Woohoo, these last couple of hours have been crazy for me so I got to writing because I have no idea what else to do.
Last chapter was... different. No worries, a lot will be explained now. Also I changed Eun Jae's role a little bit, she's still a pottery teacher but not Ga Eul's.
Also, this will be one of the last chapters. And that is a fact, this story will have less than five chapters left. I think all I need to cover now is Yi Jeong's departure, maybe one or two chapters of Yi Jeong in Sweden and an epilogue maybe.
Hope you enjoy!
Chu Ga Eul had decided that So Yi Jeong was a tease. He had made all these promises and nothing had happened. She hated it. He had actually gotten her all excited for nothing at all.
As soon as the two had gotten to bed, he had fallen asleep like a log. Or at least had pretended to be asleep because when she came out of the bathroom, he had turned around and closed his eyes. When she had woken up, he was already up and about. He'd even washed little Ina up and was having breakfast with her, Ga Eul's plate already put together and waiting for her on the stove.
They didn't talk about it with the little girl present in the room but then she didn't leave Yi Jeong's side until it was time for her to go to her pottery class. Ji Hoo had gotten her into some programme for little children since he thought Yi Jeong was biased and would go overboard with the classes. According to the young musician Yi Jeong had never even met the teacher.
Yi Jeong would drop her off and while she was gone, Ga Eul would go for her meeting with the local art gallery. Luckily the business would be conducted with Ji Hoo directely and wouldn't take too long since he knew that she wanted to pick up Ina herself. The two had come to an agreement and were both on their way before Ina's art session was over. By the time that she got to the art school, Ina's session was about to finish so Ga Eul decided to go in already and see how Ina was progressing.
When she entered the little room, she was greeted cheerfully by the teacher who was just leaving. "Hi, you must be Ina's mother."
"For all intents and purposes I am, yeah. You must be her teacher, I presume."
"Yes, I am. Cha Eun Jae, nice to meet you." She held out her hand which Ga Eul took. "And you're Chu Ga Eul, aren't you? The papers keep writing about you and your innovative ways in the art and business world. It is an honor to meet you."
"The honor is all mine. I was hoping to catch you actually because I really wanted to know how my daughter was doing." The young mother asked, "Is she keeping up? Is she as much of a talent as everyone keeps saying?"
"Oh yeah, she is. We've moved on from the basic cups and pots to something more complicated. She said her uncle had a puzzle in his studio with a piece missing so we're recreating my hanger which should be a perfect fit for the item in question." The teacher answered and instantly Ga Eul knew what her daughter had been talking about. Next to the front door of his studio, Yi Jeong had a handmade puzzle on display. In the middle of it, a piece was missing. Although she had no idea where it went, Ga Eul knew it had something to do with his first love.
The famous potter had talked to her about his first love but never named her nor did he get in depth about her. She knew the basics but that was it and she never asked about it. It didn't even cross her mind that the woman in front of her was his first love. Until...
Until he'd come in right after she'd left and seen what Ina had been finishing up. When he had asked where she'd gotten the puzzle piece, Ga Eul had told him that her teacher had given it and that she had just left. As soon as the words had left her mouth, he sprinted outside in the hopes of catching up to her. The young woman didn't know if he actually did because everything clicked in her head so she took Ina and went home.
She didn't pick up his calls the next couple of days, not because she was avoiding him but because as luck was on her side, she got a lot of work when she returned to the office. Meetings she had to set up and go to, evenings spent with Ina which was not work but she did commit herself to it because she had lost more than a month with her and wanted to catch up on it. Both Ji Hoo and Woo Bin had been by to check up on her but didn't speak of Yi Jeong because apparently he had been in solitude ever since that day.
At night when Ina was in bed and one of the two honorary godfathers would be with her, she would look for the message Eun Jae had supposedly left for Yi Jeong. She wanted him to see it one time before he left for Sweden. She didn't know why, it could be a way of making sure he got the closure he needed or it could also be because she wanted to get closure.
After seeing how he reacted at the news that Eun Jae might be around, she knew that he would never quite love her like he had loved Eun Jae. The urgency in his voice and eyes had told her enough to know that he wasn't quite over her like he had said he was. Everything made sense to her and so she had decided to stop meeting up with Yi Jeong if it wasn't for Ina or business. She needed security right now, definitely around Ina and being around Yi Jeong would not provide that.
At long last, after not even being able to go down to Jeju Island for Gu Jun Pyo's wedding, she found it and was set on showing Yi Jeong as soon as he came back because she knew that he was leaving for Sweden a month after returning from Jeju and had no time to waste. He could make up with her and close that chapter off before leaving so he had no regrets. She hadn't even been able to see both Jun Pyo and Jae Kyung off for their honeymoon.
Had Jan Di not already moved on with Ji Hoo and genuinely be happy, she would have opposed the wedding and probably not liked Jae Kyung but she was so nice and so good with Ina and the little girl adored her. Despite not really knowing the slightly older woman, the two got on really well and were able to bond in a way she would never be able to with Jan Di. She loved the other girl, after all they'd been best friends their entire lives but still, the way Ga Eul had to lead her life these days was something Jan Di would never understand while the new Mrs. Gu did understand. After all she was sole heiress to JK group.
As soon as they were back in town, Woo Bin sent Ga Eul a text that he had Ina, who had gone down to Jeju, and would be able to keep her for an extra night. After all, his father was home and wanted to spend time with the little girl as well. He had assured her that Yi Jeong was down in his studio as well so she could just go down there.
This time though, he immediately looked up when she entered. "Ga Eul, I've been trying to reach you."
"I know but I've been busy. Can we go somewhere? I have something to show you." She said, "You told me that Eun Jae gave you a note with a date on it."
"Yeah?"
"It's not a date, it's the time." She explained, "I have to show this to you. Come on, we need all the time we can get because we need to use several flights of stairs."
"Ga Eul..."
"Just shut up and come with me."
A long while later, the two were on the rooftop that Ga Eul had found. "She wants me to see a water billboard?"
"Just wait, Yi Jeong and look at both billboards." She put her hands in front of his eyes and then waited until the sun was hitting the right place so she could take her hands back. "That day, the sunrise was at 7.00 in the morning and this message was visible for only a couple of seconds during it."
Not being able to hold it in, Yi Jeong let his tears flow and fell to the floor on his knees. If she hadn't been sure about her decision before, she was now because he would not be reacting this way if he had moved on as he had said. She'd let him sit and rant for a while before she had to get moving. The weekend away from Ina had been enough, it was time for her to get her daughter again.
"Come on, I'll drive you back to your studio." She said, helping him up from the ground. The entire drive was quiet and when she pulled up in front of his studio, he stayed inside the car. "We're here."
He snapped out of his daze and looked outside and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be going then."
Slowly he got out of the car and made his way to his door. She saw him turning around and coming back but she wasn't ready to hear it yet so she quickly sped off towards Woo Bin with her heart shattered in millions of pieces.
