Ji Eun was surprised at her own tears. She was angry, yet her tears fell uncontrollably. But one thing for sure, Minseok was wrong.

She hasn’t forgotten anything about their past.

That year, her dad brought her to their castle-like mansion for the first time. It was a business meeting with Madam Kim. It was during that trip, she was first introduced to Minseok and she remembered every part of it all so vividly.

Unlike the boy now, young Minseok used to be so full of smiles. He welcomed her warmly like how a host would be to his guests. He looked out for her like a big brother she never had and showed her around the house, introducing the various paintings his father bought over his business trips. He even boasted about his huge collection of limited edition toys and introduced her to his best friend.

Middle school had never been so fun. It was the best day of her life.  

And then came Luhan. He was a boy of few words, reserved and kept his opinions to himself but like Minseok did, he took care of her really well. The three of them were practically inseparable and like all wealthy heirs, they went to the same high school. It didn’t take her long to realize that she was in love with one of them, but she was too shy to say something about it. She was afraid, that it was going to destroy their friendship. And she was afraid too that her feelings might not be reciprocated.

Then everything came crushing down overnight.

That night she was looking for something in her father’s room while he was away on a overseas trip. She was just going to “borrow” his fishing rod for a few days as the three of them were planning a short getaway trip. Before he even found that it was gone, she would’ve already placed it back where it should be.

The trip never happened. She picked up the rod and accidentally knocked over a really expensive looking customized box. The contents fell out when it hit the ground. She was flustered for a second not knowing the consequences should her father found out about it but that was when she saw it; a photo of a woman taken many years ago and in her arms was a baby girl, her, only a few months old. She knew in that instant, this was her mother. The woman her father almost never talked about.

She never understood the reason why she doesn’t have a mother, until she was a bit older she found her dad often crying silently in his room over bottles of alcohol. He must have really missed her and so she hated her, the woman who abandoned them, abandoned him. Her father never told her the real reason why, he only told her times and times again, “She left because I was a failure. I was unable to give her happiness.”

So she really hated her.

And at the sight of that photo, she was even more determined to find out her whereabouts. She wanted an answer; she wanted to know the reason why a mother would ever abandon her own child…

+ + + + +

Yoo Jung stared at Minseok in disbelief. “Are you doing what I think you are doing?”

Minseok nodded silently like an obedient child, though he was unable to hide that smile of his. She was staring at him with widened eyes. “Do you even know what you’re saying?” And he nodded again this time with an arched eyebrow.

She took a deep breath this time and shifted her gaze to her hands. “Do you know it is practically crazy to marry at this age and insane to even try to defy your own grandmother?”

This time she didn’t know if he nodded again but she heard him take a really deep breath too. “Yes I know it’s crazy and it’s insane but I don’t see the reason why not.”

“Do you even understand what you are saying?” She asked, because now she was a little more frustrated than shocked. She felt as if he was using it as a way to get out of this engagement ordeal. She wasn’t convinced and she wasn’t going to convince herself either.

“What do you know about me? Do you even like me? Are we even a couple? We never really communicated well neither did we spend days together without some sort of disagreements. I hated you,”

“I know.” He butted in.

“-and I still am, somehow, even if my heart seems to be a li