Chapter 5

Ji Eun woke up the next morning to find that her mobile phone had been taken 
away, and she sniffled at the thought of not being able to contact him again.

Young Saeng had called her after returning home and assured her that he’d find 
a way to convince her mother, but she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Omma…”

“I'm going to work. Your breakfast and lunch is ready, remember to heat them 
up before eating”

She sighed as she heard the front door close and returned to her room.

“Otokke?”

Young Saeng tried for the n-th time to talk to Ji Eun’s mother, but she refused 
to respond to anything else other than work. 

It has been more than a week and he was going crazy from being unable to 
contact Ji Eun. He had tried to visit but was chased out by her dad who happened 
to be working the night shift and was constantly at home. He even took time off to 
drop by the old folk's home but she was no where in sight.

“She didn't come back from the market? Don't worry about her, we'll look for her
if she's still not back by the time I'm home. She's probably just throwing a tantrum 
and hiding in one of those few spots”

He got worried when overheard her mother’s conversation over the phone with her dad. 
And he realised he had no idea where those few spots were when he decided to 
leave the office to look for her, so he stayed behind to finish up whatever work he had. 

It would definitely rouse ajumma’s suspicions if he were to leave early anyway. 
He could only hope that Ji Eun was fine.

“Young Saeng ah, have you seen Ji Eun?”

Young Saeng received a call late at night from her frantic mother who spent the 
last few hours roaming the neighbourhood and realized she wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“I'll find her, don't worry”

He sped off in his car and got worried as he saw the flashes of lightning across 
the sky, and it began pouring soon after that.

“Ji Eun ah, where are you?”

Realising it was getting him no where, he stopped by the road shoulder and tried 
to think of the possible places she could have gone to. She had to be at somewhere 
she was familiar with.

Flashback

“Oppa, can we take the bus to the beach instead?”

“Wae? We'll get there much quicker by car. It's gonna take at least an hour…”

“But I'll never know how to get there if you're not around. Besides there're a lot 
of things along the way that you could see, things you'll never notice when you’re driving”

“Arasso, as you wish”

End of Flashback

Grabbing an umbrella from the boot of his car as he arrived, Young Saeng ran 
towards the beach and spotted a lone figure lying on the sand from a distance. 
He was quite certain it was her as there was couldn't be much people around on 
that rainy night.

“Yah Ji Eun ah, what are you doing out here in the rain?”

He was almost shouting as he neared her, only to realise she was unconscious 
when he finally got there. He lifted her immediately and made his way to the car, 
hitting the accelerator to the max to reach the hospital in the shortest time possible.

Her parents rushed over after receiving a call from him and the old lady handed 
him a set of dry clothes.

“Young Saeng ah, change into something dry or you‘ll catch a cold. 
And… thank you…”

“Don't mention… it's all because of me…”

The old lady sighed as Young Saeng bowed and excused himself to the gents to get changed.
She really didn’t know what to do with them.

Someone would definitely get hurt if she approved of their relationship, 
she was sure of it.

Young Saeng couldn’t get to sleep the whole night after returning to the hospital 
from sending her parents back home.

He returned to the ward after getting a cup of coffee the next morning and found 
Ji Eun seated up on the bed, and crying.

"Kwenchana, I'm here"

He assured Ji Eun as he held her hands, knowing that she had probably gotten a 
fright from waking up alone in an unfamiliar environment. And she embraced him 
upon hearing his voice.

"Don't you have work to do?"

"They're not as important as you are"

"Oppa, I'll be fine. And in case omma and appa…"

"Yah, you're driving me away before them"

"Anni, it's just that…"

"Are you giving up already without even trying? 
Who was it who said we should face every situation positively?"

"…"

Ji Eun had spent the past few days reminiscing about their time together, and 
also reconsidering their relationship. It wasn't just about themselves, but also 
the people around them.

"I think we might need a bit of help in disciplining our daughter…"

"Omma… mianhae"

Ji Eun's mother had arrived a while ago but decided not to interrupt them just yet. 
The old lady had actually noticed it earlier on, the way the boy smiled whenever he 
was with her daughter, and had to admit she had never seen him being happier 
than he was now. Her daughter too had been more cheerful than ever.

"Was that an approval?"

Young Saeng asked, and his heart leapt with joy when he saw a nod from her mother.

"But you know your parents… remember you'll have to face whatever that comes 
in your way when the time comes"