Fated To Love You

The Time Jump

In a span of five months, a lot had changed.

Yeo Ri had finally moved on from Rae Won and sincerely apologized for what happened at the noraebang. For Rae Won, "all's well that ends well", as they decided to forget about that night and continue on with their mentor and mentee relationship. Now, Yeo Ri was more than focused on her photography as she had been invited to participate in a prestigious photography competition in the Philippines.

After being conned, Yong Hwa's businesses never recovered. He lost a lot of partnerships with fellow chefs, his restaurant beside Happy Bread never materialized and what was left of him were small, cooking gigs that he got from bookings on the internet. He never apologized to Ih Na, but the latter could care less. Their paths never crossed since his drunken visit to her apartment, and it was definitely better off that way.

Meanwhile, Rae Won had decided to put up another photography studio at Garosugil. On top of that, he now had "Lee Productions", his brand new business venture that incorporated both photos and videos for his seasoned and potential clients. He got extremely popular after his summer photospread on Love Korea, that he rarely stayed put ever since. He was always in and out of the country, but was more than thankful for the success that distracted him from his broken heart.

Lastly and most importantly, Ih Na was in a much better place now. The wounds she had gotten from her failed relationship with Yong Hwa had finally been healed, and now, she was smiling and laughing a lot more as she continued to live every single day of her life on a positive note. Despite this though, she had never forgotten about the man who taught her to live this way and it was none other than Lee Rae Won.

Ih Na continued to think about him fondly. There were times when she would feel like sending him random text messages, when she would remember little bits and pieces of their memories together as she strolled around the places they used to visit, further eliciting deep and heavy sighs every now and then.

She knew that she missed Rae Won so badly, and kept hoping that he would wait for her until the time was right, but Ih Na also reminded herself that a lot has happened in the five months they had lost contact with one another, and that if he was already seeing someone else, she would have to accept it by all means.

Even if it killed her deep inside, Ih Na had to brace herself for the kind of reality where she and Rae Won might have been meant to simply pass each other by. It's not that she was being a total pessimist, but based on the time they had spent apart and the apparent lack of communication, that kind of reality was possible.

"Tonight, 8 pm." Son Mi suddenly said, breaking her best friend's train of thought as they remained at one of the conference rooms after Love Korea's monthly team meeting.

"Mwo (What)?" Ih Na replied with a confused expression on her face.

"Rae Won's got a photo exhibit at his newly-opened photography studio at Garosugil tonight. 8 pm." Son Mi explained.

Ih Na simply sat there, not quite sure what to make out of what her best friend had just said.

"Ih Na, I know you still like the guy. It's really obvious." Son Mi uttered with a teasing tone. "Why don't you head on down to his studio tonight? I mean, it's not as if you guys split up or anything right? Can't it go something like, "Hey, do you still remember me? I'm still alive and definitely head over heels with you"."

Ih Na threw a small piece of crumpled paper at Son Mi in reply.

"Ya, Kwon Son Mi. Jugullae (Kwon Son Mi, do you want to die)?" The former reacted.

Son Mi responded with a hearty laugh.

"You know what," She began, as soon as her laughter had died down. "All I'm saying is that, there's nothing wrong if you want to see him again. You left because you needed time for yourself, you needed to heal those deep wounds, and Rae Won understood that right? Which means that you're cool. The both of you. So there's really nothing to worry about." She added.