Epilogue

“How’s the report going, Jiwoo?”

Somin paused by the door of the editorial department when she heard that voice. Peeking inside, she saw Tae-hyung standing in front of Jiwoo’s desk. Jiwoo was looking up at him, a radiant smile on her face, and Somin pressed her lips together in a tight line as she watched the two of them.

“It’s going well,” Jiwoo answered Tae-hyung. “I’m going to make it blow your mind so you won’t tell me it again.”

“I didn’t say it ,” Tae-hyung immediately denied, looking affronted.

“You inked almost every line with your red pen, added your chicken scratch scrawls above, which by the way I’ve yet to decipher, and told me to revise everything. In short, you told me it .”

“But I still didn’t say it .”

Jiwoo gave him another wide smile and stretched out her arm to give him the file on her hand. But instead of grabbing the file, Tae-hyung grabbed her wrist instead. He pulled her up and gave her a quick kiss on the lips over the desk. Jiwoo immediately pushed his face after and looked around to check if someone saw. But no one, except for Somin, had noticed, so busy were they with their own deadlines.

“Look at them,” Somin muttered to herself as she watched a red-faced Jiwoo smack a snickering Tae-hyung with the file. “So… happy. It’s disgusting to look at.”

A low chuckle burst out behind her. She turned and saw Woo-jin. Leaning his shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed, Woo-jin's eyes twinkled with mirth as they stared at her. 

“But didn’t you have a hand in their happiness?” he asked.

Somin frowned at him for a moment. 

Then she gave him a breathtaking smile.

“That I did,” she replied.

It was supposed to be Jiwoo’s welcome party. But the lady of the hour wasn’t partaking in the merriment with them.

Somin looked around to find her. When she did, she saw Jiwoo still sitting at the back of the room, the same spot where Woo-jin had left her when Somin challenged him to sing-off. Somin's eyebrows lifted when she spotted Tae-hyung now sitting next to Jiwoo. Curiosity began to burn inside of her.

Didn’t she hear that this Jiwoo used to be Tae-hyung’s stalker?

She glanced at Woo-jin. He was preoccupied picking another song for them to sing. The man had just lost four times to her and was really determined to win. So Somin took this opportunity to sneak away from the group, acting as if she was thirsty. 

“You know,” she heard Tae-hyung say as she filled a glass with ice behind them. “I never expected to see you again. Well, I had hoped. That’s why I went against my parent’s wishes and worked in a publishing company because I somehow knew that your love for books will make you choose this field. I was hoping I’d run into you one day.”

Jiwoo didn’t reply. Her head was downcast, her hair covering her face. Was she sleeping or was she pretending, hoping he’ll leave her alone?

It angered Somin. How dare she ignore Tae-hyung?

“I’m so happy to see you again, Jiwoo,” Tae-hyung continued to say. And maybe it was the alcohol talking but it seemed that he couldn’t stop himself from saying the following words. “I love you, Jiwoo. I still love you. And I hope, I really, really hope that you’ll love me again.”

Hearing that confession made Somin’s chest squeeze painfully.

When Somin met Tae-hyung back in university, the first impression she had of him was that he was the saddest and the most miserable man she’d ever seen. It made her want him to be happy, that’s why she pushed him to go out with her. But when she couldn’t, she gave up and let him go. Through circumstances, they became best friends, her, Tae-hyung and Woo-jin as well. And Somin would do anything for the both of them.

So it was her, Somin thought with realization.  It was her that gave him the sad eyes. And it was her that brought the happy back in them.

Tae-hyung suddenly stood up and asked Yena, who’d wandered close to them, to look after Jiwoo since she’d passed out from drinking too much. Then he left the karaoke room, a worryingly dejected expression on his face. 

And there Somin knew what she had to do.

She’d do everything for them to get back together.

“Tae-hyung’s going to be a lot busy soon,” Woo-jin said. “He’s getting another promotion and probably a seat on the Board.”

“So soon?” Somin asked, her brows raised.

“Does it really surprise you? He’s been so motivated lately that this department’s sales increased 15% in just a month.”

Somin gave him a smug look. “It’s all because of me.”

His gaze softened, his voice softer when he said, “I’m glad you didn’t listen to Tae-hyung and me when we told you to stop messing with her and making her jealous. And I’m glad you told Tae-hyung about the letter.”

She was glad too.

“If only you didn’t interfere that day when they were in the stairwell, they would have been together since then,” she grumbled.

Woo-jin laughed. “I’ve already apologized to Tae-hyung for that.”

She didn’t say anything. She just rolled her eyes.

So he spoke. “Are you ready to fall in love with me again?”

Somin drew in a silent breath when her heart started to beat wildly. Then on the exhale, she gave Woo-jin, who was smirking at her, a well-placed glare.

The dratted man really won’t stop.

She shrugged daintily and walked past him. She knew Woo-jin was watching her closely. Woo-jin had always liked watching her so she gave him a show, swaying her hips side by side in a seductive fashion. And she liked the fact that he enjoyed watching her. 

Flipping her hair over her shoulder and glancing at him, she murmured, “Get a promotion and I might think about it.”

"I’ll book a reservation at your favorite restaurant next month then,” Woo-jin quickly and confidently said, giving her one of his heart-stopping grins.

And Somin’s rapidly beating heart tripped with joy.

End.

Or is this the start of another story? (*≧艸≦)

Thank you everyone for reading and enjoying this story! Thank you for the comments, for the love of K.A.R.D, for shipping our OTP Jiwoo x J.seph and for all the general support and love. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now, let me know what you think about this epilogue.

And let me know through the poll if you think I should make a second story, this time about Woo-jin and Somin, continuing this story timeline...

Or create another Jiwoo x J.seph story.

Bye for now! (*^▽^*)