Soyun stretched as the professor finally wrapped up his lecture.  Macroeconomics was only so interesting.  Glancing at her watch, she sighed and began packing up her laptop.  

She still had a whole two hours before she had to meet Changwook at his private academy.  And although a driver would be there to pick him up, the hwajangnim insisted on having Soyun accompany Changwook as often as she could.  Not that she minded; as much as she hated to admit it, she liked the little er.

As Soyun skipped down the steps to the basement garage, she considered what she should do with her two hours.  She had quite a bit of reading to do; that would be the smart way of spending her two hours.  There was an upscale café right across from Changwook’s academy; it would make for a great place to get some work done.  Or…

Soyun pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts.  She paused as she landed on Park Cheondoong.  Her thumb hovered over the call button as a mental debate raged in her head.

Since getting his number from Changwook, Soyun had never once contacted him.  She was too nervous to even send him a text message let alone call him.  But still, it had been two weeks since the fundraiser and she was itching to talk to him again.  She didn’t have anything particular she wanted to talk about; she just simply wanted to have some sort of contact with him.

Getting into her car, she sat in the driver seat in silence as she stared at her phone.  Should she call?  And say what?  They had chatted a little bit during the fundraiser but it hadn’t been long.  Even if she calls him out now, what would they talk about?  Besides… he was a trainee at KTA.  He was probably bogged down with training… Sighing, Soyun tossed her phone to the passenger seat beside her and started her engine.  Café it was…

She flipped on the radio and bobbed her head to the music.  She mentally rolled her eyes at her schoolgirl crush on Park Cheondoong.  The kid was younger than her; she had never shown romantic affection for anyone like that because it simply wasn’t in her strike zone.  Besides, the kid was going to be a celebrity… hardly the type of guy to be an ideal boyfriend.  Soyun was fine on her own but when she did date, her ideal boyfriend would at least be available to be with her several nights of the week; a trainee with a packed schedule did not fit the bill.

Soyun sighed as she turned the radio off in exasperation.  Here she was, trying to dissuade herself about Park Cheondoong and she was already thinking about him as if he were a boyfriend.  She shook her head at herself and rolled her eyes. 

Pulling into the café parking lot, Soyun parked her car and grabbed her book bags.  As she approached the café doors, she glanced at the front gate of Changwook’s private academy.  As usual, the gate was securely shut until school was out.  The academy sat much farther into the school grounds and stood tall in the distance.  Although it was an elementary school, only the rich kids could attend this particular academy.  It was both prestigious and pompous.  Changwook hated the place.

Tugging on the café doors, Soyun was relieved to see that it was mostly empty.  A few customers were sparsely scattered throughout the large sitting areas and couches.  Taking a seat by the window, Soyun dumped her bag in a comfy booth and went to the counter to get a drink.  Deciding on an Americano to help wake her up, she paid for her drink and leaned against the counter as the barista completed her order.

Lazily, she watched the other customers as they sipped their own coffees and chatted.  Some brought their laptops and were taking advantage of the free internet connections.  Some were gazing out the window…

Soyun blinked as she spotted one older gentleman gazing out the window.  He was sipping his drink slowly and watching the gate of the academy.  She watched as he put the drink to his lips slowly and tipping it for a small sip.  In a similar speed, he placed the cup on the table and paused before repeating the action again.  All the time, his gaze never wavered as he stared at the gate.  It was quite… creepy.

Soyun jumped as the barista tapped her on the shoulder.  Laughing sheepishly, she accepted the drink and carried it to her table.  Unfortunately, she was only a few tables away from him…

She froze and nearly dropped her drink as she got close enough to finally get a front view of his face.  She gasped and took a step back as the man looked up at her, his own face mirroring her surprised expression.

“Soyun…” the man said, his eyes wide.  He set his cup down and stood slowly.

Soyun set her cup down; her heart racing in her chest.  She watched his expression almost crumple as he gazed at her with a heartbreaking sadness.  He took a step towards her and clenched his hands into fists.

“I… didn’t think you would be here this early today,” he said softly, looking down.

Finding her voice, Soyun straightened her back and wiped her face clean of her emotions.  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” she said with a harsh tone, “How dare you show your face here, Kang Sangki!”

“Soyun,” the man shook his head, a frown forming on his face.

“Leave right now!” Soyun said, taking out her phone, “Or I will report you!”

“Soyun!” the man said firmly, “Calm down and listen to me!”  He took another step forward and softened his expression.  “Please, Soyun-ah,” he murmured, “Please give me a chance to tell you the truth.”

“Truth?” Soyun whispered, feeling both anguish and anger, “I already know the truth.”

“You don’t,” he replied softly, “Please, Soyun-ah.  Sit.”  He gestured for her to sit.  When she didn’t move, he sighed and took a seat himself.  

Soyun bit her lip as she considered her options.  She could report him but… for what?  Having a coffee in a café?  Hesitantly, Soyun sat down across from him and waited.

“Thank you,” he said warily.  He paused briefly before he began.  “I’m… I don’t go by the name Kang Sangki anymore,” he said softly, “I’m now Jin.  Just… Jin.”

Soyun chuckled bitterly as she looked at him with anger.  “Jin?  Did you think changing your name would erase your crime?” she asked, her hands gripping her phone tightly.  She felt a flood of emotions course through her.  She felt both hatred and love for this man whom she used to call uncle.  Between her father’s friendship with Kang Sangki and Lee Sukgyun, Soyun had loved Sangki’s carefree nature more so than Sukgyun’s more coolheaded one.  He had been her favourite uncle until…

Jin gazed at her with a sad expression.  “I understand that you’re angry,” he said, “Knowing what you know, it makes sense that you would hate me for taking him away from you.”

“Angry?” Soyun spat, “If all I felt was anger, it’d be so easy to relieve it.  What you did…”  She trailed off as felt emotion bubble in her chest.  When Soyun heard about the kidnap and potential death of her best friend Changsun, she had been too shocked to feel much at the time.  Too young to understand Sangki’s crime, she had prayed every day for Changsun to return.  And every day, the sun set without a single word of him.  It had taken her years to accept that her best friend and first love had disappeared and would probably never come back.

“What I did,” Jin said, “Is not what you think I did.”  He sighed and leaned back in his chair.  “Yes, I took Changsunnie from school, and yes, I hid him away.  But it wasn’t to hurt him, Soyun-ah,” he said, his face desperate, “It was to save him.”

“From who?” Soyun said incredulously, “His family?  His friends?  His future?”

“From his step-mother,” Jin whispered, shaking his head.

Soyun felt her jaw drop in disbelief as she stared back at Jin.  From hwajangnim?  That was ridiculous.  There was no one else in the world that loved and showed Changsun as much affection as she did!  After Changsun’s mother died, he had been so lonely that not even Soyun or Sora could help ease that.  But after hwajangnim married into the house, he had been so keen to be in her company…

“Why?” she said sarcastically, “Because you were afraid she’d smother him with love or someth-”

“She was going to kill him,” Jin said quietly, his face dark.

Soyun stared at him in stunned silence.  Was she hearing things right?  The kind and cool hwajangnim had planned on killing her step-son?  She let out a shaky laugh as she stared at him in bewilderment.

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Jin said, “But Song Bangna’s affection for Changsun was an act.  I spoke to the maids; she is a cruel woman that often abused him behind closed doors.”  He exhaled deeply before continuing.  “I asked Changsun myself but, you know him,” he said, a bitter smile creeping across his lips, “He would never tell me the truth about her.  That child would only say kind things about her…”  Again, he paused before speaking again.  This time, his face was dark as he looked at her.  “She was going to stage an accident, Soyun-ah,” he said, “And Changsun was going to die.”

“Liar,” Soyun murmured, her eyes wide.  Where did this story come from?  Did Jin pull this story from out of thin air?  It was both ridiculous and unbelievable.  “You’re a liar,” she repeated again, her hands shaking.

“She wanted the company,” Jin said, black hate spreading across his worn out face, “She was going to kill the son of my best friend so she could have full ownership of the company.”

“No!” Soyun interrupted with a hiss, “You wanted the company!  You were the interim CEO at the time until Changsunnie grew old enough to take over.  You wanted the company so you decided to kidnap him and kill him!”  She laughed in disbelief.  “I can’t believe you’re spinning this around to make hwajangnim the monster,” she said, shaking her head, “And now that you failed with Changsunnie, you’re here… Are you going to try again with Changwook?”  She gripped her phone tightly and said through gritted teeth, “Over my dead body.”

Jin remained silent as he returned Soyun’s gaze with his own defeated one.  Slowly he stood and sighed.  “It seems that I won’t be able to get through to you,” he murmured, “I’m not here to hurt Changwook.  Believe it or not, he’s still the son of my late best friend.  I just…”  He sighed and shook his head again.  “I won’t come back, Soyun-ah,” he said quietly, placing a small piece of paper on the table, “So be at ease.”  Taking a deep breath, he began making his way to the door.

Slowly, Soyun picked up the paper Jin had left behind; it was his name and phone number.  Crumpling it, she stood and called, “Wait!”

Jin turned as he reached for the door, surprise on his face.  Lowering his arm, he waited as Soyun walked up to him.

“Why now?” she asked, “Why are you… here, now?”  She searched his face for an answer as she tried to understand.  “Why appear before me now?” she whispered, “Why explain yourself now?  It won’t make Changsun come back…”

Jin stayed silent as he gazed back at her with a pained expression.  “I… I didn’t expect to see you here today,” Jin said, shaking his head, “I won’t be back.”  With that, he pushed through the doors and stepped outside, leaving Soyun looking at the ground with balled up fists.

Letting out a shaky breath, she returned to her booth and drank all of her Americano in one go.  Slamming the empty cup down on the table, she glared at the empty seat across from her.

How dare he show up at Changwook’s school?  After what he had done to Changsun?  And how dare he try to pin the crime on hwajangnim?  What would it change?  It wasn’t as it Changsun would come back to them.  So why?  Why do this?

Angrily, Soyun scrolled through her contact list and scrolled to the P’s to find the police station number.  Highlighting it, her thumb hovered over it as she mentally battled her affection for the Kang Sangki she used to love like a father.  Appearing now… would he be a threat to Changwook?  If so, Soyun had no choice but to report him to the police.  But… he had promised he wouldn’t be back.  Could she trust him?  If only she could talk to someone about this.  Should she tell her father?  But it would hurt him wouldn’t it?  Her father had been devastated when he’d found out that one of his best friends had plotted to kill the son of their other best friend.  Her father had a kind heart; it would kill him to find out that Kang Sangki was back and might hurt Changwook.  But still, for Changwook’s sake, shouldn’t she say something to somebody?

Soyun bit her lip as she stared at her contact list.  As she debated with herself, her eyes flickered upwards to the name Park Cheondoong.  She sighed as she stared at his name.  Cheondoong liked Changwook a lot; he would probably do a lot to protect him.  But really, being stuck at KTA all the time as a trainee-

Soyun suddenly froze as her eyes widened.  Her thoughts suddenly rewound back to the fundraiser.  Back to when she had been talking with Cheondoong.  There had been a few other trainees with him.  And… wasn’t there one someone by the name of Lee… something?  The boy who had looked like a carbon replica of Lee Changsun’s adult form?  Lee… what was his name? 

Her heart racing, Soyun pulled out her laptop and quickly connected to the internet.  Her fingers moving at lightning speed, she typed in Korea Talent Agency into the search field and pulled up KTA’s homepage.  She scoured through their webpage as tried to search for a roster list.  Finding none, she sighed in frustration and flipped back to the search results.  Leaning back in her chair, she rubbed her eyes before staring blankly at her screen.  Now what?  How else could she find that guy’s name?  Would Cheondoong know?  Or maybe Mun-bujangnim…

Soyun’s eyes widened as she suddenly read the headline she had been staring at blankly.  Something about an assault case with KTA’s latest model… Lee Joon.  There it was!  She clicked on the link quickly and scanned through the article.  It mentioned briefly about four men being charged with assault… the model Lee Joon of KTA… hot young star model for the brand Critique… only nineteen years old…

Soyun muttered to herself as she read the article over and over again.  His name was Lee Joon.  He was nineteen… the same age as how old Changsun would be.  Was it a coincidence?  Quickly, she searched up Critique and found several pictures of their latest suits.  And… there he was.  The resemblance was uncanny; it was as if Changsun was standing in her screen looking back at her with a solemn and chic expression.

She remembered how she had felt when she first saw him.  She had felt a rush of nostalgia when he had looked at her.  The warmth behind his smile was the same.  But… there had been no sense of recognition.  Lee Joon didn’t know who she was; he hadn’t recognized her at all.  Besides… his name was completely different.  Maybe… it really was just a coincidence?

Soyun drummed her fingers on the table as she stared at her computer screen into the handsome face of Lee Joon.  Her eyes wandered to her empty cup and then to the crumpled piece of paper Jin had left her.  

Suddenly, she took the paper and flattened it again.  Her eyes widened as she stared at the phone number than back at the screen.  She looked back and forth between the two as she tried to connect the dots.  

Kang Sangki, or Jin, reappeared now of all times when he had already been released from prison for several years.  Why?  And why now did Lee Joon appear before her?  Lee Joon… who looked so much like Lee Changsun?  Was this a coincidence as well?  What was going on here?  

She bit her lips as she stared at Lee Joon’s picture.  Whoever he was, she needed to meet him one more time.  She had to know for sure… if Lee Joon was really the best friend she had lost all those years ago.  Now how to go about doing this…

Author's notes:

First time writing from Soyun's perspective!  It was getting a bit boring with just Doongie, Joon, Seungho, and Hyunsik :)  Anyway, the plot thickens again!  Is Jin telling the truth?  Or is it all a big lie?  Stay tuned for more!