Round Eighty-Five

The dinner ended with Dennis excusing himself as soon as dessert was done. Tony bade Taeng and Tiffany a goodnight shortly after that and then it was just the two of them left. They held hands and made their way to Taeng’s car.

Tiffany nudged him as they were walking. “I didn’t know that you were into wine.”

Taeng shrugged nonchalantly in response. “I just drink a little sometimes.”

“But I’ve never seen you drinking it.”

“I don’t need to when you’re around.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“There are times when I can’t fall asleep at night so I drink a little. But when I’m with you, I have no trouble falling asleep so there’s no need to drink it.”

Tiffany didn’t know what to say. Her emotions surged. All the words rushed into and piled up behind her lips which refused to open. Her jaw was stubbornly locked. Not a word could get out to express how she felt about everything. She loved him. He loved her. She wanted him. He wanted her. The whole thing was just so beautiful yet heartbreaking to her.

Taeng deserved so much more than what he had been dealt in life. Yet, he was fortunate enough to have a family that loved and supported him through his years of growing up. And she wouldn’t have Taeng as he was if the fates had been any different. He wouldn’t be the same. Taeng was Taeng. Nothing more, nothing less. Exactly Taeng. And Taeng was who she wanted. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Taetae, I love you, you know that right?”

“I think I do now.” Taeng’s smile was shy again and Tiffany felt like squealing.

“Taetae.” She stopped beside their car. “Kiss me.”

“Here? Now?”

“Yes.”

“But—”

Tiffany couldn’t wait any longer. She grabbed him and her lips made contact with his in the next instant. She needed to kiss him. It was a need. A deep, uncontrollable need. The entire evening had been like to her. He was ever so attentive to her every need. Asking for water when she swallowed a little too quickly, handing her a napkin when she needed one, essentially, being his usual self. But she had been enlightened recently and she realized that all of these were not to be taken for granted. All of these things were Taeng’s brand of tender loving care and were to be cherished and appreciated.

Hence, the need to kiss him. She loved the way he kissed her. He would start off shy but quickly progress to ardent and eventually become dominant. And when he was dominant, her toes would really curl in delight. That was when his kisses were bold and his tongue, devilish. The way he would pursue her with his tongue, explore with his tongue were so mind-blowing to her. It was a Taeng kiss. No one else could kiss her like he did. And his kisses were so amazing because of one simple reason. His love for her was real and ever so true.

“Taetae…we…need…to…get…home…now.” Tiffany bit her lip and a corner of her lips curled up seductively.

Taeng blinked twice before he nodded. He opened the door for Tiffany and closed it for her before hurrying to the driver’s seat to drive them home. “To yours or mine?” he asked.

“Yours. I’m interested in the wine collection that you have. And I’d like to get you drunk tonight.”

“W-Why?” Taeng was flustered. “Why do you want to get me drunk?”

“Because a drunk Taeng would be so cute to make love to.” Tiffany giggled.

It was a miracle that Taeng actually made it all the way back to his home without getting into any accidents after that.

~~~~~

Yoong put down his phone and dragged his palms down his face. He had his suspicions confirmed after talking to his grandfather. Miho was likely to have been hired by one of the Japanese heads to bring him down. His reputation as a playboy had obviously become a weapon against him in the eyes of the Japanese head who wanted his position. Several of the heads had felt that they deserved to be promoted to his position and were deeply disappointed when Grandpa Im announced that his grandson would be the one taking over the position instead of one of them.

Yoong had questioned his grandfather’s decision. “Why don’t you promote one of them? They’d be happier that way.”

His grandfather had laughed. “Young man. You have much to learn. No matter who I put in that position, people are going to be unhappy. There can only be one president of the regional office and there will be many people who think that they deserve it the most. There’s no way I can please all of them and not all of them are capable of holding the post.”

“But—”

“Yoong, you must find out who the person is. I want that person out of my company. Then use that as a show of your power and ability to lead. They will be more willing to work under your leadership after that. This position is important to you. Once you rise to it and succeed, you will be able to become the president of our Seoul headquarters and you will command the entire company then. This is an important step for you. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Now, use your wits and find out who is behind Miho. It will be key to you winning this battle.”

Now, as Yoong sat in the armchair in his hotel suite, he wondered for the first time if he was really cut out for the business world. He did not want to play the game. He did not want to scheme. He did not want to bring anybody down. Yet here he was, tasked to find the mastermind behind Miho and to kick him out of the company. All this was for his ascension to be the president of the entire company but he found himself wondering if that was what he truly wanted.

~~~~~

Hyun raised his arms in victory. The doctor had finally passed a clean bill of health on him. His back was completely cured!“Hyoyeonie, I’m so happy,” he gushed as they walked out of the clinic.

“No more hip s for you, wise guy.”

Hyun had worsened his condition by trying to practice his hip s on the sly and Hyoyeon had given him the sternest reprimand over it. Finally, he had promised to wait till his back was completely healed before attempting any sort of in that area again.“But I’m cured!”

“There are many other moves you can learn besides the hip .”

“But the hip is the coolest!”

Hyoyeon palmed her face. Hyun was the most stubborn person in the world and it would take a herd of elephants to drag him away from an idea that he latched onto. “Is that what you really want to learn?” she asked.

“Yes!”

Hyoyeon sighed. “I’ll teach you then.”

“Yay!” cheered Hyun even as Hyoyeon shook her head gravely.

~~~~~

It began innocently enough. Hyoyeon brought Hyun to her dance studio to teach him the move. She positioned him in front of the mirrors that lined one of the walls of her studio and made him stand sideways.

“Watch.” She did a series of three hip s and he watched, in awe.

“You do it so well, Hyoyeonie!”

“It’s easy. You just have to isolate your hips. So lock everything else and focus solely on your hips. But don’t too hard or you’ll injure your back again.”

Hyun tried several times but each time, his body would jerk in an awkward manner and it wasn’t just his hips that were moving. Hyoyeon watched for a while before stopping him.

“You have to bend your knees. Flex your legs. Like this.” Hyoyeon bounced on her knees and Hyun followed. “Great! You’re flexing well. Now, bend your knees and push your out backwards.”

Hyun looked as though he was hovering above an invisible toilet bowl as he got into position and Hyoyeon had to stifle her laugh as she corrected him.

“No, no. Don’t bend your knees so much. Just a little.” Hyoyeon held his hips to guide him. “Yes. Now, stick your out a little. Stretch your abs a little.” She placed her hand on his to stop it from going too far. “Great. Now, push your hips forward and flat out to the front.” She placed her other hand high up his thigh to guide his . “Awesome. Now, repeat it three times.”

Hyun did it three times with her hands guiding him and everything was going along just fine until someone poked their head into the studio and yelled, “Hyoyeon! Seriously! Get a room with your boyfriend!”

A loud roar of laughter erupted from the outside and Hyoyeon grew red instantly. She pulled her hands away from Hyun and put a fair bit of distance between them. Hyun looked as awkward as she felt when she sneaked a peek so she said, “Shall we leave?”

Hyun nodded vigourously and picked up his bag quickly. Then they left the studio, trying their best to ignore the wolf calls and owl hoots that followed them.

~~~~~

Yul found Jessica waiting by his car after work the next evening. He wasn’t entirely surprised, however. He had had this feeling that she would get her way in the end. Jessica had insisted on visiting the flower shop with him when he told her about his plan to see the man again. He didn’t think that it was a good idea. He had no idea how he would feel if the man turned out to be his brother and he didn’t want Jessica to be there to witness the mess that he might turn into.

Jessica, on the other hand, felt that she should be there to help him if he needed it and did not want to take no for an answer. So here she was. Waiting by his car.

“Yul, I’m going with you,” she said as soon as he was close enough. Her shoulders were squared, jaw defiant, eyes unwavering as she stated her purpose. She was ready for a showdown if one was required but he did not want one.

“Fine. Get in,” he acquiesced and opened the door for her. She giggled and kissed him before getting in the car.

“I love you,” she said.

Yul could not hold back his smile. “I love you too.”

~~~~~

The flower shop was a short drive from the office and Yul was nervous when he saw that it was open for business. Jessica reached for his hand and held it. Was it that obvious that he was nervous? He got down and went around to open the door for Jessica. He helped her out and she linked her arm with his as they walked to the flower shop.

He could feel his jaw tensing up as they approached the shop. His nerves, he did not like. But he entered the shop nonetheless. He saw the man standing behind the counter, back facing them. Jessica patted his arm to comfort him and he smiled gratefully.

“Welcome to Flower Power, what sort of flowers are you looking—?” the man asked as he turned around and halted in mid-sentence when he saw that it was Yul. Yul noticed how the man swallowed hard before stepping out from behind the counter to walk towards him. He stood still as a statue as the man approached him. His mind was in a whirl as his eyes drank in the features of the man’s face. So familiar. So similar. The man looked as pale as sheet as he stood in front of Yul. But he spoke anyway, “You came back.”

“Unlike somebody I once knew.” Yul could hear Jessica’s gasp. Was what he said that shocking to her?

The man looked down at once—a sign of guilt. And Yul knew at once. His suspicions had been on the mark. “You are Kwon Yul?” the man half-whispered.

“I am Kwon Yul.”

The man looked at him with a contorted expression. “You look very much the same as…before.”

“Have we met before?” His voice, stone cold.

Upon hearing what he said, the man looked pained. “I’m your brother, Kwon Hyuk—”

The man couldn’t complete his speech. Yul’s fist had found his cheek and slammed into it hard and fast. The man staggered backwards and held himself up by holding onto the counter behind him.

“Yul!” He could hear Jessica’s distressed call but his rage had erupted out of nowhere and molten lava was now spewing from every pore. He shook off Jessica’s arm and stepped forward to grab the man by the collar.

“You’re not my brother. I don’t have a brother. I haven’t had one for the past fifteen years and I don’t need one now,” he seethed.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“You’re sorry? Are you kidding me? Which part of you is sorry? Your toe? Or your pinkie? You left without a word and never came back. You didn’t even bother to look for me when you saw Mother. You freaking broke your promises. Every single one. Broken. Do you know how we lived? Do you how know we suffered? Do you know how I lived? Do you know how I suffered!”

Yul shook his brother violently as he yelled at him and found himself punching his brother in the face again. And again. And again.

“Yul!!!” Jessica’s scream of terror brought him back to his senses, somewhat and he let go of his brother’s collar violently, sending his brother crashing to the ground. “Yul…please stop!” Yul turned around and saw Jessica’s tear-streaked face. His heart sank immediately. What had he done? He wrapped his arms around Jessica and her hair. “Yul…you’re scaring me. You’re going to kill him if you hit him some more.”

He turned back to look at his brother and was shocked to see a bloody face. But even the sounds of his brother groaning in pain didn’t appease his anger. It didn’t calm the storm that was raging in his heart. Whatever pain he had inflicted on his brother was incomparable to the pain that he had suffered through all those years. All the years of pining, longing, yearning.

Until one day, a year later, he’d decided to stop waiting for his brother to come back. In his mind, it was simple. He didn’t have a brother. So there was no need to have any hopes anymore. In his mind, there was only his mother. She was the only family he had. So he lived hard. He pushed himself to the limit. He and he alone would be the light in his mother’s life. And somehow he felt that he had to shine twice as bright to make up for the darkness that his father and brother brought into his mother’s life. It was all up to him, a ten-year-old boy who had to grow up faster than the rest of his peers.

Yes. His brother deserved the beating. He deserved every punch.

“Yul…” Jessica tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. “Go and help him up.”

Yul looked at Jessica and felt the need to take her away. He’d almost forgotten that she was pregnant and distress was not good for both her and the baby. But he knew that he had to do what she said or she would be even more distressed. So he trudged back to where his brother lay on the floor and hauled him up.

His brother groaned as he stood up. He clung on to the counter and managed to stand—albeit, a little wobbly. Yul caught sight of a box of tissue papers and pulled some out for his brother. His brother took them and started dabbing his face gingerly to wipe the blood off his face. That’s when Yul went back to Jessica and put his arm around her.

“Let’s go,” he said. But she shook her head and shrugged off his arm. She stepped towards his brother before he could stop her and handed the injured man a card.

“I’m really sorry. Please see a doctor and send me the bill. Yul is a good man. He didn’t mean to hurt you so badly,” she said softly.

“Sica.”

Jessica went back to Yul and held his hand. “Okay, okay.” And she followed Yul out of the shop back to his car.

~~~~~

Yul couldn’t drive. He gripped the steering wheel till his knuckles turned white and Jessica could only sit still quietly beside him. Seeing him in this state frightened her. There had been times when she could feel that he was restraining himself and when they fought, the furthest he’d go was to yell at her but she’d seen the violent side of him tonight. And it frightened her.

He jumped when she touched him. She put her hand over his and said, “Do you want me to drive?”

He looked at her with those dark, cloudy eyes of his and nodded. “You’d better drive.”

So they exchanged places and Jessica drove them home.

~~~~~

“Prepare a warm bath now,” Jessica instructed a housekeeper as soon as she entered her home with Yul. The housekeeper nodded and headed to her bathroom immediately. She then tugged on Yul’s arm and led him back to her bedroom. She sat him down on her bed and sat beside him quietly until the housekeeper came out of the bathroom and left her bedroom. She locked the door as soon as the housekeeper left before proceeding to Yul’s shirt.

“What are you doing?” he asked gruffly.

“What you need is a warm bath with a beautiful wife. Raise your hands.”

He raised his hands obediently and allowed her to pull his shirt off.

“Stand up.”

He stood, allowing her to unbuckle his belt and remove his pants and briefs. He stepped out of his pants and briefs and stood before her. She bit her lip. Seeing him in his full glory always took her breath away but this wasn’t the time. Instead, she pushed him gently to her bathroom.

“Get in.”

He got in and sat down in the tub of warm water, watching as she shed her own clothes. She then stepped into the tub, positioned herself beside him and hugged him close to her. So there they sat, hugging each other in silence, feeling the warmth of the water that enveloped them.

She kept quiet. Partly because she didn’t know what to say, partly because she knew that there was nothing she could say. She didn’t know what Hyukjun had done except for the abandoning part. Yul had mentioned something about broken promises. What was it about? And was that why Yul was such a strict person when it came to promises? He had gotten so angry with her when she broke her promise because of Kelly. Was this where the anger came from?

She sat up suddenly and reached for the bath gel and squirted some of it onto a loofah. She then proceeded to clean his chest with it. He allowed her to clean him without protest and leaned forward when she nudged him gently so that she could clean his back as well. She soaped him up thoroughly before reaching for the shower head to rinse the lather off his body.

Once he was squeaky clean, she handed him the loofah wordlessly. He took it and did exactly what she did, repeating the steps on her. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being scrubbed by Yul.

“Thank you.”

Her eyes sprang open. Did Yul just thank her?

“You saved me from doing something I might regret later. I’m glad you were there with me, Sica.”

Wow. It had taken about an hour but it looked like Yul had finally sorted out his thoughts. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him tenderly. He pulled her onto his lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their lips couldn’t stay away from each other, locking instantly when they got close enough again. His hands wandered all over her back and her sides and it wasn’t long before she was breathing heavily.

“Yul…tell me.”

“After dinner.”

~~~~~

They headed up to the rooftop garden after dinner. Jessica was convinced that the open air would get him to talk more comfortably. And perhaps she was right, for talk, he did.

“He left without a note. Without saying anything. He just left like that,” Yul began after they were both reclining on a deck chair. Jessica laid her head on his shoulder and pulled his arm around her shoulder.

“Do you know why?”

Yul shook his head. “No. He gave no warning. No clue. He just packed some clothes and ran off.”

“What promises did he break?”

Jessica could feel his muscles tensing up under her after she asked the question. It was obviously a sensitive question to him. But she didn’t retract the question. She wanted an answer. So she waited. She rested her arm around his waist and waited.

“He promised to go to all my swimming competitions,” he finally answered after a moment’s silence. “I had one the next day. He didn’t turn up. He promised to go but he never turned up for a single competition. But I still swam my best. I thought maybe he’d turn up or maybe he was hiding in the crowd so I swam my best. I had to be the champion for him and Mother.” Yul paused. “Even for my father,” he added softly. “I wanted them to be proud of me.”

Jessica blinked the tears away from her eyes and his cheek tenderly. “Yul…”

“But I had to face reality eventually. My father’s dead. My brother’s gone. It’s just me and my mother.”

Jessica sniffed and wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him. Her heart twisted achingly with every truth that he revealed. The truths about himself. The hurt that he experienced. He was coming clean with her and she was both sad and moved to hear about his past.

“Don’t cry,” Yul whispered as he wiped the tears off her face. He kissed her chastely and her hair lovingly. “I’m a grown man now. I’m past all that. I’m fine.”

Jessica shook her head. “You’re not fine. You’re angry and hurt. You’re sad. You’re still sad. I can see it in your eyes. You miss your brother.”

Yul’s lips pressed into a thin line and his face looked grim. “I don’t miss him. He’s gone now. I don’t need him around. I can take care of myself and Mother is leading a peaceful life now. We don’t need him.”

“Yul, you punched the crap out of him today—you were so angry. Do you know what you looked like? You looked like the hulk. All the muscles were almost bursting out from your shirt. Your eyes had gone wild. You were really scary, Yul. Really scary.”

Yul laughed suddenly and Jessica frowned. “Why are you laughing? It’s not funny.”

“It is. The way you describe things is funny. You just don’t realize.”

“But you were really scary today. I’ve never seen you this angry before. You totally lost it today.”

Yul looked at her long and hard before emitting a sigh. “Yes I did. I lost it today. That’s why I’m thankful that you were there to stop me from going too far.”

“Don’t you want to know why your brother ran away?”

“No. I don’t want to talk to him. I don’t want to see him.”

“Do you remember what you said to me when you were telling me to forgive Krystal?”

“That’s different.”

“It’s not.”

“It is. I’ve already said this before. Krystal is innocent. She was simply born into the problem. My brother chose to leave. He chose to.”

“Maybe he’s regretting it now.”

“So what if he is.”

“But you’re brothers!”

“No longer.”

“You can’t just cut him off.”

“I can.”

“You can’t! If I can’t cut Krystal then you can’t cut him either!”

“Sica, I’ve already told you what you wanted to know. Don’t push your luck.”

“What do you mean by that. I’m not saying all these things for fun. I just don’t want to see you angry and hurt like that.”

“I’m sorry. I lost control today. But it won’t happen again. I promise.”

“But why did you lose control? Wasn’t it because you were so angry and hurt that you couldn’t hold it in anymore?”

“Sica. We’re done talking.”

“If you won’t talk, I’ll talk to him.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Why won’t I dare.”

“Because I’ll—”

“What will you do to me?” Jessica tilted her jaw, angling her head to challenge him. There was nothing he could do to her. He’d never hurt her. There was nothing he could do—

“I’ll stop making love to you.”

Jessica gasped and sat up straight. “What?”

“I’ll stop making love to you.”

“No…”

“Yes.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“Fine, then you’re not sharing my baby.” Jessica folded her arms in a huff.

“What!”

“You heard me. My baby is all mine. You won’t get a share.”

“What nonsense are you talking about.”

“I’ll raise my baby all by myself. I don’t need you. I have tons of money. I can hire nannies. I can buy everything the baby needs. We don’t need you.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Try me.”

“Sica.”

Jessica burst into laughter suddenly. The whole thing was just so silly that she laughed and laughed and laughed. Then she heard him laughing too. And they hugged each other tight until their laughter subsided. After sometime, Jessica said, “Yul, I don’t think we can have a really happy family if you don’t forgive your brother. He’s back. You found him. You can’t ignore him.”

Yul stared long and hard at her and she looked back unflinchingly. And after the longest pause, he broke their eye contact and looked down. “I’ll…try.”

“To?”

“Forgive…him.”

Jessica smiled triumphantly. There was hope yet.

~~~~~