“Ha-naya!” A voice called out while Ha-na and Su-jin were browsing through a clothing store. Ha-na turned around and saw an older woman making her way towards her.

“Omoni!” She smiled and the woman enveloped her in a hug.

“How have you been? I’m really angry, you haven’t stopped by for such a long time.”

“Mianhaeyo omoni. What about abeonim, is he here?” Ha-na looked around for the woman’s husband. They were always together, so she was certain he had to be around somewhere.

“He’s coming, he went to get some snacks for us. We’ve been shopping all day. No, I’ve been shopping and he’s been carrying all my bags.” She giggled like a schoolgirl.

Su-jin watched as Ha-na and the older woman talked and laughed together. She wondered who the woman was but she couldn’t interrupt them, so she waited until the woman noticed her.

“And who is this?” The woman asked kindly.

“Ah, she’s my friend’s daughter, Kim Su-jin. Su-jinah, this is Lee Jong-ok, Yoo-ah’s mother.” Ha-na said and Su-jin bowed.

“Annyeonghaseyo.” She said.

“Eo. Come, let’s sit down, Oppa will be here soon.” Jong-ok said and led the way.

Just as they sat, an older man in a pair of jeans and a very expensive yet simple looking bottle green t-shirt approached them and sat beside Jong-ok.

“Ha-naya, it’s been a while.” He smiled while arranging the food in front of his wife.

“Ah neh, I’m sorry my last visit was so long ago.” Ha-na said.

“Oh, I understand how busy you must be, starting a new business and all. Yoo-ah hasn’t come to visit in three months.” He replied.

Ha-na always loved being around Yoo-ah’s parents, they were sweet and nice and their love hadn’t dimmed over the thirty years they’d been married. When she and Yoo-ah had first become friends, Yoo-ah had invited her over to her house and Ha-na had been anxious to meet her parents. She had never been around rich people before and the only impression she had of chaebols were what she had seen in dramas.

“Yoo-ahya,” she had said, “Are you sure your parents won’t mind you being friends with me?”

Yoo-ah had laughed and laughed, “Ya my parents aren’t evil chaebol monsters, they’re really nice people. You think I’d even go to the same school as you if they were?”

So, she had followed Yoo-ah home and met Song Il-hwa and Lee Jong-ok. They were different from what she expected. Yoo-ah’s father was soft-spoken and gentle, he was also the most indulgent father she had ever seen. And Jong-ok was as aegyo-filled as a sixteen year old. She always had a smile on her face and she seemed to be more beautiful as she got older. They had liked her immediately, complaining to her about how stubborn Yoo-ah was and asking if they could adopt her instead. She had laughed and Yoo-ah had rolled her eyes. Later, she had asked Yoo-ah why her mother always referred to her father as Oppa instead of the more formal Yeobo, and she had explained that her mother called her father Oppa while they were dating and he was afraid they would drift apart if they forgot how they were before, so he insisted she call him Oppa to always remind him.

“Ah, where are my manners? Abeonim, this is Kim Su-jin, she’s Kang-minssi’s friend, Kim Jin-wook’s daughter.” Ha-na said introducing Su-jin.

“Annyeonghaseyo.” She said quietly and he smiled at her.

“Abeonim, I can’t believe you insisted upon an engagement so soon.” Ha-na said.

“Me? Insisted? When have I ever insisted anything Yoo-ah didn’t want? It wasn’t me. Kang-hyukie, you know, Kang-min’s father was the one who called me and practically begged me to let Kang-min be engaged to Yoo-ah. I only told her about it and she didn’t seem to mind. You think I would insist on Yoo-ah being engaged when she didn’t like the man and she wouldn’t throw a fit and vow never to speak to me again?” He scoffed.

His wife nodded in agreement. “I think Kang-min must like Yoo-ah, why else would their side insist so much on an engagement so soon? Anyway, I don’t know Kang-min very well, but I’ve asked around and he seems to be something of a player. I don’t want anything to hurt my daughter again after what happened last time.” Jong-ok said.

Su-jin felt offended on her godfather’s behalf, she knew him well and he was not a player. “Er, sorry for interrupting but Choi Kang-min is my godfather and I’ve known him for fourteen years. He is not a player.” Su-jin said firmly and Jong-ok tilted her head and looked at her.

“Is that right?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“Neh, he’s a very good person and he takes care of people very well. Anyone who knows him can attest to that.”
“Ah, I see. It’s fine then, we’ll just have to wait and see.” Jong-ok replied. She glanced at her watch and got up. “We need to get going Oppa, it’s almost time for our reservation at the spa.” She impatiently tugged at her husband’s sleeve.

Il-hwa sighed and got up. “Don’t be a stranger Ha-naya, come and visit sometime soon, okay?” and Ha-na nodded in response. They bade farewell to the girls and left.

After they were gone, Su-jin released a loud sigh. “I’ve never met anyone like that before. Why does she call him Oppa?” she asked and Ha-na explained everything to her.

Yoo-ah entered her apartment, kicked off her shoes and dropped onto the sofa. “Ah, sanctuary.” She was exhausted. She and Ha-na had been so busy that day with clients coming in, going to check on materials for the jobs they had started and planning her engagement party. She sat up and glanced at the kitchen. “It’s so far away.” She dropped back onto the sofa. She was hungry but she really didn’t want to cook. She picked up her phone to order take-out and decided against it, she didn’t feel like take-out either. She sighed and settled into the sofa properly, “I might as well just go to sleep right here.” She said, trying to ignore the hunger pangs. Just then, her phone rang. “Yeobseyo?” she said tiredly.

“Where are you?” Kang-min asked on the other end.

“At home. Why?”

“Did you have dinner yet?”

“I just got in. Why?”

“I want to have dinner with you. Let’s go out.”

Yoo-ah picked at her shirt and pulled it away from her body. Going out would mean she had to get up and shower and change and, oh she didn’t want to think about it. “Mianhaeyo Kang-minssi, I’m really very tired right now. I couldn’t even get off the couch to make dinner, I can’t go out.” She said gently.

“It’s okay.” After a little pause he asked, “Do you want me to come and make you dinner?”

“Eh?”

“If you text me your address, I’ll come right away and make you dinner.” He repeated.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course, would I offer if I wasn’t?” He laughed.

“Ah, er, okay then. I’ll…er…text you the address.” She replied and he hung up.

“Ottokhae? Ottokaji?” She sprung up from the couch, suddenly re-energized. “Why would he come here?” She raced around the living room picking off her shoes and stockings that she had thrown around. She raced off to the bathroom and quickly showered and changed her clothes, she was in the process of re-applying her lipstick when she began to laugh at her reflection in the mirror. “Song Yoo-ah, you’re doing all sorts of things. I thought you were too tired but what’s this now?” She finished re-applying her lipstick when the doorbell rang.

“Annyeonghaseyo.” She said as she opened the door for him.

“I brought ingredients, I didn’t know what you had at home.” He replied indicating the bags he was carrying.

“Oh, you really didn’t have to. Please come in. Why don’t you sit down? Can I get you anything, water, tea, coffee?”

“What’s up with you?”

“This is the first time you’ve come to my house, so…”

“So, I’m not here as a guest today, I’m here to cook for you. Where’s the kitchen?”   

“It’s this way.” She said and led him to the kitchen.

“Don’t worry about anything, I’m a very good cook. You just go and sit down and relax, I’ll come to you when I’m done.” He said as he set about prepping the ingredients for cooking. “Do you like Spaghetti?”

“Yes, I do.” Yoo-ah replied. She couldn’t just leave him alone in the middle of her kitchen, so she hung around him, trying to help him with this and that.

“Please, go and sit down.” He said and steered toward the living room and plopped her in a chair.

Yoo-ah stood right up and followed him back to the kitchen. “It’s not right for me to just leave you alone. What if you need something?” She stood at the opposite side of the counter and watched while he sliced the tomatoes.

“Fine, but you have to stay on that side of the kitchen until I’m done. Okay?” He asked indicating where she stood by pointing the knife in that direction.

“Okay, I guess.” She replied and sat on the stool.

“How are preparations for our engagement party coming along at your end?” He asked as he tossed the ingredients in a frying pan.

“It’s really tiring. My father told me that your end insisted on an engagement party so soon. Was it you?”

“Yes, it was me. Do you not want to?” he asked.

“Well, it’s not that I mind but I just don’t know why you would do that.”

He put down the pan and turned toward her, leaning against the counter so that he was on eye-level with her.

“Isn’t it obvious?” He smiled.

Yoo-ah was a little bit flustered, he was looking at her so intently it was almost embarrassing. “Isn’t what obvious?”

“I like you Song Yoo-ah. I like you a lot.”

“Already?” She asked quietly.

“Does it matter how long it’s been?”

He gazed at her for a long while until Yoo-ah spoke. “Kang-minssi, the food.” And like that, the moment was gone.

After dinner, Yoo-ah offered to make Kang-min coffee but he declined. “I have to get going now, I have a busy day tomorrow. I just had to stop by to check up on you.” He said as she saw him off to the door.

Ha-na was preparing for bed, she had just taken a shower and was about to change into her nightdress when her cellphone rang. She glanced at her phone, it was not a number she recognized.

“Yeobseyo.” Silence. “Yeobseyo.” She said again.

“Yeobseyo, it’s me Ha-nassi, Kim Jin-wook.”

“Jin-wookssi? Is there a problem?”

“Aniyo, I just wanted to say thank you for taking Su-jin to get her dress. I saw it, it was very beautiful.”

“Ah, well it wasn’t anything big. I had fun too.” She laughed.

“Er, Ha-nassi, erm would you, er, would you like to go out with me? We could have dinner sometime.”  He said quietly.

“Really?” It was a little unbelievable. Was he asking her out because he wanted to or because he wanted to show his gratitude?

“Ha-nassi, are you still there?” he asked.

“Er, I think that would be a good idea.”

“Tomorrow then? I could pick you up from work.” He said a bit more confidently.

“No problem, I get off at 5 pm.”

Young-ae crossed her legs and hovered above the bed and watched the myriad of expressions cross Ha-na’s face. She smiled as she saw Ha-na express incredulity, wonder and finally excitement.

Ha-na knew Young-ae was in the room, it was a little cold. “Young-aessi, can you believe it? Do you think he is opening up a little?”

Young-ae nodded and smiled, Ha-na couldn’t see her though. “I’m glad he’s willing to give you a chance, now I can leave this world in peace.”

Jin-wook took a deep breath after he hung up. “I’m doing this for Su-jin’s sake. This is all because of her.” He said to himself. He went to his daughter’s room, he opened the door to check on her and saw that she was already asleep. He reached for the blanket and drew it tighter around her body, tucking her in properly. She didn’t look any different to him than when she was five years old. She was always going to be his baby. “But my baby is growing up into a fine young lady all by herself. The least I can do is give her a friend.” He patted her hair gently and left her room.

He went back into his room and pulled out a picture of Young-ae. “Young-aeya, I’m ready to start again. I’m ready to give this a chance if for nothing else but Su-jin’s sake. I’m ready to stop being selfish.” He caressed the picture and put it back in the drawer. “I can do this.” He said to re-assure himself.

Author’s Note: For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for this story but my brain just won’t co-operate. It’s really frustrating, so if this chapter isn’t as interesting please forgive me. I don’t know why the well of ideas has suddenly dried up. Thanks for reading anyway, kamsahmnida.