Chapter 32 Like Coming Home
Like Coming Home
Julia
Julia didn’t care that it was a tourist trap. Namsan Tower had become one of her favorite places in Seoul. She loved the variety
of cute cafés. She lived for the hustle and bustle of the street markets. She drew energy from people- and style-watching
around the universities. But Namsan Tower, with its glorious view high above the city, was her little bit of peace in normally
busy days. It was here she could come to get perspective.
The past months in Korea had been a gift. Julia was learning how to feel more at ease in crowds. She took chances and tried
new kinds of food. She practiced improving her Korean, which required her to listen more and talk less. And she found when
she did this, she could appreciate things more deeply than on the surface level. She no longer felt like an outsider who’d
lost her ticket into her culture. She felt like someone coming to appreciate the parts that made her who she was and the parts
that were very different from the person she, as a Korean American, had grown up to be.
And best of all, she was finding out how much she liked being her own company.
She’d always had her close friends, her nosy family, her supportive coworkers around her.
And she hadn’t written off one day wanting a partner, a relationship.
But in Korea, Julia enjoyed time alone, processing and appreciating everything that happened in a day.
She’d felt more herself than ever before.
Julia thought back to Sonia saying she approached life as two versions of herself. It finally made sense to her now. And she
was figuring out how to stop compartmentalizing and just be the one true version of Julia Song.
Today’s forecast said rain, but that didn’t bother Julia. It just meant there’d be fewer crowds up at the top of the mountain.
She closed her eyes as she rode the cable car up to the tower’s base. She mentally went through all the things she wanted
and needed to do today. Review financials for the rest of the year, sign off on the full marketing campaign for the new product
launch, test out the new peel-off mask from the popular brand Laneige, call her parents, and grab some veggie dumplings on
her way home.
She stepped out of the gondola and began her stroll around the viewing platform. The clouds covered the view of the city but
also pushed away a lot of the air pollution. The trade-off was worth it, in her opinion. She took in a deep breath of the
crisp air and let it out.
Other than a small group of people examining the love locks that took up almost every inch of the surrounding walls, she was
mostly alone. Julia loved the romance of the love locks in theory. Hundreds of padlocks with names of couples vowing to stay
together forever written on them. But it also brought a tiny pang of sadness, wondering if their love actually had lasted
or if they’d called it quits. Did these couples survive hurt, betrayal, anger, arguments, forgiveness? As she walked past
each one, she hoped, as she did every time she came here, that this profession of love between two people meant they’d made
it. That their love had survived.
She once witnessed a girl with bolt cutters cut off her lock and throw it over the side of the wall.
Love was unpredictable, she knew all too well.
These were some of the musings Julia had written about in her company emails. She had made it a practice to send out weekly
updates to her entire staff during her trip to Korea. What she saw, what she was learning, what she was feeling. She tried
to tie each message back to the business. But she didn’t pressure herself to do so. These thoughts, questions, and observations
were what made her the person she was, the person that was their CEO.
She encouraged everyone on her team, if possible, to find a way to get here, since the origins of what Starlight was trying
to do were birthed in Korean culture. They might not place Korean distribution as the top priority anymore, but there was
no denying the influence. She even pressed her human resources department to find a way to help subsidize trips for employees
interested in a visit. It was important to her. It was important for them.
Julia felt the first droplet of rain on her cheek. She reached into her bag and looked around for her umbrella, but it wasn’t
there. Great, she’d likely left it in the cable car on the way up. Julia looked over toward the exit, but she didn’t want
to leave. She could stay a few more minutes. A couple raindrops wouldn’t hurt.
But the rain was impatient today, and as it started to pick up, Julia turned to leave, regretfully cutting her visit short.
Just then a hand reached out for her arm to stop her, and suddenly she found herself protected from the rain by an umbrella.
She looked up at the yellow nylon dome now covering her and down to the hand holding the handle.
“Hey.”
The low voice came from behind her. Julia froze, too afraid to turn around, processing everything she could about that one word of greeting.
She knew that voice anywhere. She had laughed at that voice, cried at that voice, dropped her panties at that voice.
God, Rachel and Sonia were such bad influences.
Julia’s heart stopped. What if she was just imagining it?
It couldn’t be.
She closed her eyes, took a breath, and then slowly looked over her shoulder behind her.
There stood Tae Kim looking like the most beautiful creature God had ever made. A superhero. A lead in the most romantic movie
of all time.
His face hopeful and uncertain, his expression filled with longing, scared as shit. Gone were the dark circles and look of
fatigue in his eyes. He looked good. And good God, did she love him in glasses.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Julia slapped her hand over her mouth.
Tae’s face broke into a smile, one so radiant Julia would have sworn the clouds had spread and let the sunshine through. Forget
the rain. Except for the fact that Tae’s hair was currently damp and plastered to his head.
He’d given up his umbrella for Julia. He’d sacrificed himself. Was there a gesture more romantic than this? Had Julia been
watching too many K-dramas?
Julia raised her hand and made a motion across her head.
Tae furrowed his brows. “What?”
She did it again. He wasn’t getting it. If he would only just . . . “Push your hair back. That can’t be comfortable having
it just drip in your face like that.”
He did as requested, but he took his own sweet time, running his fingers through his hair, pushing it off his face. Julia’s
mouth watered at the sight. She knew he was playing it up on purpose by the wicked grin on his face. “Better?”
She nodded.
She could see his face now. But she still couldn’t believe it. What was Tae doing here in Korea? Unannounced visits hadn’t gone well for the two of them in the past.
Tae closed the distance, close enough to her that the umbrella covered them both. She felt sheltered in a cocoon of his presence.
“I knew this was either going to be the most epic romantic gesture, one for the ages, or it was going to be a complete flop.”
He looked down, rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly shy, nervous. “But I figured I had to try, right? Also, the others
weren’t going to let me off the hook.”
Julia shook her head, not understanding. “The others? Tae, you’ve lost me. And we’ve had these confusing conversations, filled
with holes of missing information, before. They didn’t go well.”
“Yeah, sorry. Okay, long story short, I’m here because your family, your friends, your assistant, my folks, hell, even Min
all chipped in to get me this plane ticket. I was trying to get here as soon as I could, but,” he said and shrugged, “I wasn’t
sure I could come up with the money.”
She nodded. Money, again, doing its best to keep the two of them apart.
“But then, I was handed a gift. One that the old me would have been offended by.”
“A gift?”
“A surprise, likely your grandmother’s idea. I didn’t want charity. I didn’t want to need anyone’s help to do this. But, you
see, I’ve been working on myself a lot lately. And one of the things I promised I’d try and do was, well, accept help and
support when it’s offered. And there were just a lot of people who love you, and who love me too, apparently, wanting me to
see my plan through, to get on a plane and make a big-ass grand gesture to you here. So, yeah, that’s why I’m here.”
“Holy shit, that’s a lot to unpack.”
“No kidding. Family and friends all chipped in.” Tae’s smile spread wide.
“Are you really here? In Korea?”
“I am. Is it okay?” he asked.
“It is.”
The rain was falling harder now, pounding on the umbrella over the two of them. But Julia swore she could still hear how loudly
her heart was beating.
“Are you feeling romantic?” he asked.
“I’m feeling soggy,” she answered.
Tae dropped his head and laughed, water dropping with each motion.
“How’d you know I’d be here at Namsan Tower?”
“Well, Annette might have told me that you put hundreds of lovesick tickets to Namsan Tower on your expense report. It’s good to have friends in powerful places.”
“She’s fired . . . again.”
“And I’ve heard through the Korean Gossip Network that you’re having a really great time here. I’m glad. You look really good.”
“Oh my God, is everyone talking about me? No, how embarrassing. Are they taking bets on if I’ll offend everyone here? If I’ll
find a husband here? What? Tell me.”
Tae laughed. “I’m kidding, Jules. I’ve been reading your weekly updates to the company.”
Julia raised her eyebrows, and when realization hit, she shook her head. “Jesus, I don’t know who’s worse, my grandmother
or Annette.”
“Actually, you can blame your besties for the emails. Sonia forwards them and Rachel makes commentary on all the places she
thinks you need me to come experience with you,” Tae admitted.