“We’re here, Ms. Bae.”

Bae Hannah rolled the car window down, checking out the location before hopping off the vehicle. “Is this the house, attorney?” She asked, skeptical.

“It is.” The lawyer verified. “But it has been sold to the new owner 6 months ago. Several renovations were done after that.”

She shook her head and let out a ‘tsk’. “They don’t have the right to sell this property my parents worked so hard to have.” She said, still angered by the fact that her ungrateful cousin Bae Jungmong just sold their house without even saying a word to her. She only knew when she returned back from Canada two weeks ago.

On an ill-fated day 2 years ago, Hannah’s parents encountered a car accident on their way back to Seoul from an out of the town trip together. Wounded by being left alone in this world, Hannah moved out of the country, built her new life there, and started anew. Still, after some time, Hannah sought the feeling of being in her home country. That’s why she went back. Little did she know that she would be welcomed by such news – she had no house anymore: Her cousin, who had always been a cause of trouble to their family, apparently sold the house her parents only left to her.

“What do you think, attorney? Can we still get my house back?” She asked, still uncertain of what’s going to happen next.

“We’ll try, Ms. Bae.” She smiled at her slightly. “Shall we go?”

She let out a loud exhale before nodding. “Let’s do this. I hope the owner’s inside.”

Finally, they hopped of the car and went to the gate. It was a two-storey house inside a private subdivision. Although it was never the same anymore, she still wanted the house back. She never had any intention of selling it even though she was based in Canada already.

The attorney rang the doorbell. “Yes, who is it?”

“Lee Jinki-ssi?”

“Oh? Lee Jinki?” Hannah was suddenly alerted so she peeped at the screen just to see the only Lee Jinki she knew. “Oh my gosh.” She gasped and covered in surprised. “Attorney? You didn’t tell me the new owner is Lee Jinki.”

“I am Attorney Han Chaeyoung. I’m with the previous owner, Bae Hannah. We would like to know if we could speak to you regarding the house.” The attorney who was busy talking to Jinki on the monitor didn’t realize Hannah was panicking on the side.

“Gosh why must it be him of all people?” She whispered to herself as she fidgeted.

“Oh, sure, please come in.” Lee Jinki spoke and they heard the door automatically being unlocked.

“Ms Bae?” Atty Han called when she noticed that Hannah was not moving yet. “Is there anything wrong?”

“You didn’t tell me it was him?” She said – there was a hint of worry on her voice.

“Oh yeah, he is. Lee Jinki.” She smiled bashfully. “I didn’t know it was the singer Lee Jinki though. I was thinking of a different Lee Jinki. Why? Is there a problem?”

She finally came back to her senses, and shook her head. “Ah, no. Not at all. Let’s go?” She faked a smiled and tried to calm her heart which started to beat abnormally fast. “Gosh. Why should I meet him this way?”

“Uh- hi…” Jinki was at lost, thinking why the previous owner would suddenly appear with a lawyer at his house. “Is there anything I could help you with? Oh… and by the way, please take a seat.” He said and motioned the living area.

“Thank you.” The lawyer said and they went to settle at the couch.

“Should I offer you something? Juice? Water?”

“No, Lee Jinki-ssi. It’s okay. I’m sorry we had to come here on an unexpected time. You should be taking a break from work.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay. It’s good you were able to catch me here. Often times, I’m at the dorm.” He said and sat on the couch opposite theirs. “You sure you don’t want anything?”

“We’re good.” The lawyer said. “By the way, I’m with the previous owner, Ms Bae Hannah. She went home from Canada 2 weeks ago.”

“I see. Hi, Hannah-ssi. It’s nice meeting you. “

“Ah, yes.” She only uttered and smiled slightly.

“I believe it would be best to go straight to the point.” The lawyer started the talk. “We would like to arrange for the house to be bought back to us.”

For a second, Jinki was speechless, and then he frowned and tilted his head a bit, as if thinking if he heard them right. “I’m sorry, I think I don’t understand…”

“Ms Bae wants to get her house back.” She said and started to explain how it happened: that the one who sold the house was the cousin when she was the original owner. “The last will testament of Ms Bae’s father indicated that the house belong to their one and only daughter, but we believe the papers you have were signed by the cousin, Bae Jungmong?”

“So you’re saying….” Jinki comprehended a bit before talking. “That the person who sold me this house isn’t really the owner? But he has all the documents. It was legal.”

“We understand, that’s why we’re proposing that we buy the house back.” The attorney spoke like a true professional, getting straight to the point and not holding back. “We can make arrangement regarding the price. We see you have made some changes in the house already. Ms Bae can buy the house on a higher price then.”

“Ha. It doesn’t work that way.” Jinki answered straightly, his composure was not something to ignore as well. He adjusted himself on the couch and sat straight. “I’m sorry, I really don’t mean to be rude but…” he glanced both at the lawyer and at the owner. “I don’t think I should be involved in this. Like, you admitted I bought the house legally. And actually, I’m not planning to sell it away.” He smiled with uncertainty, still hoping he didn’t hurt neither feelings of those he was conversing with.

“This is my parents’ house.” Hannah spoke the first time in a while. “I hope you understand that this is important to me. You can name a price. I’ll oblige.” She said – sounding a bit awkward and desperate.

Jinki chuckled. “Hannah-ssi, you don’t understand.” He responded. “I won’t sell it even if it’s twice the price.”

“You don’t have any memories here… yet.” Hannah’s voice sounded so tensed and uncomfortable, and the lawyer somehow felt odd about her. She was so determined and confident just a while ago. She was a brave and independent woman – but she look far from it at that moment. “My parents’ memories lived here. This is the only one I could keep that would remind me of them.”

“I understand.” Jinki said – showing empathy. “And believe me, I also feel sorry that this happened without your knowledge. But the thing is… I can’t give up this house. It’s probably hard to understand but I don’t think my decision will ever change.”

“But-“ Hannah was about to say something when Jinki’s phone rang. He excused himself and took the call first.

“This is going to be hard, Ms. Bae.” The lawyer admitted when the two of them were left. “There was no conflict on how he bought the house. By the way, you seemed off just now. Are you up to something with him?” Although she was maintaining her composure, attorney Han still had the time to gossip.

“Attorney?” She looked at her defensively.

“I’m a lawyer, and a counselor.” She said. “You can say that I know how to read people.”

Hannah rolled her eyes at the lawyer. She just hoped Jinki didn’t catch on it, too.