Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

Samantha and Daniel entered the living room and were surprised to see Seo Joon with Nathan Yun.

Nathan turned his head towards them and smiled, "It"s nice to see you again, Samantha.. President Cho.".

Samantha nodded, "Hi."

Daniel just nodded.

Okay, this is not awkward at all! Nope! Daniel Cho didn"t say anything but there was an obvious change in the ambiance of the living room.

Samantha held Daniel"s hands and Daniel smiled down at her. When she was worried before they arrived at the Kim Mansion, she didn"t know what caused it. She thought maybe because Daniel is meeting her father? But there was something in her gut telling her that it will not be just a normal night.

And so she was right, her ex-boyfriend, Nathan Yun and her present boyfriend, Daniel Cho in one room. Her past relations.h.i.+p with Nathan was something that made her feel bad about herself. Although she has moved on, seeing him again wasn"t something that she was looking forward to.

Daniel Cho"s warm hand calmed Samantha down. As long as he is with her, she"ll be all right.

Mrs. Kim found it awkward so she spoke, "Make yourself at home, Daniel."

"Oh, thanks... Actually, I brought you something, Mrs. Kim."

The Kim"s housekeepers came in with a flowerpot.

"I remember how you like flowers. I wanted to give you something that would last long so I brought a pot of tulips. I hope you like them. " Daniel presented the pot and Mrs. Kim"s eyes were full of admiration when she saw an army of tulips in a tall and beautiful terracotta pot.

"Ohh... This is wonderful! So beautiful! I love it! Thank you, you are so thoughtful, Daniel. You even remembered." Mrs. Kim touched the flowers and smelled them. She was all smiles, she walked over and held Daniel"s hand then patted them.

"You"re welcome, Mrs. Kim."

"Please call me Aunt from now on." Mrs. Kim smiled.

"Aunt Alice."

"Better! --Oh, I have to leave you, for now, my cooking!" Mrs. Kim left in a rush.

Just as Mother Kim left, Mr. Kim walked down the stairs.

"Dad!" Samantha beamed and pounced on Mr. Sun Ho Kim. Her dad smiled so brightly upon seeing Samantha. "h.e.l.lo, Princess.", he said. Growing up, Samantha had always been a daddy"s girl. Just like Granpa Kim, Mr. Kim also sees his mother in Samantha.

"I miss you, daddy!", she said as she hugged him. "Come, we have a guest.", She held his hand and brought him to Daniel.

"Dad, I"d like you to meet ..my… boyfriend, Daniel Cho." Samantha gulped in between as she introduced them. She kept it simple. She wanted to introduce Daniel as Daniel, not as CEO of Cho Corp.

"It"s nice meeting you again, Chairman Kim." Daniel said as he extended his hand.

"It"s been a while, President Cho." Mr. Kim greeted with a smile.

Samantha raised an eyebrow, "Uhh... You two have met?"

"Ahh, we got acquainted last year when we played golf with Mr. Jin."

"Your father is good at golf. I lost to him." Daniel complimented.

"Ahh... It was just luck." Mr. Kim grinned, "Also, you don"t have to call me so formally, we"re at home, call me Uncle."

"All right, Uncle, please call me Daniel." Daniel smiled gently. "Oh, I just returned from Tokyo and I heard that you like whiskey. I brought this for you." Daniel handed Mr. Kim a wooden box.

Upon seeing the box, Mr. Kim"s eyes grew so wide. He couldn"t believe that Daniel would give him an ultrpremium whiskey!

"Is this..?" Mr. Kim couldn"t say more, he was too dumbfounded. He placed the box carefully on the coffee table and lifted the cover careful. Lo and behold, it revealed a delicate handmade Arita ceramic decanter.

"Do you like it, Uncle? If... if not-"

"Nonsense! Of course, I like it! I like it too much, this is very precious! But, Daniel... I can"t possibly accept a gift like this."

"What is it, dad?" Seo Joon who was at the side was suddenly curious about his father"s reaction. Nathan was also silently admiring the bottle while occasionally glancing towards Samantha and Daniel.

"This is a 35-year-old Hibiki in Arita Decanter.", said Mr. Kim in awe.

Seo Joon who isn"t familiar asked, "Is it that good?", he went near his father to take a closer look at the bottle.

"Yes, it"s an ultra limited edition blended whiskey. There are only 150 bottles released and is priced at about $40,000." Mr. Kim answered confidently, truthfully, he wanted one but was still contemplating if he should spend that much for a whiskey; his wife, Mrs. Alice Kim thought it was too much.

Everyone"s eyes gaped while looking at the delicate bottle in front of them, Samantha turned her gaze to Daniel and wondered how he could give such a valuable thing. Even though he is rich, that"s still an expensive gift.

"That"s why I can"t accept it. It"s too precious as a gift, Daniel." said Mr. Kim as he turned towards Daniel Cho.

Waving his hands in front of him, Daniel a.s.sured, "You don"t have to worry about it, Uncle. I didn"t spend a dime on it. So you don"t have to feel guilty."

"You didn"t spend money on this? How"s that possible?" Mr. Kim was truly puzzled. Because it was rare, it was very expensive. How could Daniel have this but didn"t spend anything?

"Actually, It was given as a gift. When I was there in j.a.pan, I solved an issue that saved the client billions of dollars and because of that, he was very pleased that he gave me two bottles of this. That"s why I didn"t pay anything for it. So, I would really like you to accept it, Uncle."

"Dad, you have to accept it. You don"t have any excuses now." Samantha grinned.

"I"m not a whiskey collector but it sounds like a really good one, accept it, Dad. It"s not nice to turn down gifts.", Seo Joon convinced his father.

With a big smile, Mr. Kim said, "Very well! Thank you very much, Daniel Cho. I won"t forget your generosity.", he said as he patted Daniel"s shoulder.

Samantha then introduced Daniel to her brother Seo Joon, and a little while later, the Kim Family and their guests sat in a long white table filled with delectable and mouth-watering dishes. The atmosphere was very friendly despite the fact that Nathan and Daniel was in one table. They didn"t have to talk to each other and the people present at the table were aware of what they needed to avoid not to make things awkward or uncomfortable.

When they finished eating, Mr. Kim invited Daniel to the study so Daniel followed him there, Samantha just prayed that her dad wouldn"t grind Daniel.

On the other hand, Samantha and Mrs. Kim cleared the table; the truth is, they have house helpers but in some occasions, the family likes to prepare and clean after themselves. Samantha"s parents were modest people despite being wealthy.

"I"m happy that you"re going out with Daniel. He seems like a good child, Christina and Chairman Cho have done a great job raising him.", Mrs. Kim said.

Samantha smiled and nodded, "He is.".

Seo Joon came to the kitchen and tapped Samantha"s back, "Sam, come... I need to talk to you."

"Go ahead, Housekeeper Dana can help me." said Mrs. Kim.

Samantha followed her brother out to the deck. The sky was calm, there were stars and the moon was full.

"Sam, why didn"t you tell me earlier?" Seo Joon asked while he was looking up at the night sky, with a gla.s.s of wine on his hand.

Samantha knew her brother would talk to her about it, after all, his brother knew about Andrew. Dating another wealthy man, he is just worried about his sister.