Mr Han was a tall man and far younger than I expected. When he arrived I took his coat, as was my usual practice with visitors, but I found it difficult to look at him directly. This was the man who held not only my happiness in his hands but Lily's, too.

"Miss Jung, isn't it?" he said, as I relieved him of his garments. 

"Yes," I replied.

"Mr Kwon says you saved him from ruin," he said. 

I warmed to the kindly note in his tone. 

"Oh, I did what any good secretary would do. I organised his office after his previous secretary left," I said honestly. 

"Well, he speaks very highly of you. Is that a Busan accent I hear?" he went on 

His question shocked me into looking up into his eyes.

"Yes," I said. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm a Busan man myself. I just wondered."

He didn't sound like a Busan man to me. He sounded just like any other city man with his round, nasal vowels and clipped tones. 

Since he had brought my fears to the forefront of my mind, I decided to tackle the issue of my employment there and then.

"Mr Han, I love my work here and I was going to ask if..." I didn't get a chance to finish because just then Mrs. Kwon threw open the door to his office. 

"Mr Han! You're early!"

"I was keen to review the client list and files, Mr Kwon. I have a lot of work to do in a very short time."

"Of course. Come in. We might as well get started now."

I did not have the opportunity to speak to Mr Han again until the following Friday. He had been holed up in the office with Mr Kwon for much of the day. In the afternoon he appeared at the office door and asked if I could make him and Mr Kwon a cup of tea.

"Of course, Mr Han, right away." I desperately needed to know if I was going to keep my job.

"Excuse me, Mr Han, I have worked here for..." But the telephone rang and interrupted me. It was Mrs Mina Nam from Incheon and Son requesting a meeting with the new owner.

"Mr Han will be available next week," I said.

"Yes, I can assure you that you will be in safe hands, Mrs Nam. He is a Seoul solicitor. Mr Kwon wouldn't sell his business to just anyone. May I call you back with a suitable date and time? Ten minutes? Of course." 

Mr Han stood over my desk and smiled down at me as I hung up. 

"You handled that splendidly."

"Thank you. I have a diary for you, Mr Han. I just need to know what day you'll be available from. Would you like me to make Mrs Nam an appointment?"

"Certainly. Any time next week will do," he said, and then he gave me a smile that made my heart flutter before returning to the office. It seemed I would never get an opportunity to speak to him!

At this last stage, I decided that since neither man had time to speak to me, I would stand my ground and not do a thing until I was officially told to leave. 

With winter fast approaching, Lily needed a warmer coat. I had promised her we would go to town to purchase a new one on Saturday, and afterwards I would treat her to tea and cake at the tearooms. 

I bought her a maroon wool coat that had plenty of room for growth. I considered purchasing a new one for myself, but decided my mustard coat with the fur collar still had enough warmth in it for another winter.

When we stepped outside the shop Lily turned towards me and took my hands in hers. 

"Oh, Gayun, thank you for the coat. It's beautiful!"

"Anything for you, little sister."

As I smiled down at her I thought about how much we had been through together. Kangman had orignally seemed like a  desperate last chance. We had been lucky here. We had made friends, and whilst we had not moved into a home of our own, Kangman had opened its arms to us. 

Yes, I feared for my job, but despite that, I sensed everything was going to be fine. As we entered the tearooms I heard my name being called and saw Mr Han waving at me.

"Who's that?" Lily asked. 

"It's Mr Han. If I'm lucky, he may be my new boss."

Lily frowned. I hadn't told her of our precarious circumstances because I hadn't wanted to worry her. 

"Are you going over?" she asked. 

"I'd better," I said 

Mr Han stood up to greet me as I approached.

"Miss Jung, I was just having tea. Please join me," he said. "And who is this delightful young lady?"

"This is my sister, Lily. Say hello, Lily." 

"Hello, sir."

Mr Han pulled out chairs for us.

"Gayun is treating me to a slice of Victoria sponge," Lily told him. "And she's just bought me a new coat,"

It made me smile, Lily had turned into a chatterbox since her confidence had returned. 

"Has she now?" Mr Han said warmly. "You are lucky to have such a lovely sister. She and I are going to be working together, you know."

He looked straight at me and smiled mischievously when he saw my stunned expression. 

I was quite peeved about it and words flew from my mouth before I could stop them. 

"And just when were you going to tell me that I was keeping my job, Mr Han? I've been worried out of my mind."

"I thought it was a foregone conclusion," he replied. 

"If you had known hoe desperately I needed to keep my position, sir perhaps you wouldn't have been so blase about it."

He leaned over towards Lily.

"Does your sister always look so pretty when she's angry?" he murmured, making my heart flutter and a deep blush  stain my cheeks. Lily laughed. 

"I've never seen my sister angry," she said. "Are you sure she's angry?"

"Maybe not," he said to Lily. 

"Maybe she's really, really happy."

"Yes," Lily agreed. "I think she is."

A year later I was in a position to rent rooms with a kitchen and bathroom. Lily and I finally had a home of our own. I invited Aunt Seohyun to live with us, which she accepted without hesitation, and we were all incredibly happy. Despite my initial worries, Mr Han and I got on well. After a while he started to buy flowers and leave them on my desk. We sometimes took tea together in his office. He told me of his office. He told me ofhis love of boats, which was why he moved Kangman. He was always very open and honest with me.

Eighteen months after he purchased the business, Mr Han asked me to marry him. I hadn't seen it coming, but it was something I had dreamed of. 

"You do know I come with a sister and an aunt," I told him.

"Yes," he said. "You didn't think I'd keep them out of the equation, did you? I'll just need to buy a bigger house, that's all."

I laughed happily.

"What's your answer, Gayun? Please put me out of my misery," he pleaded.

"I'll have to see the contract first," I teased.

"Sorry to disappoint you," he said, "but the only contract I can offer would be written by way of love, which is invisble on paper and impossible to type."

I reached out and touched his cheek with my fingers.

"I'll have to take my chance then," I said.