Chapter 14

What I remember most about the drive to Seoul was that I watched the day break.

It was almost a year after my grandmother's death and my caretakers and her best friends, Uncle Bong Chol and Aunt Oo Ra, could no longer take care of me. They explained that they needed to move to nearby Ulsan to stay with their son because Aunt Oo Ra's health was increasingly failing and that they needed superior healthcare to what was available in our village.

The news of her illness hadn't come as a surprise to me ["to me" isn't necessary] because in the few months prior to the announcement, she'd been bedridden for most hours of the day, with her only getting up in the mornings and evenings to help with the cooking and I could tell that even that was taking a toll on her. [expand on her ailment here. If you now know what she suffered from, you can mention it]. Back then, I unofficially took on the role as assistant chef and because Uncle was the only one working, food was less abundant. So I normally rationed my meals and when I could, would try to find other sources of food. I'm quite surprised I never fell sick from sampling every single wild berry native to my village!

Over the course of the year, we'd grown pretty close and formed a kind a family unit so when I'd been informed of their departure, I'd been devastated. [rephrase this sentence]

Aunt Oo Ra cried when she explained that she couldn't take me with her because her son's place wasn't big enough and that she and her husband would probably be spending most of their time at the hospital and that they didn't want to leave me with their divorced son. [Break things up a bit here. It's nice but you need to show more. Let's have some dialogue. A flashback would probably do the trick].

But when the stranger driving me to Seoul arrived many hours too late, she'd broken into loud sobs, sad that she'd never see me again and scared that she was allowing me to follow a stranger into the dark night.

Uncle Bong Chol, always strong and wise, tried to keep his cool for both of us, but when I climbed onto the dirty fruit truck, I noticed his lips quiver and a tear fall from his right eye.

The image of my uncle holding onto his shaking wife as the tall, thin man turned the engine on, remains with me up till today.

[The transition feels a bit abrupt. Maybe you can add a line before this? Maybe expand a little more about why that image stays with you.]As frightened and unsure as they were letting me go, I was ten times more afraid of where I was going. They'd explained that I was going to stay with my mother but who was she? The only mother I'd ever known had died and it really didn't matter that I was going to be with my 'real' mother because she was who she'd been my entire life; a stranger.



Shin looked up from the manuscript in his hand. It had been a while since he'd felt as unsure as he did the day he arrived in Seoul. He'd been lost, confused and angry at the world for being so unfair and taking away every person he'd ever loved. But right there, sitting at his computer, he felt like he'd been transported to that day except instead of being angry at the world, he was angry at himself.

Was it love? He didn't know. He'd been in love before and had vowed never to do something so silly ever again but yet, this felt different. What was it? What he did know was that somehow, in some weird way, he'd pulled Na Ji Won further and further inside his head. Or was it his heart? Other than what had occurred in Aruba, she'd never made a move towards him, never tried to get her proverbial claws into him, so he knew that what he was feeling was entirely of his own doing. He'd never been the kind of guy to want what he couldn't have but he wondered if that was what was coming into play now.

He shook his head and flung the manuscript on the desk.

No. That wasn't it. He didn't merely see her as a challenge.

He knew that it wasn't simply attraction because even though she was beautiful, she wasn't the most beautiful woman he'd ever known. And while she had a nice personality, it wasn't like she was the most engaging and exciting person he'd ever met. Yet, somehow, he couldn't get her out of his mind. Why?

He was still pondering this when his phone rang. He picked it up and when he saw who was calling, dropped it back down.

A second later, when he realized what he'd just done, how childishly he'd acted, he slapped his forehead and picked it up again. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jin Mo ssi. It's Ji Won. How are you?"

From the added sounds come from the receiver, he could tell that she was driving. "I'm fine. I don't have a new chapter yet. I'll have one tomorrow."

"Oh, that's cool. So you haven't seen Pil Suh yet?"

He grunted. "No. I'll see him tomorrow."

"Oh, that's good. We can meet tomorrow but I also have something I'll like to give to him. I'm on my way to your office. Are you still there?"

"My office?" he said, jumping off his chair. "N-no, I'm not there."

"Okay, not a problem. I'll leave it with the receptionist and you can pick it up tomorrow."

"NO!" he yelled.

Leaving a package for Jo Jin Mo at his agency wasn't a problem, after all, a man called Jo Jin Mo really did work there. The first problem was that there was a chance she might run into him. However, that problem could be easily solved with one quick call from Shin instructing Jin Mo to stay in his office and asking him to instruct the receptionist to take the package on his behalf.

The real problem was that the agency's walls were covered with numerous photos of its employees with various famous authors and entertainers. Since Shin treasured his privacy, none of his photos were up, however, Jin Mo's were everywhere. Again, if Ji Won walked in and saw his photos everywhere, she probably wouldn't think much of it since she knew that Pil Suh was a client, however, reading the captions and seeing that the man in the photos was Jin Mo and not Pil Suh would be a huge problem.

Shin paced his bedroom and rubbed his temples as a headache threatened to form. If she were ever to find out, he had to be the one to tell her. He couldn't let her discover the truth about his identity on her own. He didn't even know what he'd do if that were to happen. "You can't go there."

"Why not?"

"Ehm…." He racked his brain for something that didn't sound too ridiculous. "We had a half day so there's no one there."

"Oh," she said, not bothering to hide her disappointment. "Why do you have a half day anyway? What's today?"

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing important. Why don't I come over and pick it up? I was planning to come your way, anyway."



***



Ji Won looked out of the window. "Where are we?"

"You know I love you, right?" Kyung Ho said as he pulled over and parked his car.

She turned to him. "You made me leave work early and brought me here just to say that?"

"Of course not." After researching Jin Mo on a hunch and seeing that he fit Pil Suh's description, he'd uncovered the truth. And when he'd gone over to pick Ji Won up and met the so-called Jin Mo in person, he was now certain that they'd been playing a very sick game with his friend's heart. It had taken a lot for him not to punch him there and then but he'd decided that he really didn't want to risk a lawsuit. Especially if he'd have to explain why he'd been using office resources for personal reasons.

"So why are we here?"

He glanced at his watch. "You'll see in a moment."

All it took to figure out when Jin Mo would be returning home was a simple call to the receptionist asking how late he normally stayed at the office. After doing the math, by his count, providing Jin Mo didn't stop over to run some errands, he should be arriving in about ten minutes.

About twenty-five minutes later, Kyung Ho sat up when he saw a car fitting the description of the one he was expecting pull into Jin Mo's driveway.

"Hey," he said, tapping Ji Won's shoulder. "He's here."

Ji Won put down the book she was reading. "Why do I feel like I'm on an episode of Law and Order?" Even though her friend was being very cryptic, she wasn't too bothered. She couldn't see how whatever it was wasn't related to his girlfriend and knew that he was probably just overreacting to something. Her eyes followed the direction of Kyung Ho's finger and fell onto a somewhat familiar figure.

Since she'd only met Pil Suh once, she had a very specific image of him in her mind but when she saw that it was indeed him underneath that dark coat holding onto a little girl, her heart stopped. "W-what's going on? Is Pil Suh out?"

Kyung Ho reached behind and picked up a folder off the backseat and handed it to her. "That's not Pil Suh."

"T-t-then who is it?" She took the folder from him, her hands fighting to hold it steady and opened it. The first sheet of paper was a blown up copy of driver's license with Pil Suh's face staring back at her. However, the name read: Jo Jin Mo.

She glanced up at Kyung Ho and saw the upset look on his face.

Her chest began to heave and her breathing became audible. What was going on? If he wasn't Pil Suh…. "Then, who's Pil Suh?" she asked shakily. And just as the words escaped her lips, she flipped the first sheet over and saw Shin's face staring back at her.



***



"Are you going to be okay?" Kyung Ho asked as she stepped out of his car.

She nodded but didn't say a thing. At first, she'd been angry at him. What kind of friend was he? Why didn't he just give her the photocopies of their driver's licenses instead of taking her there?

Seeing how angry she was, he had given a flimsy excuse about wanting to confirm his suspicions before saying anything but she knew it was bulls.hit. Lee Kyung Ho had taken her there for one simple reason; to be dramatic. And dramatic, it surely was. Seeing a man that she'd been fantasizing about walk into his house with a child that was obviously his, was dramatic. Dramatic and heart shattering.

Cold air blasted against her face as she walked over to her car but she barely felt it. All she could do was recount the last few weeks from meeting those two bastards at the restaurant till that very moment. Had she been some kind of bet? Some game pathetic, juvenile men played for kicks?

Her feet stopped moving as the implication set in– she wasn't meant to love. Was this what Karma felt like? Punishment for the hearts she might have broken when she was younger? Because nothing else made sense. The first man she'd truly and completely fallen for, the man she'd planned to spend the rest of her days with hadn't even bothered to show up for the wedding. And then the minute she began to toy with the idea of finding love again, just as she was preparing to put her heart out there again, the man she'd dreamed about had turned out to be a fraud.

Love was not meant for her. She was not meant to love. It was just not in the cards for her. And she was an idiot for ever thinking otherwise.

"Agashi, are you lost?" a male voice asked from behind her.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks," she said without looking back. She hadn't even realized that she'd been shaking before the man woke her from her daze. Even though she tried to briskly walk to her car, her body refused to comply. Apparently, the pain from her heart had begun to spread throughout her body. It was hard coming to terms with the fact that their relationship, her feelings, his feelings never really existed. But what hurt most was that those 'men' made a complete fool of her. They'd lifted her up just to make the fall that much greater. If they'd thrown rotten eggs at her face, it would have been far less humiliating.



***



Ji Won followed the hostess to their table. "Can I get a Long Island Iced Tea without the Iced Tea? Just don't add whatever it is that makes it taste like iced tea."

The lady nodded. "It'll be here shortly," she said before turning to leave.

Shin stood up to greet her. "Hey. You're twenty-five minutes late. I thought you were never late."

"Stranger things have happened," she said in a monotone. She sat across from him at the side of the table facing the exit.

Ji Won looked at him, sitting and smiling like he wasn't a conniving bastard. After stewing over it all the previous night, she'd reached a conclusion: she hated him. She still couldn't get over how she hadn't seen through his ruse. All the times he smiled at her, she'd thought that he was simply doing it to be friendly but now she could see that he'd been simply taking pleasure in making a fool out of her. She didn't know if she was being a naive, but for some reason, she wasn't really upset with the real Jin Mo because after careful analysis, all fingers pointed to Shin. He was the one she'd wronged. He was the one who'd claimed to be Jin Mo right from the start. The other guy was just caught in the crossfire. She knew that he just had to be the mastermind. The real monster. An as.shole with toned pecs hiding a black heart.

She reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope. "Here are the latest edits," she said, handing it to him.

He took it from her at the moment a waiter dropped off her drink. After thanking him, she took a sip of it, and sat up as the hard liquor mix burned down her throat.

"Here's the new chapter." He gave it to her then lifted the envelope she'd just given him. "And thanks for this."

"You're welcome," she said, leaning forward and placing her elbows on the table. "But why don't you read it now?"

Shin's body stiffened. What was up with her tone? He slowly looked up at her. "Excuse me?"

A slight smile crept onto her face. "Why don't you read it now? Isn't that what you're going to do when you get home? Before you scribble a reply on your next chapter, Mr. Yoon Pil Suh? Oh, I guess I should call you Pil Suh like you suggested."

For a few seconds, Shin felt like time stood still. He looked into her eyes and saw a hard, foreign bitterness inside of them. She barely looked like herself.

"Ji Won—" He wanted to explain everything to her but he didn't even know what to say. Even with all the time that had passed, he hadn't expected her to uncover the truth so soon. After reading her last letter, he'd felt sick, disgusted about how honest and pure her feelings for Pil Suh seemed to be, annoyed that he'd put them in such a tight corner but for all his alleged creativity, he still couldn't come up with a viable solution. He looked into her darkened eyes. It was now too late.

She gulped down half of her drink, ignoring the pain caused by drinking it so quickly. She put the glass down and looked up at him. Then she shook her head and hissed. Why the hell did he look so surprised? "How long were you going to keep this up? Till we finished the book?"

He shook his head. "No," he said plainly.

"Till I proposed marriage?"

"No."

"You wanted to play with my feelings like I'd unknowingly played with yours? I get it. But, come on. What kind of man gets upset about a fu.cking one night stand?" She looked up in an attempt to keep the threatening tears at bay. There was no way she was going to cry in front of him. She didn't think she was going to get so emotional at the confrontation but she couldn't help thinking of all the time she'd spent with him in every capacity. And how it had all been a prank. All just for revenge.


"That's not it," he said softly, reaching out to take her hand.

"Don't touch me." She took her hands off the table and placed them on her lap. "I'm not mad, you know. I get it. I hurt you, so you're hurting me back. I did wrong, so I'm facing the consequences. For every action, there's a reaction. What goes up must come down. Tit for tat. Do unto others as you want them to do onto you. Look before…"

Shin knitted his brows together in worry as he listened to her rattle off every single proverb that applied. If she'd completely lost it, he had no one but himself to blame.

"But it's just a shame that everyone else gets away with doing dirt but not me. I just have to pay for my sins. Lucky me."

"You're wrong. I wasn't trying to make you pay for anything."

She scoffed. "No? Then what was it? What exactly were you trying to accomplish with this charade? If you weren't trying to make me look like an idiot, what were you trying to do?" she asked, her voice getting louder with every word. Her plan to stay cool really wasn't working. She wanted to hide her emotions so that he wouldn't see that he'd gotten to her but now that she was in the moment, she couldn't help it. She no longer cared if he saw her upset. "What were you trying to achieve?"

Shin parted his lips to speak but no words came out. Yes, at first, he'd tried to hurt her but that had barely lasted a day. But sitting across from her, watching her anger rise, he knew exactly why he'd let it go on for so long – he hadn't wanted to face the possibility of never seeing her again. But how could he tell her that now?

"You can't say anything, huh?" she sneered. "Why are you so silent?" She looked away because she could no longer stand the sight of his face. Why didn't he have anything to say? Any explanation for why he'd treated her like dirt? Or at least a victory dance? Why wasn't he gloating? Instead, his face was as blank as brand new chalkboard.

Annoyed, she gulped down the rest of her drink and picked up her bag. "I must say that you're one heck of an actor, though. To act like one person when we met then be a different person afterwards is truly award-worthy. But then again, as Kyung Ho said, you're a writer. A writer observes and learns about people. That's how they are able to create the most fascinating characters. You observed me and knew exactly what to write to get to me. I hope you feel satisfied that all that work paid off."

As she stood up, Shin did the same. She slung her bag across her shoulder. "I guess this is the end of our working relationship Mr. Yoon Pil Suh Shin or whatever the fu.ck you call yourself." When she raised her head to send him one last hateful look, she saw a couple walking towards them from behind him. "Shi.t," she said before plunking back on the chair.



***



Confused, Shin followed her eyes, turned his head around and saw a man and a barely dressed woman walking towards them.

He turned back and from the look of dread that had already overtaken Ji Won's face, he immediately put two and two together. Without thinking, he got off his chair and sat next to her.

With a question in her eyes, she turned to him but all she got was a smile back.

Averting her gaze, she looked ahead and watched Joon Young and a big breasted woman in a tube top and tight pants walking towards them. When he'd first mentioned that he was seeing someone new, even though she refused to admit it, she'd been jealous. But now….

She hissed and shook her head at the ridiculousness of the situation. So that was why he'd left their relationship? Apparently, it had nothing to do with her because he obviously wanted to be with someone whose brains were lodged entirely in her breasts. In a million years, she'd never have guessed that he was so shallow. Yes, there were specific aesthetic things he'd wanted her to do like curl her hair and make her lips look fuller but she'd never expected him to date someone that looked like an aspiring porn star. Watching him walk hand-in-hand with the human replica of a blow up doll made her realize one thing; she was completely and totally over him.

"Ji Won ah," Joon Young said once he was at their table. "What are you doing here?"

She rolled her eyes. "What does it look like?"

Shin's head spun around to her. With all that had happened between them, he'd never heard her sound so cold.

"And who might this be?" Joon Young asked, sizing Shin up. And from the look on his face, it was quite clear he didn't like what he saw.

Shin took this as his cue to speak up. He slung his arm across Ji Won's chair, ignoring her reaction, and said, "You must be the idiot that let her get away."

Joon Young blinked rapidly a few times. "Excuse me?"

"You're her stupid ex, aren't you? The irrelevant as.s?"

Joon Young disentangled himself from his girlfriend then pointed at Shin. "Won-Won, why is he talking to me like that?"

"'Won-Won'? I thought I told you never to call me that?"

Ignoring her comment, he said, "Who is he?" His eyes darted furiously from her to Shin. "Are you dating someone?" he asked with absolute incredulity. Like it was the last thing in the world he'd expected. And it was. Because, he sincerely felt that she'd never love anyone like she'd loved him. That he was the love of her life. And even though he'd made a mistake, she'd eventually forgive him then they'd get married and live happily just as they'd always planned. She wasn't supposed to be seeing some other guy. Especially one that didn't look like a loser. He pointed at Shin. "Who's that?"

Ji Won hid a smile. She'd never seen Joon Young so jealous and she was enjoying it a bit too much. She no longer wanted him but she definitely liked to see him squirm. "How is it your business? Do you see me asking you about her?"

"That's different," he said dismissively. "You still have my ring!"

"Oppa…," the girl started to say but he ignored her.

"Who's this guy?" he repeated.


Shin moved his chair closer to Ji Won's and sat so that their shoulders were almost touching then wrapped his arm around her. She turned her head and looked at him but didn't say anything. He turned to smile at Joon Young. "Don't worry about it. Just know that I'll keep her happy."

When he saw that Joon Young had begun to fume and his face had taken on the color of a cherry, he chuckled. "Yes, I'm going to make her happy. Aren't you happy, Sweetie?"

Ji Won, who'd also begun to laugh, nodded. She turned to Shin. "Yes, very happy, Babe."

Shin, still laughing, looked back at her and their eyes met. They were giggling at each other when Shin realized that something about being so close to her, and hearing her laughter so close to his ear had begun to make his heart lift. There were in the final act. Any moment, Joon Young would storm out and the play would be over. They'd get back to reality and never again would they be so close.

He looked into her brown eyes, devoid of any make up, yet looking the loveliest he'd ever seen, then moved his face close to hers and before she could react, kissed her full on the lips.



***



Ji Won was still fuming as she watched Joon Young storm out of the restaurant. They both has something in common because the kiss has been more than either of them could take.

It had been quick with him kissing her and her body freezing from shock. He let his lips linger on hers for a bit but when he realized that she wasn't responding, he'd taken them off. But they had stayed long enough for her to feel his breath against her face, feel his skin against hers and to feel the force of his lips. And she was livid! How dare he? How could he possibly think that just because she was playing along with him, he had the right to kiss her like that?

She held her breath to keep from exploding but the second Joon Young walked out, she exhaled and pushed Shin's chair away from her. Even though he slipped, he didn't fall off it. He'd expected it so he'd tried his best to retain his balance.

She grabbed her bag and stood up, pushing the table in the process and scraping its leg against the floor thus attracting attention from some of the people around them. She glanced at them then turned her full attention to Shin. "How dare you?"

Shin wanted to say that he was sorry but he couldn't. Even though she hadn't kissed him back, even though her body had turned cold, her lips had still been very warm. And he'd liked the way they'd felt. So no, he wasn't sorry.

"Why are you just staring at me like a fool? Say something, you as.shole!"

Angered by his lack of response and remorse, she wanted to do something to hurt him. She wanted to slap him but after what had just happened, really didn't want her skin to touch his again. So she looked around and reached for her glass but saw that it was empty. Then she moved her hands a few inches, grabbed his martini glass and threw its contents at his face. "Fu.ck you," she said, walking by him and towards the exit. She almost looked back to see his reaction but didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Besides, it had felt pretty good to throw the drink at him. It was her first time of doing it and if it always felt this great, she planned to do it more often.