“They say there is a doorway from heart to heart,
but what is the use of a door when there are no walls?” 

                                                                                    - Rumi

The silence in the car stretches. JiHyun's grandmother simply looks at her, her expression the same slightly disapproving one she always had. JiHyun knew this was a tactic to make her more pliable and break down any rebellion. So she sits up straight and stares right back.

She wonders how Halmeoni had found her and what the older woman wanted with her. It felt a little odd to think of the woman next to her as Halmeoni/Grandmother. Their relationship had never been very familial. Aside from Sungmo, none of her father's relatives had been welcoming to her. Grandmother in particular had been demanding and intractable.
 

JiHyun had learned from Sungmo that Grandmother was the daughter of an important chaebol family from Seoul so she considered herself slightly superior to the other chaebols in Incheon. Her marriage to Grandfather had been a great joining of wealth and dynasties and she had envisioned a similar arrangement for her son and only child. In fact she had already had a well-connected heiress lined up for him.

When JiHyun's father rebelled and married for love, Grandmother had been incensed. As the only son, all tradition and responsibilities towards ancestors and elders and the future of their company would depend on him. Marriage to some country girl from nowhere was out of the question.
 

But, JiHyun's father had been determined and stubborn in his own way. And so, since he was the only heir, there was nothing Grandmother could do but bitterly accept defeat and tolerate the girl he chose. But then the accident had happened and her plans for him were shattered entirely. 
 

Part of JiHyun wants to feel sorry for the woman next to her. To lose a child and your only child at that must have been devastating. But the other part cannot picture Halmeoni being motherly. JiHyun could not imagine forcing her children to wed someone they did not love. Or abandoning a grandchild for that matter. 

Anyhow, she is pretty certain she had not been picked up for a friendly family outing. 

"Halmeoni," she says coolly, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

The older woman examines her quietly for a long moment, but JiHyun does not look away.
 

"You have shown no desire or ability to act like a member of this family," the other woman begins in her authoritarian tones, "But, now you invite even more scandal to the family name. It must be stopped."

JiHyun looks at the other woman feeling a mixture of annoyance and hurt.

"I don't understand," JiHyun replies tightly,  "But rest assured, Halmeoni-nim, I am more than willing to live my own life and what I do does not reflect on the family. You do not need to get involved at all."
 

The car pulls though the large gates of a grand mansion barely a mile from the one JiHyun had worked at last night. The house that greets them is imposing and, unlike the other mansion, it made no pretense of being a welcoming home. Everything about it screamed wealth from the golden fountain in the courtyard to the solid gold front doors that loomed over visitors. JiHyun wasn't quite certain if they were actual gold, but if so their value would be enough to fund a small town. 
 

The car pulls to a stop at the portico and a staff member waiting outside steps down to open Halmeoni's door and help her out. JiHyun pushes her own door open before the driver could get out and do it for her. She looks at the large house in front of her and then, with a weary sigh, she follows Halmeoni in.
 

JiHyun could count on one hand the number of times she had been to this grand house, but none of those had been an experience she wanted to repeat. The first time, she and Imo had had recieved an invitation requesting their presence at a family dinner. It had turned out to be quite the ordeal with various snide comments and questions being asked about JiHyun's upbringing or lack thereof until Imo was almost in tears. 
 

Grandfather had been silent and unspeaking for most of the night and then retired early as soon as dinner was over. JiHyun had wondered hopefully if Halmeoni would call it a night too when she escorted Haraboeji away. Most of the cutting comments had come from her; and, with Grandmother gone, JiHyun might have a chance to get to know her second cousins and other relatives better. The reprieve hadn't lasted long for Grandmother came back down soon after.
 

Sungmo of course was there, smiling apologetically from the other end of the table during dinner as she sat next to her husband. She seemed too cowed by Grandmother to say much. Sungmo had one daughter and JiHyun tried to chat with her; but, unlike her mother, Nam Sora hadn't been particularly friendly. She was a little younger than JiHyun and seemed rather self-absorbed. JiHyun had gathered that Sora was doing some modeling but had bigger dreams of fame and glamour. JiHyun felt the urge to warn the other girl of the darker side of the entertainment industry but bites her tongue instead.

The other family members present were her father's other cousin, Nam Sang Joon, and his family. His sons were older than her, though the younger one, WooHyun, was only a year older. WooHyun had sat at dinner with a bored look, his eyes more often than not glued to his smartphone. His older brother, WooSung, had been even worse. He had watched JiHyun with a smug expression and joined in with Halmeoni to condescendingly question her. The way he repeated what she said in a particular tone was, JiHyun felt sure, his way of mocking and laughing at her.
 

It had been quite the relief when the night had been over, and safe to say she and Imo had laughed about it later and vowed never to repeat the experience. As it was, the family had gotten more and more disapproving when they discovered JiHyun was not easily malleable and, after a big fallout, they had for all intents and purposes cut her off. Even Sungmo was forbidden from having much contact with her.
 

And so, the little gathering that greeted JiHyun as she followed her Grandmother into the formal living room was quite a surprise. Almost everyone was there except for Haraboeji, her father's cousins and WooHyun wh