THE JOURNEY

I was so damn tired.

I didn’t know whether it was just me or the trip had took a while longer than I had imagined. I knew but wasn’t familiar with the village’s name thus made me do some research last night. It was taking me three hours of freaking driving to get here when the internet said to reach the village only takes half and an hour of driving. Our surrounding was also suspicious. I had stayed in Jeju Island for almost a year yet this road was utterly foreign to me. Funny, because me and my friend was quite an explorer back then with forest and cliff as our playground, yet the forest that surrounded the road was unfamiliar. It was seemingly dangerous too, with huge wall of soil on our right and forest on our left.

I strongly felt pensive at the person who set the GPS inside our car. The fact that was Im Jun Ha himself, didn’t give me any sort of relief.

But it was certainly different from what Kim Taeyeon thought.

Once she told me in her gushed grateful tone that Im Jun Ha had settled our GPS inside the car so we wouldn’t have to afraid of getting lost. I was more afraid of being deceived by him than being lost in this area. Trust me when I said I had an ability to judge people even from our early encounter, though not as good as Sooyoung, which was exactly how I earn my place now. Heck, it didn’t need Sooyoung’s ability to see that Im Jun Ha wasn’t the good kind of guy. It was only the matter of time before I got all his dirty secret that placed securely inside his closet.

And he could kiss the freedom goodbye if I found him scheming his crooked plan in this little trip.

I wouldn’t care one bit if it’ll crush Taeyeon’s heart, seeing the father of her beloved dead sister scatter into pieces under my feet. Yes, I knew about his relation to her, and no, it wouldn’t change anything even the littlest.

He was a threat, and I didn’t handle threat nicely.

My gaze travelled to the woman who was busily reading a book with the kids under the tree. It was a blessing that the rain had stopped and the sun peeked behind the clouds afterwards, giving us the perfect weather to play outside the building. The charity had begun when we arrived at the building. The head committee was delivering his opening speech when we enter the hall. He smiled to us warmly before instructing one of his subordinate to us to our seat. I never thought that the event will be this huge, but I was pleasantly surprised when I recognized faces from my business acquaintances. Many of them were the senior ones.

As if knowing my mind, Taeyeon squeezed my hand, smiling.

“Like I said, you won’t regret this, right?”

I was loss of words for a moment. Partly because of that damn smile and another part because she was so damn clever, involving our company into this kind of event will elevated our social status. Not in a materialistic way but more philanthropy and humanly way. The nod from the elder businessman toward my way was the clearest prove to that. I beamed at her as a response.

At time like this was when I thanked my father for making Taeyeon work for us.

After the formal speeches, the guests were entertained by the show from the kids before the banquet was served. The kids loved Taeyeon. After lunch, she was practically being pulled to the outside by them, begging her to read them a story book that she brought as a present. A few of elderly women followed suit, while the men stayed at the terrace, drinking and talking about business or political problem. I had involved myself during the talk and even though the conversation was good as a lesson for me, I couldn’t help but feel bored.

At time like this was when I felt being beside Taeyeon was a hundred times better than where I stood now.

She had that breathtaking smile on her lips, eyes shone bright when she speak, face turned comical every time she explain the story. She looked so carefree.

The other side of her during the trip had surprised me. Though she was hardly a spoiled brat or clingy woman, but to witnessed the attentive side of her triggering a new different feeling. Taeyeon was the one who initiated the conversation inside the car, gave me an opened bottle of water stating that I might be thirsty, gave me a comment or two about the weather or the charity, and other little things she did just to make the awkwardness evaporated. Though I might not gave her the best response, I appreciated that we could talk civilly instead the tensed one we had every time we were in the office.

When she hadn’t built a conversation with me, her eyes glued on her phone. Her smile and giggled slipped out of occasionally, making it hard to me to concentrate.

Like now.

Even when we were actually ten meters away and I couldn’t hear her giggling sound, the pure joyous expression on her face had disturbed my peaceful head.

As if sensing my gaze, Taeyeon raised her head from the kids and brought her gaze to mine, smiling her thousand watt smile towards me.

I was so damn sure that I felt my heart skipped a beat.

~***~

THE ELDERS

“Well, the weather seems so unpredictable these days.” Lee Sang Soo, one of the board commissioner of Samsung, ltd. said, looking through the window at the rain that suddenly poured heavily.

“Yeah seriously, it caught me off guard. Luckily the kids and the women had already inside.” Choi Gi Ho, the CEO from one of the pharmaceutical company in South Korea, added.

I listened to their conversation while gazing at the gloomy sky outside the window. It was really a surprise, witnessing the weather turned complete opposite in a matter of seconds. The tables were still there and the carpet they used to sit while story telling was still under the tree, soaking wet. It was a relief that Taeyeon had ushered the kids to go inside when the first sound of thunder was heard. Otherwise, they would be soaking wet in no time.

“Who was the lady that did the story-telling?” Mr. Lee Sang Kyung, also from Samsung, asked.

“I believe Jiyong-sshi here knows her well.” Mr. Choi Gi Ho addressed his words toward me. I nodded in response.

“She’s my sub-ordinate, Miss Kim Taeyeon.”

“Lovely name for a lovely woman.” Mr. Lee Sang Soo commented, “I thought she was your date, son?”

I chuckled, “No sir, we’re just work acquaintance.”

“Well, such a shame, then. I would love to introduce her to my son. She is beautiful with charming manners.” Mr. Choi Gi Ho said. “Do you mind, Jiyong-sshi?”

Although I couldn’t assure whether he was kidding or not, but I was sure I