12 Until You Came

Arya walked away from Ryu, enough for him to not hear her voice. She answered the phone and heard her Mom crying on the other end of the line.

"Mom, what's going on? What happened?" She asked nervously. Panic struck her, she thought that something must have gone wrong.

"No, dear, there's nothing to worry. I'm just so happy. It's my tears of joy. The doctor just told me that they have already had a matching donor for your sister. They confirmed the date of the operation: this coming Tuesday. Dear, your sister will now be fine." Her Mom was stammering and still sobbing in a low tone.

Then, her mom added, "And your dad called. The trial was at his advantage. New pieces of evidence were found to prove that he was just being framed up."

Arya heard her Mom cry out loud this time.

Her father was the CEO of Tan Corporation. He has been arrested for felony charges, causing Tan Corporation to collapse and went bankrupt. His trial was still ongoing.

Her family had encountered a catastrophe in just a day. On that one day, everything was gone: their mansion, their cars, everything was confiscated, and all their bank accounts were frozen.

She had asked for help but no one wanted to get involved. Her mom was just a simple housewife. While she even struggled on her last year at college. Thankfully, Kay helped her and she was able to graduate that year.

They became penniless, without her dad. Then, her sister Reese collapsed because of another kidney failure. Reese was born weak from the start and had already undergone an operation before. Right now, she needed a transplant and was an in-patient at the hospital for close monitoring.

Then, Rita's offer came, right in time, at that crucial moment…

Arya noticed that Ryu was staring at her from a distance.

'I am so sorry Ryu.' She said inwardly as she gave him her sweetest smile, tears falling down from her eyes. Those were tears of happiness for her sister and dad.

She was far from him so she was sure Ryu couldn't notice it. Then, she turned around from him to wipe those tears.

"That's good news, Mom. I am so happy to hear that. I have to go now. Please, make sure you also take care of yourself and don't worry too much. I love you." She said in a soft and encouraging voice before she hung up the phone.

As she walked back to Ryu, the previous question popped up once more in her mind. Was she willing to take that risk and confess everything to Ryu? The answer was NO.

Her family was her priority and she wouldn't let a moment of joy, with someone who she wasn't even sure how long could be with her, sway her over her family. No, she wouldn't take that risk.

Ryu smiled at her and asked, "Is everything alright?"

Arya just winked and said, "Yes. She just missed me. You see, we have very close family ties."

"Oh, that's good, so you probably can uphold a good family of your own in the future," Ryu commented.

Arya shrugged her shoulders and said, "Maybe yes, or maybe no. I think it will always depend on how the person will handle things, but the environment has a big impact on one's upbringing I guess."

Then, she got curious about his family, so she asked, "How about you. Does tycoon like you have close family ties as well? Or it is really like in the dramas, where siblings and relatives fight each other for power, position, and money?"

Ryu laughed and said, "I'm not quite sure how to describe my family, but yeah, it's often the same. Besides, those dramas are based on real life, aren't they? Though, they usually exaggerate some details for viewer's ratings."

During their sake drink, Arya and Ryu got to know each other more, talking about various stuff and about their lives.

"So, how many girlfriends did you have?" She asked out of curiosity.

"One?" He said with a grin.

"Liar! Go and tell that to the marines instead. Anyway, how old are you?" She asked with twitched lips.

That's absolutely not true. He looked about at his late 20's or early 30's.

Nowadays, even a twelve-year-old kid already had a girlfriend. What more him? Handsome, powerful and very rich, plus his personality was pleasing so far.

"I just turned 30 this year. How about you, how many boyfriends did you have?" He asked in return.

"One?" Arya answered back, copying his tone.

"I'm that one? How about that asshole, don't you count him? I said one because, believe it or not, but you are the first and the only one I have asked to be my girlfriend." Ryu said with creased forehead while he looked intently at her.

Arya's eyebrow arched in disbelief as she asked, "Are you for real? Just me at that age? Jim was my first boyfriend."

"So, I'm the second. You should have said two, not one And yeah, I am for real. What can I do? Until you came, there was no one able to catch my attention." Ryu said as he pouted his lips to show his grumpiness.

"Sorry, it was a bad joke. I was just copying your answer since I thought you're just kidding." She said as she gave him her killer smile.

Ryu leaned forward to give her a quick kiss on her lips. "You look so lovely with that smile. I can't help but kiss you," he said grinning.

Arya pursed her lips. "Why are you so smoochy. It's our first day and you already move so fast. Don't you know that Jim never even got to kiss me after our almost a month of relationship?"

"Well, that was his loss. Why we should move slowly. I hate moving slow, like a turtle. I want to do things fast." Ryu said then drank the cup of his sake.

Arya's eyes widened. 'What does he mean by that? Don't tell me he intends to make fast movements on her, like bedding her?" Arya's face paled. That was not a part of the deal, was it? She had to call Kay ASAP!!!