Kang Maru was a brilliant guy in all aspects. He had a perfect background: wealthy parents, no siblings, handsome appearance, excellent education and a beautiful girlfriend. After graduating from Harvard at the age of 21, Maru set up his own company in Gangnam, Seoul. Since then, he was considered a successful leader among others in his field.

For over the last 10 years, Maru had felt satisfied with everything he had except his nightmares. That’s why he could not fully enjoy his success and happy life. Though he tried so hard to stop nightmares, they continued to appear while he was sleeping. Maru really wanted to know the reason for having repeated nightmares, but it seemed hopeless.

He could not even share his fear and tireness with Jessica. They had been knewn each other since high school and shared almost everything in life. Jessica was a graceful, sweet and caring girl. She always took good care of Maru and made him comfortable. Maru’s parents also praised her a lot and considered her as their future daughter-in-law. But Maru often felt a distance between him and Jessica. He thought that was because of Kim Jaejoong, a close friend as well as a love rival to Maru.

Jaejoong had many things in common with Maru. He was born in a rich family and possessed good qualifications. Jaejoong’s parents were very close to Maru’s parents and they were also partners in business. Jaejoong, Jessica and Maru lived in the same quarter and studied in the same school. Maru always knew that the girl Jaejoong truly loved was Jessica. But she just thought of Jaejoong as a friend, no more. That fact made Jaejoong hurt a lot.

Unlike Maru, Jaejoong had no interest in business or finance-related field. Since childhood, he showed an aptitude for singing. Though his parents forced him to learn business, Jaejoong still nurse his dream of becoming a famous singer. One day, Maru was informed that Jaejoong had secretly left his house. Maru had never heard any news about Jaejoong for the next 3 or 4 years. Then Jaejoong appeared in front of him again. He had spent many hard times before becoming a star. His parent could not do anything but to accept their son’s path.

Now Jaejoong was very popular, he had million fans around the world but still loved Jessica so much. As Jaejoong’s best friend, Maru felt sorry for him. When Jessica said that she liked him, Maru was very surprised and confused. He really didn’t know if he had feelings towards her too. They were friends for many years, so Maru could not distinguish the feeling for a friend from the feeling for a girl he liked. He just thought that Jessica was a beautiful and smart woman, that’s all.  

Actually, Maru doubted that he probably fell in love with the woman in his dreams. Yes, that was the woman called Se Ryung. Maru didn’t know exactly the reason but he realized that she appeared in his mind more than he could imagine. Although Maru had never seen her anywhere, he still remembered her face clearly. Maybe this was so-called déjà vu.

...........................

When Maru first saw Seo Eun Gi in reality, he realized that his dreams were not dreams at all. Their unsuccessful meeting made him upset until that night. He almost forgot what he had done, who he had met, and which places he had came to. Maru unconsciously finished his schedule and then came home at 10PM.

He voicemail on the phone and heard two messages. The first one was Jung Yunho’s.

“Ya! Kang Maru hyung. I already told you not to make Sica feel sad, didn’t I? Why do you ignore her these days? If you mistreat my younger sister, you shall surely die!!!”

Although Yunho’s message was a threat, it made Maru smile. That guy was already 27 years old but he kept acting like a cute boy. Yunho was very busy with his business in US, so he entrusted Maru with the task of protecting Jessica. Anyway, Maru felt apologetic to Yunho.

The second message was of Jaejoong.

“Hyung, why did you ignore my calls today? I was asking you to drink with me. Are you busy? Let’s go together, hyung! I have an interesting secret to share with you. Just go to our habitual pub if you hear my message. I’ll wait for you.”.

Maru thought a little and called Jaejoong to confirm that he had not left the pub yet.

“Hyung, why haven’t you come here?” Jaejoong complained.

“Okay, wait a minute. I’ll come there right now.  I’m in a bad mood, anyhow,” replied Maru.

“Yeah, there is someone expecting to meet you. Come here please, hyung!”

“Who is it?”

“Just come and see.”

When Maru came to the pub, it was nearly 11PM . The atmosphere there was noisier than usual and it annoyed Maru even more. He just wanted a quiet place to relax after all bad things happening to him that day. As soon as Maru was going to ride away, someone suddenly grabbed his hand.

“Hyung, where are you going?” Jaejoong asked slyly.

“Could you invite me to a quieter place?” Maru frowned.

“I already thought of it, but my VVIP said she likes this pub. How can I do?”

“Your VVIP? Is she your fiancé? Or is she already your wife?” He asked jokingly.

“Hyung!!!!” Jaejoong cried out, “You’re talking nonsense. I’m not old enough for marriage but you are, haha”

“No, I think I’m too old to get married,” Maru responded with a blink, “Where is your VVIP?”

“I’m not sure. She went to the restroom when you just came here,” Jaejoong looked around and then said “Oh, there she is!”

Maru followed the way Jaejoong showed and saw a woman jostling against the crowd. As soon as he saw her, he knew exactly what so-called “fate” is. It means that even you want to escape from someone or something, they still can find their way to catch you. It’s very much like a circle, the endless circle of fate.

“Let’s get acquainted. Noona, this is my sunbae, Kang Maru-ssi”, Jaejoong introduced,”Hyung, this is Seo Eun Gi-ssi. When I left home several years ago, it was her who helped me a lot”.

Then he whispered to Maru “Her nickname is “Devil Goddess”, you’d better be careful”. Maru kept his silence in astonishment.

“Oh, I can’t believe it. Who thinks that we can meet each other again,” Eun Gi dragged a half-smile out of her lips while looking at Maru.

“It means…you met my hyung somewhere?” Jaejoong asked in surprise.

"Yeah", Eun Gi stared at Maru.

"Really? Amazing! How did you meet each other?"

“Hm, it was definitely not a nice meeting. So you don’t need to know,” Maru smiled coldly.

“That sounds nice. You both seem to be destined to meet each other,” Jaejoong said excitedly, “Noona, do you want to date him? Maru hyung, how do you think?”

“WHAT??????????” Both Maru and Eun Gi shouted at Jaejoong at the same time.

“Why are you like this? You two look good together. Moreover, both of you are too busy to find your halves, so I’m trying to help you. Hyung and noona should greatly appreciate my kindness instead!" Jaejoong pouted.

“Ya! Kim Jaejoong, do you really wanna die?” Maru grinded his teeth, so did Eun Gi.

"I will definitely NOT date a guy like him," Eun Gi stated.

"A guy like me? What do you mean?" Maru felt that his pride was hurt badly, "Do you think I'm interested in dating a piece of ice like you? Never dream of it!"

"That's good. Then we should never meet each other the third time," She concluded.

"Okay, that's what I'm thinking too."

With that they turned their back to each other and went out of the pub, leaving a thunderstruck-Jaejoong behind.