Evenstar

16. Who is Kim Taehyung?

The next day as they were going back to Geumsan, Dae Eun could think of nothing else but her time with Taehyung. She was quiet in the car, looking out the window at the passing scenery but seeing nothing but the lights floating along the Han River. Even when she unpacked the things she bought and gave her gifts to Nana and the other girls, her thoughts were distracted. Why had he given her such a big responsibility? She thought of calling June, but she knew she had to gather her thoughts first or else she might sound unintelligible and overwhelmed.

She was so distracted that she didn't hear her dad coming into the veranda where she had been sitting all afternoon.

"You fell really hard, hmm?"

"Appa..." she stood to kiss his cheek as he settled on the seat beside her.

"Jun-Ho tells me that you met with this Taehyung yesterday. Was that your plan?"

"No, Appa! He asked me the evening before we left, and I really didn't know he would meet us - until he did."

"Is this why you won't go with us to Europe?"

"No... Appa, you know me better than that."

"So how was it?" He was eager to know what happened during her Seoul trip, since his daughter was visibly unsettled.

Dae Eun was always honest with her dad. He was often busy so she made sure her time with him was sincere and meaningful. She never took it for granted, the times he would spend with her. Life was short and one never knew what the future held.

"Appa, I'm thinking of him all the time. Is this normal?" This never happened to her before.

"Well, maybe. The first time I met your mom, I couldn't stop thinking about her too."

Dae Eun told him that Taehyung had risked being seen in public to meet her, that he had chosen her dress, had bought her a bag and shoes, and had asked her to help him with an investment. Chung-Hee was surprised. This Taehyung was moving fast.

"Did you say yes?"

"Yes, I want to help him. I've seen how this investment earns and I'd like to teach him how to do it."

"Is that all? You're not falling for him?"

"I think I might, Appa." Dae Eun looked at her dad, feeling helpless. "It's hard not to, but he's too much for me. I might not be the perfect match for him, he's just too shiny."

"That's debatable. No one will ever deserve you, you know that."

"I bought you a shirt. Come, try it on." Dae Eun decided to change the subject.

"Eun-ah, you know I trust you. You're not a teenager and I don't have to guard you." Chung-Hee wanted to make sure that Dae Eun understood what he wanted to say.

"Appa... I love you. I won't do anything to disappoint you. Now come, promise me you'll wear this - and make my oppas wear it too... please..." She dragged her dad to the living room where she had laid out the shirts she bought them. She was dying to see the three of them wearing it.

"No way!" Chung-Hee exclaimed. The shirt had a dancing ginseng root at the front, its hair standing on end, dark shades as eyes and lips as red as a beefsteak tomato. He stayed with his daughter until evening. Although they were laughing, inwardly he began feeling sad as he sensed that she had already begun walking the road to a future he had hoped would come much later.

As he drove back to the house, his secretary called. The information he had asked for almost a month ago was finally complete. He had Kim Taehyung's dossier, with every significant data from his birth. He stepped on the accelerator and hurried home.