TWELVE

Five months have passed since the marriage was canceled. Now Yujin is back to living her days as usual. Going to campus, accompanying her father to meetings, studying, and waiting for that man. Lee Jinwoo.

Lee Jinwoo... One name that Yujin echoed every time she missed the cold figure who had managed to steal her heart all this time. Lee Jinwoo's existence since five months ago just disappeared and not a single member of Jinwoo's family knew. President Kang said that Jinwoo was still in Kazakistan to help recover the country after the war, his eldest son had never contacted him to tell him how he was at this time.

Yujin finally tried to be patient by still waiting for Jinwoo until the man returned to Korea. At least until this moment Jinwoo has not been rumored to have died or experienced something that could endanger his life out there, so she can calm her troubled heart while waiting for the man's appearance in Korea.

"Father, has your relationship with Uncle Kang improved?" Yujin asked one morning while having breakfast with her father.

Since President Kang announced the annulment of the marriage, Minister Im's demeanor towards his friend has been a little cold. As a father, of course he was disappointed by Minwoo's very disappointing demeanor. Luckily he hasn't given up his daughter to that jerk to marry Yujin. If that happened, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Moreover, this concerns his promise to his late wife. He will be haunted by guilt towards his wife for giving up their only daughter to a lecherous man like Minwoo.

But just then president Kang offered Jinwoo as Minwoo's replacement to marry Yujin. And until now he hasn't told Yujin that Jinwoo will one day marry her. It would be better for Yujin not to know about the news because he himself was not really sure about Jinwoo's condition.

Indeed Jinwoo had a good reputation. He is the proud general of South Korea and his achievements are beyond doubt. But he did not seek it all to be the criteria for his daughter's husband. He just wants his daughter to always be safe and get love from her husband. Meanwhile, if she was with Jinwoo, he didn't know whether Yujin would be safe. The man has tons of enemies. Not to mention his coldness and stiffness made him doubt if the man could give his daughter an abundance of affection as big as he gave it to Yujin.

Now he thinks that none of his best friend's children deserve to be side by side with Yujin. His daughter was too precious to be side by side with Jinwoo. But he himself did not have the right male candidate for Yujin because all the sons of his colleagues were either far above Yujin or far below Yujin. Like it or not, he had to accept Jinwoo as his future son-in-law if Jinwoo came back later. If Jinwoo doesn't come back, then he will give Yujin the opportunity to find a man who really loves his daughter. Not coming from a respectable family is fine, as long as the man is genuinely kind and wants to love his daughter sincerely.

"Father... what do you think?"

Yujin touched her father's hand gently when her father was lost in thought without responding to her question.

Im Jaehyuk smiled gently at his daughter and stroked his daughter's palm which was still on his hand gently.

"I only thinks of you, Yujin. Father still feels disappointed with Minwoo's demeanor. He should be a good example because he is the son of President Kang. But never mind, it doesn't matter anymore now. The important thing is you and Minwoo don't get married. I was really relieved that he didn't let you go to that jerk."

Yujin looked sadly at her father who looked frustrated. She knows that her father is very worried about her future because her father is no longer young. If she could tell her father the truth, she loved Jinwoo very much and wanted to be with him. But she was too scared. She was afraid that her father would come to Jinwoo someday and force the man to marry her. Hasn't she only felt one-sided love all this time? Jinwoo never loved her. And the father who is very fond of her will certainly grant whatever she asks. Now all she could do was wait for Jinwoo and hope that the man would marry her so that her father would not continue to be troubled like this. It hurts to see the only family she has so frustrated because her future is not clear.

"Yujin, are you in love with someone?"

Yujin froze. She was shocked because her father suddenly asked her about it.

Have he been aware of it all this time? Yujin muttered to herself while looking at her father confused. She was too afraid to tell her father the truth about her feelings for Jinwoo.

"Why do you suddenly ask me like that?"

"If you have someone you like, just tell me. I had seen, actually you are not too interested in Minwoo. So do you have a man you like? Your college friend maybe?" asked Mr. Im trying to be normal.

Yujin glanced at her father and decided to shake her head. She didn't lie to her father. Didn't the father ask her in the context of a college friend? If that was the case, then the answer was no. There was not a single man in her college who was attractive to her eyes after she saw General Lee and fell in love with that cold man for years.

"There is no man I really like, father. On my campus all men look unattractive." Yujin replied as is.

Im Jaehyuk raised his eyebrows while shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "So far, you never told me about your ideal type of man. What kind of man do you like?"

Yujin looked thoughtful. Currently, what is inside her head is General Lee's face that looks cold and stiff. Then she imagined Jinwoo's face when the man was tormenting his victim. Of all the things about Jinwoo that she imagined, there was nothing she could say to her father. If she tells her father that the man she likes is a sociopath, she might have a sudden heart attack because he thinks she is insane. She then tried to think of Jinwoo's positive attitude. The man at least had a little bit of a nice attitude to her, even though he rarely showed up.

"I like a good man, who can protect me and treat me if I am sick."

The only thing that was most memorable about Jinwoo was when the man treated her wounds after he had hurt her. Even though at that time she was unconscious. But somehow imagining when Jinwoo treated her, made her heart flutter. At least she felt that Jinwoo was still paying attention to her after the man hurt her sadistically.

"Only that? No other? I think almost all men have that attitude."

"Not really. Most men are not like that. What does father think if a man is willing to treat a woman after he has hurt her? Doesn't that man look very responsible to his act?"

Im Jaehyuk looked at his daughter suspiciously.

"Have you been hurt by a man?"

"What? No. Never!"

Yujin looks nervous while busy with her food that is almost finished. Don't let her father think all kinds of things about her because the only incident that caused her to be physically injured was when Jinwoo slid a knife on her cheek and also choked her. If her father thought about the incident, her father could suspect her of liking Lee Jinwoo.

"That's not what I mean. This is not about me. I've only ever seen a drama on television." Yujin lied with a nervous face.

Mr. Im seemed to believe it without wanting to ask his daughter further. He immediately finished his breakfast and stopped talking to his daughter.

In an hour he has an agenda to see a road building project in Jeolla. Meanwhile, tonight he must be in Seoul to attend a dinner held at the Blue House to welcome Lee Jinwoo's return and to celebrate the man's success in carrying out his mission.

Suddenly Im Jaehyuk raised his head and hurriedly told Yujin about the dinner invitation because all the minister's families were invited by President Kang to attend.

"I forgot, tonight there will be a dinner party at the Blue House to welcome General Lee's return and celebrate General Lee's success in completing his mission."

Yujin immediately wanted to scream with joy and hug her father because she was too happy with the news that her father had brought. Finally, the man who had always disturbed her deep sleep returned to Korea after being missing for so long without a word. But Yujin immediately normalized her facial expression so that her father would not be suspicious of her.

"So daddy won't eat at home tonight?" Yujin asked dryly.

"Yes, and you were also invited to the banquet. All minister's families will attend the banquet. So don't forget to come to the Blue House at six o'clock. The banquet will start at seven. Don't be late."

Yujin nodded slightly at her father while hiding the excitement that was welling up in her heart. Finally, after five months of waiting for him, now she could actually see his face from a close distance. She no longer needed to look at the photo of Jinwoo that she had secretly stored on her cellphone when that man was her guard. Now she was really going to meet Jinwoo for real.

"I'm leaving. Dress up pretty, don't disappoint me."

Yujin kissed her father's cheek briefly and waved her hand at her father to send him off.

After her father completely gone, Yujin started jumping around the dining room like a crazy girl who had just fallen in love.

In a panic, she immediately ran to her room to choose the most beautiful dress for her to wear at the dinner party later. She wanted to show Jinwoo that she was not a child, but she was a mature woman who deserved to be side by side with a grown man like him.

"General Lee! You will definitely be surprised to see my change!" Yujin shouted determinedly in her room.