Year 2012…

Ga In looked at her reflection on the mirror at her room. She was wearing a dark violet blouse and pencil cut one inch below the knee skirt paired with black stilettos. She braided her long hair in a single plait that hung on her back. She wore her drop sapphire earrings and silver watch as her accessories and applied light make up to enhance her beautiful face.

“Ga In, it’s just a meeting not an execution. Breathe in…breathe out…” Ga In told herself as she started doing the breathing exercises.

She was still doing the breathing exercises when her cellphone rang…

“Hello, So Min”, Ga In answered the call.

“Hi, cousin, how are you doing?” So Min excitedly asked.

“Actually, I’m feeling nervous right now”, Ga In said as she sighed.

“Nervous? Why? Don’t tell me you still have feelings for Kim Soo-Hyun?” So Min asked.

“It’s not like that…I just can’t explain it, So Min”, Ga In replied as she sat on the stool in front of the mirror.

“Just feel confident, Ga In, you didn’t spend building yourself in UK all these years just to crumble in front of Soo-Hyun”, So Min reminded Ga In.

“You’re right, So Min, I have to be confident”, Ga In said as she stood feeling infused with energy from so Min’s words.

“By the way, go to my condo after you’re done with Soo-Hyun. I’ll cook something special for you”, So Min happily invited Ga In.

“Sure…I missed your cooking so much when I was in UK it’s good thing I’m back”, Ga In said.

“’Sides, your nephew, Hyun Suk, misses you a lot. You know how close he is to you ever since”, So Min said.

“I really love your son, too, So Min. Let’s take him to the amusement park after we ate. My treat to any of the rides and toys he wants”, Ga In said with a fond smile on her face.

“Okay, I’ll hang up now. Take care. We’ll wait for you here”, So Min said as she cut the call.

Ga In just smiled…in the years that passed them by…they already built good lives for themselves. She looked at her reflection in the mirror one last time before she went outside her condo unit to the parking lot and rode her royal blue Volvo.

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Kim Soo-Hyun was already at the restaurant where he ordered a tall glass of iced Americano. He was trying to read the broadsheet but he was unable to concentrate because his thoughts keep coming back to the time Ga In left him…

“I told you she’s the worst sort of woman. You see she left you already after she found a rich benefactor…that Dr. Lee who operated her father they have an affair”, Mrs. Kim angrily detailed her lies.

“It’s not true! It can’t be true! There must be something behind that…he might have threatened her or refused to operate on her father if she didn’t come to him but surely Ga In won’t do such a thing”, Soo-Hyun defended Ga In his heart refusing to believe that Ga In would have an affair with the old doctor.

“Hah! Until now you’re still defending that faithless woman! What kind of thinking do you have, Soo-Hyun? Can’t you see she knew that I won’t agree to have her as a daughter-in-law so she decided to be enterprising and sold herself to that old doctor instead”, Mrs. Kim haughtily said.

“Please, stop it, mom. Ga In must be in deep trouble since she experienced financial problems and her father died in that operation”, Soo-Hyun reasoned out although his heart felt shattered.

“Anyway, she already left for UK to study under the help of that kind old doctor…she’s really an enterprising woman using her body…” Mrs. Kim said as her voice faded as she walked out of Soo-Hyun’s room.

Soo-Hyun sat on the side of his bed…he still could not believe that Ga In would leave him and worst left him because of the old doctor. He believed there must be a reason and he wanted badly to hear it…but he was not able to contact her anymore even her cousin, So Min, refused to neither give Ga In’s contact number nor address in UK.

Until last year, when he watched her received an award for Journalism in a famous British Journalism Festival. He was at home when he decided to browse on his subscription for foreign channels and saw her. She was still so beautiful but the innocent Ga In he loved was already replaced by a smart and classy woman who was so confident with herself and her achievements.

“Ga In, where are you now?” Soo-Hyun asked himself as he looked at his wrist watch. He was getting impatient even though he arrived at the restaurant 15 minutes earlier than the agreed time.

At exactly, 10:00 am, Ga In entered the restaurant and she looked her eyes around until it landed on a familiar figure. She walked towards the table that Soo-Hyun occupied.

“Good afternoon, Kim Soo-Hyun”, Ga In politely said as she bowed shallowly.

“Good afternoon, Han Ga In”, Soo-Hyun responded in kind although deep in his heart he wanted to grab Ga In in an embrace and kiss her and tell her how much he missed her and loved her still.

“I came here because your publishing company contacted me and told me that you want to meet me for a business proposition”, Ga In started as she tried her best to sound professional.

“You haven’t change a bit, Ga In. You’re still as beautiful as I remembered you 7 years ago”, Soo-Hyun said instead which brought a faint blush to Ga In’s cheeks.

“Soo-Hyun, I came here to discuss your company’s offer”, Ga In reminded Soo-Hyun.

“Ah…yes…forgive me…anyway, my family’s publishing company wants to hire you as a feature writer. You could also write for literary and documentaries”, Soo-Hyun replied.

“Did your parents agree to this?” Ga In asked.

“Yeah, well in fact they really wanted you in the company as a regular writer since your tract record as a journalist in UK showed remarkable achievements”, Soo-Hyun replied.

“Really? That’s good to hear…I’ll think about your offer. I’ll give you my answer in three days’ time”, Ga In replied. “Now that I’m a famous journalist I’m already worth your parents’ time”, she silently told herself as she continued to look at Soo-Hyun.  

“I hope you work with us…with me, Ga In”, Soo-Hyun said and suddenly he felt ashamed on how his voice had a pleading tone in it.

“It’s nice to see you again, Soo Hyun. If you would excuse me…I’d go ahead. I told So Min that I’d visit her and spend time with her and her son”, Ga In said as she stood and bowed shallowly as she smiled a little for Soo-Hyun. She turned her back and prepared to leave when Soo-Hyun called her.

“Are you already married, Ga In?” Soo-Hyun blurted out.

“No, I haven’t find the time”, Ga In replied.

“Have you parted ways with Dr. Lee?” Soo-Hyun could not help but ask.

“No, we still keep in touch. He’s like a father to me so I make sure that as his adopted daughter I keep in touch with him. He’s still in UK”, Ga In replied and his reply almost made Soo-Hyun cry.

“Any more questions, Soo-Hyun?” Ga In asked.

“None…thank you for seeing me again”, Soo-Hyun replied.

Ga In smiled before she turned around and walked towards the exit leaving Soo-Hyun at the restaurant…pondering on his discovery that after all those years that she left, Ga In never left her to be Dr. Lee’s mistress as his mother made him believe.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ga In arrived at the first class condominium building where So Min had a unit. She parked her car and went to the elevator…she exited on the tenth floor and knocked on the door.

“Hi, Aunt Ga In”, it was Hyun Suk, her six-year old nephew; a handsome and bubbly boy who looked exactly like his father.

“Hi, Hyun Suk”, Ga In said with a smile as she went down and kissed her nephew’s cheek and lightly ruffled his hair.

“Hi, you’re in time. I just finished cooking spicy pasta with tuna and fried kimchi”, So Min said as she looked at her from the dining area.

The condo was spacious and homey…with the clutter of toys and coloring books and writing materials of Hyun Suk on the carpeted floor to the colorful curtains and walls painted a combination of baby blue and apple green to the smell of home cooked meals. A different setting from her own condo filled with books, papers, darker colored curtains and walls painted in white.

“You’re condo’s truly homey…I like the setting”, Ga In commented as she looked more around and looked again at the pictures of So Min and her son and So Min’s dead husband, Sung Joon. They showed the picture of a perfect family in their photos.

“You should have married a long time ago, too, Ga In”, So Min said as she approached Ga In who was looking at the pictures.

“Marriage isn’t for me”, Ga In said as she went with So Min who already ushered her son, Hyun Suk, at the table.

They ate happily especially since Hyun Suk was a bubbly kid who liked to tell stories about his schooling and classmates. After their meal, So Min ushered Hyun Suk to his room for an afternoon nap.

“Mom, you said that Aunt Ga In would bring us to the amusement park”, Hyun Suk reminded So Min as he looked expectantly at Ga In.

“Hyun Suk, you take your afternoon nap first then when you woke up we’ll go to the amusement park, okay? That’s a promise”, Ga In said as she went to her knees and held her pinky to Hyun Suk who smiled and also held his pinky before going inside his room with So Min.

Ga In decided to wash the dishes…as she was drying them with a towel, So Min went beside her and put the dishes on the rack.

“He’s a good child”, Ga In commented.

“Yeah, he is a delight to me and to his late father”, So Min replied as her beautiful face clouded with sadness.

“Sung Joon had been a good husband to you”, Ga In said. She knew that So Min’s husband died three years ago because of leukemia.

“Yeah…until the day he died he took care of me and Hyun Suk. He was a good book author and he helped me make the bookstore prosper and gained popularity. He treated me with respect and loved Hyun Suk even though he was not his child”, So Min replied.

“Do you have plans of revealing the truth to Hyun Suk?” Ga In asked.

“What for? After Hyun Joong left me pregnant, alone and penniless…he never looked back to see if I was okay…he just left with another woman to fulfill his dreams abroad. It’s better for Hyun Suk to live knowing Sung Joon was his father”, So Min said as bitterness over what Hyun Joong did to her years ago resurfaced.

“Hyun Joong has the right to know, So Min”, Ga In commented.

“How’s your meeting with Soo-Hyun?” So Min decided to change the topic.

“He wants me to work with him at his family’s publishing company”, Ga In said as she settled on a tall kitchen stool and sipped the orange juice So Min poured for them.

“Accept it, Ga In. Try to work with him and sort out your feelings in the process and then move on and treat everything that happened in the past as past. Anyway, I heard that Park Min Young is doing the same. She works at the publishing company again with her ex-husband, Lee Min Ho. So like her just take this as another opportunity to work”, So Min said as she encouraged Ga In who just nodded her agreement.

“I’ll call Soo-Hyun tonight then tell him that I’ll take the job”, Ga In said.

“Honestly, do you still feel something for him?” So Min asked curiously.

“I guess…what frightens me most is after I met him this morning…I realized that after seven years passed by…I still feel something for me…he still occupy a special place in my heart”, Ga In replied as she put her hand to her chest and felt her heart beat faster….

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