Song inserted in this chap: If by Taeyeon (credit to owner)

Lee Min Ho was glancing at his watch impatiently before he looked up at the MC who was still giving the introduction about Venus new perfume launching today. It was almost 12noon and he can feel his palms were sweating. This was not the first time he giving a speech for product launching but because of Shin Hye, he was extremely nervous now. His eyes moved to the large posters that were hanging around the hall and a soft smile slowly spread across his face when he saw the name of the perfume. He doesn’t really care how other people think about the name but it was a message he wanted to send to Shin Hye. She will be the only one person who understands why he gave the perfume that name. He doesn’t care that he will appear in the headlines around the world tomorrow because he was so ready to make the biggest confession to the one he love today.

“So enough from me, without wasting any more time, I will pass the floor over to our CEO who will give us a speech about the new product that will be launching by Venus Corporation today. Please welcome Lee Min Ho sajang-nim.”

Min Ho stood up of the chair upon hearing his name. He turned to the crowd and bowed politely before walking up to the stage. He took the microphone from the MC and smiled politely to all the audience. He took a deep breath before starting his speech.

“Good afternoon to all. I am pleased to join you to celebrate Venus Corporation latest product launch of…” He inhaled deeply before he said the name. “… Séjour, a perfume that was developed in-house. I’m very sure a lot of people here today will question why we use a rare kind of flower for our latest product. Tiare flower is a type of gardenia which grows on Tahiti, the largest island of French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. Tiare is a national symbol of Tahiti, often celebrated as the flower of affection, having delicate snow-white petals that stand for the language of love. The scent of Tiare is heady and hypnotic, spreading sweet and exotic aromas. Venus might not be the first one in the world that uses Tiera as one of the ingredient to produce perfume but I can confidently say that Venus was the first to use this beautiful flower in our perfume in South Korea. Other than this lovely flower, we also use green tea leaf to mix with it together. The fresh and calming fragrance from green tea leaf blends perfectly with the sweet, intensive and attractive scent of Tiare flower.”

Min Ho paused for a second as he smiled before he continued. “When I was sitting down there just now, I heard a lot of people keep asking how is the name of this new product related to the Tiare flower of this perfume. Séjour… just by reading the name I’m sure most of you know it was a French word. French is the only official language that being used in Tahiti and that was why I decided to use French word to name this perfume. But this is not the main point because the meaning of this French word was the main reason I used to name this product.” He paused again as he took one of the perfume from the table and looked at the name that was printed on the bottle.

“The meaning of the word Séjour is… stay.” He continued. “It has nothing to do with the perfume or the flower. It was named as Séjour because I wanted to use this perfume to send a message to a person that is very important to me.” He bit his lip as he looked down at the bottle again, gripping tightly onto it. “Although I don’t understand what is the reason behind her that makes her felt so insecure to stay with me and always wanted to leave but I really hope by using this opportunity, I could give her courage, give her confidence, and tell her that I really mean it when I want her to stay.” He inhaled another deep breath before looking at the audience again. “Without her, this perfume will not be able to release today. I would like to dedicate this perfume to her. Séjour…” He ended the speech with a smile as he bowed politely at the crowd. Everyone stood up below the stage and started to applaud at his touching speech with teary eyes. 

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Park Shin Hye covered with her hands while watching the speech that Min Ho gave during the product launching at the airport. She couldn’t hold it anymore as she squatted down and buried her face in her crossed arms and knees. Disregarding the location, the gazes from the people who passed by, she began to cry.

“I’m sorry. I’m very sorry.” She whispered in between her sobs.

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“What happened? Why are you crying?”

Tears were already covered So Won’s tiny face when she looked up at her father. She handed him an envelope that she was holding.

“Eomma don’t want So Won and appa. She left us again.” She said in between sobs.

Min Ho let out a heavy gasp as he slowly took the envelope with his trembling hand. He was very sure his heart stopped beating the moment when So Won told him Shin Hye was gone. He exhaled a sharp breath as his shaking fingers were struggling to open the envelope. He slowly took the letter out as his other hand were holding So Won firmly, trying to get some strength from his daughter. His eyes were reddened the moment he saw his name written on the letter.

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

If I were to go, If I were to go close to you
What would you think? Just thinking of this breaks my heart
If you were to leave, if you were to leave my side
How would I ever let you go? I’m always fearful of this
♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

Dear Min Ho oppa,

By the time you read this letter, your worst fear has finally happened. I’m sorry. I know that I promised you last night that I’ll wait for you at home today but I lied. Please forgive my selfishness and left without a proper goodbye. I know I wouldn’t be able to leave when I saw you and So Won. Although 3 months, 12 weeks, 92 days are not a very long period of time but it was the happiest moment that ever happened in my life.

I always told myself that everybody could live alone even without anyone by their side. That was how I survived in this cruel and realistic world all these while. I was fighting so hard to reach the top of my world and when one day I stopped, I realized I was exhausted. I wanted to rest and wish for a shoulder that I could rely on. At that time, I received Yoon Suh’s letter. A part of me was happy knowing that I still have a family in this world. I’m not alone. That was why I chose to come here.

Since I was a kid, I always asked myself a question. What did I do wrong that make my parents left me in the orphanage home so heartlessly? Whenever I saw the parents standing outside the school, waiting for their children, I have that yearning feeling that I couldn’t express to anybody even to Sister Theresa. That feeling was so hurtful and suffocated. That was the same gaze and expression I saw on So Won during the first time I saw her outside your house. She was crying and kept holding onto my hand, begging me to not leave her. Those tears in her eyes were like sharp knives stabbing into my heart and because of the pain, I decided to stay. Until now, I still don’t know and don’t understand why my sister willing to leave So Won behind and go away alone. She was growing in her womb for 9 months. She must have feel the connection and bonding between them, right. I don’t want to find any excuses for her but I felt that I have the responsibility to take care of So Won on behalf of her. I love this little girl. I want to give her hope. I want to cure her broken heart and stop her tears. I want to bring her happiness and bring her a lot of laughter, even it was only a short period of time. So I stayed. I stayed because of her.

Then there you are, the arrogant, the cold blooded man that annoyed me so much even the first time when I saw you. After I read the second letter that Yoon Suh sent to me, I hate you even more. The cold gazes, the hurtful words disgusted me whenever you looked at me or talked to me. Then the night when So Won said she hate you, she wanted to leave you, that was the first time I saw that painful gaze inside your eyes. You love her. You just don’t know how to express it as a father. And when you were sick that night, you held onto my hand and pleaded me to stay, that was the first time I felt the love you have for my sister. I started to doubt everything she wrote in the letter.

I don’t know when that my long frozen heart started to melt whenever you were close to me. I remembered you said that I was as dangerous as roses but you just don’t know that you are even more dangerous than me. You have the ability to draw me closer and closer no matter how hard I try to push you away. I know it was not right to fall in love with a married man especially he is my sister’s husband, my brother in-law but I just couldn’t help it. The way you embraced me in your arms, the way you kissed me with your soft lips, I felt like I already owned the whole world. Although it was just a short stolen moment from Yoon Suh, I already felt like forever.   

Please don’t look for me, although I know you will. Please don’t come, although you know where I will be. Getting information from my ex-company, my ex-colleagues or even going to my orphanage home to check my father’s address in Jeju Island, all that was as easy as snapping your fingers. But you wouldn’t be able to find single information from them. Not much people know where my father lives. And I believe Sister Theresa will not betray me. Jeju Island is not as big as Seoul but it’s not small either. So don’t waste your time to look for me. Use that precious time to concentrate on taking care of So Won and yourself. Forget everything about me; forget everything that had happened between us. Just treat it as a dream, a beautiful dream that we have to wake up no matter how much we wanted to stay there.

Help me to tell So Won that I love her. Tell her that I’m sorry. I couldn’t keep my word and stay with her forever. You have to love her wholeheartedly because she worth it. Being her mother for the past 3 months was a blessing to me. You have to teach her to be brave and strong. I will always miss her and love her from far away.

And you, I will miss you too. The three magic words that you said to me last night was the best gift I ever received. You might already know about it but please forgive me that I couldn’t tell you directly myself. I don’t have the courage to say it out loud in front of you. I didn’t know what it means last time but after meeting you in my life, I finally understand what that three magic words means. It might be just three simple words but it actually meant so much. It makes my heart fluttered and hurts at the same time. You are the first and probably last man that I have ever loved.

I love you…

Love,

Shin Hye.

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

Because I was like a fool, I could only look upon you. Most likely
Because I was afraid of how your heart might change and we might grow farther apart
I was such a fool, not able to tell you I loved you. Most likely
Because I was afraid of the hurt and sadness I would receive after we meet
♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

The grip on the letter tightened as Min Ho slowly fell down on his knees, kneeling on the floor, embracing the crying So Won in his arms.

So Won buried her tiny face in her father’s neck as more tears rolling down her cheeks. She wrapped her hands tightly around Min Ho and cried very hard.

“Appa, where is eomma? Why did she run away again? I thought eomma love So Won and appa. She has changed so much and I really thought she will stay with us forever. But why she left us again? Why? She don’t want us, she don’t want So Won. She doesn’t love So Won.” She cried sadly.

Min Ho tightened his arms around his daughter and closed his eyes, letting the tears that he was holding for a long time rolled down freely. He kissed So Won’s hair as he her head gently.

“She loves you. She loves you so much that it hurts her. Appa was sure she was crying as badly as So Won too.” Min Ho said.

So Won pulled back slightly and looked at her father with her teary eyes. “If she really loves So Won, why she must run away again?”

Min Ho wiped her tears with his thumbs before he caressed her cheek softly. “Because she loves us too much that it scares her. She was afraid that the longer she stay with us, the saddest she will get when she lose us.”

“But why she will lose us? We won’t leave her. We always stay with her.” So Won doesn’t understand.

“She was scared, she was confused and she was frightened by appa.” Min Ho tried to explain to her. “Don’t worry. We will try to make her understand and make her come back to us.”

So Won tilted her head in confusion. “How? Do we have to wait one month like last time? Will eomma come back again after one month?”

Min Ho shook his head slowly. “No. We are not going to wait here like last time. We will go to find her this time.”

He looked at So Won and said firmly. “Appa will find her and never let her go again. I promise.”

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Park Soon Jae walked out of the house holding a blanket in his hands. He let out a silent sigh when he saw his daughter sitting at the front porch, looking up at the dark sky mindlessly. He was kind of shock when he saw her came back 3 days ago. She didn’t call him in advance or mention to him that she will be back. The last time she came back was during last Lunar New Year and she only stayed for 2 days. She will only come back once every year but something tells him that this time was different. Looking at the size of her luggage, he knows she is not back for a short period of time.

Since she left this house 10 years ago, she have been working and fighting so hard for her career and better life. She is a smart, intelligent and independent woman. She is so strong and brave that nothing could ever crash her down. But this time, she looked so different. He saw sadness in her eyes. He saw loneliness in her eyes. He saw hopelessness in her eyes. It worries him. Her expression was full of pain and despair. He even saw her crying last night holding onto a shirt in her room. He didn’t ask her. He knows she will tell him if she wanted to. He always tell her that whenever she felt tired or unhappy outside, she can always come back because this home will always be the safest shelter for her. He might only be just a useless farmer but he will always try his best to protect her from anything.

He slowly walked towards his daughter and wrapped the blanket around her from behind. He smiled softly at her when she looked up at him. “The wind in Jeju Island is very strong. You will catch a cold sitting here wearing so little.”

“Thank you, appa.” Shin Hye said as she motioned his father to sit down beside her. She clutched her hand around his arms and rested her head on her father’s broad shoulder like a small little girl. “It feels so good to come back again.”

Park Soon Jae held her hand and squeezed it softly. “You should come back more often. Compared to the city, the air in Jeju Island is so much fresher and healthier.”

“Hmmm.” Shin Hye moved closer to her father, trying to steal some warmth from him. “I’ll stick to appa like glue from now onwards.”

Park Soon Jae laughed softly. “When you find a husband next time, you will kick appa away.”

Shin Hye bit her lip. “I won’t get a husband. Nobody wants your daughter.”

Park Soon Jae looked down at her. “My daughter is so beautiful. If you willing to say yes, I’m sure that all the men will queue from here to Seoul.”

Shin Hye tightened her hands around her father’s arm. I don’t want other men. I just want him. Can I? I can’t, right. Because he was married. Because he is Yoon Suh’s husband. Because I’m sick. Tears started to well in her eyes. The speech that she heard during the launching event 3 days ago keep replaying in her mind. He named the perfume Séjour to send her a message. He wants her to stay for him. Séjour… how sweet and romantic.

“Appa, do you miss eomma?” She asked.

Park Soon Jae let out a long sigh. “Of course I miss her. Everything in this house reminds me of her. Everything about you reminds me of her.” He paused as he smiled slightly. “If she is still here, she will be very proud of you.”

Shin Hye smiled too. “I still remembered when the first ti