Before my heart would hurt more, I decided to go to the real reason why I came here three flights earlier than the old geezer and Danny.

“Annyeong Haseyo. Welcome to Miss Dee’s Café,” the girl behind the counter greeted.

I smiled at her and headed towards an available seat. I sat on the comfortable couch and looked around. They really did a great job in here. The interior design was one of a kind and the atmosphere kept the customers comfortable as if they were just at home.

The staffs were kind too. They smiled and greeted at each of the customers they passed by or those who entered, even though they didn’t really greet or smile back.

They exactly did what I ordered them to do.

After a while, a waiter came to me. “Would you like to order now, ma’am?” he asked.

I nodded. “I would like a Coffee Milk please?”

He nodded and smiled, “Right away, Ma’am.”

Few minutes later, he came back with my drink. But before I let him leave, I ordered him to stay still on his spot. I eyed him while I took a sip of the drink he just gave me. I could see how he tensed and went stiff on his spot. He must be very nervous.

I put the cup down and wiped my lips with the tissue.

“Call your manager,” I said simply.

He flinched. And I swear! It really took me a lot of effort not to burst out laughing. He bowed and left.

I looked around as I saw the staffs looking back at me. They were all tensed up. I must have looked really intimidating back there. That was cool!

After a while, I heard a familiar voice behind, in hushed tones. “Aish! Who’s this woman acting as if she owned this store? Call me, she says, eh?”

I smiled as I heard her remark. I stood up and turned to her.

“That would be the owner herself,” I said and smiled.

“Kyaaaaa~ Unnie!” Hayi squealed and hugged me. I hugged her back.

I looked around as the staffs sighed in relief. They all went back to work when I signaled them to.

When Hayi leaned back from the embrace, I pinched her cheeks. “You’ve grown so pretty.”

“Aish! What are you saying? I’ve been pretty since birth,” she said.

I laughed at her remark. “Where’s Jungmi? I did not appoint her as your co-manager to be MIA at a time like this.”

“She’s at a meeting, trying out a new recipe. Shall I call her? She’ll be ecstatic.”

I shook my head. “It’s alright. I won’t be long. I just came here to see how this business goes.”

“Unnie let me take this opportunity to thank you for appointing me and Jungmi as the managers of this main branch. I won’t fail you,” she said, bowing. “You don’t have an idea how you fulfilled my dream come true.”

I smiled at her and patted her shoulder. “Work hard and make me proud, arasso?”

“Oh, when did you come back by the way?”

“Just this morning. My cousin will get married. That’s why I’m here,” I said. “I have to go. I need to pass by a dress shop.”

“Arasso, bye!”

“Sandara-sshi!” Kwanghee squealed the moment I opened the door of the dress shop. He ran to me and hugged me tight.

“Aish! What are you doing? You’re breaking my bones!”

“I missed you!” he squealed yet again.

“Aish! Arasso, arasso!”

“Why are you here? When did you arrive? Are you staying for good? Do you like my clothes?” he asked.

I laughed at his last question. “Ya! You spent the salary I paid you to buy my designs?” I laughed again. “Anyway, I’m here because my cousin is going to be married. I just arrived this morning. And I’m not yet sure if I’m going to stay for good. I might go back to Japan after the wedding.”

“Hmmm…” he tapped his finger on his chin. “Wedding, you say? Do you need a designer? I’m in for it.”

“Ya! You’re talking to a designer, Kwanghee! And are your designs already good? Let me see. You might just have used my shop to design your cosplay costumes.”

“Aish! It doesn’t mean that since you were the one who gave me this job, you can ridicule me all you want. I’m resigning! I’m resigning I tell you!” he said, stomping his feet childishly.

“I did not ridicule your designs, Kwanghee. Alright, you resign! If you do, would you find another job, eh? Would you go back to being a manager of a club hiring teenagers?” I threatened. “If you look at the time, I still have more of it before my cousin arrives. I could go to the police station and be a witness myself.”

He smiled slyly. “Aish, Miss Dee can’t take a joke. You always take things seriously. Come. Let me serve you a coffee. How many do you want? One cup? Two? Three? A tray? A lifetime supply?”

“Aish!” I slapped his hand away. “I’m going somewhere else.”

Before I turned though, he grabbed my wrist and then bowed low in front of me. “Thank you for taking me in, Madam Dee. I know I’m not a good enough designer, but you still gave me a chance,” he said and straightened up. “I never had the chance to thank you since I was hired by a mysterious-looking man who represented you. The next thing I knew you already flew to Japan.”

I smiled. “No one is a bad designer, Kwanghee. Remember that. Everyone has his own style. I always loved your cosplay costumes by the way.”

I sat on the grass. Although it tickled my legs, I didn’t care. It had been long since I did this anyway.

“Annyeong Appa,” I said as I brushed my fingers across his engraved name. “Sorry it took me this long to come back. Things just…happened suddenly. I didn’t even say goodbye properly. Mianhe, Appa.”

A wind blew and my hair got untied from the knot.

“I changed a lot, right, Appa? Your little princess is now a young lady. Aren’t you proud of me?” I said as a tear fell from my eye. “I have a lot to tell you, Appa.”

“Unnniiieeee!!!” a high-pitched voice called from afar.

And there she was, looking prettier as ever. Her long, curly, brown hair was flowing behind her. She was dressed in a jacket that I recognized as one of my designs with a black shirt underneath.

And while I was still taking in her appearance, she decided to leave her luggage in the middle of the crowd and she ran towards me, complete with her arms spread wide for a hug.

I was tempted to run too – not to meet her but to hide from embarrassment. Aish! Seriously! She’s 24 and she’s acting like a four-year old.

And when she finally arrived, she squeezed the soul out of me. “C-c-c-an’t. Breathe. Need. Ai—“

“Oops!” she said, letting me go. She smiled slyly and grabbed both of my wrists. “Unnie! Finally, we meet again!” she said and hugged me again.

“Aish!” I said pushing her away. “Stop being so cheesy!”

“But I missed you! Come! Let’s have a drink!” she said, pulling me by my wrist.

“How about your luggage?” I asked, pointing at her abandoned luggage.

“Mom and Dad are going to take care of them,” she said nonchalantly.

Aish! She’s spoiled even at 24? Really?!

“Let’s just wait for them. Where are they, anyway?”

“I went ahead of them. They’re so slow! I bet they’re still picking their luggage. Don’t worry I texted them about my luggage and you’ll see them later this dinner, anyway.”

“How about your husband-to-be?” I asked in a teasing tone.

“We took different flights. He was busy with the business. So we went ahead. He’ll arrive by dinner later. So, no worries, arasso? Can we go now?” she asked, using her puppy eyes on me.

“Arasso!”

And the torture began. First, we went on to grab something to eat, and then we went to watch movies, and then a nail spa, shopping, park.

She did all the talking. She talked about everything – her clothes, her makeup, her work at LA, her officemates, the sky, the sun, the benches at the park, the balloons sold by a mascot, the kid that just fell, the pebble that got stuck on her shoes. She was too random that I couldn’t help but enjoy her company. It took me a full three hours to realize how I missed this little brat.

We weren’t that close, okay? But with all her efforts, we became friends and I think she sees me as a sister already. I’m not too confident, though, to call her as my sister too. She always told me how she wished that she had me as a real sister.

But I don’t think I can be one. I’m mean and rude. There are mysteries about me that I haven’t yet told her. There are secret sides of me she never knew of. There was a past that I could not tell her. While here she was, telling everything about her to me. That was how much she trusted and looked up to me.

The least I could do right now is to support her on her wedding. Speaking of her wedding, she never mentioned her husband-to-be. I never had the chance to ask too. She was blabbering all day.

“Good evening,” I said bowing slightly the moment I arrived.

“Good evening, Sandara. You’re a pretty lady now, aren’t you?” Taeyeon’s mother, who was seated across, said.

Her father, seated beside her wife, though, just scoffed and took his glass of water and drank.

“Did you arrive safely a while ago?” the old geezer asked, who was seated beside me.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t arrive safely, would I?” I rudely said.

Taeyeon elbowed me. She was seated beside me too. I was between her and the old geezer. “Grandpa, yes, she did. No scratches,” she said, grabbing my arm and raising it for the old geezer to see. “See? Nice and clear.”

The old geezer smiled at her, oh-so-sweetly. Between the two of us, I was sure Taeyeon was the favorite. I’m not saying I’m jealous though, alright? I was just saying that she’s the favorite.

“Is your fiancé arriving, Taeyeon?” her mother asked.

Taeyeon looked at her watch. “He must have caught up in traffic,” she said worriedly, turning to look at the door. “He would arrive soon. He did not call me yet, though.”

“Wow, what a great husband-to-be,” I sarcastically said.

Taeyeon glared at me as I flashed a peace sign. She then turned to the family and smiled sweetly. “Let us talk something more interesting, will we? How about…Dara-unnie’s love life?”

I glared at her as the peace sign limply dropped to my lap.

“Oh, that sounds a good idea,” her mother said. “Aren’t you getting married too? You must be dating someone. You need to get married as soon as possible and be giving birth to little cute Sandaras.”

“Yeah, you’re getting old. No one would like you,” Taeyeon’s father said.

I glared at him. “Actually, Uncle, there are a lot of guys lining up to ask my hand for marriage,” I said and added in a low tone, “I’m just not yet ready.”

He scoffed and folded his arm. Really! This old man is getting on my nerves. He’s acting like a b!tch even though he’s a guy.

“Unnie, didn’t you tell me before you had a boyfriend back in high school? You said he’s your first love. Where is he now?”

I stared at her. Did I mention that to her before? Aish! “Well… I don’t know where he is now. We lost contact few years ago,” I answered as honestly as I could.

“Awww, that’s too sad,” Taeyeon pouted. “It would have been more romantic if you married your first love, right?”

I nodded, my head hanging low.

“What was his name?” Taeyeon asked. “You never mentioned it to me. Are you afraid I’ll be taking revenge for you?” she said, raising her hand with a fork. “I remember you mentioning that he broke your heart.”

I raised my head. “Oh, um…”

“Omo, he’s here,” Taeyeon’s mother, who was facing the door, interrupted.

“Omo,” Taeyeon said, standing up to meet him.

I stood up too, as well as her parents. The old geezer was about to stand up too, making me turn towards him.

“You better stay seated. You look pale again,” I said, my voice cold. “Did you take your medicine before you came?”

He nodded and then his eyes switched behind me. And when he did, there was a look of horror on his face. Did he see a ghost? Old people tend to see ghost more often than yong ones anyway.

To see for myself, I turned around too. And I immediately mirrored the old geezer’s expression the moment I saw the guy beside Taeyeon.

“He’s here,” Taeyeon said her voice excited. She had her arm curled on his arm, like a normal couple would do.

“Good evening,” he said, bowing in front of Taeyeon’s parents first.

“Oh, meet my unnie and my grandfather,” Taeyeon said, pointing to me.

He turned to me and the moment he locked gaze with me, there was a look of recognition on his face.

“Unnie, he’s my husband-to-be,” Taeyeon said. “Kwon Jiyong.”

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