Hi, first chapter is up! :)

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                It was just another same day for Hyojung. Her younger sister, 23-years-old Hyemi slammed her bedroom door just to wake her up early in that morning. Oh, how she hated her for doing that ridiculous thing. She glanced at the clock that she always brought with her to bed every time she wanted to sleep. Hyojung groaned softly when she knew it’s only 6.30. As she tried to go to her dreamland again, the door flung open and stood there, a petite young lady with a ladle on her right hand.

                “Go away.” Hyojung covered her face with the pillow. Hyemi huffed when she saw her sister went back to sleep despite knowing she actually had to go to the court.

                “Unnie, you said you have a case to settle today. You don’t want eye bags, right? And perhaps, swollen face?” Hyemi crawled onto the bed and poked Hyojung’s cheeks. Hyojung grew irritated and pushed her younger sister off the bed.

                “I’m up now? Happy?” She folded up the cover and marched towards the bathroom without even having the guts to look back at Hyemi. Hyemi shook her head and rubbed her still-hurt , thanks to Hyojung.

                After a few good minutes of showering, Hyojung put on a black skirt, white blouse, and then a black blazer for that day’s hearing. She was pretty sure that she could win the case since she had studied a lot from the previous hearing. The lawyer from the other side was quite smart and he noticed her flaws. She hoped that she could attack him by revealing a lot of truth from her side.

                “Gosh, unnie, wake up early tomorrow, will you?” Hyemi scooped some rice into two bowls. Hyojung settled herself at the dining table with a grin and proceeded with the breakfast prepared by her younger sister. It was always Hyemi who’s the one doing all the cooking. Hyojung was too lazy to do everything and she often used her profession as an excuse to not step into the kitchen. ‘Busy’, she once said.

                “I will. By the way, do you have classes today?” She sipped on the chicken stew carefully. Hyemi took a sit in front of her and nodded lightly.

                “Yeah, this is the last week before the lecturers set us free on study leave week. I don’t think I could do well in finals. Umma is going to kill me once the exam result is out.” She stopped when Hyojung waved her spoon right in front of her face.

                “This is why I hate smart people. They always say they’re gonna be doomed during exams but look at you, perfect 4.0! Do I have to mention that you are one of top students in your course?” Hyojung narrowed her eyes at Hyemi. How she wish she could be as smart as her younger sister. She’s smart too but she’s not at the same level as her. Hyemi shook her head and continued eating without looking at Hyojung.

                “Good. Do you want me to send you to the university later?” She asked her.

                “No, it’s fine. Class starts at 11 today so I’ll just take the bus.” Hyemi assured. Hyojung hummed and chewed on the rice, understood what she said. She took a look at her wrist watch and gobbled up everything on her bowl when she realized that she had to be at the court in 30 minutes.

                “I’m going!” She shouted as she sprinted to the shoes rack to put on a pair of black heels.

                “Okay! Before that, I’ve told umma that we’ll visit her on Saturday!” Hyemi yelled from the kitchen. Hyojung’s eyes widened. Visiting umma? Oh gosh, no! She would ask her a lot of weird questions and most of them would be about boyfriend and marriage. Ugh, two topics that she needed to get away from.

                She walked to her car and tried to keep her focus on the court hearing she had to go that morning. It seemed like her brain decided not to tolerate with her and messed her mind with the thought of visiting their mother.

                “Ahn Hyemi, you should discuss about this thing with me first.” Hyojung mumbled. She knocked her head on the steering and rubbed her head afterwards. Okay, now it’s time to win the case.

                Kevin stirred in his sleep when he felt the mattress shook violently. He groaned and sat up properly, hiding his body with the comforter. This kid again, he sighed. Kevin glared at the little boy who was still jumping on the bed happily. He grabbed his waist and pulled the boy closer to him.

                “What are you doing here in my room, Minjun?” Kevin tickled the 4-years-old boy. He squished Minjun lightly until the little boy shouted for his mom. Kevin quickly released him but only to get hit by his small fists.

                “Ouch, Minjun! Don’t use violence! You really inherited all these cruel things from your umma, huh?” Kevin pretended to be mad. Minjun lowered his head lightly and played with his fingers. Smiling, Kevin scooped the boy into his arms, kissing the top of his head.

                “Oh god, Minjun! Here you are! Come on, don’t disturb Kevin samchon. You need to eat your breakfast.” Deanna panted in front of Kevin’s bed. She motioned her son to come with her. However, Minjun refused and snuggled against his uncle’s chest.

                “Nuna, you’re going back to the States?” Kevin fixed his gaze on the figure in front of him. Deanna and her family had been staying at their house for almost three weeks for vacation. She said she wanted to spend more time with their mom and of course, introduced Minjun to Korea.

               “Yeah, your Andrew hyung has a lot of business to settle there. We’re planning to stay here permanently next year. Andrew wants Minjun to grow up in Korea so he won’t forget where his grandparents come from.” Deanna grinned. Kevin nodded lightly as a sign he’s completely agreed with her. Both of them were born in USA since their parents moved there to expand their culinary business and they had a lot of trouble to speak in their mother language when they got back to Korea.

                “That’s good, means that I have more time to spend with this cute little dinosaur.” Kevin ruffled his nephew’s hair roughly which caused the little boy to pout. He kissed Minjun’s cheeks before giving him to his sister.

                “But I think it’s better for you to get your own dinosaur, Kevin. You’ve heard what umma said last night, right? You need to get….” Deanna froze in anger when her younger brother stood up to grab his towel, ignoring her completely.

                “Don’t start with me, nuna. I’m a grown up and I know what I’m doing. I don’t think marriage is the best thing I could do right now. And I have to focus on my career.” He gifted her with a blank stare. Marriage, a main thing that must be discussed among his family. And he didn’t have any girlfriend at that moment.  If it’s not appointed to Deanna, who else? Of course it’s him. How he hated it every time the topic was brought up. It’s not that he didn’t want to love someone, he just wanted to stay away from being in a relationship after he failed in some of them.

                He still remembered the girl from his previous so-called love story. Everything went smoothly and Kevin expected that he would spend the rest of his life with her. That was what he thought until he went to visit her at her apartment and was surprised to see her on top of unknown guy, making out. No words were needed, they broke up and Kevin swore he would never love any girl until he’s ready. Unfortunately, when he’s ready for it, no woman came into his life and he also had no desire to look for one. Sad? No. Pathetic?  Yes.

                “Well, if marriage is not the thing you could do right now, how about girlfriend?” Deanna crossed her arms and brought her under her chest. Deep inside her heart, she really knew why her brother didn’t want to get married. But as a sister, she thought it’s the best for him to have someone by his side to take care of his clothes, food, and heart.

                “Argh, nuna! Let’s just forget about this and bring Minjun downstairs for his breakfast. I want to bath and I have to go to the court to watch the new lawyer doing his job later.” He pinched Minjun’s cheeks for the last time before dragging his feet to the bathroom.

                ‘Fine, Mr CEO. Just don’t beg me to find a girlfriend for you when you reach 40.’ Deanna thought. She shook her head lightly and smiled to her son who was pouting, probably hungry.

                Kevin strode to the kitchen with a black briefcase on his right hand. He joined Deanna’s little family and their parents to eat breakfast. The tie on his neck had been suffocating him. The more he fixed it, the more hell he had to go through. Andrew, his brother-in-law just laughed at him before asking Deanna to fix it for him. As she tried to walk to his beloved younger brother, their mom reached him first, grabbing Kevin harshly by the collar and adjusted the tie properly.

                “This is why you need a wife, Woo Sunghyun.” She huffed and moved back to her seat. Kevin knew his mom was not in a good mood because she just called him by his full Korean name. He sat properly across her and reached for the pancake in front of him.

                “Umma, I’ll get one for sure. But not around this time.” Kevin pouted. Mrs Woo gave him a death glare and stuffed the pancake to his mouth, causing him to gag. He quickly grabbed a glass of plain water beside him and drank it to help him digested the food well.

                “You said it like you could choose any girl outside there to be your wife. As if there’s a street promotion for those who want to be ‘Mr Kevin Woo’s wife’, huh? I don’t know what to do with you anymore, Kevin. I’ve been telling you about this matter a lot of time but you always say you have to focus on your firm.” His mom said. Kevin lowered his head and wasn’t able to talk back. She’s right. But he really had no time for relationship. And he’s afraid that he could not balance well his personal and business part.

                “I have to agree with omeonim, Kevin. Even though you’re busy, it doesn’t mean you can’t love someone. Or are you… you know, gay?” The last part of the sentence made his family went crazy. Andrew was really a mood spoiler, in a good way, for sure. Kevin couldn’t help but joined their laughter.

                “Hyung, I think I’m gonna punch you in the face when I get back from work.” Kevin laughed. He ate the last part of his pancake before bidding them goodbye. Mrs Woo kissed her only son’s cheeks and patted his back as a way of saying good luck to him. How she wished Kevin would stop working for a while and spent some time to search for love.

            Hyojung frowned when she found out her questions were not relevant to the case. Her magic did not work that time and she’s really frustrated. The juries started to doubt her and her skills. She continued listening to the questions from the male lawyer to his client. Then, a smile crept onto her face when she realized that her ‘enemy’ made a huge mistake. She jotted down the points and fixed her glasses which almost fell from the bridge of her nose.

                “Objection!” Hyojung rose from her seat confidently and she noticed the expression the judge and juries’ face. She knew she could do it in a split second and proved everyone who’s right and who’s wrong. Hyojung started to throw a lot of questions to her side and the enemy’s side. After she satisfied to both explanations, she bowed to the judge and walked back to the seat with a victorious smile on her face.

                Kevin felt uncomfortable in his driver’s seat. He realized that he was way too late for the court hearing and it would end in anytime from that minute. Damn this traffic jam, he cursed. The rain didn’t help to clear everything and all he could do was sighing. He tapped on the steering and waited impatiently as the cars started to move slowly. When the traffic officer came to make the road went back to normal, he stepped on the gas and sprinted his car towards the venue.

                Hyojung cleared up all the files on her table and brought them back to her briefcase. There’s a peaceful feeling inside her heart when the judge said it’s the last hearing of the case. They would get to know the result on the following week and she’s pretty confident with what the judge was going to say. Soon, her client came up to her to thank her personally for her fantastic work. Oh well, not to brag, but she’s the best lawyer working at Daehan Firm. People paid her high since she worked so hard to make them happy.

                After a few talks with her client, Hyojung went out of the court and quickly looked for her car. As a wet blanket to one of her cheerful days, she bumped into someone which made the content of her briefcase spilt all over the place. The guy apologized to her while picking up the confidential documents. She remained silent and didn’t lift up her head.

                “Hey, I’m sorry, can’t you hear it?” The guy asked her in a proper manner. If it wasn’t his fault who was rushing, he wouldn’t do such lousy mistake. Kevin shook his head until he grabbed the last document and put it into the lady’s briefcase.

                “I heard that. And I’m sorry too, for not being careful.” Hyojung bowed and took a glance at him. He smiled and mouthed ‘it’s okay’ to her. Hyojung blinked when she recognized the young man in front of her. Stuttering, she excused herself to leave that place and strutted to her car as fast as possible. Kevin chuckled and shook his head gently at her actions.

                “Weird.” He mumbled. Kevin peeked inside of the court but he was too late. The hearing was already ended and he sighed contently. He took out his phone from his blazer pocket and called the new lawyer that he had employed. Sighing again, he turned back to his car and drove it towards his firm.

                “Ugh, it’s Kevin Woo! It’s Kevin freaking Woo! One of the gods in this lawyer world. I should have been more careful. He’s a god.” Hyojung talked to herself while on her way back to Daehan Firm. She really idolized that particular young man for his hard work and the way he handled any cases. And that was her first time meeting him, even though it’s a small incident.

                The scene of she and Kevin bumped into each other flew away from her mind. The thought of visiting her mom took over her brain and she heaved a deep sigh. Hyemi. She blamed Hyemi for not discussing the matter with her. Hyojung grew irritated as she kept remembering the things her mom often said to her every time they went to visit her in Busan.

                “Hyojung, I have this one friend and she has a very wonderful son.”

                “Oh, I’m going to set you up for a blind date!”

                “When are you going to have boyfriend again?”

                “Hyojung, my friend’s son is interested in you. And I like him too, he’s a pilot and he seems suitable for you. You’ll love him!”

                She knocked her head on the steering (again) and stomped her feet on the floor of the car. Oh, she had to go through hell again. Even though she said she’s busy with work, her mom would never failed to come up with a few reasons why she should get married.

                ‘The life of Ahn Hyojung’. She muttered and frowned as she thought deeper about the visit.