Chapter 3

Mr. Jung was waiting impatiently for Jaehwa. One hour late from their appointment time but still no clue of him. The old Jung had increasingly gotten more frantic. He paced across his luxury office, back & forth anxiously.

Suddenly, his secretary told him about Jaehwa’s arrival. He quickly opened the door & welcomed his lawyer in. They sat down at the couch before starting the conversation.

“Have you seen her?” Mr. Jung asked impatiently.

Jaehwa nodded. Mr. Jung sighed in relief, “I knew I could count on you. When will Yunho be coming home?” “Mr. Jung, the case isn’t that simple as you think. She refused to let Yunho go.”

“What?” He was shocked, “What do you mean by that?” Mr. Jung looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Jaehwa took in a deep breath of the fresh air coming from the air conditioner which was running in the room, “That girl is stubborn. She refused our offered.”

Mr. Jung stared at him, “Maybe the money isn’t enough. Give her double.”

Jaehwa looked at him tiredly, “Mr. Jung, in this world there’s something that money can’t buy, such as pride & dignity. She has them all. I admire her.”

“What are you talking about? Nobody can reject the money especially if its a huge amount of money.” Mr. Jung said firmly.

“But she could. You haven’t met her. She’s a stubborn girl, just like your son. Yunho refused all my efforts to get him free last night. She’s different from other ordinary girls that I know. I don’t think we could handle her easily.” Jaehwa sighed again. He didn’t know how many times today he’d sighed. He’d never expected this case to be so difficult.

“I don’t believe it!” Mr. Jung snapped at him, “Tell me her profile.”

Jaehwa opened his briefcase, pulling out a pile of papers. He opened the first page & read the brief remarks, “She’s twenty-four now, will be turning twenty-five in December, a civil engineering student at Andong National University. According to the resources that I got, she’s the best in her class. This year would be her last year in the university to graduate. She doesn’t like to party, non-smoking or drinking. The only bad habit she has is that she likes shopping. Like every women.” He added the last statement, hoping to ease the tense atmosphere around them. However, Mr. Jung didn’t smile. He cleared his throat & continued, “She lives with her parents & one younger sister in a townhouse in the suburb. They are an ordinary family. His father works at the telecommunication company & her mother is a housewife. Yuri has a part-time job as a math & physic private teacher for high school students. Oh, this is an interesting fact. She has a fiance, Min Yoongi, a talented architect that lives in Sydney, Australia.” Jaehwa paused.

Mr. Jung stayed silence for a while after hearing the explanation. He uttered his comments, “She sounds like an ordinary girl except she’s intelligent in her study. I don’t know why Yunho is attracted to her.”

Jaehwa smiled, “You haven’t seen her, Mr. Jung. She is attractive. She’s a beautiful, striking young woman.” He handed him a big size of her photo.

Mr. Jung took it & looked at the 8X10 photo. On it was Yuri’s beautiful smiling face. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with bright lights. Her dazzling smile captured everybody’s heart. Her hair made her face even more stunning. Mr. Jung heaved a deep sigh & stared into the figure on his hand, ‘No wonder Yunho is risking his life for her.’ He told to himself.

“I will go see her then. I have to do something to get Yunho out of jail. I can’t let my only son suffer in jail.” Mr. Jung finally spoke out, after a few moments of silence.

“Good luck.” It was Jaehwa’s last words before he left the office.

Mr. Jung took the photo again, & looked over at the lovely figure there. He lowered his eyes down to read her name at the bottom of the page, Kwon Yuri.

The sun was going down & the sky was flamingo-pink; it looked washed & fresh after the rain of the day. Yuri stared at the view from her hospital window. The sky was clear after the heavy rain, ‘I don’t know if my heart would be able to clear up after this heavy rain.’ She muttered to herself sadly. She had promised herself not to cried again.

‘I had to be strong. I can’t let that bastard ruin my life & future!’ She told herself firmly, ‘Kwon Yuri, get up from this misery! Move on with your life!’ Her mind ordered her.

She wiped her unwanted tears away with the back of her hand. How those tears were easily to fall down now. She used to be a cheerful, jovial & easygoing girl. How could one night changed her to be a vulnerable & pathetic one now? She couldn’t erase the image of his face from her memory. Those eyes, they were so intense. She shook her head firmly, ‘Please leave me alone!’ She screamed silently.

Suddenly, she remembered Yoongi, her loving fiance, ‘How can I tell him?!’ Her heart cried out again, ‘It’s all my fault. Why did I go to that party? Why did I meet him? Why? Why?’ She covered her face with both of her hands. She sobbed again.

The door opened softly. Yuri wiped her tears away immediately. She turned her head to the door. The nurse came in with some medicine on the tray.

“Good afternoon, Miss Kwon. These are your medicine & vitamins.”

“Thank you. You can leave it there.” She said softly, pointing to the bedside table with her long index finger, “& you have a visitor.” The nurse stepped aside, giving space for the man behind her to walk in.

Yuri looked at the figure of a middle-aged man in a tan signature gold two-button 150’s wool pleated suit appeared from behind the nurse, ‘He looked familiar.’ She thought.

The man smiled bitterly, “Can I come in?”

“Sure. Who are you?” Yuri scrutinized his face. She looked straight at the eyes of her new visitor, ‘Oh my god! He has the same eyes as him!’ She cried out silently, ‘He must be the old Jung who tried to buy me.’ Her mind told her.

Mr. Jung watched the young woman standing in front of him. His lawyer was right. This woman was marvelous, even with her pale face, she was still beautiful, more beautiful than the picture he had. He groaned inwardly.

He cleared his throat, “Let me introduce myself. My names…”

“You’re the old Jung who wants to buy me, am I right?” Yuri cut off his words harshly.

“Miss Kwon.”

“Get out. I don’t want to deal with you Jung. It’s enough.”

“Miss Kwon, we’re talking about my son here.” Mr. Jung said gently, trying so hard to ease his emotion. How dare this girl spat at him? Did she know that everybody always talked nicely & politely to him, the famous Mr. Jung Inho?