2013

Couple of days after the release of Strong heart episode, all media was talking about was Jaejoong’s past relationship. The topic was trending, and as expected netizens were doing their best to look for Jae’s ex, but nothing was found.
Some were wondering how he managed to hide this long relationship, and some were happy that she had something to do with keeping DBSK as 5. And of course most of comments were about how Jaejoong looked sad when he was talking about her.

Meanwhile Yoon Ji who was oblivious of what was happening, took a day off to help her friend Min Ah who recently rented a small place for her restaurant. Together, they arrived extremely early in the morning to clean the space, accompanied by Min Ah's mother and brother. After a few hours of scrubbing and organizing, they took a well-deserved break, sitting around a small table to enjoy some ramen.

As they slurped down their noodles, Min Ah's mother turned to Yoon Ji with a concerned expression. "Yoonie, have you heard from your mom lately? Or have you tried to contact her?”

Yoon Ji shook her head, her expression distant. "No, omonie.”

“My poor girl, you've known Min Ah for three years now, and every time I ask her about your mom, she says there's no news.”

"Omonie, I don't expect her to contact me or look for me. She left me with my father when I was just 10 years old. She never asked about me, not even when she knew that my father passed away a year later. She didn’t seem to care who would raise me. Do you think she'll remember me now that I'm 26? She's busy with her new family.”

"Noona, you didn’t try to contact her?” Min Ah’s brother Seungho asked.

"I did, as a teen, when I was 12 or 13 years old. She rejected me," Yoon Ji replied, her expression devoid of sadness; her mother didn't hold much significance anymore.

"Are you sure, my baby? You can't live alone like this.”

"Don’t worry, ommonie. I've grown accustomed to it. Everyone leaves—my parents, my grandfather who raised me, even the man I loved. It didn’t work out. My personality was forged to accept people leaving."

“Noona, did you watch Strong Heart a week ago?” Seungho asked.

"No, I am having sleepless nights lately, I had work to submit. Why?" Yoon Ji replied.

“Jaejoong talked about his relationship with his girlfriend.”

"Which one?"

“You, noona.”

“How do you know? He dated after me, or he may be dating someone else now,” Yoon Ji questioned.

Min Ah intervened, providing more context. “He talked about a girl he knew before his debut, dated her for 8 years, and she was there for him when TVXQ was going to split. You think it’s someone else?”

Yoon Ji was shocked. She never expected him to talk about this in public. Min Ah could see her friend's concern.

“Don’t worry, he didn’t give det