“Baby, when will you introduce me to your father? I’m tired of waiting.” The girl said to her boyfriend in between kissing.

 

The guy pulled off from the kiss and said, “I’m tired of talking. Quit talking and let’s just continue the kissing, okay?”

 

“Yoseobie!!! You always say that you’ll introduce me to your dad but you never did. You never even bring me to your social functions!” the girl ranted.

 

“Nana! I said stop talking. And if you just bring this up again, I’m afraid I have to let you go.” Yoseob said before his phone rang. Upon seeing his father’s name on the screen, he immediately answered the phone.

 

“My boy! Where are you? We’re supposed to meet in 15 minutes.” Mr. Kang said.

 

“Yes dad! I’m already on my way. See you in fifteen.” Yoseob said and then he hung up the phone.

 

“Baby, I’ll come with you. I look presentable enough to meet my future father-in-law.” Nana said.

 

Yoseob was already driving the car like crazy to be able to arrive at his father’s office in fifteen minutes. Upon hearing Nana’s nagging to come with him, he stopped the car at the highway and asked Nana to get down.

 

“But baby, how will I get home? There are no buses here!!!” She shouted.

 

“Nana, I said get off the car. Don’t make me say this twice. You know how scary I can get.” He threatened her.

 

Nana started crying but Yoseob was already glaring at her so she went out of the car while begging Yoseob.  After she got off the vehicle, Yoseob stepped on the gas and his car sped off the highway, leaving the poor girl crying on the side.

 

He made it in time and still had a few minutes to spare before he went inside his father’s office. As he entered the room, he saw his father sitting in his desk and Manager Jung was standing near the door while they were both waiting for him.

 

“Hey dad, why do you want to meet me this early?” Yoseob asked.

 

“I have a job to give you. Well, it’s not a tough one but this is something I know you’ll surely enjoy.” Mr. Kang said to his son before turning to Manager Jung and saying to him, “Give him the file”, an order which the secretary immediately obeyed.

 

Yoseob accepted the folder and opened it to see a girl who seemed nice but who isn’t really his type. Just by looking at the picture, he figured that she did not grow up in the city. Something about her smile screamed “province-girl”. She wasn’t his type but being someone from the province, he bet she’s naive and he just liked naive girls. He can’t wait to hear the job his father was giving him, though he already had a clear idea as to what kind of job he will enjoy with this girl.

 

“So, when can I meet her?” Yoseob asked, he can’t hide his grin.

 

“You’ll meet her soon but I have to tell you first what you are about to do.” Kang Hodong paused then continued, “You remember the people I was trying to look for, months ago? Those people who are trying to get this company from us? So, half of the plan worked already. The older man was killed and we all thought that his son, your cousin, was already dead. Apparently, the reports were wrong. So he is alive and somewhere in this city. My people worked hard for four months but they still have no clue as to where they could find him. Fortunately for us, a person in that seaside village told my guys that the girl in the picture, Suzy Bae, was your cousin’s girlfriend. Meaning, she could lead us to him, wherever he is. That Suzy girl is the only weapon we have now so that we can find your cousin. So, I want you to use your charms on her. Make her fall for you so that she’ll tell you where Junho is. It’s easy, right?”

 

Yoseob just nodded.

 

“So, the girl’s schedule and where-abouts are in that paper. Just review those and you may start as soon as possible. You may leave now.” Hodong said and he watched as his only son went out of the room. He then started thinking to himself.

 

‘If only they didn’t lose Ji-eun in the orphanage. Why do I hire such stupid people? They always give me problems. Now, I have to ask my boy to do the job for me. When did it become like this? Anyways, I’ll make him happy as well by playing with that girl. I’ll not worry about this anymore. It just feels nice that the stupid Changmin believed me when I said I still got Ji-eun and that she’ll be in danger if he didn’t follow what I say. How could Mira exchange all of her father’s wealth for that imbecile? I can’t believe her. I just hope to find Junho and kill him before he finds Ji-eun and they team up against me. As if they’d win if they try to fight me?! They’ll just end up like their stupid father, they’ll end up dead.’ 

 

As Yoseob was walking to his car, he read Suzy’s file and found that his hunch was right, she was from the province. He’d love to meet this naive girl. He also found that she was a trainee at an entertainment agency. He got even more excited because he never had a girl who was just a trainee. He dated models, actresses and other women known in high society but she never dated anyone with Suzy’s classifications. His thoughts were interrupted when his phone rang. Without even looking who the caller was, he answered it.

 

“Baby, why did you left me? Let’s meet up again, okay? I’m sorry for bugging you earlier. It won’t happen again. I just can’t live without you. Please.” It was Nana. And she was begging Yoseob but the boy doesn’t care much about her now, he’s just excited to meet his new ‘prey’.

 

“I’m sorry Nana. I have a new girlfriend. Her name’s Suzy. Goodbye.” Yoseob said as he hung up the phone. He then rushed to the entertainment agency.

 

On the other side of town...

 

“Mom, I do not want to join the school hurdling team. I’d love to focus on my studies and not on sports.” IU said to her mother. She is her foster mother, actually. She doesn’t know where her biological parents are and all she knew was she was left in the orphanage shortly after being born. She is now a 16-year old teenager who was being forced by her mother to join a sports team in high school.

 

“But your sister said that the P.E. teacher asked her to convince you to join the team because he has seen some natural talent in you. Your sister wasn’t able to talk to you at school but she called me last night and told me about it.” Mrs. Kim said.

 

“I just chose that class because the swimming class was already packed with students and the hurdling class was the only one available. I didn’t even pick the class; I was left with nothing to choose from. I admit I enjoyed it but I find it exhausting, mother. I won’t be able to concentrate on my studies. And we do not want that. It’s not even nice that I’m still in high school when my age says I’m supposed to be a college sophomore as of now.” She explained.

 

“Oh my dear daughter, don’t dwell on that now. We’re just very lucky that you are still with us. Most cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever are fatal but God loves us so much and doesn’t want to break our family that easy. I’m sorry you had to skip school for another year. It’s just that I want you to be completely healthy again before you get out and do what normal, healthy people can do. I’m so sorry. I’m just really worried about you. Will you forgive mom now?” Her mother, who was almost in tears, asked her.

 

She knew her mother was being overly dramatic again. She has that tendency but IU can’t blame her. Her older sister was in boarding school that time and wasn’t able to be with the family so much. IU was her mother’s ‘apple of the eye’ and she gave her a huge scare when she got dengue fever when she was 8 years old. The whole family got even more frightened when she suffered the complications of the disease. She had to skip school because she was hospitalized for almost 3 months. They said that she was very lucky to have been able to survive but she has to regain her strength as the disease caused serious bleeding and she was lucky that they’ve found a compatible donor for her damaged liver. She looked back on this before speaking again to her mother.

 

“Yes mom. It’s fine. I just don’t want distractions other than school work. I want to get high grades so I can enter in a pre-medicine program for college.” She said to her mother.

 

And as if she hadn’t heard everything else said after her daughter being fine, her mother asked her again. “So, are you joining the hurdles team? It would be okay if you don’t like the idea but it’d be nice if you just try it. You’ll be healthier if you engage in sports.” Her mother was amazing because she was able to pull off a look that made IU reconsider her decisions.

 

She saw her mother’s sad face so she changed her mind and said, “I’ll try out for the team depending on my grades from the recent examinations. Will that be fine with you?” She asked sweetly.

 

As if on cue, her mother’s facial expression changed into a very joyous one. She said, “Thanks baby. You do not know how happy you made mommy! You go upstairs and prepare for school.”

 

She was fooled again by her mother. But she really didn’t care. Her mother always pulls acts like that and she always falls for it but it really doesn’t matter as long as she made her happy. While growing in the orphanage and knowing what her story was, she promised herself that if she gets adopted, she’ll be the most polite and obedient daughter there could ever be. She thought that if ever her real parents see her one day as a great daughter, they’ll regret that they had given her up. Being the obedient and kind daughter made her mother put more attention to her, not that her sister isn’t loved. Everybody expected the sisters to have a rift because it is so obvious that their mother gives unequal attention to each, but they were all wrong. IU and her older sister were as close as ever. It helped that her sister doesn’t want much of the attention and that IU had it all upon joining the family. Though they may not live with each other anymore, they never fail to communicate with each other. And when her sister visits home during vacation period, they spent most of their time together doing stuff they both enjoy. They were like real sisters and have always been there for each other in times of trouble as well as in times of joy. She never felt out casted in the family and that was probably the greatest thing that had ever happened to her. She loved this family and she had always thought that if she were to see her real family, she’d never trade this one that she already have.

 

IU went down the stairs to see her mother’s enlarged eyes. “Mom, don’t look at me like that. I’ve always worn this and they match well with my uniform.” IU said.

 

Her mother eyed her sharply. “I don’t understand why you keep wearing that. You’re not a tomboy or anything, right? Please stop wearing baseball caps. You scare me.” Her mother pleaded.

 

“Mom, it’s fine. Even Sis thinks I look good in these. And don’t be scared please. I’m just a normal teenage girl who loves caps. Bye mom. I love you” She said before kissing her mom on the cheek and leaving the house to wait for the school bus.

That was the only thing she wouldn’t let her mother talk her into doing, wearing baseball caps and dressing like a boy. It’s not that she likes girls but she’s sort of scared of boys. She was scared because she learned from the orphanage that having relationships early will cause you to be married and have kids at such a young age. She didn’t want that, she wanted to study and become a doctor. With this in mind, she started dressing like a boy and even if her mother sent her to an all girl’s school, the habit didn’t change. She thought of this as some sort of defense mechanism so she wouldn’t be bothered again by boys. She continued walking in the bus, trying to find her spot.

 

Upon arriving at school, she saw some girls looking at her and they seem to talk about her. Though puzzled, she just continued walking until she was stopped by Hyoyeon.

 

“Hey, IU!! You did a great job again. Top of the class huh? You make me so proud.” She looked at her then hugged her tightly and said to her, “You wore that again. I bet mom went crazy. Anyways, I can’t celebrate with you now but I’m going to call mom later and I may come over for dinner to celebrate your achievement. By the way, did mom tell you about the hurdles team?” Before IU could answer, Hyoyeon looked at her watched and said “But I got to go now. I have an early morning class. Let’s talk later. Bye.” She then rushed off to class.

 

She continued walking and felt excited that her sis will come home later and celebrate with her. She looked forward to it. Then she saw her best friend Hara, who seemed troubled nowadays, she wasn’t able to talk to her because of their class schedules. She approached her, hugged her then asked how she was.

 

“Hara, how have you been? I’m sorry we haven’t been able to talk lately. Being in a different class , right? We can’t even get together for lunch!” She ranted but her friend was still quiet and looked as if she was about to cry. “What’s the problem? Let me help you!” IU said.

 

Hara can’t control her tears anymore and she started crying as she tells IU the whole story.  “You see how I’m always sad recently? It’s because I always hear my parents fight at home. Sometimes, I do not want to come home because I’m hurt whenever I hear them shout at each other. We can’t even have a nice meal together because just a few minutes together at the table, they start arguing again. So I tried to work hard in class so that they have something to be joyful about. But last night, I heard them talking about getting a divorce.” She said in between sobs.

 

IU wanted to comfort her but she doesn’t know how so she just said the best thing that came up on her mind. “Have you tried talking to them? I guess when they know how you feel, they’ll change their minds. After all, you’re their only daughter, right?”

 

“I know. So this morning as mom gave me my breakfast, I told her that I’ve heard the arguing and asked her what that was about. She said that my father was having an affair and they will get divorce. I tried talking her out of it but she wouldn’t budge. ” Hara said while crying.

 

“I’ll help you through it. We’ll go through this together. I’m your best friend right? ” IU said, hugging Hara.

 

IU was supposed to comfort her but after what she just said Hara cried even more before speaking again. “That’s the thing. Mom said she’ll take me to the province and study there. And we’ll leave tomorrow. This would be my last day in school. And I won’t even spend the whole day here. I just came to say goodbye to you. Mom was just talking with the principal but they seemed to have finished their conversation a while ago. And now she’s waiting for me outside.” She cried and hugged IU tightly.

 

“There’s no way out now? You’re really leaving? You’re leaving me too?” IU started to cry as well.

 

“I’m sorry IU. I don’t want to. I like it here and wouldn’t want to leave. I’m really sorry. I have to go. I’ll miss you. Let’s keep in touch.” Hara said as she broke off from the hug and left immediately.

 

IU was so sad. She received a hug of joy earlier but this hug of goodbye from her only friend in school was so painful. She sat at the bench near the flowers, the beauty in these use to calm her. But now, she just can’t do anything but cry.

 

Junho was walking near the chapel with his head hurting so much from drinking last night. He then saw a girl crying in the bench. He approached her and asked, “Why are you crying?” He then offered his handkerchief to the girl before introducing himself.  “I’m the new teacher here. My name’s Lee Junho.”

 

 The girl was sure the person talking to her was wearing a skirt so she was shocked upon hearing a guy’s name. She lifted her head and said, “What?!”

 

“Oh, crap!” Junho thought to himself. 

 

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This is a pretty long chapter. I was thinking about dividing this but I've decided to just put all this in one chapter. i hope you guys like it. I've added IU and Yoseob in the story. My main characters are complete. Enjoy and please comment. Thanks! :D