Chapter 3

Thank you," Mrs. Kang told the concierge as he opened the door. After knocking at the door and calling for Ji Won continuously for ten minutes with no response, she'd gone down to the front desk to ask them to let her in. Initially, they had refused, citing guest privacy, but after hearing about what had happened the previous day, they'd agreed.

She hadn't been pleased with Ji Won's decision to stay at the hotel so as soon as she got up after a sleepless night, she made sure she prepared her daughter's favorite dishes to help cheer her up. Then she was bringing her home with her. Enough was enough. She'd already promised herself that she wouldn't let Ji Won go back to her apartment and spend her nights reliving the times they spent together. Regardless of how much she insisted she could handle it, it wasn't the time for her daughter to be alone. She was coming back home and that was that.

But five minutes into knocking the door and calling her cell phone, the older woman had begun to panic. Ji Won wasn't the type to do anything drastic but then again, these weren't normal circumstances.

Pushing the door open, she absentmindedly handed the concierge a bill from her purse, not even bothering to see what it was then tentatively stepped into the room.

Her heart settled and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw her daughter's gently heaving chest lying across the bed then looked around the room.

She tried her best to stop the tears as she looked at the mess. Her poor daughter. From time to time, she wondered what kind of job she'd done training her daughters and if she'd done the right thing but not providing a father figure for them.

She'd been thirty-two with two young children when her husband had died and even though over the years, there'd been other men who'd shown an interest in her, she'd refused to date. It wasn't that she believed that widowed women shouldn't date but just that her husband, Hee Chul, had been it for her. He'd been the love of her life for ten years and she'd chosen to cherish those years instead of marring them by introducing another man to their lives.

She bent down and picked up the mini bottles of vodka and other alcoholic drinks. A tear dropped down her cheek as she imagined the pain her daughter must have experienced the night before and hoped that what looked like the entire contents of the mini bar had at least helped dull the pain a little. Maybe it was her fault, she thought as she threw the bottles in the trash and went about cleaning up the room. Maybe if they'd had a man around, Joon Young wouldn't have been able to charm him with his looks and smarts and he'd have been able to see him for the snake he really was.



***



"Wake up, Honey. Wake up."

Ji Won was awoken by the gentle shakes of her mother. As it had been a few years since she'd lived at home, she was about to ask her what she was doing in her room till her headache hit and all the memories flooded her.

"Umma, what do you want?" she asked before she turned around to back her. The previous night had been bad enough and the last thing she wanted to do was spend the day watching everyone giving her sympathetic looks and using sickening clichés to make her feel better. She just wanted to lie in bed, order room service and pretend that nothing had happened.

She'd spent the past few weeks packing for the move to the house she and Ji Won had rented and she wasn't in the mood to go back and start unpacking. A few days in denial were all she needed, she thought as she pulled the comforter over her head.

"Ji Won ah, get up. If you go and take a shower, I'll give you what I brought," her mother said in the baby voice she hadn't used with her since she was five years old.

"Umma, just leave me alone," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow.

Her mother shook her gently again. After cleaning up the room, she'd sat and watched her sleeping daughter and tried to find the courage to put up a brave front but every time she thought she was ready, a few tears had escaped her eyes so it had taken her about thirty minutes to get to her current state.

"Ji Won ah…."

"Please leave me alone. I just need to sleep a little."

"It's already past 3 o'clock," her mother pointed out.

"I slept late last night. Please leave me alone," she begged.

Her mother reached across to brush her hair with her fingers but Ji Won pushed her hand off. Didn't her mother realize that sympathizing with her only made her feel worse? Didn't she understand that she would only feel worse from seeing her mother pretend to be optimistic?"

"You should at least eat something."

"I will."

"Is there a microwave oven in here? Maybe I can ask the hotel employees to warm some food up for you."

"Don't worry about it. Leave the food here and I'll do it myself."

"Will you at least take a shower?"

"I will, Umma."

"Now?"

"Umma!" she said, suddenly turning over and sitting up. "Umma, I'll do everything."

On seeing her face for the first time, her mother tried her best to keep her cool but she couldn't stop herself after seeing her daughter's bloodshot and puffy eyes. What had that young man done to her? "I'll leave as soon as you take a shower, okay? I won't make you come home with me but please get out of bed for a while. Just take a shower, eat something and let me leave here knowing that you're okay. Please."



***



The phone rang as Ji Won walked out of the room. She groaned and put on her robe. She loved that everyone wanted to reach out to her and offer their support but wished they understood that she wasn't ready.

Her mother turned to her. "Are you expecting a call?"

"No," she started to say before she got an idea. "Umma, can you do me a favor?" she whispered.

"What?" her mother asked curiously, automatically lowering the pitch of her voice to match hers.

"Can you find out who that is and tell them I'm not here?"

Her mother looked at her sadly. "Ji Won ah, they're only calling because they love you—"

"I know," she interrupted, "but I am not in the mood to talk to anyone. So please tell whoever it is that I'll call them later."

Her mother gave her once last look then reached for the phone. "Hello?" After a moment, she put her hand over the mouthpiece and looked up at Ji Won. "Did you order a taxi?"

She shook her head. "No."

Her mother shrugged. "Maybe it's a mistake." She took her hand off and spoke into the phone. "Hello, I think you might—"

"Wait!" Ji Won interrupted, suddenly noticing the neatly packed pair of suitcases filled with brand new clothes next to the air conditioner. "It's my cab to the airport."

Her mother's face colored for a moment before she moved the phone closer to her mouth. "Can you please apologize to the cabdriver? Our plans have changed and we won't be needing their services any longer," she said before hanging up.

Her mother stared at her for a few moments before planting her fake smile on her face. It was sad because she remembered going shopping with Ji Won for her vacation clothes and how much she'd looked forward to visiting Aruba.

Her mother watched Ji Won as a barrage of emotions shot through her face till just she suddenly jumped across and picked up the phone. She dialed 0 and waited for the line to be answered. "Hello? This is room 1245. I think you just called me. Yes. Yes. Please tell the cab driver to wait for me. I'll be down there in about ten minutes. Thanks!"



A/N: Thanks for reading, as previously mentioned, it'll be difficult for me to update till the 24th (I had to squeeze this in). I know there are probably some typos so please forgive me. Take care!