Ha Jin was dumbfounded by Ji Hoo’s words. Few weeks back she might have been on the cloud nine to hear the same words. But after his outright rejection, and her acceptance of the reality, she could not fathom his new disposition. She gathered as much strength as she could to meet Ji Hoo’s eyes and challenge him.

“Why are you saying all these things now? It makes no sense,” she snapped, while finally meeting his eyes with her glare.

Ji Hoo leaned on her a bit more, so that his forehead could touch hers. They could feel each other’s warm, uneven breath on their face, as his nose slightly rubbed against hers.

“I know it doesn’t. I will be honest with you. After Jan Di, I never thought I would desire someone to this extent, but I can’t help it anymore. I was afraid to acknowledge that before, but now I cannot hold it back any further,” he whispered and closed in to touch her trembling lips.

The moment their lips met, Ha Jin’s inside felt like imploding. She felt a sharp current running down through her core. If not for Ji Hoo’s arms embracing her, she would have collapsed on the ground.

Ji Hoo tightened his hold around her, bringing her even closer, to feel her as much as he could; filling in for all the lonely moments he had to live away from her. Perhaps he was smothering her, he thought, but he had thrown caution to the wind long ago. Meanwhile he just concentrated on her lips that tasted sweeter than anything he had ever come across.

“Heartbeat heartbeat speeding up…

Heartbeat heartbeat in my mind…”

In a split second the magic of the moment crushed for both of them. Ha Jin jerked herself away from him, pushing back his arms. She dared to look at Ji Hoo’s eyes for a fleeting moment, before she stepped to the side and pulled out her phone.

And all she saw was his intense gaze, piercing through her.

“Hello, So Bin?” she answered the phone, while walking away.

A grunt escaped from Ji Hoo’s mouth, as he leaned on the car, closing his eyes tightly. What could be more anticlimactic than getting a call from So Bin the moment Ha Jin was finally opening to him after her denial? For a moment, he felt like grabbing that damned phone from her hand and throw it away, and then claim her back to continue what they were doing. But he was Ji Hoo, the ‘god of patience’. He would never do anything rash like that, but wait for her to come back to him. He rested his forehead on his arm, folded on the cold car roof, as faint words from Ha Jin’s conversation came flowing to his ears.

“… you are returning after New Year? Oh, good to know that…”

“… But why do I need to visit the wedding dresser again?...”

“… I am fine, you take care. Bye,” she spoke finally and cut the call.

She had ambled few meters away from Ji Hoo while talking over the phone. Now that the call was over, she had to face the situation with Ji Hoo, and honestly, she did not know how. She contemplated leaving him right there, without further words, as she spotted her own car in front. But then, it would be extremely rude of her. And, it would not solve the situation in hand by any means. She straightened her shoulders, trying to suppress the trepidation in her heart and walked back to where Ji Hoo was standing.

He lifted his face, hearing her approaching steps. He tried to gauge her disposition, as she came closer, and stopped at an arm’s distance from him.

“This… this thing between us… I am not sure of it. Although I am the one who is to be blamed…” she mumbled when Ji Hoo interrupted her.

“There’s nothing to blame, Ha Jin. You were just being honest with your feelings. And I… I was in my own world, so it did not strike me in the beginning. I feel I have always liked you, more as a friend before, but…” he spoke, while moving close to her.

“I need time, Ji Hoo. This is not as simple as it seems. It was extremely stupid of me before, I do not want to make myself a fool again. And there are other things to be considered as well, which I had been turning a blind eye all this while,” she replied firmly.

He frowned a little at the slight harshness laced in her voice. He nodded his head briefly in agreement and stepped back, giving her space. As she turned back and walked towards her car, he kept staring at her.

Was I late this time, again?

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

Yi Jung had finally confirmed the packaging and transportation of all the exhibits and completed all the formalities at the Suam Centre. He picked up one last item from the collection that was kept aside from the exhibits. It was a small figurine, painted in azure blue and white, with intricate texture on it. He smiled at the memory of it being created by Ga Eul, and the moments he spent with her teaching the techniques. He wanted to keep it for his personal collection, and maybe, in future he would make a complementary figurine to commemorate their new-found togetherness.

He was strolling leisurely along the corridor when he heard his name being called.

“Yi Jung!”

He turned at the familiarity of the voice, and to his utter shock, he found Elsa, standing in front of the dressing room, looking expectantly at him.

“Elsa?... What are you doing here? How did you find me?” he spoke finally, after the initial shock.

“I came to apologize to you. I heard about your exhibition, the first after your return from Sweden. How could I miss it for anything?” she spoke hesitantly.

Yi Jung frowned at her without any response. She looked all the same, maybe a little thinner. For a moment his mind went back to the days they spent together in happiness in Sweden. The days when he thought that one day their closeness would turn into true love. And eventually he would marry her and make a beautiful life with her.

But that fleeting thought did not last long. Soon enough flashes of those pictures, proving her treachery came in his mind, and filled him with venom.

“What do you want from me now? Couldn’t my father give you what he promised?” he sneered.

Elsa knew that her infidelity was no secret to him now. But she needed him. Just the way she had needed him years back, when they met for the first time in Sweden. She had always known that Yi Jung would be the perfect ladder for her to grow in the international art community. She had played her part really well, flawlessly, until a small misjudgement brought her to the greatest debacle.

When she met Yi Jung’s father, she realized that his experience and expertise was manifold compared to Yi Jung’s. For a moment she felt more greed, and more urgency to reach her goal. It would have been a perfect plan, if not for Yi Jung’s mother’s accident and death. She would have stuck on to So Sr. and somehow tackled her way out of So Jr., thereby paving her path to fame and success. But his mother’s death, followed by the fallout between father and son made the situation complicated, and she lost her chance.

No matter how much she had tried after that, she could not make a place in the art world. She got desperate. And now, her only chance was to get Yi Jung back in her life, by whatever means.

She stepped towards him, cautiously. Acting was her forte, so it did not take much time to bring out tears and the sorrowful expression.

“He tricked me. He offered me a drink which must have had something in it that made me feel dizzy. And, I don’t know what happened after that. Please trust me, YJ,” she whimpered, carefully adding his pet name from their old times together.

Yi Jung remained stunned for few moments. He could not believe that his father could s