Dae Un had kickstarted the factory set up for goods manufacturing, the foreign investments and state loans had bankrolled the project. It was a win win situation for Taeran group. Dae Un had been appointed as the VP (vice president) of the group. He had become busy with work. Noona and hyung missed him but they understood that he was building his career.
It was November 12th and Dae Un's birthday, he was in Busan again for factory work. Hyung and noona wished him at 12 am and he told them that he missed them and would come and see them soon.
He did not worry that his much loved sleep had been interrupted and tomorrow was going to be a less hectic than usual day anyway because he had meetings in the main Busan city.
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On November 7th , when Se Hee was working in the kitchen, Yoo Na came in and told her that there was a call for her. She went to the hall and answered "Hello"
"Hello Se Hee-ya, your uncle and aunt have gotten into an accident." her mother was crying
"What? How?" Se Hee was worried
"They were driving and the car behind them lost control"
"Are they okay?"
"Bora called me just now. Your aunt is in ICU but your uncle is in surgery still. We have to go to Busan right now"
"Yes, yes, we have to"
"Okay, then come to the terminal directly in 1 hour, we are going there now"
"Okay I will see you there"
Se Hee was not sure what was happening but she went to the manager's office and it was empty, so she ran up the stairs and knocked at the owner's office door. He was there and said "Yes!"
Se Hee went inside and said "My uncle got in an accident and is in surgery. We have to go to Busan. Can I leave right now?"
"What? of course of course. Are you going home first?" the owner was worried and asked with compassion
"No, I will go to the terminal directly"
"Okay, let me drop you there" he stood and motioned to Se Hee to move
He drove Se Hee to the terminal where he greeted her parents as well.
The family departed for Busan and reached the hospital directly. Thankfully, her uncle's surgery was successful and he was transferred to ICU. After two days her aunt had been shifted to a ward and her uncle was also declared to be out of danger but still kept in ICU for monitoring.
Jin Hee and Dong Hee were not able to stay in Busan any longer due to their studies, so it was decided that they would go back to Seoul with Appa and Se Hee would remain there in Busan with Amman. Se Hee had called and informed the cafe about her situation and she was granted leave without any issue.
Her uncle had two kids, a daughter named Bora who was of Se Hee's age and a son named No Eul who was two months older than Jin Hee. No Eul lived in Seoul for university and visited them often. He had travelled to Busan with them.
Se Hee's Amman took care of everything and everyone except herself and Se Hee was the one making sure that her Amman was doing okay as well.
On the 12th of December, she went to the hospital with Bora. Amman and No Eul had stayed the night there. Se Hee had made breakfast for everyone, after breakfast, she told Amman to go home and rest. But, Amman refused because it was the day when her brother was meant to transfer from ICU to general care. He was recovering quickly. So they all stayed in the hospital.
Her aunt and uncle were both transferred to a general ward with six beds. One of the beds remained empty but there were other patients and their visitors in the ward. Amman told Se Hee to go and buy some fruits for everyone from the nearby shops. Her aunt told No Eul to accompany her.
They both quietly left like the good kids they were. No Eul and Se Hee were more friends than cousins, she called him Oppa (oppa is a term used by females for their older brothers and any older male who is close to them - it is an expression of endearment and shows that the two are close). And even though she called him oppa, she acted more like the elder sister to him.
When they were out to get the fruits, No Eul suggested that they should also get coffee and snacks for Bora and Se Hee's Amman. "You are just using them for excuse, you just want to have snacks for yourself" Se Hee joked
"Of course I also want them but it is truly for the love that I have for Bora and my aunt" No Eul showed fake sincerity
They both laughed and entered a coffee shop near the hospital.
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Dae Un had finished his meetings in town and he was feeling a little tired. He told his driver to stop near a coffee shop. He wanted to wake himself up before his next meeting. He went in the coffee shop and got himself a strong espresso. As he was exiting, he saw two people entering the cafe. They were looking at each other a laughing. He heard the girl say "Oppa, you should say what you want....."
He didn't hear the rest of the sentence. When he got out of the cafe, it clocked to him, was that Kim Se Hee? but then he dismissed the thought. How could she be here? She lives and works in Seoul.
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Se Hee and Oppa came back to the hospital. Her aunt insisted that they all go back home and rest well, her sister was also there to attend to her. So Amman, Bora, and Na Eul went home together.
Bora and Na Eul's maternal family had also been there and remained a solid support. After one more week of staying there, Amman felt reassured to leave, especially because her sister in law had been discharged and her brother was able to move on his own.
Amman was worried about her home and family as well, so Amman and Se Hee came back to Seoul.
After coming back to Seoul Se Hee went back to work and life went back to business as usual. December had started and everything was merry. There were decorations put up in the cafe as well.
There was a small party arranged for the staff by the owner and this time his wife had also joined. When Se Hee met her for the first time, she thought that she was a kind woman with a beautiful heart. She had given a small gift to every employee including Se Hee.
She had shown particular interest in Se Hee and talked to her about her hobbies and general stuff about life. She found Se Hee to be charming.
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Dae Un stayed in Busan till Christmas and on the 25th of December, he came back to Seoul. He was invited to hyung and noona's for their house party on the 26th. He was finally able to enjoy himself and felt at home after a long and tiring work phase in Busan.
He didn't have a busy schedule for the rest of the year mainly because his American partners had their offices closed for holidays.
In the morning he had breakfast with hyung and noona and when hyung said he would be going to the cafe, he joined him. He wanted to catch-up with him for a while now. When they reached the cafe, it was relatively quiet. Hyung went behind the counter and started brewing coffee. As he was making the coffee, two men entered the cafe, they seemed important; and they were. Hyung looked at Dae Un and said "Wait a minute" and went over to greet the men who had just entered.
Dae Un went behind the counter and started pouring coffee for himself. That's when Se Hee came out from the kitchen and looked at Dae Un with inquisitive eyes (who are you?) then her gaze changed to realisation (Oh! you!) then it changed back to being inquisitive (what are you doing here?) she then looked at the coffee mug in Dae Un's hand and had a look of reproach (You shouldn't be here! Order the coffee like a normal customer).
This was most amusing to Dae Un, especially the fact that she did not like him acting the way he did. He looked back at her with an expression of challenge (what are you going to do?) and then he smiled, took a sip of coffee and went over to the seating area and sat at one of the empty tables. Heyong Suk was now in the coffee counter making coffee for the new guests.
Se Hee gave a disapproving look to Dae Un and went back to the kitchen.
Dae Un was pleased even more.
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A few days passed and it was Se Hee's day off. She was supposed to meet her friends from school. Most of them were studying in universities so they hardly got to hang out and this break time was ideal.
The girls decided to go to the big department store, they did some window shopping and then ended up in the make-up section.
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Dae Un had been spending time with the new American projects for the most part but he also kept an eye on other company matters. It was a Sunday and he decided to cross check the facts in the latest report about the department store that Taeran group owned.
He toured the entire place and finally ended up in the make-up section.
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In the report it mentioned that a high performing makeup brand's lipsticks were becoming popular and because of that Taeran group was going to partner up with them for a new makeup line.
He went to the make-up section for that brand and asked the shop assistant to show her the lipsticks, she showed him a few and he tried to see if they actually were of good quality. It was a simple check that he had to make for his own satisfaction, there was no big deal.
He was also pleased to see that the brand had more customers compared to others in the store, which meant that the report likely provided accurate information.
Se Hee was no longer window shopping, she was looking to buy something for Amman and Jin Hee now, she made money and felt that it was okay to buy luxury items now and then.
She went over to the famous makeup brand's section and towards the lipstick counter and saw Dae Un. He was looking at lipsticks. Must be for a girlfriend. Se Hee assumed.
While inspecting the lipsticks Dae Un felt a little uneasy, he looked to his left and saw Se Hee looking at him. He looked at her and then at the lipstick in his had and then at Se Hee. Without realising he shook his and tried to explain, but Se Hee smiled, raised her shoulders, and turned around.
She was walking towards another brand's section when she heard "It's not what you think"
She stopped and turned, Dae Un was looking at her with indifference, but his words did not match his expression.
"Okay" Se Hee said, she didn't want to engage with him. She had no reason to.
"It was for my work" Dae Un tried to explain
"Okay" Se Hee repeated her earlier response
"Se Hee-ya, look at this" Se Hee's friend almost shouted from the aisle next to them
"Okay, then" Se Hee said and left after giving him a nod
Dae Un was annoyed, he finished his inspection and went back home.
For the rest of the day he kept getting annoyed with the thought of what she must be thinking. He didn't stop to think why it bothered him so much but it did.
The next day he went to the cafe after lunch and had coffee with hyung, he insisted to have it in the seating area as opposed to in the office. He stayed there for an hour and when Se Hee didn't show up there he casually said to hyung "Hyung! Your star student is nowhere to be seen"
"Se Hee? She doesn't work on Sunday and Monday" hyung said
Dae Un was annoyed again. He left after a few minutes.
Tuesdays were always busy for him, but for some reason he cancelled one of his meetings and went over to the cafe, when he entered it was almost full. The cafe was a popular place for business community to have after lunch meetings. He walked over to the counter and saw that Se Hee was not there. He scanned the entire seating area and she was not there either.
He was going to leave when he saw her coming out of the kitchen, her eyes were red as if she had cried. She went inside the counter and addressed a female server "New batch of cheesecake is ready, place it in the display counters" she had definitely cried, her voice confirmed it.
Her last batch of macarons had burnt to crisp and she was scolded by the chef for it.
As she turned to go back, her eyes fell on Dae Un, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement and started to leave when Dae Un said "Se Hee-si" Se Hee stopped and looked at him. The other servers were not paying attention to them because they were busy with the orders.
Dae Un motioned towards one of the tables that were empty on the side, Se Hee walked towards it and Dae Un followed her. He asked her to sit and she did. He began to say "I know what you saw in the department store was bit awkward but it is not what you think"
Se Hee only nodded, so he continued, "You see I work for the company that owns that department store. I was only doing an inspection"
"Okay, I understand!" Se Hee said without any change of expressions.
Dae Un expected her to say something, anything, but all she said was, okay, I understand. Why? Did she really not think anything of it?
Dae Un then said "I just wanted to clarify it before you said something to the owner about me having a girlfriend or something. I don't want rumours about myself"
Se Hee's expressions finally changed and she looked at him with cross expressions and said "Why would I speak about you with anyone? Do I look like a gossip?" Se Hee had already cried and now this man was calling her a gossip, her eyes welled-up again.
Dae Un was dumbfounded. He didn't realise that what he said was that harsh. He felt incredibly sorry and didn't know what to say to her. So he just stared at her.
A few seconds passed and Se Hee said "Don't worry, I will not gossip about you with anyone. You can buy gifts for your girlfriend or do the department store inspection, it has got nothing to do with me" she said harshly and left without giving him the chance to say anything else.
--------------------
Dae Un remained disturbed because of his last conversation with Se Hee for a while. He felt guilt and embarrassment.
A few weeks passed and it was now the end of January, snow fell and everything was white, it didn't effect the hustle and bustle of Seoul and especially Gangnam.
Se Hee worked the morning at the cafe and then went out to have lunch with Jin Hee, on her way back her mood had greatly improved and she had a wide smile on her face. As she was approaching the cafe, she saw Dae Un coming towards the cafe from the opposite side with a few people. Some of them looked foreigners.
They were Dae Un's clients from American companies, he had brought them here for coffee.
When Se Hee saw Dae Un, her smile vanished. Dae Un stepped forward and opened the door for her, she went in without saying a word to him.
He deserved it.
The entire time that Dae Un was at the cafe, Se Hee remained in the kitchen. He left with his guests after a while.
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Dae Un could not afford to keep feeling about someone perpetually. He had to focus, there were important things at stake. His American projects' main production had started. There were things that he had to manage and put in place to get more projects for production to keep the manufacturing plants going even after the American projects were completed.
He was buried in work.
--------------------
Se Hee had started preparing to go to university. She liked her work but Amman had worn her down. She could not let her bright daughter be just a high school graduate. Amman and Se Hee made a deal that Se Hee would not stop working and would do her undergraduate degree as a part time student.
Se Hee had started studying for the K-SAT exams. Between studies and cafe work, she had no time to think about anything else.
She was buried in work and studies.
--------------------
Dae Un had been working and bringing gains for the company and he had mastered the art of making connections everywhere. He also remained aware of people who did not like him and could potentially cause him harm later down the line. And he kept in touch with them as well; something about keeping your enemies closer.
One such individual was Kim Na Mu, his step mother's older brother. He was an executive of Taeran group. He had started in the group as a contracting admin worker and with stroke of luck became secretary to Lee Byun Hun, who at that time was a general manager. It took him ten years to become an executive, but in those ten years he made connections in every single department. If there was one person in the company who knew the past, present, and could accurately predict the future of Taeran group, it was Kim Na Mu.
Dae Un never underestimated him, and even though he did not get to spend time in the company the way Kim Na Mu did, he modelled his network in the group like Na Mu's. He met with him on a regular basis and always met with a cordial appearance.
Kim Na Mu had observed Dae Un's capabilities, he acknowledged that if it was not for his sister, Dae Un would become the next chairman of Taeran group without so much as a hiccup. He also had worked closely with his own nephew, Chan. However long Chan worked, Na Mu had to constantly clean up after him, not to mention the sense of entitlement Chan had, it revolted Kim Na Mu. Chan had never given him respect, not as his uncle and not as an executive of the company. Chan's younger brother, San was no better if not worse. Their mother had named them Chan and San and treated them like princes as well (in ancient Korea, only royals gave their kids one syllable names).
Kim Na Mu had two daughters and a son, his kids were not entitled to anything in Taeran group, he could see that even if he put in every single effort in getting his nephews to succeed as the heirs to the group, it would not improve his or his kids' lives. He often wondered what it'd be like if his nephews or his son were like Dae Un.
One day, he was in his office and Dae Un came, it was normal, Dae Un casually visited his office and talked with him in pleasant way. While he was talking with Dae Un his secretary announced that his elder daughter Kim Su Min was there to visit him. She entered and said hello to both of them. Dae Un greeted her and excused himself.
Kim Na Mu was hit by an idea like a lightening, he could not believe that it did not occur to him before. If he became a powerful entity in Taeran group because his sister was married to the chairman, what would happen if the most capable son of that chairman was married to his daughter.
He would not have to deal with his incompetent nephews either who treated him like a secretary.
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One Saturday Se Hee was working at the cafe when No Eul came to the cafe, "Oppa! what are you doing here?" Se Hee was surprised to see him there. He had never visited him there.
"Se Hee-ya, I need help" oppa was not one to beat about the bush
"Of course oppa, whatever you need? Is everything okay at home?"
"Yes everything is okay but I am in need of money"
"Money? Are you in a difficult situation?" Se Hee asked
"I have to pay for my university's semester fees. Appa has not been back to work yet and we spent a lot of money on the hospital bills. We are still paying for recovery therapy. I can't ask my parents for money but this is my last semester, if I take a break now, it will be huge loss for me" he paused a little and then continued "Do you know what the situation is like at your home? If I asked your parents to lend me money, would I be putting them in a difficult position?" No Eul was embarrassed but he was also thinking long term. If he finished his degree he could directly get a corporate job and payback the loaned money quick enough. Whereas if he took a break, he'd have to work odd jobs for a long while before he could gather enough money for his last semester.
"I don't really know if they will have all the money but Amman has been working for the hair salon and Appa's shop is going steady as well. The only big expense is Jin Hee's tuition fee. Maybe they will be able to help. Oppa come home for dinner tonight and you can talk to them"
"Thank you for saying this Se Hee. I feel terrible for putting you in a bad situation like this, but I wanted to check with you before asking your parents"
The owner's wife had come to the cafe to get some fresh bread before going to Dae Un's apartment with Kimchi and other side dishes. She often stocked up his fridge with food like this to make sure he ate healthy homemade food whenever he was at his home.
When she came to the counter to collect her ready bag of bread, she heard the the last two sentences "Oppa come home for dinner tonight and you can talk to them" and "Thank you for saying this Se Hee. I feel terrible for putting you in a bad situation like this, but I wanted to check with you before asking your parents"
She heard this bit only, did two plus two and got fifty-six.
When she reached Dae Un's apartment, he had just come out of the shower, he was stood in the middle of his living room and noona was stocking the fridge in his open plan kitchen and talking to him
"Why do your containers from last time still have leftovers?" Dae Un was drying his hair by rubbing a towel on it.
"Look at this now! You have more than half of container filled with Kimchi still. I gave it to you three months ago" Dae Un was now getting water out from his left ear.
"I am putting these new and fresh dishes in your fridge, if you eat even one meal at home a day, you can finish these in a month" Dae Un was back to drying his hair
"And this bread, this is fresh, if you are going to have coffee make sure you have it with this. Don't drink coffee on empty stomach, it's not good for you!" Dae Un was working his hands through his hair now
"Oh by the way, I saw Se Hee at the cafe today. Did you know she has a boyfriend?" Dae Un was now looking right at noona and listening with complete attention
"Honestly! She does. I saw him at the cafe today. They seem serious. He is going to be talking with her parents as well it seemed"
"How do you know it was her boyfriend? Did she tell you?" this was the first thing that Dae Un said to her after she came in.
"She didn't tell me but I could tell?" noona said lightly
"How could you tell?" Dae Un was getting impatient
"She looked at him with so much warmth and she also called him Oppa"
"It could have been her real brother"
"She only has an older sister and a younger brother, your hyung had told me about her family when she had joined" noona said with confidence
Dae Un didn't say anything to that. His face on the other hand had turned red by now.
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No Eul went to Se Hee's home that evening and Amman Appa agreed to give him the money. They had always felt indebted to his parents for helping them when Dong Hee needed a surgery as a child.
This was their way of paying back.
No Eul who had no idea about this was extremely thankful to his Aunt and Uncle for helping him in his most desperate point in life.
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Sunday morning came and Dae Un went to sports centre with his friends to play squash. Whenever he wanted to stop thinking about something he went for squash. The sport requires the player to direct complete attention towards the ball. There is no room for any other thought, especially if you want to win; Dae Un always wanted to win.
Se Hee spent Sunday preparing her plan for the coming months, she had to make sure that neither work nor her studies got impacted.
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On Monday, Se Hee got enrolled in an evening academy near the cafe. She had made enquiries beforehand and this was the day that she got formally registered as a student. From then on, she was going to work at the cafe during the day and study at the academy in the evening.
The coming days were going to be hectic for her. No Eul had gone to the academy with her, one of his seniors from university was a teacher there and he said that Se Hee could get a discount. No Eul wanted to do this much for her; he felt indebted to her and her family.
After registration, Se Hee and No Eul walked towards the cafe for coffee, it was Se Hee's treat.
Dae Un felt ready for the week, he was going to go to Busan next week and had to get a lot done this week in Seoul. His American clients were in Seoul and he was having lunch with them. After lunch, someone mentioned the cafe they had been to last time, they had delicious desserts and coffee.
Dae Un walked with them towards hyung's cafe; anyways it was Monday so he would not have to see Se Hee.
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When Dae Un reached the cafe with his guests, it was Yoo Na who came and took the order, the group at their table was now discussing Korean food, nobody wanted to talk about work it seemed. Dae Un was participating in the conversation but not with his heart.
He was taking a sip of his coffee when something in his periphery caught his attention.
It was Se Hee, with a guy. He saw them go over to the counter. Se Hee said hi to the everyone there and then leaned forward to speak with the female server who had just finished serving the order. The guy stood next to her, smiling. How can someone have such a stupid smile? Dae Un thought.
Se Hee and the guy then sat down at one of the tables where he could only see the side of the guy's face and Se Hee's back. The server came to their table and while putting down their order, said something while looking at Se Hee, all three of them laughed. The guy then said something and they all laughed again and this time Se Hee lightly punched his shoulder. There is nothing funny enough for this reaction, Dae Un was critical.
Se Hee on the other hand was having a great time. All was merry. Oppa's university fee issue was resolved, she had gotten admission in the academy, her recipe for the next assessment was coming along nicely. Everything was perfect.
"Oh, I am going to Busan this weekend to meet Amman and Appa before I get busy with university, do you want anything from there?" No Eul mentioned
"To meet your Amman Appa or your girlfriend?" Se Hee teased him. No Eul had a girlfriend since high school and everyone in the family knew about it. She had lived in their neighbourhood and she was also a good friend of Bo ra.
"I mean it's not like I will not meet her but I really am going to see Amman Appa" No Eul sounded sincere.
As they were having their conversation, Dae Un stood up, went over to the counter, paid the bill for his table and went back to his guests. While going up to and coming back from the counter, he looked at Se Hee but she was so engrossed in her conversation with that guy that she didn't even notice a 185 cm man walking in her periphery.
Dae Un didn't like that he was bothered by anything, let alone the girl who he disliked for trying to steal hyung and noona's attention. He proposed to his guests to go back to the office and then they all left after five minutes.
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The next day at the work, Kim Na Mu came over to Dae Un's office and had a little catch-up, it was unusual because the two mostly met in Na Mu's office or in the meeting rooms but Dae Un was courteous with him as always. They talked about work and up-coming projects. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until after Kim Na Mu stood up to leave. Dae Un stood up from his chair and walked him to the door and before leaving he looked at Dae Un and said "My wife is throwing a party for my team members and their wives, you should also come" Na Mu did not know if Dae Un had a girlfriend or not and this was his way of asking him and also an invitation to forward his plan for setting him up with his daughter.
Dae Un was clueless about his ulterior motive but he also knew that this was not a normal colleague invite but he smiled and said "I would definitely come if you invite me"
"That's great! It is on Friday next week. You will be back from Busan by then I think" Na Mu said
"Yes, I will be back. I will be sure to come" Dae Un accepted the invitation.
He had never been to Na Mu's house. He never expressed it to anyone but when he was a boy and his step siblings would go and visit their uncle and meet their cousins, Dae Un felt a little jealous, especially because he had little to no contact with his maternal family who lived in Australia. Na Mu's children also visited his house when they were little but Dae Un was never included in their activities. It was a world that existed in his view but was out of his reach.
He was curious about the house that his step siblings spoke so fondly of, but more than that he was curious about Na Mu's sudden change in approach. Na Mu was known for throwing parties and organising gatherings for people from all levels of the group. He even organised annual parties for blue collar employees at the office. Dae Un had been part of work gatherings and dinners but never got the invitations for ones that took place at Na Mu's house. He could sense that something was up.
--------------------
Dae Un was extremely busy with his clients from America and with the manufacturing plants' updates and reports. He had purposefully blocked every useless thought from his mind. He was going to have a very productive next week in Busan as well and after that he had to figure out what was going on in Kim Na Mu's head. He had no time for anything else.
--------------------
Se Hee had an extremely busy week. She was not prepared for the level of intensity that work and studies brought but it was not going to be for long. She just had to catch-up with other students and once she was all caught-up she would just have to follow a set schedule for the rest of the year and that would be fine. But for the time being she was swamped with work and studies. She had no time for anything else.
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Dae Un reached Busan early morning on Monday and went straight to work. He had to take part in a bunch of meetings and later in the week he was going to meet a friend from New York who had recently moved back to Korea to become part of his family's business.
The work week went successfully for Dae Un but it was hectic and now he was looking forward to meeting his friend. They met at one of the high end restaurants in the city for lunch. After lunch Dae Un was driving back to Seoul. This time he had brought his own car and drove everywhere by himself.
As he was driving out of the city's central area, he got stuck in the traffic. Apparently there was an accident ahead and it had halted the flow of traffic. Dae Un was in good spirits so he didn't get annoyed with it and instead he turned his car around and went in to a cafe. It seemed like a newly opened place with promotional event going on. Dae Un ordered a coffee for himself and sat at one of the empty tables.
He was enjoying his coffee when he saw a young couple enter the cafe. They were holding hands and were smiling like fools in love. Dae Un recognised the man instantly, it was the same guy who was with Se Hee at hyung's cafe. Dae Un was shocked. He had just seen this guy laughing and acting close to Se Hee last week in Seoul and now he was here with another girl, holding hands. Dae Un had finished his coffee and the traffic had also started to move but he stayed in the cafe. He was paying close attention to the guy and his girlfriend, they were sat next to each other and were in deep conversation. He couldn't hear what they were saying to each other but there was no doubt that they were in romantic love.
After about half an hour the couple stood up and left the cafe. Dae Un shook his head and moved towards his car as well.
On his drive back to Seoul, all he could think about was how Se Hee was being betrayed by her boyfriend. He gave it a good thought and concluded that it was not his place to say anything to her and it was her own issue to deal with. He was not going to say anything.
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The next week came and went without anything happening out of the ordinary. Dae Un did however got in touch with his contacts around the group to gauge what was going with Kim Na Mu and he could not understand anything.
When he reached Kim's residence on Friday, it did not seem like a lavish affair, the grandeur that Kim Na Mu's house parties were known for was not there, at least Dae Un couldn't see it. The thing that struck Dae Un the most was that his step mother or her kids were not present. His father was there and he greeted him and stood beside him for the most part of the event. There were other high officials of the company that were in attendance with their partners but the chairman of the group was there by himself. Dae Un felt odd.
He could sense something was up, either it was his step mother that had planned this and wanted something to happen in her absence or Kim Na Mu was about to rebel against his own sister. The later was unlikely therefore Dae Un decided to be on his guard and not move away from the chairman's sights.
Kim Na Mu had already discussed the matter with his wife. Na Mu's wife had always disliked Na Mu's sister, especially because they were childhood best friends but after Kim Ha Neul (Dae Un's step mother and Na Mu's sister) got married to the chairman she had never once treated her like a friend or an equal in any regard; even though she was married to her older brother Ha Neul did not give her respect or regard. That's why Na Mu's wife was extremely happy that finally her husband was going to go against his sister and the possibility of her own daughter becoming the wife of future chairman excited her greatly. She had spoken with her daughter Su Min and to her amaze Su Min already like Dae Un. Su Min didn't actually have any feelings towards Dae Un and never really payed any attention towards him but when she saw him on the day when the chairman had thrown a party for his Harvard admission, she started to see him in a different light. In the circles of rich and spoiled kids of Seoul, Dae Un had become a legend, he did not grow up with them or went to private schools like them but all of a sudden with his university admission he had become a topic of conversations and whenever the kids spoke about the succession of Taeran group, they all unanimously agreed that it would be Dae Un, that was of course when Chan and San were absent from the gatherings; no one had time for their nasty anger outbursts.
Su Min wanted to speak with Dae Un in chairman's absence but when she saw that he was not budging, she had no choice but to approach him in the given conditions. She went up to them when they were both talking to her father, she said "Hello, how are you?" she said politely without specifically addressing any of them
"Hello, Su Mini, how are you?" chairman replied with politeness as well. "I am good, are you enjoying the party? I managed the decor for today" even though there was hardly anything out of the ordinary she boasted and got praise from the chairman. She then turned towards Dae Un and said "This is your first time in our house right?" Dae Un nodded his head with a faint smile. Su Min then gathered courage and said, "Would you like to see our rose garden? My mother got them imported from England" and that's when the chairman interrupted her and said "Your oppa is allergic to roses, if you want to see him sneeze uncontrollably then by all means take him to the garden otherwise I suggest you let him breath here" everyone laughed including Dae Un but Su Min felt enamoured, she had just got the licence from the chairman himself to call Dae Un 'oppa' and she was not one to let go of any opportunity, so she said "Oh no, oppa I am sorry. There are roses on the table there with food items, are they making you uncomfortable? Shall I get them removed?" Dae Un said "No no, it's not a problem, but I think I will not be able to see your mother's imported garden, sorry!" Dae Un was dismissive but Su Min was going to put in all efforts but before she could, someone came up to the group and started talking to the men ignoring Su Min altogether. It was a director of Taeran group who was much older than her father and the chairman as well, so she had to step away.
For the remainder of the party the old director kept talking to Dae Un and chairman and Su Min had to keep a distance.
When Dae Un reached his home, he raked his brain to try and understand what was going on and what was the actual motive behind today's party. He could not shake it off. His biggest hurdle, the man who was carrying his good for nothing step brothers on his shoulders towards the directors' table was suddenly being overly nice with him, so much so that his daughter called him oppa. Dae Un didn't fail to notice that, but he was still not able to connect the dots.
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No Eul was back in Seoul and his studies were his main concern but he had also started looking for jobs. He did not want to be jobless for even a day after his graduation therefore he cast his net wide for job hunt. He wanted to be able to pay the loan back to his aunt as soon as possible. One of the companies that he had applied to was Taeran Group. He did not have high expectations but still had little hope in his heart and when he heard back from them for an interview he got extremely excited.
He had cleared the first round of interview and was now invited for the final round. He had gotten ready in his finest for the interview. When he entered the main building he felt a bit more tensed but he was still happy and excited. The interview was tough and a panel of four managers took the interview. He was told that the result would be shared with him in the coming two weeks.
As he was leaving the building he crossed path with an important looking young man, the man looked at him with inquisitive eyes as if he recognised him. No Eul greeted him but the man just passed by him without saying anything.
He found it strange but then decided to not pay any attention to that. He had to rush to university for his afternoon class.
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Dae Un was walking over from his office to the meeting room when he saw the guy that he thought to be Se Hee's boyfriend. What was he doing in the office? As he had that thought, the guy greeted him with over excitement, he despised it. For a split second he thought of speaking with him but then decided against it because it was not a matter concerning him and he was late for the meeting.
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Two weeks passed and No Eul did not hear anything from Taeran group. He was at his aunt's house and was talking to them about how he was positively waiting for the interview results but it seems that maybe he was not successful "After all it's a big conglomerate, they must have had better candidates to select. I have applied to other companies as well, hopefully something will turn up. Taeran group would have been the best but not everything goes our way" he was saying that to his aunt and cousin but in reality it was to console himself.
"Don't lose hope just yet, oppa, they might still contact you" Se Hee tried to give him hope
"You think?" No Eul looked up
"Yeah, why not!"
"You know what, if I get the job at Taeran group I will get discounts from their department stores and I will buy you whatever you want from there" No Eul said jokingly to lighten the mood that he felt responsible for ruining.
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The next day at the cafe Se Hee had a usual busy morning and she got some time to rest during lunch hour. But right after lunch the cafe got really busy and she came out to the main area to help out the serving staff who sometime struggled in peak hours.
But when she came out, the staff seemed to be doing quite well so she went behind the counter to help the baristas. She was talking to Ji Won the senior barista when Yoo Na came in and asked Se Hee if there were any Pain au chocolates available to be served within 15 minutes.
Se Hee said that there are a few unbaked in the fridge and she can use the pre heated oven to get them out in time.
She went in to the kitchen and came back with pain au chocolates. Yoo Na thanked her and took them to the table that had ordered them.
Such instances always amused Se Hee and her eyes followed Yoo Na to the table as she wanted to see the reaction of the customers who were going to have them. But suddenly her eyes fell on the man sitting at the table next to them, he was also looking at her but averted his eyes as soon as she noticed him.
She recognised him immediately, it was Lee Dae Un. She didn't really like him and was going to just ignore him when she suddenly remembered that he said he worked at the department store of Taeran group. An idea hit her and she decided to act on it, she picked the last remaining fresh pain au chocolate and walked over to his table.
He seemed to be reading a document but going by the second cup of coffee on the table, he was there with someone and his companion had either left or had gone to the restroom.
Se Hee placed the plate in front of him and smiled lightly. He looked up and seemed a little surprised then he looked at the pain au chocolate and back at Se Hee who was still smiling. This was odd. He then said "I did not order this"
"I know, this is on the house" Se Hee said, still smiling
He was puzzled and it showed, so Se Hee said "The last time we spoke I was a little rude to you. Actually I was already upset about something and you got the burnt of it I feel."
"Don't worry about it. It happens. And thank you for this!" Dae Un said politely but he could sense that this was not it. He could read people's expressions with ease and Se Hee was not a good liar anyways.
"This is nothing. Please enjoy" Se Hee had lost courage to act on her plan and turned away. That's when he said "You should say what you wanted to say. I am sure there is not a lot free stuff you can give away" Se Hee turned to him and he had a relaxed smile on his face.
Suddenly Se Hee started to feel anger rising in her stomach and her face turned red. The instant change of colour on her face amused Dae Un even more. Se Hee was more annoyed but decided to suppress her anger and say what she wanted to say "You said last time that you work at Taeran group right?"
"Oh yes, I do work there" Dae Un replied instantly
"What is the hiring process there? How long do they take to tell the candidates about the result?" Se Hee finally asked
"It depends on the position you applied for" Dae Un gave a generic answer to a generic question
"What about for the management program?" Se Hee clarified
"The overall process takes about a month I think. Why? Have you decided to quit being a chef?" Dae Un immediately felt stupid after saying the last bit.
"Oh no, it's not for me. My oppa gave an interview there two weeks ago and he still hasn't heard back, so I thought I'd ask you if this is normal." Se Hee didn't react to his joke and clarified seriously.
Dae Un suddenly remembered seeing the guy in the office building. He felt uneasy but still replied "It sometimes takes a bit longer. Should I check the results for you?"
"Really? Will you be able to?" Se Hee only knew he worked at Taeran group, she didn't know what his position was.
"Sure, I can ask around."
"That would be great. Yes, please ask"
"Okay, what is the candidate's name?"
"No Eul, Sung No Eul"
"Sung No Eul! Okay, I will ask and let you know"
"Thank you so much. Have a good day then" Se Hee said with a smile, nodded and went back.
Dae Un was going to take the rest of the day off but decided against it and went back to the office. He called his secretary in the office and asked him to get recent hiring files from HR.
He skimmed through the files and it seemed that No Eul had been selected with the condition of graduating with first class degree. For a minute he thought to ring the HR manager to tell them to reject the guy but he then asked himself why? and he had no valid answer. He had an answer and that was that he had a stupid face but he knew that would not be very professional of him so he did not interfere.
He picked up the phone and dialled the cafe, it was picked up by a guy, he asked for Kim Se Hee, about a minute later he heard her "Hello"
"Hello, your oppa, he has been conditionally accepted. I expect him to hear from the company soon" he said without any prompt
"Oh really, that's amazing. Thank you for finding it out so quickly" Se Hee sounded very happy and it bothered Dae Un. He also felt sorry for her. She was looking out for the guy and he was out there cheating on her.
"Don't worry about it." Dae Un said nonchalantly
"Okay then, thank you. Bye" Se Hee said
Dae Un felt bad for being dismissed just like that but said "Bye then" and hung up.
Since he was in the office already he stayed there for the rest of the day and worked till late.
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Dae Un had not been to hyung and noona's house in a while and he planned to rectify that over the weekend, he reached their house Saturday afternoon for lunch and after he reached there he remembered that hyung spent most Saturdays at the cafe, "How can you forget that? He is in the food business, weekends are especially busy for him" noona said to him when he complained about hyung not being there.
"Yeah that's my bad. What should we do then? Shall we play go-stop?" he said with the same wicked smile that he got every-time they played go-stop
"You know there is nothing that I enjoy more than playing go-stop with you, but I have to meet my friends for a tea party"
Dae Un understood and offered to drive her to the party. After dropping noona off at the tea parlour he drove over to the cafe. Hyung was in his office and he could hear from outside that he was on a call with someone. He knocked once and without waiting for a yes opened the door and went inside. He then sat at the visitors sofa and started playing with the paper weight on hyung's table. This was normal and hyung acknowledged his arrival with a nod but continued with his call.
The call didn't sound to be ending soon, so he picked up the Go game board from the side shelf and placed it on hyung's office table and placed the first piece to start the game. Hyung who seemed to be talking to a hotel manager or higher up saw this activity and then played his move without any hesitation. For the next fifteen minutes both of them played Go while hyung stayed on call.
After hyung hung up he said to Dae Un "You are going to lose anyway, do you want to continue or go out for lunch?
"You are afraid of losing and that's why you want to go out, but if you want to save face then lets go out. I can eat."
Hyung laughed and wore his coat, they both left and had a hearty lunch at a traditional restaurant, the rainy weather called for it. After lunch they both came back to the cafe. This time hyung went to the manager's office rather than his own. He was carrying out his normal weekend checks at the restaurant and Dae Un was following him around quietly like a little boy who follows his parents.
Hyung finished his work and got ready to leave, other employees had also started to leave. At the cafe door hyung looked at Dae Un and said "Did you bring your car? Are you driving back to your apartment or coming home with me?"
"I am going to go to my apartment, I have to visit the chairman's house tomorrow for lunch, can't be out late today" Dae Un very rarely called that placed home, it was always 'the chairman's house' and hyung now understood the reason behind his clingy behaviour today. He was trying to give himself assurance in advance that he had people in his life that cared about him as a person and not as a trophy and didn't see him as unnecessary competition either. He was recharging his sense of home and belonging before going to the place where he always felt drained of this.
"Okay then lets go before the rain gets worse" hyung said looking out the door where it was already raining quite heavily.
The two left quickly.
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Se Hee had finished work and towards the end of the day he saw Dae Un with the owner, she didn't pay much attention to him. Her focus was on the rain outside, her umbrella had broken slightly on her way to work in the morning. The rain outside didn't feel like it would stop any time soon and her bus stop was a ten minutes walk from the cafe and it did not have a shelter either. She was secretly praying for her umbrella to support her for at least a few minutes.
When she got out, the rain was violently heavy and her poor umbrella was starting to give up, she picked up pace and almost ran towards the bus stop. As she was moving towards the bus stop a strong gush of wind completely broke her umbrella and she was now left with a useless piece of trash in her hand.
She felt helpless and suddenly wanted to cry, she looked at the road to see if there was any taxi that she could hail but the traffic was moving slowly and there was no empty taxi in sight. That's when a car stopped and somebody from inside called her name "Se Hee-si" Se Hee looked in the car and it was Dae Un, he had pulled the window down and was addressing her "It is going to get worse now, shall I give you ride to your home?"
Se Hee wanted to accept the offer immediately but felt awkward so she said "Don't worry about me, I will get a taxi"
"You can't get a taxi with this traffic and rain, please get in, I will drop you to your home"
Se Hee looked around and he was right, in this weather getting a vacant taxi would be next to impossible and the bus was also likely to be late or worse, cancelled. She hesitated a bit and then opened the car door and got in.
"What direction is your home?" Dae Un asked and Se Hee gave him the address.
He made a u-turn as they had to go the opposite way for her house.
"You can close the window if you are cold" Dae Un said when he noticed that she was shivering a little. Se Hee felt a little embarrassed and closed the window without saying anything. She felt better instantly. His squash kit was in the backseat so he told her "There is a clean towel in the kit bag on the back seat if you want to dry your self a little" Dae Un said it due to his concern for her but she felt more embarrassed and thought that he was maybe worried about her ruining his car seat.
She turned to take the towel from the bag in the back and while she did that Dae Un could feel her presence strongly and he felt that his right shoulder had become ice. He had to turn right but he knew that if he used his right arm it would rub against her so he used only his left hand to turn and did not touch the gear stick either.
Se Hee used the towel and carefully dried a little bit without moving much, she was extremely unsettled. This was going to be a long drive and they were already awkward. Se Hee tried to break the ice and said "Whereabouts do you live? Will it take you long to get to your home?"
"Oh not at all, it will be a short drive for me" Dae Un didn't know why he lied.
"Oh that's a relief then"
There was silence again and Se Hee felt responsible for remedying it. So she said, "You were right about the hiring though, oppa got the response and he has been offered the job"
"That's great, congratulations" Dae Un replied with a courteous smile without looking at her.
"Yeah, it's really a good news for us. It's a conditional offer at the time, he has to graduate with honours but it is a given with our No Eul oppa, he is a bright student" Se Hee boasted about her cousin.
"That's great. I wish him luck" Dae Un did not want to talk about that guy because keeping his mouth shut about his cheating was already making him feel guilty.
But Se Hee could not think of any other common topic between the two so she said "Oppa promised me that when he starts working at Taeran group, he will take me to their department store for shopping because he will get discounts" Dae Un's blood was boiling, he wanted to tell her that her so called oppa was cheating on her with a girl in a different city.
When he did not say anything to her last comment, Se Hee continued her monologue "Oppa has always been a good student and works hard as well. My uncle was extremely happy with the news of his job"
Her uncle also knows about their relationship and he is still cheating on her Dae Un thought without voicing his opinion.
"How did you get the job at Taeran group, did you also apply for the management program?" Se Hee could feel that he was not interested in hearing about oppa so she changed the topic a little.
"Me? Oh I got the job due to nepotism. My father also works there" he didn't lie but definitely misled her. Se Hee was a little taken aback due to his honesty and didn't know what else to say, so she went back to oppa's topic "My oppa also wanted to apply at my uncle's company but my uncle said 'my son is capable of working at a big conglomerate in Seoul' so oppa applied for jobs only in Seoul"
Dae Un braked suddenly and looked at her, she looked back at him with confusion. Dae Un shook his head and said "Sorry I thought I missed a turn" and continued driving.
He was trying to make sense of her last sentence, did she call her boyfriend's father 'uncle' or was No Eul her cousin. It was non sensical for her to call her boyfriend's father 'my uncle' but he was also thinking about what noona had said.
He was trying to come up with a smart way to confirm if No Eul was her boyfriend or brother. There was silence for five minutes and then Dae Un got an idea, he asked "Did your oppa go to Busan last month by any chance?"
"Oh! How did you know?" Se Hee was surprised
"I think I saw him there with a girl in a cafe" Dae Un said casually but clearly
"Oh really! Such a small world. Was it a short girl or tall?" Se Hee asked
Dae Un did not know how to answer that question so he said "I don't really know, they were sitting"
"Oh okay, did the girl resemble me or was she prettier?" Se Hee was trying to figure out if it was Bo Ra (No Eul's sister) or Su Jin (No Eul's girlfriend)
"You are prettier than her" Dae Un said impulsively and a second later realised what he had said. His eyes froze on the road ahead and he didn't dare look towards her
Se Hee on the other hand was clueless as ever, she thought that it was probably Bo Ra if he thought she was not prettier than her. After all Su Jin was a known beauty of her Busan's neighbourhood. So she said "Ah! It must be Bo Ra then, oppa's younger sister"
"The way they were acting it did not look like they were siblings" Dae Un was now spelling it out for her
"Really? It must be Su Jin then, did she have a mole on her nose?" Se Hee was trying to confirm
Dae Un was perplexed, what kind of girl was this? Was she actually asking him about a mole on the nose of a girl who was out with her boyfriend? Or is he not her boyfriend?
"I didn't look at her with great attention but maybe she did" Dae Un said with a sour expression
"It must be Su Jin, who else would oppa take to a cafe other than his beautiful girlfriend." Se Hee said nonchalantly. She didn't notice the different colours that came and went on Dae Un's face and she also didn't notice his smile.
Se Hee did not know how to continue this topic so she asked him "Do you go to Busan often?"
"Me? Yes, there is a new project of Taeran group that I work on so I travel occasionally"
"You also went to New York right? Does Taeran group have an office there as well?"
"Oh yes they do have an office there"
Se Hee was impressed, even though he was hired unfairly, he seemed to be doing a good job to be working on big projects where he was travelling all over.
After a few minutes they entered Se Hee's neighbourhood and Dae Un asked for directions to her house "Don't worry about that, rain has stopped now, I can walk to my house from here. The streets ahead are narrow and your car will get stuck there. You can drop me there in front of the shop" Se Hee pointed towards the shop on their right.
Dae Un pulled up on right, Se Hee got off after thanking him, he smiled and said "Not a problem at all, be safe on your way to home"
He saw her walking away and waited till she disappeared from his sight before moving away.