I looked in confusion from Mrs. Yoon to ShiYoon. Was she not expecting me?

“Yes, omoni, we came sooner than previously planned. I thought it’d be nice for MiYoung to spend some time with ShiAhn and get to know the place before all the guests came.”

His mother looked less than pleased with her son’s words, but before she could respond, more footsteps could be heard entering the foyer. ShiAhn and a young woman I didn’t recognize stepped towards us.

“Ki-Ti?” ShiAhn asked, looking at me as if she didn’t recognize me. She’d only been gone to Seoul for a few months. Had she forgotten me already? After the beat of an awkward pause, she stepped forward and squeezed my hands, “It’s so nice to see you! I’m glad you’re here.”

I relaxed with an internal sigh of relief. ShiAhn still considered me a friend, and Mrs. Yoon still disapproved of me. Everything was normal.

“Are you surprised to see me, oppa?” A coy giggle accompanied the words.

The young woman who spoke the words stood with her hands clasped together and her gaze steadfastly, affectionately settled on ShiYoon’s face.

“Park ShinHye-ssi,” he said with warmth in his voice. “I didn’t know you had come early too.”

“Your mother was kind enough to let me travel with her and ShiAhn when they came down from Seoul a few days ago.”

My eyes narrowed as I inspected her. So this was Park ShinHye, the girl intended for ShiYoon.

Mrs. Yoon shot me a cruel, victorious smile as she introduced us, “Park ShinHye-ah, this is Kim MiYoung, an old friend of the family I guess you’d say. And Kim MiYoung, this is Park ShinHye, daughter and heir to the Park hotel and resorts empire.”

Park ShinHye then turned her gaze to me for the first time. Instantly I felt insecure. I knew I wasn’t ugly--I thought myself a solid 6 out of 10--but compared to Park ShinHye, I may as well have been bucked-toothed and covered in warts. I saw in an instant the full measure of her beauty with deep mahogany hair, her eyes large and double-lidded. Her oval face narrowed into an endearing slightly split chin, small and plump, her nose straight and long. All together she was quite breathtaking, almost like a fairy from another world.

“Welcome to Jeju and Bora-do Kim MiYoung-ssi,” she said with a clear, confident voice. “We’re so glad to have you to stay with us.”

I stared at her in shock for a moment. She was glad to have me? She welcomed me to Bora-do? That was the job of the madam of the house, not a guest. . . I looked from ShiYoon to Park ShinHye and back. Was something settled between them? Had he officially proposed? Was she to become the madam of this house?

I eventually managed a faint smile, “Thank you. I am happy to finally be here.” I stressed the finally because I wanted Park ShinHye to know that I’d known ShiYoon long before she had--he was 10 and she was 8 when they first met. I had loved this place long before she had even heard of it.

“Lee jibsa help Kim MiYoung to her room with her things,” Mrs. Yoon said, taking charge of the situation. “Where is your maid?”

Maid? She was kidding right? There was no way I could afford a maid! “I--I didn’t bring one.”

“Omoni,” ShiYoon’s jaw was tight, his eyes steely as they met his mother’s. They looked as if they were in a silent war with each other. It appeared ShiYoon won because his mother was the first to look away. She looked my way and raised a haughty eyebrow as she examined me like a strange insect. I’d seen her look at me like that before so it was no shock, but this time I keenly felt the added eyes of Park ShinHye.

“A quick word ShiAhn darling,” Mrs. Yoon said as she pulled her daughter a few steps away.

They spoke in low voices but I caught bits of their conversation.

“. . .no more rooms in the east wing. She’ll have to stay in the west. . .”

“. . .share a room?”

“. . .can’t inconvenience our guests. . .”

Their voices then dropped to a murmur so I couldn’t gather any more information.

Another moment passed then ShiAhn came to my side. “Let me show you to your room.” She then tugged me towards the grand staircase that led upstairs.

It seemed ShiYoon had forgotten all about me. He was completely engrossed in whatever Park ShinHye was saying to him in soft tones. I couldn’t help but glance down as we climbed the stairs. She had moved closer to ShiYoon and the light from the window made her hair almost appear auburn. She slid her hand gracefully down his bicep as she locked her arm with his. The last thing I saw before turning the corner was ShiYoon smiling down at her.

“Omma told me to put you in the west wing,” ShiAhn looked at me nervously as she spoke quickly. “She’s spent the past few months having the east wing of the house remodeled and redecorated so all the other guests will be staying there so she can show it off. We weren’t expecting you so you’ll have to stay in the west wing by yourself. You don’t mind? Do you?”

“What--what do you mean exactly? I thought your mother was expecting me. Why else would ShiYoon invite me to come if she wasn’t?”

Evidently ShiAhn had not been listening to me as she asked with a distracted voice, “What?”

The hall we walked down was bright with the afternoon sun. “What did you mean just now when you said, ‘We weren’t expecting you’? Your mother gave her permission for ShiYoon to invite me, right? At least, that’s what I thought when he extended the invitation.”

My heart was sick with dread as we continued to the west wing of the house. I watched ShiAhn’s profile as we walked. She looked like a clone of her mother, same high cheekbones, same shade of hair (so dark it was almost black), same figure.

“Oh! I didn’t mean it like that. I mean. . . I just meant that omma didn’t count her guests properly. . . She forgot about you coming. . . You’ll be sleeping in the west wing is all I meant.”

The feeling of dread still sat in my heart, but I decided to trust that neither ShiYoon nor ShiAhn would lie to me. Even if they had bent the truth a little, the fact was that I was here on Jeju finally seeing Bora-do with my own eyes. That’s all that mattered. I could explore the place that ShiYoon loved so much where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. . . I stopped before I could fill in the rest of the sentence with that words “spend the rest of his life with Park ShinHye.”

After making a sharp right, we turned down a long hall. A few meters later, ShiAhn abruptly stopped. “Here is your room.”

We walked in and she clicked an intercom button. “Please send someone up here to help Kim MiYoung-ssi unpack her things,” then said to me, “This room is still small and simple since omma hasn’t been able to renovate it like the ones on the east side, but I think you’ll like it.”

Looking around the room, I decided I did like it. It suited the mood of the island nicely. “This is perfect ShiAhn,” I said sitting on the large bed. Now that I was alone with my friend, I was excited to hear about her adventures in Seoul the past few months. I’d sent her texts and emails asking her, but ShiAhn was horrible at responding and the few times she did the answers were vague. “Tell me about Seoul! What’s it like in the big city?”

With a tortured sigh she lay down on the beside me. “Exhausting! Every day was so exhausting!”

I snorted. Adventures were wasted on ShiAhn who’d rather stay at home in the mountains reading a gossip magazine by the fireplace than go anywhere.

“Any. . .interesting eye candy in Seoul?” After all, that’s why her mother had taken her to Seoul, to meet potential suitors from the elite fami