools in order to rest her back and close her eyes in pleasure.

Yonghwa figured he would enjoy his free candy bar before heading outside to the hot springs. After he took his last bite, he shed his bathrobe and also wrapped himself in just a towel. He made his way over to the pools and followed Seohyun’s example of testing the waters with his big toe. Instead of slowly making his way into the pools, he quickly made a dash for the source of the warmth. He needed the hottest water he could find in order to relieve himself of all the soreness in his body.

After a few minutes of being in the water, Seohyun opened her eyes to realize she fell asleep for almost ten minutes. Realizing it was dangerous to sleep in the pool of water, she began to move around to keep herself awake. From behind the rock, she swore she heard some splashing. In the distance she made out a human figure, but the steam suddenly got thick enough to obscure her vision. Seohyun figured that company would keep her awake, so she decided to get closer.

“Excuse me,” she called out to the person as she got closer. “Hello.”

Yonghwa stiffened up when he realized there was a female voice in the hot springs along with him. He knew he walked into the area clearly marked for men. The locker room was definitely a men’s locker room. There was no way he accidentally walked into the woman’s side. If anything then, the woman in there with him was trying to sneak into the men’s side.

“Get out you crazy woman!” Seohyun heard a male voice call in English. Just as Yonghwa responded to the voice, she also stiffened. “You ert! Get out!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Seohyun screamed out when she finally realized there was a man in the water with her. Her hands instinctively brought themselves to cover her exposed chest. “Byuntae!”

“Me a byuntae?” Yonghwa responded in Korean. “You’re the byuntae you crazy . I came into the men’s side. You’re the ert here.”

Seohyun walked closer to see the man standing up in the water, showing off everything he had to offer without shame. Once she saw the part of the male anatomy hanging between his legs, she could only scream even more. She regretted that mistake, forcing her to head for the door.

Yonghwa, not wanting to let the woman go complain that he was peeping at her, ran to catch her. She heard the man chasing her, only forcing her to run even faster. Fear ran through her body as she believed he was trying to do something to her in her state. Yonghwa felt like a complete psycho chasing after a girl while he was himself. Seohyun finally made it to the edge of the water and after some struggling managed to get back to where she left her towel.

“Yah! Listen to me! I’m not trying to hurt you,” Yonghwa explained. The steam was really working wonders at obscuring his vision. After jumping back onto the shore he threw his hand in the general direction where the woman was. When his skin made contact with hers he knew he was saved. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Byuntae! Police! There’s someone here trying to me!” Seohyun yelled out.

Tired of being nice, Yonghwa pulled the woman towards him with all the strength he had. Knowing the hysteric woman would try to scream again he put a hand over . If he was feeling like a weirdo before, now he felt like a claiming his victim. The girl in his arms squirmed and flailed, even managing to land a slap on his face. “Hold still and I’ll let you go.”

Seohyun felt like dying when she felt his skin against hers. Her towel was loose enough where if she moved at all it would fall off. The fact that he wasn’t covering himself up was also unnerving. She was completely at the guy’s mercy. Yonghwa, getting tired of the games, pulled her into the men’s locker room, still not bothering to put on a towel. The frightened girl could only sit down in a corner and cover her face in embarrassment.

“Listen!” he yelled while shaking her shoulders. “I’m not here to hurt you. If I wanted to assault you I would have done it already.” Her face was covered by her hands, trying her hardest to not see anything in the situation. Then Yonghwa recognized the figure. At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. “S-Seohyun?” he asked when he finally got a glimpse of her face. Before, there was too much crazy movement and steam for him to see her face. Now that he was up close, there was no doubt that it was his childhood friend in front of him.

Seohyun stopped flailing around when she heard the man knew her name. If he was trying to hurt her, why wasn’t he groping her or anything? When she finally found the courage to look at him, she was rewarded with the sight of his privates hanging out casually.

“Put some clothes on!” she yelled at him while covering her eyes. Yonghwa looked down to realize he wasn’t wearing anything. He bolted over to find a towel and quickly wrapped it around his waist.

“Seohyun, it’s me Yonghwa,” he pointed out to her. Her head shot up as she regained her senses. In the commotion before, she never bothered to recognize the voice speaking to her. Now with her mind a little clearer, she could pick out who the voice belonged to. “Wow this is some way to meet up after all these months isn’t it?”

If Seohyun felt like dying before, then now she wanted to die three times. Not only had she just thrown a big tantrum, she had also seen him 100% . She was sure he might have even gotten a peek or two at her as well. Her first instinct was to run away and hide her face for the rest of her life. “What are you doing here?”

“How about we save that for after we change? Then again, I’m sure you liked what you saw and would love to see it again,” Yonghwa teased in the same manner he would always do so. The tone of his voice brought memories rushing back into Seohyun’s mind. She let herself smile when she realized he was still the same idiot from always.

“You wish. There’s nothing to see there anyways. I’ve seen better,” she nonchalantly insulted. Yonghwa ignored her comments and proceeded to unravel his towel to get back into his robe. “Yah! Wait till I’m out of the room!”

“It’s the men’s locker room,” he pointed out in the same nonchalant voice she just used with him. “I can do what I want.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Seohyun sat in one of the chairs in the small restaurant while she waited for Yonghwa to change out of his bathrobe. She wondered how things would be when they finally sat down and talked again. From the little they interacted since their embarrassing meeting in the hot springs, it didn’t seem like he was any different. Then again, she expected that much. Yonghwa was always mature and knew what he wanted. It was her that needed to change. It was her that was still immature and naïve.

“Miss me already?” he pestered her in his trademark playful voice. “Here.” Seohyun kindly accepted a bottle of water he probably bought in the machines on his way back. “Sorry I ate your candy bar.”

“It’s nothing,” she awkwardly responded. A quiet moment passed while they drank small gulps from their water bottles. “So um, how have you been?”

“I’ve been good,” Yonghwa replied back in an uncomfortable way, as if she were a stranger. “It’s a little weird being back together isn’t it?”

Seohyun nodded, wishing that the awkwardness would go away. Things were always so natural between them. Even after Yonghwa came back from the United States, they hit it off really well from the start. It didn’t even seem like four years had passed. She figured the awkwardness was beginning on her part. Yonghwa was always an easygoing guy. He could strike a conversation with a stranger and then become best friends with them. It was she that changed the dynamic they had.

“Yeah a little,” Seohyun replied. “Do you want to go take a walk through the garden? I think it’ll get rid of the stuffy atmosphere.” Yonghwa stood up, letting Seohyun lead the way to the garden she spoke of. The clear July air definitely made a difference for Seohyun. No longer did she feel suffocated as she did while inside the inn.

“What are you here for?” Yonghwa asked, trying to keep the conversation going. “Are you here with your dad?”

“Nah, I’m here with the management team. We’re trying to seal a deal with some Japanese investors as well as attending the convention the Korea-Japan trading union set up,” she explained.

“Wow that sounds pretty serious.” Yonghwa realized it was Seohyun that was feeling awkward. He was more than comfortable speaking to her as if she hadn’t even been absent a day of his life. It would be up to him to keep the conversation as comfortable as possible. “Who would have known little Hyun would be such a big shot. To be honest, I thought you would just be daddy’s little girl for the rest of your life.”

Seohyun’s nostrils flared in the way they always did when she was angry. Yonghwa smiled a bit at her reaction. If she was being herself, he was definitely succeeding in his goal of keeping everything like it used to be. “Yeah, yeah, stupid Yonghwa…” she mumbled. “What about you? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here with Director Lee to pick up an award for our research on cancer. I was just an intern with the director, but he insisted on including me in the team,” Yonghwa explained. “Everyone hates me now though since they think I’m just a ‘nakasan’ worker.”

The girl walking next to him could feel his pain. She too had experienced much discrimination when she became a director of the management team. Everyone assumed Seohyun was daddy’s little princess that was given the job because she was the daughter of the president. Nobody respected her on the team until she proved herself. Once they realized she was more than capable of running the company on her own, they acknowledged her presence.

“I know the feeling,” she sympathized. “Anyway, enough about work. How is everyone? How are your parents?”

“They’re good. They were going to visit me today but I couldn’t see them. They’re going to be here to take care of Min Young and the ba…” Yonghwa trailed off. He made the mistake he didn’t want to make around Seohyun. Yonghwa knew all too well that she knew of the state of things with Min Young. That was the one topic that he didn’t want to talk about with her.

“Oh,” she replied absentmindedly.

She cursed herself a thousand times over internally. It was now her turn to regret being too late. Just as Yonghwa beat himself up so many times in the past, it was her turn to do that. Seohyun regretted letting Yonghwa out of her grasp. He would have held her hand even afterl the day they both died, but she let it go. Now he was living his life with a woman that wasn’t her. “How does it feel?”

“How does what feel?” he asked back.

“Being a dad,” Seohyun answered, trying her hardest to keep a firm voice. She knew she couldn’t cry, it would be too selfish a move. It was her fault all of this happened and she had no one to blame but herself. “You must feel great. I know you love kids.”

As much as Seohyun blamed herself for it, she couldn’t feel like she was cheated out of something. Even though she kept telling herself to not cry, she was on the verge of tears. As always, fate was trying its hardest to not allow them a chance to love each other. That was when the cowardly thought of running away came into her mind. Her feet readied themselves to run away and cry herself to sleep. It was such a cowardly and weak move, but there was nothing else she could do.

Yonghwa stopped walking for a second when he heard her say those words. He noticed Seohyun walking faster and faster, creating a large distance between them. Seohyun’s footsteps turned into a small jog, making the distance even larger. “Min Young’s baby isn’t mine,” he mumbled before she got too far.

Seohyun’s feet glued her to the ground upon hearing those words. She turned as fast as she could to meet Yonghwa’s dejected gaze. “What did you say?”

“I’m not the father of that baby,” Yonghwa explained to her in a voice that sounded almost sad.

Yonghwa felt terrible at saying those words. Ever since Min Young got pregnant, he vowed to take care of that kid. It wasn’t his, but Min Young needed the help. That child would need a father to grow up as normal as possible. Everyone would judge Min Young for being a single mother, that’s how it was in their society. They would treat her as a that didn’t know how to tell that she met a bad man. Nobody would ever give her a second chance at life.

“Min Young…” he spoke when he realized Seohyun was stunned by the confession. “She met a bad guy. That … that piece of …” Yonghwa growled in anger. “He promised her so much. Everyone believed it. I believed it.” Seohyun began to walk back towards him when she heard him beating himself up about the incident.

“Why do you make it sound like it’s your fault?” Seohyun asked him. “Nobody could know how someone truly is Yonghwa. Look at what happened to me. Joon was perfect, yet he screwed everyone over. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“That told her they would be happy. He got her pregnant and left her,” he continued to explain. “Do you know how much that girl cried when she was left behind like that? She was such a bright and smart girl with a future, but she blew it all because she fell in love.” Yonghwa knew that abandonment hit Min Young hard. Her father left her mother when she was very young, so she knew exactly how it felt to be left.

“So you took it up as your responsibility to take care of that kid?” Seohyun asked him in disbelief. As much as she loved Yonghwa’s heart of gold, it sometimes scared her. The fact that he was actually going to be with a woman he didn’t love for the rest of his life and take care of her child was frightening. “Yonghwa, you aren’t Superman. You can’t try to solve everyone’s problems for them.”

“I know, but… I just can’t see someone I love suffer,” Yonghwa said to her.

More moments of silenced passed when they resumed their walk through the small garden. Seohyun couldn’t help but feel hope resurging inside of her at Yonghwa’s confession. It was very reassuring to know that she could finally have a chance to fix what she left broken all those years back. Min Young’s situation was saddening, but her feelings came first. No longer would she let anything else come between her and the happiness she knew she deserved by his side.

“So um… are you busy tomorrow night?” Seohyun broke the silence.

“After my awards ceremony I’ll be free for the next three days,” he replied distractedly. “Why?”

“The convention is tomorrow night and I was wondering… you know if you were free…” she shyly remarked. “I kind of need a date and I don’t want to take one of the guys from the team. I was wondering if you would like to come. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’s just that-”

“I would love to go,” he replied in his usual cheery voice. “I’ll only go if you accompany tomorrow after I finish. I don’t want to hang out with my research team since they all hate me still hehe. Text me all the details. I really have to get to sleep or else I won’t stay awake during the meeting.”

“Alright,” Seohyun nodded before watching him walking off into the distance. “Assa!” she cheered when he was gone. Tomorrow she hoped everything would change. After so long, she knew that they would finally be able to express themselves freely. Neither of them had ever explicitly confessed, but Seohyun knew Yonghwa liked her. There was something inside her head that kept on screaming that to her. She just hoped that he still felt the same way after having waited so long.

Author’s Note: So as you all can tell, I love time skips. For some reason, I can’t write a story without one. Any of you that read my previous two stories would know that I always put them in. I guess it’s just cause I like cliché crap. If I ever write more stories, I vow to never use time skips, at least not in the middle of the story. Anyways, so finally we’re going to get some resolution in. I’m not going to give away the next chapter, but it’s going to be good. We will also see the return of characters I’m sure we will all be happy to see.