Chapter 2: Found

Ha Ni was bustling about the hospital as usual, tending to patients and checking records. She had been assigned to send patients in the cancer department to and fro from their appointments and had her hands full trying to keep their spirits up. Even for someone like Ha Ni whom was like a sun to those around her and constant bubbling with energy, she found it hard to continue smiling and giving out encouragement when all that surrounded her was tears and death. She focused on happy thoughts and continued conversing with the patients in the midst of checking their records. A hand touched her back and she turned around with her eyes still attached to her records.

“Yes?” she mumbled, only half paying attention as she struggled to straighten the mistake she spotted in the record.

“Nurse Oh, someone is looking for you in the lobby. He said he will wait for your shift to be over if you are not free now. Oh, and he left behind his name. Kim Shin Woo. “After relaying what she had been tasked to inform Ha Ni, Nurse Park, one of Ha Ni’s colleagues left without waiting for an answer as she was just buzzed urgently by a patient.

“Huh?” Ha Ni finally looked up, having finally corrected the mistake. She had not heard a single word that Nurse Park had said as she was busy trying to recall this patient’s medical information.

“Nurse Oh!” another patient shrieked, demanding her attention.

“Coming!” Ha Ni hurriedly replied. She rushed to the patient and answered her questions patiently. There was this nagging feeling at the back of her mind that told her that what Nurse Park told her was extremely important. Yet, she shrugged it off and assured herself that it couldn’t be anything of great importance. After all, Nurse Park had not even waited for her to reply, had she?

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Ha Ni strolled out of the locker room, nodding her head to the beat of Kim Jaejoong’s “Just Another Girl” as the song blared through her earphones.

“Oppa has outdone himself again” she whispered to herself, before a proud smile adorned her face. “WWW” was truly a piece of art. Yet, she couldn’t help but worry. Ha Ni knew what a tough time Jaejoong had gone through these few years and knowing his character, he must not have gotten over the spilt yet. However, he is still releasing albums, acting in dramas, having concerts and endorsing brands. Hell, he is even designing products. To accomplish so much was not beyond Kim Jaejoong, yet it was a sure sign of him burying himself in his work again. Although she longed to meet her group mate and someone she had come to see as her family, she knew that she will probably never get a chance to see Jae oppa face to face again.

“Unless you choose to.” someone whispered in her head.

 She could return to the Elite any time she wanted, she knew that. When she had left, they had named her an honorary Elite and told her that she could return any time she wished. However, the consequences of doing so would mean having to face up and return to the past again. That was something that she had decided never to do until she was ready for it. Although she was unsure about whether she is now truly ready, she knew that she was satisfied and happy with this new life she had built. Nothing, not even her love for her past friends and her passion in music that she had so cruelly abandoned, could entice her  to try to return to the past and possibly jeopardise her present and her future. She just had to settle with observing her old friends from afar, buying their albums and going to their concerts, supporting them silently in the only way that she could.

Unbeknownst to her, someone had been calling out her name which fell deaf to her ears as she was now occupied in her music. She may have stopped performing but her love for music had never ceased over the years and she often curbed her desire to perform by drowning herself in good music.

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The man behind her finally gave up and settled for just following her. Shin Woo hoped that through this way, he could learn where Ha Ni stayed, something that he had been unable to find out, no matter how hard he tried. He had only been able to trace the schools that she had gone to and how she had finally come to work in Seoul General Hospital. There were no records of a house or apartment registered under Ha Ni’s name, or under Oh Gi Dong, the name of Ha Ni’s father. Neither were there any records of them renting a place. It had puzzled Shin Woo greatly and even more when he found out Ha Ni was now working as a nurse. However, the nurse part explained why Shin Woo had not seen her on the news.

Shin Woo had followed the entertainment news in Korea carefully all these years that he lived in America, expecting to hear of the great female star that had taken the world by storm under the name of Oh Ha Ni. There was nothing however and it had confused him all these years. Perhaps, being a nurse was just a cover for her working under the Elite. She may have discovered that she preferred just being a Elite and did not want to get into the mess known as the entertainment world. It had never crossed Shin Woo’s mind that Ha Ni had left the Elite, shortly after his departure to America. Even for a non-Elite like Shin Woo, he knew that leaving the Elite was virtually unheard of, simply because it had never happened before.

He trailed Ha Ni to a bus stop nearby the hospital, all the while keeping his distance. Shin Woo stared intently at Ha Ni’s face, re-memorising her features and committing every single little detail to his memory. His Ha Ni had grown rounder, gained more curves and seemed to have a…child-like aura around her. He didn’t know how to explain it but this Ha Ni just felt…different. The Ha Ni he left behind was one way more mature than her young age of 17 and someone whom drew eyes whenever she went. There was always an elegance about her that only someone whom was truly confident in themselves could exude. This elegance seemed to have vanished into thin air, to be replaced by a seemingly mediocre girl that easily faded into the background. It made Shin Woo wonder if he had indeed, found the correct girl. Yet, everything on the files he had been given matched up to his childhood best friend turned lover, Oh Ha Ni.

A screech snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked up just in time to see Ha Ni board the bus. He rushed onward and barely made it onto the bus, before selecting a seat a few rows behind Ha Ni, lest she sees him. He was planning to surprise her and had been well-prepared, or so he thought.

He expected Ha Ni to be joyous at his return and yet even he found it hard to lie to himself that Ha Ni wouldn’t be even the slightest bit upset or even bitter at waiting for more than 8 years for him. Hence, he had prepared a back-up plan. He had dialed Woo Young, Ha Ni’s pair. That guy always had a way with Ha Ni and could coax her out of almost any situation. He had not even let Woo Young speak a word and just insisted that he kept the night free as he might need his help. He begged Woo Young before he could even refuse, saying he really needed his help, even if it was just for old times’ sake. There was an extended pause before Woo Young finally agreed and hung up. It was the only time that Woo Young got a chance to speak throughout the entire length of the phone call and Shin Woo couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. Shaking his head, he decided to brush it off and focus on the task at hand. He can just apologise to Woo Young later.

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Ha Ni was now nodding along to CNBLUE’s latest Japanese title track, “One More Time”. She had grown to be an avid fan girl of the rock band CNBLUE, surprisingly developing a taste for their pop and rock music. Although she is a Boice, she still remained a loyal Cassie. Ha Ni was devastated when she found out that DBSK broke up and refused to believe that the Gods of the Rising East could split up over something as petty as money. The common belief that jaechunsu left SM for money, she knew better then to believe it. After doing a bit of digging on her own, she finally found out that SM was the reason behind jaechunsu leaving, although she still did not know that reason why. She could not afford to dig deeper without revealing who she was, and that was something that she had no wish to do as of yet.  Hence, she could only stand from a distance and watch as the DBSK that she had known and loved break apart, with Kim Jaejoong disintegrating in the process. Through her sorrow and mourning for one of the legends of K-pop and for Jaejoong, she had found solace in CNBLUE and they have been her healing music ever since.

Ha Ni saw her stop and descended the bus. She then walked along the narrow side road that will eventually take her to her house. All this time, a guy was stealthily following her, smirking when he realized that she was indeed going home. There was nothing but houses here. Shin Woo was right, working as a nurse was just a cover. What kind of nurse can actually afford to live in a house in the Gangnam area?? This is where he used to live, one of the richest areas in Seoul! He hid behind a pillar and observed her finally entering a cozy looking house that was 3 stories high with its own impeccably kept garden.

 Plucking up his courage, he told himself that there was nothing to be afraid of. Despite how he was elated to see Ha Ni, he could not help the foreboding feeling at the back of his mind. It almost seemed as if…something bad was going to happen. Shin Woo took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“I can do this” he said firmly.

He hurriedly ran to the florist shop that he had glimpsed down the road. He would get a bouquet of 25 red roses, which are Ha Ni’s favourite flowers in her favourite number. Then, he would enter the house and finally be able to look Ha Ni in the eyes again.

A/N: Hey! This is the edited chapter 2! Thank you to all those whom subscribed and commented!!<3 Please upvote, subscribe and leave a comment!(: Enjoy~~