“I’m here, I’m here,” Krystal came scurrying into the dining room.

She sat down at her usual seat, adjacent from her mother, and across from her older brother, Yunho.

Madame Jung started sitting at the head of the head of the table after Chairman Jung passed away.

“A lady should always be on time,” Madame Jung reminded her daughter.

Krystal just rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she scoffed.

“So how was work today?” Madame Jung asked Yunho as they began their meal.

Yunho was actually Madame Jung’s step-son, due to her marriage to Chairman Jung.

Yunho was born during Chairman Jung’s previous marriage, but his first wife passed away.

After Chairman Jung’s recent passing a few months ago, Yunho immediately assumed his duty as his father’s heir to ADVANCE Publications, and is its current Chairman.

Due to his step-mother’s success with RUNWAY Magazine, he has appointed her as his new artistic director.

 “Oh you know, same old, same old, eomeoni,” he shrugged. “How’s the September issue coming along?”

“Splendid, just splendid,” she smiled.

“By the way, we’re going to need to have another meeting to begin planning for this year’s annual December ADVANCE Benefit. We need to start early if we want to top last year’s extravaganza,” Yunho noted.

“I don’t know how we’re going to do it,” Madame Jung shook her head, taking a sip of her drink.

“I’m sure you’ll come up with something,” Yunho encouraged.

“What about you, dear?” Madame Jung turned to her daughter who was silently eating.

“How are your classes so far?”

Soon after Chairman Jung and Madame Jung were wed, they gave birth to Krystal.

Krystal is currently in her second year of study at Hongdae University, where she studies fashion design and management.

It is her mother’s sincerest hope that Krystal will become the next editor-in-chief of RUNWAY Magazine.

Of course, there were various other fashion magazines under their family’s publishing company to pursue.

But RUNWAY Magazine is special to Madame Jung since she founded it and has built its reputation. She can only entrust her position to someone she knows best.

“Fine,” she answered plainly. “But my sewing class is killer! I swear that machine is going to tear off one of my fingers one day,” Krystal whined, leaning back in her seat.

Madame Jung just laughed. “All part of the process, you’ll get the hang of it,” she assured her.

“Still don’t see why I need to take classes when my family is already in the fashion industry,” she muttered under her breath.

“You know the deal: you don’t get into the family business until you finish college,” she reminded. “You know that none of this was handed to me or your father. We had to work day and night to get where we are. Consider yourself lucky,” she lectured.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Krystal rolled her eyes again.

“I’m definitely going to need your help this weekend. So don’t make any plans.”

Krystal sighed. “Umma, I haven’t had plans since I was in high-school. Please, spare me,” she pleaded.

Aside from attending university, Krystal also worked part-time as an intern for RUNWAY.

“Anything else interesting happen today?” Madame Jung ignored her, continuing their casual dinner conversation.

“Oh, there was something,” Krystal remembered from earlier in the day.

Madame Jung looked at her curiously. “What happened?”

“Well, not really something, but someone. Someone came by the house today when I came home from school.”

“Who was it?” Yunho asked, also curious.

“Some person looking for a Han Mi Sook,” she replied.

Madame Jung almost spit out her drink from devastation. “What did you say?” she asked a bit frantically.

“Who the heck is ‘Han Mi Sook?’” Yunho asked.

Krystal shrugged her shoulders. “Beats me.”

“The person who came here,” Madame Jung began, “was it a man?”

“No, it was some girl.”

“A…a girl?”

“Yeah, she couldn’t have been much older than I was. Maybe 3 or 4 years?” Krystal tried to remember.

“Did she um…did she say why she was looking for this…Han Mi Sook?”

“She didn’t say why.”

“Did she tell you her name?”

“She did,” Krystal waved her finger.

“What was her name?” Yunho wondered.

“Hmmm,” she tapped her chin.

Krystal tried to think back to that moment. It was silent for a moment except for Madame Jung’s racing heart.

“I…don’t…remember.”

Madame Jung shook her head in disappointment.

“Good job, Krystal,” Yunho smirked.

“Hey, she was looking for someone who didn’t even live here. Didn’t seem important to me, so I didn’t bother to remember it,” she countered, arching an eyebrow.

“Do you at least know where she went?” Madame Jung asked.

“She asked me for the nearest hotel and then she left.”

…

“It’s…it’s you!” Sooyeon said, pointing up at the familiar face.

“It’s…you?” he arched an eyebrow.

Gyuri looked at the two of them curiously.

They know each other? She thought to herself.

“What are you doing here?” Sooyeon asked, still stunned.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Woobin smirked, crossing his arms.

Gyuri cleared , making her presence known to both Woobin and Sooyeon.

Sooyeon immediately looked at her.

“What’s going on here?” she asked, playfully, moving to Woobin’s side.

Sooyeon didn’t fail to notice the girl’s confused interest.

As they continued to stare at each other, baffled, Chngmin suddenly rounded the corner.

“Oh, Kim Woobin,” Changmin said, surprised. “Park Gyuri, nice to see you two.”

Sooyeon whipped her head at Changmin. “You…know him? I mean … them?” she corrected herself quickly, remembering the girl’s somewhat condescending glare.

Changmin nodded his head. “Why, Kim Woobin is one of Korea’s newest up and coming top models and Park Gyuri’s mother owns the infamous ELITE Modeling Agency,” he explained, gesturing to each other.

Sooyeon nodded her head in response. “I see, nice to…meet you,” she said reluctantly, bowing nervously before them.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?” Gyuri asked her voice a bit snooty.

“Of course, this is Jung Sooyeon, an acquaintance of mine,” he replied.

“Oh, we’ve already met,” Woobin answered smugly.

Changmin and Gyuri looked at him, surprised. “Really?” Changmin asked.

“We are also…acquaintances,” he admitted.

Sooyeon lowered her gaze.

“Huh, it truly is a small world, then,” Changmin just laughed it off. “I heard you were in America for a photoshoot,” he looked to Woobin as he slid his hands into his pockets.

“I was, I just came back today,” Woobin informed him.

“Ever since last year, Woobin’s career has been taking off quite nicely,” Changmin directed to Sooyeon.

“Don’t make me blush,” Woobin teased, putting a hand to his cheek.

“And what about you, Gyuri-sshi? How’s your mother’s business going?”

“Fine,” she answered curtly.

Changmin just raised his eyebrows as he let out a sigh. “Well, I guess we should get going. It was nice running into you two again. Shall I bring you back to your hotel?”

Sooyeon silently nodded her head and bowed to Woobin and Gyuri before following Changmin out of the restaurant.

“How do you know her?” she asked.

“We took the same plane here,” Woobin said, watching Sooyeon leave.

“I wonder what that girl is doing with Changmin,” Gyuri remarked as she crossed her arms.

“Me too,” he said almost inaudibly.

Gyuri didn’t fail to see the spark of interest that lit in his eyes, much to her dismay.

…

“So how do you know them?” Sooyeon asked.

“My father’s company plays a big role in the distribution of designer items and materials, so it’s inevitable for me to know the big names in the fashion industry,” he explained, keeping his eyes on the road.

“So…Kim Woobin,” she was able to put a name to that face now. “…he works for her mother?”

“Basically. He’s signed under Gyuri’s mother’s modeling agency.”

“Are they…dating?” Sooyeon asked nervously.

Changmin snickered. “You’re very curious, aren’t you? There are always rumors, but I don’t think so.

Sooyeon just nodded her head and looked out the window.

Changmin eyed her curiously.

“He said you two met. How?”

“Oh…we actually took the same flight here from the states.”

“Ah, I see now,” Changmin bobbed his head up and down.

Changmin slowly pulled up to the front of the hotel entrance.

“Well, here you are,” Changmin smiled.

“Thank you for dinner,” Sooyeon beamed back. “You’re honestly too nice – especially to a stranger.”

“You’re not really a stranger anymore,” he assured her.

“Well, thanks for the ride back. Good night,” she slightly bowed her head.

“Wait,” he stopped her.

“What is it?”

He reached into the chest pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a small piece of paper.

“Here,” he said, handing it to her.

She took it from her an examined it carefully.

“Your business card?”

“My cell phone number is on there – call me if you need anything.”

“Th-thank you,” she bowed her head again, getting out of the car.

“Good night,” he said. His voice was very warm.

As he drove off, Sooyeon couldn’t help but smile.

…

After a long day, Sooyeon was all too eager to get ready for bed.

As she lay on her bed in her pajamas, she picked up the manila envelope that she laid onto the nightstand beside her bed.

She held it in her hands and flipped it over to the opening.

She anxiously raised one hand to the opening flap, wanting to open it so badly.

But she hesitated and pulled away.

Maybe...it’s not time yet.

She placed the envelope back onto the nightstand.

Instead, she picked up Changmin’s business card that sat next to the envelope.

She held it in both hands, looking at it intently.

“Call me if you need anything.”

It was then, that she realized, she never paid him back for his generosity.

Sure, it was a “non-date” that he offered to pay for, but still, Sooyeon hated being in debt to anyone.

Instinctively, she added his phone number to her list of contacts.

She opened up a new text message conversation and began to type to him.

”I never properly repaid you for your kindness this evening…this is Jung Sooyeon by the way…How can I make it up to you?”

Nervously, she sent the message and waited for his response.

Suddenly, her phone chimed for half a second and she looked at the conversation.

“You just did.”

Sooyeon stared at his response, completed confused.

I just did?

Then, she let out a sigh, dropper her shoulders, and laughed to herself.

He just wanted my number.

She thought about Changmin and his consistent display of human decency and graciousness during the whole day.

He was different.

Maybe he was only doing it to get her number.

But something about his gentle personality made Sooyeon think that he was truly this kind of person.

She put phone back down onto the nightstand and prepared to take off all of her father’s bracelets before going to sleep.

She took off each, one by one.

“What the…what the heck?” she thought as she looked down at one of her bracelets that was missing its charm.

It was the Path of Life charm that she most recently received from her dad.

It must have fallen off during the day, she told herself.

…

Woobin was lying across his bed as he played with the little gold charm between his fingers.

It fell off her bracelet without her even noticing before she left the plane.

That was also something that still slightly bothered Woobin for some reason he couldn’t figure out – she left without a word.

Was she trying to get away from him?

He looked up at the little charm curiously, observing the sophisticatedly crafted design that was engraved into it.

It was very unique.

As he looked at the charm, he remembered the girl’s face and seeing her with Shim Changmin after dinner earlier – still puzzled at why they were there together.

Jung Sooyeon.

He finally knew her name.

Who are you…Jung Sooyeon… he whispered to himself.

Like a silent prayer, her name lingered on his lips.

[a/n]

Update woohoo! Sorry it's so short. Today, we had a snow day! I was SO happy about it too, honestly. On Mondays, I start at 8:00 in the morning and go straight on until 9:30pm without ANY breaks! That includes both classes AND work off-campus. AHH! And yesterday was Superbowl Sunday so I was at a friend's house for a superbowl party and was hoping that classes would be cancelled because of the snow storm. And guess what?? ALL classes AND work was cancelled today! WOOHOOO! So my roommate and I watched movies and such and slept a lot :)

Not sure when I'll update next! We'll have to see ~

Important notes if you're still confused:

• Remember that the "Path of Life" charm that Jessica got from her dad is representative of the mystery that life brings us - we never know where the path of life will lead us next. You can call it "fate" or "destiny." This is a very important theme throughout the story.
• The chapter poster shows Madame Jung & Madame Park who are enemies. Note that both women are single and have a lot of power and money - feminism and self-empowerment are very important themes in the story too.
• Jung Family: Madame Jung (Jung Sung Ryeong), Jung Yunho, and Jung Krystal. Madame Jung is the editor-in-chief of RUNWAY Magazine, and the artistic director of Advance Publications. Yunho is Advance Publications' Chairman.
• Madame Park is the mother of Park Gyuri, and owns ELITE Modeling Agency.
• Shim Changmin is the heir to father's company, Shim Industries.
• Woobin is signed under ELITE Modeling Agency.

- Jasmine