The three girls were having Saturday breakfast together at their favourite café after a long time.

“Uhhhmmm…this waffle just melts in my mouth,” exclaimed Jae Kyung, while around his mouth.

“I missed this too,” said Ha Jin while slurping her strawberry smoothie.

“Girls, I have a surprise for you. And I need your support in it,” spoke Ga Eul, looking expectantly at her friends.

“What surprise? Are you dating someone?” asked Jae Kyung, stopping midway between eating her food.

“Oh no! Of course not!” replied Ga Eul too quickly.

“Let her speak, Jae Kyung-ah,” spoke Ha Jin shaking her head dismissively.

Jae Kyung touched her ears and mouthed ‘sorry’.

“Ok. So, the thing is that I have been helping Yi Jung in his new creations of pottery for the upcoming exhibition. In fact, he does not even need my help at all, I am just being there to learn the techniques,” spoke Ga Eul and paused to see her friends’ reactions.

They kept looking at her with interest and waited for her to continue.

“And…then he asked me if I would be interested to make some on my own, and he would like to have it exhibited along with his own collection. It would be kind of my debut as a ceramic artist in the contemporary art world!” she spoke with her eyes sparkling in joy and excitement.

“Whoa!! That sounds daebak!” replied Jae Kyung.

“You must be really good in pottery then, that someone like Yi Jung wants to share his exhibition with you,” spoke Ha Jin with wonder.

“That I am not so sure of. I am a keen learner, but I am sure there is a long way to go before I can even call myself an artist,” replied Ga Eul hesitantly.

“Oh, come on, Ga Eul-ah. Yi Jung seems a no-nonsense guy when it comes to his artistry. He would not take any charity case if his reputation is on the line. So, rest assured, he must have seen the real talent in you,” spoke Jae Kyung matter-of-factly.

“Thank you, girls, I needed this encouragement from you. And you have to come to the exhibition next Sunday to cheer me up,” requested Ga Eul.

Both Jae Kyung and Ha Jin eyed her a bit hesitantly. Yi Jung’s exhibition meant the presence of F3, which none of them was ready to face, for their own reasons.

“I am not sure, Ga Eul-ah, if I will want to be there,” mumbled Ha Jin.

“But Ha Jin, Ji Hoo is in Cambodia, and as far as I remember, his stint was for 3 weeks at least. So, he should not be back by then,” reasoned Ga Eul.

“Hey, hey! What am I missing here? What has Ji Hoo got to do with Ha Jin-ah?” interjected Jae Kyung.

Both Ha Jin and Ga Eul shot a look of uncertainty at her.

Hesitating in the beginning, Ha Jin spoke about her predicament with Ji Hoo to Jae Kyung in a gist. Jae Kyung’s eyes almost popped out, when she heard it all.

“Oh my god! Ha Jin-ah! You have become such a rebel! I would never have imagined you to do any of those ‘daring acts’ before,” she blurted out.

Ha Jin covered her face in her palms and shook her head.

“It’s ok, my friend. We are with you all the way, whatever you decide to do. I am actually very happy to know that finally you have started living your life on your own terms,” spoke Jae Kyung while caressing her friends head.

Ga Eul smiled and hugged Ha Jin sideways.

“Oh my god! I did suspect something like this could happen when I saw you two rolling over the sands in the sea at New Caledonia,” exclaimed Jae Kyung and burst out in laughter.

“It’s not a joke anymore. I have made a fool of myself in front of him,” replied Ha Jin dejectedly.

That made Jae Kyung conscious of her own feelings for Woo Bin, and her smile vanished. Even she would not find it easy to face Woo Bin after their last encounter. Suddenly she thought of a plan and turned to Ga Eul.

“Is it ok if I bring someone with me at the exhibition?”

“Yes, of course. But who is this ‘someone’?” asked Ga Eul.

“There is this guy who I met few days back. He is very nice and friendly. His name is Do Jung,” replied Jae Kyung shyly.

“Wow! That sounds great! Please bring him with you. We would like to meet him,” spoke Ga Eul excitedly.

“There is nothing serious going on between us, mind it. So, don’t start teasing me in front of him,” warned Jae Kyung.

“Oh no, never. We will just try to warn him that he is getting himself into a big trouble with the ‘monkey’,” guffawed Ha Jin.

“Hiyaa!” cried out Jae Kyung.

Rest of the morning they spent chatting and laughing just like the old times.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The week passed by quickly for Ga Eul. She took few days off from the school, to work on her pottery along with Yi Jung. Initially she was a bit hesitant to spend such long time in close proximity with him, as she was still not able to bring up the topic of their ‘sudden closeness’ with him. But to her pleasant surprise, he really did seem extremely professional when it came to his artistry. He worked on his own masterpieces diligently day and night, asking for Ga Eul’s opinion from time to time. He taught her the technicalities and nuances of pottery. How different clay types could give different shape and forms, and how to heat them in the kilns. He often shared various facts on pottery and how it had shaped human lives from time immemorial. Such enriching sessions, no matter how long and tiring at the end of the day, invigorated Ga Eul and gave her mental bliss she craved for all her life.

On Saturday evening, Yi Jung asked her to accompany him to the exhibition venue to supervise the setup of the exhibits. He drove her to the Suam Cultural Foundation Centre, in the heart of the Seoul city.

Ga Eul looked around her in awe. The portico and the foyer exuded elegance and artistic finesse. She walked around the foyer where paintings and sculptures by eminent international artists were displayed. She came across the notice board where upcoming classical music and ballet performances were announced. There were numerous photographs of past dance recitals, concerts and art exhibitions. She could not hide her admiration when Yi Jung joined her to take her to the exhibition hall.

“This place is fascinating. I had only heard about it before, but had never imagined it to be so…so rich and aesthetic!” she spoke with a broad smile.

Yi Jung smiled at her amazed expression. He wondered for a moment what would her expression be if he had taken her to the So family’s art museum, the largest art museum of the country. And immediately regretted bringing that thought in his mind. He had not stepped in their art museum after his mother’s death. All it reminded him was of his past life, his father’s debauchery, Elsa’s deceit, his mother’s helpless pleas. He took a deep breath and turned to Ga Eul’s beautiful face.

“Come on Ga Eul. We don’t have much time to prepare for tomorrow. After tomorrow’s exhibition take all your time to peruse through each and every piece of art here,” he said with a smile and pulled her towards the exhibition hall.

You have made this possible for me again, Ga Eul. You gave me my muse, my life back. I will bring back all the joy in your life, I promise.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Ha Jin stepped on the stairs of the Suam Cultural Foundation Centre cautiously, looking around to catch a glimpse of any familiar face. The place was full of the very high-flying elite class people, and renowned personalities, whom she had only seen on tv. Press reporters and security personnel added on to the crowd, thus making her feel all the more out of place.

After she walked through the security, she walked to a corner, and waited for her friends. It seemed everyone knew each other among the guests, and every now and then they would throw a curious look towards her, wondering who she could be. Ha Jin smoothed her creamy white knee length chiffon dress, and checked her reflection on the glass wall consciously, when someone tapped on her shoulder. She jumped around to find Woo Bin with a goofy smile.

“You scared me!” she squeaked.

“That sounds familiar. Why do I hear that so often these days?” he smirked raising a brow.

“Anyway. Hi, Woo Bin! It is such a relief seeing a familiar face in this aristocratic crowd,” she spoke with a huff.

“Hmm, can’t help you much with that. Arts and money have a crazy love-hate relationship that you cannot avoid,” he brooded while placing her palm on his elbow, and pulled her along through the crowd. Immediately, flashes of camera started bombarding them from all around.

“Oh crap! Why are we being photographed like some celebrities?” panicked Ha Jin.

“Don’t worry. They need to fill their page 3 with bull every day. No one even cares about that. We should rather focus more on what new clay pots Yi Jung and Ga Eul have come up with this time,” he replied nonchalantly before eyeing the press reporters icily.

Immediately the flashes ceased, and Ha Jin let out a breath of relief.

Woo Bin took her through a guarded door, which opened to an empty corridor.

“Yi Jung and Ga Eul are in the dressing room at the back, before they come out for the official inauguration of the exhibition. You can wait there away from these stupid bunch of snobs,” he muttered.

Ha Jin was quite surprised to see his obvious distaste for the elites, although he was definitely one of them. She was about to ask him more, when her phone started buzzing.

“Heartbeat heartbeat speeding up…

Heartbeat heartbeat in my mind…”

She quickly tried to take out her phone from the clutch bag, but by that time Woo Bin was already holding his stomach in laughing hard.

“Shut up, Woo Bin! Hello, Jae Kyung. Where are you? When are you coming to the exhibition?” she blurted out.

After the quick call ended, Ha Jin turned to Woo Bin, with her hands on her hips. He was still chortling, balancing himself with his palm against the wall.

“I wish Jae Kyung had called you 5 minutes before. Then it would have been a sight to behold out in the foyer,” he spoke in between his laugh.

“Shut up, and take me to Ga Eul now,” exclaimed Ha Jin and hit him with her clutch bag.

“Ouch. Just wait next time when we are all together…” he guffawed while running away from a very angry Ha Jin.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Ga Eul was pacing nervously in the dressing room when Ha Jin entered.

“Ga Eul-ah! My superstar of the evening!” exclaimed Ha Jin and hugged her lovingly.

“I am so scared, Ha Jin-ah. Have you seen all those people waiting outside? I will make such a fool of myself with my exhibits. They will laugh at me. Oh my god! Why did I even agree to do this?” blabbered Ga Eul in her friend’s embrace.

“No one will laugh at you, stupid girl! I am sure they will appreciate your talent as a newcomer. Now, come with me. Yi Jung asked you to join him outside, as it is almost time for the inauguration,” Ha Jin coaxed her friend and gently led her out of the dressing room.

“Oh, there’s one thing I forgot to tell you, Ha Jin-ah. I am sorry, I did not know…” started Ga Eul without being able to finish, as they walked out of the room and met the men waiting for them outside.

Ha Jin was smiling, shaking her head at her friend’s nervous behaviour when she turned in front to look at not two, but three men waiting for them.

The third being none other than Ji Hoo.

Her feet stopped immediately, and unblinkingly she looked at the man standing in front of her, in a white tuxedo, looking back at her with an expression she could not fathom.

“Ga Eul, we should be there at the exhibition hall now,” spoke Yi Jung gently, and held out his hand.

Ga Eul turned to Ha Jin and mouthed “I am sorry” and proceeded towards the exhibition hall with Yi Jung. Ha Jin stood unmoved, when Woo Bin nudged her.

“Let’s go there in a heartbeat, what say Ha Jin?” he spoke and winked.

Ha Jin came out of her trance and glared at him.

“Come on, Ji Hoo. We should not keep our friends waiting on their own for long,” said Woo Bin, whi