Mrs. Jeon was on her way back to her office, when suddenly she heard the sound of glass smashing out of the CEO's office.

"Mr. Kim? Are you alright?" she cautiously approached the door and gave it a light knock.

"Please... help" she heard a weak voice say. She quickly opened the door and was shocked to find him leaned over his desk with his hand squeezing his chest, his glass of water knocked onto the ground.

"Mr. Kim! W-what's happening?"

"My heart..." his face was pale as a ghost and he was breathing sporadically. 

"Hang on Mr. Kim, I'm gonna call an ambulance."

"No! Please, don't do that."

"But you're in pain."

"Just... drive me to the hospital. Don't let the kids see me."

Mrs. Jeon slung his arm around her shoulder and stealthily helped him to the elevator, making sure not to catch anyone's attention.

Once they arrived, they were led to a private door and taken to the top floor. The nurses seemed to understand exactly why he was there, and that made Mrs. Jeon nervous. 

"What's wrong with him?" she asked one of the nurses as Mr. Kim was was being wheeled into one of the rooms. 

The nurse looked regretful and pulled her into one of the empty hospital rooms. "You must not tell this to anyone..."

-

"Coffee?" 

Joshua gasped in surprise and turned around to see Sojung hovering above him. "You almost gave me heart attack."

She just rolled her eyes and placed the mug on his desk. "I made it just the way you like it."

He took a sip and frowned, his eyebrows furrowed like he was judging it. He then placed the mug back on his desk.

"Is there something wrong with it?" she asked, already thinking where she may have messed up.

"Yes actually, that isn't the way I like it."

Sojung was lost for words, she was about to apologize when suddenly Joshua pulled her down and kissed her on the lips.

"That's the way I like it" he said with a mischievous grin.

Now she was really speechless, her face turned a bright pink and she quickly pulled away from him. "That was the cringiest thing ever."

He laughed and caressed her cheek with his hand. "I'm sorry darling, but you're just so fun to tease."

"You're the worst" she said, trying to supress her smile but failing once her eyes met his. It was almost impossible to get mad at Joshua. "Anyway, do you know where my father went? I can't find him or Mrs. Jeon anywhere and he's not answering his phone either."

"Did you ask Sohee?"

"She's in a meeting right now, I guess I'll just have to find him later. By the way, are you doing anything after work today?"

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Well I was thinking maybe we could go to the night market? We haven't been there in a while."

"A while? We haven't been there since middle school!"

She sighed. "I know, I guess we've been pretty busy huh?"

"Don't worry, now that I'm back we'll make up for all our lost time. I'll pick you up at 7."

That evening, the two of them drove to the Namdaemun night market, a place they had frequented in their childhood. And just like in their childhood, they got rice cakes and lamb skewers from the food stand and walked down the long alley, letting the nostalgia sink in.

"This place has changed a lot" said Joshua. 

"Well it has been almost 10 years." After she said that, they both walked in silence.

10 years. It was more jarring when said out loud. Had that amount of time already passed? 

 

"Mom, can we go over there and look around?"  asked Joshua.

"Alright, but don't go too far you two, and meet us back here in 20 minutes."

"Got it. Come on Sojung!" he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her further into the market as their parents stayed at the restaurant they had dinner in.

"Where are we going?" she asked. It was her first time going to a night market, everything seemed so new and intriguing. It wasn't like a regular shopping mall, it felt more lively and the sellers were all super friendly.

"Here we are, the fish market."

"Ugh it stinks here."

"You'll get used to it, come on!" he pulled her to a large tank where many varieties of fishes were swimming about. "Cool huh?"

"I guess?"

"Shua-ya is that you?" asked an old lady.

"Hi Mrs. Ahn, how are you?"

"I'm doing fine, it's been so long since you came here, oh you've grown so tall, and handsome too!"

"Yeah sorry about that, school's been pretty busy."

"I can imagine. And who's this lovely young lady?" she looked at Sojung.

"Oh, this is Sojung. It's her first time here so I thought I'd show her around."

"Well I hope you're having a good time. Hold on, I got something for you."  Mrs. Ahn handed her a bag of fish sticks. "Try one, if you like it you can have it for free."

Sojung looked hesitantly and Joshua and he gave her a nod. She took a fish stick and ate it. "Wow, these are really good!" she said enthusiastically, which made the old lady chuckle.

"I knew you'd like it, here take this bag."

"Thank you!" she bowed to her.

"Don't mention it."

"Um Mrs. Ahn I think we're gonna have a look over there, see you later!"

"Alright then, have fun!"

And so they went to look at all the fish market had to offer. 

"Hey Sojung, look!"

Sojung turned and was met with the claws of a lobster causing her to jump back. "W-what?"

"Relax, it's a lobster" he put the poor creature back into the tank and gave her a sly grin.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry, you're just so fun to tease. Anyway, we should probably head back, we can see more parts of the market on the way."

On their way back, they passed by a flower kiosk, which gave Joshua an idea. 

"You go ahead, I just need to tie my shoes." And when she walked away he quickly went into the kiosk and picked a pink camellia. He gave the florist the money and hurried back to he before she could turn around.

"Got you something" he presented her the flower.

Sojung stared at the flower. She looked back at him and saw him giving her the warmest smile. She then averted her gaze, becoming shy, and accepted the flower.

"Thanks."

He kept smiling at her as they walked, and eventually found the boldness to grab her hand. 

-

Eunbi couldn't stop checking her phone, it was already 10 minutes past the time that they had agreed to meet up so she was getting nervous. Her foot tapped rapidly under the table as she considered all the reasons he wasn't there yet. 

Did he decide to bail out last minute? Did I seem too eager? Too desperate? Too-

"Eunbi-ssi?"

"Oh, hi!" she greeted him and bowed awkwardly. "Have a seat, I haven't ordered anything yet."

"Sorry I'm late, I didn't know the subway train was closed so I had to find an alternative route."

"Don't worry about it, I didn't wait long. I'm just glad you agreed to come."

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" he threw his coat over the back of the chair. 

After they ordered, they sat silently as they waited for their food to arrive. Eunbi had absolutely zero experience with dates whatsoever so she wasn't sure what to talk about, but the silence was killing her so she had to say something.

"How did you meet Seungkwan?" 

"I met him when I started working for his mom."

"So, where did you go to school?"

"Actually, I never went to university..." 

Eunbi could see that he had more to say, it was right on the tip of his tongue but he was holding back. But she was really curious about him, and wanted to know more about his life. "Hey, you can be honest with me you know."

He chuckled. "Normally when I do people lose interest in me."

"I won't."

"Well, I couldn't afford to go to. My father was in a lot of debt so I had to work to help pay it off." He considered finishing there, but this was the first time he had been so open to someone right off the bat, and it felt good to get things off his chest so he figured he might as well continue. It's not like he had anything to lose. 

"He was also an alcoholic and addicted to gambling, so that's where the rest of his money went. He had to be admitted to rehab because we were getting evicted, which is why I had to move out. But he still has a bunch of debt collectors on his back of course, and apparently he told them all to find me to get their money, so now I'm dealing with all that." 

He watched her intently as he gauged her reaction, expecting her to look at him weirdly or with contempt, but she just had a blank expression on her face.

"It's okay if you're having second thoughts."

"No no not at all! I'm just amazed how you're able to balance everything, I can't imagine how stressful that must be."

He was shocked, no one had ever reacted that way after he told them those things. Usually they were silent and then they'd ghost him, or if they were less polite they just straight up walk out. She was different from the others, and his heart quickly grew fonder for her.

The rest of the dinner went well, and they seemed to hit it off amazingly once the ice was broken. It was comfortable for them to talk to each other, as if they had already known each other for years. 

"Have you auditioned for any agencies yet?" he asked.

"Not yet, I'm going to in a couple months, I think need to train a little more."

"Well, I'm sure things will go well for you. Seungkwan said you're really talented."

"What? He told you things about me?"

"Don't worry, they're only good things."

"It's not that, I..." she fumbled with her words, and Jeonghan looked at her like it was the most endearing ever.

Just then the waitress came by with the bill. Eunbi immediately pulled out her wallet.

"Let me pay, I'm the one that dragged you out to this."

"Ey, that wouldn't make me much of a gentleman would it? Besides, Seungkwan will scold me for sure if he finds out."

She giggled and resigned her wallet. "Alright, but next time is on me."

Hearing those words made him smile, he was happy to know that she had a good time and actually wanted to see him again. "You can try."

By the time they left the restaurant, it was already pitch black outside.

"I'll walk you back to your campus" he offered.

"It's alright, I don't want to take up too much of your time."

"It's okay really, my next shift isn't until later, it'll be more productive than if I went home. And... I'd like to talk to you a little more."

They made their way to the university together, it was a rather peaceful evening. Jeonghan walked her all the way to her dorm building.

"We should do this again sometime" she said.

"I look forward to it."

"I'll see you later then. Good night!" She bowed to him and walked into the building.

When she got to her door, she heard another pair of footsteps running towards her.

"Ya, Eunbi!"

"Oh unnie, you're coming back just now?"

"Yeah I was at the library. Who was that guy?"

"What guy?"

"Hey don't play dumb, I saw a guy walking you back to the dorm. Is he your boyfriend?"

"N-no! Not... yet."

"Ohhh, is my little Eunbi finally starting to date? They grow up so fast! But who is he? I don't think I've seen him on campus before." 

"I think you overestimate how many people you know."

"Not true, even if I don't know them my photographic memory can recognize their faces in an instant."

"Well, he's not a student. He's a friend of Seungkwan."

"I see. Well good luck, make sure he treats you well!"

"Thanks Yerin, I'll see you later."

"Night!" 

-

"Well?"

Jeonghan stopped wiping the counter and turned around to see Seungkwan leaned against the door frame, a smug grin on his face. "Well what?"

"My gosh you're dense, what do you think? How did the date go?"

"Oh, it went well."

Seungkwan made his way towards him, which made Jeonghan subconsciously take a few steps back. "That's it? You're not going to tell me anything else?"

"What else do you want to know?"

He thought about it but nothing came to mind. "Yeah I guess there isn't much to know, you just met after all. But do you like her?"

Jeonghan looked into the distance as he thought about the events of the night before, a small smile slowly formed on his face. "Yeah."

"I'm glad. I want you to be happy hyung, I really do."

"Ey no need to get so sentimental, I am happy Seungkwan, and I owe most of it to you." The look on Seungkwan's face seemed like he was about to shed a tear. "Don't cry now."

"I won't. I'm not a cry baby, that's Seokmin's job."

"Oh yeah, where is he anyway? I haven't seen him here in weeks."

"He had some urgent things back home, had to take care of his grandmother or something."

"He's a good kid."

"Gosh you sound so old when you say that."

"What do you mean old? You'll be the same age as me in a couple years."

Before they could continue their conversation, Mrs. Boo's boisterous voice snapped them out of their thoughts and they quickly got back to work.

-

"There you are!" Sojung ran towards Mrs. Jeon who had been hiding from her all day.

"Uh oh" Mrs. Jeon decided to run the other way to avoid Sojung's confrontation but to no avail as she quickly caught up to her.

"Where have you been? And where is my father? He didn't come home last night. Did something happen to him?"

"Well, um, you see-"

"I'm here." The two looked in surprise as Mr. Kim made his way towards them. "You need something Sojung?"

"Why couldn't I get a hold of you? And where were you last night?"

"I had an urgent meeting with an investor in Jeonju, I forgot to tell you about it. Why are you so worried? This isn't the first time I've had to go somewhere on short notice."

"You're my father, why wouldn't I be worried?"

"Aigoo my daughter" he patted her head. "You're so caring just like your mother. But you really should be thinking more about your work instead of me okay?"

"Never, you're way more important than work."

"Alright alright, work hard okay?" he said as sent her off.

"Mr. Kim, why don't you just tell her that you're planning to retire?" asked Mrs. Jeon.

"I don't want to tell her too early, the doctor said I can still work for a few more months as long as I take it easy. Besides, I don't want her to feel too much pressure, we're gonna have to approach this transition process gradually, there's a lot of things that need to be done after all."

"You mean, for Sohee?"

"No Sojung."

"I don't understand."

"Sojung is going to take over the company."