Everything was how it was supposed to be. The room was cool but not cold, the sheets were crisp 1500 TC Egyptian cotton, the mattress was firm but not hard and Choi Young Do was awake, not asleep. The last bit was usual when he was too tired to stay awake and yet too keyed up to fall asleep. It had been a very quiet 3 weeks since he had last seen Cha Eun Sang. There was no more distress call, no surprise visits and definitely no more imposition on his time and attention. He should had been glad but he was not. He wanted to swallow his pride and call her to ask her how things were, how Sunny was…..how she was doing. He imagined her in that huge Kim mansion, ghostly pale and anxious and was not happy at the feelings that the imagery evoked in him. He was a sensible man, in fact, everybody lauded his pragmatism and he knew that he was beating himself up over a girl who was never his to begin with.

He wondered if he needed to let off some steam by inviting a ‘companion’ to bed. Women of various ages found him attractive and made it known to him. He sometimes would deign to take one to bed, bowing to his libido but he made sure that they knew the score from the get go. It was what it was…..a romp, a fling and most of the time, a one night stand. He was careful to choose women who were discrete, had more to lose if discovered in a compromising position and always classy. He was painfully aware of the risk that he ran, of turning into his father, a serial philanderer. He was a virile young man with needs but he did not want to slip up ever again and gamble his heart away. He only pursued what he could attain with his hard work and cleverness. His happiness was never going to be held hostage by a girl, ever again.

The next morning saw Young Do in an irritable mood that he tried hard to tamp down on. After all, it was not his employees’ fault that he had barely caught 3 hours of sleep that night and had a full day of meetings and reviews. He took a break for 15 minutes around midafternoon and sat at his desk sipping a mug of bitter, strong coffee as he contemplated taking a few aspirin to stave off a headache he knew was impending. So when his phone rang and the caller was identified as The Girl (?), he was not particularly thrilled but did wonder for a second, if unbeknownst himself, he had recently acquired any telepathic power. He gingerly accepted the call as he pressed the phone to his ear.

“I need to see you. Today. Right now, if possible. It’s urgent” she said without any preamble, rushed and forceful.

He wanted to throw the phone across the room. He wanted to yell out a string of choicest curses. He wanted to get his hands on her and shake her. But he resorted to sarcasm instead.

“I am fine. Thank you for asking.” He sounded too glib and saccharine sweet and he hoped she would get the message.

“Choi Young Do, this is serious” she sounded curiously harried, “It’s a matter of life or death.”

Choi Young Do was seriously pissed off, what with his lack of sleep, the reason of the said sleepless night being on the phone, not to mention being discourteous and demanding and his throbbing head, which signaled the onset of a stress headache. He covered his brow with the palm of his left hand and started massaging his forehead. He bit out, with supreme self-control.

“What is this disaster now? The very same one we talked about the last time or is it a new one?”

There was a pause as he could hear her breathe like she was trying hard to overcome a panic attack. She spoke slowly and clearly, as if she was willing him to read something in the innocuous words.

“I will tell you when I see you. Trust me, I would not ask this if it were not really important. It is….not about the business. I…just need to….talk to you….please.”

Choi Young Do groaned in his mind and called himself a few names for falling for it but he knew that he was a goner when he heard the plea in her voice. But another part of him was furious that she could assume to crook her finger and expect him to drop everything to do her bidding. He wanted to punish her for holding out on him, for the past few minutes, for the past few weeks and……..for the past ten years. He wanted to test how desperate she was to see him. He wanted to bait her.

“Come to the hotel then. My suite……you know where that is, right?” he said, with a bitter smile on his lips. Yeah, that’s right, Cha Eun Sang, you want to see me? Come to me, in my territory, in my space, under my roof.

She did not sound too concerned as she responded in a rush, “Alright. When? Now? Can I come now?”

Choi Young Do was truly intrigued now but he wanted to string her along a bit more.

He managed a hollow laugh, “No. I have a life to live, a business to run and people to meet…..apart from you. So come to the hotel after…..7 PM. That is, if you really want to see me…..today.”

“Alright. I will see you then.” She sounded resigned.

And just like that she hung up. Choi Young Do stared at the phone for a good 10 seconds, unable to believe just how this girl had managed to worm her way into his life and mess with his head again. After gulping down the rest of the coffee and a couple of aspirin, he forced himself to stay angry at her and resolutely go about his business for the rest of the day. The headache stayed with him and was still pounding his head as he changed out of his suit into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. As he was about to give in to the urge to pour himself a stiff drink, an impatient knock sounded on his door. He exhaled deeply and proceeded to carefully pour out a two fingers tall drink before he ambled over to open the door, glass in hand.

There she was…or a shadow of her. Dressed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, her hair disheveled, some in a top knot, some falling loose, dark shadows under her eyes, her complexion sallow, she was leaning against the doorframe as if that was the only thing keeping her upright. Even when as a high school student, she had worked numerous part time jobs, was fighting to keep her mother and herself from becoming a pawn in the family feud of the Kims, Choi Young Do had never seen her look this bad, this broken. His fingers tightened around the drink he held in his hand and he inhaled sharply at the sight that greeted him at his door.

“What’s wrong?” his shock was clear in his tone.

She dragged her eyes away from his shocked face and straightened herself. Looking past Choi Young Do, she stepped inside the suite as Young Do automatically shifted closer to the wall to let her pass. She headed to the sofa and almost fell into it. Choi Young Do followed her, his anger and resentment forgotten for the moment, his drink untouched. He sat himself in a plush chair across from her. She, however, was not looking at him. Her eyes were fixed on her palms, clasped tightly in her lap. Choi Young Do took a small sip from his drink, holding his tongue, still in a bit of shock.

“Hyung came home” she barely mumbled but Choi Young Do caught that and he leaned forward in his chair.

“When?” he asked, all the more sure that instead of fixing things, something else had gone wrong on his return.

“Day before yesterday.” She stated flatly.

And just like that all his anger and resentment came back in a flash. He leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow to overemphasize his grudge.

“And I get to know this today? That too because, I am guessing, I am somehow required to fix something again? Why? Was it too difficult to call me or text me? Do you know how worried I have been all this while? Why is it…?”

“He is sick” she interrupted in the same flat voice from earlier, still eyes on her lap.

Interrupted mid-rant, Choi Young Do paused to take in the simple statement.

“What do you mean? Sick? Is he in a hospital?” he felt a little chastised by her words.

She looked up and Choi Young Do saw the tears held back now and the eyes that looked puffy from tears that had breached the dam in the recent past. A ghost of a smile passed her lips as if she was amused at his simpleminded questio