Hyun Jun’s bedroom…

“The wolf came down the chimney, he fell into a pot of boiling water and boiled all up. And the third little pig lived happily ever after in his house of bricks.”

Park Shin Hye closed the ‘Three Little Pigs’ story book, placed it on the bedside table before looking at Hyun Jun who was still awake with his eyes wide opened. Her brows rose and narrowed her gaze.

“Why are you still awake? You are the one who want me to read story for you to sleep but you still haven’t sleep now.” She was quite surprised when Hyun Jun wants her to read him to sleep because he doesn’t usually do that. He once told her that only girls who want their parents to read them to sleep. He is a big boy and he doesn’t need that. But tonight was an exceptional and he looks bothered.

Hyun Jun shook his head, didn’t say anything and he just stared at Shin Hye.

Letting out a soft sigh, Shin Hye moved herself closer to Hyun Jun and gently pulled him up into a sitting position on the bed. “Tell me what is bothering you.”

Hyun Jun looked at her in a cautious gaze. “Is eomma… angry with me?”

Shin Hye was slightly taken aback with what he just asked. Angry with him? A small smile slowly curled up her lips. “Why do you think that I’ll be angry with you?” She asked him back.

“Because… I called appa to come home in the afternoon without telling you.” Hyun Jun replied in a soft wary voice.

Shin Hye sighed. She was still dumbfounded with Min Ho suddenly coming home in the afternoon. She remembered him telling her that today he will be back late due to a long meeting. So it was really Hyun Jun who called him back.

“Your appa was having an important meeting today. You shouldn’t disturb him.” Shin Hye said.

“Ani… they were having a break at that time because appa was having a headache.”

“Meo?” Shin Hye widened her eyes, looking worried. Headache? But he doesn’t seem like not feeling well when he came home just now. He even rushed back to the office without having dinner with them. “How do you know he was having a break and… he was not well?”

Hyun Jun smiled cheekily. “Because I have a spy in appa’s office.”

“Spy?” Shin Hye stared at him with her narrowed gaze.

Hyun Jun nodded. “Krystal noona is my spy. She is appa’s secretary and knows everything. She will report to me what is appa doing in the office, which witches went to see him and where he was going everyday. I called her whenever I want to knows appa’s schedule.”

Shin Hye’s eyes grew even wider now. “H-How can you do that? Did your appa know about it?”

Hyun Jun sighed. “Of course appa knows everything. He was aware all this while but he just didn’t stop me. Krystal noona is his secretary. Appa is so smart. He will only let her to report to me about something not important and with his permission.” 

“Which mean… every time when your appa bring those…” She paused and bit her lip when the word ‘witches’ almost slipped out from . “… bring those women home, you always know it beforehand?” She asked with her voice laced with slight jealousy.

Hyun Jun nodded before tilting his head to the side. “Appa only brought them back for three times. The woman with the y clothes came here twice but both times with Krystal noona together with them. They were doing some work in appa’s study room.”

“Three times?” Shin Hye asked in a slight shock. Only three times?

“Yes.” Hyun Jun replied. “And the last time was the scary colour-faced witch. Her voice is very sharp and I hate her the most. She can’t even stand straight when appa is around. She just lie herself at appa’s body and always looked at appa like she want to eat him.” He said with his lips pouted adorably. “I heard Krystal noona said she is very rich and just came back from US. But whenever I look at her, I feel like vomiting. Appa brought her back for dinner and I can’t even eat looking at her ugly face. She keeps saying how cute I am and how much she likes me.” He paused and imitates a vomit expression. “She was lying. When I purposely poured some orange juice on her dress, she was so angry and pushed me away. Appa saw it and immediately asked ahjussi to send her back.”

Shin Hye chuckled as she pinched his nose playfully. She could clearly imagine how this little mischievous boy caused a headache to that woman. It needs a lot of patience and energy to tame him. But she doesn’t understand. She thought Hyun Jun doesn’t like them because Min Ho always brought different women home last time. But he only brought two women home before and only for three times.

“But how come it was only three times? I remembered you told me before that your appa have a lot of women.” She asked.

“He did. There were a lot. Every time Krystal noona called me, she will tell me a different name. But appa didn’t bring them back here because he knows I don’t like them. He only brings them out.” Hyun Jun said, as he looked straight at Shin Hye. “But since the parent-teacher conference day, Krystal noona told me that there are no witches going to office to look for appa. He was very busy with work and didn’t go out with them either.”

Shin Hye bit her lip deeper as she averted her gaze. So… he didn’t lie to her when he told her that he didn’t touch any other woman since he met her. A small smile uncontrollably spread across her face.

When Hyun Jun saw the smile, he quickly moved himself closer to Shin Hye and held her hand. “Eomma… can you forgive appa and don’t be angry with him anymore? Appa already marry you. He doesn’t like other witches anymore. He just likes you.”

Shin Hye smiled again and looked back at him. Moving her hand to his chubby cheeks, she caressing it tenderly. She was really grateful that despite with all the heartaches, Hyun Jun was always there to support her, to love her. He makes her feel like a real family member in this house. He is the reason for her to stay strong.

“Thank you.” She said as she leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his forehead.

Hyun Jun looked up at her and let out an adorable smile. “Eomma have to stay here with Hyun Jun forever and you can’t divorce appa like my friend’s parents. Arasso?” He put his tiny hands on Shin Hye’s shoulders, pulled himself up and leaned forward to kiss Shin Hye’s forehead like how she did to him just now. “Hyun Jun is very happy to have you as my eomma.”

Tears started to form in Shin Hye’s eyes as she pulled him down and hugged him in her arms. She kissed his soft hair and rested her chin against his head. “Eomma is very happy to have you as my son too.”

Hyun Jun closed his eyes with a smile and continued to snuggle in her embrace, letting her to rock him softly like a baby. He is very happy. Since the day his father told him that they were getting married, his heart has never stop feeling happy. He doesn’t know that having a mother will feel so good. He doesn’t want Shin Hye to leave them. He wants her to stay with them forever.

“Do you… miss your eomma? I mean… your real eomma?” Shin Hye asked softly.

Hyun Jun opened his eyes and thinks for a moment before he nodded his head. “I missed her. I’ll miss her even more during my birthday. I heard Park Jang Woo said his mother would make doenjang jjigae for him on his birthday. He said I don’t have an eomma and that’s why I never eat before.”

Shin Hye felt her chest tightened upon hearing what he said. Every single word he said pained her heart.

“He was right. I never eat doenjang jjigae before.” Hyun Jun added as he tilted his head up and looked at Shin Hye. “Eomma, what is doenjang jjigae? Does it taste good? Do you know how to make?”

Shin Hye forced a smile on her face and tried hard not to let her tears to escape her eyes. “Doenjang jjigae is a soybean paste soup. It’s very delicious. You are lucky. Eomma can cook very well and doenjang jjigae is one of my best dishes. You don’t need to wait until your birthday. Eomma will cook for you tomorrow.” She said. Even if she doesn’t know how to cook, she will learn it for him.

She gently his face and looked into his eyes. “You can always tell me whenever you miss your eomma. Don’t hide here and think of her alone. We can talk about her together.”

Hyun Jun nodded. “I don’t understand why appa doesn’t like to talk about eomma but whenever I miss her, I’ll take out her photo and look at it.” He paused and smiled at Shin Hye. “But after you came here, I don’t miss her anymore. I already have eomma now.”

Shin Hye couldn’t hold her tears any longer and quickly pulled him back into her embrace before her tears rolled down her cheeks. She tightened her arms around him and kissed his hair again. Although she grew up in a healthy family but she could imagine how pity it was to lose a mother at such a young age. All he wants was just a mother who loves him and a complete family. She shouldn’t have made him worried just because of her own silly jealousy. And furthermore, Min Ho have already said it very clearly that he wants her. Even though he doesn’t love her but at least he wants her and doesn’t hate her. It might just be her own imagination but the way he looks at her, it makes her feel something special. It must have meant something if he was so attracted to her. Maybe… he will like her one day even if he doesn’t love her.

~~~~~

“I want this… I want us… I want you.”

Shin Hye widened her eyes and her whole body was totally frozen in place. Did she hear it wrongly?

Min Ho pulled back slightly when he felt her breathing became heavy. He looked into her widened eyes and smirked. “You look surprise.” He thought his action was quite obvious.

“W-Why… do you want me?” Shin Hye asked.

He smiled as he leaned over and brushed his nose against hers. His smile widened when she gasped heavily. “Because you are very beautiful.” He paused when he saw creases begin to form on her brows. “Don’t underestimate yourself. You don’t know how much you can make a man crazy for you.” The charity ball that night was the best evident to prove her ability to capture every man’s gaze to focus on her.

Shin Hye bit her lip and held his gaze. “A woman’s beauty is like a canned food. It has an expiry date. Once it has expired, everything will be gone. And there is always someone who looks better than another one. A person’s outlook doesn’t last forever.” She paused and chuckled softly. “If this is the reason you want me, then I’m sure you wouldn’t want me for long.” She said bitterly as she looked away.

A sharp exhale of air escaped Min Ho’s lips. “You are right. I really know very little about you. I didn’t know you would be so difficult.” He cupped her chin and forced her to look back at him. “You were very confident and persuasive during the first time I saw you in the school. But then you were so weak and helpless the second time I saw you in my office. And when you came to my office again to accept the deal I offer to you, you suddenly look so strong and cold. You are scared of me but it doesn’t stop you to challenge me. You are very firm when it comes to Hyun Jun but at the same time, you can be very gentle to him and the way you handle him amazed me. You have a way to make a troublesome kid like him listened to everything you said.”

He paused and breathed in deeply. “And the incident that night… I was totally dumbfounded by the way you reacted.” A small smirk slowly formed on his lips. “You are jealous, you are possessive and you are very stubborn. Whenever you said or do something, I was attracted to you all over again.”  

Shin Hye pursed her lips. “You mean… besides my face, all those things is also one of the reasons you want me?”

“I don’t know.” Min Ho uttered. “Don’t ask me why because I don’t know the answer either. But I can be honest with you. The first time when I met you, I was already attracted to you. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t take you out of my head. I was being with Go Ara at that time and her beautiful outlook satisfy my needs. But because of you, I ended everything with her. Compared to you, she is nothing.” He paused again and heaved a deep breath. “As time passed, I slowly find out that you are not just a woman with a pretty face. Something inside of you attracts me even more. I don’t deny that I was quite shock when you told Hyun Jun that you love me just now because we both know what is the reason you want to marry me.”

He means money? Shin Hye clenched her jaw. True… but did he have amnesia? She didn’t want to marry him. He was the one who approached her and threatened her to marry him.

Min Ho smiled as his fingers gently the side of her cheek. “But I feel good knowing that you love me.” At least she doesn’t only love him for his money.

He feels good? Shin Hye looked at him with a new hope growing in her eyes. “D-Does it mean… by any chance… y-you… you might also love me?” She asked in a soft whisper.

Min Ho felt his body stiffened as his heart beat rapidly when that unexpected question echoed into his ears. Love? He has buried that word in the deepest place inside of him for a long time. He won’t fall in love ever again. He won’t let himself to fall in love again after Se Yeon.

After a long silent, he finally spoke again. “No, I don’t.” He knows it will hurt her but he doesn’t want to give her a false hope. “There will only be one woman inside my heart. And my love is only for her. Nothing could ever change that. And… nobody could ever replace her.”

Shin Hye pulled her bottom lip in between her as her heart sink down to occupy her empty stomach. “She is… Hyun Jun’s mother, right? Jin Se Yeon?”

“Yes.” He replied firmly, hardened his heart to ignore the sadness in her trembling voice.

“Even after she has passed away for so long, you still wouldn’t let another woman to move into your heart?” Shin Hye continued to ask, doesn’t want to give up.

Min Ho held her painful gaze as his breath hitched in his throat. He doesn’t know what to say. He once told Se Yeon that the place in his heart is only belongs to her. But now… did he let Shin Hye move to his heart? If yes, why can’t he love her? But if no, why does it flutter when she smiled and aches when she cried?

“No.” He lied in an uncertain voice.

A strong pang of disappointment stabbed into her heart like a sharp knife. It was very hurtful to know the truth but she was grateful that he didn’t lie to her. At least she knows that no matter what she does will never change anything. She should just remain at the same spot from the beginning.

Shin Hye inhaled a deep breath and smiled slightly. She was disappointed but she is not jealous of Se Yeon. It was a clear fact that he loves her unconditionally since the first time she met them fourteen years ago. She was just an intruder, a stranger… an extra person.

“I… I…” Just when Min Ho wanted to say something to apologize, his phone rang and cut him off.

Shin Hye looked away and pushed his chest softly. “Y-Your phone is ringing.”

Min Ho let out a soft sigh before he pulled away from her and pulled himself up into a sitting position. He took his phone out from his pocket and answered the call.

“What? Okay. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.” He said to the person from the other side of the line. Shin Hye has already sitting on the couch beside him after he finished talking on the phone. He turned to her and sighed. “I need to rush back to the office. The meeting is not over yet.”

Shin Hye nodded without looking at him. “I’ll let Hyun Jun know.” She said and before he could say anything, she stood up and quickly walked to the stairs, leaving a helpless Min Ho staring at her from behind.

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Bedroom…

The clock has already strikes 12am when Min Ho came back from the office. If not because his head was throbbing badly in pain, the meeting might need to drag longer. The conversation he had with Shin Hye this afternoon was still clouding his mind and he couldn’t even focus on his work. It makes the pain in his head worsened.

When he opened the door and stepped into the bedroom, he was surprised to see Shin Hye sitting on the bed, reading a book with her back leaning against the headboard. For the passed one week, after the incident that happened in the charity ball, she will make sure to sleep before he comes home. But tonight, she was awake. Does it mean… she is no longer angry with him?

Shin Hye turned to him when she heard the door closed. Gently placing the book on the bedside table, she stood up of the bed and walked towards him. “Give me a minute. The water is almost done.”

But before she could walk away, Min Ho held her hand and stopped her. “It’s okay. I’ll just take a quick shower. It’s late now. You should go to sleep.”

“Take a hot bath will help to ease your headache.” She said. When she saw the confusion in his eyes, she continued. “Hyun Jun told me about your headache and I asked ahjussi to call me before you come home so that I could prepare the hot water before you reached. I just need to add some peppermint essential oil into the water. Peppermint oil is good for muscle pain, nerve pain and headache. It’s good for pain relief and relaxation.”

Min Ho looked at her for a short moment before nodded with a light smile. “Thank you.”

After Min Ho came out from the bathroom, the lights was already dimmed and the only light in the room was from the flickering of several lit candles which were filling the room with the gentle and sweet scent of lavender. His body was so much more relaxed after the comfortable hot bath and breathing in the soothing scent now, he suddenly felt the headache is slowly easing away. He took a seat on the bed and stared at the purple colour candles with a smile. As what he remembers, this was the first time he felt so relaxing after a long stressing day of work. Nobody has ever prepare all these for him before.

He was slightly startled when he heard the sound of the door open and close. He turned to the door and saw Shin Hye walking in with a cup in her hand. She stopped in front of him and handed him the cup.

“What is this?” Min Ho asked as he looked at the drink in the cup.

“Warm water mixed with lemon juice. It can help to reduce the intensity of a headache.” Shin Hye replied.

“Lemon?” He asked again.

Shin Hye nodded. “Lemon is a very effective to treat headache because it is refreshing and relaxing. Plus, it helps to maintain the acid-alkaline balance in the body.

Min Ho smiled. “If I didn’t see you in the school with my own eyes, I will think that you are a nutritionist.” He joked as he took a big sip of the drink. Despite the sourness of the lemon, he felt a lot of sweetness surging into him.

The smile on his face widened when Shin Hye took the towel that was hanging around his neck and gently helping him to wipe his wet hair. “You shouldn’t leave your hair wet and sleep right after you taken a shower.”