Hush, My Sweet Darling

Chapter 34: The Sweet-looking Girl at the Stream

Seoul, South Korea - Five years ago...

It was early morning on a clear mid-October day, and Jared was up for a stroll. He had obtained his MBA degree from Harvard Business School just less than six months ago. Upon returning home to Hong Kong, his father had immediately assigned him to the Lee Group's auxiliary company in the hospitality industry. He was to work there as an executive apprentice.

His father had put him under the wing of the executive director of Lee Hotels and Resorts, Aaron Chan. This branch of the group was in the middle of acquiring a small South Korean boutique hotel chain. Mr. Chan had then sent him to live in Seoul for three months in order to learn more about the nitty-gritty details of the business from their local acquisition team.

The merging deal was successful, and today was his last day in the South Korean capital. Tomorrow, he'd fly back home.

After several months of the stuffy summer weather, Jared readily welcomed the mild fall. He decided to ditch his car and took public transportation up until Dongdaemun station, then walked the remaining four kilometers along the Cheonggyecheon stream—a pretty little watercourse that flowed through the heart of Seoul—toward the business district nearby the Gwanghwamun square, where his office was located.

He was talking to a colleague on the phone when suddenly a gust of strong wind stung his face.

"Ah!!!" a woman screamed.

Jared turned his head toward the source of the sound and saw a woman frantically trying to collect several sheets of paper that were blown away by the wind into the stream. Without much thinking, he jumped into the shallow water to retrieve the papers.

After collecting all the floating papers, he walked up to the woman, who was standing at the edge of the stream with her mouth agape, obviously taken aback by what she'd just seen. "They're a bit wet," Jared said in English, smiling. "They seemed important to you, so I hope they're not totally ruined," he added as he handed the papers back to her.

"T-thank you..." the woman replied as she took the damp papers from Jared's hand.

The strong autumn breeze was still blowing. It tousled her black, shoulder-length hair, and its fringe, fully revealing her graceful heart-shaped face. Her brown eyes were hues of forest floor, full of nutrients, allowing life to foster and thrive. She wasn't beautiful in a striking way, but her subtle features radiated soft passion. Sweet and soothing, drawing Jared in all the same. 

She pointed at his pants. "I'm really sorry," she said, her forehead puckered. Jared looked at his wet trousers, only then realizing he had jumped into the stream in his full business suit. "It's okay, it will dry," he chuckled, dismissing her concern.

The woman's phone rang. Jared could hear a loud voice from the phone as soon as she picked up the call. Even though he didn't understand a word of what they were saying, he could see the panicky look on the woman's face. She was profusely bowing her head as she talked. It seemed like she was apologizing and desperately pleading to whomever it was on the other end of the line.

After the phone call ended, she hastily turned to him. The call seemed to have gotten her so anxious that she might have jumped at her own shadow. "Thank you so much for helping me get these papers back. I'm really sorry for making your pants wet... Thank you so much! Good-bye!" She bowed quickly at him, and before Jared could say anything, she had already dashed in the opposite direction, leaving Jared open-mouthed.

The woman was wearing a typical office worker attire—a grey pencil skirt, a white turtleneck top underneath a formal black suit blazer, and a pair of black low-heeled pumps.