“By the way, Tan, what was your birthday wish? I’ve been wondering.”

“I wished that everyone I know would be happy.”

“Come back here Kim Seon!” Da-kyung yelled after her daughter who ran down the hall of the house into her father’s study.

“Appa!!!” The little girl screamed and hid behind her father.

“What’s the problem?” Won asked pulling her out from behind him.

Da-kyung entered the study and folded her arms. “She was climbing on the tree in the backyard again.”

“Seonah, you are going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that.” Won said gently.

“But Appa, I saw a little bird fall out of the tree and I wanted to put it back into the nest.” Seon replied showing the bird to her father.

Da-kyung sighed and went to her, “Kim Seon that was a nice thing you wanted to do, but it’s very dangerous. What if you fall and hurt yourself, do you know how upset omma will be?”

“Kwaenchana omma, I’m very careful. So, can I go and put the bird back now? Its mother is probably looking for it.” She said and without waiting for permission, she ran out the door.

“Seonah! Seon.” Da-kyung yelled after her and sighed. “That child will be the death of me.”

Won smiled and hugged her, “You can’t blame her for being headstrong she gets that from you.”

“Are you saying I’m stubborn?” she pulled back and looked at him.

“Ah mianhae. What time is the party?” he asked

“7:30 PM.” She replied.

Won glanced at the clock, it was 3:00 pm. “We’ve still got plenty of time.” He said and gave her a come-hither look.

“No we don’t. They’re having it here, remember. There’s still so much work to be done.” She replied.

“Hey, the maids can handle it. I want some time with you. Right now.” He replied and she laughed.

“Fine.” She said and kissed him.

  “Hye-wonah, have you seen my keys?” Young-do yelled from the bedroom. They were dressing up to go to Tan and Eun-sang’s anniversary party.

Young-do no longer lived in the hotel, he and Hye-won had moved in together after Young-do’s military service. Hye-won had come to pick him up when he finished his service and had told him that she passed her civil service examination. There was no talk of marriage yet between them, but they were happy with just the way things were.

“It’s in the second drawer in your bedside table.” Hye-won said as she stepped out of the bathroom. “How do I look?” she asked. She was wearing a black floor length Grecian dress with cropped sleeves. There was a diamond necklace around her neck and her hair was done in a messy bun on top of her head. She twirled around for effect.

“You look so good I want to eat you up.” Young-do said and pulled her close.

“We don’t have time. Eun-sang is going to kill me if we are late.” Hye-won said. “Besides, it would be such a shame to mess up your beautifully styled hair. Hmm, Choi Young-do, are you really mine?”

“Was there ever a doubt?” he asked and kissed her lips lightly. “Let’s go, before I change my mind.” He grabbed his keys and they went out the door.

“Stella hurry up.” Hyo-shin called out to his daughter.

“I’m coming appa.” She replied.

Rachel came down the stairs and smiled at her husband. “Oppa, you look very dashing.”

“Hmm, you don’t look bad yourself.” He replied and kissed her cheek.

“Eww.” Stella said from behind her parents. “Let’s go already.” She hurried into the car. She was anxious to see her best friend Seon.

“Sure, let’s go.” Hyo-shin said and started the car.

“Appa, will you take me and Seon to your next movie screening? I told her that I met a lot of celebrities the last time I went and she has been begging me to take her to meet lots of celebrities. Neh, neh. Appa.” She said turning up the aegyo and causing Rachel to laugh.

“Whose child are you?” Rachel said.

“Of course I will, if you do well on your next test.” Hyo-shin replied.

“Pfft, of course I will. I’m omma’s daughter after all.” She said and grinned.

The living room of the Kim mansion had been transformed into a hall. Tables of six had been placed around the hall and the guests were filing in. Hee-nam and Ki-ae were at the door greeting the guests as they came in. Bo-na and Chan-young were already seated at a table and were on the phone when Hyo-shin, Rachel, Young-do and Hye-won joined them.

“Money’s not the problem boss, I have lots of it.” Bo-na said. She had been trying to convince her boss to let her do a documentary program on the dying breed of naturally beautiful people. Her boss had told her that it was a topic most people would find offensive because of the increase in plastic surgery in South Korea. Her boss had told her that they didn’t have the funds to run that kind of program besides, no one would watch it. “Aish, maybe I should just buy the broadcast station.” She said when she hung up.

“You say that every time you and your boss disagree.” Chan-young chuckled. He had hung up the phone and said his greetings to his friends who had arrived. “Where’s Stella?” he asked,

“Don’t you know that girl? She doesn’t ever leave Seon when they are in a 1 mile radius of each other. They are probably conspiring somewhere right now.” Rachel replied.

“Wow, Yoo Rachel, you look lovely.” Hye-won said.

“No, Hye-won, the sneak peek for the spring season isn’t out yet.” Rachel laughed.

“Pfft, how did you know I wanted to ask that?” Hye-won said innocently.

“Honey, you’ve been pestering me for the past three weeks. You are such a shrewd business woman. Don’t worry, you’ll be the first one I show it to when it’s ready.” Rachel replied.

Hye-won ran a boutique alongside her teaching literature in Jeguk middle school.

“Hello friends.” Tan said as he came up to their table.

“Hey congratulations man.” Young-do said and they all shook his hand in turn.

“Where’s Eun-sang?” Bo-na asked,

“I’ll go and get her.” He replied and went up to his former room.

“I wished that even ten years later, just as I passionately ran to you when I was eighteen, I’ll be on the road that leads back to you.”

Tan opened the door and saw Eun-sang. She was wearing a white lace dress.

“Hi.” He said smiling at her. He was so lucky to have her.

“Hi.” She smiled back.

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.” She and her husband walked down the stairs together. Everyone erupted into cheers when they got to the landing.

“Didn’t you say that this was the kind of dream that people laughed at?” Tan whispered to her.

“Guess it did come true.”

“Hey, I love you.” Tan whispered to her.

“I love you too.” She whispered back.

“When we were eighteen we fell in love, liked each other, cried, ran away, and knelt down. And turned our backs on each other countless times…”

“Nevertheless, when we were eighteen we ran into each other’s arms, held each other’s hands and held each other tightly. We may fall again and we may get on our knees. However, one thing is certain…”

“No matter what, go for it.”

Author’s note: So, we’ve come to the end of this story. For the longest time, I wasn’t able to let go of the Heirs and I felt like I needed to tell their story. I’m happy you all stayed with me till the end. Now, I feel like I can let all these wonderful characters go. You remember the words in italics as lines from the drama, right? I thought it would be nice if they came back at the end. Imagine it like voiceovers, that’s what I intended. I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it. Kamsahmnida.