•I don't own the Heirs.

•English isn't my first language. Please correct my mistakes, so that I can learn.

•Eomeoni means mother. A kind of formal way. Abeoji means father. Formal. Samchon means Uncle.

Cha Ji Ah

The footsteps behind her slowly ceased and she naively thought that perhaps they gave up chasing her.

Reaching a corner, just as Na Ri slowed down a bit, hoping to catch some breath and give her throbbing forehead a break, a man jumped out from behind a corner. And if Na Ri had not ducked in time and shoot past him under his arm, she would have been caught. She continued to speed away -- stumbling once, but gathering her balance.

Na Ri halted abruptly, almost falling on her face, when another man appeared at the corner of the alley. Breathlessly, with black spots going in and out of her vision, she quickly veered into another alleyway. She had no idea where was she going and she felt that she was getting trapped from all sides. She could still hear footsetps approaching behind her, as she half imagined someone jumping out from another corner in front of her.

Hope swelled up in her chest, when Na Ri heard the faint noises of cars as she neared the end of the dark alleyway.

Na Ri came out onto the double roads, brightly lit with street lights, where cars were speeding by, and stumbled. Failing to gather her balance this time, she fell headlong onto the road, almost knocking out her teeth. Black spots appeared in her vision and she struggled to get up. Moving like a drunkard, she pushed herself up forcefully and waved a hand at the upcoming car.

But it didn't stop and sped past her.

They were just behind her and Na Ri began crying out of desperation and helplessness. She staggered forward onto the empty road and crossed over to the other road. In a delirium kind of state, with her vision half blinded by tears, black spots in and out, and her hearing sounding distant, she once again tumbled down on the side of the road. She knew instinctively that they were crossing the road behind her. With a burning will, she threw herself to her feet and attempted to pelt across the road.

However what Na Ri failed to perceive was the zooming car.

Time seemed to slow down as the driver of the car veered it to the right side in panic, crossing over to the other road and a truck hurtled at it with a booming, sickening sound of metal crashing with metal, over throwing the heavy car as though it weighed nothing.

But Na Ri didn't get to witness that horrific scene, for the driver of the second car behind the first one had not been as quick and the runway car collided with Na Ri, sending her tumbling over the bonnet, shattering the glass and blacking her out completely. Then the driver hit the break abruptly; a deadly mistake at such a high speed. The car overturned instantly, trapping Na Ri beneath it.

The men who had been chasing after Na Ri, backed away into the shadows quietly.

It wouldn't have been as easy for someone else to obtain information regarding someone's heart donation, but he was Seo Nam Gil. Currently one of the most richest man in South Korea. Ceo of FW company, the second child and only son of Seo Hyun Ju and Seo Dae Hee.

His niece, Cha Ji Ah had been travelling from Seoul International Airport to her new home with her parents ashes when a truck had crashed into her car. That had been the second time she was going to meet her Halmeoni and Halabeoji, and the third time to meet her Samchon.

Instead they had received a call from a hospital. Cha Ji Ah had been long gone before they even reached the hospital.

And the person who had unintentionally caused the accident that had killed Cha Ji Ah (and their driver.) who could be seen in the CCTv footage, partially in her senses, running across the road blindly with three men chasing after her, laid struggling for life in the same hospital. Her ribs and knee having suffered fractures, her heart too damaged to continue functioning and her face a disfigured mess. Doctors considered her survival nothing less than a miracle.

And it had been some odd irony that Cha Ji Ah's heart had been transplanted into that very girl who, it seemed, was responsible for her dying young.

It had not been hard for Seo Nam Gil to dig out the information about her and the people chasing her, but what he had found both appalled and intrigued him.

It had not surprised Seo Nam Gil when some men had walked into the hospital after 5 days of accident and had inquired about Hae Na Ri. It had taken them more time to find her identity than Seo Nam Gil. They were thirsty for the life of the girl whose chest now carried Cha Ji Ah's heart.

Nam Gil knew that if the girl were to wake up as Hae Na Ri, then she would wake up to a hell.

Seo Nam Gil wasn't a man who made decisons in the emotions of the moment. Nor he was particularly a kind man. He deliberately thought, considered and then decided. He did the same then. Or at least he thought so.

Only a few people had known that Cha Ji Ah was no more because only a few had known that Seo Hyun Ju had a granddaughter, in the first place.

Cha Ji Ah's mother, Seo Soon Jong had fallen for a ordinary middle class man Cha Jae Hoon. Seo Hyun Ju and Seo Dae Hee had not approved of it in the least. Seo Nam Gil was 15 when Seo Soon Jong had flown to America with her fiance and married him there.

They had not heard from them since untill recently when Seo Nam Gil visited America and Cha Ji Ah herself had contacted him there. Seo Soon Jong had opened a small makeup brand, and her husband now had his own law firm. They had been living a comfortable life just the same.

There had been a family reunion with Seo Nam Gil met his Unnie after nearly 18 years, and also met his mischievous niece for the first time. The famous cold Seo Nam Gil had grown fond of Cha Ji Ah in little time, and Cha Ji Ah had insisted on visiting Seoul with her newly found Samchon. And that had been her first visit, secret from her Halmeoni and Halabeoji though.

Tragedy had stricked when Cha Ji Ah's parents suddenly passed away in a brutal car accident. (It seemed they had some bad luck with cars.) Shortly after, Nam Gil had introduced his parents to their granddaughter in America. That had been when Nam Gil had really seen his parents cry after a long rime. They were regretful to have deprived themselves of such great joy: a grandchild.

But they were most regretful towards not having met their daughter in all these years. They believed Cha Ji Ah looked a lot like her mother --which was true. That had been another reason that Cha Ji Ah easily made her way into their hearts.

Nam Gil had stayed in America for a month to help Cha Ji Ah take care of everything there and then move to Seoul, while Eomeoni and Abeoji returned.

However, when Nam Gil and Cha Ji Ah were about to return, Cha Ji Ah insisted on coming back a week later, for she had to bid farewell to some friends properly. Seo Nam Gil regretted not dragging her to Seoul with him at that time.

The only people who had attended Cha Ji Ah's funeral ceremony (and who knew about Cha Ji Ah's existence in the first place in Seoul) were Eomeoni, Abeoji, Nam Gil's cousin brother Park Hyun Shin and his only daughter Park Han Byul. The latter two never got to see Cha Ji Ah.

At least not the real Cha Ji Ah.

No one had argued when Seo Nam Gil had barged into the hospital and declared that there had been a mistake. The head of the office had offered tea to him, as identities were swapped, Hae Na Ri was pronounced dead and Cha Ji Ah had been prepared for a surgery on her deformed face.

All for one thing; Cha Ji Ah's heart that was beating inside Hae Na Ri's chest.

Their reaction was completely opposite to what he had expected. Nam Gil had thought that with Ji Ah's heart beating in someone's chest, a part of Ji Ah would still be alive even after she was gone. He had entertained a hope of comforting Abeoji and Eomeoni with Hae Na Ri.

Thus, Nam Gil had not seen it coming when his Eomeoni had delivered a sharp stinging slap across his face. Abeoji had been so upset that he had nearly collapsed while yelling at Nam Gil in about 8 years. Eomeoni told him in anger and frustration to get lost and not show his face again, but a shadow had flickered across both Eomeoni and Abeoji's face because those were the same words they had uttered 18 years ago to their daughter. The daughter who had not shown her face for the rest of her life.

They were outraged and deeply hurt, not only by the fact that Cha Ji Ah's face, her heart, even her identity was being handed over to someone else, but also by the fact that the girl was none other than the person whom they perceived as their granddaughter's murderer.

Nam Gil had seen the CCtv footage which clearly showed Hae Na Ri in an injured state, half delirious. The doctors who had treated Hae Na Ri had also informed Nam Gil that she had an injury inflicted on her head before the accident.

Nam Gil had a considerable amount of background information on her. The girl had lead quite a simple life... except for two recent events. In which for some reason, he felt there was more to it than he could see.

Hae Na Ri, he learned, had been briefly conscious for a few times in her three weeks at the hospital, but not enough to be in her proper senses as doctors kept her heavily anesthetized to make her healing procedure painless. Nam Gil had two of his paid guards guard her hospital room and one woman keep an eye on her constantly as her guardian, in case Hae Na Ri woke up and introduced herself.

And Hae Na Ri finally woke up in her right senses after more than three weeks.

Bright lights were the first thing Na Ri saw as she tried to blink open her sensitive eyes. She felt cold. There was something covering her face. With half opened eyes, she reached a hand to touch her face. Bandages all over her face, she felt.

"Are you awake?" A concerned feminine voice reached her. Na Ri squinted at the form of a woman bending over her bed. Her vision cleared fairly and she could make out the woman's appearance. Sleek brown hair hanging down her shoulders, soft pale skin riddled with makeup and a grey pencil skirt beneath a crisp white blouse.

"Who are you?" Na Ri whispered. She tried to move her legs, but looking down, she noticed the fracture on her right leg. That triggered flashbacks and she remembered a car hitting her -- or was it a truck speeding at her? Her senses felt slightly foggy, though she had realised she was lying in a hospital. Drips were connected to both her hands and she could hear the beeping noise of the machines around her.

"I am here to help you." The strange woman said sweetly, smiling pleasantly, but Na Ri felt something off about her.

"You have to listen to me carefully now." The woman's sweet smile slipped and she continued solemnly in undertones, "When the doctor comes to check you, you have to pretend that you are Cha Ji Ah, niece of Seo Nam Gil, not Hae Na Ri. Do you understand?"

Na Ri heart rate quickened in alarm. "Why?" She mumbled hoarsely.

"You want to live right?" The woman said in a honeyed voice. "Do what I say then. Cha Ji Ah's Samchon will be here soon. He will explain everything."

Who was Cha Ji Ah? Why did Na Ri had to pretend to be her? And what about her Samchon? Na Ri's mind raced as the woman flipped out a cell phone and rushed out of the room. With a shaking hand, she touched her bandaged face again. Her forehead, her cheeks, her nose and even her lips were covered with bandages. Her heart sank. What had happened to her face?

The hospital gown was thin but the sheets covering her were not, yet she felt really cold. She ran a hand on her head and imagined she resembled a mummy with bandages all over her head and face. She then felt around on her chest a small machine like object pressed against her skin right over her heart.

The vast room, she now observed was a vip one. The whiteness of the walls hurt her eyes. To her left side were a set of sofas, a table, and a huge window wih curtains drawn shut. To her right, was a comfortable looking bench lining with the wall, a chair and a water cooler. And high in front of her, a switched off dark screened LCD protruded out of the wall.

An ordinary person couldn't afford such a room at a hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here, I want to clarify that Seo Nam Gil and his secretary (who will show up in the next chapter) are somewhat based on The Beauty Inside's male lead and his secretary, but their personalities are very different. Seo Nam Gil is more cold and conceals his emotions a lot. And his secretary is meaner.

~Fawns