Seoul, South Korea - Five years ago...
It was early morning on a clear mid-October day, and Jared was up for a stroll. He had obtained his MBA degree from Harvard Business School just less than six months ago. Upon returning home to Hong Kong, his father had immediately assigned him to the Lee Group's auxiliary company in the hospitality industry. He was to work there as an executive apprentice.
His father had put him under the wing of the executive director of Lee Hotels and Resorts, Aaron Chan. This branch of the group was in the middle of acquiring a small South Korean boutique hotel chain. Mr. Chan had then sent him to live in Seoul for three months in order to learn more about the nitty-gritty details of the business from their local acquisition team.
The merging deal was successful, and today was his last day in the South Korean capital. Tomorrow, he'd fly back home.
After several months of the stuffy summer weather, Jared readily welcomed the mild fall. He decided to ditch his car and took public transportation up until Dongdaemun station, then walked the remaining four kilometers along the Cheonggyecheon stream—a pretty little watercourse that flowed through the heart of Seoul—toward the business district nearby the Gwanghwamun square, where his office was located.
He was talking to a colleague on the phone when suddenly a gust of strong wind stung his face.
"Ah!!!" a woman screamed.
Jared turned his head toward the source of the sound and saw a woman frantically trying to collect several sheets of paper that were blown away by the wind into the stream. Without much thinking, he jumped into the shallow water to retrieve the papers.
After collecting all the floating papers, he walked up to the woman, who was standing at the edge of the stream with her mouth agape, obviously taken aback by what she'd just seen. "They're a bit wet," Jared said in English, smiling. "They seemed important to you, so I hope they're not totally ruined," he added as he handed the papers back to her.
"T-thank you..." the woman replied as she took the damp papers from Jared's hand.
The strong autumn breeze was still blowing. It tousled her black, shoulder-length hair, and its fringe, fully revealing her graceful heart-shaped face. Her brown eyes were hues of forest floor, full of nutrients, allowing life to foster and thrive. She wasn't beautiful in a striking way, but her subtle features radiated soft passion. Sweet and soothing, drawing Jared in all the same.
She pointed at his pants. "I'm really sorry," she said, her forehead puckered. Jared looked at his wet trousers, only then realizing he had jumped into the stream in his full business suit. "It's okay, it will dry," he chuckled, dismissing her concern.
The woman's phone rang. Jared could hear a loud voice from the phone as soon as she picked up the call. Even though he didn't understand a word of what they were saying, he could see the panicky look on the woman's face. She was profusely bowing her head as she talked. It seemed like she was apologizing and desperately pleading to whomever it was on the other end of the line.
After the phone call ended, she hastily turned to him. The call seemed to have gotten her so anxious that she might have jumped at her own shadow. "Thank you so much for helping me get these papers back. I'm really sorry for making your pants wet... Thank you so much! Good-bye!" She bowed quickly at him, and before Jared could say anything, she had already dashed in the opposite direction, leaving Jared open-mouthed.
The woman was wearing a typical office worker attire—a grey pencil skirt, a white turtleneck top underneath a formal black suit blazer, and a pair of black low-heeled pumps.
Was it her boss on the phone? I hope she's not in big trouble, Jared mused.
He let out a sigh and was going to call his own office when he realized that his phone was also soaking wet. It had gone out of order. He drew out another long breath before walking toward the main road to wave a taxi.
***
Fourteen hours later
"Stay longer! Let's go for another round after this!" Taehwan Park, a member of the acquisition team, suggested.
They were celebrating Jared's farewell party at a nearby bar from the service apartment where Jared had been staying.
"No, I can't. I have a flight to catch tomorrow morning. Sorry guys," Jared refused, to which the rest of the team responded with various utterances of disapproval.
Jared saw everyone's disappointed face and stood up. "I'd like to say a few words," he announced, smiling. Everyone's attention was on him.
"I want you to know that it's been wonderful working with all of you. This was my first executive assignment, and I couldn't have done it without you. You're such an awesome group of people who taught me a lot. Not only about the industry, but also about people and passion," he paused, giving each one of them a sincere look.
He felt incredibly grateful, but knowing that his time there had ended, he was heavy-hearted, too. He remembered how unsure he was when he first got there three months ago. Bearing the name of Lee, he hadn't wanted to fail his first task. Fortunately for him, these people had truly given him a warm kinship in every possible form. And because of that, he had gained so much confidence and succeeded in his first big undertaking. He was the heir of the Lee Group and would eventually take over the leadership from his father, but he would always see these people as his mentors.
He cleared his throat, raised his glass of somaek, and continued, "So I'd like to thank all of you! For bringing your best to work every single day, for teaching me everything there is to this business, and most importantly for being my inspiration. It was such a privilege and honor to work with all of you."
He then downed the crisp-tasting Korean beer cocktail in one shot. Taehwan immediately stood up, also raising his own glass of the alcoholic beverage to reciprocate the toast. "It was our honor to supervise and teach you everything we know these past months. With your leadership capabilities, there's no doubt that the Lee Group will even soar higher in the future. To Jared Lee!" he saluted and gulped down the content of his glass all at once.
Everyone started to clap and cheered loudly.
"You're the best, Mr. Lee!"
"We'll miss you!"
Their voices croaked and their eyes reddened, making Jared's throat clench.
He gave them a wistful smile and took out one of his personal credit cards from his wallet. "Here, have a few more rounds with the team on me. Don't get too wasted though," he said, handing the card to Taehwan.
"No no no, it's on us," Taehwan refused to take the card from Jared's hand. "Besides, how would I even give the card back to you?"
Jared shoved the card inside Taehwan's shirt pocket, chuckling. "Nah, this is not a farewell, I'll definitely come back to visit. You can give me the card back when we see each other again." He then gave a dismissive wave of his hand before swiftly exiting the pub.
Outside, Jared inhaled deeply, letting in a lungful of air. It was truly a bittersweet feeling. He felt sadness for having to leave this team, but also a blissful release—the kind that came after finishing one's mission successfully. The acquisition project, and the fact that he was new, had taken all of his time and energy. He hadn't gone back home at all. Not even once.
He missed Hong Kong. He missed his home and family. His lips formed an amused smile when he recalled his sister's request during their phone call yesterday.
"I want those famous Tteokbokki snacks!" Violet said. "Also, Kiko said not to forget her signed EXO's D.O.'s poster."
"Oh... D.O.? I'm not sure if I got the right one. Let me check the signature again. Hmm, I think this is... Kai's?" Jared teased. It only took some milliseconds before he heard a screeching sound from the other end of the line.
"Jared Bro! I asked you a million times to get me D.O.'s! How could you mistake his name with Kai's!? They don't even share a single letter!" Kiko snatched the phone from Violet and whined. It seemed like she had been listening to the siblings' conversation all along.
"I'm sorry, I got it wrong. Hmm, since you don't want this, should I just give it to someone else? I think a friend of mine is a fan of Kai's."
"What!? No!" Kiko protested. "D.O. might be my bias, but I'm a fan of EXO. All of them! So, Kai's signature is fine too. More than fine! Please don't give it to someone else. Please, Jared Bro? You're the best!"
Jared lightly chuckled. He was, of course, just poking fun at the two teenagers. He had gotten the right signature. It wasn't something difficult to acquire for a member of the Lee family. The agency of the famous South Korean boy band had even wanted to throw in more signed merchandise and several VIP tickets to their concerts. Jared had refused them—he only took the signed poster of D.O., Kiko's favorite member.
Kiko had given the phone back to Violet. Jared could hear his sister's honeyed voice, pleading for her best friend. "Brother, Kiko likes Kai too. So, please don't give the poster to someone else. Okay? Pleaaase?"
"I was just teasing. Tell Kiko I got her D.O.'s signature, not Kai's." Jared decided to end Kiko's misery.
"Oh, alright. That's good then. But don't forget my snacks, okay? I also heard about the sweet potato chips! I want some of those too. Bring back a lot!"
Jared was quite baffled at Violet's disregard for boys. Wasn't a seventeen-year-old girl supposed to start showing interest in them? Unlike Kiko, who was fangirling over a famous South Korean boy band, Violet only cared about the snacks. As her brother, should he be concerned?
He shook his head. The most important thing was that she was alive and healthy. Boys definitely could wait.
Under the moonlight was the orange glow of city lights. Jared pulled up the zipper of his jacket and walked slowly back to his place. As he passed by the bus stop right in the front corner of his apartment building, he caught sight of a familiar figure...
♡──── ❝ Author's Note ❞ ────♡
If you haven't heard of EXO, they're a famous South Korean boy band. I was considering using BTS instead because they're quite the bomb lately, but EXO has a member named Kai, and I think it'd make a nice pun! 😊
It would mean a lot to me if you could share your thoughts about this chapter in the comment section. And please consider voting if you liked it.
Thank you so much for reading!
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