JUNG RIAN 

Was Min Woo right? Maybe I was being too harsh with Roy. Maybe...

It was hard not to blame everyone for the way things turned out to be. I wanted what any person would want. A loving family, a good job, friends...kids. 

All of that was stripped from me. Why me of all people? Why did all those horrible things happen to me? What did I do to deserve that?

Roy wasn't the only one I was angry at. I was angry at the world for not protecting me. 

My phone went off, putting all my thoughts aside. I didn't recognize the caller so I answered. 

"Ha Na." 

It was Joon. My heart began to race. Why was he calling me of all people!?

I took a deep breath and said, "Well, isn't this a surprise" I tried not to sound nervous. 

"I want to meet with you. There is something I wish to talk to you about" he said. His tone was serious. It peaked my interest. What should I do? 

"Now?" I said. 

"Yes." he said. 

"Where?" 

"I'll pick you up. I am actually outside the gates of your house." 

Typical Joon. He never did give me options. I ran to my closet and tried to put something together. When I realized what I was doing I froze. 

"Look at me...I am acting like a damn schoolgirl." I closed my eyes. I was irritated at myself. I grabbed a coat and put my hair up in a messy ponytail and touched up on my concelear. I took a pink lipstain and stained my lips. 

"Choi Ha Na...you better not fall for anything that bastard says to you...I'm warning you!" I told myself in the mirror and set off to meet Joon.

His car was outside the gates like he said. 

It was a good thing Min Woo had gone out. He would of never allowed me to get into his car. I saw Joon waiting outside his car. I took a deep breath. I can't believe I'm doing this. How stupid could I be!?Anyway...too late to back out now. 

He came around and opened the door for me. I tried to make minimal eye contact with him. 

"Thanks" I said and got in the car.

"Where are we going?" I asked him not once looking at him. He backed up and started driving away. 

"Do you want to let that secretary where you'll be in case I try something?" he scoffed. Something about his tone sounded jealous. Was he jealous of Min Woo? 

"Tch. Let's make something very clear. I am not scared of you Lee Joon. That and Min Woo is not my secretary" I said. Joon ignored my comment and kept driving. "I won't ask you again, where are we going?" 

"We are going to have dinner...and talk" he said and went into Seoul. He parked on the street and went over to open my door. 

"What is this?" I raised a brow. "A pojangmacha?" 

"Don't tell me your dinner choices have also changed?" Lee Joon smirked. I was lost for words. Never did I think Lee Joon would lower himself to something like this. This wasn't exactly his taste. It was Choi Ha Na's. I would always come to these places with Mir. 

"No..I mean, I'm more shocked that you suggested this for youself." 

Boy was a glad that I was dressed casually.

"I have grown fonder of places like these in recent years." he said and made his way towards it. We sat down at an empty table. The place didn't have many people. 

"Imo...soju and tteokbokki juseyo" he yelled out to the ahjumma cooking. I internally gasped. What the hell...? Was this really Lee Joon? 

"You like tteokbokki right?" he asked. I nodded. 

While the ahjumma came over to us with the ttoeokbokkie and soju, I couldn't stop looking at Joon. He looked the same as he always did but his personality had changed slightly. He wouldn't have ever suggested coming to a place like this before. He always thought of himself so high and mighty...I wasn't getting that now. What's gotten into him?  

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" Joon said as he poured himself soju. 

"It's just...I'm not use to seeing you like this.." I admitted. I cleared my throat. "Anyway, you said you wanted to talk." I tried to get to the point. I had made myself a promise that I wasn't going to fall for the likes of this man. 

"Drink up." he evated my question and poured me soju. I took it and drank it right up. He smiled. 

"I hope this isn't some cheap attempt to seduce me with alchohol. Isn’t your girlfriend waiting for you at home?” I asked almost hating myself for asking him that.

“No, but Leo is.” he said. I instanty felt a stab at my heart. 

“Does that girl take care of him well?” 

“I have never doubted Rin’s abiities to care for Leo. She loves him and would do anything to protect him.” 

I was happy, ofcourse. My son was being cared for...but it made me sad that I couldn’t be the one to do it. 

After everything that happened, I would never think that Joon and I would be able to be here...like this.

“Don’t tell me your jealous of Rin?” he teased. The nerve of this guy..

"As if. There's no reason to be." 

"She and I aren't dating you know. She is Leo's caretaker. That's all."

"I don't remember asking you" 

Joon rolled his eyes. "Just thought I'd claify since you are so fixed on her being my girlfriend"

"I could care less." I said taking another drink of soju. "I do worry about my son being raised by a child. She doesn't seem like a bright girl." 

"She might not be, but she is caring." 

I stayed quiet. "I guess it doesn't matter. I intend to take him soon"

"Still determinded to do that?" Joon smirked. 

"Ofcourse. You took him illegally from me for your own selfish purposes." 

"Did Ji Hoon tell you that?" he slammed the soju glass a little too hard on the table. I felt eyes on us. I smiled. "He told me no such thing."

"Let me ask you this." he paused and looked at me straight into my eyes. "Why are you siding with Ji Hoon?" 

"That's what you wanted to say?" I scoffed. This is why he wanted to have dinner and talk?! I grabbed my bag and stood up. Joon made no effort to move. 

"You remember don't you?" 

I froze. "What?" 

"It was him that hurt you...that hit you. He you" he took another shot. "You haven't forgotten what he did to you...or have you?" 

"Ofcourse I haven't" I bit my lip.

 "I will never be able to get those images out of my head. The bruises...the scratches....the blood. That was the worst night of my life." he whisperd. "He did something like that to you yet...you seem to have sided with him. That day you two where smiling at each other...how?" he said with hurt in his tone. 

I sat back down. I was surprised that he had brought all this up. He opened up my old wounds.

"You where even engaged to him...after all those horrible things.." he said. "Why?"

"I-I" I couldn't produce anything. 

"I never understood why you decided to marry him. Did he offer to take care of the baby? Was that it?" he asked looking at his cup. "Did I hurt you so much you had no other choice but to go to him?" 

I was in tears. 

"What about you?" I said. He looked at me. "Why do you even care!? You left me to fend for myself while I was pregnant. While I had nowhere to go you were sleeping around with random women so don't you dare judge me on my life choices!"

"I was wrong..."

I wiped my tears and composed myself. "Anyway...it all worked out for the best. You seemed to have moved on from me. You found love with that girl"

"Are you talking about Rin again? You think I am in love with her?" 

“So what if I do?” 

"The truth is...I have not been able to move on from that day you came to my apartment." 

I looked away. I remembered that day like it was yesterday. How could I forgot about it?

"So you're just stringing her along?" 

"I care about her but not in the way you think. I held on to Rin for years beliving it was her that was going to put an end to my feelings for you." 

"But?" 

"I took advantage of her unconditional love for me...knowing that she wouldn't leave. I used her everytime I felt lonely--" 

"I do not want to know about your love afair with that girl." I was bothered. Why was he telling me about this?

I furrowed my eyebrows. What did Lee Jon think I was? 

"Truthfully I could care less what you felt back then or now. I don't care who you choose to love.." I scoffed and repeated "Love...if you even know what that is"

“You haven’t looked past what I did to you. I can’t blame you. What I did was unforgivable.” Joon looked disgusted with himself. “I didn't summon you here to ask you to forgive me. Don’t worry..I know. I haven’t forgotten and to be honest with you, I don’t think that I will ever be able to wake up and not be reminded of the vile act I did” 

He was clenching his jaw. He closed his eyes tightly. 

"Why did you ask me here then?"

He stood up and went over to me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I was now at eye level with him. 

"I am going to make it up to you." 

"b-Bwoh?" I felt my cheeks hot. 

"If you can look past what Ji Hoon did...I am also redeemable. I will do right by you." he whispered. My eyes widened. "Joon...wh-" 

He took my lips with his and kissed me. I tried to struggle free but he held me tightly. He kissed me slowly, carfully as if he didn't want to hurt me any longer.

NO MIN WOO

I couldn't watch any longer. I felt the blood within me boil. The way he spit his lies to someone so naive like Ha Na was painful to watch. I came from out of behind the tent and took Ha Na's hand and pulled her away from that bastard. Her eyes widened when she saw me. My eyes were fixed on Lee Joon. 

"Min Woo oppa!" she gasped.

"What do you think you're doing?" Joon glared at me. 

"Let's go. You don't need to continue to hear anymore of this nonsense" I pulled Ha Na away from the pojangmacha, past the crowd and towards my car. 

"Min Woo what are you doing!?" Ha Na struggled to get free. "How did you know where I was?" 

I stopped when we were alone in an empty alley and turned to her. "How could you willingly get into the car with that guy?" 

"He wanted to talk." she said and added, "Wait, you saw when I left didn't you? You were following us!?"

"That's not important! What would of happened if I wouldn't have interfiered? What? Did you guys make up? Is that it?" I was pissed. 

"It has nothing to do with you!" she yelled. Those words hit me like bricks.

"Really? So everything he's done to you is automatically thrown out the window? Suddenly everything is okay because he said a few sweet words and gave you small kiss!? If that's all it took I would of..." I stopped myself. I was mad. I wasn't thinking clearly. I was about to distrespect her and ruin everything.

"Would of what!?" 

My hands formed into fists. 

"Forget it." I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.

"You have feelings for her" I heard him. He had been listening to us for a whie.

"Joon" I heard Ha Na say as he aproached us. He looked extremly cocky. I couldn't stand him.

"No wonder. I always wondered what it was about you that pissed me off. Now it's so clear. You have feelings for Ha Na" he repeated. 

"It's none of your damn business." 

"It must be hard to constantly be there for her a a 'friend' when what you really want to do is keep her all to yourself" Joon mocked. How dare he!? "You remind me of that useless bastard...Mir"

I grabbed him by the neck. I was taller than Joon so he was looking up at me stil smiling like the crazy bastard he was. Nothing fazed him. My grip on throat tightened.

"Stop" Ha Na grabbed my arm, pulling it. "Oppa don't do this!" 

Joon smirked. I pushed him away from me. The reaction that Ha Na had made me do it. 

"Gwenchana?" she went to him. Seeing how she held him made me flare with anger. How....how could she? 

I was becoming something I wasn't. I was not an angry person. Just now, I wanted to hurt Lee Joon. 

 Ha Na was too confusing. What did she truely want? Why was she stringing me along if she still loved him?

I couldn't say anything and I just walked towards my car. I left without saying anything to them. 

_____________________________________________

"Where you unaware that he has feelings for you?" Joon asked, as he drove Ha Na home. He was dying to know more about their relationship. He couldn't even hide the fact that he was a jealous mess. 

"I knew." she said. 

He gripped the streering wheel tightly. "Why keep him around? Unless you...like him too?" 

She raised a brow. "Aren't you crossing the line Joon? You have no right to interfere in my personal life." 

"I don't mean to cross any line with you." he said. "However, what I said earlier....I meant it"

"Why?"

He looked confused. 

"I already explained to you that I want to do right by you." he said. "I won't lie to you. Ultimatley I want things to go back to the way they use to be"

"What makes you think it could be that way?" 

"You must think that I am doing it for my selfish reasons but you're wrong. I want you to be there for Leo. As his mother"

Her eyes widened.  

___

“For years I didn’t know you were even alive so I didn’t want to tell our son that his mother was dead and when I did find out you were alive you were living under a different name, Jung Rian.” 

I scoffed. “Regardless of who or what I was, that didn’t give you the right to hide that information from him. Kids grow up, and you out of anyone should know how resentful one can get when he’s lied to.” 

He stayed quiet. We were parked right outside my house, both of us sitting in his car.

“You couldn’t tell Leo I was his mother so you hired that  to care for him as his mother.” 

Rin bothered me. Before, I didn't want him to see how much I hated her. I was jealous of that little thing. I didn't care anymore if he knew. I wanted to push Joon’s buttons. I wanted to see how much he cared about that little girl.

“Watch your words Ha Na” he looked mad. 

“Oh,” I laughed, “It bothers you because no matter what you say you care about her!!” I yelled. I knew how petty I was, but I could't help it.

“Stop.” his voice was as cold as ice. 

“Am I wrong?” I asked. 

“I have told you before. At one point I did care about her...she was always there. She helped me through learning to love Le-" he stopped himself. I knew what he was going to say.

"Ofcourse, how could I forget? You hated him." 

He closed his eyes. "You want the truth, well here it is! You're right! I hated Leo...I hated the fact that he could be Ji Hoon's! That he was growing inside you! That when it came down to it he was alive and you were in a coma!" he yelled. "I couldn't even be in the same room with him for months after I brought him back from Japan! I didn't hold him until he was months old!" 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Tears spilled from my eyes and I couldn't stop. How could he not hold my baby? 

"I couldn't bring myself to love a kid that had killed the women I loved" 

I slapped him. 

"HOW DARE YOU!! HOW DARE YOU BLAME MY BABY FOR WHAT YOU DID!!?"

I was about to hit him again when he grabbed my hand. "Ha Na...I know..I'm sorry" his head dropped. I was crying histeracally. 

"Let me guess? Rin changed your views on Leo?" I started to laugh. "How ridiculous." 

"I was wrong...I'm sorry Ha Na...I'm so sorry"

I opened the car door and ran out of the car. Joon was such a disgusting man. How could this person have my son all this time? How could someone use a child for thier selfish reasons? 

"Ha Na!" Joon ran after me. I ran faster. I couldn't believe that I had chosen this man. 

He caught up to me and grabbed my arm. "Please Ha Na...listen to me!" 

"Why did you take him away from me then!?" 

Joon's eyes widened. He was not expecting that. He looked at a loss for words. 

"I was going to bring you back--" 

I grabbed my head in frustration. "I will not continue to listen to anything that comes out of your disgusting mouth! You have no idea how much I loath you!" I tried to break free from his grasp. "I am going to do everything I can to take Leo from you! He will grow to hate you just as much as I hate you!" I hit my chest with my hands. "Mark my words"