CHAPTER 5. The Second Encounter.

“Yah! Baek Seung Jo! Stop staring, that’s rude. Her parents might think I didn’t teach you any manners.” Geum Hee scolded her eldest son who was looking at Ha Ni for a longer time than necessary. She gave Ha Ni a pat and Ha Ni nodded back to her, to let her know she was okay.

Mr. Oh laughed lightly and tapped Seung Jo’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Geum Hee. I am sure Seung Jo did not mean anything bad.”

Eun Jo giggled. “Hyung, Ha Ni noona is pretty, eh?” The parents smiled at the young boy’s comment, too.

“Not really.” Seung Jo muttered under his breath, not meant for anybody to hear. Unfortunately, Ha Ni’s weirdly selective sense of hearing caught his last comment.

“What?!” She mouthed back to him, irritation obviously painted on her pretty face. She knew she was not as gorgeous as she wanted to be, but his condescending tone touched a sensitive nerve. And besides, she was not ugly, far from it.

Baek Seung Jo purposely ignored her and faced his mother. “Omma, Oh Ha Ni looks ill or something…Her face is not looking too well. Maybe she needs to sleep already.” He glanced back at Ha Ni who was still looking daggers at him, and smirked very briefly at her before any of the adults could notice him. That smirk was actually the closest thing to a smile that Baek Seung Jo gave Ha Ni that night.

Ha Ni’s mother then looked closely at her daughter. “Are you feeling tired now, dear?”

Ha Ni got shocked when her mother talked to her, she was so absorbed in strangling Seung Jo in her mind. Her face must have been looking very twisted and that drew the attention of the parents.

“Eh?” She saw the worried faces of the elders around her so she just feigned a lie. “Ah, yes… I am sorry but I think I am feeling tired from the trip.” She gave Seung Jo another quick death glare then looked back to the elders. Seung Jo smirked again, feeling victorious at pissing her off.

“Then maybe you want to take your rest already. Come on, I will show you your room.”

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Ha Ni was not able to sleep easily that night. She had trouble thinking over the fact that she was not to see her parents for a long time and that she was staying in a strange house. IN CEO BAEK’S HOUSE!

Everything about her situation was cluttered in her head: moving to Seoul from Jeju, her studies, worrying about her parents, living a new life…and worst of all, preparing to be the daughter-in-law she never intended to be in the first place. Not to mention, her future fiancé seemed to be the biggest airhead she ever knew.

Her only consolation was having CEO Baek’s wife who gave her a feeling of comfort. Geum Hee was totally doting on her, like on her real child. It seemed that Geum Hee was still clueless about Ha Ni’s deal with the chairman, or she was just waiting for the right time to talk to her about it. Ha Ni looked around her room. She felt very thankful to her future mother-in-law who did a very wonderful job in designing her new room, her home away from home.

(flashbacK)

“I made this room so similar to your room in Jeju. It does not really match the theme of our house but I want you to feel like you're still in your own room,” CEO Baek’s wife told Ha Ni. “I hope you will like it here…I hope you will feel comfortable in our house.”

“Thank you very much…” Ha Ni didn’t know how to address her.

Geum Hee gave her a hug. “Call me ommoni. You have a mother here.” Ha Ni hugged her back. “You don’t know how happy I am…I’ve been wishing to call someone my daughter for a long time.”

(end of flashback)

Ha Ni went out of her room and headed to a balcony near her room. She missed her parents already. They left after she was settled in her room. They decided to stay at a hotel as they had an early flight to catch back to Jeju the following morning. She called Min Ah briefly to ask her how she was in her relative’s house.

“Ok, Min Ah. See you soon.” Ha Ni ended the call.

She was still in the balcony, trying to think about her situation and get some fresh air when she heard slight sound of footsteps behind her. She immediately turned around and found Baek Seung Jo standing proudly a little farther behind her, with an earphone stuck on his left ear. He was looking at her tauntingly.

“What is it this time?!” Ha Ni blurted, irritation obvious in her face. She did not know why merely seeing Seung Jo easily made her mad. The bad jerk I met on the building lobby and now my future fiancé!!!

Seung Jo crossed his arms, not affected in the slightest by Ha Ni’s outburst. “Stop looking at me like you own the place, Miss.”

Ha Ni heaved a sigh and decided to be civil. “Okay. What do you want?” she asked patiently.

“Me? I just want to have some fresh air in OUR balcony, then I saw an intruder. How’s that?”

“YAH!!!” Ha Ni’s almost threw at him the mobile phone she was clutching. Rude person!

Seung Jo brought his index finger to his lips, signalling her to keep quiet. “You don’t want to wake my mother up, do you?”

Oh Ha Ni blinked and slowly shook her head. He doesn’t even seem to recognize me from their building’s lobby.

“Omma doesn’t know anything about your deal with my father. And honestly, I don’t want her to know. Not yet.”

“Your father told you everything?” Ha Ni felt self-conscious again, wondering what was running in his head, knowing why she made a deal with the chairman.

Seung Jo gave a nod. “Of course. It’s the least my father could.”

“And why shouldn’t your mother know about it?” Ha Ni asked curiously, her temper temporarily cooled down.

“Just because. Trust me, you wouldn’t want my mother to hear of this yet.” Because she’ll get overexcited about this engagement thing, and we before we know it, she’ll have us married in no time.

Ha Ni nodded, but not quite sure what Seung Jo was talking about.

“And by the way, I don’t want anything about this to get out to the public, too. Appa said you’ll be attending the same university as mine. I don’t want anyone to find out about our relationship.”

“What relationship? We don’t have a relationship whatsoever! And don’t worry, I wouldn’t want anyone to know that I will have to marry someone like you someday!” Ha Ni spat furiously.

“Someone like ME?" He stressed the word ME, to point out how greatly she seemed to be underestimating him. "Do you know how many girls throw themselves at me?” Seung Jo smiled at himself and looked back at Ha Ni. “You. Have. No. Idea.”

“I will not tell anyone!” Aish!!! Airhead! Airhead! Airhead! Why did it have to this guy?

“Good. I’ll be going, then…since the balcony is already occupied.” Seung Jo turned to leave.

“Wait!” Ha Ni shouted at his retreating back, then clasped stupidly for making a noise. She was actually itching to ask him something but she did not know how to ask him.

Seung Jo turned his head slightly and looked back at her. “Hmmm?”

“Don’t you remember me at all?”

“Have we met before? Let me think…” Seung Jo said and thought for a while, looking intently at her, as if trying to remember anything connected to her face. Black hair, droopy eye, pouty mouth.

Ha Ni bravely countered his stare.

“I don’t.”  He said and completely left her on the balcony.

GRRRRRR! I am going crazy if I will stay with him for a year! Ha Ni thought hotly, fumes coming out of her ears. If he doesn’t remember me, then I don’t need to thank him anymore. With that, she stomped back to her room, and tossed and turned herself to sleep.

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“Hyung!” Eun Jo called. Eun Jo had been reclining on his bed while reading a manga when his brother entered his room. “Why are you in my room? I thought you were asleep” Before I saw you talking with Ha Ni noona in the balcony.

Seung Jo ignored his question and grabbed a manga from Eun Jo’s stack: One Piece. “Why aren’t you sleeping yet? I thought omma said you had a headache earlier. You should be sleeping now.”

Eun Jo shook his head. “I’m okay. I can’t sleep yet because I slept the whole afternoon til dinner.” He looked at Seung Jo and asked again, “I thought you were already sleeping, hyung.”

Seung Jo placed back the manga into its place and stood up. “Okay, it looks like you don’t want me here.”

Eun Jo eyed him suspiciously.

Seung Jo was already at the door when his younger brother called him back. “Hyung, what can you say about Oh Ha Ni noona? I like her. She’s really pretty, isn’t she?”

Seung Jo answered, the same answer he murmured at dinner. “Not really.” He then walked out of his younger brother’s room.

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OH HA NI. So she is really the girl I helped back there near the elevator. I thought I was mistaken when I saw her in the house with her parents.

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A/N: Another chapter! I hope I didnt disappoint. Enjoy!

Please take note that words in italics are thoughts.