The next day morning, Sung Jae sat in the breakfast table, brainstorming aloud. He had been trying to summon his creativity since last night, and all he had gotten so far was nothing, and the only idea which kept flooding his mind was the two way mirrored front door with the voice recognizing locking system. He remembered how his art teacher did paintings. How he didn’t even take time to think. He just drew, drew and drew. On the white board, on the computer, on the canvas and the papers, he just drew, drew and drew, like a machine. Sung Jae wondered how he got all those ideas even. For him, having to draw something was hard enough, and having to think what to draw was even more so.

“A battle ship” Sung Jae said to his father, demonstrating with his hands. He had been thinking aloud all the ideas he had so far, and all of them were more or less involving the games he played on the TV and his father’s laptop computer. “A battle ship with ten million cubic centimeters of an engine and an aluminum exterior”

“Sung Jae” Sung gyu said patiently as he buttered a toast. “Those are not art projects. You can’t draw things like that.”

Sung Jae’s shoulders fell and he pouted sadly, staring at the bread in his plate. “Then I have zero ideas”

“You can’t possibly have zero ideas, Jae” Said Sung Gyu. “All the great artists drew very simple things. What matters is not the idea. It’s how you draw”

Sung Jae mulled it over a bit. “Then…” He began. “The art teacher liked my super vehicle not because he liked the idea but because he liked how I drew it?”

“That’s probably it” Sung gyu nodded, and Sung Jae felt even worse. He thought his super vehicle was a brilliant idea. He thought nobody had ever come up with such a thing. He thought the art teacher was impressed. But now it only turned out that he liked the painting.

“So I have to do a painting” Sung Jae said.

“You’re right”

“You can always draw a ship” Eunji piped in from the stove where she was scrambling some eggs. “Not a battleship. Just a ship”

“Or…” Sung gyu set down his toast. “You can not draw a ship and draw something you like”

“Why shouldn’t he draw a ship?” Eunji asked. “What’s wrong with ships?”

“Because you gave him the idea and your ideas are always dull” Sung Gyu replied without much thought and turned to his son. “Now, what do you like to draw?”

Sung Jae looked at his father, and then at the babysitter who was making faces at her boss behind him, Sung Jae almost giggled, but kept a straight face and said. “Ships”

Sung Gyu sat back, taken by surprise. “Ships? You like to draw stupid ships?”

“Ships aren’t stupid” Said Eunji, smiling victoriously.

“Ships are awesome” said Sung Jae.

“Okay fine” Sung Gyu said, backing away. “I yield. Draw as many ships as you want”

*

Later that day, Eunji stood by the front door, staring at the parting and waiting for another ambiguous note to pass in. She’s got a total of five notes that morning, all from Moon Soo, all telling just how much he was in love with her, and every one of them she had discarded into the bin without giving a single ounce of concern. In fact, she was annoyed at the fact that someone of the likelihood of him was coming after her. Why couldn’t it be someone who was more independent, open minded, someone who would give her more space, someone who found worth in her rather than finding comfort in his own misery? Moon Soo wasn’t the kind of a man that she would need. She needed someone who understood her, someone who could lover her for who she was. Someone whom she could love without restrictions. She needed to make Moon Soo understand that, but she couldn’t figure out how.

“Have you thought of what I asked you?” Eunji read out the message of the last note she received. Has she thought of what he asked her? Did she really love him? Ever? Eunji wasn’t certain now that she looked back into her past. Eunji had had a number of relationships back then. She was fresh out of college, looking for jobs and searching for love. She has never given thoughts of settling down to one, not with jobs, nor with relationships. Eunji hated to feel confined by the boundaries settling down would set. So she hadn’t exactly loved when she was involved in a relationship. Now that she thought of it, she realized that what she had actually searched for was to find herself within them, and she still hadn’t succeeded.

With a sigh Eunji entered the kitchen and began to busy herself with the household work. She could think about what he asked later on. After all, it wasn’t something to rush. Nor with her thoughts as was with actually doing it.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Incheon, actually, at the Incheon airport, Sung Gyu patiently waited at the VIP lounge, awaiting the arrival of the casino king from Las Vegas. He was set to arrive at 1.30 in the afternoon, and it was few minutes past one already, and Sung Gyu was substantially losing his patience by now.

He was set on this job unwillingly, which was in fact, a huge concern in his opinion. Investigators should be allocated to jobs according to their preferences, and this wasn’t one of his preference. It only fell in his job description, and he hated it.

More than that, he was dying to speak to Eunji over the phone. He wasn’t sure why, but he just saw it was a necessity to check whether she was being badly stalked by that stupid Moon Soo person, and in turn affecting her job as baby sitter. Sung Gyu was having a mental image of her hiding behind the sofa, writhing in fear as she dialed the emergency line, crying for help. Poor Sung Jae would be stuck in school with that hell of a home room teacher. Sung Gyu must speak to Eunji right now. Otherwise he would run insane.

Exactly at one fifteen, Sung Gyu decided he couldn’t take it anymore. He excused his fellow protocol officer, took his phone out and went to the lounge’s bathroom. He dialed Eunji’s number and waited until she picked up on the seventh ring.

“Miss Jung, is that guy stalking you?” Sung Gyu asked, the moment Eunji picked up.

“Yeah” She sounded like she was in the middle of eating. “Why you ask?”

“Is he obsessively stalking you?”

“Yeah?” on the other end, Eunji glanced at the phone, puzzled by her boss’s sudden attention. “Why really?”

“No nothing just…” Sung Gyu realized that he was being foolish and weird. Of course the guy wasn’t trying to murder her. Eunji was most possibly snacking on his pile of food supply, merrily going by her day. Sung Gyu was worrying about nothing. In fact, he shouldn’t be worried at all.

“Nothing” He answered in the end.

“Okay” Eunji went without much care.

“Pick up Sung jae on time”

“Sure” and the line went dead. For a moment he just blankly stared at the screen, wondering why even did that, and let out a sigh. Sung Gyu wasn’t the kind of a person who would panic unnecessarily, and this time was definitely a first. He wasn’t sure why he felt that strange need to look out for the baby sitter which came to him just a while ago. It was her definitive knack for get into trouble all the time. He felt a sense of protection over her, all for the fact that she was his son’s baby sitter hence, indirectly looking out for his son. He wasn’t certain if it was indeed what he felt at that moment. Whatever it was, it was definitely a first.

When he exited the lounge bathroom, all the protocol officers and airport staff were running around in a frenzy. He merely stood there, stunned for a moment and looked at the path everyone were heading to. A heavy hand landed tightly on his shoulder. He turned around, only to find his fellow protocol officer from the firm standing there with an annoyed expression.

“What?” Sung Gyu asked.

“Jack” he said, “Is here”

*

“How is the art project going?” Eunji asked as she led Sung Jae to the car that afternoon. “Did you get any smart ideas?”

“Nah” Sung Jae replied, shrugging it off. “I think I’ll make a ship”

“You like that idea, don’t you?”

He mulled it over, tilting his head. “It’s not bad”

Eunji unlocked the car and helped Sung Jae to buckle himself up in. Then, out in the distant, a glimpse of bright red appeared, followed by the familiar length of tinted bronze hair and pale skin. It was her, the lady with the long-lost son. Eunji stared at her as she longingly watched the children passing by. Something about her was beginning to grow suspicious, so she reached for the handle of the door and securely locked Sung Jae up inside.

“I’ll take only a minute” She said to him, rolling down the shutter. “Be good okay?”

“Okay” Sung Jae said.

Eunji quietly made her way towards the lady in red and appeared to be waiting for her kid to arrive. She hoped the lady hadn’t seen her previously escorting the child across the carpark, and just as if her stars were in all the good places, the lady approached her with a smile.

“Hey there” She said. “Are you waiting for your son?”

Son. It was a good disguise, if anything, for Sung Jae which she decided she must go with.

“Yes” Eunji gave her a smile. “Have you not met your son yet?”

The lady’s shoulders fell, an expression of longing grief appeared on her face. “It’s harder than I thought”

“It must be difficult for you” Eunji said empathetically. “Have you tried to contact his guardian?”

The lady was quiet for a moment, staring at the snowy wet tarmac and pursed her lips. “I’m at a difficult position, actually” she said and finally let out a sigh. “Perhaps I should contact his…guardian”

“It might help” Eunji said, now having learned enough of her strange behavior. She kept a warm hand on her shoulder and squeezed her gently. “I hope you find him soon…”

The lady looked up, and when she smiled, it reminded her of something, something familiar, something which she couldn’t entirely grasp. There was something about that smile which made her believe her. Something about the beauty of it made all that she said make sense, like it carried the sense of all her emotions towards her lost son. But Eunji couldn’t wait there. She had to make an excuse and make an escape.

“Ah” She said as though she had suddenly remembered something. “My son Sung Jae said he was going to see his art teacher”

Something flickered in the lady’s eyes. “Is that his name?”

“Yes. Kim Sung Jae” Eunji nodded. “I must go and see about it. Is it okay if I leave you here?”

“Of course, I don’t mind”

So Eunji excused herself and made her way towards the school building. Children were still filing out, parents and teachers alike, mingling about in the school grounds. Eunji made a beeline towards the water fountain which gave her a clear view of the lady as well as hiding her behind the wall, then she stuck her head out and looked where the lady was heading to.

But then, to her astonishment, the lady turned, looked around as if to see if anyone was watching and simply dashed her way across the parking lot towards Eunji’s car. Eunji narrowed her eyes and quietly watched her as she walked around towards Sung Jae’s seat. Eunji’s suspicion began to grow even more so as she peeked in through the opened shutter. Although she didn’t seem like one, although her tale sounded almost sincere, she could be a child kidnapper for all she cared. Therefore, Eunji decided to take the matters to her own hands. She quickly made her way through the cobble path and then across the driveway towards the car. The woman jumped out of her skin when Eunji cleared .

“Just what do you think you’re doing?”

“No nothing just…” The lady backed away, and Sung Jae stuck his head out the opened shutter.

“It certainly cannot be nothing” Eunji said angrily. “What are you doing here? explain”

“No don’t think wrongly!” The lady pleaded. “It’s just…your son seemed familiar, I just wanted to-,”

“He’s my son, that’s positive” Eunji answered firmly. “I knew something was odd about you. I would have helped you, but I’m scared to give you my trust now”

The woman merely stared at her, her gaze low and pleading, so much so that Eunji almost felt she must apologize for what she just did, but no, Sung Jae was her responsibility, and it was that responsibility which held Sung Gyu’s trust on her. She would never lose it, and she would protect Sung Jae over her life.

“My son is just about his age” The lady then said. “And his name…”

“I just really hope you will find him” Eunji said, interrupting her. “I just sensed something odd about you. Why don’t you stop acting in a suspicious manner and contact his guardian?”

The lady backed away. “You-you are right….” She said. “Perhaps…if I…”

“I must leave” Eunji said tightly. “Take it slowly, I’d say. I am sure you will find him”

The lady then gave her tat smile. That smile of a mother; that smile which made her click, which made something flash in her mind and disappear and she bowed deeply. “Thank you…and good bye”

*

Eunji and Sung Jae were in the kitchen making paper pulp for Sung Jae’s ship when Sung Gyu came into the kitchen carrying a paper bag full of grocery goods and a stack of letters. “Found these in the hallway” he said to Eunji meaningfully as he handed the letters over to Eunji and gave an interesting look at the basin full of tissue and gluey water which Sung Jae had his hands dipped in. “What’s this?”

“Paper pulp” Sung Jae answered and held up a string of toilet rolls dipped in glue. “We’re making a ship”

“A ship” Sung Gyu said, giving a weary smile. He fell into a chair then and looked up at Eunji who didn’t seem like she cared about the notes as she concentrated on making the paper pulp.

“Miss Jung” Sung Gyu addressed, concern etched in his voice. “This man. Have you thought of what you should do about it?”

“Not really” Eunji answered without looking up. “I told him I wasn’t interested, the rest is his problem”

Sung gyu sighed. “You can’t possibly let this kind of things off like that”

“Then what do you suggest I do?”

He frowned then, trying to fathom why he even cared, and realized that he was probably only concerned because he was beginning to see Eunji as Sung Jae’s bestowed caretaker and guardian.

“Well I don’t know, talk to him, maybe?”

“I tried” Eunji shrugged while ripping toilet rolls into the basin. “But he’s asking if I ever loved him. How am I supposed to answer that?”

“Maybe you should think it over” Sung gyu answered after a while. “You know, as an investigator I am warning you, obsessive ex-boyfriends tend to get real nasty. What does he do for living? Photography?”

“He’s an artist” Eunji replied. “He does modern art and stuff. But we dated only for a few months back then”

“But the notes seem obsessive”

Eunji turned to her boss, completely stunned. “You read them?”

Sung Gyu gave a non-committal shrug. “Well I couldn’t help myself”

“Is this enough pulp?” Sung Jae asked.

“Yeah” Eunji’s attention averted back to her boss. “How dare you?”

“Look” Sung Gyu said, standing up. “I was only concerned, okay? As your employer, I must see to your safety”

“But they were personal!”

“But you are my baby sitter!”

“You shouldn’t have!”

“I already did”

Eunji dipped both her hands into the pulp mixture, feeling as if he had shred off of her covers and set her in . She hadn’t ever let anyone near her personal belongings, all for the fact that she preferred keeping things to herself, and her boss of all the people, reading her personal notes. She mustn’t have left them out in display. It was all her fault.

“I hate you” She cried in the end.

*

“Mister Sock Gyu” Jack called from his suite for the umpteenth time. “Mister Sock Gyu! At what time is the opening ceremony?”

Sung Gyu kept maintaining a straight face while inside, he was burning in rage. The day had started out as bad as it could with Eunji spilling coffee all over his crisp white shirt, making him run off to press a new one and not finding any white shirts and having to opt for a blue one instead, and the Jack person, a stubby middle aged American with graying pepper hair and a curvy moustache, has found entertainment in calling him the misheard pronunciation of his name. He was calling out for Sung Gyu every one second, asking him for this and that. All in all, it was a pain being the chief protocol officer of the group, even more so, having to attend to all the VIP’s needs.

The Gangnam arts festival, an annual program all set for the art lovers all over the country was under the theme of casino royale this year. Participants of all age groups and titles took part in the event, and every year it was bequeathed by the presence of a well-known celebrity guest, this year it being the popular casino owner from Las Vegas, Jack. Jack only went by his first name Jack, and smoked about dozen cigars a day. He had two wives, one of whom he brought along and was being attended to by a female member from the firm, and was said to be the judge of this year’s children’ arts and crafts exhibition. Sung Jae was attending the same exhibition as it happened, and he had gotten Eunji to attend as his guardian. He had made a ship out of board, cloth and paper pulp. It was a rather impressive work of art, done with the help of the baby sitter. Sung Gyu was glad she was capable. He couldn’t imagine what he would have done without her.

After having ministered to Jack’s demands, Sung Gyu went off to check how things were being prepared at the gallery for Jack’s arrival. Everything was set as planned, the music, the bands, the props and colors, all perfectly well managed. After double checking on everything, Sung Gyu returned. He was tired, every bit of him, but he was glad that things were set.

It was on his way back that he caught the familiar sight. A flash of bronze hair, a flash of red. Yoora was there, still beautiful, still glamorous, still with her arts and crafts. Sung Gyu’s heart skipped a bit in the familiar way. It wasn’t like he wanted them to be strangers. At times he felt the need to contact her, to let her reconcile with their child. But there was this undeniable, unavoidable sense of resentment which kept coming in on his way. Sung Gyu felt as if Yoora would somehow separate him from his son, thus the moment this thought appeared, Sung gyu stepped away. He couldn’t let his thoughts to be wavered by her arrival. He had to stay put.

The festival started with the arrival of Jack. It was Sung gyu who sat beside Jack during his way to the gallery. As they drove along, Jack called; “Mister Sock Gyu”

“Yes, sir” Sung gyu said.

“Do you have kids?”

Sung Gyu nodded.

“Is your wife working?”

“No sir”

“Is she staying at home?”

“No sir”

Jack frowned. “Then…?”

Sung Gyu, turning red as a berry, gave Jack a bashful smile. “I’m not married sir”

“Then, is your child a foster kid?”

“No sir….” He thought for a moment. “It’s complicated, sir…”

“Complicated” Jack nodded. “Complicated…”

When they arrived, it was Sung Gyu who opened the door for him. Jack stood up, his stubby hand landing heavily on Sung Gyu’s arm, and as they walked down the red carpet towards the entrance, flashing cameras glistening on their faces, jack leaned closer and said, “You’re a good kid. Advice. It must be all about your child”

*

Eunji parted Sung Jae’s hair from a side, applied a little oil and combed it stylishly up to the front, which made him look just the same as his father. He was in a smart blue shirt and jeans, and Eunji had paired it up with a fine little red scarf which gave him the look of a French artist. Sung Jae gave a shy smile once it was all done, and Eunji stepped away.

“Baby sitter” He called. “Do you think the ship is alright?”

The ship, named Queen Mary, was sitting proudly in the display among other crafts work before them.

“The ship is magnificent” Eunji said, giving Sung Jae a light pat. “What you must do is be the charming young man you are, and wait. Hm?”

“Alright” Sung Jae nodded and looked straight ahead. Then again he turned back to Eunji with a strange expression “I am scared, I want to pee”

Eunji groaned inwardly yet maintained her face straight. “Yeah, okay” she said. “I think I want to use the ladies’ room too”

While Sung Jae rushed into the men’s room, Eunji pushed open the door to the ladies’ and stood back still, stunned by the appearance of the familiar figure standing by the mirror, the familiar sight of the long bronze hair swishing back and forth with every movement. Eunji hadn’t expected her to follow them everywhere they went. She wasn’t sure how far her stalking skills went. She was all about to address this matter, stepping into the washroom, but before even she could begin, the lady piped up and said; “I’m an artist, I didn’t expect you were here”

“Uh…oh…” Eunji murmured, unable to form a word. “I didn’t…well, Sung jae is competing in the children’s division”

“I could assume as far” Said the lady with a smile. “My name is Yoora, by the way. Im Yoora”

“I’m Eunji” Eunji, still taken by surprise, replied. “What do you mean-?”

“I must leave” Yoora stuffed her make-up kit into her bag. “It’s nice meeting you, Eunji”

“I hope you find your son” Eunji said, yet again, in a small voice. Yoora gave Eunji a warm smile, which tugged at her in this strange way like she knew it all too well, and said, “I hope so too” before she went ‘out the door.

Upon stepping out of the bathroom, the first thing which caught her eye was Sung Jae standing proudly by himself, hands twisted behind him, looking as if he gave no care to the world, and someone’s familiar back, and the flash of a camera. Eunji stood still, surprised for the second time for the moment and she wondered what was wrong with her stars on that particular day when the person turned and Moon Soo’s smile greeted her. “Hey! Saw the kid you baby sit, thought you might be here”

“Oh god” Eunji muttered under her breath, and tried to give a fake, phony smile. “Hey, Moon Soo. What are you doing here?”

“Artist” Moon Soo said, holding up the card around his neck. “How about you?”

“Sung Jae’s competing for the kids’ division” She nodded at the child. “In fact, we were in a bit of a hurry-”

“Are you sure you can’t spare a moment?” Moon Soo asked, sounding dejected. “There’s still time before the opening ceremony”

“Sung Jae wants to see his daddy” Eunji said quickly and looked at Sung Jae with a warning look. “Don’t you Sung Jae?” He nodded obediently.

“Oh…” Moon Soo’s shoulders fell dejectedly. “After the ceremony, I guess-?”

“No!” Eunji said a bit too loudly. The whole art exhibition was already a mess, what with the strange stalker woman on the loose telling strange things about Sung jae. Another stalker climbing up her nerves was the last thing she needed right now. “No” She said again, making up for the mistaken loud exclamation. “Sung Jae’s father wants us to leave immediately”

Moon Soo gave a questioning look.

“I mean, Sung Jae is sick”

The obedient Sung Jae coughed on cue, much for Eunji’s relief, and Moon Soo’s face changed, as if he was finally understanding.

“Well okay then” He sighed, and raised his eyes. “But have you thought about it? What I asked you?”

Eunji felt like her head was about to burst. He had asked the same question in approximately twenty letters that he had passed through Sung Gyu’s front door and all of them Eunji had solemnly discarded into the bin because her true feelings were winning over what her conscious was attempting to make her feel. Eunji had never loved him. It wasn’t love she had felt for him back then. It was pity, because he had asked for her hand. It was the need to respond to him because he had been sincere to her. It was a spur of the moment response she had given after a bad break up, seeking for comfort, nothing more. But she couldn’t possibly tell him all that. Eunji too, had a heart. The truth, if she would tell him, would crush him to bits.

“I-I need time” Eunji stammered in the end. “I’m sorry Moon Soo I-,”

“It’s okay” Moon Soo gave her a soft smile. “Take all the time you need”

“What?” Eunji said in disbelief.

“It’s okay” Moon Soo said again. “Take your time, I’m not forcing you…”

“Oh…” Eunji looked down at her feet. “Alright…then-,”

“But I swear I will get you back” Moon Soo said then in determination. “I still love you, and I swear I will get you back”

Eunji could only stare in response. She was certain, the next phase of her life, was not going to be as welcoming as she expected it to be.

*

Sung Gyu was heading towards the men’s to get his business done just before the opening ceremony when he happened to run into Im Yoora. She was seemingly in a hurry, mind off the trail that she surprised out of her skin upon crashing onto Sung gyu in a rush. She began to bow out of reflex, not seeing him at first. But Yoora, for him was hard to miss. Though she wasn’t in his heart anymore, the very existent of her was hard to miss. So Sung Gyu’s hand reached out before he could stop himself and caught her arm, making Yoora gasp in surprise.

“Relax, its just me” He said and dropped his hand. “What’s the rush?”

Yoora’s posture averted as would the color of a chameleon and she gave Sung Gyu a wry smile. “Fancy seeing you here” She said.

Sung Gyu merely shrugged and tilted his head. “I am on duty. Speaking of which-,”

“I just saw Sung jae”

Sung Gyu’s eyes widened, and soon his willful possessiveness took over him. Sung Gyu couldn’t fathom why, but he was particularly possessive over Sung Jae when it comes down to Yoora. A part of him understood that there was no harm in allowing Sung Jae to see his birth mother, given that Yoora herself wasn’t intending to harm her child anyway; but something was stopping him, pulling him back from actually letting them meet. For some reason he always had a nagging feeling about it. For some reason, he felt as if Yoora would pull him and Sung Jae apart.

It was out of his intuitive feeling that his eyes averted on the direction which Yoora came from, and it was right at that moment that Eunji emerged out of the corner, Sung Jae obediently following after her. Sung Gyu slightly pushed Yoora out of her was, and instinctively pushed Eunji against the nearby wall, cornering her with Sung jae between them.

“Boss?” Eunji muttered out of surprise. She didn’t expect to see her boss since he had claimed that he would be busy throughout the exhibition. It was one thing, and having him cornering her to a wall in a rather provocative manner was another thing. Sung Gyu was so close to her that she could inhale the manly scent wafting around him, and his five o’clock unshaved shadow was so prominent. Eunji felt herself blush although it wasn’t the right moment to.

“Eunji, what are you doing here?”

“Sung Jae wanted to use the loo” Eunji said and tried tp pry off her boss’s arm. “The hell is wrong with you?”

“Did you meet someone on the way?”

Eunji tilted her head, “What do you mean?”

“A woman” Sung Gyu replied breezily.

“Umm…I met several women-,”

“Bronze hair, red coat”

“Ah!” Eunji snapped in recognition. “Im Yoora. I knew she was suspicious! Are you going to arrest her boss? Because she was actually blabbing something about a missing child and was sneaking up on our Sung Jae, and I-,”

“She’s Sung Jae’s mother”

Eunji’s train of wards halted, and she looked up at her boss as if he was blabbering bull. “Eh?”

“Im Yoora is Sung Jae’s mother” Sung Gyu repeated.

Then they heard someone clearing their throat behind them. Sung Gyu immediately took note of the awkward posture he had Eunji trapped in, and he immediately pulled away, Sung Jae sliding away from him and taking his hand, looking up in curiosity. Sung Gyu looked around him, completely stunned and embarrassed as if he was just caught in the act of wrong doing. It was what the glares of their eyes was implying to him, if ot anything. Yoora, and there was Moon Soo, staring down at him with raging glares.

“Yoora” Sung Gyu said.

“Moon Soo” Eunji said.

“It is not what you think it is”

*

Sung gyu had expected for the gagman arts festival to be something, yet not as eventful as it had been to him. For one, he had expected for him and Yoora to have a friendly chat over mundane things if they ever happened to come across each other, not to end up in a fleeting row. And secondly, he hadn’t expected Moon Soo to be standing there or anywhere near Eunji, nor even in the exact vicinity of the arts festival, but there he was as if he belonged to be there. All in all, it had been an exhausting day for him that after the night had ended, Sung Gyu found himself yawning endlessly as he drove along the empty roads with Eunji on his side, looking for a late night diner.

As they stopped for a red light, Sung gyu turned down the radio and said. “This Moon Soo person, didn’t expect to see him there”

Eunji turned towards her boss. “Hm? Oh, neither did I”

“What was he doing there? Following you?”

“Nah” Eunji shrugged. “Hope he’s not that crazy. I think he had an exhibit down at the festival”

“Oh” Sung gyu nodded understandingly. “So what’s he doing? Photography?”

“Nope” Eunji shook her head. “He’s an artist”

“Artist? I thought he did photography”

“Not really”.

The red light turned green and Sung gyu began to drive on quietly. As they stopped by the traffic around the corner, Sung Gyu asked; “What kind of art?”

“Modern art” Eunji replied. “You know, the freakish stuff”

“I know” Sung Gyu smiled at her tone. “I actually saw him afterwards with a piece…a massive white rectangle with a single black dot in the middle”

“That must be his piece” Eunji said with a laugh. “I bet he calls it infinity, I bet people gawked at it”

“They did!” Sung Gyu laughed in response. “Wow, some admirer you’ve got there”

“I know” Eunji said, and her voice slowed down a bit. “I know…”

In fact, Eunji was still not over the big revelation Sung Gyu made over at the exhibition about Yoora being Sung Jae’s mother. Eunji couldn’t get over the fact that her boss, the most unexpected person of all was a past flame of someone so perfect, so beautiful, someone Eunji personally envied. It was an even greater shock that Sung Gyu and she had had a child together. But everything made sense now, now that she knew the truth. Yoora had been right after all. It was no surprise that she found the child to be familiar. Sung Jae was the splitting reflection of his father, but only, his smile was different, his smile was that smile Eunji found to be so familiar. His smile was of his mother’s. The whole ordeal was beginning to make her head hurt. For some reason, she was convinced that the entire thing was unfair. It wasn’t fair that Sung Gyu had someone so perfect, as a past flame. It wasn’t fair that she was back in the big picture, searching for her son. It wasn’t fair because she knew that the whole thing was going to turn into one whole big mess, and she was going to be a part of it. Through this thought, a sudden memory of seeing that smile somewhere else appeared in her mind. It was so vivid and clear that she had no trouble figuring out where it was. Everything was making much sense now, and in result she felt even more envious. Yoora, she was the girl in the photograph, the one in Sung Gyu’s special little shoe box.

As they moved along the road, Eunji took one long look at Sung gyu. He seemed completely unperturbed, relaxed even, although he had a seemingly big but a quiet argument with Yoora back then at the parking lot. It irked Eunji more than she expected it to, she felt as if Sung gyu wasn’t caring enough. But then again, she saw just how possessive he was over Sung Jae. He wasn’t even letting Sung Jae to see his own mother. Sung Gyu was, by far the most ambiguous person Eunji had ever seen.

And so, just as they took the turn to a fast food joint just around the corner, Eunji decided that she should take it to her hands and clear her doubts.

“The girl in the shoe box” She said without thinking further. Which made Sung gyu turn to her with utmost surprise. “Was it Yoora?”

Sung Gyu remained in a moment of stunned silence, merely blinking and took one hard look at the baby sitter. “W-what are you talking about?”

“I saw the picture in the shoe box, in your night stand” Eunji said, and Sung Gyu parked the car in the empty drive way of the food joint. He turned to face the baby sitter. “What…what were you doing, sneaking through my personal belongings”

Eunji shrugged. “You’re one to speak….besides, you read my letters”

“Eunji” Sung Gyu sighed. “I said I was sorry”

“It was only the shoe box” Eunji assured before he could ask. “So? Is it her?”

Sung gyu had his lips pursed into a thin line, staring straight ahead, as if he was mulling over his options. In fact, he wasn’t mad at her for going through his personal belongings even if he wanted to be. It was more of relief that he felt that there was finally someone whom he could share his frustrated thoughts with. Someone who would actually listen. Besides it was just the shoe box, just the remaining fragments of his past. The biggest and most important remainder was in Eunji’s arms already, therefore her coming across the minor bits wasn’t really a big deal.

“Yes, it’s her” he said in the end.

Eunji was silent, just staring at him, and gave him a smile. “Okay” she said with a nod.

Sung Gyu gawked at her in return. He expected surprise, anger, anything, but she only seemed as if he just cleared her doubts. “Okay? That’s it?”

“Yeah?” Eunji said and gave him a look. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing” Sung gyu sighed and turned away. “Oh, and about the Moon Soo person-,”

“Oh I’ll handle it” Eunji waved him off.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely”

*

An hour later after Eunji had assured Sung gyu to take care of her stalking business, they arrived at Sung Gyu’s condominium only to find a stack of letters and also a massive stone structure at the foot of the door. Sung Gyu didn’t say a word as he and Sung Jae entered the house while giving a rather evasive look at the stone structure, and once inside Eunji dragged the art piece into the house and picked the letters in her hand.

“You’re dealing with it quite well” Sung Gyu commented as Eunji closed the door behind her. “Now look, you have stones visiting you”

“A bloody nightmare” Eunji said and picked out a letter. Then another, and another before walking into the kitchen to dump all of it into the bin. Just at the moment then, another letter slipped right through the parting, and Sung gyu was faster. He picked it up and began to read aloud.

“Dear Eunji, you looked pretty today-,”

Eunji stomped out of the kitchen, dismayed. “Yah, stop!”

“But why the ugly old geezer-wait, what?”

Eunji, who was stomping around, made a victorious face. “Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you”

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the late update, life kept me lagging behind. I will be taking a long break, up until september after this update because of my studies. I hope you will not miss me too much. :D

Until then please give some love to my Woohyun-centric story, click on the link below.

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1132700/down-the-lane-across-the-road-romance-sliceoflife-woohyun-origialcharacter

Thank you for reading!

Loads of love,

Achini.