"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eyes."
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

The Benz pulled up in front of Mon Refuge, a newly opened high-end French restaurant and bar located in the heart of Gangnam.

Immediately after exiting the car, Kai and Chae Ri were secretly escorted to the private VIP lounge on the second floor, out of sight from other late night guests.

Su Min followed them upstairs, walking cautiously, and diligently scanning the place as if she were their personal bodyguard.

The two were led to the lone table in the room while Su Min grabbed a seat at the bar some distance away. She was far enough to give them privacy, but also close enough to watch them properly.

|| …………… ||

An hour and a half, and two cups of coffee later, Su Min was on the verge of falling flat on her face. She had surveyed her surrounding so many times that she had the restaurant's layout memorized, down to their table settings. And for the other times her eyes weren't wandering about, they were glued on the two, watching Kai keep his cool composure while the twenty-one year old chugged down glasses after glasses of fine French wine.

Su Min knew he was trying hard not to fall asleep while listening to Chae Ri's unending rant about who knows what, but as bad as she felt for letting him go through this, she could only apologize and give her support from afar. "I'm sorry" and "fighting!" were her only responses every time Kai sighed in secret.

Eventually giving in to fatigue, she laid her head on the cold granite counter and exhaled deeply. For how much longer do we have to endure this hellish situation? She wondered.

Just as she was about to close her eyes, an aged hand reached down and placed a plate of macarons on the counter, blocking her view. "Um, excuse me, I didn't order any—" she began, but a deep yet recognizable voice interrupted her.

"It's on the house," the person informed her as he pulled back his hand.

Su Min jolted back up as if a thousand volts of electricity rushed throughout her body. Instantly, she was met with those familiar kind eyes she hadn't seen for years. "Samchon!" she exclaimed with a wide smile quickly forming on her face.

The old man jerked back in surprise and blinked for a good three seconds. "O—! Su Min!" Chin Ho replied, clearly as shocked as she was, but equally excited.

Suddenly acquiring a great amount of energy, Su Min sat up on her seat and began to shower him with questions. "Samchon, it's been so long! How have you been? How is the business? The club? What are you doing here?" she began without break.

The old man, who had clearly aged, let out a loud laugh. "Yes, yes, it has been ages," he replied happily as he reached for a towel and wiped a spot on the counter. "I've been well and so has the business. For now, I'm helping my nephew with this restaurant. Just until he gets used to running the place. What about you? What have you been up to?" he continued.

Oh, there goes these questions again. Su Min thought to herself. It wasn't out of the ordinary to ask these questions to someone you haven't seen in a while, but their varying reactions always made her feel anxious. So far, none of them had been too bad—at least, nothing compared to Soo Jin's wrath after she found out—but still.

Su Min braced herself with a deep breath, and for the nth time, she told her story—from her six years' worth of adventure in New York to now.