I entered the house looking for Iseul or Insoo.

I looked for them all over the house and checked every room but they were no where to be seen.

A lot of thoughts rushed to my mind and almost all of them were negative.

Did something happen to them?

Did Hee-sung’s men find them?

Did something happen when they were coming back from school?

I panicked. I immediately took out my phone to call Insoo. His number was the first one on my ‘recent contacts’ list and I immediately pressed the call button.

*Rings*

When I heard the ring from my phone, I also heard a ringtone.

Insoo’s ringtone-

Did he leave his phone here?

I followed the direction of the ringtone and found his mobile on the table in the hall. I went near it. ‘Ro Dayun’ The screen beamed.

I was shocked at the sight.

He never leaves his phone behind… Where did he go without it?

While I was thinking that, a piece of paper that was under the paperweight on the table caught my attention.

Why didn’t I notice this before?

Is it a message? From Insoo?

I brought my hands forward to take the paper and yes, it was a message from him. He has a habit of leaving messages like this, doesn’t he?

“Hey Dayun,

Iseul and I are going to a movie called- well- never mind- you wouldn’t know it anyway. So… yeah, we’re going to a movie and we’ll be back by 12.

P.S – We’ll bring you food for dinner.”

Wait-

What?

It ended with a ‘Bye…’ and a ‘Bye momma’ in Iseul’s handwriting and at the end of the page there was-

Insoo’s signature?

Seriously?

…

Did they go to the movies? But why didn’t Insoo tell me? He should’ve at least sent me a text message before they left. He didn’t take his phone with him too.

But what movie are they watching so late on a Monday night? Isn’t Insoo the one who usually asks Iseul to sleep early? Did they suddenly plan to go to the movies? Without even telling me once about it?

Having hundreds of questions with no answers and not being able to think and have guesses, I just decided to sit on the sofa and wait for them to come home.

It was 10:30 already. Just one and half an hour to pass.

…

Dayun was determined to stay awake until they came back but unknowingly, she was about to drift off and she’d have really fallen asleep if not for a noise that woke her up.

“Ahh- What was that?!” She woke up startled, looking around.

And a second later, she noticed that the power was off. No lights were on and it was really dark except for the moon light that shone through the window.

She searched for her phone to check the time and found it beside her. She switched it on and her lock screen showed. ‘11:53’

“What? 11:53?” She quickly stood up.

“Are they home?”

Switching on the flash light, she walked carefully to reach the main power switch to check if something’s wrong.

While she was walking past Insoo’s In-house bar, suddenly, she heard one of the doors slam shut, throwing her off-guard.

Could it be the wind? Or-

“Insoo? Iseul?” She called for their name hoping that they came home but she was met with silence.

Before she could think about what to do next, her flash light went off too. And she remembered that she didn’t charge it in the evening.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

She decided to walk back to hall in the hopes of finding Insoo’s phone or stumbling upon a torch light. But when she turned back, something hard brushed her. She couldn’t guess what it was. But she knew she wasn’t alone. Someone is there in the house.

“Who is there?” She screamed and then again, no reply. “I know someone’s here. Tell me, who is it?” She spoke at the darkness.

Who could it be? Thieves? Burglars?

Or what if it was Hee-sung? It’s going to be 12 and Insoo and Iseul haven’t come home yet. What if they encountered Hee-sung on the way? That thought scared her, but she brushed it away, taking a step forward.

She was growing more and more anxious. When out of nowhere… She heard footsteps.

Someone was running.

“Stop there!” She screamed as she took the beer bottle in her hands from the in-house bar and ran following the noise. Ready to attack whoever it was. It was really dark and only the dull moon light guided her but it didn’t stop her from chasing the noise.

The foot-steps continued running up-stairs and before she could catch them, they quickly ran out through the glass door and into the terrace. And not wanting to miss that person, she rushed behind him.

But

Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that an unanticipated surprise would be waiting for her behind those doors of the terrace.

“Happy birthday Mommaaa!”

She turned around shocked only to see Iseul standing there smiling brightly. She was blowing a party horn, with excitement. The next moment, Dayun watched as the entire house lit up and she could see how beautifully decorated the balcony was. With balloons, flowers, lights and table in the middle with a cutely decorated cake on it and with three seats around it.

Dayun stood there froze. She wasn’t expecting this. Not even a bit. This moment felt too magical to be real.

She had thought something bad has happened to them but they were just preparing a surprise for her birthday that she did not even remember-

Iseul quickly ran to her as she gave her a birthday card which she has been giving her for every birthday ever since she learned to make them. Only when Iseul dragged Dayun down to hug her did she realize that this wasn’t a dream. “Happy birthday Momma…” She told her again, hugging.

She hugged her back tightly and kissed her cheek whispering “Thank you baby… I'll tresure it.” in her ear. Iseul then handed her a loosely wrapped gift; The wrapper gave away who wrapped it. Just by Dayun holding the gift, the wrapper came off on its own, showing a beautiful box made of glass which played a sweet music and glowed when turned on. It was gorgeous. She also handed her some kit-kats.

Then, just when she was thinking about where Insoo was, she sensed someone behind her. She turned around only to see Insoo standing there, a few meters away from her holding a bouquet of colourful flowers. They were of different colours ranging from yellow, orange, red, purple, blue and every flower colour that nature has made. And on top of that, they were all sweet-smelling that she could smell them even from a distance.

As soon as their eyes met, he slowly started walking towards her as she too stood up to walk towards him. After a moment or so, they stood right in front of each other.

“Happy birthday…” He spoke in his deep yet soft voice, looking no where but her eyes. “Lee Ah-reum”

Dayun didn’t mind the name he used to address her with. But subconsciously remembered the first time Insoo had wished her a happy birthday nearly 15 years ago and it was the first time she celebrated her birthday after her granny’s death. His words too sounded exactly like they did back then.

“Sorry for giving you a lot of work, had to do it.” He spoke under his breath.

Still not realizing that Insoo was the boy from her childhood, Dayun went up to him as she threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug, just like how she did when they were kids. Insoo slightly jerked, not expecting the sudden gesture. “Thank you…” she spoke for only him to hear. He hugged her back, “Hmm… I didn’t know you’d hug me whenever I brought flowers. If I did, I’d have brought you more…” He whispered in her ears. Dayun laughed at that as they broke apart.

Iseul came up to them and held on to Dayun’s dress. “Momma, cut the cake. I want cake. Let’s eat cake.” She said with a pout rubbing her tummy as both Dayun and Insoo giggled at the little girl’s tiny gesture.

They celebrated a fun-filled birthday.

…

Iseul fell asleep soon after she ate her cake. After making her sleep on her bed, Insoo came out of her room only to see Dayun in the hall holding her shopping bags.

“What’re those?” Insoo asked.

On realizing what he was talking about Dayun said, “Oh… They’re for the gala that you asked me to come. I didn’t have anything nice to wear. So, I decided to buy a dress.”

“Ah… About that.” On hearing her mention the Gala Insoo’s face changed as he looked disturbed. “Uhm- You don’t have to come. I’ll go alone.” He said.

Not expecting this all of a sudden Dayun grew confused. He asked her to come with him this morning, why did he change his mind now?

“What? Why is that?” She asked him confused.

“It’s just- I thought about it. I don’t think you have to come.” He simply said and went inside his room. Seeing how he was reacting, Dayun knew for certain that something wasn’t right, so, she followed him behind.

She held his hands and made him turn his face towards her. “Tell me, there’s something you aren’t telling me” She asked her voice sounding desperate and serious.

“Dayun- I- I told you that I’ll go alone. There’s nothing for you to know.” He faced to side sounding equally serious and desperate.

“Moon Insoo.” She called his name aloud, her voice demanding answers making him turn towards her.

On seeing Dayun’s eyes, Insoo turned his head to face the ceiling as he let out a heavy sigh. “Mr. Lee is coming.” His voice came out as nothing but a soft whisper but she could hear him.

“What?” She asked again, to confirm if what she heard was true.

“Mr. Lee is coming. Your dad will be coming Dayun.” He finally said clearly, facing her.

His words made Dayun shocked and she just stood there not knowing how to take the news in.

“I thought of not going too. But I had already informed them I’m coming. I can not drop out now.” He continued. “But… You don’t have to come. I know how you feel about your father. If I knew he was coming, I wouldn’t have accepted their invite in the first place. But I only came to know two hours ago.” He further added.

But,

Dayun opened her mouth only to say,

“No. I’m coming.”

~

~

Dayun’s POV,

It has been four days. Four days since I decided to go to the Gala.

And tonight is the time to go to that said Gala.

Insoo asked me hundreds if not thousands of times, if it was really okay for me to come and that I really don’t have to come if I don’t feel like it.

I thought about it. And almost decided to not show up. But then, I decided to just go there when my inner-self told me something that could not be ignored.

It was, “You did nothing wrong.”

Yeah. That was true.

I did nothing wrong.

In fact, if someone was to be blamed for making mistakes, it would definitely be my father. And when I made no mistakes, why should I hide? Why should I be afraid to face him?

…

Dayun never really hated her father, She couldn’t.

Even though it sounds odd, she could have an idea on why her father treated her the way he did. It was because her face constantly reminded him of his wife that left him for some other man... It reminded him of his lose.

She wasn’t angry. Sure, there was a time when she hated him really bad. She hated her mother too, for leaving her behind. But when she stopped expecting anything from them or have false hopes for them and just decided to accept that her parents weren’t someone, she could expect love from, she went past the hating stage.

But she is upset though. Upset that her father chose money over her. Upset that her father never really saw her for who she was but just a constant reminder of her mother who ran away. Even after all these years, that thought hurts her. She doesn’t feel any hate, just deep rooted hurt, that both her parents never really loved or cared about her.

All the memories, even the tiny ones she shared with him came to her mind. A lot of them weren’t good.

…

Wearing the ear ring, I looked at myself in the mirror. And I think I didn’t look bad. I looked pretty good. It was my first time dressing up like this.

“Dayun are you ready?” Insoo tapped on the door.

Another reason I decided to go there was... For Insoo. I remember how happy he was to go there. I don't want to ruin it for him. And going with Insoo to a Gala together sounds too nice to ignore.

“Yeah… I am. Just a moment.” I told loud enough for him to hear.

“Okay…” He screamed back.

I looked at the mirror for one last time before taking my purse and made my way out of the room.

“How do I look?” I asked as soon as I stepped outside, looking down correcting my dress. “I’m not sure if I dressed up right, for the occasion. I’m not experienced in this. But I guess, it’s not bad. Do I look okay?” I asked making half twirls, looking at the dress. And when I heard no reply for my questions, “Insoo-” I raised my head to look at him as I called his name asking for answers.

But-

There, Insoo stood frozen on the spot, like a statue, with his eyes wide open and mouth agape, staring at me. He didn’t even utter a word and was just… Looking at me. And after a long moment, “Okay-? Are you kidding me-” He paused taking another moment to look at me simultaneously walking to stand in front of me, “Dayun. You look incredibly beautiful. You have no idea how lucky I feel to have you as my date tonight.” He spoke softly, staring right into my eyes.

I wasn’t expecting him to react this way. At least, not this straight-forwardly. But I must say his words and his reaction made me feel good and confident about my looks. And he got me blushing really hard and I am not even trying to hide it. "Thank you..." I whispered him back.

“You look incredible too.” I told him smiling. And he smiled back, still holding my gaze.

He indeed looked dashing, with a dark red suit that almost matched with my gown which made me think about the odds on how it happened.

His hair was shaggy and he had slightly rolled his sleeves up which gave him a mixed formal and informal look. His style highlighted his young and handsome features but at the same time made him look like a smart businessman that he is.

Still not breaking the eye contact, Insoo held my forearm and slowly slid down to hold my hands setting everything on fire along the way, "Ready to leave..?............ Princess." He asked me not breaking the eye contact even for a second. I nodded my head holding his and he led me outside.

…

There is no point in trying to stop falling for this man, because I know I'd always fail miserably.

To be continued…