Sunjung started buttoning her overcoat as she stood up from her desk. It had been a long day at work and she was glad that it was over. The warmth of the apartment she now thought of as home was an extremely pleasing thought but she knew she wouldn’t be getting there any time soon.
She brushed her hair off her shoulders and let her now long locks fall down her back. Grabbing the thick woollen muffler from the chair, she wrapped it around her neck.
Seoul’s temperatures had been steadily plummeting.

Just as she reached for her phone, it began vibrating on her desk. Seeing who the caller was, she sighed.
For a moment, she contemplated rejecting the call, she almost always did, but a sense of guilt made her receive the call.
“Hello?”

“You’re not busy, are you?” the voice at the other end asked, clearly concerned.

“I was just about to leave work. Is it something important, Omma?”

Sunjung could hear her mother let out a small sigh. Whether the sigh was of relief or of concern, she did not know.
“I just wanted to know how you’re doing.”

“Things are great,” Sunjung said. And she wasn’t saying so just to get her mother off her case. She was actually happy. She had been happy for quite a few months, she realised.
“How about things at home?”

“Your father’s blood pressure is as high as ever, but other than that, we’re good.”

Sunjung’s eyebrows creased and her lips turned down in a frown.
“He thinks too much,” she sighed. “How will we ever get him to loosen up?”

“I’ve been trying for almost twenty-five years. Who knows how much longer it will take?”
The two women sighed simultaneously.

“Did you really just call to ask me how I’m doing?”

There was another defeated sigh from Yoon Minsoo. She really wanted to just sit down with her daughter and talk. Talk about things only a mother and daughter can. But her daughter was far away and she had to do all she wanted to, and say all she wanted to via the phone.
“Are you really seeing someone? Are you happy?”

Again, Sunjung contemplated dismissing her mother but really, she couldn’t. Guilt ate away at her mind and she wasn’t able to lie.
“Promise not to scream at me or have any other overblown reactions first.”
Her mother complied.
“His name is Lu Han. He’s from China. And I think...I love him.”

“You live with him, don’t you?”

The question made Sunjung breathe in sharply. She leaned against the wooden desk.
“Which one of the two told you?” she asked, feeling a mixture of very strange emotions.

Her mother laughed a laugh that was devoid of humour.
“Neither. I could tell.”

Sunjung’s chest constricted.
She was suddenly fearful. She had no idea what her mother would say to her. She had known and she hadn’t said anything.
“I swear I never intended to,” Sunjung tried to explain herself frantically, “Joonmyun...he...there was no other option...”
Her words trailed into silence.

The response from her mother surprised her greatly.
“No one ever intends to fall in love. It just happens. That’s what’s so magical and surreal about falling in love, Sunjung.”

“You don’t think this is a mistake?”

“Do you?”

Sunjung hesitated.
Was falling in love with Lu Han a mistake?
“No,” she replied, her voice not as steady as she wanted it to be.

“You deserve to be happy, Sunjung,” her mother said softly, “Nothing can stop you from being happy if you want to be happy.”
Sunjung nodded, but then realised her mother couldn’t see her.
“Do you think you’re ready?”

...was she?

Just as Sunjung was about to respond, the door to her office opened. Gaeun stood at the door, an inquiring look on her face.
Sunjung bid her mother a quick goodbye and disconnected the call.

“I was wondering why you were taking extra long today.”

“It was just my mother,” Sunjung explained, tossing her phone into her bag. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she made her way to the door where her friend stood.

Gaeun waited rather impatiently as Sunjung locked her office door. Her mother’s question kept running through her mind.
“I can’t believe you’re missing another party,” she said, with a little pout on her lips.

“I’m missing it for another party I’m going to,” Sunjung said with a roll of her eyes. She had lost count of how many times she had explained to her friend why she couldn’t attend. She had also stopped taking a lot of what her friend said seriously.
Seriously, the woman said so many things were entertaining but also confusing as hell. No wonder a lot of Gaeun and their boss Yifan’s interactions consisted of eye-rolling, scoffing, snorting and what not.

“It should be sisters before misters, sister,” Gaeun said, sounding convincingly offended.

“I want to come, Gaeun, but he asked me first,” Sunjung said, “Also the last time he went out with the guy who’s throwing the party, things didn’t go all that well.”

The two women stopped their conversation when they entered the overcrowded lift. Gaeun scrunched up her nose when she noticed the notorious Mr. Kang standing inside with a large grin on his face.
Gaeun had complained to Sunjung numerous times about the middle-aged man who worked on the floor above them. Apparently, he was a divorcee looking to get into the market. It seemed like he had decided that Gaeun was the best way to do so.
Sunjung had been concerned when she had first heard of the man, but seeing him in action quite a few times had assured her that he was harmless.
One couldn’t really tell though. There were just so many nice looking people with ill intensions in the world. She knew.

Gaeun almost shot out of the lift when it stopped on the ground floor, almost leaving Sunjung behind. Sunjung had to run to catch up with the fleeing woman.
“He has a daughter who is our age!” Gaeun exclaimed as they exited the building, not bothering if anyone heard.

“I doubt i