"Mom, eonni's home!" Soojin's high-pitched voice greets her as soon as she steps into the house. She removes her shoes, arranges them at the shoe rack and drops all of the shopping bags on the floor. She kneels down and massages her legs as she feels her legs are becoming sore after an almost full day of walking with Daehyun.

"Wow, eonni, did you go shopping? These are a lot of things!" Soojin rushes towards the shopping bags and peeks inside. Most of them consists of clothes, beauty products and shoes. She feels guilty for spending too much -she never had the luxury to- but she comforts herself that it's what Daehyun wanted. Daehyun was the one who insisted on buying all of them for her. 

"You're a woman, so of course you need to have all of these," he says, while spreading his arms widely in the middle of the throng of people. 

"Maybe I'm not that kind of woman and I really won't use them. And you're being embarrassing," she half-whispers half-hisses at him.

Daehyun stops his embarrassing moment much to her relief, but he really won't give her the moment to relax as he basically slides into another beauty store. She's forced to follow him and has to fake a smile as the promoter gives her a shopping basket with the free samples inside. The loud music blasts through the store, but Daehyun entertains himself by whistling. His eyes darts from left to right, scanning the products on the shelves. He nods to himself, takes each of the products then dumps them into the basket she's holding. Her protest dies in as he basically takes each of every single product there is. She has to carry another basket because the initial basket is full. The promoter smiles approvingly at him, and gives a little nod as she takes both of the basket from Jiyoon.

"The products will expire even before I'll have the chance to use it!" she glares at him while shoving the shopping bags towards him. 

"Ah, but you have the intention to use them, don't you?" he winks at her. 

She mutes herself as she realizes he trapped her. She has to give up as he continues walking. She moves quickly as she's afraid she might lose him in the crowd. Myeongdong is not a small place, and she's not used to the place so she really has no other choice. "You jerk! Don't leave me behind," she shouts towards Daehyun's back. A few people turn their heads towards her, wondering whether she was just dumped by her boyfriend. 

He pretends he doesn't hear her, and continues walking. He shoves his hands into his pants' pockets, weaving in and out of the crowd. He secretly smiles to himself, imagining Jiyoon struggling to keep up with him while dragging the shopping bags. However, he still keeps his pace steady as he's scared he might lose her for real. Discreetly, he turns his head a little to search for her. Her petite body is nowhere to be seen, and he can't find her face in the crowd. Fear starts gripping his heart; what if she faints in the middle of the crowd? She's still not fully healthy. Suddenly, he regrets teasing her. He bumps into a few people as his feet traces back his movements. His neck feels as if it'll break as he turns his head quickly to find her.

"Jiyoon! Park Jiyoon!" he cups his mouth to amplify his voice. He arrives at the intersection, and there are tourist guides wearing red helping a few tourists with their way. He approaches one of them and she greets him, asking if he needs help. 

"Have you seen a girl- woman wearing a short-sleeved blouse and skirt around here? She- she has long brown hair."

"I'm sorry but there are too many people here, I'm afraid I don't register their appearances."

"Oh- nevermind," his hands drop and he drags his feet towards the curb. He sits on the curb, taking out his phone. Who can he call? She doesn't even have a phone.

"So you do worry about me," a pair of familiar flats decorates his view and he quickly lifts up his head. Jiyoon is grinning while holding up the shopping bags in front of her face. 

He dusts his back and snatches the bags from her, allowing him to see her face clearly. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" She shakes her head indicating she's fine, and Daehyun heaves a sigh. "Don't you dare do that ever again. You had me worried!"

"I was just joking."

"It wouldn't be much of a laughing matter if you're really lost."

"Well maybe you could've walk by my side," she tugs on the strap of her bag, adjusting it as her shoulder is hurting from the weight. 

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it," he drops the shopping bags to the ground. His hand flies towards her bag, lifting the weight of her shoulder and carries it instead. "You could've told me if you're tired from carrying the bag."

Jiyoon giggles. "You look ridiculous with it," she covers with her hand as she points at him. 

"It doesn't matter if I look ridiculous while I'm with you, does it?" 

"Did you have fun shopping, Jiyoon?" Mrs. Bang comes into the living room, cutting her thoughts. She tries to study the older woman's face; to see if she can find any signs of disapproval, or any signs of dislike. She finds nothing but the same expression she shows everyday. Longing, expecting, those kinds of emotions. It's as if she's waiting for something. 

"I- I did and I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I was rushing."

"Don't worry about it, dear. You're a grown-up woman. Just don't bring any man home," she chuckles, laughing at her own joke. As for Jiyoon, she feels as if she's trying to tell her something. It's as if the older woman is trying to make her feel guilty without being obvious. If that's what Mrs. Bang is going for, she's succeeding because she's starting to get restless. 

"There are so many things! I love this!" Soojin claps, delighted by what she's seeing. She shoves her hand into one of the bags, pulling out a sweatshirt. "It's so pretty!"

"Soojin, it's not nice to do that!" Soomin appears beside her. She doesn't follow her own words as she pulls out a box of a pair of shoes from one of the bags on the floor and gapes at it. 

Jiyoon is starting to get dizzy, but she doesn't know because of what. She steadies herself by leaning against the wall. She's overwhelmed, and clutches her stomach as the sick feeling swims in her stomach. "You guys can look around, I'll- I'll go upstairs. I'll be in my room."

The walk upstairs is painful enough she almost resorts to sitting on the stairs. She clutches the handrail with her left hand, and her stomach with her right. She feels as if she needs to let the contents of her stomach out, but holds it back.

Cold sweat is starting to form on her forehead, giving her a strange sensation of ecstacy. She feels light-headed, as if she's walking on clouds. Why does the room feel so far away? She arranges her movement steadily, counting the steps under her laboured breath. Just a little bit more... The pain in her legs slows her down, causing her to limp. The surroundings are swimming around, disappearing into waves of abstract pieces.

The pain in her stomach causes her to kneel down. The sick feeling is now replaced with sharp pain. She rests her forehead against the wall along the hallway, hoping that she could call someone for help. Save me, please...

She knows she's about to faint, and she just lets her body take over. She can't think anymore as the overwhelming pain generates through her whole body. The unbearable pain blinds her, and the last thing she does before fainting is wipe off the sweat off her face. 

But why, just why, does the only image that comes to her mind is the image of a lonely woman, giving her a sad smile, gesturing for her to go? 

Although she never met her before, she's well aware of who she is. 

The heart that's beating in her body now, does she not deserve it?

Is she trying to tell her that she shouldn't be in this position, right now?

Is Kim Sooyoung trying to tell her that she, Park Jiyoon doesn't deserve the man called Jung Daehyun?

Should she just give it up and walk away?