I remember my father telling me once, that we fall in so easily and we fall out so easily at the age of twenty one. My parents must have gone through the same scenario back when they were young, and he had so much of experience in this department that once I approached this age, he would always advice to me about these diverse aspects of life. He’s bright, really, because he knew just what he need to say. My mother was bright too, I remember, she used to teach me the lessons I missed at school. Regarding all this I have constantly wondered why I didn’t inherit the knowledge that they had. Maybe this was what which we call rotten luck. Maybe this was why I never had luck in the love department, because I didn’t have the necessary knowledge to be someone who could catch someone’s heart.

However I never knew that falling out was that so easy. Maybe I was too dumb to understand, or maybe I was misinterpreting things, but after what happened, I didn’t want to see him anymore, and wanted to avoid having to come across him at all costs.

The very next day after the whole ordeal I woke up extremely late in the morning to a horrible hangover; my father had stayed back that day, and was sitting on my bed with a strange smile and a bowl of soup on a tray placed on the stool by my bed. I felt as though thousand men had beaten me up the previous night, I had no desire to leave the comfort of my bed.

My father placed the back of his palm on my forehead to check my temperature, and sat back with a sigh.

“Were you drinking last night?”

I glanced at the bowl of soup on my stool and shrugged. “I was seriously depressed, appa”

“Drinking doesn’t solve any problems, Ji-ah…”

I stayed silent, fidgeting with my fingers.

“A young man dropped you off last night” He said, after a while, looking gravely at me, and my cheeks started to burn in embarrassment, a blurry memory of last night’s happenings flowed into my mind. I didn’t remember much though, the drunkenness must have erased my memory, and I was forgetful anyway. However I remembered it, he and I, us, dancing in the middle of the street,

Somebody called me a runaway bride.

And I-

Feeling sick all of a sudden, I hopped off the bed and ran into the bathroom only to crouch down before the bowl. Nothing came out though, but I felt like killing myself. Was I really that bold?

Or was it just a schizophrenic vision in my mind?

Or was it just a dream?

But the feel of it, I remember…it was so soft, and butterflies were fluttering in the pit of my stomach…strange…

I didn’t even feel anything towards him.

Yet this time, feeling it coming up my throat, I crouched into the bowl again and threw up all I had.

“Flush before you come!” My day called from my bedroom, and I sickened even more.

Once I was done and all cleaned up, I washed my face, stared at the reflection of myself on the mirror which seemed so disappointingly disoriented, and returned to my father who was waiting with the bowl of soup in his hand. Feeling as though I was all about to collapse, I climbed up into the bed and leaned against the headboard, closing my eyes.

My father took a spoonful of soup and held it by my lips. “Ji-ah…drink this, you would feel better”

My poor father; I truly felt sorry for him for having such a useless daughter as I was. I opened my mouth and gulped down the liquid with much difficulty and cleared my throat. My father was blatantly watching me though, as though he was contemplating on what to say.

In the end, he spoke anyway. “Last night…”

I looked up, widening my eyes. Honestly, I could hardly remember what happened the night before after all the drinking. What could possibly have happened? The grave façade that my father had put up was definitely worrying me.

“Oh? Appa?”

He cleared his throat. “The young man…who carried you-,”

I almost collapsed in my bed. “Ca-carried…me?”

The nod my father gave was slower and more serious than his usual was. “Apparently, you had passed out in his car”

I couldn’t utter a word then, because I couldn’t recall a single thing.

“Ji-ah…this young man…is he someone I should know of?”

Reacting almost immediately, I held up my palms and shook my head in denial. “A-appa! There’s nothing of the sort, I swear! He-,”

My father laughed. “Well, that is how young girls are like these days, always denying! Tell me…” he moved closer, while twirling the spoon in the bowl. “Do you think he’s the right one?”

I was certain that my cheeks were on fire. “No! Not at all! He’s just…Myung Soo’s…older brother…”

My father sat back, looking surprised. “Older brother? He has one?”

I nodded guiltily, the happenings from the previous day flowed into my mind. “Yeah, apparently he does”

“This older brother of his…looks quite reliable…” He said, looking at me straight in the eye, as though he was waiting for me to give away unnecessary details. “But the only problem is, he almost dropped you when puppy came barking at him”

I almost broke out laughing. “He did? Omo! He’s so pathetic! Appa, you know, he’s scared of dogs!”

He laughed awkwardly. “Yeah yeah…” and held the bowl of soup towards me, which was a strange act of him to put up all of a sudden. “Ji-ah…finish this up”

I made a face. “Aigoo, appa! Aren’t you supposed to be supporting me? Isn’t being scared of dogs so pathetic!” I laughed even harder. “You should have heard him scream like a woman who got snatched of her handbag!” and I mimicked his scream. “That’s just hell pathetic!”

My father showed no reaction though but stared at me looking a little uncomfortable. I put down the spoon and drank directly from the bowl before wiping my lips with the back of my hand. “Appa, what’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “Nothing just…eat quickly”

I shrugged. “Okay…” and tipped the bowl to my lips, closed my eyes and gulped down the content in one go. When I was done and when I had lowered the bowl, I realized, something was extremely wrong from before. Something was not right, something was completely amiss.

There was the strong scent of spring apples in my room. And I realized what exactly had gone wrong inside.

I wanted to melt into a puddle and get soaked into the sheets. What the hell!

Since when did Sung Gyu learn to appear simply out of the blue?

And there he was, casually leaning against the door frame of my bedroom, arms crossed on his chest, face completely blank. He wore a dark blue blazer with its sleeves rolled up which looked really nice on him, however, this wasn’t what which apparently hit me bad.

He was fuming.

For I had actually insulted him, right in front of my father.

I pulled the quilt up to my neck and buried myself inside. Honestly, what was I thinking?

He, however, despite being angry after my poor conduct, approached me in slow steps and stood by my bed. “Aren’t you waking up any sooner?”

I went on hiding my face under my quilt, which Sung Gyu reached out and gently pulled down. “I’ve been waiting here for hours, you see…we’re going to pay Woohyun a visit, since he’s getting discharged today”

“Today?” I asked, my voice muffled by the thick cloth. “So he hadn’t broken any limbs or ribs?”

He hit me on my head. “Yah! You actually thought he broke his limbs? Get dressed now, hurry up, before he leaves”

I shrugged and put away the quilt. “Alright, alright….”

“I’ll be waiting downstairs”

“Sure, I’ll be quick”

To be frank, my father had always kept his eyes out on the guys I was usually hanging around with, and would always end up making assumptions which had absolutely no possibility to be the truth. He must be anxious, probably, because I was his only daughter and he was would never hesitate to give me the best of everything; this was probably the reason why his face lit up when I mentioned to him that Sung Gyu was actually the new CEO of SK C and C yesterday onwards; sadly enough though, he had already come to making the unnecessary assumptions. I didn’t say anything still, because I had already talked too much, ending up insulting the great Kim Sung Gyu who was thorough in keeping his dignity stark and clean in front of my father, moreover, my father was still living in his old days, where all the guys that girls get involved with would end up either becoming her boyfriend or breaking her heart. Their time must have been sad, I tell you, for never had neutrals existed at that time.

After we had wished my father good bye, we hit the road, basking in utter silence. None of us spoke a word, as though yesterday’s happening was taking its toll again in our minds, it really was, frankly that I could barely steal a glance of him.

Every time I would catch a glimpse of the cherry-petal softness of his lips, I would grow flustered, get a little dizzy and would eventually want to throw up.

I remembered what I did, clearly enough, but why? The reason had totally slipped my mind. Yet wasn’t I in the position to ask, unless I wished to make the situation any worse, I mean, I did that without even harboring any feelings for him, except for mere physical attraction of his, which would make me dizzy then and there, and the sweetness of the scent he always wore, and the soothing effect of the warmth he emitted, and that voice of his which would eventually run me insane…and how he would set my heart run in horse-power….

I cleared my throat and fixed my eyes on the road. Truly, it’s irrational while I really, really didn’t feel anything strange towards him.

The atmosphere in the car was cold and nice, as always. The seats smelled of him, so did the air conditioner which made me wonder why he was obsessed with this particular scent; the face of his watch was turned to the underside of his wrist unlike how men usually wore their watches and just as usual he was singing along the music he was playing inside. This time it was an English group; muse.

It confused me why he seemed so nonchalant after all that happened the day before and the morning today though. Was he really used to taking such happenings as granted?

Regarding what happened yesterday, was I to feel relieved? Or upset that it meant nothing to him?

But of course, it couldn’t possibly mean anything to him. If it did, thus would it make me feel even worse.

Therefore I decided to not to feel burdened by it, just as he was and take it all as granted, for sometimes, some things better go unexplained, so should the feelings which would bloom once in a while, and disappear the next.

It took us almost twenty minutes to reach the hospital due to the slippery road after the heavy downpour last night, and once we did, Sung Gyu spoke to the lady at the reception and finally led me to a spacious room which, as far as I remembered, belonged to the same floor as the room where Sung Gyu was the last time; the VIP section.

When we entered the room however, Woohyun was nowhere in the sight. Sung Gyu gestured at the sofa which was kept in a corner of the room and asked me to wait.

“I’ll go check and come”

While he was out of sight, I sat back and observed the splendid interior of the room. The walls, unlike the standard single rooms which had bland white ones, had quality wallpaper with an elegant print. The bed had more comfortable sheets, there was a bedside table where a tray of untouched food and an empty vase remained; the curtains which also had the same material as the quilt of the bed were closed, evading the balmy sunrays from entering inside. The space was larger, and the ambiance was cold but just fine; it smelled of plastic and lemons, but was definitely nice.

I felt a little strange, all of a sudden; maybe they were the after effects of the hangover, but I felt dizzy, a strange churning was tolling in my stomach, suddenly I felt uncomfortable to be sitting among two multimillionaire chaebol sons. I felt so sick, as though I shouldn’t be around them for their own good, and I felt so small, as though I didn’t deserve all the wonderful treatment they were giving me.

Sung Gyu appeared from the corner after a while, Woohyun followed suite in a clean white bathrobe and a smile. The moment he saw me though, his face lightened up as would a child after meeting his parents after years. The strange feeling in the pit of my stomach dissolved the instant he called my name.

“Eunji-ah!”

I smiled. “Hello, Woohyun-Ssi….I heard from Sung Gyu-Ssi what happened to you…I’m sorry I couldn’t visit any sooner”

He laughed it off. “That’s not even the matter! I’m sorry I couldn’t make it tomorrow…”

“Sung Gyu-Ssi…told me last night, that you were looking forward to see me….”

He shyly looked down at his feet and back at me. “Well…yeah…I must have been too excited that I drove into a tree yesterday”

He didn’t seem like he had broken anything anywhere though. There were several little cuts and bruises on his face and his hands; other than that, he seemed perfectly well, which was truly a relief.

“But Woohyun-Ssi” I asked, just to make sure of it. “Are you alright?”

He nodded. “Never been better…I had a mild concussion that they asked me to stay the night…I’m better now…much, much better after seeing you”

My cheeks burned in embarrassment. To be honest, it was strange, hoe Woohyun’s words could make my heart flutter as much as Sung Gyu just being there could. He really had his own ways to make a girl fall; not just his smile, nor his exquisite looks but his actions and words put together makes him so lovable. I couldn’t help it but allow my heart cringe in return; however this said effect, still was nothing compared to what I harbored for Myung Soo for all these years.

This guilty feeling was farfetched, truly, yet I was certain that my heart was slowly changing its path to elsewhere. To where, to nest in which heart, I still wasn’t sure myself.

After the moment of definite silence, Sung Gyu, who remained silent all this while, cleared his throat. “Woohyun-ah…when are you leaving?”

“I’m already discharged, hyung. I’m taking my leave when the driver comes”

My heart fell a little, momentarily. It might be that I liked him quite, already. He didn’t have the same effect as Myung Soo though, not even as the effect Sung Gyu had on me.

Which was very, very strange.

Sung Gyu pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned to me. “Eunji-Ssi…I’m truly sorry, but I have a meeting with one of my investors in a few minutes. Would you mind if I leave first?”

I nodded, strangely being unable to utter a word. It was eccentric really. Sung Gyu could make me feel thousand feelings all at once without even trying. Maybe because I was still attached to that gorgeous face with the eyeliner on, or maybe because I was aware of the fact that he was Myung Soo’s brother. Whatever the case was, it was really really strange to live by. And when he said he was leaving first, I couldn’t help but feel down, and it was completely different from how I felt about Woohyun.

“Will you be fine?”

I forced out a nod.

“I’ll take care of her, Hyung!” Woohyun said all of a sudden. “Since I’m going home in a while, I can give her a ride”

“Oh no….” I muttered, shaking my head. Really, since I was feeling strange to be involved with two chaebols, I didn’t at all feel comfortable to be travelling in a car with his driver. “Woohyun-Ssi…I’ll be fine, I can take the bus…”

He laughed. “Aigoo! Why? You don’t have to feel uncomfortable!”

I didn’t speak a word then, embarrassed that he saw me right through.

“I guess it’s settled then” Sung Gyu said in the end. “I’ll be going then. Woohyun, call me once you get home” then he turned to me. “Take care, Eunji-Ssi”

He said that almost nonchalantly, as though he would to a random colleague of some sort which made me quite upset. Honestly, I knew I had no reason to feel upset about it, there could not be anything between us; besides as how Myung Soo acted the previous night, he’d be furious than he already was if I felt anything towards Sung Gyu by any chance, and I certainly didn’t want to make anything even worse between us.

After Sung Gyu had gone on his way, Woohyun took me by my hand and made me sit in the sofa. “Eunji-ah…would you like anything to drink?”

I shook my head, forcing out a smile. “No, it’s okay, Woohyun-Ssi, I’m fine”

He made a face. “Come on…anything? Let me fetch you something, hmm?”

Woohyun was trying, really, and every attempt was just a sweet, sweet notion. He was truly someone whom you could love without fearing to get heart, I figured, for he was so dedicated to it when it came to treating someone with genuine care.

I nodded with a smile in the end, and few minutes later, he came around with a can of iced lemon tea. He popped it open, poured it into a glass from the bed-side table and handed it to me with a smile.

“Give me a minute, I’ll put on something and come” He said, gesturing at the rob he wore. It was tightened securely around his waist, but when he bent down to talk to me, I could catch a glimpse of his chest; I felt my heart beat rise in horse power; he was beautiful, he was really, really beautiful indeed.

Thus at some points, I would feel, why not?

But then again, I couldn’t. Not yet, for I had a series of puzzles to solve.

I had halfway finished the drink when Woohyun returned in a pair of white pants and a simple blue shirt which fit him perfectly well. He too had a can of iced tea, which he popped open and he sat beside me. He was warm, he smelled breezy and of lemons. He was warm, and it was really nice.

He took a gulp of his drink while staring ahead; the curtain swayed gently in front of us. He spoke a few minutes later.

“I’m really sorry about yesterday, I would make it up to you, somehow…”

I looked at the golden liquid in the glass and smiled. “You don’t have to, it’s just fine…although I was looking forward to see you too…”

He turned to me, his eyes lightened in pleasure. “Really? Eunji-ah, I bought myself a tie which matched the color of your dress…I’m really upset I couldn’t wear it…”

I felt my cheeks burn. He had? He was really sweet indeed. He was trying so hard. Will he really be able to change my heart? I was swaying a little, nevertheless.

But honestly I wasn’t really sure which heart was swaying mine the worse.

“Ah! We would have looked like a couple…” He hit his forehead and sighed. “Fate is so cruel…it stopped me from dressing alike with you”

I laughed at his remark. “Really now, Woohyun-Ssi? Hey, I’m still here…we can dress alike anytime you want”

“Really?” I figured, he was shining again. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course I wouldn’t!”

He smiled. “Great….because my parents were actually thinking of a new line of couple clothing for the summer”

“Eh?”

He laughed. “Never mind”

For the next few hours, he and I talked of this and that just like we always would when we happened to meet up. Unlike Myung Soo or Sung Gyu, Woohyun could keep the conversation going for hours without once making me feel bored, his way of speaking was what which made him even more attractive; at one point I laughed and pointed out that he should actually take up politics. He told me about college days and then about the girls he had dated before. It made me quite uncomfortable, to hear about them, but I realized, half of the time, it had been the girl who had left him, or it had been the girl who hurt him.

“Hyung always asked me to not to date materialistic girls” He said, in the end. “When my last girlfriend left me for a really, really trivial matter, he asked me to stop dating at all”

I widened my eyes. “And why is that?”

He looked at me with a sad smile. “Because I’m a little too sensitive”

It took me a moment to recall back to that time when they were talking about getting laid, I recalled what he said, that it was hard to forget. My heart cringed at this thought then, him being a man so sensitive; how could he live through farewells then?

But it was heartening, really, when he talked to me of what he had buried in his heart, if it made him feel any better. I thought of Myung Soo and how he used to do it too. I felt really bad then. I had told him something that I really shouldn’t have.

A few hours later, Woohyun announced that the car had arrived and that we could leave. I began to feel strange again, a weird feeling in the hollow of my stomach, but when Woohyun reached out and squeezed my hand, as though he could understand how I felt, and I began to feel truly relieved.

Woohyun was definitely…something.

Failing to my expectations, a limo hadn’t come to pick him up, but an ordinary car with a pleasant old driver who welcomed us with a smile. I was relieved really, that it wasn’t something big and strange which would make me feel really small; and I also realized that what they show in dramas weren’t always the truth.

While inside the car, Woohyun talked about his family. He had an older brother who was currently in Japan living with his family, while Woohyun lived with both his parents which made him the sole bread winner. He admitted that he was really pampered in his household, just like Sung Gyu did, and said that he didn’t actually enjoy it being looked at like he was someone so special.

“To be honest, I was a big air head back then” He said, staring ahead as the car whizzed through the streets of Seoul. “But after I met Sung Gyu hyung at the chicken place he worked at one time, everything changed” He turned to me and smiled. “He must have told you the story I suppose”

I nodded.

“Yeah…you see, at that time I treated others really badly. I was around thirteen at that time, and I did nasty things to him. But one time, I was really upset after something which happened at school…I went to the chicken place then, because it was situated few feet away from our school, only Sung Gyu hyung was there…and he was crying. It was then that he told who he really was. And that changed me entirely…”

He sighed and looked ahead. “So yes…I think what’s more important is not being what we were born as, but changing it to become a better person…”

I was impressed, really. The three chaebols I knew (Now that I know that Myung Soo came from such a family and belonged to another too) were humble and kind, they were simply not the people whom I expected them to be.

In a way, I was quite proud, because they were all people whom I really cared for.

Halfway through the ride, Woohyun’s driver announced that his mother asked him to drop him off at her boutique.

“Really? She must be freaking out then” He laughed. “My Omma almost got a heart attack when she heard I met with an accident…I’m grounded now, you see”

And he was really, really witty. I liked that too.

Woohyun’s mother’s boutique was beautiful, elegant, just as I expected for a rich clothing boutique to be. Since I hadn’t come around to this area much, I hadn’t come across this before, however, I was truly happy when the ladies from the boutique welcomed us both very warmly. Woohyun took my hand then, which made my heart skip a beat, and he led me inside.

Inside was truly a wonderland. There were clothing of all sorts, jewelries and expensive dresses everywhere; sales ladies bowed us warmly when we passed by them; Woohyun was smiling all the way, looking quite pleased of himself. He finally lead me up the stairs where the elegant dresses and dressing rooms were, there was a lady who was trying on different dresses, an older lady was standing before the little platform, hands clasped together, smiling. By the very smile of her, I realized, it was his mother.

“Omma!” He called out, and she immediately responded by turning to him. “Omo! You’re here?” She came running towards him, reminding me of a little penguin and hugged him tight.

“You little devil! How many times have I told you to not to ride that thing!”

I laughed. His mother was no different from him.

“Omma! You’re embarrassing me!”

She let go of him, smiling, and turned to me. “Oh! Whom do we have here?”

Woohyun drag me gently to the front and dropped his hand to my waist. I held my breath. “This is Jung Eunji, Omma. Sung Gyu Hyung’s brother’s friend….” He smiled and pulled me closer. “And probably the girl I want to marry one day”

“Woohyun-Ssi…” I muttered, feeling uncomfortable, my years were burning in embarrassment. Woohyun’s mother looked at me then, and smiled warmly. “Hyunnie, you’re making her uncomfortable”

He laughed. “She’s very shy….but Omma”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you ask me to come? I want to go home…”

His mother reached out and touched his cheek. “Are you tired? The doctor said you were not badly injured”

He shook his head. “Not really…but Eunji here seems quite tired, and I should buy her lunch”

It was making uncomfortable, really, and I kept my face down, unable to face either of them.

“oh…then I shouldn’t keep you two waiting…Woohyun-ah…we are launching the couple clothes line”

That what he mentioned before.

He looked really excited. “Really? Ah, finally Omma taking my ideas into account”

She made a face. “Hey, I’ve never said no to any of them!”

He laughed. “So, what’s going to happen now?”

“We need models for it”

“Models?”

“Hmm” She nodded, and eyed the two of us observantly. “And I guess we’ve got the perfect models already…”

“Omma?” Woohyun asked, confused. His mother cupped his face in his hands. “You see, I was going to ask you to find a perfect girl to model with you” And she eyed me. “I think you have found the perfect one”

It took me quite a while to absorb everything to my mind, and when I did;

I really wanted to cower in a corner and never come back.

However, in the end, with much coaxing of both Woohyun and his mother, I finally agreed. I wasn’t used to those, really. I wasn’t used to wearing designer cloths either, but Woohyun was being really nice to me, he presented to me a few pretty nice dresses for co-operating and asked his mother to cut it off from his allowance; I couldn’t make myself to say no. I simply agreed.

On the way back, he explained to me what we should do and all, since it had been his idea to come up with something of the sort for the coming summer. In the end, he invited me to join him for lunch at his place, but I couldn’t, because Sung Yeol called me all before I could reply, and started scolding me, telling me that we were actually going to see the new place for the cafeteria at SK C and C.

At hearing the very name, my blood ran cold.

I apologized Woohyun for ditching his invitation for lunch and promised to make it up to him the next time. He laughed it off.

“Oh, don’t worry! You can buy me a nice glass of my favorite when I visit you next time” He said, as we took a turn to arrive at the place; Woohyun asked the driver to drop me off at SK C and C itself without letting me take the bus. “Sung Gyu told me the good news, that you guys agreed and that you are moving”

I nodded. “Yeah…you can come around anytime you want”

They dropped me off right at the foot of the new building. Woohyun, just as expected, was reluctant to let me go. When I was all about to climb down from the car, he reached out and hugged me close. “I’m going to miss you, Eunji-ah…”

I was feeling a little off, really. All I could do was patting gently on his back. “Uh…me too…Woohyun-Ssi…”

It took hours for me to finally escape his grasp and send him off with a quick good bye.

The building of SK C and C, I tell you, was massive, simply, and it scared me to the core, to think that Sung Gyu, in fact ran this entire place on his own. It possessed a broad land area although the building itself was a high, narrow sky scraper. The entire place was bustling with crowd, vehicles moved my then and there; although Sung Gyu said they were on recess, the place seemed quite lively. I could hardly imagine how busy it would be when they actually start working soon.

I called up Sung Yeol and asked for directions to come to the cafeteria. It was quite a maze, the place since it was big and had many different routes and corridors to follow. I passed by a few security guards and coworkers who helped me with the directions. Finally I came down to the right place.

And I was mesmerized. When he said that we would be handling the cafeteria, I never expected it to be this.

The cafeteria of SK C and C was simply a high class café itself. After working in Sung Yeol’s small place which we loved always to sit and kill time, this place was like a dream.

“You came?” Sung Yeol’s voice sounded from behind, and I turned around to see him standing behind the massive counter, smiling. He must be in a good mood, after seeing the place, he didn’t scold me for being late, and instead he hopped over the counter bench and approached me.

“Its heaven isn’t it?”

I couldn’t help but agree. “Heaven…indeed…”

“But certainly” He added, burying his hands in his pockets. “The four of us can’t handle this by ourselves. Howon isn’t even an employee, that leaves the three of us…we need more”

I turned to him. “You said that you are hiring more people”

He nodded. “I did, but this manager person said that the previous employees of the café are willing to join us. If it happens, we won’t be short of numbers…we are waiting for these guys to arrive”

“Hmm” I nodded, taking in the beauty of the interior. “When are we moving in?”

“Starting from tomorrow” Sung Yeol replied. “Sung Gyu hyung said that he will financially support us to refurnish the whole place to our liking.”

“He said that?” I asked, feeling my heart beat faster at the thought of his name.

“Yeah…he did, He’s such a nice guy, that Sung Gyu hyung…”

I nodded in wordless agreement.

“You know, since he asked us to take this up, he’s willing to help us with the refurnishing”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Hmm. He said he’d come around when he’s done with work at his office. Since the company is on recess until Monday, he said he had time”

And I, without trying to show any sign of excitement, replied with a simple ‘Good’.

For the next few minutes, Sungyeol, Chorong unnie and I walked around the place to see what needed to be done. It seemed like the place had been closed down for quite a while. Sung yeol said that the previous cafeteria owner hadn’t been very competent that they had to close down. The entire place was made of dark brown wood, with cream colored marble tiles and plain white walls. The espresso machines needed to be reinstalled, so did the furniture inside. There was an upper platform which was revealed to the windy outside just below the first floor of the building, the platform was made of wood which needed to be replaced since they creaked under our feet; the staircase, though seemed perfectly fine. The glass panels and doors needed thorough cleaning, except for that they seemed perfectly fine; and the name panel needed to be replaced. After having them all noted down, we sat and waited, allowing the time pass by. A few minutes later, the front door opened, and a few girls and guys entered, filling the entire place with chattering. The previous employees of the café.

Sung Yeol greeted them with a smile, introducing himself as the new owner of the place, and promised to take care of them and work hard. It was when they approached Chorong unnie and I, that I got the biggest surprise of my life.

“Sung Jong, you?” I bellowed, eyeing head to toe the man who stood before me. It had been ages since we last so one another, and seeing him here, as one of our new coworkers, I was truly surprised.

“Jiji-ah, you?”

I laughed happily and threw my hands around his petit built. “Sung Jong-ah, Jongie!”

“Jiji-Ah! I missed you!” He mused, holding me close. Sung Jong had changed so much from how he was several years back, the only thing that hadn’t changed was the beauty of those massive eyes which made him look beautiful than I did. His skin was flawless, as always, and his hair which he used to grow long was cut short and styled in a boyish manner, he had grown a lot taller than I was, I could only reach his chest when he hugged me close. He was really skinny though, which worried me quite. But his facial featured had changed drastically. So had his voice. He had finally become a man.

“What are you doing here in Seoul?” I asked, speaking in busan dialect. Although it had been years since I moved into Seoul, I didn’t dare to move the dialect which I possessed from birth. I did grow familiar with the Seoul dialect and came to use it with the general Seoul crowd, even with Howon, since he was using it too, but seeing Sung Jong, I couldn’t help it but banter in my usual way of speech.

He laughed. “Ah, well, I moved into Seoul for college: He said, and I noticed, his Seoul dialect was still fresh and strange. “It hadn’t been long”

“You made it to SNU?” I asked. He shook his head. “Not quite…I’m attending Dae-kyun”

“Ah,” I nodded and dropped the subject. Neither Sung Jong nor I was bright back when we were in secondary school, but Sung Jong was trying very hard. He had quite the brain though, but that was to make evil plans with me. I actually thought he would end up being a terrorist.

The new employers introduced themselves to us and I realized we would be quite competent since we were all around the same age. There were seven of them on the whole; most of them were girls, which was good for Chorong unnie and I. we spent the next few minutes making plans for the new placement until the door opened again, and this time entered Sung Gyu, shining as he always would, two other men and a lady who held a file. The moment he entered he caught my eyes and smiled, making my heart skip a beat.

“Oh, Eunji-Ssi…you have arrived safely then”

I nodded, feeling shy. All the eyes were on me, I could practically feel them, but then again, I would have been even more upset if he went as though he didn’t see me. Sung Gyu was humble indeed, which simply drew my heart to him.

He presented himself to the others as the new CEO of SK C and C and promised to look after us and work hard. He wanted to know whether we were getting along well, and the next two hours we spent into discuss the refurnishing of the cafeteria and he finalized on the budget he require to offer.

He presented to us one of the men as the manager and said he would be supporting us throughout, and also said that he’d personally attend the refurnishing. “I’m sorry, if it’s too much to ask for our dear employees to engage in refurnishing, I would have taken in an agency to do that, but I’m afraid, since we haven’t kicked off yet, we couldn’t have that…but I promise to personally come and support you all with the refurnishing work” He said, with a smile.

Afterwards, however, Sung Yeol and Chorong had to leave to deal with some legal work, which left me and the new ones to deal with what’s left here. The new girls were quite reluctant to approach me, especially after seeing my interactions with Sung Gyu, however, Sung Jong stayed to keep me in company.

“Do you know the CEO personally?” Sung Jong asked, ripping the plastic wrapper of the packet of crackers he got from the wending machine. “He talked pretty friendlily with you”

“Why?” I asked, munching from my own packet of crackers. “Is that why the other girls are cold towards me?”

Sung Jong glanced at the clam of girls who sat huddled in a corner, engaged in their own conversations, and turned back to me. “Probably, but most probably because he’s handsome”

My cheeks burned when he said that but I decided to let it slide.

“Well, he’s the brother of my batch mate from college…” I answered to his question in the end. “He was a frequent customer at Sung Yeol’s too…that’s all”

Sung Jong dipped his hand into his packet and stared at me. There was a strange judging look in his eyes, his lips were pursed, and when I tilted my head and gave him a questioning look; he asked. “Are you sure that that’s all?”

I widened my eyes, taken aback. “Wh-what…do you mean?”

He stared at me even longer, and shrugged. “You know, although we knew each other until we were fifteen, I know you head to toe”

I shook my head. “I really don’t understand what you are getting at…”

He smiled, reached out and patted my head. “It’s okay….you don’t need to understand it any sooner…”

“Eh?”

“You would know…soon, I hope”

He dropped the conversation thus, and we talked about school and college. The conversation went for quite a while that none of us really felt the time running, and when it started to drizzle the slightest, the sky gradually nearing dusk, Sung Jong glanced at his watch and turned to me. “Jiji-ah…it’s almost seven…I must go”

“This early?”

He nodded. “I live in the college dormitory, and apparently they close the gates by seven thirty?”

“really?” I asked, disappointed that my best friend from school days was leaving me. “That’s just cruel”

He sighed. “Hmm…but what to do…”

I climbed up on my feet then to see him out. I didn’t go all the way out of the cafeteria though, since I was afraid to get lost and I was supposed to wait in the place for Sung Yeol had already brought in the espresso machines from our previous place; after a brief good bye and holding him in a long hug, I watched him retreat up the wooden staircase out of the cafeteria. Once he was gone though, I felt extremely lonely.

The new girls were still looking down on me, they were probably making tales after what happened with Sung gyu and I, which I really didn’t care; however it was really lonely though, to sit alone doing nothing, waiting for Sung Yeol to come by. Nobody even called me, as though I had ceased from existence. And when it started to rain really hard, I climbed up the wooden staircase to the platform above. It was already really dark; there were a few lamp posts standing outside the platform which emitted a flickering light. Since there was a terrible downpour; the entire place reeked of wood and damp earth. It was cold, that I pulled the lapels of my coat a little and raised my hand into the falling rain. I tried to gather the droplets in my hand. It was futile though, for they gradually slipped through the cracks between my fingers. I continued to do this nonetheless, and let my mind wander off.

After a while though, a familiar scent seeped slowly through my nostrils, gradually running into my brain, through my nerves and throughout my entire self. I felt warmer all of a sudden, and my heart started to beat a little faster. It was strange, really, I never expected my entire body to react that way when my mind had no reaction at all. Maybe the hormones reacted too fast, maybe they knew it too that Sung Gyu was drop dead gorgeous, but what worried me was the beating of my heart.

It made the exact same rhythm that it used to make when I was with Myung Soo, and that, apparently had been love.

I pretended to not to see him and continued to hold my hand out into the cloudburst, the other gripped tightly onto the wooden railing, and I breathed hard.

“You’re here” He spoke, finally, and I felt his presence beside me. He was warm as always, which was wonderful in the cold ambiance, and I had this strange urge to curl into his warmth just like I did numerous times the night before.

The memories from the previous night made me smile, made my heart cringe, and heat raised to me cheeks. Maybe I was really, really attracted to this specimen of pure virile perfection, period.

I kept my eyes closed tight, because I knew that my heart wouldn’t stop coaxing me if I was to see him now. What it was, exactly? I wasn’t sure myself. All I knew was that this was anything but ordinary.

“Eunji-Ssi….” He called out, and I felt his arm rest against my shoulder. He stood so close to me, and I realized, it felt so nice, and I was craving for more.

“Yeah?”

“Did Woohyun treat you well?”

I pondered upon the question a little and it slowly broke my heart. “Y-yeah….he treated me good”

“He said you visited his mother’s boutique” Sung Gyu said after a while. “And you’re their new model, eh?”

I pursed my lips and forced out a nod; I still had my eyes closed tight, since I still couldn’t dare to catch a glimpse of him. He laughed, and I realized, that simple laughter of his had a drastic effect on my heart.

“That’s great news…our advertising department is looking for new models too, I guess” I felt his eyes turn to me. “You might find a position too…”

“Hmm” I ventured, wanting to disappear.

“But Eunji…Are you alright?”

“Yeah” I said, with a quick nod. “I’m perfectly fine”

“Then why are you keeping your eyes closed?”

Because looking at you might stop my heart.

“Nothing…just…” I hesitated, thinking of a good excuse. “Something got into my eyes”

“Into both of them?”

“Hmm”

“Let me see then…”

And all before I could run away, or hide or scream or do possibly anything to stop him from doing anything out of the world, Sung Gyu’s both hands landed on my shoulders and he forcefully turned me, probably facing him. I didn’t even have a moment to regret, since my heart was beating really, really hard, almost to the point of stopping and I wished I could melt and disappear into oblivion.

“Eunji-Ssi, let me see your eyes”

Panicking momentarily, and trying to escape, I shook my head violently. “I can’t, it-it’s okay…”

“Wait”

“What-?”

I couldn’t even utter a coherent word then, nor could I move away let alone move a single limb out of pure befuddlement. I couldn’t understand what was wrong, truly, I couldn’t understand what was going on with me, but when he reached out, cupped my face with his hand while the other forced my eye open, slowly things began to make sense.

He had his eyes closed that moment, and mine opened wide. My vision was blurry though, after all the time I had them squeezed close, but I could see him utterly well, I could feel his presence more than anything else around me, all that my nostrils could breathe in was the breezy scent of his which I really loved, and I knew, just when my heart stopped beating;

It could be reacting otherwise, otherwise than mere physical attraction. And it was definitely wrong.

He blew gentle wind into my eye then, and his breath was scented of strawberries; although there was nothing wrong with my eyes, the mere affection of him felt so soothing and nice, I saw soon craving for more. He pulled back, looked down at me with concerned eyes, and although they weren’t outlined like they were the day before, his eyes were utterly beautiful; I could see an entire world through them, and for a moment, I was lost, I was lost in a world where everything was perfect, everything was brilliant, shining at their own perpetuity, a world which was calling me to enter and never return, a world which strangely, I felt belonged to me. And I wanted to cry.

Because something was stopping me, a great obstacle, holding me back, stopping me from entering that perfect world of his. I truly wished I could cry.

He reached over and blew into my other eyes, the very same feeling hit me hard, on and on, cringing my heart, until everything went hollow inside.

When he moved back, allowing his hands to fall on his sides, I realized, I didn’t want it to stop, I didn’t want him to stop being affectionate towards me; instead I wanted him to show all the affection he possibly could.

“Are you okay now?” He asked me then, in almost a whisper and all I could venture was a quiet not before I moved away almost immediately. I couldn’t keep on staying too close to him, I couldn’t feel his warmth, that sweet scent and hear the sound of his even breathing anymore, for it was making everything even worse than they had possibly become.

I thought of my father, I thought of what he said about young people falling in so easily, falling out so easily.

I couldn’t believe just easy it was to fall in, how easy it was to fall out; but it never easy, never at all to live through it as long as it remained the same, unknown and unreciprocated. I was afraid, all of a sudden, and I wanted to disappear into the thin air.

Sung Gyu seemed to oblivious to the heavy beating of my heart that he simply, wordlessly, moved towards me and stood beside me as though it was the most natural thing on earth.

The rain had ceased by now, yet the sky was darker and droplets were still sliding down the roof, soundlessly landing on the tarmac ground below. One of the lamp posts had died, apparently, yet the other three were doing no good to the darkness which had approached. Basking in the shallow golden light, allowing the slow wind to kiss our exposed skin, we stood still, without a word, listening to the sound of our breath. His hands were holding tightly onto the railing, his knuckles had turned white. I stared down at my feet, my shoes had dampened by the cloudburst before.

After the long moment of silence, Sung Gyu finally awakened his voice.

“Myung Soo and I had a long talk last night…” He said, his voice was as low as a whisper.

“Wha-what….was it about?” I asked, in the end, noticing the convulsion in my voice.

“This and that….”

I nodded and held out my hand back into the falling water drops. “What did he say?”

“So many things?”

I sighed, “Things…like what?”

He took a moment before replying. “I didn’t tell him things you’re not…ready to admit yet”

“Hmm” I replied.

He looked down at his feet then, and back into the sky. “Aren’t you ever going to tell him?”

I stared out at the sky which was possessed by the grim dark clouds and closed my eyes before shaking my head. “No”

“Why?”

I sighed then, gripped my hands tightly onto the railing and tried my best not to cry once more, the reality finally and slowly dawned upon me.

“I….might be moving on….I might…like someone else”

“Hmm…he said after a while. It began to rain softly all of a sudden, dampening our feet and hitting the exposed skin, but none of us didn’t really mind. We couldn’t, we didn’t have to.

“I don’t know…Eunji…whether it’s a good thing…or its bad….”

I remained silent, unable to utter a word.

“However, Eunji, I hope you’d make the best choice”

I nodded.

“The choice which you wouldn’t regret later…”

“I would…never regret” I mustered out.

“Hmmm” He hummed and retrieved his hands. I realized, he was stepping back to retrieve. I looked up then, to catch a slightest glimpse of him, yet, as always, he managed to stop my heart. He smiled, eyes shining strangely and stepped back. “Anyway, best of luck Eunji-Ssi….however it goes, there would be one time you would have to let go and move on….”

“Take care…”

He stepped away and retreated down the staircase. It began to rain heavier then, thunder broke once in a while, yet I didn’t move an inch, but remained in my spot, trying to believe.

Trying to believe how quick it was.

Trying to believe how painful it was.

Trying to believe how easy it was.

Trying to believe how wrong it was.

Trying to believe that very, implausible fact that I, Jung Eunji, was finally moving on, from one love, to another; from first to the next, from one heart to another. I was, evidently and most profoundly falling slowly back in love.

Enjoyed?

I hope you find some answers although I'm not sure I had given any. Boring chapter, but I promise things would be better in the next chapter.

Ps: chapter thirteen will be skipped, there will be no thirteen but fourteen will be there.