Chapter 18. Hug

Taeyeon caught a glimpse of her by the thin mirror that separated them, she had to walk back and verify if it was her or just a vision. Joohyun barely noticed when she came in to her office and Taeyeon knocked on her table just to get her attention, “I have a proposal for you. I’ll buy you lunch, you tell me what’s wrong.”

“Unnie! You startled me!!!” Joohyun gasped then sighed surrendering to her unnie’s assumption, “How did you even know?”

“Everyone could tell from that duck lips you’re sporting over there,” Taeyeon laughed when her friend glowered at her. Shaking her head, she spoke calmly, “You wear your heart on your sleeves, Seo Joohyun. So, how about that lunch?”

A few minutes later, Joohyun absentmindedly played with her table napkin while Taeyeon continued to talk to Changmin on the phone.  After a while, the older girl smiled as she ended the call and kept her phone in her bag. She stared at Joohyun for a moment before starting, “Oppa cancelled his flight back home. Problems again.” She motioned at the food sprawled on their table, “So lunch is here… your turn now. Let me guess, the father and daughter tandem again.”

“Bingo,” Joohyun sadly smiled. She had no qualms on telling this to her unnie since the latter, together with her Changmin Oppa, is her confidante. Besides, she needed a clear mind to help her decide on the best way to deal with this apparent dilemma. “Euna told me that she wants me to be her mommy.”

“She did what?!” Taeyeon almost doubled over on her seat as she laughed. Then when her friend kept her frown, she asked seriously, “What did you say to her about it?”

“I told her it’s hard,” Joohyun took her fork and played with the pasta on her plate, “And I almost killed myself when I realized how sad she was when I turned her down.”

“What’s so hard about it?”

“Unnie, are you kidding?!” She found herself exclaiming then toned down her voice when she realized she must have spoken loudly, “How in the world?”

The older girl nodded in sympathy, “Does her appa know about it?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “I guess not…”

“Are you going to tell him?”

“What am I going to tell him? ‘Hey, your kid wants me to be her mother, how about you? Do you want me to be your wife?’” Joohyun animatedly said then sulked again, “See how complicated it is?”

“So what are you going to do about Euna now,” Taeyeon examined her food as she waited for a couple of minutes for her to respond.

“I don’t know, I guess I need to stay away from her for a while,” just the thought of it was already making her melancholic. Then she smiled sadly, “I may just be her whim and she’d probably get over me when she doesn’t see me often.”

“Then what if the father asks you about that sudden indifference towards his daughter you want to stage?”

“Maybe I could tell him but it’s going to be really awkward. I can’t even imagine how I’d do that…” Joohyun hardly touched her food and she was just staring at it. The thought of Yonghwa and seeing him a few hours later was choking her already.

“Can you take what you’re going to do to Euna?” Taeyeon knows her inside out and she knew it was one of Joohyun’s defense mechanism to stay away from the things that upset her so much. If she could go to the moon just to get away, she would surely be holding a one-way ticket right that moment.

“That is the question. But it’s only for her own good.”

“Or you’re just scared of being hurt?” She asked softly, “Joohyun, not everyone who falls in love gets hurt, you know?”

“You can say that again,” the younger girl rolled her eyes. “Why are you putting it like it would be easier for me to fall in love with Yonghwa?” She sighed then mumbled almost inaudibly, “He could still be madly in love with Euna’s real mom judging by the six years he hasn’t married or dated anyone yet.”

“Woah! How did you know that?” Taeyeon chuckled then knitted her brows, “Have you been asking around?”

“Unnie, please stop treating this as a joke, okay?! This is not a laughing matter…” she grumbled.

“Fine…” she laughed softly then continued with an even tone, “Just do what you think is right. As long as it can give you peace of mind.”

“Peace of mind. Why do I love that word?” Joohyun exhaled loudly, then muttered, “Where can I possibly get something like that?”

Taeyeon smiled gently, “You know the answer to that, Hyunnie… just listen to your elusive heart. It knows.”

She stared at her unnie for the longest time. Her words hang above her head.

~~~

Yonghwa was discussing some matters with another director on the phone when Joohyun walked in to the room and took her place. She decided to distract herself with work so she asked Hyoyeon to give her some more documents to study. Working in the company had proven beneficial for her. She managed to study transactions and situations that the gallery could probably experience one day; Yonghwa, too, had been very helpful in explaining concepts for her. It could help her run their business a little bit better.

Despite the amount of work she tried to bury herself in, Euna’s resigned expression clouded her mind particularly how she lied down and faced the other direction when she promised her that she will always be her baby. She shut her eyes tight remembering how the little girl only gave her a small nod when she decided to leave. She cried in her car agonizing over something she had no power over it. If only it was as easy as Euna thought—

“Did you go to the hospital?”

Yonghwa’s voice brought her