“Hurry up will you?!” A woman dressed in designer clothes grumbled at the person who was grooming her.

She was flipping through a business magazine, a quite strange reading material a model should be reading. Yet there she was, scanning the magazine and turning over the pages in exasperation, almost ripping the paper in half. The young stylist who was tending to her bowed in return and continued her work with shaking hands.

Her phone rang, vibrating on the table full of make-ups. She managed to grab it before it fell to the floor. “Yoboseyo?” she answered.

There was a few minutes of silence as she listened to the person who was talking on the other line. Her frown just now was instantly transformed into a wide grin, earning a curious expression from her stylist.

The model hung up, the wide grin was still plastered on her face. “He’s here! Now’s my chance…” she smirked to her reflection in the mirror as she grabbed the magazine she was reading a while ago.

Staring at the front cover, she ran her fingers over the picture. “Jung Yunho… I will make you mine again…” she couldn’t stop smiling to herself.

There was a complete silence as tension was bulding up in Hyesun’s household. She was carefully holding the tray of drinks for her, uninvited guest who was sitting in the living room. Ji Eun was sitting on the couch opposite from the guest while holding little Yuri in her arms. The guest on the other hand gave a nervous smile, clasping her hands together on her lap.

“What brings you here?” Hyesun decided to break the silence, placing the cup of tea in front of Lee Yejin.

“H-Hyesun-ah, how have you been?” Yejin stuttered, giving a small smile.

“Never felt better,” the mother smiled, turning to her long lost daughter.

“I came to… to apologise…” she mumbled, mainly to herself.

Ji Eun and Hyesun exchanged glances as they waited for Yejin to continue her words. “A lot of things… happened after you left that day Ji Eun-ah. Your father never treated me the same anymore… he… he hated me,” she was choking in her tears.

Yejin was referring ot the day when Ji Eun left, knowing the hurtful truth about her real mother. The two women sat in complete silence, not being able to find a reply as they continued listening to Yejin.

“I’m sorry for keeping this away from you. I’m sorry for treating you badly. Please don’t hate your father, he was going to tell you when you turned eighteen but… things happened,” Yejin sobbed, not being able to lift her heaad up and face Ji Eun.

“I got married. Right?” Ji Eun guessed.

“Yes, we didn’t figure that the Jungs would even remember about the promise. But a promise is a promise a-and… I’m sorry Ji Eun-ah!” Yejin wailed, now kneeling in front of her stepdaughter.

Hyesun held Yejin’s shoulders and sat her on the couch, in between them. “I’m sorry for separating the two of you Hyesun-ah…” guilt was written all over her face.

“There, there, it’s okay. I forgive you after all this years,” Hyesun hugged and patted Yejin’s back. “Thank you for taking care of my daughter. What matters now is that we’re reunited again,” she comforted.

Ji Eun on the other hand sat in silence, watching the melancholic scene in front of her. A sudden wave of emotions hit her as tears were beginning to form in her eyes. She was hugging tightly onto Yuri, who seemed to notice her sadness and hugged her back.

Yejin didn’t completely treated her badly, at least Ji Eun knows how it feels to have a mother with her even though she was just her stepmom. On the positive side, how Yejin treated her taught her a lot of things. She became a very humble, optimistic and forgiving girl, despite her wealth.

Instead of hating Yejin, Ji Eun thought that she should thank her stepmother. Even though she forced her to an arranged marriage, it was the best thing that has ever happened to her. Being a girl who only felt fatherly love from Sugeun, she learned that there was another kind of love. One that has brought her happiness, filling the empty spaces left unoccupied by Yejin.

She met Jung Yunho, learn to love and found her soul mate.

“Ji Eun-ah, honey…” Hyesun woke her up from her trance, smiling.

Ji Eun smiled back in return and wrapped her arms around Yejin. “I forgive you Yejin omma. Let’s not remember about the past anymore, I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Thank you! Thank you Ji Eun-ah!” Yejin hugged her tighter in return. 

She felt relieved to finally hear those words coming from her. Out of all people, she was afraid to hear no apologies from Ji Eun the most. Ji Eun was the one who suffered the most from her wrong doings.

“O-omma~ c-can’t breathe…” a small muffle was heard as Ji Eun gasped and broke from the hug.

Yuri was sandwiched in between the two women as she was sitting on Ji Eun’s lap earlier. “Mianhe honey, kwenchana?” Ji Eun fixed her messed up hair.

Yejin stared at the little girl on Ji Eun’s lap curiously. A small smile formed on her lips as she caressed the baby’s cheeks. “And who is this cutie? Your… daughter Ji Eun-ah?” she asked.

“Anni, she’s the daughter of Yunho oppa’s cousin. Yuri-ah, greet Yejin halmoni,” she gestured the little girl.

“A-annyong~” Yuri waved with her small chubby hands.

“Halmoni?”

“Well, she calls me omma… so…” Ji Eun nodded. “Besides, you’re still part of our family Yejin omma,”

Yejin felt overwhelmed to receive such title. She hardly imagine that the two women would forgive her, but to still be acknowledged as their family was never part of her plan. She was very grateful at how forgiving and kind they were despite her bad actions.

“Thank you,” she replied, reaching to hold the younger girl’s hand. “You seemed so close to her, I seriously thought that she’s your daughter. I don’t remember seeing you pregnant,” she added.

“Well…” Ji Eun smiled to herself, blushing while she caressed her stomach.

“She’s pregnant now Yejin-ah,” Hyesun continued her sentence.

“Really?” Yejin’s eye widened as the smile on her face grew wider. “Sugeun would be very happy to hear this! Congratulations Ji Eun-ah!”

“Well, daddy already knows. I called him after I went to confirm it with the doctor,”

“You deserve all of this happiness Ji Eun-ah. I’m sorry that I treated you badly,” she apologized again.

Jung Yunho was having breakfast at his hotel’s restaurant. It was located nearby his office branch in Tokyo. Throughout the day, his mind was occupied on his wife. He had to surpress the urge to call her. He knew the consequences of doing so, considering the fact that a pregnant Ji Eun had quite shocking mood swings. Plus, she might reduced the number of phone calls he’s allowed to make.

He even ordered Ji Eun’s favourite dish from the menu, seafood pasta. He slowly ate the food, wishing that it was his wife’s home-cooked breakfast instead. Instead of Ji Eun, he was jolted back to reality when a familiar voice greeted him.

“Yunho? What are you doing here all by yourself? May I join you?” Park Soojin appeared out of nowhere, bursting out the questions all at once.

“Oh hey Soojin, sure,” he gave a small smile, gesturing her to take a seat.

She grinned widely in return and literally jumped to the seat in front of him. “So… what brings you here? I didn’t know you’re in Japan now,” she started.

“Working on new project here. A joint venture between Korea and Japan,” he replied, having another mouthful of the food.

Soojin smirked to herself. That would mean he’d be coming to Japan more often nowadays. “I see. You’ve become very successful now,”

“Things are working out great so far,” Yunho couldn’t help but to grin to himself, remembering all the good things that has been happening to him. Especially the news about Ji Eun’s pregnancy.

“Is there something I don’t know? You seemed very excited about something,” she asked curiously when she caught his expression.

Yunho finished the last bit of his pasta and sipped his drink before answering. “The company’s doing good so far. And… a lot of good things happened to me lately,” whatever the good news is, he decided to keep it to himself.

“What about you?” he asked the question back at Soojin.

“Well, you know I started modeling in Japan. Most of my projects are here, but I do got offers from overseas,” she simply replied.

“Yeah, most of the magazines covers had your faces on them. You must be really popular now,” Yunho nodded. “I’m surprised no one’s stalking you,”

“Well, same goes to you. You’re like the cover model for business magazines,” she didn’t forget to mention that part. “By the way, I’m working on a really big project in Korea. Looks like we’ll be seeing each other often right?” 

“Yeah, s-sure,” Yunho replied. 

“Speaking of which, I haven’t met your wife yet. What is her name again?” Soojin slowly initiated her plan.

“Jung Ji Eun. She’s a friendly and lovely girl,” Yunho praised his wife with a proud smile on his face.

“Really? I can’t wait to see her…” Soojin had a hidden smile on her lips. “Must be a handful for you. Juggling between your wife and work,”

“Actually, it’s the other way around. I’m in fact quite a handful for her,” Yunho chuckled to himself as he reminisced when Ji Eun told him that.

Suddenly, Soojin’s phone rang. She excused herself and went to a corner of the restaurant to answer the call. She didn’t forget to make sure that Yunho had a clear view of herself. Yunho was watching her phone conversation and from his view, it was a quite stressful and unpleasant call. Soojin looked worried and stressed which made him curious. It also seemed that she was pleading to whomever was on the other line.

After a good ten minutes, the call ended as she came back and slumped herself on the chair. She gulped down a whole glass of water before sighing heavily while rubbing her temples. Yunho couldn’t help to feel slightly worried of his friend.

“Mind me asking, did something happen?” he asked, showing a bit of interest.

“N-nothing much… just some problem about my contract,” Soojin gave a weak smile, showing her eyes that was starting to water.

Soojin knew that Yunho is someone who values friendship a lot and is willing to help those in need. She pretty much expected to hear his next words. “Well, we’re friends right? I’m willing to listen anytime,” 

“N-no! I s-shouldn’t bother you with my problems,” Soojin frantically shook her head as tear kept pooling in her eyes and were threatening to fall.

“It’s not ok if you’re crying like this. Even if I can’t help, at least it’ll lessen your burden a bit,” he assured her.

Soojin slowly lifted her head up to look at his face. By then, drops of tears run down her cheeks. Yunho instinctively held onto her hand that was on the table and gently wiped the tears away with his thumb. He swore he saw a sudden light flashing before his eyes.