Characters in this chapter:

Jung Hye young as Kim Guem Hee, HJ's mother

Chapter 3: I See You

“Eomoni, don’t worry. I will be fine.” assured Sia

“Still. Do not trust anyone easily and never ever reveal your true identity no matter what happens. It is a foreign land and I want you to live a commoner life.” requested a worried Kim Guem Hee, Sia’s mother.

“Dad can drop by Melbourne on his official trips to Sydney”

“Though your Dad will keep an eye on you through his contacts in Australia, but you have to promise me that you will take care of yourself. If you tell your true identity, people will take advantage of you and leave you broken,” said Guem Hee concerned about her daughter’s wellbeing.

“Mom, this way I will be left alone.” whinged Sia.

“No my child! I am sure there will be a genuine person who will be friends with you for who you are as a person, and not because of your last name.” said Guem hee with confidence.

“Se Eul, we do not want to see history repeating itself. One incident is enough in our family to scar all of us for life.” Guem hee’s voice trembled.

Sia could feel her mother’s insecurity. She held her hands tightly and pledged to keep her identity a secret.

Sia realised in the process of keeping the promise given to her mother, she has hurt her closest friend. She can go to any extent to win back Naina’s trust. She knows it is tough but she is determined to succeed.

Naina woke up to see Sia looking at her with adoring eyes.

“We are landing in 20 minutes.” said Sia directed to the window.

Naina was mesmerised to see the spectacular aerial Seoul cityscape putting up a lavender night sky “Seoul I am here.”

*******

The girls were waiting at the baggage carousel. Naina was quietly following the conveyor belt carrying the baggage and Sia was loosing her patience now seeing her friend’s unsocial behaviour.

“Naina stick to my side as we exit from here. There will be press outside. So don’t be scared”

Naina did not bother to respond. She diligently was putting the bags onto the trolley. Sia ed her last bag loosing her cool “Naina I am talking to you”

Naina looked at her friend in displeasure and reverted back to her work without saying a word.

“Huh,” Sia left a frustrated sigh. Naina is more difficult than she imagined. She cannot take this situation lighter any more.

As the girls walked passed the customs, and emerged out of the double doors, Naina’s eyes were blinded with the sudden trail of flashbulbs firing at her face. She was scared stiff as a mob of over zealous people surrounded them and the paparazzi cheering Se Eul’s name. She misbalanced her feet as the crowd crushed them and was almost dragged in, when a secure arm pulled her into a tight embrace. Naina flabbergasted with the situation looked to see Sia holding her “Don’t panic, I am here”. Soon a shield of six men attired in black rushed in and guarded a wall of protection around them. They pushed through the crowd and ushered the ladies securely to the black SUV parked nearby.

“Drink some water, are you alright babes?” Sia asked lightly jerking Naina. She felt her hands were cold from the shock.

Naina still recovering from her frozen state realised that Sia’s parents were seated facing her and was looking at her with concern. She could not have ever imagined taking a drive in the same car with the Chairman of Taesang group, her dream company.

Naina slowly gathered herself and apologised softly “I am sorry Mr and Mrs Kim. Got a little overwhelming”

She took few sips from the water bottle and pressed a quick “Thank you” to Sia.

 “Don’t be sorry darling. We understand. Even Se Eul was scared the first time she was mobbed by fans” Guem hee said affectionately.

Guem Hee’s elegance and charm is unmatched. Even at this age, she can give most of the Korean female idols a run for their money. Looking at her, one should know, where the Kim siblings have got their good looks from. Despite of her family lineage, she did not have any air of arrogance. She had more of the motherly aura that stole Naina’s heart at the very instant. Kim Soo Chang on the other hand is very reserved and self-contained. He just nodded to Naina’s apology and remained mostly quiet for the rest of the journey.

Naina silently observed the happy Kim family reunion in the car.

Sia gave her dad a bear hug to which he replied with a pleasant grin, “Welcome home! How was the flight?”

“It was good. Missed you Abba!” Sia replied delightfully.

“ And what about me?” Guem Hee inquired as she took her turn to hug her daughter. “Omma! I missed you too.” Guem hee lovingly caressed Sia’s face and placed a soft peck on her forehead.

“Eomoni, where is Oppa? I thought he would be here,” Sia complained pouting her lips.

Guem hee tucked Sia’s hair behind her ears and softly coaxed “He is stuck in the shoot unfortunately. He will meet you directly at home tonight probably after dinner.”

The rest of the car ride to the Kim residence was more of Sia’s constant blabbering of their flight experience and her daily life in Melbourne.

********

Sia and Naina were grandly welcomed at the Kim household. Sia’s grandmother and few of her cousins who lives locally have come over for the night. Sia had a big family and everyone was delighted to meet Naina. Sia introduced everyone in her family to Naina who was almost in the verge to mixing up names now. Naina was already enthralled at the vastness and the architectural beauty of the Kim residence. With the interiors, gardens, lawn, swimming pool, gym and servant quarters it could easily be called a mini society.

“You have a beautiful home Mrs Kim” Naina complimented.

“I am glad you like it, we have recently renovated some parts. Your room is one of the newly built ones” Guem Hee replied.

“Oh is it?”

“Yes, come I will show you your room” Guem hee escorted her to a third floor room.

They climbed up the giant spiral stairs to the third floor and walked across a long corridor into the other wing of the house. There are only two rooms facing each other on this part of the floor, a little secluded from the rest of the house.

Naina sensed this section of the house is oddly quiet unlike the other wing, which is booming with people.

“Did you like it?” asked Guen Hee leading Naina into the room.

The room was spacious with a balcony opening to the garden view and has been set up to suit Naina’s taste. It was three times the size of her bedroom in Melbourne. She understood a lot of effort has been put into it, to make her feel homely.

“I loved it Mrs Kim” Naina answered in a thankful note.

“Call me Eomoni”

Naina flustered with the sudden request and softly responded “Eomoni”

Guem hee quickly inducted on the housekeeping and showed her all the amenities in the room.

“Whose room is that?” enquired a curious Naina pointing to the opposite door.

“That is Hyung Joong’s room. This part of the house was specifically dedicated to him because he likes it quiet which is why you will not see much faces around here. Se Eul told me you also like it quiet. So I designated this room for you.”

Guem hee noticed the change in Naina’s expression.

“Don’t worry! Although your neighbour is a little unsocial, he doesn’t bite.” Saying that the newly mother daughter duo burst into laughter.

********

Naina was in much need of this open air. After dinner when the Kim’s were having their family time, Naina sneaked out of the Kim residence to have a quiet night walk. She strolled along the lonely path around the park enjoying the serene autumn night. She located this park on their way from the airport and made her mind to go for a walk later on. It is a fair amount of distance from the house. The posh suburb was beautifully planned in an elevated landscape with the advantage of a perfect city view and identified for its aristocratic living and atrocious land prices and is the house to most of Korean’s popular celebrities. Naina silently admired the picturesque Seoul skyline taking in the fresh breeze and could not help but to sigh “Bliss” and then she saw something that she has never experienced before, a shooting star.  May my stay in Seoul be memorable! She wished.

“It is not safe here at this hour” came a voice from behind in Korean.

Hyun Joong arrived after dinner. After spending quality time with Se Eul, he came out for his usual night walks but refused any security with him. He walked more than a kilometre when he heard some voice and caught a sight of a group of guys trying to tease a woman. As he walked closer, he realised it was more than just ragging, two guys held her against the tree and the other two were passing sleazy comments while taking turns to take sips from a bottle. She tried hard to free herself from the clutch, but groaned in more pain as the guy twisted her hand at the back. Hyun Joong could not held back his patience, he charged towards him in full force. He leapt high to strike a hard blow on the guy’s shoulder and freed the woman from his grasp. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the second guy approaching raising up a log to hit her. Just in time, he pulled her into his arms to let the guy crash into the tree.

He glanced down at the petite figure in his arms but the darkness clouded his vision. She was holding onto his arms to balance her feet. Soon, the flickering light of the post enlightened the faces. And then, the inevitable happened. It was the second which destiny has conspired to stage for them, the instant which left an unforgettable mark on their memory till the day they lived, the moment when she enters his world. Time froze, when he found the most beautiful pair of eyes looking back at him scared from the shock. Her hair was messily dancing in the wind, with few irreverent strands lightly lying against her pale skin. It’s not that he has not seen a prettier face, but this flawless piece of art in front of him was a picture of fascination. Her panic- stricken eyes widened in awe as soon she recognised the heavenly sculptured face of her saviour and whispered “Kim Hyun Joong?” The sweet voice distracted him off his concentration and before he could say anything, he turned around at the call of “watch out” and was joined by another pair of arms to block the blow of the log. Together they knocked down the attacker. Three more men were still encircling them with sharp objects in their hand.

“Hah,, I am Naina” she said panting after regaining her footing and smiled victoriously.

The familiar name dawned upon him, Se Eul’s friend from Melbourne, his mind recollected. All his admiration disappeared in seconds. His wonderstruck eyes turned fiery red in anger. His nose scrunched with sheer irritation. My night walk is ruined for her stupidity! Dumb girl! He thought to himself.

“You Dumb! What are you doing here this late? Trying to teach these goons ways of life?” Hyun Joong snapped out at Naina. His eyes focused on the attackers anticipating their next move.

Naina who was expecting a polite “hello” or “are you ok” was stunned to get a heated reply. All her regards vanished and her feminism grew out loud. She narrowed her eyes appalled at his “dumb”remark.

“Excuse me? Do I look to have invited the trouble purposely?” she fumed backed.

Kim Hyun Joong swiftly pushed her aside by her shoulder to block a knife thrown at her and blurted out “Who asked you to loiter around here late night?” With the knife bouncing off his watch, he immediately took a position of defence and stretched his other arm protectively to pull her behind him. She however sidestepped, picked up the knife and exhibited another position of defence and stated sharply “I am trained in martial arts, I don’t need your protection.” Hyun Joong’s eyebrows arched into surprise and flashed a frown, challenging her. Her face darkened in rage, as she understood his subtle ridicule. She shifted her gaze to the attackers. She minutely studied the movement of the three men surrounding them waiting to attack.

“Is this how you thank people who comes over to help?” he huffed swinging his arm high and inflecting a deep punch into the attacker’s shoulder.

“I did not ask you for help. I could have managed, in fact I was..” She flung the knife at the attacker coming from the left and made a quick manoeuvre to avoid a blow from the back and finished her statement boldly “,,going to bash these guys red and blue anyway”. Hyun Joong jumped high and kicked the chest of the attacker charging from the side towards Naina, his eyes still fixed on her “what did you just said about handling yourself?” Naina read the smirk on his face and the sarcasm in his tone. “I can perfectly take care of myself, unless someone,,”. She didn’t get far into her sentence, because she was grabbed by her neck and dragged away. Hyun Joong parried the attack as he flung a knife, which precisely tinkled Naina’s earing and pierced into the arm of the attacker. “Yes we can see your self defence strategy,” taunted Hyun Joong coolly scanning Naina. She tightened her lips in annoyance, immediately stepped forward, picked up the log and brought it down to last attackers thighs and fiercely responded, “I can protect myself”. Her body surfaced the suppressed anger. All the attackers were grounded and badly injured.

Both Hyun Joong and Naina were exhausted from the rigorous brawl.

“Protect, huh,” sighed Hyun Joong catching his breath “ You are extremely irresponsible and clumsy.” He was amazed and irked at the same time at this young girl’s audacity. Usually girls around him are timid and throw themselves at him. But she was different.

“Look I,,” Naina tried to explain.

Cutting her off “Hold on! Did you do this on purpose to grab my attention?” Hyun Joong enquired in a patronising voice.

“Don’t flatter yourself! You just happen to be present at the spot when I was attacked. I think you are disillusioned with those crazy fan girls doing insane stuffs to get your attention. But sorry to disappoint, I am not one of them. You are a public figure and yet your thoughts on women are very regressive. I wonder what examples you set for your followers. I would rather do,,,,, anyways forget it. ” Naina blurted out loosing her filter of judgement in a tone of disgust.

Hyun Joong was left dumfounded.

Even Naina could not comprehend what she just said. ! What did I say?! She quickly collected her phone and held it tightly to her rapidly beating heart and fled from there before her strength could have deserted her.

Hyun Joong kept staring at her as she retreated and disappeared from his view. What were in those last few words that stunned him to silence?

Time stands still. Beauty in all she is
I will be brave, I will not let anything, take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath, every hour has come to this

 Was it the impact of the suddenly arose guilt inside him or that first time ever in his life his valour faded in front of a woman other than his mother.

One step closer

There was something about this girl that has sparked a realisation alien to him.

I have died everyday, waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

*********

Continued to Chapter 4

The song in the chapter has been taken from Christina Perri's Thousand Years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtOvBOTyX00

How will HJ and Naina survive bumbing into each other everyday? Will Sia succeed to win back Naina's friendship again? More fun to come in the next chapters. Till then happy reading!

Thank you to all readers

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