September 28: 2pm, ‘Hayaley Sung’ Boutique, Sheraton Grande Walkerhill, Seoul

“Why am I nervous? Calm down.” Hayaley says to herself. She hears a commotion at the entrance of the boutique and eyes it. The appearance of Jae Joong in a black suit and tie makes her breath catch. He looks simply gorgeous. She hears him say to the Design Associate who greeted him, "I have an appointment."

She walks the short distance to them, “Kim Jae Joong-shi, welcome. I have the design pieces we discussed set-up. This way please.” She leads the way to the private consulting room in the back of the boutique.

Once in the room, she gestures to her staff to bring in the refreshments before turning to her guests.

“Sung Hyun Jin-shi, this is my mother and my sisters and my two nieces,” Jae Joong starts.

Hayaley was taken aback that he used her Korean name and rather formally but had time to recover as his sisters all greeted her almost in unison as soon as she bows to them. “Ahnyeonghaseyo,” she greets them, finding them such a charming group, especially in their pretty hanboks. “Please have a seat.”

The staff reappear with tea and petite cakes for everyone, which elicit a chorus of, “Oh, so cute!” from everyone. It’s an expression that Hayaley is familiar with when guests see the cakes.

After everyone settles down, she starts to explain the collection of rings before them. She tries not to go into too much details. She knows most guests are simply not as interested as she is with the details. 

Jae Joong’s sister, Su Jin, is the first to speak, “Mak-nae, is this mum’s wedding anniversary gift?”

“Actually, I would like mum and all of you, my dear sisters, to pick one or two each.”

Gasps and ‘whats’ fill the room. Mum speaks then, “Son, that’s too much. How much is each of the rings?”

“Omma, don’t worry about the price.” He proceeds to explain why he’s doing this. Some of his sisters were in tears when he’s done. His mum too looks teary-eyed.

Hayaley purses her lips to keep her emotions in check. Her admiration for this man before her is bursting at its seams, especially knowing that he is actually adopted.

“So, please honor me and pick out your favorite one or two.”

“One is enough. Why two?”

“It’s usually only sold in pairs to each customer. But that doesn’t apply to us since I’m getting each one of you at least one. Omma, you have to pick two though.”

“Why? I don’t need two.”

“Because I want to get you two.”

“Omma, since it’s Jae Joong’s wish on such an auspicious day, just pick two. Besides, they are really pretty,” Min Yung helps to persuade their mum.

“What’s the difference? So many of them, I’m getting dizzy looking at them,” mum laments.

Three of the fifteen versions of the rings

Hayaley explains that the three trays have similar pieces so she can just pick from one of the trays. She sets the other two trays apart so Jae Joong’s sisters can look at them at the same time. “All 15 butterflies on each tray have a different combination of sapphire and diamonds except one, which is all sapphire.”

“There’s not one with all diamonds?” Min Yung asks.

“Sorry, we specialize in sapphires so all our pieces have to have sapphire.”

“Hyun Jin-shi is actually the designer for all these pieces,” Jae Joong announces.

“Omo, really? You must be rich, huh?” Su Jin asks, not meaning any harm.

“Noona!”

Hayaley couldn’t help smiling. She now remembers that this is the same sister who had shot her the random compliment after the Seoul concert.

“Oh, sorry…I’m too direct sometimes.”

“It’s okay. A big portion of the sales does go to help children in Thailand so your brother is making a very meaningful contribution to these children’s future today.” She had wanted to only charge him for the price of the sapphire and diamonds but when he had heard where most of the sales go towards, he had insisted on paying the retail price.  

“Hyun Jin-shi was actually going to give me a huge discount today but I thought the children needed the money more than I do.”

“That’s my brother!” Min Yung punches his arm lightly.

“Why would you give my brother a discount?” Su Jin asks curious. She is sensing something peculiar in the air.

“Neh? Uhm,…”

“Hyun Jin-shi is also the Audio Direct