Chapter 73. Danger

If this was not about them, then it could be something so severe that he had come all the way here despite the danger— despite the pain.

“Then tell me.”

“This is about the person I gave up my happiness for… my sister.” He smiled with those sad eyes then continued softly, “You should know, I had to give you up for Seohyun.”

She swallowed.

Unshed tears stinging her eyes.

His revelation wasn’t a surprise for her— barely a surprise since it had played in her mind long ago. Yuri turned away only pointing towards the door. She could no longer look at him because it was only bringing everything back.

She chose the farthest end since she was still not comfortable being outside with him but it would be worse if they were in her home. Joowon sat only when she looked settled and in no time, their drinks were brought to them. “What about Seohyun?” Yuri asked right away because the soonest they do the talking, the soonest she could get away.

“You know where she is?” Joowon asked and she only raised a brow at him so he continued with a groan, “All right, we both know where she is. I’ve been checking on her ever since she arrived here.”

Yuri frowned some more, as far as she knows, Seohyun doesn’t know about this, “What do you mean you’ve been checking on her? You knew all along where she was?”

He nodded with a small shrug, “She’s my sister.”

“But she doesn’t know about this…” she murmured taking her and cup wrapping her palms around it feeling the warmth.

Joowon watched her in silence. Taking in every small movement and making sure he would remember this. Following her lead, he also took a small sip from his own then continued, “She was supposed to go to me upon agreeing that she would live with me for a few months. But when I got her message that she needed to do something and decided to stay in Japan, I got worried. The moment I found out that she left the country, it didn’t sit well with me so I had someone track her down.”

Perhaps that was how he also found her, Yuri thought to herself, “She said she still sends you emails.”

“She does,” he chuckled remembering his silly little sister, “Makes her believe it would keep me from prodding.”

Yuri played with the lone ring on her finger. The one she bought to deter men from pursuing her. She sighed, “So you know about Euna…” Her eyes shot straight to him, “Why didn’t you take her with you? She—”

Joowon shook his head, “You know Seohyun. She would feel caged. I didn’t want that. I wanted her to come to me on her own accord, not forced. The last thing I want her to feel was the same control our parents have on us. I tried to protect her from that.”

Her gaze dropped on the table and nodded, “She’s lucky that she has a brother like you.”

“I don’t want her to experience what we—” he stopped when Yuri shook her head. Sighing, he continued, “I was looking out for her, just from afar.” He wanted to add something else but he stopped himself and retorted instead, “When I learned that she was in the hospital and the father of her baby finally found them, I decided not to interfere. See what he would do… but I was ready to fly her and her baby out.”

Yuri realized that he didn’t know the whole truth about Seohyun and Yonghwa’s situation and it was not her story to tell so she only nodded. “So now that you know that they are being taken care of, why do we need to talk about Seohyun?”
 

“That brings me to the next point, which is rather complicated,” Joowon muttered.

She swallowed and hated the next thing she was about to say, “I said this before. When it comes to your family drama, I shouldn’t have any part in it anymore. I don’t want to be rude but I’ve been seeing Seohyun because I’m the only one she can trust right now and I-I love her…” She sniffed, “I probably shouldn’t hear the rest of the complications of this because it only concerns your family.”

“It concerns you too,” Joowon managed to say. He didn’t mean to tell her this but hearing her concern, he decided that she need to know the truth. “I had an agreement with my parents… in exchange of you…”

~~~~

When Yonghwa finally came upstairs, he was rather surprised to see Euna still wide awake and quietly cooing to herself while chewing her toy rabbit. “Why are you still awake?” He asked and laughed when the baby fell backwards obviously startled by her appa’s voice cutting through the tiny silence she was sharing with her umma.

Seohyun scooped her baby up giggling and cooing to deter that scrunched up face getting ready to burst into tears. She handed her feisty one to her appa who sat on the bed beside her, “How’s Jonghyun Oppa?”

“He said he feels sicker,” Yonghwa replied while gently rocking Euna on his lap until she looked up to him with a big open-mouthed grin and eyes blinking charming her appa to give her a kiss. Which he did and gave more as he rubbed his chin on her neck that made her laugh out loud.

“Aigoo,” Seohyun groaned then clicked her tongue when she was met with deaf ears as the two went on tickling each other. “Ya, stop making her laugh,” she said again, “She’ll sleep late again…”

He only stopped when Seohyun grumbled so he just laid the baby on the bed and played with her quietly knowing that her umma had been keen on training Euna to put herself to sleep. With that, he settled beside his baby and just quietly watched her until she let out a big, loud yawn that was too adorable for him to just ignore. Yonghwa moved closer kissing her cheek then whispered, “Good night, sweetheart.”

Euna sighed, rubbed her eyes with her little fists then shifted towards her umma. As if knowing what the baby needed, Seohyun laid down beside them, pulling Euna closer to her and hugging her tight. When she started stubbornly fighting the sleepiness she was feeling, Yonghwa scooted closer and rubbed the thin line of her eyebrow, something he learned from his older brother who has two rowdy boys of his own.

With every brush of his finger, Euna would blink heavily as if pushing herself to stay awake until she had another yawn that she managed to keep her eyes shut but her little mouth moved like she was feeding. Seohyun smiled when their gazes met and she asked softly knowing that Euna was out for the night, “You’ll be busy?”

“Yeah,” he responded with a deep sigh. As time went by, it was getting harder—this set-up, the uncertainty, the confusions.

Yonghwa shifted to lie on his back, his arm fell on his eyes to shield them from the soft light. He could feel the weight of fatigue digging him deeper into the bed but he needed a shower. It was still early for him to sleep, normally, he would take two or three hours after dinner but this time, he was just too tired.

Pushing himself to get moving, Yonghwa opened his eyes and noticed how she was looking at him. She smiled. Seohyun used to turn away whenever he would catch her looking at him, but this time, she was watching him with those wide trusting eyes. There was too much weight on that stare that it was easier to pretend that it didn’t affect him. Instead of saying anything, Yonghwa gently sat up and left the bed without giving her a second look.

It was easier that way.

The cold water that ran through his body did little to extinguish the flame burning his body. Her little surprise only brought him in that very edge and the lingering thought of returning the favor not only for her pleasure but his as well—

To take her with him.

To give her more than he could ever give…

It took him longer to finish in the shower and by the time he get back to the room, Seohyun was already breathing so heavily like that little girl beside her who was sprawled on her side. He couldn’t help that quiet chuckle looking at Euna— limbs and all, occupy a fairly huge space in the bed since she was sleeping spread-eagle with her head near her mom’s stomach and her feet touched the wall on her side.

Then his eyes lingered on Seohyun.

He was only realizing now that he was capable of this patience to have this particular woman. Yonghwa was never that type who would pursue someone this long. It was either a woman was interested or not. And he knew that Seohyun had been interested.

Maybe not from the beginning.

Yonghwa had to—