The next morning, Alex was waiting on the sidewalk. She saw the old yellow cab approaching and started waiving both of her hands in the air. The cab came to a stop and the passenger window rolled down, "How the hell are ya, kid?!"

"Rich!" She hopped in the backseat and gave him a quick hug from behind. "I didn't realize how much I missed you until I saw you." She grabbed a small piece of paper out of her bag and handed it to him, "Here is where we need to go next before we head to the office."

He raised an eyebrow when he looked at the address, "A hotel, huh? You didn't happen to bring one of your boys back with you did you?" He gave her a wink as he turned and pulled away from the curb.

Alex threw her head back and laughed, "No, not one of my boys, but one of my co-workers. We'll be working out of my office the next couple of weeks before we head north. So, tell me everything I've missed while I was gone."

Rich filled her in on his continuously botched dating life, his little nephew who was starting his first year of T-ball, and his sister who was pregnant with her third. "I think I've given up on dating and will just become a professional uncle."

They pulled up to Ji-Hoon's hotel, and he was already waiting at the curb. Alex waved to him as he opened the door and got in. "Ji-Hoon, this is Rich. Rich, this is Ji-Hoon." They both nodded their heads at one another.

"Nice to meet you." Ji-Hoon spoke to him in English.

Alex and Ji-Hoon discussed work on the way to the office. They had a lot to pack in to get the American staff up to date on everything they would need to help with when the guys finally arrived.

Rich dropped them off in front of their building and waved goodbye, "See you guys in the morning!" Then he was off.

"Is that the driver you were telling me about?" Ji-Hoon held the door open for her as they entered the lobby.

"Yeah, he's great. He's been driving me for years." They headed up the elevators then straight to her office so they could unload before she introduced him to everyone. When she opened her office door a large "Welcome Back" sign was hanging on the wall and small gift bag was sitting on her desk. She went and looked inside the bag and saw a small envelope attached to a gift card. "I love this company."

She quickly starting rearranging things so she could make room for Ji-Hoon's computer. Once they were all settled in, she took him out to the main part of the floor so she could introduce him. "OK, we meet in the conference room in thirty minutes to go over everything. See you in a few." She and Ji-Hoon headed back to her office. It felt good to be back on home turf.

________

A few days later, Alex had just ordered a late lunch after they had finished another meeting. She checked her watch to see what time it was. Yoongi would still be asleep. She imagined him laying in bed with Holly cuddled up next to him. The rest of the guys would all be asleep as well, trying to catch up on sleep that they would never get back. She was staring out the window when she suddenly realized Ji-Hoon was talking to her.

"Alex!" She whipped her head around. "Where did you travel off to?"

"Oh, sorry. Lost in thought. What were you saying?"

Ji-Hoon sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, "I asked if you had talked to Yoongi since we got back."

"Oh. Yeah. We texted the first night after we landed, but not much since then. He's been in the studio finishing up a project he's working on. I've been pretty swamped with all of this, so, yeah, not much talking."

Ji-Hoon furrowed his eyebrows, "Did the fire die out already between you too?"

"No!" Alex's face flushed. "No, it's just . . . . It's hard to explain. Ever since I got back, being here has made everything feel . . . . surreal. It's like I never left for South Korea at all. Like I've just been floating in some dream. I keep waiting for someone to wake me up and tell me to snap out of it."

Ji-Hoon leaned forward on his elbows and steepled his fingers in front of his mouth, "But, Alex, you did go to South Korea, and this is real. Why is that so hard for you to believe?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "To be honest, I still don't know what Yoongi sees in me. I keep waiting for him to realize that it was all a mistake and that everything happened in the heat of the moment, because I was just . . . . there."

Ji-Hoon shook his head in disappointment, "Alex, when are you going to realize how wonderful you are, how much you mean to Yoongi? Me, the guys, any one of us could tell you how crazy he is about you, and it's not just because you were "there". Don't you feel the same way about him, or have you changed your mind?"

Alex dropped her head for a moment then looked back up at Ji-Hoon, she had tears in her eyes. "No, I haven't changed my mind about him. It's the complete opposite actually. I care more about him today than I did yesterday, and I'll probably care even more about him tomorrow."

"Then what's wrong? Why do you still doubt everything?"

"Because it scares the hell out of me. I wish I could explain it better. . . . In the pit of my stomach I have this fear that he'll wake up and realize It could never work. He'll realize I'm not right for him, or he'll find someone better that I know he deserves. . . . Just thinking about it breaks me inside."

Ji-Hoon tilted his head and patted her shoulder, "Then why don't you tell him all of this? Tell him how you feel. Quit being afraid of what will go wrong and let it happen."

She shook her head as a tear fell down her cheek, "I've learned in the past that if you let everything inside of you out to someone, they can throw it back in your face, and break your heart. I don't think I could go through that again."

"Alex," Ji-Hoon grabbed her by the shoulders, "Do you really think Yoongi is like that? Is that all the credit you'll give him? He has become a different person since meeting you. You've changed him, for the better. Hell, I've even watched your walls come down because of him since I met you. Are you willing to give all of that up, just because of something from the past that doesn't exist anymore? Because of a bunch of what-if's?"

Alex took a deep breath in and let it out, "No. No, I'm not willing to give all of that up. I just have to let go of that part of me from the past that still has doubts. I need to find a way to burry her for good."

"Atta girl!" Ji-Hoon gave her a light slap on the arm. "I'll be waiting with a shovel when you're ready."

Alex laughed as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you, Ji-Hoon. I needed that little pep talk."