Chapter 15. Future

Yonghwa was still laughing over something Joohyun remarked when he took the call and his expression went blank.

“What is it?” Joohyun gently dropped her fork seeing that change on his face.

“Euna’s teacher called, she’s rushing her to the hospital. She's burning with fever.” he hurriedly stood.

Joohyun was stunned for a minute then gathered her things. The gallery has a personal account for that restaurant since they normally have their meetings there as well so she gave a short nod to the manager before running after him.

“Yonghwa-ssi, here!” She called out as she unlocked her car and got herself behind the wheels. He was still making his way in the parking lot and it would be faster if they used her car. Yonghwa mechanically entered, his face was flushed and he was starting to sweat. She started the engine and maneuvered the car towards the direction he gave. She didn’t really know what to say or she was battling over the idea of even saying something.

“Can you go a little faster?”

She almost jumped on her seat when he finally spoke but she had to shake her head, “I can’t, I’m sorry. There’s a speed limit.”

Yonghwa looked out of the window then fumbled on his phone again, “The teacher is not answering anymore.”

“They could be in the hospital already,” she calmly said and reached out for his hand, “Don’t worry everything’s going to be alright. Has she been sick like this?”

Yonghwa shook his head as he took a deep breath and held her hand, “The last time we rushed her to the hospital was when she was two. It felt like a lifetime away.”

 Joohyun sighed noticing the tightness in his voice, not to mention the pressure he gave her hand as if he needed someone to hang on to. But then again, she couldn’t just let him have her for long. She smiled sadly as she slowly slipped her hand out of his but patted him before resting it back on the steering wheel.

She was worried herself but she couldn’t show it to him because she didn’t know how he would react. Everything seemed to happen too fast. Just a few moments ago, they were somehow reintroducing themselves to each other. Although the awkwardness was still there but they managed to set aside all the negative energy— and then this.

‘Euna should be okay’, she repeatedly told herself then decided to call Hyoyeon just to give them both a little distraction, “Hi, hey… can you cover for Yonghwa-ssi for a while? Yeah, his daughter is sick so he might not go back to the office anymore. Okay, just cancel his appointments for the rest of the day. Okay, unnie, thanks.”

She took a quick glance at him and nodded when he just mouthed a thank-you. Finally, after the ride that seemed to take forever, she parked near the entrance and Yonghwa jumped out of the car before she could even kill the engine. Trailing closely behind, Joohyun watched as he sprinted towards the Emergency Room and a woman she reckoned as Euna’s teacher met them.

“Mr. Jung…” Tiffany motioned at the doctor for them.

“You are the parents?”

The doctor asked the moment they got close and Yonghwa absentmindedly answered a ‘yes’. Joohyun sighed and understood that he didn’t really heard what he said and let it go. What was important now was Euna.

“Your daughter has a bad fever and cold. But she is still under observation for 24 hours and we suggest for her to stay for a while. Don’t worry too much, it's normal for her age to have this kind of sickness especially with the kind of weather that we have,” he then turned to Joohyun, “Mrs. Jung, I suggest you get your daughter some clothes be-“

“Yes, doctor,” Yonghwa flinched cutting the doctor but he didn’t correct him when he just realized Joohyun was standing beside him. He didn’t want to embarrass her further with the doctor’s false impression.

When the older man was gone, he rushed to Euna’s side leaving Joohyun by the door until she noticed that the teacher was still there. She went to her and graciously introduced herself as Yonghwa’s secretary— which she practically was. “I’m sorry, Director Jung is obviously disoriented. Thank you very much for your help. Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s not a trouble at all,” Tiffany took the younger woman’s hand seeing the sincerity in her smile. “I can’t stay for long, the class is waiting for me…”

She nodded and walked Euna’s teacher towards the exit and when she returned, a nurse met her and asked if she could register Euna. Only then she was able to tell the nurse that she was not the mother and thankfully Tiffany already gave Euna’s personal details. Joohyun also asked for one of the suites and took the form to Yonghwa for the other information she could not give.

The little girl was already sleeping when she sat on the chair beside him. Yonghwa frowned when he saw the rather upgrade she did. He looked at her and pointed at the suite, “I can’t pay for this room.”

“You pay for the medicine, I pay for the room,” she declared sternly.

“No, Joohyun-ssi, she is my daughter.”

“No, Yonghwa-ssi, don’t be stubborn. She’s special to me, I’m doing this for her and you know how hard-headed I can be so you can’t do anything,” she deliberately talked in a fast and forceful manner so that he could not answer back.

“But—“

“No more buts,” she stood and grabbed the form, “It’s final.”

Yonghwa could only shake his head as h