1 YEARS LATER

"ANYA!!!! At least listen to us on this day!! Be excited as us!!!!" Han Soyeon shouted with deafening volume in the poor girl's ears.

Instinctively, Anya's palm planted on the girl's face with a smack, trying to push it away, "You think putting my ears out of commission will do that trick you absurd loud speaking alien???" Anya groaned over the whistling of wind coming from the open window of the fast moving car.

Soyeon shamelessly swatted away her best friend's hand, to put her absurdly cheerful beaming face close to Anya again, "You are at last moving into a house of your dreams!! How can you not be thousand folds more excited than this???"

"A house that was left to me in the will of my old grandma who now died a month back." Anya deadpan replied.

Completely undisturbed by it, Soyeon dismissively waved her hand, "That old witch treated you worse than a contracted slave in your childhood. Giving you the house is the least she could do to clear a little bit of her karma for all the sins she has committed."

With a sparkle in her eyes, she practically bounced on her seat, "See? By accepting the house with an open heart, you are actually forgiving her which would definitely help her with the judgement she will face in the afterlife!"

Anya raised an eyebrow at her friend, "Remind me again, who was it exactly, who vehemently wanted me to reject the will and sell it away on the grounds of not giving an inch to the person who quote, "never treated you as a human let alone a granddaughter"?"

"That was until that greedy girl actually saw the house." Kim So Hyun said sardonically from the front seat.

Twisting his body, he looked back at his girlfriend who blushed a bit, "Right, Sweet pea?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Soyeon retorted indignantly, "Anya ALWAYS dreamed of having a beach house!! How can I stand in the path of my best friend's happiness?????"

"So that means you have no aspirations whatsoever of moving in and living with Anya?" So Hyun persisted in his questions.

"I-- well-you-" Soyeon stuttered a little, "Well! I can't just let my precious Blueberry to live all alone in a strange house which is new and a little isolated!!! Its my duty to make sure to take care of her, especially when you know how she gets when she starts writing!! What if she gets scared."

"Ah!" So Hyun nodded piously, "Of course." Then he winked at Anya, causing her to chortle.

"AHH! CAN YOU BAND OF OAFS KEEP IT DOWN!!!" Lee Mira shouted suddenly from the opposite window seat of the car where she was trying to sleep, "Disturbing my sleep" she grumbled.

"When do you not sleep?" So Hyun uttered a long suffering sigh, "Honestly, if we need to keep it quiet for every instance of finding you asleep, we might as well as go ahead to take a vow of silence for life, like a monk."

Mira snorted, "With a monk like you, even the gods of the temple would flee."

"EXCUSE ME? Are you actually insultingly demeaning my awesomeness? Even if you search the entire damn country, you will never get a man like me! Gentle, handsome, well behaved, dashing, sexy, intelligent, with a killing sense of humou-"

"Ah yes, you do kill everyone to boredom with your god-awful pathetic jokes which never make sense." Mira closed her eyes again.

Enraged, So Hyun completely turned back from the front seat, "HAH! ONLY YOUR WEIRD ASS MUMBO JUMBO YELLOW PAPER TALISMAN GYPSY ASS WILL NOT FIND MY JOKES FUNNY!! WHY DO I HAVE YOU AS MY SISTER??"

"Babe," Soyeon winced as she apologetically looked at her boyfriend, "Unfortunately, Mira is right."

"Why--? I never! The utter disrespect!"

Anya smiled as she looked at her three childhood friends bickering again as usual. Lee Mira, Han Soyeon, Lee So Hyun and her clicked together as early as their memories formed. Living in the same neighbourhood with their houses lined side by side, it was no wonder they formed a friendship which followed them from their infancy, all the way through school and college.

The same age, with almost same thoughts, hobbies, principles and passion, they were the only family that she ever loved and trusted.

Except of them, there existed only one more person she loved . . .

Cautiously, she asked, "So Hyun? Has he contacted you?"

Hearing her quivering low voice, So Hyun immediately stopped his rebuttals and smiled softly at her, "Oh yes! He is returning soon! I talked to him 2 days ago and about his coming back, its not just me, but his uncles and cousins have been informed too. " He sighed, "With the rising power of his company in the previous years following all the proposals that have been now been completed & implemented, he has become a seriously big star in the economic and financial world. Such an acute and steep rise is only possible with the amount of work and time he put Anya. Not to mention, he was busy to the extent of not attending any social gathering, even the ones that needed making connections. He really was busy."

Although her heart banged loudly at the news of his return, a part of her felt sour too, "Then. . ." Anya bit her lips lightly, "He talked to you, to Soyeon, his family. Why not me?"

"Blueberry," Soyeon enveloped her in her arms and said softly, "Things between Namjoon and you. . . was it ever confirmed? Did you ever confess your feelings to him? Or did he?"

A pang of pain pierced Anya.

No. They never did.

But all her life, she had always been aware of his quiet eyes watching her from behind his silver rimmed specs.

All her life, he was a shadow, always present behind her, to catch her if he stumbled.

His presence in her life had been a constant, in moments of her jubilation, as in her blackest despair. His gentle hands had supported her, his warm smile had comforted her. He had been her safety, he still was her home.

Was it such a surprise that when she learned about what the emotion of love signified, Namjoon had already become its definition?

"He feels the same about you Blueberry." Mira spoke with her eyes still closed, "That ruthless man is head over heels for you. Never doubt that."

"Then why-"

So Hyun interrupted Anya's question, "You know the turmoil the Kang family underwent a year ago. It was dog blood drama of betrayal and tragedy. The business was failing, his father, the chairman died, his uncles were fighting. He himself was injured. I think he wanted to make everything stable before coming back to you." So Hyun stretched out his hand to pinch her cheeks, "You know how very notorious he is for not letting you be exposed to anything vulgar, especially his family. Hell, he even changed his surname to Kim just to avoid tainting you by his association."

Nodding, Anya sighed. Before she could open her mouth to speak more, their driver stopped the car and spoke, "We are here."

"OH MY GOD!! OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!" Soyeon screeched in excitement, temporarily deafening them all, then she bent over Mira and pushed the door open.

With a particularly strong shove, Soyeon pushed the poor girl who was still getting her bearing, right out of the door to fall unceremoniously on the ground, while she jumped insultingly over Mira's body to leap towards the beach in front of her.

"HAN SOYEON YOU WILL DIE IN MY HANDS TONIGHT!!!!" Mira's enraged scream bounced off the happy back of the running girl who dashed towards the private beach in front of a charming beach mansion.

So Hyun smiled awkwardly as he paid the driver, "She-she's just a little excited."

The driver snatched the money, looking slightly traumatised. He had, after all, endured the trio's antics for over 6 hours, "Let me make a suggestion." He tried saying only to be interrupted.

"WAIT FOR ME YOU BOOBY EMPTY HEADED DUMB ALPACA!! I WILL TEAR YOUR LIMBS APART TO MAKE A RAFT AND SAIL ON THAT SEA!!!" Mira chased after Soyeon.

Anya and So Hyun winced again as they laughed gawkily at the cab driver who continued his advice, "Take them to a hospital. They might not be alright in their heads." He shook his head, "it's a threat to the society." After a slight pause, "Get yourself checked as well."

"Ah. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Ha ha ha." So Hyun nodded along as he pulled the few suitcases from the trunk and sent the car off.

Anya started laughing right off, while So Hyun rubbed the back of his neck, looking ahead at his two friends tussling with each other on the beach with a smile on his face.

Then both of them turned to look at the beautiful and quaint house.

"Life is going to take a more joyous turn for us." He looked at Anya.

Anya too nodded, "Yes, it will."

Strangely though, a cold wisp of premonition curled around her making her pause. Her words, felt ominously like a mocking laugh of a destiny waiting to unfold.

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A/N : Setting of this novel is 1970's so no mobile phones guys.

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