After a long time Cha Eun Sang found herself in the midst of a hectic life. She was up early and running around the entire day, according to a tight schedule. She had to get Sunny ready and fed to send him to pre-school, then have breakfast and have the daily details of the household charted with the housekeeper at the same time and look in on Madame Han and make sure she had eaten and taken her medication etc. By 9 A.M. she was sitting in front of the computer, logging in for her online classes. By 12 P.M. she was done with her classes but had to get ready for office. By 1-30 P.M. she was at work, trailing Mr.Yoon as unobtrusively as possible as he did his job and managed to fill her in on the details of the dealings at hand. She was getting familiar with other office staff as well and had shadowed a few higher management officials when Mr.Yoon was too busy.

It was not easy. Breaking into a new world, new set of people and new rules. Kim Won had left for USA after introducing Cha Eun Sang to his top team. Everybody was told that she was going to learn the ropes of the business as part of the founding family’s member. Everybody had been wary but sympathetic to her. Her modest background before her marriage was well known. She capitalized on her natural gift for perseverance and gentle demeanor to eke out polite respect and guarded approval from everybody at work. After 6 weeks, she was kind of getting into the groove of handling family, studies and office, all at the same time. It was exhausting and she often fell asleep along with Sunny on his twin size bed after reading him a bedtime story. She did not have sleepless nights anymore. She was busy when she was awake and dead to the world when she slept.

Choi Young Do kept in touch…that is if it could be called that…..by texts. Mostly one or two liners, barking orders without any polite greetings or explanations. It was his ‘study plan’ that she was following. True to his words, he had sent over an information packet through his chauffeur about the online college and merely marked out the classes she was to take in bold highlights. He had confirmed via text that she had signed up and was taking the 3 hour morning and 3 hour evening classes. When she had informed him about beginning her office stint, she had only received a terse text, which had left her stinging.

“Good. Now no matter what happens at work, don’t cry. Absolutely not. You cry too easily. They will never respect you.”

She had merely gulped down the insult and chalked it up to Choi Young Do’s usual ways. But once she stepped into the corporate world, she understood why he had said that. It was a polite world where insults were cushioned in modest words or monosyllabic ‘no’s and delivered with a smile. She realized that she had indeed fallen into the habit of living a benign and insular life. It was time to tap into her experiences, of her life before it had taken a fairy tale turn and step up to the plate. And she did. If just to avoid seeing the smirk of satisfaction on Choi Young Do’s face. She was going to prove to him that she was very much herself and not just a chaebol daughter-in-law.

That was how she found herself travelling to the university part of the town one Saturday afternoon. But this time she was directed to go to a café instead of the convenience store. As she approached the café, she noticed the exposed brick work on the wall of the building and the large windows that showed a casually but artistically appointed interiors. She was about to open the door of the café, when a large male hand pried her fingers away from the door handle and pulled her away. She whirled around but she already knew that it was Choi Young Do, who had proprietarily placed his right arm around her and was half pushing, half guiding her to walk with him along the pavement.

“What do you think you are doing?” she squirmed in his grasp, “That is the café, isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes, but that is the common entrance. I know a special entrance. You know me……I don’t do common anything. So, we will go through the special entrance.” He said all that without even casting a glance at Cha Eun Sang.

Cha Eun Sang saw themselves go around the end of the building and walk into an alley, barely a car’s width wide, and then turn again into an open, paved courtyard. It looked like the back of the café. In fact, she noticed that the courtyard served as the common service entrance to a lot of neighboring businesses, whose back doors opened onto the courtyard. Choi Young Do confidently pulled open a heavy metal door, still holding onto Cha Eun Sang and let themselves in.

The first smell that hit Cha Eun Sang’s senses was of roasted, fresh ground coffee, followed closely by hot off the oven baked goods. Choi Young Do let go of her and peeped inside the door next to them. Cha Eun Sang saw a beautiful lady walk up the narrow corridor from the store front side, dressed in a modest but well cut skirt and a crisp linen blouse. She looked curiously at the visitors but did not panic. Cha Eun Sang pulled at Choi Young Do’s shirt to get his attention. He immediately straightened and noticed the lady. The lady looked a little taken aback but smiled at Choi Young Do. The smile was warm and open, serene and amused at the same time. Choi Young Do stepped up to her and casually put his left arm around her as he turned to face Cha Eun Sang.

“Cha Eun Sang, this is Yoo Kyung-ran, my mother.” He declared warmly, hugging the lady in his arm a little tighter to him.

Cha Eun Sang was rendered speechless. The first thought that ran through her mind was, “He FOUND her!” Second only to, “Kim Tan, he found her! It’s been fixed. Sweetheart, it’s all been fixed. You can be friends again.”

The lady in question was looking at her with kind curiosity. She had also put her arm along the back of Choi Young Do in a familial affectionate gesture. Mother and son standing there, made a perfect picture that Cha Eun Sang badly wanted to share with that one person, who was no more. Her eyes watered before she knew it and teardrops coursed down her cheeks. Madame Yoo detached herself from Choi Young Do’s side and approached Cha Eun Sang, who was staring at her through the moisture that clouded her vision.

“Are you alright?” Her voice was calm, gentle and solicitous.

Cha Eun Sang recovered at her gentle query and swiped at her tears. She remembered her manners belatedly and took a step back to bow to her.

Madame Yoo smiled to acknowledge her bow but her eyes still looked troubled.

“Are you alright? You seem upset on meeting me. Do we know each other?” Her voice was concerned.

Cha Eun Sang almost whispered, “I…I have heard about you…..from my husband….late husband…Kim Tan.”

Madame Yoo gasped and brought a hand up to her heart. Her eyes shone with sympathy. She peered over her shoulder at Choi Young Do and so did Cha Eun Sang. He was leaning against the wall of the corridor, his lower lip caught in his teeth, his eyes keenly observing the emotional exchange before him. He cleared his throat.

“Eomma, she is Cha Eun Sang and she is here to see me.” He said pointedly, “Is it alright if I take her upstairs? I would prefer the privacy upstairs to the café.”

Madame Yoo responded eagerly, “Yes, of course yes. I will make some refreshments for you.”

She smiled kindly at Cha Eun Sang and stepped across to the door that Choi Young Do was peeping inside of. A busy kitchen lay beyond the door and the door swung close after her.

Cha Eun Sang felt Choi Young Do’s probing gaze on her and quickly wiped away all traces of the tears. He merely straightened himself and pointed to the staircase that lay across from the kitchen before proceeding to lead the way. Up two flights of stairs, they stepped into a living space that was clearly feminine but not overly so. Cozy throws and brightly colored cushions lay across a sofa which was old fashioned but not an antique. One side of the living room was dominated by a large window with fixed panes, below which sat a couple of chairs separated by an accent table. To one side of the room was a work desk with just the right amount of mess to show a work in progress, not disorganization by habit. But the most eye catching sight was the longest stretch of the wall that was covered with bookshelves, bursting at the seams with books. They all looked well-loved and thumbed through many a times.

Choi Young Do indicated to the sofa and himself occupied a chair under the window. Cha Eun Sang took a seat but was still too rattled.

“Are you alright?”

“When did you find her?”

They had both spoken up at the same time. What followed was a pregnant silence. Choi Young Do didn’t want to answer her. He was still awkward about his relationship with his mother, at least when it came to discussing her with others. He treasured his relationship with his mother like a secret charm, guarded against mundane discussion and casual queries. But now, he had allowed Cha Eun Sang into this secret and her query seemed appropriate, though her teary reaction was something that had confused him. The usage of the word ‘find’ was telling. She obviously knew about the ‘loss’, from Kim Tan naturally. He wondered what else had Kim Tan shared about him with his girlfriend turned wife. It vaguely irritated him.

“Right after……the takeover attempt by Madame Jeong had failed.” He didn’t want to say after his father’s arrest, he didn’t want to say after Kim Tan and Cha Eun Sang had got back together.

Cha Eun Sang gasped. He had found her that long ago but kept it a secret. She wondered if he had held back that information intentionally.

“Kim Tan would have been happy to know that you had found her. He always felt a little guilty about that. He really wanted you to be able to connect with her again. He was so close to his mother that he could empathize with that aspect of you.” She said wistfully.

Choi Young Do shifted in his chair, the mention of Kim Tan making him uncomfortable. It was not anger though. He felt a little sheepish when confronted with an account of Kim Tan’s feelings.

“Well, it took me a little time but I eventually figured it out. It was not really his fault. Just….bad timing…and I guess some anger and obstinacy on my part. Our…..fallout…..was due to a lot of reasons….not just that. We knew too many of each other’s secrets and weaknesses, seen too much of each other’s ugliness…..and towards the end…..it was something else.” He looked down, startled by his own admission. He prayed that Cha Eun Sang would not ask him to elaborate about the ‘something else’ bit.

She did not because she had an inkling what t