Chapter 00: Soulmates

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

Don’t stop, go beyond.

Have you read the book about Alice in the Wonderland? I have, countless of times. In fact, it’s my favorite book. Even though it’s short, it’s rich with meaningful references and allusions – a heavy read at that. It’s a crazy book that makes no sense yet it makes perfect sense to me. You see, I live in the Wonderland and I can’t escape it. The world is mad and I’m always late. I can’t wake up from this nightmare so I live it. Wonderland is not a beautiful place it’s hell where you lose yourself to never find again.

Tut, tut, child! Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it. That’s what the duchess said but how come I can’t find moral in anything at all? There is nothing but darkness and I have learned that it’s better to be feared than loved. But I’m just a rabbit and this is not even my story. Even so, do you have the guts to follow me to hell?

Curiouser and curiouser!

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You need to get married. Was what her mother had made her believe and she really thought maybe that was what she needed to do. But getting married was harder than she had imagined, even for a successful upper-class lady like her. Or maybe, that was the core reason for all that hardness. Because men just couldn't accept her earning more money and having higher social status than them, they couldn't stand her strong and stubborn character.

She repelled them.

And she couldn't turn a blind eye to their chauvinistic gross behavior and lies. Most of the time, she could see right through them, their transparent characters boring her to death. Utterly stupid – they were all narcissist idiots incapable of facing reality and she could never commit to a man who had no contact with the real world. She was looking for something real but couldn't find it in the fake world she lived in.

They repelled her.

I adore women who stay home and take care of their husbands. It makes me feel so relaxed to come home where my wife has prepared dinner. She wondered what if he met a woman who earned more than him would he stay at home and cook for her? He laughed lightheartedly and she walked away.

You see, I am looking for a casual marriage. You'd do your thing and I'd do mine. But... you see, it would be better if you kept low profile because if you got caught by my family that would be troublesome for me. She wondered what would happen if he got caught, but he only smiled. I am sure everyone could keep it a secret. Besides I am not that careless. Women always cause more problems, anyway.

I think my mother wouldn't be happy with your busy work schedule. Someone needs to stay home and keep her company, besides you'd get pregnant soon and then working would be also hard for you. Mother says it's better if we live together with her. She wondered if she was getting married to this man or his mother.

The general opinion was for her to stop working right away, get pregnant and stay home to cook and keep company to her mother in law. Maybe she could later open a gallery or do some light and easy work like present herself in a pretty dress at cocktail parties and fundraisers.

But no, she was not ready to let go of the company her father had worked so hard to grow and push to the success. The board of directors was satisfied with her and everyone liked her way of working, she was good at what she did and she enjoyed her life as it was. Nothing needed to be changed. If she kept living like she had lived until now she would be perfectly happy that way. It was hard to understand why her mother thought otherwise especially when her other sisters had already gotten married, all three of them. Wasn’t that enough?

Countless cafes, bars, restaurants, art galleries, boutiques and parks later her feet hurt after wearing all those high heels and stilettos. For what? For nothing. All those meaningless conversations later she felt as if she had gotten dumber. New underwear laced with wealth and class, expensive designer skirts and dresses had brought her nowhere. The only good things she could remember about the past few months were excellent cafe lattes and first class pasta. But this was not related to marriage in any way.

A charming single lady looking for love.

Age 24 years old.

Yearning to be free.

Kang Da Hyun was short but what she lacked in size she made up with her intelligence and excellent sense of style. She was the youngest daughter of Kang household and the only one who hadn't gotten married yet. It was absurd how she managed to stay single. It was the miracle of all times how she hadn't been snatched by any young successful man yet.

Sometimes people wondered if something was wrong with her, perhaps... she liked women or maybe she was planning to change her . Absurd. But rumors circulated in the honorable upper-class circles of middle aged women who had nothing else to do but shamelessly gossip about others before anyone started a rumor about them. All these strange rumors made Da Hyun's mother worried and angry. She often felt irritated knowing what all those women were saying behind her back and sometimes directly to her face even. No one had the right to look down on her daughter.

“No one likes her because she is snobby and arrogant. She doesn't respect men and looks down on them. Moreover she has rotten personality and no manners.”

“She is a that's why no one wants to be with her. After all, she spends her days surrounded by all those men, not to mention business trips abroad! Who knows what diseases she has! I even heard she had 3 abortions before. Can she even get pregnant anymore? How disgusting!”

“At all these parties she only flirts with men but secretly she loves women. I've seen her coming out from a hotel accompanied by a beautiful foreign woman. That's why we shouldn't let our children be exposed to foreign cultures so much. Who knows, maybe she will do a change operation later!”

“She thinks she has it all but look at her. She might be young, rich, and pretty but no man wants to be with her. That only means she has bad personality. Would she even make a good mother? She is always working and doesn't have time for anything else.”

Da Hyun took all these talks lightly, after all these women must have been jealous of her success and status. She stood higher in society than many of their husbands. Besides, she was still young, fresh, and pretty.

Her naturally dark brown hair was shiny, healthy and bouncy. She liked to keep it short and it framed her face in an elegant yet simple way. Her eyes weren't big but not small either; she hadn't gone for a plastic surgery like many women around her so her round shaped symmetric face looked natural, leaning to the cute side. That’s why, to have a strict and powerful look she often went for strong make up, emphasizing her eyes. Her skin was naturally pale since she spent so much time in the office and meeting rooms. Sporty and classy at the same time – her figure was something to be envious of. With curves where they should be and cup size B, her body was desirable.

Da Hyun had all the time in the world to devote to herself only, she lived in a spacious apartment in one of the best areas of the city, had her own latest model of BMW (which she didn't like to drive around) and a kitchen occupied with the latest technology. She was on the top of the world; she had everything and was more than capable to provide for her mother and her sisters if they ever needed financial support. People at the company respected her deeply and she was good at doing business. All her life she had worked hard – so hard she had forgotten to enjoy dating, fun, and love. And now they were telling her she was getting old, that she was running out of time, that she was becoming worthless. Bullsh.it.

Beside one exception, those few boyfriends of the past were just fleeting flings and there were some few one night stands she couldn't even brag about. She had nothing to brag about when it came to love – she had achieved absolutely nothing. Not that she even cared. All she ever wanted from life was to prove to her father that she could take over his place in a way he could be proud of. But he died before she could do it and instead she had to work twice as hard, fighting for her position with her brother-in-law. But in the end she did it, even if her achievement felt empty and hollow. She became the CEO, married to her work and the company became her child. That was a good enough love story for her.

Her sisters and mother weren't as satisfied as she was. In their eyes she had failed. In the eyes that could see only the other side of the social circle, the side where only marriage, well behaved children and handsome successful husbands mattered. She had failed as a high-class woman even after sacrificing so much to become one. In their eyes, she was nothing but a failure. But they still loved her dearly and that's why they sent her to attend all those blind dates to save her future – according to their own words.

After yet another huge argument, in which her mother expressed being hurt, disappointed, and angry, Da Hyun had once again left the house without eating any dinner. She hated Fridays because that meant whole family would get together to look down on her in a house where she had been looked down on her whole life. Family dinners on Fridays, shopping with friends on Saturdays, relaxing at the spa on Sundays – that's all her sisters ever did anymore, while their husbands watched sports in their boxers and sipped beer.

Those sisters mocked her for not being able to find a man, for being too boyish and nerdy, for not being pregnant. Yes, she used to be a tomboy but she had put so much work into becoming a lady, yet it hadn't changed anything. Deep in her heart she was still that sassy girl no one ever liked. She felt uncomfortable being who she wasn't while wanting nothing but to only be herself in front of the people she cared about. But what could she do? She'd rather watch sports in boxers and sip beer than go to spa for a massage.

“Mother!” Da Hyun yelled into the phone. “No, I'm not coming back and you can forget about it! And no! I am not going to attend Monday's blind date.” She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip in frustration. “I give no fu.cks about Ms. Kim's daughter and her excellent catch. Good night.”

Yes, she dared to hang up on her own mother, she was still a rebel.

On such a dark and breezy autumn night, she should have been spending her time with her family in the warmth of their comfortable home and excellent company of relatives. Instead, she was jogging in Hangang park, alone and angry. It felt like she had no family, maybe she didn't. Perhaps she was too strange for them to accept her.

Da Hyun let out a deep sigh as she put her cellphone away. Her eyes caught a bench and she jogged towards it intending to take a short break even though it seemed like it would rain soon. She hesitated for a bit when she saw a shabby man sitting there, using a newspaper as his cover from cold. But in the end, she decided to sit on the other side of the bench as far away from him as possible. He was probably too drunk to even wake up anytime soon. With another glance it was confirmed, he was a homeless man, just a bum. How funny, a lady in distress and a bum.

So typical of her... them.

“This is so absurd”, Da Hyun mumbled, glancing at the homeless man. He was wearing a light brown fisherman's hat which made her wrinkle her nose because she couldn't stand those. His hair was long and messy; a beard covered his chin and cheeks. Other than that he had on a long dark green and oversized trench coat, old dirty sweater, straight gray pants and surprisingly expensive looking black formal shoes. Those shoes caught Da Hyun's attention and she moved a bit closer, he was sitting on the side without a street lamp so his shoes were left in the dark. Da Hyun slid even closer and leaned her upper body lower to get a better view.

Those were definitely real leather, maybe even a fairly new model, maybe even Hugo Boss. She knew it was stupid to stare at a bum's shoes and try to figure out if they were real designer shoes or not and then wonder where he could have stolen them from, but it was the only way to keep her from bursting into angry tears. She felt crappy after the argument with her mother and it always broke her heart to fight with her about meaningless things because of meaningless reasons.

A flashback of a pair of shoes suddenly flashed through her mind, she had admired a coworker's shoes at work. Could they have been the same model? Were they Paul Smith or Gucci? That smooth surface...

“Excuse me, what are you doing?”

“Now I know! Jimmy Choo Darblay!” Da Hyun exclaimed. She reached her hand to touch one of the shoes when it moved. She looked up and her eyes widened with shock. The bum was now sitting up straight looking at her with cautious eyes but not that, she saw the big news on the front page and immediately grabbed the newspaper.

“Is it today's paper?” she asked, quickly glancing at the bum who was now giving her weird looks.

“Yeah”, he answered in low husky voice.

“This is wonderful, wonderful news!” Da Hyun smiled unexpectedly and her smile was dashing, so dashing the bum held his breath. For some reason, he felt like she didn't smile like that very often, he didn't know why but he just felt like that. He watched how she dug her cellphone from her pink track jacket's pocket and brought it to her ear.

“Remember how you said Ms. Kim's daughter had that perfect man? Kim Jung Woo! Well, guess what? He has been missing for two months already!” Da Hyun announced proudly. “Ha! And you believe those stories? It says here in the newspaper that he has disappeared without a trace!” She sprang to her feet and placed her free hand on her hip. “Yeah, but that only means she has no man now. The wedding is postponed if not canceled. If I was him I would give up everything and flee, the horrible bit.ch she is.”

Da Hyun listened for a while and then let out an evil laughter, throwing her head back. “It's better to have no man than being dumped, you know that too! Fine, I'll do it on Monday but this is the last time for this month. Fine! Goodbye.” She ended the call sounding a bit angry but nevertheless satisfied enough. Da Hyun looked over her shoulder when she heard how the bum burst out in laughter.

“What?” she asked dryly.

“It’s better to have no man than be dumped?” he asked between the laughs. “That is so pathetic, haha!”

“Oh please, at least I am better off than you.” Da Hyun rolled her eyes.

It took the bum a while to calm down from his fit of laughter. “Then give that paper back”, he requested with his soft husky voice. There was something calming about it.

“As if you spent any money on it…”

“What's that supposed to mean? That I don't own it?” He furrowed his brows.

“It's not like I need it.” Just when Da Hyun was about to hand the paper back she felt droplets of rain on her face and she quickly pulled her hand back.

“Hey, it's my paper!” The bum stood up and towered over her – and he was really tall.

“You seemed smaller when you were sitting down.” Da Hyun swallowed. “Besides it's raining, let's share this.”

“No way, it's mine.”

“Come on, be a gentleman.” She flashed a little smile, handing half of the paper to the bum. The other half she held above her head because the rain started getting harder.

“Come on, I am a homeless man and that's the only thing I have to keep me warm today.”

Da Hyun gave it a thought. He was right she was being unreasonable. “You know, because you actually made my day better I am going to repay you.”

“By taking away my newspaper?”

“Ha ha... don't be sarcastic now. I will buy you food.”

“My savior, how could I ever thank you enough”, the bum grimaced. He tried to snatch the paper away from Da Hyun, but she hid it behind her back.

“It's cold and the rain is getting heavier. I'll take you anywhere you want.”

“I don't want to go anywhere.”

“I am sure you do, this is a once in a lifetime chance to eat expensive food.”

The look in the bum's eyes hardened and he clenched his jaw. “Are you looking down on me because I am homeless?”

“No”, Da Hyun answered quickly. “I am trying to thank you.”

“For what?”

“You really made my day! When I was wondering about your shoes that kept me from crying, the news I saw on your paper made me feel better and if you have dinner with me I won't have to feel lonely tonight”, she reasoned while holding the paper over her head again.

During the conversation they had played a slow game of 'try to catch and try to avoid losing the paper', which the bum had been losing all along because he was afraid to come too close to her. Who knew in what kind of trouble this lady would get him if he dared to even slightly touch her privileged surface. He finally managed to snatch the paper away, though it got torn in two because she was holding onto it with all her might.

“Fuc.king hell”, the bum cursed, throwing the torn paper on the ground and stomping on it in annoyance.

“Relax, I will buy you another one.”

“Fine, then let's go and buy one now.”

“Let's have dinner first.”

“No, we will-”

“Blah blah, okay I get it. Let's go.”

Without exchanging any words they arrived at the roadside and Da Hyun managed to catch a taxi that instant.

“Wait, you said we will go buy the paper.” The bum stopped her from getting in.

“Do you see any shops around here?” She raised brow and smiled when he looked around and scratched the back of his neck. “Get on and stop worrying. We will get you your paper.”

*

Um Kyung Hee was one of the prettiest girls around. She was a perfect catch, a girl all men dreamed about. She was someone they could protect and show off to others and she would take care of them and stay by their side looking pretty. But for some reason she was still single, not that she wasn't meeting men, she enjoyed meeting men and she was meeting them day and night. Maybe it was hard for her to choose from all those candidates? Or maybe, no definitely she was waiting for Da Hyun to get a boyfriend so she could snatch him away from her.

She loathed Da Hyun because she was jealous of everything she had and she was sure her enemy would find a perfect man one of these days. So she was waiting and she was ready to use the dirtiest tricks she had up her sleeve just to embarrass Da Hyun in front of the whole world. Actually, in front of her own small world which mainly revolved around her but a world nevertheless.

Now Kyung Hee coughed on her soup. There was no reason for her to be so shocked because she was on a date in one of the best restaurants in the city with a handsome and rich man. Her evening was supposed to be perfect and it would have been if she didn't just see her arch enemy Da Hyun walk in that very restaurant wearing a pink track suit with no makeup on, and her hair in a huge mess.

What more, she was together with something Kyung Hee didn't find words for. This creature looked dirty and so out of place in the fancy restaurant, people definitely turned to look, they might have even smelled that pungent smell of humanity when humanity didn't shower or change clothes for weeks. Da Hyun to be seen with such a man was outrageous, weird, and so very interesting.

“You said we would be buying the paper”, the bum hissed through gritted teeth. He kept his narrowed eyes on her back, too awkward to look anyone in the eye.

“I told you not to worry. You will get it after we finish our dinner. And stop frowning, it's unhealthy.”

The bum felt overwhelmed by this absurd situation. He was in an upscale restaurant with a pretty lady and everyone was staring. Only now, he truly understood how dirty and disgusting he himself was while he walked through this clean and shiny place. Awkward feeling stuck somewhere in his throat and he felt so very bitter, yet he kept following the lady who owed him a newspaper. He was ready to do anything to get that newspaper back – it was a matter of his pride now.

“Thank you.” Da Hyun smiled at the waiter when they reached a small round table near the far end of the restaurant, just next to the tall window. Her eyes slid on the bum who stood there looking uncomfortable and embarrassed.

“Sit down.”

“Don't you think this is a bit too much?” he asked in disbelief when she pulled out a chair for herself and sat down.

“Why? Are you feeling ashamed of yourself?”

The bum furrowed his brows and pouted his lips, a way of a silent protest he had learned long ago in his childhood when he used to be actually cute. Da Hyun crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow, mischief dancing in her eyes.

“Oh please. I am not embarrassed so why should you be?”

“I don't know”, he bum grumbled. “Maybe because I’m not you.”

“But we have the money so what? No one is telling us to leave.”

“Yet”, he finished her sentence.

“Don't be so pessimistic, I am a VIP here. They wouldn't dare to say a thing. Sit down already or they will never bring our menus.”

“I only wanted the paper.”

“Well, I guess this is what people call getting more than you asked for.”

The bum pursed his lips together and narrowed his eyes at Da Hyun, their gazes locked and the corners of her lips tugged upwards no matter how hard she tried to swallow that victorious smile of hers. Shifting his eyes away, the bum grabbed his chair and pulled it out, slumping on it with dissatisfied look on his face. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and sulked silently. Meanwhile, the waiter brought them two menus, glancing at the bum in disgust and at Da Hyun with an extremely questioning look in his eyes. She only shrugged and smiled, then ordered a bottle of wine and concentrated on reading the menu.

“What are you going to eat?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, don't be like this. You know I am buying so order whatever you want.”

“Are you bragging about your wealth now?” the bum asked, his words lacing with sarcasm.

“No, I am merely buying you dinner in a restaurant where I often eat.”

“Well guess what? I am not hungry.”

“I imagined homeless people acting differently.”

“You thought we have no pride?” the bum muttered angrily, his hands curling into tight fists. He glared at Da Hyun but she was immersed in the menu.

“No,