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She sighed and continued, a distant smile curving the edges of her lips as she continued on her path of memory lane.

“I met him on my way to one of my classes which, by God, I was always late for. The professor hated me, even though I believed somewhere in his heart, he had a bit of warmth for me.” Her lips tipped wider, and her eyes gleamed as if she was reaching for a fond and happy memory.

“We started dating just before the summer break in our third year. And You know, back then, I wasn’t just stupid to have fallen in love with him, but I had also received A-Yeong’s hand of friendship.” She softly chuckled and looked at Jin-Hai, who had a surprise streak in his eyes.

She nodded to confirm his shock. “Yeah, A-Yeong and I had once been close even though our friendship had more to the with the healthy competitions she always had us locked on. She was just that way – assertive, demanding, intimidating, and intelligent. She’d make you stand on your toes whenever she stepped into the room, and she’d throw you into a challenge without even muttering a word.”

Jin-Hai blinked, obviously too surprised to hear Hei-Ran say such things about A-Yeong. “She seemed like an interesting person.”

Hei-Ran smiled and concurred with a nod. “Of course she was. She’d usually leave her school and pay me visits at least every month, and all in her visits, she had something to compete about but would somehow contribute to the company’s good. I wasn’t really keen on joining the company. Actually, I wanted to join my dad in publishing.” She softly giggled when more surprise registered on Jin-Hai’s face. He never knew she wanted to go into publishing. Yes, he knew her father had not joined the Su family business but had made a path for himself by owning a publishing house while he was still a shareholder in Su corp.

.....

“Surprised, right?” Hei-Ran asked, and he nodded.

“Very.”

“You’d be more surprised to know I was a dire lover of romance books. The amorous activities beautifully penned down by authors had swayed my heart toward wanting that path.” Jin-Hai couldn’t hold back the smile that crept up his face at her words. He definitely found that hard to believe. For six years, she looked like she was waging a bloody war against romance, but he understood why.

He aptly listened as she continued. “I was always happy to indulge A-Yeong in all her challenge because I learned a lot, and it made me better, and even if she didn’t say it, I knew I had same effect on her. I’m certain of this because A-Yeong will never return to you if your friendship wasn’t beneficial.” She told him matter-of-factly.

“A-Yeong wasn’t much fan of the man I had chosen to date, but sometimes during her visits, she’d hang out with us, but not once did she pretend to like my boyfriend because she’s that cold and direct. Other times which was most of the time, she’d sprout out a new puzzle for us to solve and ask me to ditch him, which I’ll do. Grandfather liked us very much. You could tell from his gleaming eyes how proud he was when we brought business ideas and strategies. Sometimes he’d find it difficult to choose, but I believe it was because he didn’t have the heart to hurt any of his grandchildren. He’d take both or ask us to find a way to make them work as one. A-Yeong wouldn’t be happy, but she’d agree anyway.”

“We did it for a few years, and I was still happily dating my boyfriend, who I showed to every member of my family, and I was happier when they approved of him. Who wouldn’t when his charms were his fierce weapon.” She derisively scoffed. “It felt nice finding love at eighteen. I was over the moon. After all, I believed in happy-ever-after, thanks to my endless collection of romance books. I built pretty large castles on every cloud in my mind for my romantic fantasy. What a lucky girl I thought I was because what I found at eighteen many took a lifetime to discover, and some never really found.” She dryly chuckled at her own words but continued anyway.

“After college, I was happy. I still had a good relationship, masters was in view, and the company would be right after. We all went for our master’s degree, at least I thought A-Yeong did as she has always wanted to do that overseas, but she suddenly went silent for over a year, and no one heard from her. The whole family got worried. At first, we thought she was being her usual distant self, but we realized she was gone and nowhere to be found.”

A curious frown settled on Jin-Hai’s face. Her last words had got him confused. “Gone where?” He asked.

Hei-Ran shrugged. “I don’t know, and no one knows till date. We tried to ask, grandfather investigated, but there was nothing. It seemed like in that one year she dropped out of the surface of the earth. When she returned, I was already engaged. We weren’t too close, especially not with the distance of a year, but I was happy to tell her about it. To my surprise, A-Yeong looked at me differently and told me happiness comes with a price, one I might not be too happy to pay. I didn’t understand her words at the time. I dismissed them as her usual rants on her bad days, but you can say I got the lesson too late. Soon we noticed A-Yeong had changed, both physically and emotionally, but the emotions had us more worried. She was quiet before, but she became taciturn, insensitive...” Hei-Ran narrowed her brows as if trying to reach for a more accurate word. ” And cruel.” She added.

She picked up her cup and took a long sip, and continued. “It was as if she had lost her soul or something, but later we all adjusted to the new her. On her return, Grandfather recruited us into the company, as well as my boyfriend. I was happy, and I thought he was too, but strange things started happening. He started spending more time with A-Yeong in her office. I’d ask, and he’d say it was nothing. Sometimes we’d fight about it as he stopped being sweet and open. It’s difficult to adjust when someone who treated you nicely begins to change. I felt something was wrong, but I thought I was only being paranoid, especially since grandfather had dropped the biggest competition of being president. No one disputed the idea, as A-Yeong and I had long proven ourselves to the company. Grandfather believed we were the future of the Su empire. I thought so, too, because A-Yeong and I were a formidable force.”

“The competition became fierce when A-Yeong started making under-the-table deals with board members, which was unlike her. I didn’t say a word or trouble myself till...” She paused, her voice shaking, and Jin-Hai gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

“Till they ruined me.” She sobbed out with glistening eyes. Jin-Hai went around and planted himself beside her, tightly pulling her into a hug and gently patting her back.

“It’s okay.” He whispered. He felt her tears stream down and wet his shirt, but he held her closely, not thinking about letting go till she was calm.

Hei-Ran struggled to calm herself and took a deep breath as she sniffled.

Jin-Hai rubbed his hand against her hair. He held her face up and kissed the remnant of her tears. “It’s okay, baby.” He comforted her. When it seemed like Hei-Ran was about to continue, he tried stopping her, but she was too adamant about talking about it, so he let her, but not before having her sip from a cold glass of water that he grabbed from the fridge. He wasn’t interested in hearing about the jerk his muscles twitched to find and pummel to the ground, he’d make his face a gory sight even he himself would be revulsed by it, but it seemed Hei-Ran really wanted to spill it all out. She must have locked the hurt away for six years without talking much about it.

Hei-Ran sniffled and dried her face. She deeply heaved and continued, her voice sounding hoarse and low. “I was hurt because I thought I had found the happiness others aren’t fortunate to find in a lifetime. So, in all honesty, I was more hurt that they ruined my dreams rather than my reputation. I dreamt of happy endings and happy families. I dreamt of living life to the fullest and being the best I could be, but they stole that from me.” Her eyes turned cold and angry. Jin-Hai could see the way she gnashed her teeth.

“Did you talk to him?” Jin-Hai asked, and she scoffed.

“Oh, I did, but he had no excuse. He looked at me with no remorse but didn’t say a word, and it was at that point that I realized he had been using me to make a path for his impoverished ass, but I found out too late. I cussed the devil at him and told him I was better without a horrible, devilspawn ass of a person that he was. He eventually carted away with some company funds with the help of A-Yeong, and I got reprimanded for it – publicly humiliated and tossed out. No one in the family believed me because, in the past years I’ve proven to be madly in love with a jerk. Like hell, I’d steal from my family for a man.” She humourlessly chuckled before staring directly at Jin-Hai.

“You know the rest of the story. You hired me, I worked for you, and here we are.” She shrugged, drawing in the conclusion of her sad life story.

Jin-Hai nodded and smiled. He tried to make it as bright as possible. “Indeed, here we are. Sitting in your kitchen, staring at me, while I’m selfishly dying to say thank God all these happened because I’d have missed out on building my own castles with you as my fantasy.” He leaned in and gently claimed her lips. His kiss was so soft and compelling, taking away the weight of her heart and replacing it with nothing but sweetness and fondness. She smiled as a tear slipped down her cheek. He caught it with his thumb and wiped it away.

“You don’t have to cry anymore, love. I know all these things hurt you, but they also made you strong. They made you the amazing, beautiful, graceful, intelligent, wonderful, capable....” Hei-Ran giggled.

He smiled. “I can go all day, and no words can truly describe who you are and how precious you are.” He kissed her salty cheeks and lips.

“You built my company with me and made me happy by being mine.” His countenance shifted into something more serious, and Hei-Ran was sure he was. “I can’t promise you the whole world, but I promise to make you happy. To make new happy memories with you that will take away the bad, and spend each day treating you like my queen, standing half-naked over the stove as I make you breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

“Cheesy.” Hei-Ran giggled as she playfully hit his arm while he laughed.

“I’d take that as a compliment.”

“Of course it is.” She told him between laughs.

Jin-Hai felt his heart flutter at the sight of her beautiful laugh and face.

“Tricking you into this relationship is the best thing I’d have done in my entire life. After you drunkily kissed me at the club that night, I was convinced I had to have you, or I might die.”

“Trickster.” Hei-Ran blushed.

“Kiss-stealer.” He teased back.

They were both still caught up in their laughs and teasing when Hei-Ran’s phone rang. It was Dan-Han calling. She peered at Jin-Hai with widened eyes, who hurriedly answered the phone for her.

“President Lee.” She called.

“Good morning, Ms. Su. I want to report back to you about our discussion last night. We’d meet at Westin. Floor 5, apartment 106. 5 pm. I hope you’ll be on time.”

“Yes.” Hei-Ran echoed.

“See you then,” Dan-Han said before disconnecting the call.

Hei-Ran’s brows furrowed. Westin. Apartment 106. Why did that address sound familiar?

Her eyes widened when she realized she had just been there last night. It was A-Yeong’s address.

She didn’t need to ask how he knew A-Yeong’s address, but why were they meeting at her place?