Chapter 3

Jun Pyo paced around his New York city penthouse. He had planned to go to Korea to surprise Jan Di for Christmas, but he had some unexpected meetings that came up. Since he was trying to juggle his classes and his business obligations, he had to take the opportunities as they came. They were struggling due to the bad publicity they had received the last few months. The media was not kind about his mother lying about his father's death. His failed alliances had not helped either.

His doorbell rang. He opened the door and found his door man holding a parcel in his hand.

Jun Pyo sat down on his couch. He looked at the parcel and recognized Geum Jan Di's handwriting. He smiled to himself.

What's this? He thought. She actually sent me a present?

He thought she'd still be angry over the car he tried to give her. He thought it was hilarious but she wasn't amused.

He opened the card attached to it. It said Merry Christmas on the front.

Inside it said,

"Jun Pyo,

I hope your Christmas is merry and bright!

Jan Di"

He opened the box and found a scarf. He took it out, puzzled. The scarf was black, with white stripes on both ends. It was nice, but he could see some mistakes in the pattern. It took him a few minutes to realize that Jan Di had made this scarf for him. The thought of her knitting a scarf for him made him smile even wider. He wrapped the scarf around his neck. It was too short, but he loved it anyway. He looked at the time. She would be asleep by now. He made a mental note to call her later when she woke up.

He had to admit, it hadn't been easy leaving Jan Di in Korea. But all his life, someone had always dictated how he should live. Coming to America was a decision he made himself, and one that he would stand by no matter what. He had complete faith in Jan Di. Sure, he was taking a risk by being away from her this long, but in a way, he also wanted to test their relationship. If they were really meant to be, they'd survive their long-distance relationship. Jan Di would be a fool to give him up. He was the great Gu Jun Pyo, after all.

His phone rang.

He cursed under his breath. Time for his meeting, then. He stood up, grabbed his coat, and headed out the door.

…

Jan Di sat on her bed clutching the music sheets Ji Hoo had given her for Christmas. He also handed her a CD he recorded so she could listen to it whenever she liked. She was overwhelmed at the thoughtfulness of his gift. She had never received anything like it in her life. The recording was playing softly on her cd player – she had put it on repeat so she could memorize every note. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, still focused on listening to the beautiful melody that played in the background.

Her phone rang. It was Jun Pyo.

"You still awake?" he asked, as she picked up the phone.

"Yeah, just getting ready for bed." She replied as she placed the music sheets carefully in a box beside her bed. "How are you?"

"I just wanted to call to thank you for my present." He said and she could hear some papers shuffling in the background.

"Present?" she asked, puzzled. She did send a card, but it was hardly what you'd call a present.

He laughed. "It's too short though. And whatever possessed you to make me a scarf?"

Jan Di froze. Scarf? She tried to think. She had forgotten all about it. Finally, realization dawned on her.

"Oh, that. Ha ha. I was…you know…" she had no clue what to say. She heard a door open and some muffled voices.

"Drat. They're here. I have to go. But I'll call you later." Jun Pyo muttered. "I miss you, Jan Di."

"Same," she replied. It was always how she answered him. Why was it so hard for her to say I miss you too? Or I love you?

Jan Di sat on her bed again. She thought of her imperfect scarf, halfway around the world in Jun Pyo's possession. Once again, her sunbae had helped her out.

She couldn't count the number of times he had been there for her – actually, he had been there for both of them. If it wasn't for him, she and Jun Pyo would have been over a long time ago.

She thought of her sunbae. She knew he used to have feelings for her. He had confessed to her over a year ago. She couldn't accept his confession, of course, and she was afraid he would avoid her after that. But he stuck by her as if nothing happened. Her sunbae was not very good at expressing his emotions – something that they had in common – but she vaguely remembered a time, after a day they spent together doing chores around his house, when he had read her a poem from a book.

She was tired by then, but she remembered every word from that poem:

I wanted to tell you…that I love you. I wanted to shout it aloud. That's all.

It had taken her by surprise, but she had pretended to be asleep, as to not make it awkward between them. She had a feeling he had meant it to be an indirect confession to her. And she knew how much courage it took for him to say those words out loud. Plus, she wasn't sure how she felt about him then – only that her focus was on Jun Pyo.

She thought about her sunbae now. They had been spending almost every day together, but he never once mentioned anything about how he felt about her now, and whenever she complained about her and Jun Pyo's relationship, he would always tell her not to give up.

Jan Di sighed.

Yes, she was certain he had no more romantic feelings towards her. Otherwise how could he keep pushing the two of them to be together?

Her mind began to register the soft melody playing in the background again. But he made this song. For her. He must have spent a lot of time on it.

Snap out of it, she chided herself. Hadn't she spent a lot of time on his present too? Did it mean anything more to her? She wasn't sure... she just knew she wanted to give him something special, to thank him for being always there. She owed him that, at least. She looked at the clock.

Time to go to bed, she muttered, as she laid down to sleep.

…

Jan Di was on cloud nine. She could hardly believe she had finished her first year of Medical school. Sure, she had barely scraped by and almost failed a class or two, but thanks to her sunbae's diligent coaching and encouragement, she made it through. She wasn't surprised to find that her sunbae seemed to be sailing through medical school and would most likely be graduating with honors.

Money, talent, looks AND brain. What a deadly combination. Some people have all the luck, she muttered to herself.

She had received a text from Ga Eul to meet at the Porridge restaurant, and she was joyfully skipping on her way there when she noticed the lights were out.

That's odd, she thought, looking at her watch. It's too early for it to close.

She opened the door hesitantly, peeking inside.

"Surprise!" she heard voices shout out, as the lights turned on.

She stood there, speechless. There was a huge rectangular banner that said, "Congratulations on finishing your first year of Medical school!" There were different colored balloons everywhere. Ga Eul walked over to her smiling, and gave her a hug. Woo Bin stood beside Grandfather, and gave her a thumbs up. Master was busy preparing some bowls of food in the kitchen. Even her mother and Kang San were there, though how they got there she had no idea.

"Wha-" she began, still unable to speak.

Grandfather walked over to her and gave her a squeeze. "Ji Hoo's idea," he chuckled, pointing behind her.

She turned around and found him holding a beautifully decorated cake.

"He tried to bake you a cake," Grandfather winked. Ji Hoo turned red at this. Jan Di looked at the cake.

"You...made...this?" she asked, in disbelief. She had no idea he could bake.

The cake had beautifully piped pink roses all around the border. The icing was white, and in the middle was a "Congratulations!" note written on a slab of dark chocolate. There was a small stethoscope made with fondant at the side.

"Nah," he smiled, setting the cake on the table. "I bought this. I did try to make one though, but I had to throw it out." He frowned, pretending to be disappointed. "Apparently, I'm terrible at baking." He tried to make the saddest face he could muster.

He looked so ridiculously cute that she laughed. "This is too much!" She exclaimed, though she was grinning from ear to ear. "I barely survived first year, you know."

"Well, wait until you see what we have planned when you make it through second year!" he said, cheerfully.

She shook her head and playfully punched him on the shoulder. "If I make it through second year!"

"You will," her sunbae said, his voice certain. "I will make sure of it."

She beamed at him.

Her mother and brother came over to congratulate her. "We're so proud of you. Dad too," her mother whispered in her ear. She hugged Jan Di tightly. "Imagine, a doctor in the family! Plus, the future wife of a billionaire!"

Jan Di blushed at this, as she hadn't actually thought much about her engagement – mostly because she hadn't actually accepted his proposal yet. But that was something her mother didn't need to know.

Kang San gave her a playful punch in the arm. "I didn't think you were smart enough for medical school!" he teased. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"How did you guys know? How did you get here?" Jan Di asked as her brother started stuffing food down his face.

Kang San just gave her a really-you-have-to-ask-look and pointed at Ji Hoo.

Ji Hoo sat beside Woo Bin and Ga Eul, and the three of them seemed to be laughing at something. Jan Di decided to investigate. As she neared she heard Woo Bin making fun of doctors, which in turn made Ji Hoo tell funny stories about construction workers. Grandfather had also joined the party and would pipe in a story or two to side with Ji Hoo, and eventually Woo Bin conceded defeat. Ga Eul and her just watched and listened with delight.

It was one of the happiest moments of her life.