~Chapter song: Shawn Mendes 'The Weight'~

The morning sun shun through the window of So-Hyun’s kitchen, making her sugar-glazed cereal hoops glisten in the light. “Eomma… I got in” she said in response to her mother’s question about her job interview. So-Hyun had heard her mother bragging to her friends over the phone and even though she questioned why she did that for a simple interview, she was lucky that she had gotten in otherwise what would her mum would have to say in front of her friends?

“Honey, that’s great news… Why do you not sound happy about that?” Her mother asked, her smile turning into a questioning look. So-Hyun shrugged in response, not really knowing how to tell her mother her best friend disappeared two years ago and is now a CEO of a huge company… not one for the story books.

“Well, I don’t think I’ll like my CEO very much?” So-Hyun confessed and was taken aback when her mother started to laugh.

“Honey, if everyone loved their bosses then everyone would want to work and be employed, but that’s not the case. Look at me, do you think your mum loves her seniors at work?” Her mother shook her head answering her own question and continued “No. Especially that Mrs Jung… That’s besides the point, you haven’t even started yet and you think you won’t like them”

So-Hyun nodded her head, realising that this was true “But-”

“Wait, did he or she kill someone?”

“What? Mum? No! And it’s a he.”

“Right, then is he famous for firing people on the spot?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Then what’s the problem? Did you date him?” Ms Jeon questioned, ignoring the way So-Hyun almost spat out her cereal, genuinely not understanding her daughter’s concern. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling me, I really don’t see the issue. I don’t want to generalise this, but the basic bosses are the same everywhere, you’ll meet some you like, and you’ll meet some you don’t like. All you need to do as an employee is to do your job well and that’s it.”

“Okay… I guess I’ll think about it some more. Thanks mum.”

“Good, also don’t forget we have dinner plans tonight okay?” She left as she saw So-Hyun nod.

That same night So-Hyun had gotten ready for the dinner plans with her mother and one of her close friends. Why So-Hyun had to be there she did not know, her mother said something about meeting up with family friends and So-Hyun couldn’t really care less, but since it was something her mother wanted she went along with it. She was wearing a pink mini skirt with a white chiffon blouse tucked in and white pumps to match. Her mother told her to dress like a ‘girl’ - whatever that meant.

They had agreed to meet at a restaurant in the streets of Gangnam at 8 after her mother got off work and because So-Hyun wasn’t used to the area, she navigated her way using the GPS on her phone. She somehow needs to get over this anxiety she gets of being in cars, ever since that night whenever she thinks of getting into a car alone her body goes weak. She managed to stay in the car with Seung-Ho once as he kept her distracted and she did her best to hide her anxieties, but it was still there, ever suffocating and ever persistent.

Standing outside, she tried to peer inside the window to see if she could find her mother and she did. Walking in slowly, she approached their table and greeted her mother and her friend. “Good evening, aunty*.”

“Oh, So-Hyun-ah you’ve gotten so pretty! Don’t you remember me?” Am I supposed to? “I carried you when you were little, and even took you to pre-school sometimes” The woman said, as if that was supposed to magically jog her memory.

Right. Yeah, I’m supposed to remember, that right? “Ah, I think I remember” So-Hyun laughed pretending that she did.

“Sit down, sit down, he should be here in a minute and then we can order. This place has the best crabs in Seoul”

“Ah, sure…” Wait, he? Who’s he? So-Hyun looked at her mum with eyes knitted in confusion and then drifted to the table setting with 4 sets of cutleries instead of 3. Something doesn’t seem right. Just as about she was going to open to ask her mother, a deep voice cut through.

“Sorry, I’m late the traffic was ridiculous.” So-Hyun turned around to see a figure that was tall, slightly muscular and all handsome wrapped in a suit. She coughed a little, as she was taken aback. Her mother didn’t say anything about another person, let alone a guy.

“So-Hyun-ah, say hi. This is Sung-Jae. He's Mrs Kang’s son and your Oppa, you should remember him, we potty-trained you at the same time.” The two mothers started laughing and So-Hyun was left red. She had no choice but to greet him and act like she remembered him, whilst actually trying to remember him.

He complimented her on how she had gotten prettier and he also admitted to not having the clearest memory of their childhood, but he could compare from the pictures his mother showed her. Besides drowning in embarrassment, she was wondering what in the world this dinner was meant to be and even though a few things had changed about So-Hyun, her naivety and innocence creeped out from time to time.  

So-Hyun’s mother and her friend excused themselves to God knows where, and she needed them to be back soon because they had been gone for almost 15 minutes and the small talk with him could only go on for so long. “So… What do you do?” She asked him.

“I’m training as an accountant and yourself?”

“I’m training to be a counsellor” she replied. Well not yet, I still need to accept the job.

“That suits you somehow” He said, suddenly smiling. “Would I be able to get a counselling session when I need one?” He asked.

“Err sure, if you work for my company.” She joked before continuing to clarify “The position I’ll be in is for employees in the company at first and then when I’m more experienced I can branch out hopefully.” She said in all seriousness and something about his facial expression made So-Hyun think that wasn’t what he meant.  

“No, I mean” He chuckled slightly “Would I be able to call or send a message you if I ever need someone to talk to? I mean, you know the life of an accountant can get pretty exhausting.” He cleared his throat and So-Hyun noticed his cheeks warm up.

“Sure… I guess” She gave a light smile, before they exchanged numbers. As she was going to put her phone in her bag, she received a text message.

Seung-Ho:

>Hey, what are you doing tonight?

So-Hyun:

>I’m having dinner with my mum, is everything okay?

Seung-Ho:

>Yeah.

>Everything’s great.  

At that same moment, Seung-Ho was stood across the street where he was meant to be having dinner with the staff from his training that day. Despite being a distance away, he couldn’t miss the bright light that was So-Hyun. After sending that final text, he was left feeling confused, because on his phone was a message telling him that So-Hyun was with her mother, but in his vision was a whole different scene, a scene of So-Hyun smiling and laughing with another man that wasn’t him. A whole cloud of misunderstanding hovering around his mind.

"Seung-Ho-ssi! Aren't you coming inside? The meat will get cold!" The voice of one of his colleagues drew him inside to where the others were, not before hesitating. He usually never cared for the conversations the other professors had, but tonight, he definitely wasn’t going to be able to be in the mood to entertain their talk about which football team lost over the weekend.

^^^^

“Mum, could you please not do this stuff without asking me, how embarrassing!” So-Hyun complained the minute they stepped inside the house.

“What’s the big deal, we just went out for a meal, I’m not asking you to marry the guy! I just thought it’d be nice to get to know him, you know, be friends?” Her mum replied, unravelling the scarf around her neck.

“Friends? Tell that to aunty, she was practically setting the date for our wedding.” So-Hyun sighed as she saw her mum burst out laughing. “This isn’t funny. Do you enjoy marrying off your daughter this much?”

“Honey, relax. No one is marrying anyone without my permission, especially if you don’t want to!” She comforted. Her mother then moved closer to So-Hyun with a knowing look in her eyes “Also… my dear daughter, have you perhaps started dating again?”

So-Hyun’s eyes widened and immediately fumbled over her words, making her way to the living room sofa, but not without her mother following right behind. “Err…”

“We’ve had this talk before, it’s mother’s instincts So-Hyun-ah… Now, is it that Jin-Goo boy again? I haven’t seen him in a while, what does-”

“Mum!” So-Hyun raised her voice a little getting flustered at the questions and the thought of Jin-Goo. This was her chance to open-up to her mother and she hesitated before taking it. “I- I’m dating someone, but it is not Jin-Goo Oppa. It never was.” So-Hyun cleared a little before continuing “His name is Yoo Seung-Ho” There I said it.

“Hmm, his name has a nice ring to it I guess… How and when did y