Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I.

Jiwoong & Chaeran

Wednesday.

sleepless rainy night

It’s a slow day at work.

It shouldn’t be the case for him. He regularly has stacks of old footage to review and send to the archives or clips to edit or concept meetings to attend.

But not that day. His mind is wandering. Maybe it was the pouring rain outside or something else that he hasn’t figured out yet.

He has gone through his to-do list that will take him at least a month to finish. He is aware that if he starts any single task from that list, it will save him a lot of trouble. So he picks the easiest task to-do. He needs to meet with their team leader to brief him of the filming schedules and budget that needs approval.

He huffs before he stands up. He glances at the empty chair behind him, before he proceeds to the usual conference room where his team leader is usually found these days.

“Park team-jangnim,” he calls before he notices that Park PD is talking to another team leader in the room. Both turned their swivel chairs, surprised at his sudden appearance. “Oh, I’ll go to you later.”

“It’s okay,” Park Dong-il responds. “We’re wrapping up.”

He waves his hand to dismiss the offer and bid goodbye to them again, when the other team leader present, Jang Eunhui PD, speaks. “Kim PD, it would be nice to hear your thoughts too. Please come here.”

He frowns. He hasn’t worked with Jang PD since he was promoted to his current position. He glances at Park PD who has this stupid grin on his face that tells him how much his team leader is going to enjoy the meeting. He knows better than to sit down but Jang PD is known to be cordial to everyone and he doesn’t want to cross her, especially with the recent circumstances.

So he takes the seat two chairs away from Park PD. Near enough from the door to get out when the situation is not in any way on his favor.

“What for, sunbae?” he asks politely. He shifts in his seat to face them both.

The two team leaders exchange looks, before Jang PD replies. “I want to get your thoughts about Jung AD.”

He blinks at the questions. They’re asking him about his thoughts about Jung Chaeran, the star employee of the Public Affairs and Culture Bureau? The Assistant Director who stuck with him even with his negative reputation as a co-worker? The co-worker who told him a month ago that she’s leaving their team? 

“You’re asking me?” he asks.

Jang PD nods. “Eo. You’ve worked with her the longest among all of us. Her first work was with you. You would know her better than all of us.” She then gestures to Park PD. “I’ve also asked Park PD about his thoughts earlier, but I think it will also be beneficial for us to know yours because of your working history.”

Of course, he knows a lot about Jung Chaeran. She’s his favorite co-worker. 

He clears his throat, finding the right words to share with her new team leader.

“She is hardworking,” he starts slowly. His mouth feels dry for some reason. “She is helpful to her teammates. She is very observant. She picks up on the little details from a sudden behavior change to a misplaced item on a set. She’s that quick to pick up on the subtle changes and connect them later on. She can tell you directly what’s on her mind, but also keeps her distance when needed. She also always has great ideas she keeps in her little pocket notebook. Sometimes, you will catch her scribbling those ideas then you will learn about them later on.”

He pauses and then looks at the team leaders again. Both seem to hang on to his every word. He can see the mischievous glint in Park PD’s eyes, but he doesn’t have the time to make a guess.

“When she promises to deliver on a certain date, she will make sure that you have the first draft even a day before the deadline. If she can’t submit on time, she will let you know at least two weeks before with the ways forward and how we can effectively move around the budget and schedule. She makes sure that you will get the best results that we can possibly show on broadcast, even if she needs to stay in the editing room for a few consecutive nights. She’s that diligent.”

He chuckles at a memory. “One time, when one of the kids in this school documentary we were filming went missing. She went all over the place to find her. She tirelessly did that and even coaxed that little four year old to stop crying. That little kid didn’t leave her side until we finished filming the documentary.”

“I heard about her being just like you.”

“She’s overall a great person.”

He looks at Jang PD, who spoke at the same time as him. “Just like me?” Both of the PDs nod. “I’m not a great person like her.”

Jang PD smiles, while Park PD struggles to hide the smile he has. He will have a word with him later, but he feels the need to clear that point. He points at himself again. Jang PD gets the hint.

“You have almost the same style of working, but you have different flairs in storytelling. Based on how you describe her work style, I could say that she learned a lot from you.”

He nods, but it still doesn’t feel right to him. “Chaeran~ie has always been great, since day 1. She listens to instructions and offers her clear and concise thoughts whenever you ask her opinion. She’s a great PD. But,” he pauses to look at Park PD, “I think sunbae will agree that we are nothing alike as a person.”

“Of course, uri Chaeran~ie is the best.” 

Jang PD grins. “That’s it, then. She really seems to be the great person that frankly everyone already knows about. That opinion is a lot better received when it comes from her former superiors. Thank you for your input, Kim PD.”

“Why did you ask my thoughts about Chaeran~ah?”

“Ah, she proposed to lead a solo project recently. I’m verifying with you guys that she is ready for that.”

“She definitely is,” he quickly said. “She is the most hardworking and best co-worker I ever met.”

“No offense taken,” Park PD added. “She is. Give her the budget and she will bring you success.”

“Duly noted,” Jang PD affirmed, “We’ll give the green light to her request today. Thank you again for your inputs, gentlemen.”

Jang PD is about to leave the conference room, but there is still one question that he can’t help but ask. “Where is Chaeran now?”

The senior PD stops from walking towards the door. “Ah, she’s out this week to finalize the details for that pitch she presented.” She then looks outside. “Hope she’s okay with that torrential rain.”

Despite it being a slow day, he still left the office at 9PM.

The rain is still pouring when he gets home, but it isn’t as relentless as earlier. His apartment still feels empty, but rekindling the relationship he has with his mom certainly helped in livening up the place. There’s a houseplant and a different set of pillows on his couch. Even his dining table now has a pop of color to it with the fruits that his mother buys from the market whenever she’s out of the hospital. She insists on doing it for him, no matter how much he tries to say no.

He has been tossing and turning on his bed for an hour, but sleep still eludes him. Something about that day, rather the past two weeks, is off and he still can’t figure out why. He sighs. He needs to sleep because he has an 8am meeting with the senior management. He tries to count sheep in his head to invite sleep to no avail. So he instead checks his phone to scroll mindlessly through the internet when a notification on their group chat comes in.

[ Chaeran: Does anyone know a car service available now? I’m stuck here. Flooding nearby and I can’t find a taxi. ]

Not even a minute later, she sends another message.

[ Chaeran: Sorry. Wrong sent! ]

He doesn’t even think twice.

[ Jiwoong: Send me your location. ]

[ Chaeran: It’s okay, sunbae ! I’ll ask someone else. ]

[ Jiwoong: Should I ask Jang PD for your location? ]

After that message, he receives the location from Chaeran.

The rain already stopped when he arrived. She earlier mentioned that she has some equipment with her that needs a little bit of hauling to bring to his car. He doesn’t mind that, but he wonders why Chaeran was left alone with equipment, especially with the all day rain.

He sees her on the sidewalk with the equipment by her side, so he immediately hops off his car to help her bring the equipment. Her hair looks damp, while her clothes are soaking wet. 

“What happened to you?”

“Ah!” She looks at her state. “I told the service car to go back to the office because Lee PD- nim needed one. I had to stay behind because I have to film some more. They accidentally packed my umbrella and jacket with them, so I’m left with nothing. The manager was kind enough to lend me an umbrella but that flew away when a strong wind passed.” She lets out a heavy breath and then points to her left. “I tried to catch it but I slipped, so I am now drenched.”

He should have done it as soon as he saw her with her sorry state. He takes his coat off to put it on her shoulder to Chaeran’s surprise.

“Sunbae!”

“Are you okay? Were you hurt from your slip?” She blinks at him. He ignores that and crouches at her ankle to lightly tap it. “Is this hurt?”

“I’m okay, sunbae. Not a scratch.”

“Are you sure?”

She smiles and then nods. He’s suddenly reminded of 25 year old Chaeran with her eyes wide for observing and learning, and brain so quick to revert to any ideas he had in mind five years ago. She has been his companion on any project that he starts.

He shakes the thought off. “Let’s take the equipment to the car.”

After loading all of the equipment they have to bring back to the office, they settle on their seats. He observes her, obviously exhausted from that day as she leans into the seat. He doesn’t utter a word and drives quietly to the office.

They get to the office and put the equipment back in its storage. All the while they don’t exchange words. He doesn’t ask her any question again even though something within him wants to ask even the most mundane question. He hasn’t talked to her since she told him that she will move to another team. He doesn’t harbor any resentment, but once she moved to the area of her new team, he suddenly doesn’t know how to talk to her again.

“Thank you, sunbaenim. I thought Taehun would be able to fetch me.”

He nods, not knowing what to say next.

“It is a bit awkward, right?” she sheepishly asks.

He grins at her question, but slowly nods. “It’s been a while.”

“I got busy recently with the adjustment in the new team. I’m often out for filming, so I didn’t have time. I should have communicated with you regardless.”

At that point, he knows it did bother him. But he figured… “It doesn’t matter. I know you’re doing an excellent job at your new team.”

She gives him a tight smile. She moves as if she remembered something to share with him. “My pitch for my solo project just got approved today. I will meet with our lead this weekend, hopefully.”

He nods, “I heard.”

She picks up what he meant, as she often does. She’s really that brilliant. “You talked to Jang sunbaenim?”

“She asked a couple of questions about you. You deserve this, Chaeran~ah.”

She smiles widely. The lights illuminate her face making her look more radiant. “Thank you. And thank you again for rescuing me tonight, sunbae . I should treat you out for drinks sometime soon.”

“Eo. You should.”

That earns him another smile from her. He doesn’t even know when was the last time someone smiled at him like that.

She takes off the coat that he gave her earlier. “Thanks for this also, sunbae. I grabbed mine from my office chair already.” She hands the jacket to him but then she grabs both of his hands unexpectedly. “You’re freezing, sunbae!”

He is taken aback when she starts to rub her palms on his hands. She is so focused with what she is doing, while all he can look at is her slender fingers inspecting the tiny crevices of his hand. He doesn’t even feel the cold. He looks at her face, full of concern about his freezing hands. She attempts to blow warm wind to his palm as she simultaneously creates friction between their hands. He notices how her hair falls slowly to her front, how cute her little light pink bonnet is against her dark hair, how her blue coat engulfs her tiny body, and how fascinated he is with her tiny hands compared to his.

It was all but a moment. He doesn’t even notice that he was holding his breath as she was holding his hands.

“Okay that’s a little better.” 

That pulls him. He blinks hard.

“Sunbae?” she asks, oblivious from the tumultuous thoughts he was having at that moment. How he suddenly realizes how empty his life has been all these past few weeks and now, suddenly there’s this fuzzy warmth not just in his hands but also inside his chest. 

Possibly puzzled why he isn’t responding to her, she then places her warm hands to his equally freezing cheeks. He flinches, so she immediately retracts her hands. How he wished he didn’t flinch.

“Sorry, sunbae!”

There is that distinct loud beating of his heart that indicates a long forgotten emotion, the one he thought he will never have again. And all of a sudden, he’s excited and scared.

He shakes his head. “It’s fine. I was just surprised." He needs time to think. "I’ll drop you off.” 

She nods and they don’t utter a word again until they bid each other goodbye.

It is already midnight when he gets home. He quickly changes his clothes because of the light rain that made it wet, then he settles into his bed. Sleep still eludes him even with the waves of exhaustion crashing through his body.

He then thinks of what happened earlier. He is familiar with that beating of his heart. He experienced it more than a decade ago with the wrong person. He stares at his ceiling, pondering whether he should ignore it. After all, she’s already in a different team.

Saturday.

Chaeran is rushing to her scheduled meeting for the cast of her new project. Unfortunately, there’s no available car again, because her intern forgot to log in the request for transport that day. She takes responsibility because she should have rechecked as well.

She can’t afford any mistake, so instead of berating her intern, she goes out to hail a cab for herself instead. But it’s been 42 minutes since and not a single cab has appeared.

She looks at her wrist watch. One more minute and she will get stuck in traffic, then she will be late for her appointment. 

She closes her eyes, trying to strategize her next move. She already informed the person she’s meeting that she might be a few minutes late. The person she’s meeting is nice enough to let her know that it’s no problem, but she knows how unprofessional it will be if she’s late by more than five minutes. The situation feels dire and there’s no way she will reschedule this meeting given how much effort she already exerted in getting this one free schedule from the cast.

Just then, a car comes in front of her. The window rolls.

“Need a ride?” 

She blinks, trying to process how Jiwoong is in front of her. “Ne, sunbae.”

She quickly gets in and tells him the address of the restaurant she is going to. He only nods at her instruction and drives away.

The nervousness she felt earlier about her being late to her meeting is now replaced with the old she’s been trying to get rid off of her system. Why does he keep on appearing when she already decided to move on from him? She even requested to join the new team so she can finally be free from his presence. Out of sight, out of mind. 

But at the rate of how he still manages to appear wherever she is, she fears that she will continue to pine for him.

The universe must be playing a sick joke on her.

Chapter Text

II.

Joonhwi & Sol

Thursday.

secret garden - iu ver.

Pursuing someone on foot with the best dress shoes he has in possession is not ideal. Han Joonhwi hasn’t had the best luck whenever he comes across a suspect on the run, but he does not mind.

He is originally sent there to survey the area again as instructed by the prosecutor-in-charge. They are tasked to do another sweep of checking the evidence, revalidate statements from the witnesses to the case they’re handling, and for him, to check an old lesson of criminal psychology — to see if the prime suspect is going to return to the place.

Hence, why he is there, running with all his might together with two policemen.

He can see him, Oh Byeonghoon, running at full speed, fully aware of all the possible obstructions that he throws along the way as Joonhwi skips over the knocked pots of plants, bicycles, and stray animals. Oh Byeonghoon knows his way through the alleyways that he and his companions are not fully aware of. Unfortunately for him, he is, Han Joonhwi–the topnotcher of the recent bar exam, he knows what to do.

He pauses and so does his companions who looked at him curiously. He takes his phone out and searches for the map of the place. The one on the internet isn’t updated, which is a detail that didn't escape Joonhwi’s eyes the first time they scanned the area. He pulls out a different map from the statements of the neighborhood. Oh Byeonghoon isn’t a longtime tenant of the vicinity, but the ahjumma at the corner of the street is.

He immediately instructs his companions of his plan and they all separate in different directions, as Joonhwi wishes his instinct is correct.

He ends up in a dead end, where all of the alleys somehow end up in, the ahjumma once said. 

“Mr Oh,” he calls, catching his breath. He carefully steps into the area, scanning the trash barrels and stacks of woods and metal from the warehouse nearby. It is an odd area if contrasted with the neighborhood, something that Joonhwi suggested to visit the first time they learned about the map of the vicinity but was rejected by the prosecutor-in-charge.

He catches a slight movement in the corner, so he readies himself.

“Mr Oh, we only have a few questions for you,” his voice steady. He hears the distinct footsteps from his companions. “This will all be easy if you just cooperate.”

He hears a metal rolling. Mr Oh must have stepped on something by mistake.

“Mr Oh,” he calls out once again, “You will be judged fairly if you just cooperate.” 

He hears him scoff. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Han Joonhwi.” He slowly steps into full sight. He looks disheveled, like someone who hasn’t taken a bath in weeks, and distraught. Joonhwi might have taken him more kindly if he wasn't holding a knife ready. “This world has not been fair.”

Joonhwi purses his lips, calculating his next move. 

Mr Oh continues, “That woman was wretched. She was flirting with a rich man!”

He steps forward as well as his companions, but he raises his hand signaling them to stop. “Mr Oh, are you confessing your crime?”

“I did not do anything wrong!” he yells, aiming the knife at Joonhwi.

Still hoping for a peaceful surrender, Joonhwi states in a firm voice, “You must come with us if you want to clear your name.”

“No!” Oh Byeonghoon yells and then lunges at Joonhwi. Joonhwi sidesteps and catches his wrist, bending it causing Byeonghoon to drop the knife. Joonhwi takes the opportunity to pin the suspect to the ground. Byeonghoon continues to yell, “Let me go, I did nothing wrong!”

He gestures at his companions to take over, who nod at him and cuffs the man. They proceed to read his rights to him.

Joonhwi takes a deep breath. He looks at his wrist watch. It is only five past 7am.

The rest of the day isn’t as action filled as his morning. When he arrived in the office that morning, they immediately interrogated him for eight grueling hours. The prime suspect isn’t willing to give up until his mother and mother-in-law beg him to surrender. The day ended up with Joonhwi submitting the formal warrant of arrest and other legal documents regarding the case.

By the time Joonhwi is done with everything related to that case for the day, it is already 7pm. More than 13 hours of work and yet he still has stacks of depositions to arrange and motions to write. He is contemplating whether to continue work when his phone pinged.

>>>> Joonhwi, come out. <<<<

He doesn’t even think twice. He gathers his belongings and bids everyone goodbye. He almost runs towards the exit of the building, if only there weren't judges and prosecutors who congratulated him with the success of arresting Oh Byeonghoon that day.

He successfully exits the building only after twenty minutes since he bid everyone goodbye.

“Hmmm,” someone greeted him a few steps outside the building, “That took you a while.”

Sol is standing in front of him, with a bouquet of flowers. 

Joonhwi has known Kang Sol for five years and yet she still renders the same effect on him. “You are a sight for sore eyes.”

She grins. “You bet I am, Han geomsa-nim .” 

He smiles. He recently told Sol that he still doesn’t feel he’s worthy to be called a prosecutor as he doesn’t have any successful trials yet, but Sol already made a habit of calling him geomsa . He walks towards her and pulls her into a hug. “Ya, Joonhwi, I have a huge bouquet here.” But he doesn’t mind, he wants to feel her warmth on that dreary day, so he tightens his embrace. Sol doesn’t say another word, but he feels her hand lightly tapping his back.

She slightly pulls herself out from the hug after some time, enough for him to recharge from that day’s labor. She smiles, the crinkle in her eyes will always be a relief for him. She places her right hand on his cheek and softly, she caresses it. He savors her warmth. “How are you?”

He takes a deep breath before he responds, “Busy.” Sol’s forehead creases with worry, so he immediately adds, “But I am fine now.”

She scans him and notices his dirty dress shoes. “What happened to your shoes? I told you to wear your best ones today!”

He looks at his now worn out shoes from the mud and run he did that morning. “Part of the job, I guess.”

She guffaws, “Next time, bring rubber shoes whenever you have to do field work, then replace them whenever it suits.”

“I know. I just didn’t have enough time today.”

“Why?”

He shrugs and tries to pull her again tighter towards him.

“Joonhwi,” she singsongs, a sign that she needs a more detailed answer from him. He feels the soft thud of the bouquet on the ground and then her other hand is also on his face. He shakes his head that Sol takes as a cue for her to stop prying. She gives him a tight smile. “Do you still have some energy?”

He is not the person to act like a child in front of any person. He learned to act tough ever since his parents died and he was taken under the care of his uncle with his not-so-good wife to him. He tries to put up a facade, but when he is with Sol, all the worries seem to melt away. All because he only allows himself to melt infront of her.

He playfully tugs her arm to pull her back to the hug. “Kang Sol.”

“Joonhwi~ah, pouting doesn’t get you anywhere with me,” she responds, then reciprocates his playfulness by poking his nose. “Come with me?”

He pouts to which she only responds with boisterous laughter. “Let’s go, geomsanim ,” she says before she pulls him. She doesn’t take a second look at the glances they got from her laughter earlier. He doesn’t care either for he dearly loves her laughter.

As struggling new law practitioners who still can’t afford a new car, they take a bus to get to the place. Sol tells him that it’s the last thing on his to-do list. He smiles at her effort to elicit a smile from him. He tries to give her a reassuring smile.

It is a short bus ride, but it always feels longer to him whenever he goes to that place, even when he always feels time is short whenever he is with Sol. He always wants to be with Sol longer than how it feels like.

He drags his feet. He goes to this place every year, and in each year, he notices the minute changes they have made to the place. For this particular year, they repainted the sidewalk and there seems to be more magnolias around. 

“Joonhwi,” Sol calls him softly. He looks at her and he sees how her whole face is lettered with worry. But the worry goes away and is replaced with a reassuring smile. They tend to give that kind of smile to each other, assuring how each will always be there for one another. She stretches her arm towards him. “Take my hand.”

He takes it and she pulls him inside the building.

Sol squeezes his hand as they walk. He turns to her and she flashes him a smile. She squeezes his hand once again and inches near him. They continue to walk in the hallway until they reached a certain room. 

He breathes in deeper. For all of the years that he has visited this place, he’s still overwhelmed with emotions and the memories he wished he doesn’t have anymore. Sol squeezes his hand once again.

Sol places the big bouquet of flowers in front of his parents’ tomb and then bows. “Hi, I am Kang Sol.” She turns to him, as he tries to compose himself. She flashes him a smile before she faces his parents again. “I am your son’s girlfriend.”

She squeezes his hand again. “I don’t know if your son has introduced me to you during his visits, so let me provide a little bit of background, I met him on my first day in law school. He covers a question from one of our fiercest professors when I was called. He then helps me to learn more about the class before the break ended.” She laughs a little, enchanting him to stare at her face all the more. “He’s helpful to everyone. He’s courageous and he fights for what is right.” 

She looks at him again, while he stares in awe. Sol continues to introduce herself, what she does, and some anecdotes about his life lately.

All the while she firmly holds his hand, squeezing it from time to time. Her hands are so small compared to his. But her little squeezes that she has been giving him every now and then confirms what he has been feeling the entire time he knew her, she holds his whole life. Her support, like how she unconsciously squeezes his hand, assures him that everything will be okay and that she’s there with him. She’s not going to leave anytime soon.

“I promise to take care of your son. I will also make him take breaks from work so he can visit you more,” she says, then she glances at him, encouraging him to share with his parents. Once, in one of his rare drunken states, he told her that he only silently sits in front of his parents’ tomb whenever he visits. He stares at his parents’ tomb, his mouth dry, but another squeeze from Sol’s hand encouraged him.

“ Eomma, appa …” he starts.

He has never felt so relieved after a long day and he has never talked to his parents for as long as he did that day. All the while he was recounting his recent life to his parents, Sol is there. Joonhwi is always so confident about his decisions, thoughts, and actions, but that was also the first time when he realized how Sol’s presence replenished his courage every time he felt like he couldn’t do something. 

“Are you okay?” she asks as they exit the building.

He nods and pulls her to a hug. He buries his head in the crook of her neck. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For being there with me.”

She giggles. “Well, you know,” she pulls him up from his tight embrace. Her eyes glinting with mischief. “All of this makes me want to look out for you, Han geomsa .”

“Looking forward to that, Kang byeonghosa ”

Saturday .

Sol was out for errands. She will be seeing Han Joonhwi later with Byeol because they promised her that they will be celebrating Byeol’s stellar grades. They didn’t have much time to meet with Byeol lately as they trudge forward with their work, so they cherished times like this.

Joonhwi couldn’t come with her to buy the food that they promised Byeol, so he now pesters her with floods of texts.

====There’s a great cafe with the best cake on this street, will send you the address.====

====map of the location====

====Text me when you get there.====

At that point of their relationship, Joonhwi knows that she knows what the routine is whenever they’re not together. They have unconsciously done this when they were still friends, something that Yeseul and Bokgi pointed out tirelessly to them before they realized that they were meant to be together.

She remembers how nervous Joonhwi when he tried to confess to her. He has never been nervous nor shy the entire time she knew him. It was a Saturday night. He asked if they could drink at the field. She even asked him if she should tell the whole study group to which he, adamantly though he denies, said that he already invited everyone. Of course, she still sent out that text message inviting everyone to come over and drink with them. Poor Joonhwi didn’t even have time to tell her what he practiced, which he insisted that he did not practice any confession but was shooting for a spontaneity. 

It did happen spontaneously. She sensed that Joonhwi wanted to tell her something that he couldn’t say in front of everyone else. So she also intentionally stayed behind and told everyone that she needed to study in the library. Everyone else was drunk or tired, but not Joonhwi who didn’t even try to sip a drop of beer that he brought. So Joonhwi also said that he needed to finish something Yangcrates asked him to do.

When everyone left and before they got to the library, she pulled him to the empty lot beside the building.

“Joonhwi, I like you too,” she said. Joonhwi was so stupefied by what she said. Only when she pulled him into a quick kiss did he react. “Sorry, I didn’t know you wanted us alone tonight.”

“Sol,” she recalled him whispering. 

“Hmmmm?” She remembered being terrified that she shot her arrow without even assuring herself that he likes her too. She was banking on confidence.

He seemed to want to say something else but banished the thought to pull her for another kiss.

==== Are you there? ====

>>>> Not yet. Will send you the selection of cakes when I get there.<<<<

====Ok.====

====Talk to you later.====

>>>>Yes, geomsanim.<<<<

====Ok.====

====Take care.====

====I love you.====

Chapter Text

III.

songhwa & ikjun

everyday with you

Morning rush in the Chae-Lee household is as normal as any other household. Sound of the kettle going off, little feet scuffling in the restroom, sizzling of the pans as they cook breakfast, and smell of coffee filling in the room. There is a routine established, with the comfortable silence permeating the whole household.

She is always in charge of the coffee, while Ikjun is away experimenting with organic food for their precious little boy. Uju patiently waits at the table, reading some book she picked out for him the other day. He loves reading about science these days, something that tickles both Songhwa and Ikjun’s hearts. Lately his interest is on biology so sometimes, Uju randomly quizzes them on basic human anatomy and each time, she triumphantly leads the score board. They started to keep an actual scoreboard hung on the wall near their dining table. 

Mundane mornings are pleasant. But in the two weeks, another routine has been added—to Ikjun’s utmost joy and slight chagrin—the combination of her and Uju’s vocalization and harmonization.

“Mone told me to sing in our school’s talent show,” Uju gleefully reported one morning.

“Wow,” both she and Ikjun exclaim. She prods, “Are you going to do it?”

Uju nods with excitement. “I told Park seonsangnim that my parents are in a band.”

Ikjun automatically holds his chest, touched by this remark from his son. She laughs at Ikjun’s usual animated way of reacting. Her mind slightly notes that Uju said his parents are in a band. Parents, plural. She doesn’t say anything and sips from her mug. Ikjun continues to give Uju lots of hearts, something that they have frequently done as a way of showing love.

“Ah,” she says, putting the mug down, “You can invite Park seonsangnim to one of our practices.”

Both Ikjun and Uju, somehow, clasp their hands at the same time. Actions like this always amaze Songhwa as if the two have a same brain mimicking each other’s verbal cues often at the same time. Encouraged by their response, she proudly adds, “Maybe I will be the lead singer in that one.”

Ikjun grins. He’s used to her small requests like this that she’s now allowed to sing in their practices even outside of her birthdays. With Ikjun on her side, she only needed to persuade either Jeongwon or Seokhyeong to allow her to be the lead vocalist more than once a year. To her luck, Jeongwon and Seokhyeong easily gave in. Junwan vehemently protested but with 4 versus 1, he lost the argument. To strengthen the band's decision, she even had it written in a binding contract with everyone's signature. 

However, Uju has never heard her exquisite singing. He looks at her curiously, even setting his chopsticks down, and asks her, “Eomma, you sing?”

“Me?” she asks and lightly taps her chest. Pride swelling in her. “I was the original vocalist of our band!” Ikjun snickers at her statement, which she ignores.

She continues, “You know an even better idea?" She pauses, making sure that both her husband and Uju are listening intently. "I can help you practice for the show!”

Uju’s eyes widen, excitement radiating from his cute face. “You will?”

“Of course!”

“Yay!” Uju exclaims and looks at Ikjun, who was brilliantly quiet and only observant the past five seconds. “Eomma will help me.”

He nods and glances at her. He holds her hand as if trust that she will do well is being passed through a mere touch. She smiles at the gesture.

“What should we sing?” Songhwa asks, as she browses the songs she knows by heart that she can impart with Uju.

Uju shrugs and looks at her then to his dad, expectedly. She glances at Ikjun, who also seems to be deeply thinking about Uju’s song. Then a thought came into her mind at the same time as Ikjun quirks his brow to her. A bulb lights in both of their heads.

“Aloha!”

So now, the mundane mornings at the Chae-Lee household have changed. Mornings are now filled with vocalization, harmonization, and memorization of the song most fond to her and Ikjun's youth.

Uju proudly shared the talent show to her aunt, Iksun, who eventually passed the information to Junwan. Junwan insisted to come into their home and coach Uju as well one weekend. The following day, Seokhyeong also came in knocking on their door to give his insights too. Even overseas, Jeongwon learned about the whole commotion and declared that he must mentor Uju as well so he videoconferenced one Friday morning to listen to sleepy Uju's singing to Aloha.

The only way their chaotic friends stopped disturbing her practices with Uju was when Lee Ikjun firmly placed a temporary ban on visiting their household, including video-conferences, for everyone. Unfortunately, it didn’t extend to both Songhwa and Ikjun’s offices because Junwan, Seokhyeong, and Jeongwon still asked about the talent show incessantly. Only Uju is spared from his uncles.

Sometimes, Uju frowns at her singing but he continues to listen to her as she points out techniques that she learned by practicing over the years. Although, Ikjun also placed an eternal and permanent ban on egg drinks before a practice when he saw her prepare it one morning.

“Songhwa, we will not give our son salmonella.”

“But it seriously helped me!” she insists.

She will not forget the rare firm stare that Ikjun gave her that morning. Although reluctant, she agreed to the permanent ban as long as she is still allowed to do it. Ikjun concurred but he also mentioned that they will revisit that rule sometime in the future. She nods but she knows how that revisit discussion will end. 

Three days prior to the talent show, Ikjun had back-to-back operations that left her to practice with Uju alone. She brags to Ikjun each of those nights about how Uju jumps around as they sing Aloha. 

“Uju is so enthusiastic about it,” she tells him as they do their skincare routine. Chu Minha influenced Ikjun and Seokhyung to try a plethora of products that eventually trickled down to each member of the Gongnyong Ridge Band.

“Mmmhmm,” Ikjun hums in response as he passes the serum to her.

“Today, we finished practicing the whole song. He’s memorized it already. Two weeks!” she emphasizes. She looks at Ikjun who was concentrating on reading the ingredients of the eye cream. She notices the white streak at his left ear so she taps on it. 

“Uri Uju is bright that way,” he responds. “I should have been there.”

She smiles at his pout, unconsciously kisses it as if she were auto-programmed to do it. The pout goes away. “It is our bonding.”

“Alright.” He pouts again. She snickers as understanding sets in on what Ikjun is actually doing.

“You’re getting used to this.” He nods and pouts again, even pointing to his lips. She laughs. She takes the petroleum jelly on the counter and dabs it to her lips, before she kisses the pout away. “Multi-tasking,” she quips to which he only laughs. 

“Do you have a recording of your practice this morning?” he asked after a while.

“Yes,” she replies and dabs on the last step of the skincare routine, “Do you want to hear it?”

“I have been waiting for it!”

He earns another hearty laugh from her. She browses through her phone and presses play on the recording. Uju’s voice echoes in their bathroom.

“I am happy to sing that song with uri Uju,” she says without even thinking about it.

Her past mornings have been so filled with sheer delight, not that the past year's mundane mornings with her family haven’t been the best for her. She cannot even begin to tell him how much the past few days made her so blissful.

She doesn’t tell him that sometimes thoughts of Uju rejecting her as his new mother cross her mind more often than she will admit to, as their precious little child is used to calling her as an aunt for years. She doesn’t tell him how in the first few months of Uju adjusting to calling her his father’s girlfriend that she feels she was not enough for him. And even though she has never told Ikjun these thoughts, he never failed to reassure her that she’s doing a great job being Uju’s mother. That her taking care of them all these years already prepared Uju and that little dearest boy loves her immeasurably. She knows and she feels immense love from both of them.

“It is the song of our youth after all,” Ikjun comments that pulls her from her reverie. 

“Yes.” She takes that in. Their youth was two decades ago already. A long time has gone and yet, they are still in each other’s lives. Funny how a simple song can evoke nostalgia. “Youth.”

Ikjun smiles at her, understanding what she means.

That Friday morning the Chae-Lee household is busy.

"Ikjun~ie!"

"Ne."

"Can you pass me the CD on the coffee table?"

"Ne."

Shuffles of little footsteps come to Songhwa until the half asleep Uju, still rubbing his eyes, passes the tape that she asked Ikjun to pass to her. "Where's your dad?"

Uju points to the direction of his dad’s room. "Sandwich," he simply says to which Songhwa nods.

"Tell your father to bring the laptop with the CD player," she tells him. Uju’s hair is still dishevelled coming from bed. She couldn’t resist, so she ruffles his soft hair trying to fix it in a way. He nods again as a response, but Ikjun is already smiling in front of them. 

"Here," he says and sets the open laptop on the dinner table. Ikjun kneels in front of Uju and he ruffles his son's hair, too. "Are you ready for today?"

Uju frowns and looks at Songhwa. 

"Why, Uju?"

"My classmate practiced his song weeks ago," he starts and then looks at his father, "He was telling us all about it yesterday."

Uju says it so matter-of-factly, but she can sense the tense in his voice. She glances at Ikjun who looks at her at the same time. Over time, she and Ikjun further developed this telepathic understanding that sometimes, as a neurosurgeon, she finds so absurd. But it does work. She knows what Ikjun asks from her.

"Uri Uju," as she gently pulls her to her semi-embrace, "You are also prepared. We sang so much last night!"

He nods, scratching his sleepy eye in the process.

"Your trainer is our vocalist too,” Ikjun affirms. “You were trained by the best.”

She beams at Ikjun’s affirmation. “You will do well, uri Uju.”

Uju hugs her unexpectedly and affirms, “Ne. I will do it to make you proud, eomma.”

“How about me?” Ikjun interjects.

“You, too, appa .”

Songhwa tightens their hug and sweetly tells Uju about their plan for that day. “Uri eomma and appa will be there later, but we have to swing by the hospital first to check some work.”

“But you will be there, right?” 

She gently removes Uju from his embrace and stares at him, wishing that her love for her precious boy will emanate from it. “Of course, we will not miss it for the whole world.”

“We will be there, Uju~ah.”

Uju smiles and embraces her once again, seeking comfort perhaps or at least what she likes to think. It warms her heart that Uju seeks comfort and strength from her.

The visit to Yulje took longer than they expected.

Several emergencies needing their attention came in and they soon became completely immersed in their work. They were wary of the time, constantly glancing at the clock and asking for their residents to look for another surgeon, but the influx of people coming in made it impossible for both Songhwa and Ikjun to leave their stations.

If not for Junwan who came knocking at their doors and yelling, “What are you two still doing here?”, they would have been in the Emergency Room for far longer.  Junwan was reminded by Iksun to make sure that they will not be late for Uju’s talent show. Their good friend even made sure that other surgeons were present to take over their work for them, to which Junwan firmly stated to thank Jeongwon for. Seokhyeong was even at the entrance with their car ready for them to go to Uju’s school.

All of their friends strongly instructed them, personally and virtually, “TAKE A VIDEO” — all caps as they yelled and each sent the same message in their group chat.

The talent show is about to start when they both arrived. They see Uju scanning the whole backstage at the glimpse of them, holding tightly onto something.

“Uju!” she yells, desperation laced in her voice. Uju is still looking around, oblivious that they are already in the room. She repeats, “Uju!”

That’s when Uju sees them and visibly relaxes. He beams and yells in return, “Eomma! Appa!”

She and Ikjun run faster to Uju’s position. She embraces Uju as soon as they got there. 

“We’re sorry for being late!” Ikjun says.

She feels Uju shook his head. “It’s okay. The show hasn’t started yet.”

She releases Uju from her hug as Ikjun replaces her inside the tight hug. “How are you feeling?” he asks Uju.

“I feel fine,” he croaks so he repeats, “I am fine.”

“Are you sure?” she asks to which Uju nods. “Are you nervous?”

“A little,” he admits, “But we practiced a lot, eomma.”

She lets out a small smile. “We did. We practiced a lot.”

“You will do great, Uju~ah,” his father says. “You have my voice.”

“And my spirit!” she adds.

Uju smiles faintly.

Someone calls, “Lee Uju, Lee Uju!” 

“Here!” Ikjun responds. They look at their precious boy again, “Good luck, my son.”

Uju nods and goes to the stage manager calling him out earlier. Songhwa and Ikjun then go to the auditorium to find the reserved seats for parents whose kids are doing the talent show.

As soon as Uju is on the stage, they see him scan the room and spot them. Songhwa hopes that the assurance of them being in the audience, patiently and eagerly watching him from afar, will fuel little Uju. 

“I am Lee Uju,” he introduces himself. “I am going to sing Aloha.”

As their precious little boy sings the notes of the song of their youth, Ikjun reaches out to hold Songhwa’s hand. 

It isn’t the first time they held hands. His hands are a lot rougher than it used to be. More wrinkles are visible too. But somehow, it feels a lot more familiar. His hand clasping hers feels warmth and steadfast devotion. Funny how she can even get that from a mere touch.

With the shared understanding of what the song holds to their lives, and as a kid from the new generation sings the same song, they relive the moments that could have been theirs if only they weren’t stubborn and saw how they belonged to each other from the beginning. 

Ikjun smiles at her. The visible lines at the side of his eyes are deeper than she remembers, but she feels even more attached to it. Uju’s joyful melody accompanies her brief melancholy. They are getting older, more than 20 years of shared history.

Uju finishes his song to a thunderous applause of the audience. Ikjun is right, Uju truly has his father’s voice. Their son grinning from ear-to-ear, genuinely very happy with his performance. 

Ikjun is still holding her hand as his other hand is wiping the tear off his eye. She is weepy but immensely proud too. Uju waves from the stage and they wave back. Pride again swelling in her chest. 

“Our son is so good,” Ikjun whispers.

“Yes,” she whispers back, “Our son is great.”

As she watches Uju bow on the stage and she feels Ikjun tight hold with her hand, Songhwa thinks how the twenty-year journey has rewarded her enormously with this kind of moment.

Chapter Text

Saturday.

autumn morning

Songhwa sits at the corner of the coffee shop admiring the place. It is her first time there, although they have been passing by the place frequently. The place is cozy with warmth in it. Yellow wallpaper with brown delicate designs as well as plants and flowers adorned the place. There is a nook in the corner where customers can take a book and read and another space specifically for kids with the toys carefully stored in the chest. The aroma is heavenly too, something that Ikjun has already noted for her when she asked him of any meeting places near their home. 

The nice lady from the counter serves her the hot americano and the lemon cake she ordered earlier.

“Please enjoy your coffee and cake,” she tells her as she fixes the mug and plate on her table.

“Thank you,” she replies, smiling from the great service she has received so far. She waits for the lady to return to the counter but she has a curious look in her.

“Ma’am,” the nice lady, named Yeeuen on her name tag, starts, “I didn’t want to be rude but you seem so familiar.”

Songhwa waits for her to continue as Yeeuen continues to search her face, until a lightbulb seemingly lit in her brain. “Were you on the television the other day?”

She laughs at the question. She has been invited on a television program as an expert for neurosurgery. The segment only lasted 30 minutes and she didn’t know people watched it. “I was.”

“I was right! You were the neurosurgeon from Yulje!” Yeeuen exclaimed. “I have been thinking about it since you entered the shop. You were so cool that my daughter said she wanted to be a neurosurgeon like you.”

“That’s flattering,” she admits. “How old is your daughter?”

“She’s in middle school. She told me she has enough time to work hard for med school.”

Songhwa nods as she remembers the challenges getting into med school back in her days. She reflects how much the competition to get in nowadays has been fiercer. “I hope your daughter gets in.”

“I hope so too. But whatever she decides, I will support her too.” She smiles at the sentiment. A supportive parent is what every student needs. “Anyway, I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Oh you are not a bother!” Songhwa quickly says.

Yeeuen waves her hand and bows. “Enjoy.”

“I will.”

She takes the mug and sips from it, immediately liking it. She will definitely bring Ikjun and Uju here sometime soon. Ikjun will love the coffee and Uju will adore the book nook. 

She checks her watch. It is still a few minutes early from the agreed time of the meeting. The person she’s meeting also sent her a message apologizing that she might be later than expected. It just happened that she came early because of how excited Ikjun and Uju were this morning and how near their home is. She decides to fix her hair a little bit, so she pulls her pocket mirror from her bag. The bag was a gift from Uju. Every time she goes out of the door, she spies him eyeing her like a hawk waiting for her to reach out for the little pink bag that he insisted for his father to buy for her birthday. Uju smiled widely, from ear-to-ear, when he saw her carrying it this morning.

“Good luck, eomma ,” he says as he walks her to the door. Ikjun was at Yulje early that morning for an emergency. 

“Thanks, Uju~a.”

“The bag will bring you luck today,” he continues to say as she wears her shoes. 

“I’m sure it will,” she replies and taps the bag. “Will you fetch me after my meeting?”

He enthusiastically nods. “ Appa and I will go there for you. I want to go to the sandwich shop today, too.”

She considers the plan. Uju has been losing the little game he and Ikjun had been playing on where to go on weekends. “Okay we will.”

Even earlier, as soon as she arrived, she received a picture of Uju with finger hearts. She took a photo with finger heart and sent it to him too. 

She takes a photo of her coffee and sends it to Ikjun. 

>> Ikjun, coffee?

It takes a second before she receives a reply.

>> Okay, later. (with winking face and thumbs up emojis)

“Chae Songhwa seonsangnim ?” She lifts her head towards the newcomer, who immediately bows upon recognition. Her hair was tied up in a clean ponytail. She’s wearing a light blue jacket as she is clutching her tote bag on her left shoulder. “I am Jung Chaeran from the SBC Special Documentaries,” she introduces herself. “I am sorry for making you wait.”

She waves her hand and assures her, “It’s okay. I live nearby. Please sit.” She gestures to the chair in front of her. “Have you ordered?” she asks.

Chaeran sits in front of her and places her bag on the chair beside her. “I haven’t, but it’s okay.”

“Nonsense,” she retorts. “The lady is nice and their coffee and cake are great. Please feel free to order.” 

Chaeran hesitates for a second, but she urges her further. “We’ll have a long discussion, so it would be good to order for the nice lady in front.”

“Okay,” she finally gives in, “I’ll be back quickly.”

It takes Chaeran only a minute to order and to return to her seat. 

“I sincerely apologize for being late. I had trouble getting a ride coming here but fortunately a colleague was able to…” Chaeran pauses, seemingly thinking of a better word to say and settles on “... help me.” Chaeran then rummages her satchel for a long envelope that she takes out. Songhwa eyes the document on Chaeran’s hand. She notices the slight tremble on the hand of the relatively young woman in front of her. Before she can decipher why, Chaeran speaks.

“ Seonsangnim , on behalf of our team, I would also like to thank you for meeting with me. It is an honor.”

“Thank you for inviting me as well,” she replies with a smile. 

Yeeuen, the nice coffee shop lady, approaches their table to set Chaeran’s order. She notices how Chaeran slightly fixes the envelope and the pen to its position to make space for the coffee and croissant that she ordered.

“Enjoy your coffee and croissant,” Yeeuen tells Chaeran who bows as a thank you. Yeeuen leaves and they’re left alone.

Chaeran clears her throat before she reaches out to her envelope to take out the documents to give to her. “ Seonsangnim , as I have shared on our email exchanges, our Department is embarking on a new project to feature female personalities in our country who took on great challenges to get where they are now. The first document I shared with you is the background of the project.”

She carefully reads through the document. “I am the first one?” she asks.

Chaeran nods and smiles. “This is my first solo project, seonsangnim . I have always dreamt of featuring strong female models for young women out there. I worked on a lot of projects as an assistant director and having this as my first one truly means a lot to me.”

“Wow,” feeling greatly honored, “I don’t know what to say except I am honored to be the first one.”

Chaeran’s smile widens. “When I learned about you and your stellar career as the tenth female neurosurgeon in our country, I thought what better way to start this project than to feature brilliant females like you who are otherwise not placed in the spotlight.”

Songhwa doesn’t really think about it as an accomplishment that she was the 10th female neurosurgeon in their country. In fact, it saddens her that there are not as many neurosurgeons like her.

Chaeran continues, “I was immediately captivated by your story. I strongly believe that sharing your experience can encourage young females who may also want to pursue a career in neurosurgery.” 

She thinks about Yeeuen’s story earlier. Her small segment in a news program the other day already made a small ripple effect to those who watched it.

Songhwa also smiles at how jubilant Chaeran shares her enthusiasm about the project. Chaeran then shares her news clips about her accomplishments, including the surgery she did for an accomplished violinist. She remembers that one distinctly due to the overbearing mother and the wise brother who shared some enlightening thoughts with her about falling in love with your best friend. She again smiles to herself, remembering that Ikjun also passed by after that talk.

“It is an honor to film you for my first project,” Chaeran emphasizes again then she slightly bows.

“Thank you.” Songhwa flips through the document and asks, “Can you walk me through the document?”

Chaeran obliges and gives her the gist of what the filming could entail. Given her workload at the hospital, the work she’s doing for the Daddy Long Legs program, and her teaching load, they have to work on a schedule that best fits and when can the film crew take videos especially that they need to protect the privacy of Songhwa’s clients. They can’t be in the surgery all the time and they can’t film the patients because of Yulje’s policy unless they can work on an agreement with the management as well as the patients to be filmed. She also shares the limit on restrictions and where the filming would be done, as long as she agrees. And so on and so forth. Chaeran diligently writes down all of her notes.

“It’s also important to share what motivates you to keep doing what you do,” Chaeran says.

“That’s simple,” Songhwa murmurs, “I want to be the best villain in the hospital.”

“Villain?”

“Did I say that outloud?” She lightly chuckles. “It’s an inside joke.”

Chaeran nods and looks at her with hopeful eyes. The moment she received the email, she was already interested because she knew all of the projects that she has done in the past few years. She also knows that she was involved in “The Year That We” documentary that she and Ikjun loved rewatching on weekends. Ikjun recommended the show to her and it became part of their weekend habit.

After reading the whole document, Chaeran organizes the papers and lightly taps it. Songhwa notices the slight tremble in her hand, so she gently places hers over it. She smiles and meets Chaeran’s eyes who is now lightly blushing when she realized that Songhwa noticed her shaking.

“Please take care of me, PD- nim .” Songhwa smiles at Chaeran, who’s still a little flustered by her tapping her hand. Chaeran stands up and bows to her again.

“You will not regret it!” Chaeran affirms and then sits down again. “I can leave the contract with you so you can study it a bit more. Then, I will follow up with you again for the signing of the contract and then the schedules.”

Songhwa nods and studies the document once again. It was a pretty straightforward one, but she thinks it would be best to have one of her brothers, who’s a lawyer, to recheck them before she signs. She also needs to run it with the management to make sure that she can agree to it and that she is not violating any clause. She’s sure Jeongwon will support her case to the management board too.

“Excuse me.”

Both Songhwa and Chaeran look at the person standing in front of their table. Songhwa immediately recognizes the girl.

“Kang Sol?” she exclaims.

“Yes, seonsangnim ! I thought I recognized you,” Kang Sol greets.

Songhwa glances at Chaeran, who seems to be trying to recognize the woman in front of them.

“Chaeran~ah, this is Kang Sol. We met a few years ago in a campsite nearby and then met again on another occasion, then on another occasion. We seem to be bumping into each other quite often these days!” She then looks at Sol, “ Sol, this is Chaeran from SBC.”

“Ah!” Chaeran blurts out that startles both Songhwa and Sol. “Are you part of that team who sued Assemblyman Ko?”

Songhwa looks back at Sol who seemed to turn a bit shy with the recognition. “I just helped my professors study the case back then.”

Chaeran continues, “You also handle lots of defamation cases at Hankuk Legal Clinic with Kim Eunsook as well as with Park Gyuntae, right?”

Sol nods. Songhwa notices that she scratches the back of her hand, most possibly with slight shyness. She has known Sol for quite some time, but she isn’t aware of the accomplishments of the young public defender.

“I am Jung Chaeran from the SBC Special Documentaries. We are interested in featuring accomplished females.” Chaeran gets a little notepad and pen from her bag and hands it to Sol. “May I have your contact number?”

Sol looks at Songhwa to confirm, to which Songhwa eagerly nods. “She’s legitimate.”

Chaeran blinks at Songhwa’s confirmation of her reputation. “Sorry to be this forward!”

“It’s fine,” Sol chuckles. She scribbles her contact information for Chaeran. “You may contact me there. Next time, I’ll make sure to bring a business card with me wherever I go.”

“Thank you for this.”

“My pleasure,” Sol replies. She then looks at Songhwa who’s silently sipping her coffee, still figuring out the beans that they brewed for this one and how she could replicate it at home. “ Seonsangnim , Byeol asked if she could play with Uju sometime soon.”

“Of course, Uju has already asked about it actually. He wants to introduce Byeol to his girlfriend, Mone.”

“Girlfriend?” Sol asked.

She nodded. “That’s how they label each other.”

“Grade schoolers do have game,” Sol notes.

“Better than a lot of adults,” Chaeran whispers, but they both catch that. She studies Chaeran’s demeanor, who was still focusing on the notes that she was scribbling on a while ago.

“Yeah, I can tell a lot about that,” Sol says, “My boyfriend took a long time before he even confessed to me!”

She laughs out loud at Sol's statement. “Mine took 20 years.”

“Twenty years?” Chaeran exclaimed. “How?”

“Long story.”

Sol smiles as well, knowing the story from Joonhwi. “It is a long story,” Sol adds. “ Seonsangnim , when you have time, let’s catch up.”

“Of course,” Songhwa responds. “And you two as well.”

“I will,” Sol says. They hear the nice lady call out Sol for her order. “It’s nice seeing you here, seonsangnim and Jung PD-nim. See you when I see you again.”

Her meeting with Chaeran ended with a hopeful note. She’ll send her the contract for her review. She’ll then discuss the shooting schedule with her. She’s excited about the documentary. She loved the documentaries that Chaeran worked with and Ikjun persuaded her a lot to take on the project. He said it would be nice to have some part of her career documented for aspiring younger women who want to be a neurosurgeon someday.

“Thank you for meeting with me today, Chae Songhwa seonsangnim ,” says Chaeran. “It was truly an honor.”

She smiles. “It’s also an honor to be part of your first project, Jang PD- nim .”

Chaeran bows. “I will send over everything through your email. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions so our Legal team can also take a look.”

“I will make sure.”

“I am thrilled to start this venture with you, seonsangnim .”

“I know, you’ve shared that a lot of times since the beginning.”

“Yes,” she shyly replies, “It’s something I have looked forward to since I saw your interview with Ko PD- nim . I really,” she pauses and smiles, “look up to you.”

It tugs her heart whenever she hears a compliment phrased this way. She simply replies, “Thank you.”

“How are you going home, Jang PD?”

She looks at her wristwatch. “I think I might take the subway going home. How about you?”

She spots Ikjun and Uju at the corner playing rock, paper, scissors. “My house is near, so I will walk.”

As soon as they stepped out, they heard a loud honk. They turned into the source of the sound – a black SUV. Songhwa notices that Chaeran faltered in her steps as she recognizes the car. “ Sunbae …” she whispers.

“Is that your ride?” Songhwa asks her, shifting her eyes from Chaeran to the guy in the car who looked like he was waiting for Chaeran the whole time.

“I didn’t know he would be waiting,” Chaeran whispers again, processing the information in front of her. Jiwoong waited the entire time. She looks at her wrist watch – two hours since her meeting with Songhwa started. Songhwa clears her throat to get Chaeran’s attention who was transfixed at the man in the car. “I think he waited for you. Are you safe?”

Chaeran mindlessly nods at her question. “He’s my senior.”

“Wow,” Songhwa says, “What a thoughtful senior.”

Chaeran blinks at her remark and finally looks at her. “I,” she stutters at first, thinking of what to say. She is flustered at her current situation, wrapping the idea of Jiwoong waiting for her the whole time. 

“You should go. You shouldn’t let your senior wait some more time,” Songhwa urges. She feels like there’s something more into this that she will find out soon. 

Chaeran bows again and thanks her for the meeting they had. She then sprints to the car but the man was already quick to get out of the car to open it. Songhwa sees Chaeran blush even from a distance. She can’t make out what they were talking about but Songhwa hopes it works out for her. 

“Eomma!”

Songhwa turns to the source of voice. Uju runs towards her with a mischievous grin that signifies his father lost the rock paper scissors game to him.

“Adeul,” she calls back. She crouches down and opens her arms to welcome him into an embrace. Uju goes in and hugs her, almost tackling them down. Uju is growing taller as the years go by, something that Ikjun jokingly rejoiced one time.

Uju can’t hide his excitement and bursts, “I won! Appa will buy us sandwiches!” 

Songhwa looks at Ikjun who is grinning coyly. She grins back.

“Yes, appa will buy us sandwiches if eomma isn’t too full yet.”

“I am hungry,” she immediately replies.

“Okay, let’s go then.” Ikjun stretches his hand out for hers to take.  She reaches out and holds his warm hand. Uju takes her other hand.

“I want an egg and bacon sandwich,” Uju says as they start walking, swinging her hand in the process.

She says, “I want a BLT and a fruit shake.”

“Oh, me too!”

“You can buy anything you want, Uju~a,” Ikjun replies, eyes glittering in the afternoon sun. 

“Okay, appa!”

Songhwa’s reminded of the earlier conversation. More than twenty years before she got here. But every second of her present has been worth it.

#fin