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The sun was dipping toward the horizon, its golden light reflecting in the glass windows of Seoul's tallest buildings, when Jan-di stepped into the lengthening shadow of Namsan Tower. Her heart raced. She hadn't been back here since the plane crash. She took a deep breath and looked over at the spot where Jun-pyo had waited in the rain for their first date. Moisture sprang to her eyes, but it didn't hurt, and she smiled at the sweetness of the memory.

It wasn't hard to arrange to clear the last cable car of the night when she dropped the Shinhwa name to the operator and offered him a stack of cash. It made her laugh a little, remembering the outrageous things Jun-pyo had done, like flying her and Ga-eul to New Caledonia for a spontaneous weekend trip or arranging to have the whole tower lit up like a valentine. After the last passengers had been escorted away, Jan-di wrapped her arms around herself in a hug and stepped onto their car. She stood for a moment, looking out over the lights of the city. Sitting down on the cool metal bench, she found the place on the wall where Jun-pyo had written their names. How sure he'd been, underneath all the pomp and swagger, that there was something special about the two of them. He had even made her see it, in the end. She was grateful for the time they'd had, and for the daughter they'd welcomed into the world. She was still young, but she felt that her life had been full already, and blessed. Was she greedy to want more?

As the doors slid closed and the car began its long slow descent to the bottom, Jan-di reached out and ran her finger over the writing. Gu Jun-pyo & Geum Jan-di, first night! She could almost see him, could almost feel him sitting on the bench next to her. This was why she had come. She needed to talk.

"I miss you," she said simply, a tear escaping as she imagined his comforting words. "I think I'll always miss you."

The quiet in the cable car was only broken by the mechanical sound of the machinery outside. Jan-di closed her eyes and continued, "Hee-jin and I are still doing well. You took good care of us, Jun-pyo. Because of you, we have everything that we need. Can you see how well our daughter is growing up? I've been telling her stories about you…" Jan-di laughed quietly. "Don't worry. None of the bad ones. I'll wait to tell her what a jerk you were when we met until she's old enough to realize that nobody is just one thing." She could almost hear the heated protest of his reply, and she smiled. "But we learned together how to love each other, didn't we? And you were so good at it. You loved me well, jagiya."

Jan-di sighed and cast her gaze out the window, deep in thought. Finally, she spoke again. "Do you remember when you told Yoon Ji-hoo that if it couldn't be you, he had to be the one? I always thought that was strange. How could you say something like that?" She hugged herself against the evening chill. "I think I'm starting to understand now. I don't know why it took me so long to really see him. He's the best of us, isn't he? You know, when I lost you, I fell apart a little. Okay… a lot," she said with a sniff and a half laugh. "He helped me find all the pieces, one by one, and sew them back into something like a life. He always seemed to know what I needed before I did. And not just me. You should see him with Hee-jin-a. They're thick as thieves. She's stubborn and wild and fiercely loyal—a lot like her father. Maybe that's why the two of them get along so well." She smiled fondly at the thought.

"He's already like a member of the family. And I really thought that having him as a good friend was enough for me. Enough for both of us. But now…" She pressed her hands to her cheeks and sighed roughly. "Why is this so hard to say?"

Taking a deep breath, she went on in a rush. "The thing is, Jun-pyo… The thing is… I think I'm falling in love with him."

The words hung suspended in the quiet air. Jan-di played them back in her head and was surprised at how right they felt.

"Is that crazy? With you gone, I never thought I could have that feeling again. I'm almost afraid to believe in it. But I want to. I want to believe."

She lifted her face and looked around the empty car. "I guess what I'm asking is… is this okay?"

By the time the cable car came to a stop, she had her answer.

…

Ji-hoo wandered around the kitchen, trying to decide what to eat. He wasn't very hungry, but he hadn't had anything since lunch, and worrying about Jan-di had put a dent in his appetite. He settled on pancakes, smiling at the memory of Jan-di teaching him to make them. He was just pulling the flour out of the cupboard when he heard a soft knock.

Dusting his hands on a dishtowel, he walked to the front door and opened it.

Jan-di stood on the front porch, her hands clasped together and a nervous look in her eyes.

Ji-hoo's heart skipped a beat. He was afraid to speak, afraid to guess what had brought her to his door.

"Can I come in, sunbae?" she asked tentatively.

He stepped back and held the door open for her to enter, then followed her into the living room.

She looked around. "Is Grandfather here?"

"No," Ji-hoo answered. "He was asked to speak at a medical symposium in Shanghai. He's gone until Tuesday." She nodded, relieved.

Half of him wanted desperately to know why she had come, but the other half was afraid to hear what she might have to say. He held out his hand to take her jacket, and she slipped awkwardly out of it, not meeting his eyes. Laying the garment across the back of a leather chair, he cast around for something to say. "Would you like anything to drink?" he offered. She declined. The niceties played out, there was nothing left but to wait for her to speak.

Jan-di cleared , then turned slightly so that she and Ji-hoo were looking at each other head on. "Sunbae, I…" she started, but her voice trailed off, trembling. She looked down at her hands.

Ji-hoo continued to wait, his heart pounding in his throat. He could see her mind racing to figure out a way to express whatever it was that she was trying to say. Clearly, she had rushed over here without planning it out at all. It was so like her.

"Sunbae…" she started again, and then she seemed to give up on finding the words. In two short steps, she was right in front of him, standing on her tiptoes to press her lips briefly against his. It was over before he could react. Jan-di took a step back to look into his face. A blush crept into her cheeks, making her even lovelier. She seemed to be measuring his response.

Ji-hoo's paralysis lasted only a moment. He stepped into the space between them and looked down into her dark eyes. "Does this mean...?" he began, wanting to be sure of what was happening.

"You told me to come to you when I was ready," Jan-di said in a slightly stronger voice. "I'm ready now, sunbae. I… want to be with you." Her eyes were shiny with emotion. "Saranghae," she finished shyly.

He didn't need to hear anymore. Joy sang through him as he folded her into his arms in a wordless embrace that seemed to last a small, blissful eternity before he pulled back to look wonderingly at her. At last, tense with anticipation, he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her softly, thoroughly. He took his time, letting his mouth and hands tell her how he felt. All the while, his thoughts were spinning. Is this possible? She loves me?

Without conscious thought, Jan-di brought her arms up and ran her hands across Ji-hoo's back, sending a wave of heat across his body. His fingers twined through her hair, pressing her closer, and their kiss intensified. All the wanting that he had held at bay over the last month beat like a battering ram at the doors of his self-control.

Before either of them knew it was happening, he had lowered her to the sofa and laid her back against the pillows, holding himself up on one elbow to look at her. His eyes were so full of love and desire that she wondered how she hadn't seen it there all along. She responded by wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and drawing him down until their lips met once more, parting slightly in give and take. Ji-hoo’s breath quickened as he felt her free hand brush the skin of his waist where his shirt had come untucked. Shifting his weight slightly, Ji-hoo pressed her body more closely to his. She bit his lower lip gently and heard a low moan resound deep in his throat. His mouth left hers and burned a slow trail of kisses down her neck. A gasp of pleasure tore from Jan-di's throat. "Sunbae!"

With effort, Ji-hoo pulled himself back from the brink. They were both panting faintly. He placed his hands on either side of Jan-di's face and looked into her eyes. "Not 'sunbae', Jan-di-ah. Not anymore." He tenderly smoothed a thumb over her cheekbone. "I'm not your sunbae. I'm the man who loves you. Please… say my name."

Jan-di smiled up at him, then reached up to touch his swollen lips in wonder. "Yoon Ji-hoo," she said. "Ji-hoo." Her gaze took in his tousled hair and the dark wells of his eyes, at once so familiar and so new. "Ji-hoo-ah."

The look of deep satisfaction on his face cleared away any lingering doubts she might have had about the path they were walking. Confusion had passed, leaving behind it only a clean, clear light illuminating the way home.

He kissed her again, firmly, and then surprised her by jumping up from the couch and reaching out a hand to help her stand. "Come on," he said, "before I lose my mind. You are altogether too tempting for me right now."

Slightly self-conscious, Jan-di smoothed her rumpled clothes, and then looked up to see Ji-hoo watching her with a wry grin. She took a shaky breath.

"I can see we're going to need a chaperone," he joked.

She laughed. "Don't worry. I'll bring Hee-jin with me next time. She'll make sure we have no energy for anything else."

He took her hand and led her into the kitchen. "What do you think about pancakes for our first date?" he asked with a wink.

"Actually, it's our second," she reminded him.

He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I know. But that date was all about the end. This one is just the beginning."

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