Ever since I received a text from Yuri two days ago, I've been practically stuck to my drafting table. At the moment, I was trying my best to stay awake. The past two days, I only slept for 4hrs each day just so that I can finished the project soon. The reason is because I wanted to go back to Korea to try and help Taeyeon with her crisis.

Flashback 2 days ago:

To Hyun Jae:

Jae, me and Soo just left your house. Without Taeng. It seems like she didn't want to leave her room at the moment. But at least we did talked to her directly.

To Yuri:

Yul, did you tell Taeng about what Tiffany said? About her avoiding Tiffany and how angry Tiffany was?

To Hyun Jae:

I did but all Taeng did was just sighed before she started to sob. She kept saying that she doesn't deserve to be with Tiffany and that she's useless.

To Yuri:

Aissshhh.. That girl. If I was there, I would have strangled her neck. Until when does she want to have that habit of looking down on herself? If not because of this project, I would have flown back right now.

To Hyun Jae:

Hey, Jae. No worries, okay. We understand your problem. Lucky for us, Taeng had promised to answer our calls and keep us in contact. So until you return, we'll try our best to change Taeng's mind.

To Yuri:

Thanks, Yul. And say my thanks to Soo too. I'll try my best to finished my project soon and fly back to knock some sense into Taeng. Keep me updated okay.

As I closed my eyes for a short while, I didn't notice that Appa had came in to my room. He tapped me lightly on my shoulder as I jerked back in shock. He laughed at me as I just meronged at him.

"Seems like you're rushing through your project. I don't like rushed work you know."

I sighed as I looked at all my drafts on my table. "Appa, it's true that I'm rushing but I can guarantee you, I'm putting a lot of effort in my work."

"What's with the rush anyway, Jae? Can't wait to fly back to Korea to meet your girl again? Missing her is it?"

"I do miss her but firstly, she's not my girl yet. Secondly, I need to fly back soon to help Taeng." I explained to Appa briefly what had happened to Taeyeon as he listened and frowned at the same time.

"Don't even have a home? Aishhh that girl.. Doesn't she treat our house like her home?"

"She does but in reality, it's still our house. Appa, I was thinking if you could talk to Uncle Kim about accepting the house ownership again. Please, Appa."

"I'm not sure but I'll try my best. Why don't you also try to persuade Uncle Kim about it too? Maybe he'll listen to you."

"I'll consider that when I go back to Korea. For now, I need to settle this project. I hope to show it to both you and Uncle Ken this Sunday when he's coming over for lunch."

"This Sunday? That's fast. Well, I understand your reason for doing so but please take care of yourself too. I can see that you're turning into a panda with that dark circles under your eyes."

"I'm a cute panda, right Appa?" I smiled dorkily to my dad as he pretended to barf before we both laughed out loud. He then ruffled my hair and left my room while I continued drafting.

********************************

Jessica's POV:

It's been an entire week of boredom. This is not the kind of summer break that I was looking forward too. Tiffany is having a cold war with Taeyeon at the moment and she had returned to her own home. She said that she would only be back to the dorm after her birthday party. I heard from Sunny about what happened. The truth is, I don't know who's side to take. I knew there was something else behind the reason that  Taeyeon gave for not wanting to attend Tiffany's birthday party. I've been observing those two before and I can confidently say that they both love each other a lot. Sunny was also trapped in between Sooyoung and Tiffany. Sooyoung kept defending Taeyeon without specifically explaining the reason to why Taeyeon is avoiding Tiffany. While Sunny kept saying that Taeyeon should have talked things out with Tiffany. So I've been spending my first week of my summer break just laying around in my dorm room. It makes me kind of miss having Jae around. I'm actually angry with her though. How could she not even contacted me once since she left for the States. Doesn't she miss me at all? And this Donghae is getting on my nerves sometimes. Just because I agreed to be friends with him, doesn't mean he can keep sending me messages and trying to ask me out. Aisshhh... I hate clingy guys. Why can't they just be as cool as Jae? Wait!! Did I just compare Jae with guys in general? Omo.. Why is my heart beating so fast with just a mere thought of Jae and why did I expect Jae to miss me? Am I.. am I in love with Jae?

Jessica was shocked when her phone beeped indicating an incoming text.

From Donghae:

Hi Jessica, sorry to bother you. Was just wondering if you're going to Tiffany's birthday party next Saturday? Since you've rejected my offer to have a cup of coffee tomorrow, I was thinking that maybe we can go to the party together.

Jessica sighed as she rolled her eyes after reading the text.

To Donghae:

Well, I'm going but most probably with my girlfriend. Maybe we could just meet up at the party itself. Sorry again for rejecting your offer but I don't really like to go out on Sundays.

From Donghae:

I guess you meant girl friends as in Sunny and the girls, right? It's fine with me. See you at the party and hopefully one day you'll accept my offer for just a cup of coffee.

Jessica read the text and just realised that she had reply Donghae earlier about going to the party with 'my girlfriend'. Reading the word again, Jessica suddenly smiled and unconciously said out Jae's name. She quickly covered with her left hand and for no reason, she looked around her room as if she was afraid that others might hear it. She shook her head and was just about to put her phone back on the table when it beeped again. Thinking that it was Donghae again, she felt like screaming but she was shocked to see an unknown number on her phone.

From Unknown:

I heard from someone that you've not been eating well. Gwenchana? Did you miss me so much that you lose your appetite?

Jessica was shocked that this unknown person knew about her not eating well. At first she wanted to ignore the message thinking that maybe it's a prank or someone send it to the wrong number but she received another text soon.

From Unknown:

Is my Angel trying to figure out who I am? :P

Angel? And that 'merong' sign? Jessica could only think of one person who would used that on her.

From Jessica:

Jae? Park Hyun Jae?

From Unknown:

Wow.. Daebak! I didn't know that you could shoot me with one-shot. Annyeonghaseyo, Park Hyun Jae-imnida.  ᄀᄀᄀᄀ :P

From Jessica:

Are you laughing at me? I'm actually angry with you right now for leaving without a word so this will be my last text to you. 

From Hyun Jae:

Andwae!! Andwae!! Mianhae.... Please forgive me. I didn't mean to leave in a rush but it was urgent. Forgive me please :(

From Jessica:

Fine. I forgive you for leaving without a word but why didn't you send me a text since then? You left us last Sunday and it's already Saturday today. Almost a week without any news. You could have just continued not messaging me so why did you message me now?

From Hyun Jae:

Because I miss you. I didn't message you at all because I was afraid that I'll miss you even more if we had kept in contact. That's my answer. And I'm sorry if my actions had angered you.

Jessica was loss for words. She didn't expect Jae to be so direct with her answers. Suddenly she felt bad for being angry at Jae.

From Jessica:

How's your injury? Is it getting better? Did you change your bandage and clean the wound regularly?

From Hyun Jae:

I did. Thanks for the concern, By the way, I hope to return to Korea on Monday. So please eat properly. If not, I'm going to stuff you with food once I come back. :P

From Jessica:

Okay, I will. You take care of yourself too.. I'll be waiting for you to come back.

From Hyun Jae:

Take care, my angel. Hope to see you soon. :P

Jessica was grinning by herself as she read the text messages again. She realised that her reactions to Jae's messages and Donghae's messages really contrast a lot. As she kept smiling at her phone, she didn't realise that someone was watching her from her bedroom door.

"Yah!! Jung Sooyeon!! Are you crazy, smiling to yourself?

Jessica was taken aback by Sunny's presence who was walking in and sat down beside her.

"Lee Soonkyu, don't you even know how to knock?" Jessica rolled her eyes at Sunny.

"Did Jae message you?"

"How.. how did you know?

"Well, you always have that smile everytime Jae messages you. And also at times when Jae is around. That blissful looking smile." Sunny grinned at Jessica.

"Aisshhh.. Stop teasing me. I also smiled when I'm with all of you or when I read the other girls messages."

"Anni.. you do smile but when it comes to Jae, your smile is different. You won't notice it but I did. How should I say this? A smile like you're in love?"

"In love? Really? Do I smile like that?" Jessica asked Sunny with a frown in her face. "But.. But I can't fall in love with her."

"Wae? Because she's a girl?"

"Anni.. because of the arranged marriage." Jessica sighed as she looked up.

"If you're not in an arranged marriage, would you consider Jae?"

"Well, maybe. Jae's a great person. But then... Let's just stop talking about her. I'm hungry. Can we order something to eat?"

Sunny shook her head as she was a bit disappointed about not being able to prolong the conversation but she didn't want to push Jessica to talk more. Both of then went out of the room to call for delivery.

********************************

After exchanging texts with Jessica yesterday, I really felt happy and had a good night sleep. Today will be the day that I'll show my designs to Appa and Uncle Ken. I gathered all my drafts and walked down to meet them in the living room. Uncle Ken had already arrrived and was chatting with Appa. Both of them smiled as I walked towards them and laid down my drafts on the table.

"So Jae, are you ready to present your work to us?" Appa smiled at me.

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't confident about it when your dad said that you're going to show it to us today since it's only been a week."

"I really apologised if it's too sudden but I can guarantee you that I put my 100% effort in this. So shall I start?" After I saw Appa and Uncle Ken nodded their heads, I began explaining my designs.

"The orphanage holds around 54 children, between the age of 1yr to 18yrs old. 4 of them are toddlers while the rest are made up of 22 girls and 28 boys. It's a U-shaped 2-storey building so the right side will cater to the girls and the left side will be for the boys. Both sides will have 3 of the 4-bed rooms on the 2nd floor with 2 of the 8-beds room on the first floor. Children between the age of 14yrs to 18yrs old will stay in the 4-beds room while the younger ones will occupy the 8-beds room. The centre building will have the mini library and the study room on the 2nd floor while the 1st floor will have the dining room and laundry room beside it to the left side and the nursery room with the indoor playground to the right side. The entrance would just consist of a big living room."

I ended my speech as I showed Appa and Uncle Ken my designs. They looked trhough it and discussed among themselves as I sat down opposite them, anxiously waiting for their comments.

(Nursery room and indoor playground)

 

(4-beds and 8-beds room)

 

(Mini library and Study room)

 

(Dining area and laundry room)

 

"The rooms will be able to cater to 28 children on each side which is fine with the boys but won't that be more than enough for the girls? There's going to be spare beds on the girls side. Won't it be a waste of space?" Appa looked at me with a serius face.

"Well, I read through the documents that the agent passed over to me and realised that we have volunteers and caretakers helping out at the orphanage. Some even took turns to stay at night to look after the toddlers. So I was thinking of allowing them to use the spare beds available since most of the volunteers and caretakers are female."

"Wow, impressive. I didn't even think about the volunteers and the caretakers. It's obvious that you had looked into every small details in your work. That's a good thing that you did there, Jae." Uncle Ken smiled at me and showed me a thumbs up.

As Appa and Uncle Ken continued the discussion and asked me questions about designs and reasons to why I did it in one way or another, our housekeeper came by and informed that lunch was ready to be serve. Appa decided that we should have our lunch first before he and Uncle Ken make their finalised decision. I nodded my head even though I was a bit nervous and disappointed since I wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

I wasn't really feeling hungry at the moment as I played with the spaghetti, spinning it around my fork. Looking at the spaghetti, suddenly reminded me of Jessica.

"Park Hyun Jae, stop playing with your food."

I looked at Appa and apologised. I ate the spaghetti quickly and carried my plate to the sink to wash it. Even though we have housekeepers to do all that but my parents always taught me to do all the small things that we can do to assist them. As I walked back to the dining table, I saw that both Appa and Uncle Ken were done eating and were discussing seriously. They stopped when they heard me pulling out the chair to sit down.

"Jae, wait for us in the living room okay. We'll join you there after washing our plates." I nodded to Appa and left for the living room.

********************************

Yuri: Hey, Jae. What's up?

Jae: Yul, meet me at my house in an hour. Bring Soo along. I'll see you both later okay.

Yuri: Your house? How can we reach the States in an hour?

Jae: Not in the States. In Korea. I'm already in Incheon Airport right now. Waiting for a cab. Palli, palli..

Yuri: In Incheon? What the hell, Jae? Forget it. I'll see you later.

After the phone call with Yuri, I entered a cab and gave him my address. I then started to type a message on my phone.

To Jessica:

Hello there, my angel? Still asleep or are you awake? Hope that you've been eating well the past few days. Just to tell you that I've just arrived back to Korea but I need to go and find Taeyeon first. Don't miss me too much okay. Take care. :P

After waiting for 5mins without getting any reply, I decided that she might still be sleeping. I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 1pm. As I looked out of the window, I remembered what happen yesterday during the lunch discussion.

Flashback

As I sat in the living room, anxiously waiting for Appa and Uncle Ken, both men came. They sat opposite me, both without any smiles and with a serius face.

"Jae, tell me one good reason why I should give you this project and not to any other well-known interior designer." Appa asked.

I was not prepared for that question as I started to frown and tried my hardest to think of a good reason. "Because I'm committed to ensure that the children in the orphanage will be able to live like any other kid. My designs are catered to ensure that they live in a comfortable and conducive environment. Facilities provided will enhance their skills and hopefully be able to help them in their future."

"So you're not doing this to help that special girl of yours?" Uncle Ken started to tease me.

"She's the reason to why I'm putting in a lot of effort in this project. She's my motivation. But you asked about the reason to why I should be given this project so that is two different thing." I grinned at Uncle Ken who then burst into laughter.

"Such a good talker. Sweet and calm like your Appa." Uncle Ken said as my Appa rolled his eyes at Uncle Ken.

"Well, Jae. Me and Uncle Ken had decided to trust you with the project. We've also decided to use Yuri's dad's company to handle the construction of the renovation. You'll need to liase with Uncle Kwon and work together with him for the project. I understand that you'll be busy with school work but I expect you to visit the orphanage regularly to monitor the renovation. It should not take more than 3 months to complete since we're only renovating the interior. Hopefully it'll be ready by Christmas."

I looked at Appa with a dumbfounded look as I slowly digest all the things that he had said. "So yo're saying that you agree to my designs?" The moment both of the nodded their heads, I started jumping around in happiness. After 10seconds, I stopped and turned to look at Appa. "Can I have at least 1 request?"

"Of course, my daughter. What is ist that you want to request?"

"Can we change the orphanage name to Sowon Orphanage? Sowon because it's Omma's wish to take over the orphanage ."

Appa turned to look at Uncle Ken and they both smiled at each other before nodding their heads at me. Appa then handed me a cheque that showed an amount of 500million won.

I hugged both of them tightly. Once I released the hug, I said something that shocked them. "I'll fly back to Seoul tonight at 7pm. Thanks Appa and Uncle Ken for your help. I really appreciate it. Now it's my turn to help my friends back in Korea." I grinned at them.

"Mwo??!!!" I heard both of them said as I ran up to my bedroom to pack my stuff.

Present

After 45mins, I reached my house, paid the fare and pressed the bell at the side gate. Uncle Kim was shocked to see me when he opened the door but before he could say anything, I asked him about Taeyeon's whereabouts. He told me that she was in the music room. I then asked Uncle Kim to help me put my stuff in my room while I went to find that midget. She was strumming her guitar aimlessly, looking so depressed when I walked in to the room. She didn't even notice my presence. I sighed and walked up to her.

"Hey, Taeng. Gwenchana?"

Taeyeon fell off the chair and had her hands holding her left chest. "Oh my god!! Jae!! When did you come back?"

"Just 5mins ago." I held out my hands to help her up. "I heard what happened between you and Tiffany. Honestly, knowing you for so long, I was disappointed with the way you handled it."

"You don't understand, Jae. How can I compete with Siwon? I don't have anything. I'm nothing."

"Why do you have to compete with Siwon? Did Tiffany ever compare you with him?" Taeyeon shook her head. "She didn't choose you for what you don't have, Taeng. She chose you for who you are. She won't have agreed to be your girlfriend if she had wanted someone like Siwon."

Taeyeon looked me in the eye and suddenly, she started crying. "I messed up, Jae. I kept comparing myself with Siwon that I couldn't see it from Tiffany's point of view. I even avoided her for days. She must be hating me right now."

"She doesn't."

Both of us turn to the door and saw Yuri and Sooyoung walking in.

"Tiffany doesn't hate you, Taeng. Well, at first she was angry with you but now, she thinks that it's her fault that you're avoiding her."

"But how do you know, Yul?"

"Sunny told me and I informed Yul about it. Sunny said that Tiffany keep telling her that she misses you and she felt that she must have done something wrong to make you be like this. But at the same time, she's still upset about you not celebrating her birthday party."

"Otteoke? I feel like I want to run and look for Tiffany right now but what if she rejects me instead. What should I do know?" Taeyeon looked at the other girls as all of them were deep in thoughts.

"Let's give Tiffany a surprise birthday present. With Taeyeon singing on that day." I grinned dorkily as Yuri and Sooyoung slowly agreed.

"Mwo? Sing in front of so many people? Andwae, andwae..." Taeyeon shook her head as all 3 of us tried to persuade her. "Fine. I'll sing but all 3 of you have to help me out and join me on stage."

The 3 of us then agreed as we decided that we should try to think of a song and then practice it together. We were about to start practicing when my phone suddenly beeped.

From Jessica:

Hey, Jae. Sorry I didn't reply your message earlier. I was still sleeping. Welcome back. How's Taeyeon, by the way? I really hope that she'll attend Tiffany's party. You're going also right?

I smiled  widely as I quickly typed in a reply.

From Hyun Jae:

Hi there my sleepyhead angel. I managed to knock some sense into Taeyeon so don't worry. I'm going to the party. By the way, have you been eating properly lately?

From Jessica:

Yes. I've been eating well since I was afraid of being nagged by you.

From Hyun Jae:

That's good. By the way, I won't be going back to the dorm just yet. Will be staying with Taeyeon for a while.

From Jessica:

Until when will that be? Aisshhh... I need to go out and eat soon. Sunny has been banging on my door, asking me to come out.

From Hyun Jae:

Not sure until when I'll return to the dorm. Sunny is turning into a mini shikshin, all thanks to Sooyoung. I'll keep you updated about when I'm coming back, okay. Take care and don't miss me too much okay. :P

I put back my phone in my pocket and turned around to see 3 dorky looking girls grinning at me. I don't know how they could guess but they knew that Jessica was the one who messaged me. They continued teasing me as we discussed about the song and performance at the same time. We decided that we might need the help of the other girls too. It was almost 5pm when we had decided on the song but all of us were not in the mood to start practicing so we decided to go for a swim instead. We agreed to start practicing tomorrow as we spend the day hanging out together since Sooyoung and Yuri also agreed to sleepover. Uncle Kwon called Yuri to ask if I was there. I talked to him for a while and decided to meet him at his office tomorrow with regards to the project. Seems that Appa had already contacted him and informed him about the orphanage.After the conversation with Uncle Kwon, I updated the girls about how I managed to get the money and all of them were happy and excited at the same time. After dinner, we all went up to the movie room in the attic and watched a few movie before falling asleep there.