The first streaks of the sun's rays were already painting the sky when Min Seo reached the outskirts of Seoul. She couldn't believe she'd been able to go through with the plan. Some small part of her had thought she would give into Hyun Joong, and an even bigger part of her had been hoping that she would. But what was done was done. There was no going back now.

She reached up a sleeve-covered hand to swipe at the mascara she knew was staining her cheeks. Another half an hour of driving and she would reach her destination. She had been dreading going there the whole week, but now she only wanted to reach it as fast as possible. At least it would give her something to do, something to occupy her mind with other than thoughts of Hyun Joong and the look he'd given her before she'd left him standing in the middle of her home. Alone. 

There was a rest stop coming up, and Min Seo decided to pull over and collect herself. She'd run out of her house wearing only her bathrobe, and she wanted to have something more substantial to face the people she'd be meeting later. Clutching the flimsy fabric to herself, she grabbed her wallet and exited the car, hoping that one of the ahjummas at the rest stop would have an extra set of clothes they would be willing to part with. 

When she stepped into the small eating house, the few customers that were there turned to stare at her. The uncomfortable feelings of embarassment and shame wouldn't go away, and Min Seo felt as if everyone could tell that she'd spent her night breaking someone's heart. After a few moments of hesitation, however, she decided she'd just have to live with it and finish what she'd come to do. She squared her shoulders and lifted her head, heading for the counter. 

"Ahjumma."

The lady dishing up a container of glass noodles turned around. 

"Yes?" Her eyes swept over Min Seo's appearance and quickly grew a tad more arrogant. Another one of those rich ladies, she thought. Think they can treat me however they want and waste their days away without working for anything. "Yes?" she repeated again, coming up to the cash register and resting her hands on her hips. 

"Do you by any chance have a restroom?" Min Seo had scanned the area after she walked in but couldn't find any signs of one. 

"It's out back," the middle aged woman jabbed a finger in its direction. Min Seo was about to head out when the other lady suddenly stuck out her hand. "1000 won." 

Might as well make some money out of it, she figured. To her surprise, though, Min Seo didn't put up a fight, merely nodded and opened her wallet, extracting the necessary bill from it. 

"Hold on, let me get you the keys." 

When Min Seo returned from washing up, the lady was still behind the counter, but she was wearing a less hostile expression this time. As she handed back the keys, she looked over the menu and decided to eat before taking care of anything else. "One Jjajangmyeon please." 

The lady accepted her order and went to collect it while Min Seo took a seat by one of the windows. Once again, thoughts of the night she'd just spent flashed through her head and the tears threatened to resurface. The sad montage of scenes in her mind only stopped when the bowl of black bean noodles was plopped in front of her. She turned tired eyes to the deliverer and quietly thanked her, causing a spark of something close to sympathy in the grumpy ahjumma's bland expression. What the ahjumma didn't know was that for most of her life Min Seo had often worn an expression that was exhausted enough to evoke pity from even the casual onlooker. Deciding to momentarily do away with her prejudice against rich people, the ahjumma stayed a second longer and turned to talk to her forlorn customer.  

"Gwaenchan ni?" Her country accent was thick, and it almost caused Min Seo to smile as it reminded her of her own mother's use of satoori before coming to Seoul. "Ne. Thank you," she paused. "Ahjumma, you wouldn't happen to have an extra set of clothes, would you? I'll pay, it's just..I left home early this morning and--" she choked up, wondering what would happen if she told the ugly truth. I left home early this morning because I caused someone more pain than he should ever experience. Instead, she swallowed and tried again. "And I--I-"

The ahjumma held up a hand. "I do," then she did something completely uncharacteristic, she rubbed Min Seo's back, "Mogo bwa (eat up). I'll be back." 

In the time it took for the ahjumma to return, Min Seo finished her meal and had started to mentally prepare herself for what lay ahead of her. She knew if she went in the state she was in, she'd never last. And so she pushed out all thoughts of Hyun Joong and his pain and decided instead to focus on what she'd forgotten after being with him for the past year and a half--what had brought them together. 

Her grim thoughts came to a halt as the ahjumma returned, bearing a set of exercise clothes that consisted of running pants, a shirt and sweater. "Kamsahamnida, Ahjumma." 

After changing and paying for the meal and clothes, Min Seo made her way back to her car. She the engine and waited for the interior to warm up before speeding back onto the main road.

No more stalling. She was ready.