"Mr Choi, you have a call on line 3." The assistant's voice blared through the tiny phone speaker.
"That's the personal line. I never get calls on that line. Who's trying to get through?" he asked.
"A Miss Rose."
His eyes went wide for a few seconds and he knew exactly who was calling. It had been a while since he had heard from any of his relatives so it was a rather unwelcomed surprise. "Put her through." He sighed.
"Kang, my darling!"
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair. "What do you want, Jungmi?"
"It's Rose, okay. Just Rose. Anyways, I'm back in Korea after a long departure and I thought you and I could possibly meet up for say, dinner or maybe a late lunch?"
Kang stared at the phone on his desk and if his stare could burn through the speaker. "I don't want to."
"You could at least be courteous and lie. You don't have to be so direct."
"I'd be wasting time for the both of us. What's so important anyways? Can't you meet up with your sister or something?" he asked, getting annoyed by the minute.
"You know I don't get along with her and you're the only family I have."
"We're distant cousins, Jungmi. I'd hardly call us 'family'. But I can sense the desperation in your voice so I'll do you this one and only favour and also because I'm meeting a client for dinner. So let's meet."
She gasped loudly on the other end of the line. "Kang, how could you be so mean?"
"I'm killing two birds with one stone. I'll have my P.A send you the details. I'm hanging up now." He said and pressed the little red blinking button on the keypad.
Kang spent the rest of the afternoon working hard as usual and having very little time for anything else. It was soon 5:30pm and he waiting for Jungmi patiently after his meeting with his client. He checked his watch and shook at his. "Late as usual." He said to himself.
Suddenly, the door opened and in walked a dazzling Jungmi. Her hair seemed to be blown by an imaginary breeze. She wore a black turtleneck, sleek leather jacket and black jeans. Her heels clicked on the tiled floors as she made her way to Kang. People stared at her in awe all accept Kang who looked about ready to throw up.
"I see you still like being the center of attention."
"I see you still have a stick up your ass." She teased. "I missed you too, Kang and thank you for my warm welcome back to Korea. How are you?" she smiled innocently.
Kang blinked and pressed his lips into a flat line. "Let's cut the formalities, Jungmi. Why did you want to meet with me?"
"I hate how separated we are, Kang. We are family. We're the last of our kind left and we need each other now more than ever." She said.
Kang took a sip of his water and looked at her. Her eyes were glossy as if she were about to start bawling her eyes out any minute.
"I don't think we need to do all that. Our family had a chance to be united years ago but didn't. What's the point of doing all that right now? We're all older, we live our own lives and we have our own destinies. I don't think you need me and I certainly don't need you."
Jungmi was taken aback. She always knew that Kang was... cold but never to this extent. Something big must have happened in the years they spent apart and part of her wanted to get to the bottom of it but another part wanted to do as she was told. To continue living as though he didn't exist. But she didn't want that. She wanted her cousin back.
"Well you certainly have done well for yourself, Kang. You're the CEO of Yantra Motors. I'm proud of you." She said and forced a smile.
"So that's why you're here. It's for money, isn't it?" he scowled.
"I am so offended." Jungmi clutched at her pearl neckline. "I'll have you know that I have made quite the name for myself as a model in Thailand, Kang. I was the face of many a product there so I don't not need your money."
"Okay, so there must be another reason why you're here."
Jungmi sank into her chair. "Fine, yes. There is another reason."
"I knew it!" he slapped the table and pointed at her. "There is always something with you. So what, what is it this time?"
She glared at him but quickly maintained composure. "Well, I came to tell you that I have turned human."
"What?"
"Yeah, 2 years ago. I'm still learning all the ways of humans but I seem to be on the right path." She smiled and this time, it was genuine.
He shook his head in disbelief. "Why would you do something so stupid?"
Jungmi blinked in shock. "I thought you'd be happy for me and maybe even congratulate me."
"For becoming human and giving up your powers? You were a powerful entity, Jungmi and no one could take that away from you but you went and messed that up. Pray tell; what was the reason? You probably want to be 'normal' right? Have a family with a human man, right? Live that happily ever after fairy-tale that these putrid humans always dream of?" he asked.
She opened her mouth to answer but no words came out.
"Look, if you're here to convince me to turn human too, don't bother."
"I'm not here for that. I just came to tell you because I wanted someone to share the good news with, that's all." Jungmi's voice suddenly sounded like a whisper as she looked down at her fingers.
What was it about Kang that made him so intimidating? Jungmi always thought of herself as a strong woman but before Kang, she felt so small just as she had felt when they were kids. He always made all the other kids feel inferior.
"Alright well, next time you want to meet me make sure you have something useful to tell me or better yet, shoot me a text. I'm leaving now." He said and got up to leave.
Jungmi was left all alone in the restaurant, the only traces of Kang were is cologne. Perhaps that was the reason why she was getting teary eyed.
She sat there for a while and pondered whether coming back to Korea was a good idea or not. She had left everything she had in Thailand and everything she had worked so hard to have and for what? Kang had humiliated her, made her feel as though she was lesser than just because she was human now. But she didn't come this far just to come this far. She was determined to get Kang to have a change of heart about becoming human.
As Kang drove home, something inside him started to stir. It was an unfamiliar feeling that he couldn't quite shake. He shook his head and tried to rid it of any thoughts of Jungmi. He couldn't let her return distract him from running his empire.
He knew that having any family around would cause him to lose focus. It's what he tried to avoid all these years but now, things were different. Jungmi is human and Kang knew that she'd want to turn him too.
He drove around mindlessly, missing his turn over and over until he eventually snapped out of it and drove home. His butler, Seonwoo was waiting for him with his usual glass or cognac on the rocks.
"Sir, you've returned home quite late this evening." Seonwoo said.
"Sorry, Seonwoo. My meeting ran over and I lost track of time." He sat on the couch and drank his drink. The bitter liquid cause him to grit his teeth.
"You seem distracted, Sir."
He was, so much so that he didn't even hear his butler speaking to him.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Nothing, Sir. May I retire for the night?"
He smiled, "Of course, Seonwoo. I'll see you tomorrow."
Kang walked up to the window with a view of Seoul. He stood there for a few minutes deep in thought. Like a lurking shadow behind him, he could feel the past creeping back. A past that he tried so hard to run away from and avoid thinking about but Jungmi being around was surely about to cause a mess.
