Acknowledging the truth was liberating, she found. The feelings spread through her and warmed her, and she felt at peace. Who knew if this was the best choice for her, who knew if he even reciprocated. What was important was that she was finally no longer lying to herself. When her head hit the pillow, Jinli found that there was a large smile on her face. The corners of were tugged upwards and her cheek muscles hurt from how happy she was.

            She was an utter fool but at least this time, she knew how she felt and wanted to own her feelings. Her heart thudded in and she brought her phone to her face. How easy would it be to just throw away all of her dignity and call him? But there was also the fear of rejection. Who knew what he was really thinking?

            The two of them had hurt each other over and over. What if he thought her a fool for wanting to go back to where they were? What if Hyosung was wrong or lying and this was just a mean attempt for her to get even? What if all of this was just in her head?

            But Jinli remembered the way Daehyun looked at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. At the premier, she could feel his gaze on her, tracing her features, and the slight blush in his ears when they spoke. She could feel the hesitation Daehyun had towards her and the reserve. What if he was just holding back how he felt? What if all she had to do was say the word and like a poorly built dam, the past few years would crumble and all of the emotions would come gushing out?

            She paused with her thumb hovering over his name for the longest time. Then, she scrolled down to another name and determinedly pressed call.

***

            “She told you what?” Daehyun’s eyes widened and he sat straighter as he looked at the younger man in front of him.

            Junhong’s entire face was animated as he said again, “Noona said she agreed to work with you on your house. She called me last night.”

            The news was stunning and Daehyun wanted to topple into his chair and shout at the world. But he checked himself. Instead, he swallowed hard. “Do you know why she changed her mind?”

            Junhong shrugged. “She said that she thought about it and enjoyed the collaboration for the first season. She also knew what the audiences were clamoring for, so she said she would be happy to give it a try if it would boost ratings.”

            Immediately, his spirits plummeted. Of course. Jinli was nothing but professional. This wasn’t a personal decision, but a business one. And yet. “But we never broached the subject to her, unless.”

            Junhong looked a bit contrite. “I may have mentioned it once or twice.” And then hurriedly, as if afraid his hyung would be upset, “But not in a while, and I thought she wouldn’t even consider it.”

            “But she did.” Daehyun finally allowed himself a wide grin. “And she said yes.” He took in a deep breath. He had to keep a hold of his emotions. It would do no good to get ahead. She was still with Taewoon and surely no mad person would go back to him after all they have gone through together. He should have no expectations. But the simply notion of being able to work with her in proximity again, of seeing her in the house, made him happy.

            “Oh, also, Hyung,” Junhong hesitated. “I heard through the grapevine that that assistant guy, Taehyun or something, is now in Japan.”

            It wasn’t supposed to mean anything to him. But the possibilities were endless. Daehyun’s mind raced as he thought about the implications. Were they just in a long distance relationship? Or did this mean that they had broken up? It didn’t make sense. They were very much in love and he was there at the premier. But she volunteered to work with him. There was no way Taewoon would have liked that.

            It was embarrassing how his heart beat faster and his hands felt clammy with excitement. “Keep it professional, Jung Daehyun,” he muttered. He flexed his fingers and faced his computer, filled with a renewed vigor as he went about planning the next season of the show.

***

            It was strange to be back in the house. It was even stranger to have all these cameras following her. She had wanted to come privately and get accustomed to being back here again but that would be weird. Even though she had admitted to herself that she loved Daehyun, it wouldn’t do to run away with her emotions. She had to maintain professionalism.

            It was just like the first filming. Junhong was there with her and she had brought along a new assistant. She forced herself to look at the interior of the house with a new, critical eye but found herself seeing memories instead.

            How many times had they sat on that couch, be it crying after drinking or talking about their divorce? She touched a hand to the banister of the stairs. She remembered turning around to talk to Daehyun. Her heart thudded a little as she remembered the first time they made love and the heady dash from the kitchen up to their rooms. Her feet took her around the living room into the kitchen and she the granite counter. They had many meals together, some happy and some not, but they were all memories she now wanted to hold.

            “Welcome, Ms. Cho.” Jinli turned when she heard the familiar voice.

            Her heart warmed when she saw Daehyun smiling at her. Junhong was tactfully holding some of the cameramen at bay in the living room. “Daehyun,” she said, “please call me Jinli.”

            She stretched out her hand to take the one he was holding out. When their fingers clasped, she felt the rough calluses of his thumb rub against her skin and his warm palm press against hers. There must have been a shock between them. The handshake went on for a second longer than was appropriate but she found herself unable to take her eyes off him.

            “Welcome to the first meeting between the homeowner and the designer,” Junhong’s voice echoed in the kitchen and with him came a flurry of cameras and crewmen. They dropped hands and turned to smile at the camera.

            Jinli could feel herself blushing. She felt too self-conscious to look at Daehyun. Was it obvious to him that she was staring before? What if he was just making fun of her right now? She forced herself to look at the camera and focus on the task at hand.

            “So, Daehyun, would you like a complete renovation or are you just looking for a certain part of the house?”

            When she finally allowed herself to look, she found him staring at her. His eyes were warm and he looked like he hadn’t stopped looking at her. “Everything, I’d like you to redo everything.”

            They did the signature tour around the house. It was when they went upstairs to the bedroom that she hesitated a little. He opened the door to the master bedroom and she tried not to stare at the bed that they had shared for a year. She focused on how little had changed and thought back to the time when she had been b with ideas to make this their home.

            The first day of filming wrapped up fairly quickly and she sat down on the couch to speak to Daehyun. “Usually, I like to speak to clients to get an idea of what they’re looking for. Do you have any requests?”

            Daehyun smiled briefly. “Would you like to discuss this over dinner?” The request came a little suddenly and she was taken aback for a few seconds. “I’m sorry,” he immediately began to backpedal. “I just thought I wanted to thank you for working so hard on the first day of filming and am looking forward to the next few days.”

            Jinli managed to compose herself. “No, I appreciate it. I would love to.”

***

            The whole time he drove, he kept his eyes on the rearview mirror. He had wanted to ask her to sit in his car but he didn’t want to move too fast. Not that there was anything to move fast about. He just wanted to give her space so she didn’t feel that working with him would be a mistake. In the end, they decided to tail each other to the restaurant.

            When the car stopped at a red light, he caught her eye in the mirror and he gave her a smile. She was really still so beautiful. She seemed to be shocked at how congenial he was being. The smile that came back was slow but worth it. Her eyes crinkled and her lips spread open to reveal the upper layer of her teeth. It wasn’t until he heard a honk that he realized it was his light and he was holding up the line.

            The restaurant they went to was casual and therefore, a little loud. Daehyun waited until she looked up from the menu to speak. “I really appreciate your coming to dinner with me.”

            “Of course,” she smiled. “We’ve been working all day anyway and now is a good time to talk about what you want to do with the house without cameras around.”

            “Well the space hasn’t changed and I’m rarely home to really make any changes to décor. I think the only thing I’ve done was turn one of the guest rooms into a workspace. I would like to have one main work space and keep the other two guest rooms.”

            Jinli typed away on her phone and nodded as she took in the information. “Do you have anything in mind with regard to the design?”

            “I want a little bit more color.” What he really wanted to say was that he wanted whatever she wanted. He wanted the house to make it feel like something she would want to come back to. It was absurdly presumptive of him, but he couldn’t help allowing his imagination to run wild.

            “Any specific schemes?”

            Daehyun shrugged. “Honestly, I just want this to feel like home.” Like your home, like our home.

            She finally looked up from her phone. There was a glimmer of an emotion in her eyes that he could not quite read. “Got it. I think I have something in mind.”

            It was like she had pulled away and he wanted to kick himself. Was he moving too quickly? Was he implying too much or giving himself away when clearly she wasn’t interested? The food arrived and there was a small relief in the tension.

            “So, how have you been?” It was such a dumb question and could open up so many cans of worms but he found the words slipping out of his mouth anyway.

            She speared a scallop and chewed slowly. “I’ve been doing pretty well. As you know, I’m mostly in the Seoul office now and I’m pretty sure I’m about to be promoted to Head Designer for the main metropolis area in Seoul, especially in Gangnam. How about you?”

            Daehyun laughed. “It’s just life at the office as usual.”

            “I heard about your father, and I want to give my condolences. He really was a good man.”

            “Thank you. He left quietly, which was a blessing. It’s just a shame he wasn’t able to see me be CEO before he went.”

            Jinli looked right in his eyes. “You know, you deserve that position. I know you probably feel like you owe the company a lot but you’ve done so much for it too. I hope you’re able to get to that spot soon.”

            The conversation was slowly getting to the past between them and Daehyun shifted a little. “I don’t regret doing what I did. I was able to go get my Master’s abroad and now I feel like I have new ideas that can further the company more. I’m truly thankful you’re here to help me with the second season. This was one of my favorite ideas and I wanted it to be successful.”

            Jinli smiled at him. “It’s definitely my pleasure to help.”