Usually it takes exactly thirty minutes for the bus to go around the city and come to a halt at where I get down, and during this time, my typical act is to sit and watch the road. There’s a lot to see though, especially the monuments which gets magnificent by the day, the N Seoul tower, which is always visible from any point of the city, Dondaemun gate or the Namdaemun gate-the bus will always go past one of them carrying the passengers who have travelled to visit either one of the two markets –or the fashion district where I frequently visit for shopping, and the magnificent sky scrapers in downtown Ganganm and Samsung town, all these are often caught in my interest. On the whole, I’m glad to be back in my mother town. Seoul was where I was born though I lived in Canada with my dad worrying about his large-scale business matters. It has been ten years since I left Seoul and six months since I’ve come back, I am already getting used to the Korean traditions which are very different from those in Japan though I find calling unknown people ‘Ahjumma’ or even ‘Oppa’ for that matter-I thought people don’t generally go around referring to random people as ‘brother’- A bit weird, and smiling at each and everyone who passes by me is quite annoying. I didn’t find it appealing when women, or certain ‘Ahjummas’ come and ask me whether I am married when I go shopping in Hongdae, but I decided to live through it ever since I found out that it was only the typical attitude of the South Koreans which I can’t recall from my past.

                However, I do enjoy the life here, I only feel that way when I am in the bus all by myself not working along with another ‘Unnie’ of my dad’s Seoul branch. I can’t blame her, the only person I find unappealing is her, and that apparently isn’t her fault. And that is exactly the reason why I don’t answer any of her calls, at least not in the bus. So I stuff the phone back into my bag and stare straight ahead as if I can’t hear a thing, which is, my phone. “Agnaseayo!” Says someone cheerfully behind me which makes me swiftly turn around. “Would you mind if I sit there?” I nod, remembering the polite Korean traditions. It’s a young man, well, at least about my age, with a leather file bag in his hand, well dressed and his lips creased in a typical Korean smile. He slides down next to me and bows. “Kansamnida” I smile and bow back. The ride goes on with silence between us for a while, me staring out of the shutter, and the man, well, doing whatever he was doing which I’m unaware of. The atmosphere is so calm and silent that it surprises me when he suddenly speaks.

                “It has been a long time hasn’t it?” He says, staring down at his fist clenched on his leather bag. I stare at him, all dumbstruck. What on earth does he mean? We just met!

“Jaeso hamnida, Jiyeon-ah, I truly regret what I did that night”  Wha-?? Jiyeon? I am no bloody Jiyeon? I look into his face still keeping my distance and pardon myself, but he keeps his face all serious as ever. Is he for real?

“Chogiyo…” I say, slowly pulling myself away from him. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else…”

“-It was my entire fault, I wish I had a way to change the things from how they’re…” he is saying as if he can’t hear a word I ‘m saying, with his hand still clenched over the bag. This is not good. I try again, but this time; I slide further away from him. C’mon, was he crazy or do I really look like some random Jiyeon in his eye? Or is he in a grave need of changing his contacts or whatever? No, I take a closer look being at least two feet away from having any contact and look closely into his eyes; extraordinarily tiny, perfectly brown and sad, not a glint of contacts, I conclude, he is seriously mistaken. “Um…I’m- I stutter trying to find my words. “I’m…I’m Naeun, not Jiyeon” I say in a rush. But he interrupts. “I know…you must be feeling a bit weird…since it has been so long…”

Weird?  Isn’t it obvious for him? He is asking a complete stranger for forgiveness who apparently has no idea why the heck he does and now asks if I feel weird….okay now I’m officially off. I crane my head and look at the road to see if I am close enough to get off. Nothing in particular is in sight but having a complete stalker with a zero-mind controlling capability, or in other hands, a major mental instability sitting right next to me, referring to me as some random princess of his childish dream world of desires, the so-called Jiyeon is apparently not healthy enough, I mean, who can predict what would happen next? What if he smiles again and pulls out a sharpened jack knife asking me to pretend to be this Jiyeon person for some sort of dangerous terrorism-involved mission? I’m not writing any novel or anything here, in fact, that is the last thing in my pre-occupied mind right now, and I can get back to that later on…

                The bus comes to a halt.

                This is my chance, it’s a market! I can sense there is one nearby, the perfect place to disappear, so I stand up, without even excusing myself from the weird man who is staring at me as if I’m the one suffering from complete lunacy- now who’s talking- and rush towards the automatic door. The rush near the door is even bumpier and when I get to the door, it is all for me to watch it slide back with sad eyes-correction, not sad, mad. Mad and wanting to break enough bones mad-I fall back onto a nearby seat with not once turning my eyes to look at the man who now probably is wondering what on earth is wrong with his precious Jiyeon. Gosh, I feel like I’ve cheated my boyfriend though I have no desire to find one. Why am I feeling that bad? C’mon, I just met the guy, and he thinks he knows me and mistakes me for some Jiyeon about whom I have no idea who it is, and now I want to run away from him though he hasn’t even made a move to stalk me in any way he could but tell me how he felt with sincere eyes.

                I jump when I hear the voice again, he’s right behind me. .

                “Are you alright? I’m sorry; I knew this would happen…” Is he in the seat behind me? Can’t he see I’m not who he’s looking for?

                The phone is ringing once again in the bag on my lap, yes, let’s ignore whatever he’s saying and listen to what the heck Unnie has to tell me.

“Yobusaeyo!” I say as cheerfully as I could into the phone. And jump at her tone. “Why won’t you answer my calls? There’s Jung Min on the other line, he’s bugging me with some PR matter which I’m not hoping to take up…” she is saying unstoppably and I try my best to concentrate on her squeaky voice, wow this girl really has a totally annoying voice, I wanna hang up…Is he still watching me from the back seat? Okay this is not good. Where the hell is the next stop? “…did you say something about a contract? Jung says you asked him to meet you at noon and since you’re not around I even asked Myung Soo to…Naeun-ah are you listening?” God, I wanna die. “Yeh….I’ll speak to Jung Min…” But I don’t want to. The bus doesn’t seem to stop… “Jiyeon? Ji Ha-“  Oh god oh god, this is bad, I’m gonna die!

                And the bus stops.

                As soon as the door slides open, I ignore the man once again and quickly throw myself out of the bus still clutching the phone against my ear with Unnie blabbering nonstop ably about some three-year contract about which I have no idea whatsoever. I nod at the driver of the bus who is staring at me as if I’m insane, since I got down at the wrong stop, anyway, who cares. But when I look up at the bus, there he is, the guy who really do care, staring at me with his tiny eyes as if I’m ripping his heart apart, okay, I know you’re feeling bad mister, but I seriously have nothing to do with it, and I wish you’d find your girl one day… Now I have to walk all the way to the office. Gosh, this is embarrassing. What if someone sees me? What if a colleague sees me, sauntering down the road like a lost tourist stumbling on heels? Now I’m in a serious desire to kill someone…who on earth is this Jiyeon?  What do I have to do with her? I’m sure we don’t look alike, I mean, I’m pretty ugly for god’s sake with a straight but short brown hair and a stubby nose that no woman has any likeness to posses, why would anyone bother even to call me by his lovers name? This is so weird, and I’m losing my track on concentrating on whatever Unnie is saying. That’s exactly the reason why I hate to be involved with dad and his business matters, but instead, he ordered me to search for better PRs for his Korean branch, and every time I find one, there’s something seriously wrong with it. Like last time, I found this PR company and the director happened to be acting like a woman which was totally disgusting, and there was this other company who would accept us only if we are an entertainment agency though the meeting was not entertaining at all but a total disaster, and now, this Jung Min, the Last PR I found, he has a short term memory problem, I considered it alright and gave him a chance….What on earth is he talking about? I never signed a three year contract!

                “Chalthoro…” I say into the phone panting like a dog. “I just lost my bus but I’m on my way to the office, is Jung Min around? Tell him I didn’t, no, I never did, sign a contract with him…..oh, araso, I’ll settle it down…” Is he serious about the memory problem?

                I close the phone and stuff it back into the bag. I don’t want to be a business partner, especially not my dad’s. He needs the things to be done perfectly for the lowest rate, and how on earth could that be done? I mean, all those perfect things don’t come by the price of bread or anything of such, plus in this case, PRs don’t just fall out of the sky chanting “Hare…Hare…pick me! Pick me!! I rate low!!!” That’s exactly the reason why I told my dad to not make me the director of his Korean branch, because I’m already sick of doing this, just from the very beginning.  I mean, who would enjoy it working with annoying people though it’s for a low price or not? And what’s so cool about importing coffee from Africa? Who needs coffee anyway? People would rather prefer a good glass of beer or soju for that matter, maybe that’s why PRs don’t want to work with us on the first place.

                At last. God I’m glad to see my office. It’s a two story piece with a sophisticated interior where anyone would feel like heaven (Well only I do, my dad never does, he says it’s a waste paying for iron desks and zebra printed cushions, but I still don’t get why) but after half dying on the road because of a man who refers me by his long-gone girl friend’s name, I don’t feel it anymore. Gosh, I should buy a car; public transportation is never so reliable anymore.

“There you are!” says Eun Ji Unnie as I enter the reception panting as if I’m about to die the next minute. She comes closer to me and I see Myung Soo staring at me with a sour face. Okay, this is not good. “Naeunnie, he’s killing me!” Eun Ji Unnie mutters through her gritted teeth. I am about to say, “Who? Myung Soo?” he can’t be killing anyone to be frank, he’s a good boy…that is when I see Jung min, sitting on one of my leather sofas, sipping coffee with a white sheet of paper lying before him. . The contract. Who asked him to wait for me?

“Ah! He says, seeing me standing huddled between Myung Soo and Eun Ji Unnie. “Agnaseayo! Miss Son”  I greet him back with a fake smile. Who’s his boss anyway? Aren’t we supposed to meet him? Don’t tell me he’s the-

                Of course he can’t be. This guy can’t bring up a company for god’s sake!

                “I talked with Kim Sung Gyu-ssi, he agreed but the problem is, you’ve already signed a three year-

                Okay, don’t get mad. It’s just some bad omen I must’ve seen on the way…is it the Jiyeon guy? No it’s also a cause of the bad omen. Maybe I saw a black cat, wait a minute. Didn’t I see pigeons on the way? No, they were ducks, there’s no way that pigeons were around…

                “The three year contract includes advertising and repayments if needed under any circumstances…” Jung Min is saying and I fall onto the sofa before him helplessly. How can I tell him that I think he needs a psychiatrist? “But, it had been an unnecessary act to sign it before the things were settled…” tell me about it. “…I should’ve seen more into this”

                Gosh, is he serious?

                I’m relieved like it is the Independence Day when suddenly Jung min’s phone ring and when he’s out, Eun Ji Unnie slides down next to me and says; “I thought he’d kill me!” Myung Soo sits next to me. “Why not another PR, Why them?”She mutters desperately, and I have no idea how I got myself into this. “He says he’s the manager, I don’t know who picked him. Are they really on success?” adds Myung Soo, leafing through the contract. “He has brought a new copy and says he lost the other one the other night, and even though, the director, or whatever believes him. Those guys are seriously irresponsible” I nod in agreement and pull out my phone. I’ve got to contact the director. “You know” I say, suddenly remembering. “I met this namja in the bus which reminds me, Myung Soo, you’ve got to hire me a car”

                “Namja? What Namja? I knew it!” says Eun Ji Unnie as if she just heard that she’s getting a free haircut. “I knew something was up! Isn’t it why you were late? So, mal-hae-jwo how is this namja like, totally your type?”

                I wanted to laugh. C’mon. Am I of the ‘I-live-in-my-dreams’ type?

“Ahnimidha!” I say with a heartless chuckle. “Not at all! He-“

I don’t get the chance to speak when Jung Min suddenly turns up in a hurry. “The director needs a word with you, and he says ‘let’s meet up!’”

 

 

The meeting is today (the next day after it was called up) and I’m in my office enthusiastically waiting so that I could ask the director myself if he were crazy to let an in-need-of-a-psychiatrist manager to work for him. As a rising director here, even I have a better manager (Not that I appraise her, I still don’t like her anyway) and I have no idea why a PR has such a mindless person to handle such high cases, I mean, being a PR is not as easy as working at a bakery is it?

                As I leaf through the contract nonchalantly, Eun Ji Unnie arrives with a file clutched in her hands. “What?” I ask, and await her response. “PRs, since you’re not happy with whom you have now…”

“Let’s see how the director is like first…”

I get a glimpse of two men walking towards the office through the glass doors, Myung Soo smiling and nodding widely at a man who’s wearing a gray suit and a pair of specs with a suitcase in his right…wait a minute…..is that?…Oh god….don’t tell me…

“Unnie!” I cry and get up on my heels. “It’s him! That Namja!”

“What Namja! You mean-

“Yes that’s him!”

“The Director? Is that namja?”

                I nod and take a deep breath. Okay, calm down. There’s got to be something I could do about him.

                Let’s see.  I could run to the door, scream out that the deals off (technically, there is no deal. I just wanna talk about his manager and his white lies), run back to my private office room, get into a corner and wait. Well that’s not gonna do. He’d think I’m a complete lunatic! Or maybe he’d come after me calling me Jiyeon again!

                What if I ring him up from here and tell him I’m on a serious matter that I had to call the meeting off? No…He would still call for another meeting. It’s just as obvious as it is.

                Or maybe I could….well that sounds like a good idea…

“Unnie” I say in a rush. “I’ll go and stay in my office, no, I’ll hide. You tell him I’m busy at the moment and discuss about the matter…oh, and tell him to call me…”

I grab my coat and my handbag turning to leave. “Whaeyo? Is there any problem”

“Yes…a”- I start saying but couldn’t finish it because the director is on the doorstep, chatting with Myung Soo…

 I quickly disappear into the room.

“Agnaseayo!” I hear Eun Ji Unnie say cheerfully as I lower myself into a chair in the far corner of the room.

“Agnaseayo!” Greets back the director (I figured it’s not Myung Soo’s voice) “I’m Kim Sung Gyu, the director of Kim & Kim Group, nice to meet you. So I guess you’re Miss Naeun…?”

“Ahnimida!” says Unnie with a small laugh. “She’s…”

Crap. What is she going to say?

“…Out for a moment…”

Please Myung Soo…Be reasonable…

“Is she?” says Myung Soo in a confused voice. “I thought she...”

“…emergency…” interrupts Unnie and relief creeps through my veins. “Anyway, about the contract…”

“Well I really need to talk to the director, is there a way you could contact her…”

“She’ll be obliged to; you may take down her number…”

Obliged? Why on earth would I be obliged to contact him?

“What do you mean emergency? She was right here when I left!” 

Dang! Myung Soo!

“That well….” Gosh there must be a way to stop this. What on earth are they doing? Can’t they just pretend I’ve dissolved in thin air or whatever for heaven’s sake!!

There’s total silence in the room so that I slowly tiptoe to the door and have a peek. There’s Unnie mumbling something standing beside the director, Myung Soo wearing his typical sour expression as Unnie laughs and moves away as if she has won a lottery ticket. What’s going on?

“Chincha?” Says the director with a shy laugh, and turns his head around…

God! I wanna die! What on earth did she just say? Why is he staring at me as if I’ve come from the dork island? And did he just see me peeking out of the door? Of course he did! Crap, I’m busted.

“Come on Naeun-ah! You don’t have to be that timid!” Says Unnie as if I am a kindergarten kid who’s got stage fright.

“Miss Naeun? Have we met?” asks the director, still looking confused. Well not to mention I’m equally as confused. Is he for real or have I looked different in the bus the other day? Of course I did! Wasn’t I his temporally Jiyeon? Thank god he’s not mistaken me for some other random girl now. But what does he mean by ‘have we met?’ can’t he remember me from the bus incident?

“We did, in the bus….director Kim...” I say hesitantly, I could feel my face burning with embarrassment. What must be he thinking? God this is totally humiliating! I feel like sinking through the floor.

“Perfect!” Says Unnie with a clap and a crack of laugh. God, what the hell has gotten into her? “Just like in those dramas!”

Dramas? What does it have to do with dramas? Aren’t we here to talk about a contract?

“Um…since I’m here…” I start saying, feeling myself burn in complete humiliation. Now he would never agree to sign the contract.

“Ah! Just don’t change the subject Naeun!” Says Unnie with another cheerful laugh.

“Subject? What subject? Isn’t it the contract?”

The atmosphere is silent and I stand among those who apparently knows what exactly is going on about which I have no idea whatsoever. Okay, this silly laugh of Eun Ji Unnie is getting on my nerves. What is she really up to? I didn’t even tell her about the bus incident….

Okay, I admit I did, but never even got to the Jiyeon part, what does she find so funny to laugh about?

“Don’t you…like… director Kim?”

What the-

I can’t hide both my surprise and anger, all I want to do is hit Unnie until she gets most of it but it surely is against the law, but now I could really kill her! Where the hell did she get that idea from? I don’t like anyone! I like nobody! Especially not this lunatic who loses his mind when he sees a girl in the bus!!!

“Ah! Jeommar!” I say and turn back to the office room not trying to hit or kill Unnie while the director is around, but I’m stopped on my track…by the director…

“You do…?” he says in a small voice, I can feel it in his voice that he’s as equally as embarrassed. Oh this manager of me! Tell me about it! I think Jung min is better! Maybe Director Kim and I should switch managers so that Unnie could sit next to him and laugh all she wants.

“No…” says my lips before I could even stop myself. “I do NOT like you. Not now, not before, and not in the future. I will never like you” Wow, anger is so strong…but why the hell am I yelling at the director? Well he has a nice eyes though…Crap! I should yell at Unnie not him!

“You know why? Because last time when we met in the bus, you didn’t see me as me, but somebody else…Jiyeon?  I don’t care about any bloody Jiyeon because I’m not her! I’m not any of your long gone lovers and I wouldn’t be of use for reminding yourself about the girls who’ve left you! Maybe that’s exactly the reason why they don’t like you…in fact, I don’t like you…but somebody else…I-I like…Myung Soo…”

Crap. What for heaven’s sake is wrong with me!

“Myung…” stammers Unnie and turns to face him as if he is a serial killer. Myung Soo has turned red as a plum and looks down at his feet. What on earth have I done! God now I could never face the director. He must hate me than anyone else. I glance at him, just to see how he’s going and see a glint of glittering moisture in his eyes. Is he crying? Did I hurt him that much? Oh god I feel like a jerk! And what would Myung Soo think? It feels like a total crime to like someone who actually works for you…well not that I really do like him…well maybe…okay I do think he looks kind of cute, but still, I don’t really like like him! What would he think of me now?

“Dae. Myung Soo-ah! I like him! Not someone who’s seriously irresponsible to take such a reckless person as a manager and also to believe whatever he says and also who can’t recognize who his girl is and call others by her name. God this is-!” I really can’t get over my anger so that I storm out of the room nudging Unnie hardly with my shoulder. How could she do such a thing to me? What could he be thinking by now? Didn’t I hurt him so much? And Myung Soo? What must he be thinking by now? God I could never face him again, and the deal surely is off…what was I thinking?

                I come to the bus halt by feet once again and cry my heart out regretting all my conduct. Now Unnie would hate me, Myung Soo would hate me, and so would my dad. How many people have I hurt by now? And I’m hurt myself…Poor Sung Gyu…he must be feeling so bad for what I said to him, he didn’t even know me why did I say such a thing to him? I watch as the buses pass by, my eyes stinging with tears. What would my dad think if he knew I turned down the PR for a private matter, he must’ve had a reason to do all those irresponsible stuff, why didn’t I think those out before saying such thing to him?

                “Where are you headed to?” says a voice next to me, and my heart skips a beat. Wait…I know that voice…

“Kim Sung Gyu ssi….” I manage after staring into his face unable to find words. Am I supposed to apologize?

“I’m really sorry…” I start saying but he interrupts me.

“You…I don’t know how it ended up calling you Jiyeon… but, for that…Jaeso hamnida…”

I open my mouth to speak, but he continues.

“Hajiman…You also owe me an apology….” I shoot my eyes at him apologetically.

“My manager is in fact my….he’s my father…”

My mouth falls open in dismay. What the hell have I done? Haven’t I hurt him so much? And he even has the guts to come and apologize me, why didn’t I think of that?

A bright green treasure bus comes to a halt before us, and the director gets onto his feet, and turns to me once more. “Don’t worry, Naeun-ah, the deal is still on” he says and gets onto the bus, without turning an eye at me once more, The bus pulls on, and leaves, leaving me speechless on the bus stop stool. I think he’d never forgive me for what I did. Insulting his own father in such a brutal way? Maybe he knew that he had a short term memory loss. Maybe that’s why he let him work with him, and maybe that’s why he needed to speak to me which I wrecked because of Unnie’s misunderstanding. God I should go to hell.

The next day, I called the office and told Myung Soo that I’m sorry if I made him feel uncomfortable and apologized for wrecking the meeting with the PR. And that was when he said the PR called for another meeting, and that they wanted to meet me alone.

So here I am, sitting on the floor of a high class Japanese restaurant, waiting for whomever who is coming? I’m nervous, of course. I mean, how on earth could you face someone after insulting him so much? I’m sure he despises me than anything else on earth; I can’t blame him, though. Even Myung Soo sounded weird when he spoke. I feel so bad doing it for them. It’s not a big matter either, to be liked by someone though he’s so irresponsible, there’s also no problem with liking someone irresponsible either. I mean, people could change right?

 “Hello” I say into my phone, glancing down at my watch and hear Unnie’s squeaky voice. Wow now I hate that girl. “Dae…” I say without any concern. “I’m at the meeting but no one’s here yet” “Chincha? Anyway, did you apologize to Myung Soo? Well I guess you’ve really got going him under”

“What do you mean?” I ask looking at the entrance.

“Ever since you said you liked him, he’d been working as if he’s running on Gasoline!”

“Chincha?” Gosh, is she serious?

“Chinchamnidha! I think he really likes you too!” Oh my god! Why does all those people end up liking someone like me? I mean, there are plenty of fish in the sea… not just one squid…

The door of the entrance slides open (Japanese restaurants have small booths for dining in) so I say a quick goodbye and promise to discuss this later. Soon enough, both Jung Min and Sung Gyu are before me. Though they both looked alright, I felt a pang of guilt and embarrassment. Have they really forgiven me?

“Miss Son Naeun…” Says the manager, and I nod guiltily. “We’re here to discuss the contract details…and I’m sorry I thought you’ve signed it before, it’s something else, Sorry that I confused it with the deal with you.”

“It’s alright- I start saying but I’m interrupted by Sung Gyu’s voice.

“Jiyeon? What are you doing here? Dad? I thought we’re here for a business matter, what is she doing here?”

The room is in utter silence and I involuntarily look around if there was some invisible Jiyeon following me around. A dead soul haunting to take up my body so that she could live in it like in those movies…

“Sung Gyu, my son…you better go out and see if the driver has parked the car…”

“But dad…Jiyeon she…”

Did he have to go on again about this Jiyeon?

“Please go out for a second, and be back when I call you”

Sung Gyu looks at me apologetically and leaves the booth. I look at Jung Min with confusion flooding in my face.

“What was that about? He did that to me the first time we met…” I say in dismay.

“Ah yes…it’s…it’s a dementia case…it just happens when he’s so confused…”

“Who is this Jiyeon?”

 Jung Min is silent for a moment and speaks. I listen in utter …ugh I don’t know. It was something between horror and surprise.

“Jiyeon…she… she was my daughter”

“Your Daughter….that is…Sung Gyu’s sister?” What assumptions I’ve been making. Jiyeon is not his lover but his sister?

“Yes…well I think what he’s trying to do is to apologize. He’s apparently convinced her death was his fault…”

“Jiyeon….she’s dead?” I feel me head whirling around with all the assumptions I made, with all the things I did and said to him. He had just been trying to apologize? Because he blamed himself for her death?

“Two years ago…they had a row in the car which I couldn’t control…Sung Gyu was on the wheel she was in the seat next to him. I was in the back, I was drunk that night so I didn’t sit with him….it’s a very sad story…I don’t know why I let it happen…”

I almost feel tears in my eyes.  He is grieving for his sister? The sister who died and who as he thinks died because of him? What brother would do such a thing for a sister? I mean, grieve in such a manner though it’s not truly his fault? Wow I really wish I had a brother who would go crazy when I die blaming himself for it saying all that is his fault….

Okay, maybe I read too many novels…

“…He tried that a few times…once he even got hit by a woman and was upset nearly for a week …he thought Jiyeon was really mad at him and hit him because she couldn’t stand him…he wouldn’t even drive a car now….he’s too scared that he’d do it again” Jung Min says in a low voice that I really want to cry now. It’s such a sad story…oh how much I hurt him, I even called him irresponsible for calling me by his Girl friend’s name!

Okay…it was because of an obvious reason of a mental strategy that I didn’t see at that time for obvious reasons and thought that it was all because he was irresponsible….now let’s forget that….

“…I’m really sorry Ahjussi, that must’ve hurt him so much…isn’t there a way to…cure him?”

Jung min stares into my face long enough, and replies. “Yes...you…”

Me? Oh for god’s sake I’d obviously make it worse until he reminisces meeting me.

“Me?” I ask at last.

“Yes, you”

“How?”

 

--------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Sung Gyu-ah!” I yelled out at the man who was standing all by himself in the parking lot leaning against the car of his manager, looking though if he’s lost million dollars in cash.

“Sung Gyu-ah! Kim Sung Gyu!!” I run towards him like a crazy woman, and he looks up, surprised. Okay, who wouldn’t be when a random woman come running towards him as if she were running crazy? Well then again, it turns out I’m not a random woman after all, there’s a shine in his eyes which suddenly came by as though he just recognized me. I feel a pang of sorrow and guilty and happiness all at once. Sad that I’m not Jiyeon, he’d be so sad when he finds out. (I doubt it though) Guilty because I hurt him not knowing what his real problem is, and finally, happy because I’ve made him…smile. Wow this is really an unforgettable moment. I will replay this over and over again in my head…maybe I’d write a book; ‘the man who cried for his sister’ and sell it worldwide to tell everyone else his story, he’d be so happy and my dad will be so proud, I’d get away from the coffee business and be a million copies selling author…

“Naeun-ah!” Comes a voice behind me, and the moments ruined. Crap. This was going so well…even Sung Gyu looks taken aback…

“Naeun-ah!”

 Crap .Myung Soo. What the hell is he doing here?

“Naeun-ah…I really…” and he breaks off. “What is Sung Gyu Doing Here?”

I turn and glance at his direction, and see Sung Gyu headed towards me. Crap. Why does it always have to go wrong?

“Jiyeon?” he says his bright look all gone, all serious.

“Did he just call you Jiyeon?”

“L-Look, let me explain- I start saying but they doesn’t seem to listen. Oh god.

“Who are you?” asks Sung Gyu as if he is my dad.

“What the...”

“Are you her…boy friend?” Okay, now I seriously wanna die. Why did he have to ruin the whole drama atmosphere by suddenly showing up? Why is he here anyway?

“Who are you to ask that?” Myung Soo asks if he really were so. God, like Unnie said before, this guy is taking this seriously!

“I’m her…” Oh no…please noooo!!!

“…brother…”

I want to sink through the floor!

“Look” I say at last. Before Myung Soo start saying something even worse. “Let me explain!”

“Explain what?” says Myung Soo. And I open my mouth to answer but close it again. It’s Jung min. And Sung Gyu is standing beside him as if they’re about to rebel against Myung Soo.

“Dad,” says Sung Gyu to Jung Min. “This man here knows Jiyeon, but I don’t know him, how could that happen dad?”

Oh!

Jung Min looks at me and I look down at my feet. I’ve completely ruined his wishes.

“Naeunnie” Myung Soo grabs my hand.

“Jiyeon dongsaeng” says Sung Gyu and pulls me by my free hand; I’m being pulled by two men for no reason at all! Okay, no proper, real, reasonable reason, but misunderstanding, I’m being fought over by two equally gorgeous, irresistible men; with no idea what step I should take next. I could feel my life turning around. I can’t take either of their sides. We’d hurt one another. I’ll just wait, and see where I’d be pulled to. Will I be one’s pretending boyfriend to stop him from feeling bad? Or could I be a dead sister to cure another. Of course I could never be both; things will never work out fine. So I close my eyes, and my mind goes through an old drama that I’ve learnt.

I feel like I’m in the middle of a Caucasian Chalk circle. A rather beautiful, twisted one.