How It Should Have Ended Part2 (The Continuation)

Chapter 11

"What do you mean?" he asked, a little dazed.

"Well, I was trying to move this one lotus flower to the center of the pond when my shoe fell in."

He clapped a hand on his forehead. "Who told you to do that?"

He heard Yi Jung sigh heavily. "I wanted it to be perfect. For you guys." A pause. "That flower was stubborn. I had to keep pushing it away but it wouldn't go."

Ji Hoo raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You know, those things are attached to the ground, right? I mean, they're kind of planted there."

Yi Jung pretended not to have heard him. "Anyway, I'm a size 11 in men's dress shoes. I'm sure they have a lot of nice stores there in L.A."

He hunched his shoulders and pressed a hand on his forehead. Yi Jung was giving him another headache.

Still, he did owe his friend for helping him.

"Fine."

...

"Gu Jun Pyo!" he called out, as he ran to the Conference room entrance.

A guard blocked his way and asked him for his ID. As expected, he was not on the list so he couldn't get in.

Ji Hoo cursed silently as the doors closed, though a part of him felt glad that he had finally found Jun Pyo. He saw his friend head inside the conference room, though he didn't think Jun Pyo heard him as he was quite far away. But he had renewed hope. He knew where Jun Pyo was.

He sat in front of the doors reading a newspaper. He looked at the schedule posted on the door – they would be taking a short break in a couple of hours. He dared not venture away from the doors except to go to the washroom. He was so close...

When the doors opened, he peered inside, looking for the familiar face of his friend.

He frowned. Jun Pyo was not there.

"Excuse me," he asked a young guy who just came out of the conference room. "Do you know where Gu Jun Pyo went?"

The guy smirked. "Jun Pyo never stays for the whole thing. He gave his opening presentation and then left through the back."

He wanted to scream out loud, but he managed to compose himself. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

The guy shrugged. "He might come back this afternoon for the closing session."

The universe is conspiring against me, he thought, miserably.

His spirits were now at an all-time low, and he was at a loss on what to do next. Should he keep waiting on the off chance that Jun Pyo came back?

He asked the guy if he knew where Jun Pyo was staying but the guy just laughed and told him "somewhere fancy."

He waited until the conference ended, holding on to a sliver of hope that his friend returned for the end of the session.

He was severely disappointed.

His hope plummeted and he knew it was time to give up. He tried to give himself encouragement by telling himself that Jan Di was waiting for him when he got back.

A couple of young guys in classy business suits walked by him. One of the guys reminded him of Yi Jung.

He looked at his watch. He did not have the energy to fly back to Canada that night.

And he did owe Yi Jung a new pair of shoes. He decided to swing by the shopping area before he went back to his hotel. He hailed a cab and asked him to take him to the shops.

The cab driver took him to Rodeo drive - "where the stars shop", was what he was told. He walked around aimlessly, browsing from shop to shop hoping to find a pair of dress shoes that Yi Jung would like (and wouldn't complain about).

"Yoon Ji Hoo?" he heard a voice call out. He whipped his head around to make sure he hadn't imagined it.

A young woman wearing a huge sun hat and huge sunglasses stood in front of a store staring at him. She had long, wavy hair that almost reached her waist, and on her arm hung a massive designer purse.

She looked vaguely familiar.

"It is you!" The woman started walking towards him, a smile spreading widely on her lips. "You haven't aged a bit."

Ji Hoo shifted uncomfortably. When the woman was a few steps closer, he squinted as recognition slowly took shape.

"Jae Kyung?" he asked, uncertainly.

...