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“It…um.  The painting looks familiar.  Why are you asking about it?”

Nia’s heart dropped.  Had she been wrong?

“Because…I think he was someone very important to me.  He’s in nearly every painting I found that I made.”

“Why does it matter?  You have a fiancé now, don’t you?” Taehyung glanced over at Hobi. “Or was that a joke?”

“We’re breaking off our engagement,” Hobi said suddenly. “We’re not in love, so it’s pointless to get married.  Our parents can’t do much about it and honestly I think mine won’t care.”

Nia stared up at Hobi, trying to not act surprised.

Taehyung sure looked surprised, though. “You are?”

Nia nodded slowly, going along with Hobi. “We’ve been thinking about it for a while now.  We’re just not a good fit for each other.”

Taehyung looked between the two of them, considering.  For all he knew this could be a rouse to get information for the Jung’s company.  He mentally slapped himself.  He knew Nia wasn’t the kind of person to be part of a scheme like that.  And Hobi looked innocent enough.  But Taehyung couldn’t help but be nervous.  The fate of his whole company could depend on what happened today.

“So…you really don’t know who it was in the painting?” Nia asked suddenly, veering the topic back on track.

Taehyung looked over at her. “I know who it is,” he said simply.

Nia looked up at him with hopeful eyes. “You do?”

“Yes.  But if I tell you, what will you do with that information?”

Nia looked down. “I wanted to find him…” she mumbled. “I think he’s the person that the mystery number refuses to tell me about.”

“Mystery number?” Taehyung played dumb.

Nia looked up again and nodded. “I found a pincushion in one of my boxes with a number on it…so I called it.”

Taehyung studied her face.  She looked nervous.  His train of thought was broken by a phone ringing, however.  Hobi pulled out his phone.

“I need to take this.  I’ll leave you two.” With those words, he was up at out the door.

Taehyung watched him go.

“Mr. Kim…please tell me who it is.  I’d give anything to find someone from my past.”

Without even sparing a glance at her, Taehyung murmured, “I’m the one in the painting.”

There was a heavy silence for a few seconds as his words sank in.

“It is you?” She whispered. “Can…can you tell me anything about my past?”

He turned to her. “I don’t think your parents would like that very much.”

“I don’t care what they like!” She burst out. “I’ve spent eight years alone!  I just want to know…something.” Her voice broke on a sob.

“We dated for almost five years,” he started hesitantly. “The pincushion was from the first time we met.  You had come into the gift shop I worked at just as I was closing and asked if we sold coats.  We didn’t, but I offered you a ride home instead.  When we got to your house, you asked for my number.  And I didn’t have any paper in the car, so I wrote it on the pincushion instead.”

Tears were pouring down Nia’s cheeks now, but she nodded for him to continue.

“When you were diagnosed, the doctors gave you two months to live.  So, we decided we’d make it the happiest two months of our lives.  One night…you told me could meet in our next lives.  That we’d use the pincushion as a key to know each other.

“But then, one night you passed out.  The one night I had gone home to see my grandparents.  When I got to the hospital you told me you were fading.  You told me to say my goodbye.

“We slept together in that bed that night, but the next morning when I woke up, you were gone.  They told me you had died in your sleep.  And so…I left.  I went home.  But I never forgot you.  And now…I’m glad I didn’t.”

Nia was just staring at him, her mouth dropped open slightly and tears streaking her cheeks. “I…I’m so sorry.”

He looked up at her, surprised. “Why are you sorry?”

“Y-you went through all that pain for nothing…a-and they lied to you.”

His heart softened as he watched her cry. “Hey…don’t cry.  It’s all right.  You’re here now, aren’t you?”

“Do you think…we can start again?  I’d like to get to know you again.  From the personality I can see you have in my paintings…I think you are a very nice person.  And from what I’ve seen at the office, I think I’m probably right.”

Tae could feel himself starting to blush. “You really think we could start over?”

“Well…I won’t have a fiancé anymore soon.  Come to think of it…I’ll probably need to move out of his place.”

“I suppose you could move in with me if you like,” Taehyung chuckled.

“We’ll see,” Nia teased.