Cheers

Tiffany giggled as Taeng opened his kitchen cabinet to reveal a small little wine cooler that could hold six bottles.

“Do you keep them for a long time?” she asked curiously.

“I don’t have any age-able wines. These wines are meant to be drunk young. Preferably within a year or two after it’s produced.”

Tiffany was impressed. Taeng knew his wines. She looked at his little collection. It was so cute. So quaint. So Taeng.

“I want to try some of this Merlot.”

“Okay.”

She watched as Taeng poured the wine into a decanter that he took from another cabinet and her lips couldn’t help curling. He looked so adorable as he swirled the wine in the decanter. A sommelier. He looked just like one. Her very own sommelier. She giggled at the thought.

He looked at her curiously as he set the decanter back on the counter. “Why are you giggling?”

Tiffany smiled. “You’re cute.”

Taeng’s shy smile re-appeared and she had the strongest urge to squeeze his cheeks. So she did. And finished it off with a kiss on his lips. His eyes were wide open in surprise when she finally let him go and she couldn’t help but giggle yet again. Gosh. She couldn’t stop giggling when she was with him!

He blinked several times and blushed. Then he said, “We have to wait about fifteen minutes to aerate the wine properly. Why don’t you rest on the couch, Fany ah?”

“Only if you’ll join me.”

“I’ll get the glasses ready and join you.”

“Okay.”

Tiffany made her way to the couch and sat on it. Taeng joined her shortly after and she closed the distance between them.

“Taetae, I’ve been itching to ask you a question ever since we came back to Seoul.”

“What is it?”

“When do you plan on making me Mrs. Kim?”

Taeng gasped. It was a cute sound. Much like a little dog’s pant.

“Mrs. Kim? You?”

Tiffany smiled and nodded.

“Is it a little too soon?” Taeng asked.

“I’m not asking you to make me your wife immediately. I’m just asking when you plan on doing it.”

“Oh.” Taeng frowned. “Next year?”

“Next year?”

“Is it too soon?”

Tiffany could have laughed out loud at that. Too soon? Hardly. “I was thinking a little sooner, actually.”

“But your company—”

“It’s our company, Taetae. Remember, you have a share in it too. It’s the most unique engagement gift ever, I must say.”

Taeng blushed again. “This is your dream and I know that you have great ambitions for this company. You can do everything you want to do, Fany ah. I’ll be there for you. You don’t have to marry me so soon. It’s okay. I can wait.”

Tiffany shook her head. “Taetae, you don’t understand. I’m not asking because of you. I’m asking because of me. I want to be Mrs. Kim.”

“But your dreams…”

“You are one of my dreams too. I realized that when you left. And after your mother told me about your childhood, I realized that you love me so much. I never really knew or understood how much love you gave to me. Until I heard that you hadn’t spoken and that you were already back in Jeonju. It was like an awakening for me. An awakening to the fact that I love you more than I realized. Taetae, I want us to be together. Forever.”

“Fany…”

“Becoming your wife is now one of my dreams. And I don’t want to wait too long to live this dream.”

“But one of my dreams is to see you succeed with your company. And if we get married, things might be different.”

“Different? Why would it be any different?”

Taeng blinked. “Kids?”

Now it was Tiffany’s turn to blink. “Kids?”

“Usually people get married and have kids.”

Tiffany found that really funny for some reason. “Taetae, we don’t have to have kids right away. We can get married and have kids later.”

“But what if—”

“What if?”

“What if you end up like Jessica?”

Tiffany laughed. Jessica. Who’d ever thought that a girl like Jessica would end up as a mother before anybody else. Well, if it did happen to her, would it be that bad?

“If it happens, it happens. Then it is meant to be.”

“But—”

“Taetae,” interjected Tiffany, “I’m confident that we can make it big even if we have kids.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm. But I’ll listen to you. If you say a year later, then a year later it is.” Tiffany flashed a megawatt smile. “But nothing is going to stop me from getting you drunk tonight.”

~~~~~

“I can’t drink anymore, Fan-hic-ny ah,” protested Taeng.

Tiffany simply grinned. “One more glass, Taetae.”

“Okay.”

Tiffany giggled. Taeng’s face was tomato red now. There was no doubt that he was more than tipsy. They’d been drinking for the past hour or so and chatting about mindless things like favourite movies and music. It was definitely getting into his system now.

Tiffany reclined on the couch and gazed at tipsy Taeng, amused. He had a silly smile on his face that he probably didn’t know he had. It was so cute. She was sinking into an ocean of love. No, scratch that. She had already sunk to the bottom of that ocean. She was deeply, hopelessly in love with Kim Taengoo.

“What do you like most about me, Taetae?” she asked suddenly.

He grinned and looked really silly as he said, “I like everything about you!”

“Well, what’s your favourite then?”

“Favou-hic-rite?”

“Taetae, what am I going to do with you?” Tiffany got on her knees on the couch and engulfed him in a big hug, throwing her arms around his neck just then. And she giggled when he wrapped his arms around her too. Only, his aim was off and his hands landed right on her . “Do you know what you’re touching right now?” she asked him in a husky voice, laced with amusement.

Taeng grinned. “I know!”

“What is it?”

“I’m touching a fanny pack,” said Taeng and he burst into a fit of giggles. “Fany’s fanny pack.” He laughed even more, his mouth wide open and head thrown back in abandon. All this time, he did not let go of her ‘fanny pack’. He held on tight and even squeezed it a few times.

Tiffany giggled. “I think I know which part of me you like best now.”

Taeng shook his head. “No.” He brought one hand between their faces and waggled it at her. “No. I like everything. Everything Fany I like.” And he leaned in so close to her that they could feel the other person’s warm breath blowing on their warming up skin. “I like Fany.”

“You like Fany?”

Taeng nodded. Shook. Nodded again. “I love Fany.” Then he released her and brought his hands up to draw the biggest invisible circle his arms could reach. “Sooo much.”

Tiffany was deeply touched by his drunken confession. “Why?” she couldn’t help asking. “Why do you love me so much?”

He scrunched up his face and frowned. “I don’t know why.” Then he grinned suddenly. “But when I see you, my heart goes dugeun dugeun and when you kiss me, I can’t breathe but I’m so happy. You make me happy, Fany ah.”

Tiffany didn’t know if she could handle the truth. Taeng’s truth was overwhelmingly sweet and touching. Her heart was bursting at the seams. It had swelled with emotion to the point beyond humanly possible. And the only cure for that was to hug him as tightly as she could.

“Taetae, I love you too.”

Taeng hugged her back but he was leaning on her so much that she fell back on the couch and he landed right on top of her.

“Taetae?”

He nuzzled her neck. Adjusted himself slightly. And she could feel his warm breath hitting her skin every other couple of seconds.

“Taetae…?”

There was nothing but sounds of his even breathing. He had fallen asleep. Apparently getting him drunk wasn’t the best thing to do if she wanted any action. But lying here on the couch with him was so very comfortable that she decided to join him in dreamland too.

~~~~~

Sometime later in the night, Taeng woke up. His eyes opened just a crack and squinted. Where was he? Mmm. It’s so comfortable.It took him a while to realize that he was in Tiffany’s arms, but when he did, he squeaked. It was surprise, happiness, and a general sense of awesomeness all rolled into one.

He blinked in the darkness. He couldn’t remember much—just that they had been drinking and chatting before he fell asleep. He remembered hugging her and thinking that she felt like the most comfortable body pillow in the world. Yeah. Those must have been his last thoughts before he slipped into oblivion.

Tiffany looked so serene as she slept. She was beautiful when she was awake but she was even more beautiful when she was asleep. There was this sense of peace with her closed eyes and slightly upturned lips. She looked happy. Was she dreaming of something nice?

He couldn’t resist it. Her cheek. Her cheeks were made to be kissed. They were so smooth and fair and soft and…and…before he knew it, he’d already planted his lips on her cheek. And once that happened, he couldn’t stop himself from loving the other parts of her face as well. So he roved over her face with his lips, raining kisses all over her fair skin.

Suddenly, her eyes opened. “Taetae…? What are you doing?”

He froze. Oh no. He woke her up. “I’m sorry I woke you. I’ll stop kissing you now. You can go back to sleep. Are you feeling uncomfortable? Do you want to sleep on my bed instead?” He tried to get off the couch quickly but Tiffany’s arms were locked around his waist, preventing him from going anywhere. “Fany?”

“Don’t stop.”

“Don’t stop?”

Tiffany nodded. “Keep on kissing me. I like it.”

“Fany—”

“Shh…” Tiffany silenced him. “Kiss me.”

Taeng blinked. “Okay.” He brought his lips to hers and they locked lips instantly. It wasn’t the heated, fiery kind of kiss though. It was a slow, comfortable kind of kiss. A languid kiss. And they took their time to savour each other as they hugged each other close.

After some time, Taeng broke the kiss and said, “Fany, let’s go to bed.”

Tiffany smiled and nodded. She allowed Taeng to help her off the couch and they made their way to his bed hand in hand. He held her hand firmly and could feel her squeezing his hand in return. A smile found its way onto his face. He liked how she was allowing him to take the lead. And for the first time in his life, he truly believed that he could be somebody’s man. Yes. He felt like a real man. He was Tiffany’s man.

~~~~~

It took a few days, but Yoong finally found out who the mastermind was—Mr. Takeshi. Of course, it took the help of a trusted aide of his grandfather’s. It was also the same person who had confirmed that Miho was working for someone who wanted to bring him down.

Yoong felt drained. It was fortunate that he had analyzed the whole situation carefully after Miho’s attempt at seduction but that had only been the tip of the iceberg. As it was, Miho wasn’t a highly skilled seductress. Sure, she had hugged him tight and pressed herself against him, but she didn’t try to push anymore of his buttons after that.

That was perhaps, one of the biggest giveaways, he thought. If she’d been out for fun, she wouldn’t have stopped there. She would have tried her luck. But she was reserved. She was unsure. She had a mission to accomplish and it wouldn’t do to risk it at that point. And that was what got Yoong thinking.

But now that the truth was out, he was in no way relieved of any of his stress. In fact, he had more to deal with now. How was he going to collect evidence of the dirty trick that a certain old man was trying to play on him? According to his grandfather, Mr. Takeshi, was a crafty old man. It wouldn’t be easy to get the goods on him.

~~~~~

“Yoongie, are you okay? You don’t look well.” Sunny looked concerned.

Yoong grimaced. He had hoped that Sunny wouldn’t notice how stressed he was but as usual, nothing escaped her observant eyes.

“Someone is out to get me.”

“Get you?”

“One of the Japanese heads, Mr. Takeshi. He’s trying to bring me down.”

“He wants your position?”

Yoong nodded. “And he’d stoop so low. He planted a spy right next to me and please don’t be angry…but she even tried to seduce me.”

“Seduce you?” Sunny’s eyes widened considerably. “Who is she? I’m going to have to hunt her down and make sure that she doesn’t touch my man ever again,” she growled.

Yoong almost laughed at the sight of a bristling Sunny. How did she manage to look and sound cute even when she was angry? This was one question that he’d willingly spend the rest of his life to find an answer to.

“She’s Miho, my personal assistant. And I didn’t suspect anything until she hugged me way too tightly one night.”

“One night? One night!” Sunny leaned nearer to the webcam and Yoong could see that she was furious. “What night!”

“Sunny, please…please don’t be mad at me,” Yoong pleaded.

“What are you talking about? I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at her! Why would I be mad at you when you didn’t do anything wrong?”

“Oh…” Yoong heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s a relief.”

“So, which night was it? And what did she do exactly?”

“It was the night you wore a cat suit and ate ice cream.”

“It was that night?!”

Yoong nodded and pouted. “I’m sorry. I know that you had all these plans for me but I had too many things on my mind after I got rid of Miho.”

“Did she do anything else besides hugging you?”

Yoong shook his head. “No. She didn’t. I made sure that she didn’t have a chance to. I got rid of her and came right back to you.”

“So that’s why you weren’t in the mood to play that night…”

“Yeah…”

“Well, it’s okay. We can always play that game on another night.”

“But I’d rather play with you in person,” Yoong whined and pouted.

“Do you really miss me that much?”

“Yes!”

Sunny giggled. “I’ll see what I can do about that then.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Sunny…”

“Hmm?”

“Do you miss me?”

“Yes, I do.”

“How much?”

Sunny raised her eyebrows a notch. “How do I even measure that?”

“I think I miss you more than you miss me,” Yoong whined.

“I miss you too. I just don’t show it as you do.”

“Really?”

“Yoongie, what are you trying to say? Do I have to be in tears for you to believe that I miss you just as much?”

“No. No, you don’t have to be in tears.” Yoong sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just…I need your hug. I need you. I miss holding your hand. I miss kissing you.”

“Yoongie, I miss you too. Please believe me.”

“I believe you.”

“I wish I could be there, but I can’t. But stay strong, Yoongie. I’m sure that you can deal with everything that’s on your plate. I have faith in you.”

Yoong sighed again. Sunny was right. He had to stay strong. He’d do as Sunny said.

“It’s getting late now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sunny kissed the webcam and smiled. “Keep on smiling. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, bunny.”

“Goodnight, Yoongie.”

~~~~~

Yoong didn’t go to sleep. He stayed up all night, racking his brains for a way to deal with Mr. Takeshi and Miho and by the morning, he’d come up with a plan. A pretty good plan.

~~~~~

Sunny arrived at work and was surprised to receive an email from Yoong. It was an official email.

FROM: [email protected]

TO: [email protected]

SUBJECT: ASSISTANCE REQUIRED IN JAPAN OFFICE

Dear Miss Sunny Lee,

Your expertise is required by the Japan office in Tokyo. Arrangements have been made for you to conduct a business trip to our headquarters in Tokyo. Please check the attachments for the official letter of appointment as well as the e-ticket for your flight to Tokyo.

Have a good day.

Yours sincerely,

Im Yoong

Deputy President of Resort World (Japan)

Director of Marketing, Resort World (HQ)

Sunny didn’t know what to think. What she did know was that Yoong was going to have some explaining to do.

~~~~~

Yul couldn’t leave his car. He simply couldn’t. He knew that he had to at some point but his legs wouldn’t budge. Much to Jessica’s credit, she sat patiently beside him, holding his hand as he struggled with himself.

“Are you ready?” she finally asked after an extended period of silence.

Yul looked at her and nodded. “I’m ready.”

“Let’s go then.”

~~~~~

Yul was anxious. She could tell. She had an inkling of what it felt like, having had to go through something similar herself. Accepting Krystal had not been easy for her and she could understand how conflicted Yul must be feeling right now. He held her hand a little firmer than usual and the self-assured vibes that he usually exuded was missing.

They had spent the past few days talking about his past. He had shared with her the difficulties they went through after his brother ran away. His mother had been distraught and it affected him very much. Indeed, losing his father had been traumatic enough without having to deal with a runaway brother as well.

The feeling of being abandoned was certainly not a pleasant one. Yul had told her how he, as a little boy, had to grapple with self-blame and the critical eyes of the people around him. The news of his father’s cause of death had spread throughout the neighbourhood and with the news of his brother running away to join a gang, people had begun to shun them. His friends wouldn’t play with him anymore because their parents told them to stay away from him. And it certainly didn’t help when he thought that he was the reason why his brother ran away.

His brother had always been the naughty one. His father did not spare the rod, to say the least. It was from his brother’s beatings that he learnt to fear the rod and as a result, strived to be as obedient as he could. Despite all these, he looked up to his brother. He admired his brother for being brave enough to do what he wanted to do. But his brother didn’t seem to like him as much. “Mummy’s boy,” his brother would say at times when he eagerly showed his stellar grades and reports from school. So when his brother took off, it was a natural progression for him to assume that he was partly to blame for that.

However, as he lost hope of his brother ever coming back, he grew angry. How could his brother abandon them when they needed him most? How could he leave their mother in the lurch? Did he even know how many tears their mother cried because of him?

All these accusations swirled and intensified as he grew older and when he had seen him for the second time after all these years, the pent up anger found its release. In a way, he didn’t feel sorry for punching the daylights out of his brother. He felt that it was well-deserved. Regardless of the reason, running away like that was definitely a horrible thing to do. Jessica, on the other hand, was insistent on him apologizing.

“Okay. You don’t have to apologize for the first couple of punches but you should apologize for the other punches. That was way too many punches.”

Yul had a hard time stopping himself from smiling. Jessica, Jessica. She said the darnedest things. Apologizing for the other punches? He wanted to laugh but in some obscure corner of his mind, it made perfect sense too. Yes, she was right. He had lost control and he had to apologize for that. But only if his brother apologized first. That was the deal.

He opened the door and walked in with Jessica. His heart was thumping insanely as he looked at the man standing behind the counter. Yes, it was his brother. Their eyes met. Locked gazes. And Yul winced at the extent of the bruising on his brother’s face. It was no wonder that his brother looked scared.

“We’re here to apologize,” Jessica broke the tensed atmosphere with her sweet, gentle voice. “Yul…” But Yul locked his jaw stubbornly. He wasn’t going to apologize until his brother apologized for abandoning them. “Yul…” Jessica nudged him and looked at him piercingly. Apologize, her eyes said.

“I’ll apologize for punching him too many times only if he apologizes for abandoning me and Mother,” Yul muttered under his breath.

Jessica made a funny sound and ducked behind his back. “How childish can you get!” she whispered. But Yul merely squared his shoulders. Those were his terms. In the meantime, his brother, Hyukjun, had stepped out from behind the counter and approached them.

“Can I call you Yul?” Hyukjun asked hesitantly.

“Go ahead,” Yul answered curtly.

“Yul, I’m too ashamed to stand before you. I know that what I did is unforgivable. I dare not ask you for forgiveness but I hope you can accept my apology for running away back then. I’m really sorry for doing that.”

“Why. Why did you leave.”

Hyukjun broke the eye contact and looked down at the floor between them. “I know that this will sound cliché but the only reason I can come up with is that I was going through adolescence. I hated the state our family was in. I had friends who said that they’d take care of me. I…I can’t take back what I did but please believe me when I say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for running away.”

“But you came back to see Mother once, before you went for your national service! You could have hung around to see me too!”

Hyukjun hung his head. “Yul… Mother lied to you. I…I wasn’t going to the army.”

Yul gasped. What? His mother had lied? “What do you mean?”

Hyukjun exhaled audibly and his shoulders sagged even lower than ever.

“I’m too ashamed to tell you this but the truth is…I went to jail.”

“You went to jail?!” Yul was in shock. “What for?”

“The gang I was with tried to rob a store. I…I was there and I got arrested. That’s why Mother had to see me. I didn’t visit her, she visited me. In jail.”

Yul had his hands in his hair, clutching tuffs of it as he tried to grapple with the truth. This was crazy. This was insane! His own mother had been in on it but he had been kept in the dark?! “Mother lied to me. Why? Why didn’t she tell me?”

“I begged her not to.” Hyukjun’s head was so low that his chin was almost touching his chest now. “I was too ashamed to let you know. You…you looked up to me and I…I couldn’t. I just couldn’t let you think that your brother is such a failure.”

Yul couldn’t find the words to express the massive confusion that was the state of his mind. It was like a ton of bricks had fallen on his head. It was too much. Too many truths to handle.

“I can’t believe that Mother agreed to keep this from me.” Right then, he felt Jessica’s hand gliding down his arm to his hand where her fingers found their regular spots between his fingers. It was comforting and he was grateful for her presence once again.

“Please don’t blame her for hiding the truth. She lied because I begged her to. And you. You were just entering law school and she didn’t want to cause any disturbance to your peace.”

“How many years were you sentenced to?”

“Two years.”

“And it didn’t occur to you and Mother to tell me the truth after that? What. Were you and Mother going to keep this from me till death?”

“You can’t blame Mother for that. It’s all my fault. I didn’t want to burden Mother with my problems so I didn’t tell her about the date of my release. I…I left…again. And I’m very sorry for that but I didn’t want Mother to have any contact with me after I got out. I was afraid that the gang might try to look for me. And I had very little money. Mother was going to help me with my finances but I didn’t want that. I certainly didn’t deserve to be helped and I didn’t want to cause trouble for Mother either.”

“So you disappeared. For real.”

“For real.”

“But you’re fine now. Hyegyo is your daughter, isn’t she?”

Hyukjun smiled a little and nodded. “She is.”

“Your life has come together. You’re not going to cause any trouble for Mother. So why aren’t you looking for us?”

Hyukjun looked embarrassed. “I know that this will sound stupid but as time passed, it became more and more awkward. It’s like if you miss the timing to do something, it becomes incredibly hard to do it later. I don’t know how to explain it. But it just became too difficult for me to look for you and Mother again.”

“So you’re going to deny Mother the joy of knowing her granddaughter just because it’s difficult for you?”

Hyukjun looked stunned and blinked rapidly. “I…hadn’t thought of that…”

“Yes. You hadn’t thought of that. Just like you hadn’t thought of us, you selfish jerk. I’m done talking to you and listening to your pathetic excuses.” And with that, Yul left the shop with Jessica, leaving his brother behind in the shop to ponder over what he had just said.

~~~~~