Chapter 60. Battles

Euna was very nervous since she was about to see her father and she knew that he was very angry at her. Chairman harabeoji said that Appa was not very angry, he was just scared that he would no longer see Euna but she was still nervous. She thought it was a really good idea that if she went to look for her umma, her appa and umma would do everything to take her back home so they will start going together again. Then maybe her Joohyun umma would think that it would be better if she would marry Euna and Appa and come live with them so she would not go looking for her anymore.

She was still scared and she cried a lot even when Nana let her play with her umma’s toys and cooked delicious foods for her. Euna wanted to go home but she didn’t know how and it was dark and it was raining really hard. When Chairman harabeoji told her that umma went with appa to Daejeon to look for her, she was really very happy but her halmeoni said it was not a good idea and Euna overheard them talking and her grandma was really angry but she couldn’t do anything anymore.

Because of that, she didn’t want to go home yet because her appa might be as angry as her halmeoni when she went out of the house to look for her Joohyun umma. She sighed, it was really hard to think because she knew she did something bad. The door opened and she opened her eyes wider and saw Chairman harabeoji walking inside the room.

“Is appa coming to get me now?” She asked when he sat on the bed.

“Yes,” Chairman Seo smiled and patted the little girl’s arm, “Are you still scared?”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded.

“Don’t worry,” he winked, “Don’t tell them anything, Euna. I will explain everything to them. Can you do that?

She shrugged.

“Euna, you have to promise Chairman harabeoji that you will not say anything,” he raised a finger to prove his point, “That’s all you should do. I will tell them not to ask you anymore because you are scared.”

“I guess…” she shrugged again. Maybe she could really do that. Halmeoni said if she tell anything to her appa and Joohyun umma, they would surely be angry at everybody and at each other and they would stop dating again like they did before.

“Good,” he sighed and offered his pinkie, “Promise me now, Euna.”

Euna hesitated for a moment but in the end she entwined her pinky with his. “Okay…”

“And when we promise, we?”

“Keep it!” She replied with renewed enthusiasm.

“Good girl,” Chairman Seo nodded then stood. “They are coming home soon so let’s see if you can really keep your promise…”

“You promised too…” Euna pouted and he laughed.

“I will keep my promise,” he put a finger on his lips for a moment then winked, “As long as you keep yours…”

“Uh-huh, it’s a secret!” Euna gave him a toothy grin.

~~~

The silence was palpable on their way back. The annoyance she felt was irrational since she wouldn’t even give him the benefit of the doubt. To her defense though, she just wanted him to trust her feelings and do not jump into assumption with her relationship with Changmin. Why couldn’t he just love her and fight his own demons then trust her heart? Was it really that hard? Because of that, it only justified her need to teach him a little lesson.

Joohyun watched him by the corner of her eyes. He did love her, there was no longer any question to that and she was confident that he would not love anyone else but her. It may be some kind of blind confidence but she believed that. If only Yonghwa would win that internal battle he had going on. She could tell that he was also in deep thought probably contemplating about them since he had been giving her the same passing glances.

But then again, he must be thinking about Euna and she should too.

Then the thought of seeing her little girl brought a rush of excitement through her. Her focus turned to the road ahead and she just realized how close they were to her home. Euna was still there although his mother already left. Maybe the little girl was still uncomfortable being home and she needed the assurance that there would be other people around so her appa wouldn’t be so mad at her.

Her poor baby girl must be so scared to death of Yonghwa right now.

She sighed and turned to the man in question, “Be easy on her, okay?”

He simply nodded. Their focus would be on Euna but Yonghwa was determined to talk about them as soon as he got the assurance that his daughter was okay. He greatly appreciated Joohyun’s presence during the whole ordeal and he hoped that she would be there to stay. Everything that happened proved her love for Euna and her commitment to his daughter. Yonghwa knew that Euna was now Joohyun’s daughter by heart. That realization made him give her a quick look and, without words, he took her hand and held it for the remainder of their drive.

Thankfully, she didn’t pull away.

~~~

Euna nibbled on her second carp bread that Nana made for her. Chairman harabeoji was on the phone by the pool and she watched him talk in a quiet voice. A while ago, Nana took her from her umma’s bedroom to eat lunch but she liked the bread she had for breakfast so she asked for that instead. She was still waiting for her appa and umma to come but she was also very nervous. Suddenly, she heard a car coming from a distance and harabeoji disappeared from her sight.

After a few minutes, Euna heard familiar voices and Nana, who was sitting across her smiled at her.

“It must be your appa.”

Euna dropped the bread on the plate and stood but before she could run towards the hallway, Joohyun umma emerged. “Unnie!!!” She automatically fell in her arms because it was her mommy who simply ran to her side.

“Oh, Euna…” Joohyun took in her scent and squeezed her little body on hers. She could feel the tears b but she didn’t care. Letting Euna go for a moment, she pushed the strands of hair off her face and her eyes roamed all over her small frame, “I was so worried! Are you hurt? Were you okay?”

“Uh-huh…” Euna nodded because she promised she would not say anything because it would only make her umma and appa sad. Then her mommy hugged her again and it felt really nice, “I miss you…”

“Me too, Euna. You have no idea…” When Euna whispered that, she just lost. She started to cry against the soft embrace of her little girl. Joohyun cried even more when she felt her little hand soothing her hair. Then she whispered, “I’m so sorry for leaving…”

“I’m sorry too,” Euna sniffed. Her mommy pulled away and looked at her with her eyes crying so hard so Euna felt really bad.

Joohyun shook her head, “I shouldn’t have left, sweetheart.” Pushing her tears away, she smiled, “Promise me you will never run away again.”

“Okay,” she nodded. Her mommy was brushing her face with her hands Euna could feel her eyes getting really stingy that she cried harder and she hugged her umma again.

~~~

Before he could even stop the engine, she was ready to jump off the car that he needed to warn her of her injury. It was as if Joohyun did not hear him as she leapt out of the car and ran across the hall. Then he saw the old man approaching and with a brief greeting, Joohyun turned towards the sunroom by the pool.

“Chairman…” Yonghwa bowed when he reached his boss who was standing on the stony path leading to where Joohyun disappeared into.

“I’m sorry this has to happen.” Chairman Seo spoke calmly, “I made the necessary arrangements to compensate the couple who found Euna. But we