It was a greyish morning and Choi Young Do’s mood reflected the repressed despair and gloom of the sky. His head pounded and threatened to explode as he took deep breaths and held on the cool marble slab of the vanity in his darkened bathroom. He wished he could figure out what was sitting on his chest, smothering him alive, pulling him towards an unknown abyss. He was a problem solver, blessed with a sharp mind and above average intellect. But he could not decipher what was slowly killing him. He cursed the previous evening that had chased him down a whole bottle of the finest vodka. Finest or not it was still a whole bottle of vodka and it was exacting its revenge on him the morning after. The oblivion that he had found at the bottom of the bottle had only bought him a night of uninterrupted sleep but had left him drowsy even after it had lost its potency in his system. In fact he had slept where he had fallen….at the foot of his bed. He made a face at his own disheveled image in the life size mirror, which pointed out that his expensive Italian suit was wrinkled beyond salvage, the loosened silk tie that hung down his front was askew and as he took off his jacket, he discovered that he had lost one of his sterling silver cuff links. He was disgusted at himself for his lack of control. He was a grown man, behaving like a young calf in love, despairing after a woman who had only ever used him. Gingerly, he stepped into the fierce cascade of water that poured forth from the multiple shower heads embedded in the walls and the ceiling of the shower cubicle. He tried to formulate a plan to be rid of this affliction that was plaguing him. It had been a whole week of misery, anger, hatred and despair…mostly despair. But today he was going to turn over a new page and take control of his life and chart out a path afresh. He had done it before and he could do it again.

He was sipping his second cup of coffee and making grand plans that involved millions of dollars when his phone rang. For one stupid second his heart skipped a beat. He forced himself to take his time to get to the phone that was furiously vibrating on the coffee table like an overturned insect trying set itself right. He squinted at the screen and saw it was announcing the incoming call as Kim Won’s. For one second Choi Young Do grew cold like a boy who had been caught in a mischief. He wondered if Kim Won was a crack shot with a revolver given his health condition. Otherwise, if he got called to ‘settle the score’, the fit and younger Choi Young Do had an advantage over the older man. He slowly picked up the phone and answered in a calm voice.

“Choi Young Do, how are you?” Kim Won’s voice was equally level and polite, with a hint of familiarity that somehow made Choi Young Do feel guilty.

“Well…hyung…I am well. How are you?” he tried to sound casual, matching Kim Won’s tone.

“I am fine. Just checking to see if you have the time to take a drive with me to look at a property. I would like your opinion on it. You definitely are more experienced at good property purchases than I. It is a little out of the town…is that OK?” Kim Won asked reasonably.

Choi Young Do felt like something was stuck in his gullet. Kim Won’s words were friendly and absolutely reasonable but he could not help feel that he was skirting the elephant that was in the room….occupying the entire time space continuum between them. Or maybe it was his guilty conscience.

He forced a bit of levity and asked mock seriously, “Do I get a consulting fee?”

Kim Won chuckled and said, “I will feed you well and you get to experience some fresh air outside. Will that do?”

Choi Young Do chewed his lower lip and had a feeling that sometime during their meeting he would have to lay it bare before Kim Won as to why he had to backtrack from whatever that had grown to bind him, Kim Won and Cha Eun Sang into a secret quasi relationship. He was going to be the one to call it as he saw it and he was sure that Kim Won would understand. The successful people are not successful because they are nice and polite. They are successful because they are practical and ruthless.

“Give me an hour. Where should I meet you?” Choi Young Do wanted some time to compose himself and his case before facing Kim Won.

“Ummm….I will text you the address in half an hour. Don’t bring your chauffeur. I will bring mine. He will follow your car. I hear you have a sweet little Porsche. Why don’t you give me a ride in that?” Kim Won sounded overly friendly, which sounded like a bad omen to Choi Young Do.

He always felt invincible in his little red Porsche…driving by himself, reckless and free, younger than the chips on his shoulder that always dogged him. It would be a good mood lifter for him to take it out for a spin. In fact he wished he would have thought of going for a drive on his own before day was commandeered by Kim Won.

“Sure hyung, we can do that” he poured himself another black coffee and settled into the sofa, “I will wait for your text”.

Down in the shadow of the hotel stood an unassuming luxury sedan, parked on the side of the road. Kim Won instructed his chauffeur, “Can you take me to a very good grocery super market around here?”

The chauffeur, a youngish man who was rather new to Jeguk Group threw a furtive look his way in the mirror and nodded, “Yes, Master” as started the car and merged into the traffic.

About an hour and half later, Choi Young Do pulled up to the steps of a grocery supermarket, still a little confused as to why Kim Won had chosen to meet him at this odd place. But he figured he would have his answer soon enough because Kim Won was waiting on the top of the stairs clutching two to-go glasses of drinks. He came down the steps and waited expectedly for Choi Young Do to open the passenger side door. He bent down and handed a plastic drink cup with a straw to Choi Young Do before settling himself in the passenger seat and buckling in. He looked around the inside curiously and smiled with amusement, “This is nice…very nice. Good choice.”

Choi Young Do was too skeptical of his real motive to appreciate his compliment wholeheartedly. He merely looked at the glass he was handed and asked, “Thanks. What is this, hyung?”

Kim Won took a sip from his glass and said “Pomegranate juice with Matcha green tea. Very healthy.”

Choi Young Do looked at the glass suspiciously and wondered for one quick second if it was laced with anything. He just could not shake off the feeling that he was in for some grave punishment from Kim Won and he was trying to catch him unaware before striking, fooling him into letting his guard down by being too friendly and solicitous.

“Thank you. That is very kind of you hyung” he nevertheless set it aside in the cup holder and asked, “Do you know the way to this place?”

Kim Won took another sip and visibly relaxed into the plush seat, “Do you know the way to the Incheon airport? Head that way and I will tell you the rest once we get there”.

After an hour and forty five minutes of driving per Kim Won’s instructions, Choi Young Do’s red Porsche had reached some unknown little town, far beyond the shiny and bustling airport. Choi Young Do was sure that he could smell the salt of the sea in the air as he drove a little slowly through what looked like the main street of the unfamiliar town, dotted with neat little shops and eateries. A little puzzled, he wondered what sort of investment plan Kim Won was thinking of given how far from the metropolis they were. As they drove beyond the town limits, he noticed unending farmland on both sides of the two lane road. After about 10 minutes of driving alongside the farm land, Kim Won asked him to pull over on the right, in front of a modest two storied house. Plain and simple it sat square on the road with no high fence or gate. Choi Young Do watched as Kim Won’s car followed suit and came to a stop behind him. The chauffeur got out and hauled out two shopping bags from the backseat and walked up to the front door of the house and set those down on the stoop. Then he turned around and asked politely, “Shall I inform Mr. Song about your arrival, Master?”

Kim Won was stretching his legs by the side of the car and waived him off, “Go have lunch. I will call you when I need you”

Choi Young Do was taking in the strange situation. The house was adjacent to a smaller house, which looked older and was separated by a patch of green. Behind both houses and on both sides there were farmlands with crops growing. Kim Won went up to the front door and took out a bunch of keys from his pocket. He seemed a little unsure of which one he was looking for. But he chose one and turned the key into the lock. The door opened with a soft click. Kim Won smiled back at Kim Won and said with a warm smile, “Welcome to my home! You are my first guest!”

Choi Young Do stepped up to the neatly plastered stoop and raised his eyebrows in true incredulity, “Your home? You bought this….house? To live in?” he cast a look about pointedly, “here? In the middle of nowhere?”

Kim Won picked up the shopping bags and stepped in, chiding Choi Young Do, “Such snap judgement! It is a perfectly nice place….peaceful and quiet” he beckoned Choi Young Do to enter, “Give it a chance to grow on you”.

Choi Young Do stepped into the room to see that it was a modest sized living room with an open kitchen, with a covered patio running the entire width of the house in the back, glimpsed through the wide windows, which showed the unending farmland beyond the patio.

The floor was tiled and felt cool through his socks now that he had taken off his shoes at the door. The walls were white washed and chintz panels hung on the windows. There was a sofa set to one side of the largish room, comfortable if not terribly stylish. A low table sat before it, which was clearly bought at a department store. The kitchen was sparsely furnished though it had wall mounted cabinets and a granite countertop. Kim Won was busy putting away the contents of the bags in various cabinets and the midsize two door refrigerator. He triumphantly held up a pair of house slippers still in it crinkly packaging and offered to Choi Young Do, “for my very first guest…guest slippers. Can’t have you traipsing all over my home in socks.” Choi Young Do took the package and unwrapped the slippers and put those on. He noticed a waste basket next to the sink and was about to throw the empty wrapper in it when he Kim Won almost shrieked, “Not in that! That is the compost bin!”

Choi Young do could only repeat in confusion, “Compost bin? For what?” he pointed to the farmland through the kitchen window and said, “I don’t think you can compost enough for that”.

Kim Won narrowed his eyes at Choi Young Do and said, “Ha-Ha. Very funny. I will have you know that compost works wonderfully in my vegetable garden.”

Choi Young Do maintained his shocked expression, “YOU…have a vegetable garden?”

Kim Won, stuck his hands in his pockets and asked exasperatedly, “Do you want a tour of the house or not?”

Choi Young Do cast a thorough look around and said, “Absolutely! You have my full attention even if not my full understanding”.

Kim Won his heel and said enthusiastically, “Follow me to the spare…bedrooms” Through a narrow corridor he pointed out two smaller rooms, with white washed walls and tiled floor, bright with the natural light that poured through the oversized windows that looked over the farmland but completely bare. He explained a little embarrassedly, “I have not yet figured out what to do with those. But soon I will know for sure”.

He turned back and led Choi Young Do up the narrow staircase that led off to the upper floor, which was divided into a large room to the right and a large room to the left. Between those was a sliver of a landing that led to a balcony which was situated above the patio downstairs. Kim Won opened the door and stepped onto the balcony. Choi Young Do stood behind him on the threshold and looked over his shoulder, only to find the same view of the farmland, only from a higher angle.

Kim Won inhaled deeply and exhaled, “Go on now...I did promise you fresh air.”

Choi Young Do smiled and shook his head as he stepped onto the balcony and looked around, still mystified, “How on earth did you decide to buy this house? And here? I mean, this is so unlike you. You are as much a city rat as I am. Will you not get bored? This is not even your style. I have been to your house. I know what you are used to. What is this? A mid-life crisis? People buy swanky stuff to feel better…and you…went the other way?”

Kim Won merely smiled indulgently and sidestepped the questions, “Come on, the tour is not finished yet” as he stepped into the house and opened the door on the right, behind which lay another room, white, tiled and bare. Choi Young Do smirked and held up his hand before Kim Won could say anything, “I know…another masterpiece in the making”.

Kim Won chuckled and said in a low voice almost to himself, “Smart !”

Choi Young Do protested, “You did say you wanted my opinion. I am sorry to be blunt but I have no idea why you chose to buy this house and what return on investment you are expecting from this place. So far I can only tell you that I think it is highly unusual for your portfolio and somewhat whimsical but has zero potential as far resell value goes. Even if you do invest a lot into this property and spiffy it up significantly….I mean major changes…even then you will have to sell it to a local resident…because who would come to live here from Seoul…and that person will not pay for a lavish castle with a view of…well…the farmland”

Kim Won simply smiled and opened the door to the remaining room on the upper floor revealing the only furnished bedroom. Choi Young Do peered in half interestedly to see a departmental store purchase DIY bed with light blue sheets and neatly folded printed coverlets. Besides the bed, there was a narrow bookcase, a small desk facing the window with a common place chair and a smallish closet. Translucent curtains, similar to the ones do