A Prior Engagement

Yeon-jae's hazel eyes sank into stillness. She hoped it would never come to that — but if Myeong-hee ever learned of Ji-woo's existence, if the day came when Yeon-jae could no longer protect her child herself, she wanted Je-heon to be there to help.

"All right."

Only then did the rigidity in Yeon-jae's face ease.

"You're signing this because of me, so I promise."

Yeon-jae picked up the pen and inscribed her name at the bottom of the contract, then closed the signed folder. Hearing Je-heon's promise, she felt as though she had finally finished an assignment she had been putting off for far too long — a quiet relief settling through her. Even the thick, oppressive air that had filled the office seemed to lighten.

"What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

Yeon-jae lifted her head at the sudden question, tilting it as she tried to parse what he meant.

"You going back to being a pianist?"

Yeon-jae blinked. A return to the piano had never even crossed her mind as a possibility. Then, unbidden, something Je-heon had once said surfaced in her memory — that if Ji-woo signed with the Foundation, he would support Yeon-jae's own return to the stage as well.

"…No. I have no intention of that."

Yeon-jae worried at her fingertips. She never knew when the paralysis might strike again; going back as a pianist was out of the question. And who would even want to hear her play? She had shone briefly as a rising star, only to vanish from people's memories after retiring at her very first recital. A pianist no one wanted. As she was now, Yeon-jae had neither the reason nor the drive to sit at a piano again.

The thought pulled the corners of her mouth downward. She couldn't help the bitterness that gathered in a corner of her heart. She, too, had once had a dream she had wanted to protect every bit as fiercely as she now protected Ji-woo — a passion just as bright. It was all a story from another life now.

"The contract's done, so I'll be heading back."

Yeon-jae slipped a copy of the contract into her handbag and rose from her seat, already thinking of going downstairs to collect Ji-woo from the café on the first floor. She was just straightening her things when the scrape of a chair made her look up. Je-heon was shrugging on his jacket.

"Where are you going?"

It didn't look like he was heading back to his office, so she asked.

"To eat dinner."

"Oh — already?"

Yeon-jae glanced down. Her watch had just ticked past five.

"It's only five. That's early, isn't it?"

Doesn't the president usually stay late and work overtime? she thought, pushing her chair back under the table.

"What are you talking about. You're coming too."

"Excuse me?"

The words snapped her head back up. She stared at Je-heon, the surprise still plain on her face.

"I have a prior engagement."

"A prior engagement?"

Je-heon's usually smooth brow twitched and arched.

Well, if he'd been planning on dinner, he could have said something beforehand.

"Yes. You never mentioned dinner."

And since when had the two of them been the kind of people who just casually went out to eat together? Of course she had already made plans for the hours between finishing the contract and her train. Seoul wasn't a place she could visit every day, so she had thought ahead about what needed to be taken care of while she was here.

"You know people in Seoul?"

Je-heon's voice carried a note of genuine disbelief.

What, did he think she didn't have a single friend? Granted, the person she was meeting today wasn't exactly a friend.

"Mr. Gu Je-heon, I used to live in Seoul too."

From the day she was born until the day she went down to Daejeon, in fact. But the look in his eyes said he didn't believe a word of it, and Yeon-jae could only swallow a dry laugh.

Yeon-jae stepped into the café and scanned the room. By the window, Ji-woo sat across from Secretary Oh, chattering away about something. Whatever they were talking about, the child's face was full of laughter. Where had she gotten that social ease from? It still amazed Yeon-jae how readily Ji-woo struck up conversations even with a man she had only just met.

Then Secretary Oh spotted Yeon-jae first. He must have said something, because Ji-woo's gaze followed his a moment later.

"Mom!"

Ji-woo spotted her and waved both arms high, a smile stretching from ear to ear.

"Are you all done now?"

"Mm. We're heading home."

"What about Uncle?"

"Uncle still has work to finish."

"So I can't say goodbye?"

A look of disappointment crossed Ji-woo's face.

"We can come see him again next time, can't we?"

"Hehe, that's right!"

Ji-woo nodded.

"Ji-woo's going to come to Seoul a lot now, so it's okay!"

The child took Yeon-jae's outstretched hand and hopped down from the high café chair, then bowed her head toward Secretary Oh, who had just finished clearing the table and come back.

"Thank you for the hot chocolate, hyung."

"Sure. Come visit again next time."

"Hyung?"

Yeon-jae tilted her head at the unfamiliar form of address.

"Yep. Secretary-hyung said he's younger than Uncle, so we decided I should call him hyung!"

"Ah. It just sort of happened that way."

Secretary Oh gave Yeon-jae a sheepish smile and a brief explanation. Come to think of it, he did seem younger than Je-heon. It was remarkable how close the two of them had grown in such a short time — close enough to settle on a form of address.

"If you're heading straight to the train station, I can take you."

"That's all right. We have a stop to make first, so we'll manage on our own."

Yeon-jae waved him off. He wished them a safe trip home and disappeared back into the building. Watching him go, Ji-woo turned to Yeon-jae.

"Mom, but Uncle is a really important person. Hyung said Uncle is going to be the owner of this whole company someday."

"Mm. He probably will."

As far as Yeon-jae knew, Je-heon was the only heir to the Gu-il family. The third-generation only son of the Gu clan — Gu Je-heon. It was a conservative household that held to primogeniture as principle; barring some extraordinary upheaval, the company would pass to him.

"Uncle really is an amazing person, then. He even has his own elevator in a company this huge. That's so cool."

Yeon-jae smiled, watching the child chatter on with round, shining eyes. And that remarkable man was Ji-woo's father. How stunned would she be if she ever found out? Would those bright, clever eyes go so wide they filled her whole face? Ji-woo already followed him around calling him Uncle — she would probably be delighted. Yeon-jae walked on, briefly imagining a future that would never come to pass.

A little tug on her hand made her look down.

"Mom, are we going back to Daejeon now?"

"Yes. We're going back today, but we'll be moving to Seoul soon."

"We're moving to Seoul? When?"

Delight bloomed across the child's face.

"As soon as we can. You'll need to start weekly lessons soon."

At the mention of learning piano, Ji-woo's eyes sparkled as if they held ten thousand stars.

"Ji-woo gets to take piano lessons?"

"Of course. A famous piano teacher is going to teach you. And you'll have to practice every single day, too."

Yeon-jae crouched down so she was eye to eye with her daughter.

"It'll be fun at first, but there will be hard times too. Do you think you can do it?"

Not every moment would be happy. There would be days when the music wouldn't come out the way she wanted, days when she practiced her heart out and still slipped in a competition. There would even be times when she resented the piano she had once loved so much.

Ji-woo gazed at her mother, then tilted her head.

"Is the piano hard?"

"Yes. Sometimes it'll be hard, and sometimes it'll even be scary."

"Ji-woo isn't scared at all!"

The child's brave little voice tapped against Yeon-jae's chest and sank in.

And that bright, beaming smile filled Yeon-jae's eyes completely.

"That's right. Ji-woo has Mom, so you'll do just fine."

It will be different from how it was for me. Mom will make sure of that.

Yeon-jae wrapped her arms tightly around the child who had burrowed into her embrace.

"Mom, where are we going now?"

Still nestled against her, nuzzling her head, Ji-woo took Yeon-jae's hand and asked with a mischievous little grin.