Day 4

"Jumin...have you ever been in-love?"

"I have no time for such things."

She giggled. "What a serious person you are, saying you have no time for love."

"It's just," he explained. "I want to prove to the world that I'm not just the son of the infamous Mr. Han. I want my staff to see that I am just as hardworking as them, even more so because I'm supposed to be leading them soon. I am my own person and I did not get to where I am just because my father owns the company."

"But it certainly helped."

Jumin's lips curled up. "Yes, of course. But nevertheless, I don't want to take advantage of that by slacking off or passing off my duties to my staff. I want to be an efficient leader."

"We may have never met personally, but I believe you'll surpass your own expectations and reach for the stars, Jumin Han."

Ba-thump.

He arched his brow. His heart was doing that weird thing again. "Thank you," he replied. "What about you? Have you ever been in-love?"

He wasn't really thinking about what he was saying, he just thought it would be polite to ask as well. But after saying it, Jumin was suddenly burning with curiosity.

MC was quiet at first, but when she answered, her voice sounded so sad that he wanted to pull her to him, to comfort her.

"No...but I'm engaged."

"Oh."

His heart sank.

"But you do not love him?"

"Most certainly not."

"Then why are you marrying him?"

"Why, indeed?" She let out a mirthless laugh before continuing, "Simply put, we are broke. My father cannot afford to maintain this vineyard anymore and he sold me to the highest bidder."

His grip on the phone tightened. "He sold you? MC, I do not believe people can be auctioned off like antiques. Isn't this illegal?"

"Perhaps it is but what can I do? He's my father. When he heard that one of the wealthiest businessmen in town had a son, he set a meeting with them as soon as possible. He took me with him, saying he wanted me to learn more about the family business. Before I even had the chance to find out what was going on, he had already set me up on a date with him."

"Is this man reputable, at least?" He didn't know why he was asking this. This was obviously her personal matter, who was he to poke around other people's business? Why did he care so much?

"Hardly. Everybody in town whispers about how handsome he is but he uses his looks to toy with women's emotions. He uses his money to buy pleasure and when he doesn't get what he wants, he uses force."

Jumin closed his eyes in an effort to remain composed.

"It sounds like this man is insane."

"He is."

"You should not marry such a vile man."

She sighed. "If I could escape, I would have. But if I don't marry him, I'm afraid my father will be so desperate that he'll push my other sisters to marry him instead. And I cannot do that to them."

Other sisters.

So MC was protecting her sisters. His respect for her grew but he still wished he could do something to get her out of that situation.

"I wish I can help you," he tells her softly. "I don't like the predicament you're in."

"I knew you were my angel." He could hear the smile in her voice and his heart melted. "I wish I could run away. Maybe I can come work for you instead. Make enough money to support my sisters and hide from our father forever."

"You wouldn't need to work for me, I would have provided you with whatever you needed and ensured your safety."

Jumin froze.

What did he just say?

She laughed.. "That's very thoughtful of you, but I would never impose myself on you."

"No," he said. "I would be deeply offended if you refused my help." And he meant it. Every word he just told her was true -he would be willing to do anything to keep MC safe. He found it odd that he felt so strongly about someone he's never met before, but everything about their current situation was not normal.

"Thank you, Jumin. That means a lot to me. I…We've never met and we don't owe each other anything, but I feel as though I've known you my entire life."

"As do I."

For a moment, they were both silent, each deep in thought. Jumin's mind was a mess, the threads in his mind intertwining with the rest that he now has an intricate disaster inside his head. His emotions, however, were worse. He didn't understand anything that was happening to him right now. He was intrigued and curious about this situation with MC. He silently seethed about her having to marry such a dishonest and loathsome cockroach man. He wanted to make her happy, just so he could hear her laughter one more time. He wanted to keep her safe and make sure the sadness vanished from her eyes and from her heart.

"Are you always this nice to strangers?"

"Not really. But you're no stranger to me, we've known each other our entire lives, no?"

She laughed and Jumin grinned, wanting nothing more than to see her laughing right at that very moment.

"You're funny, Jumin."

She thought he was funny!

"It's one of my special talents," he said, knowing full well that if V heard him saying that, his best friend would have strongly disagreed.

MC giggled. Jumin was the only one who could make her smile these days, his deep voice the only one that brought her comfort and allowed her to sleep at night. She wished she could see him but she had no idea how he would be able to send his photo to the past. Still, MC was thankful that she could at least talk to him.

Her angel.

"Tell me about your family." MC said, turning to her side and pulling her blanket closer to her body. She wanted to know everything about him, what kind of a person her angel was. She already knew he was nice and funny. But what else lay behind that deep voice of his?

"My family? There's not much to know. My father and mother are divorced and currently, I'm living with my father. I respect him very much and I'd like to think we are similar to normal fathers and sons. He…he's a bit of a womanizer, but I love my father dearly. I don't have any siblings and very few I can consider my true friends. I guess you can say that my family consists of my father, Elizabeth the 3rd, and my best friend V."

"I'm sorry, but what's a divorce?"

"Oh…I guess it's not legal yet in your time. A divorce is when a married couple decide to dissolve their marriage."

"Dissolve their marriage?" MC asked, her breath catching. "Why would anyone want to do that?"

"Who knows? Perhaps they weren't suited for each other? They fell out of love? I'm not sure."

"That sounds awful." MC replied, feeling sad. The future suddenly seemed like a lonely place to live if people created things such as divorces. "Jumin, promise me something."

"What is it?"

"When you get married someday, promise me you'll never get a divorce."

She heard his light chuckle and her heart skipped a beat. MC bit her lip, holding onto the phone tightly as she waited for his reply.

"I doubt I'll ever get married but if I do, I promise I won't get a divorce."

MC let out the breath she was holding. "That's good. Thank you, Jumin."

"What an odd request, MC. I've had people ask me for a lot of things, but no one's ever asked me to promise not to get a divorce."

"It's just," MC stated, twirling the cord around her fingers. "I believe that people should marry for love. And if things ever get bad in a marriage, then shouldn't the couple fix it instead of abandoning each other?"

"Things don't work like that anymore, I guess."

"The future seems so bleak."

Jumin laughs again. "It's not that bad. I wish you could be here so I could show you all the good points of the future."

"Oh? The busy owner of C&R will take time off to give me a tour of the future? I'm very honored, Mr. Han."

"I will make an exception for you, MC, because you laugh at all my jokes."

"Why? Do people not laugh at your jokes?"

"They say my jokes are not funny. Or perhaps they find it awkward when their boss jokes around with them."

MC laughed. "I'll laugh at all your jokes if you promise to take me around in those flying cars you use."

Jumin lets out a genuine laugh and MC smiles. His laugh sounded so nice. It made her want to see him in person and see him laughing so she could keep that memory of him inside her head forever.

"Flying cars haven't been invented yet. If you wish, I could take you around in my private jet or a helicopter."

"You could take me around riding a horse and I wouldn't care. We could even walk, I wouldn't mind either."

"Horses? Hmm."

"Hmm?"

"I should tell my assistant to research about the farms in the country."

MC giggled. This man…was her ray of sunshine.

"But…"

MC repositioned herself on the bed, transferring the phone to her other ear.

"…if you believe people should marry for love, then I suggest you have a talk with your father about your marriage with that man. You will not be able to divorce him, MC. It will be a life sentence with him once you say I do."

Her smile disappeared and her heart clenched. "Jumin, it's not that easy."

"If your father loves you, he will understand. You must try."

She has tried. MC had already pleaded with her father but his solution was to offer her younger sister and MC couldn't allow that to happen. But surely must love them, right? Surely he loves his daughters. She thought of her father's smile as he taught her how to ride a horse and how to choose the best grapes. Maybe he would understand. She knew he only feared about not having enough money to feed her and her sisters. Maybe there was another way.

But she also remembered the look in Hong Chul's eyes whenever he looks at her and she shuddered.

"I…I'll try, Jumin. Honestly, I'm more afraid of Hong Chul."

"Hong Chul?"

"My—"

Before MC could continue, she heard the door across the hallway opening. If her father catches her talking to a man on the phone, she would lose all chances of him listening to her.

"Jumin, I need to go."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He seemed to hesitate, but only said, "Okay. Tomorrow, then. Goodnight, MC."

"Goodnight, Jumin."

MC put down the phone quietly and got under the blanket as fast as she could, closing her eyes and pretending to be sleep as the footsteps got closer. The door opened and she heard the heavy footsteps of her father entering the room and making his way towards her. She tried to even out her breathing and relax, hoping he wouldn't realize that the lights were still on.

MC could feel him standing close to her bed silently. It went on for a minute before she heard him speak.

"My dear MC…I'm so sorry."

And then just like that, he left, closing the door behind him and leaving a string of questions inside MC's mind.