Confusion

The lunch they had was uncomfortable and awkward. Jiyong suddenly became silent after finding about Chaerin's engagement leaving the woman utterly confused. She decided to disregard the idea that that was the reason for his silence. She thought that maybe he was just not in the mood.

"Aigoo! Jiwoon-ah, you messy eater" she wiped her son's cheeks who was eagerly chomping down the dish she made.
"Omma's cooking is the best!" Chaeyoung exclaimed. Chaerin smiled at the compliment and placed more vegetables on her plate.

Silence again followed after. Only tinkering of chopsticks and bowls could be heard.

"Chaeyoung-ah, don't slouch." Jiyong broke the silence. "Eat quickly. We're leaving once you finish"
"HUH? Already?" Jiwoon and Chaeyoung chorused in a disappointed manner.

Chaerin noticed that Jiyong already finished his meal. He did not eat a lot. "You should eat some more. Do you not like it?"
"No. It was alright. I just think we shouldn't stay too long. We're already a bother" Jiyong monotonously said.
"But Jiwoon and I will watch Tangled and I want to spend more time with omma." Chaeyoung complained.
"Don't be a brat now. We'll just go next time" stated Jiyong keeping the apathetic tone.
"Jiyong, don't go yet. I think the kids want to spend more time together. They haven't seen each other in years" Chaerin tried to persuade.
"But how about you? Do you want to spend time with me?"
"H-huh?"
"Of course omma wants to spend time with appa." Chaeyoung intervened. "Let's all watch Tangled!"

"Yeah. Jiyong, stay a bit longer. The kids want to play" Chaerin added.

Straight after their meal, the two kids hurriedly went to the lounge and played the DVD.
"Jiwoon, let's sit on the floor. Appa and omma can sit on the couch" Chaeyoung asked his little brother. Without any complaints, the younger child sat down beside his noona.

The two adults however were not-so willing to follow the seating arrangement.
"I think I need to do some washing up. You guys watch." Chaerin stood up.
"Omma, please watch with us. We've never been together like this" Chaeyoung pleaded.
Jiyong added, "Chaerin, if I'm bothering you, I'll just sit on the floor."
"No, it's not that!" She defensively stated. She then heaved a sigh, "Fine I will just wash up the dishes later." She sat back down.

In contrast to the two kids who were sat comfortably next to each other, Chaerin and Jiyong were both sat stiff. They were not even sparing each other a glance.

    
(A/N: For those who haven't watched Tangled, these two are Flynn Ryder and Rapunzel)

Jiwoon commented, "Rapunzel has blonde hair like omma. Omma is Rapunzel! Omma, you're Rapunzel!"
"Yeah, honey" Chaerin smiled.
"Then who's Flynn Ryder?" Chaeyoung asked smiling knowingly at her dad.
"Seunghyun-appa!" Jiwoon quickly answered.
Chaeyoung objected, "What? No! Flynn looks like Jiyong-appa!"
"Seunghyun-appa looks more like him. Jiyong-appa is too thin to be Flynn Ryder" Jiwoon pointed out.

Jiyong let out a small cough.

"I said Jiyong-appa!" Chaeyoung argued.
Jiwoon looked back at his mother and asked, "Omma, who's Flynn Ryder? Seunghyun-appa or Jiyong-appa?"

Chaerin glanced at Jiyong who kept a straight face while staring at the screen.
"Ah, Jiwoon-ah. I think Seunghyun-appa wants to be Rapunzel more than Flynn. So Jiyong-appa can be Flynn Ryder" she averted her gaze back to Jiyong whose back was her.

...He was actually looking away to hide his grin.

The movie finished with Chaeyoung and Jiwoon already lying down on the floor sleeping.
"Aiyooo...The kids slept on us. They're so cute aren't they?" Chaerin started trying to make her tone less awkward.
"They are..." Jiyong said as he looked into her eyes."
She felt uncomfortable with his stare "W-why? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Jiyong looked away and stated, "I...I just wanna say you did a great job on Jiwoon. He's well behaved. You're a great mom Chaerin"
A light shade of pink tinted Chaerin's cheeks upon hearing the compliment, "You did well on Chaeyoung too. She's really smart and mature."
"I guess it's time to go. It's late. Thank you for agreeing to meet up and also welcoming us here. I'm glad you're doing well Chaerin."
"Same to you. Uhm, Jingyo- I mean Jiyong?" She stuttered. She mentally cursed herself for accidentally calling him by the old endearment she used to call him when they were still together. 'Why the hell did I blurt that out? I'm so stupid. Now this is so awkward'

But to her surprise, Jiyong suddenly beamed, "Yeah?... Hunchae?"
They both lauged lightly,"It's really been years, isn't it?" Jiyong smiled. "So what were you gonna say?"~
"If I want to see Chaeyoung, can I go visit?" She asked.
"Sure. Anytime. Our place is just twenty minutes away. Can I visit Jiwoon too?"
"Of course. I'm pretty sure Jiwoon would be really happy."

Jiyong then went and woke their daughter up, "Chaeyoung. Honey. We need to go"
Chaeyoung grunted, "Appa...can we just sleep over here?"
"Huh? We can't! But we can visit again. Now say bye to your mom"
Chaeyoung stood up and hugged her mother, "Bye omma"
"Bye Chaeyoung. Be good. Always remember that I love you so much. If you want to talk to me, just call me, okay?"
"I love you too, omma. I will call you every day. See you"
"See you" Chaerin kissed her forehead.

"Jiwoon-ah? Appa's going" Jiyong gently tapped the leg of the heavily sleeping child.
Jiwoon stirred a bit but he didn't wake up.
"You really are my son you sleepyhead!" Jiyong chuckled as he leaned forward to kiss his cheek.
"Bye Jiwoon. I was quite hurt when you chose Seunghyun-appa over me. But I still love you very much. Take care of your omma for me" he quietly whispered.

Jiyong stood up and smiled, "So, Chaerin. We're friends now, right?"
"Yeah. I guess." Chaerin formed a small curve on her lips.
"I'll see you some other time" he said.
"Yeah" Chaerin nodded.

---

In the car on their way back home...

"Appa, you're disappointing" Chaeyoung pouted.
"Why?" Jiyong asked without keeping his eyes off the road.
"Not even a friendly goodbye hug? You're friends right?"
"What? Hug? I think you're hanging out too much with your uncle Seungri, young lady"
"Do you love her, appa?"
"Chaeyoung-ah, I don't think that matters anymore" 
"Why not?"
"'Cause your omma is getting married."
"But she can still change her mind! Maybe omma loves you more than that Seunghyun guy"
"Since when did you become so rude? Where's your formality?"
"Seunghyun-sshi. But I was just saying, probably omma still loves you too. You're her Flynn Ryder anyway~" she lilted.
Jiyong pursed his lips trying to hide his smile. He cleared his throat, "Stop going on about it"

Chaeyoung suddenly gasped, "Oh no! Appa, can we go back?"
"Why?"
"I left my DS at Jiwoon's room!"
"Chaeyoung-ah, we're already halfway home." Jiyong heaved an exasperated sigh.
"Please. I was reading an e-book. I really need to finish it. Please!"
"Fine. This brat, really!" Jiyong made a u-turn back to Chaerin's place.

---

"Hey honey!" Seunghyun greeted Chaerin as he went inside her house. "Okay. Exciting news! The designer just contacted me and he said he can meet us tomorrow for your bridal gown fitting. Oh my god. He was so hard to book. Good thing you have me as your hubby. I have connections. I'm the best aren't I?"
"Definitely." Chaerin briefly responded as she headed to the kitchen to wash up.
"Was there a party here?...Oh yeah. Right! Ex-hubby visited right? How was it?" Seunghyun asked as he sat on the work top.
"It wasn't actually too bad" she answered as she scrubbed the oven tin.
"And the daughter?"
"She's beautiful. Very charming."
"Why are your answers so little? Why are you frowning? Deets my dear. Feed me deets!" Seunghyun jumped off the work top and stood beside her.
"It was really nice seeing my daughter but it was sad at the same time."
"I said deets. De-tails. That was one sentence. Sad? How?"
"It's sad how everything ended up like this. I realized a lot of things...I realized the pain my daughter must have felt growing up without a mother. She's all grown up now and she looks exactly like me. She's a total sweetheart. Now, although I just saw her, I miss her. I want to see her again. I want to buy her clothes, I want to fix her hair, help her with her homework, watch her piano recitals, read her a story before bed, I want to be...a mother to her." She sighed, "I realized how stupid I am for not contacting her earlier. I was surprised she doesn't hate me for leaving her. She even tried to find me. Isn't she supposed to be bitter? Why did she welcome me with a hug the moment she saw me?"

"I'm pretty sure your daughter understood the situation. And you can always make up for it. It's not the end of the world yet. And she doesn't hate you so stop being such a drama queen! You just have to ask your ex-hubby if you can borrow her from time to time. Speaking of him, how was he? Was he difficult?"
She shook her head, "He wasn't too bad, actually. And he's okay with me visiting Chaeyoung. I already asked."
"Oh really? Is he more mature now?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I think. We didn't have a major argument a while ago, surprisingly. And I was quite relieved Jiwoon didn't treat him like a stranger. He loved him straight away. Probably 'cause they look so much alike."
"Ah, Jiwoon-ah. That little punk. I was just gone for a while and he already softened up for another appa! So how was Jiyong towards him?"
"Well it seems like Jiyong loves his kid too. When I saw them together, it occurred to me how long we haven't actually contacted each other. The last time I saw Jiwoon in his arms, the kid was only a foot tall but now Jiyong could barely carry him!"

"So you think he has changed? Is he totally different now?"
"No. It was a bit unfair 'cause he still looked the same. He still has the same smile, same pout on his lips when he's thinking and the same laugh. Even the way my name rolls off his tongue, it was still the same."
"Chaerin. What I meant was has he changed as a person? Wait. Am I sensing what I'm sensing? You! Do you still love him?"
"Ah, I can't continue living in the past."

"Yes or no?"

"I don't know." Chaerin looked out the window as a tear fell on her cheek.
"Aww! Chaerinnie is confused and hurting. Come to Seunghyun's loving arms" he cooed as he spread out his arms.

Chaerin hugged him and buried her face on his chest.
Seunghyun pat her head, "Shall we just cancel the wedding?"
She looked up, "What are you saying?"
"I don't want you to regret. Although I think I'm the one who's going to regret if we cancel. It would be a total shame to let go of miss voluptuous ." He playfully spanked her .
"Yah! You ert!" She hit his chest.

"So what now?" Seunghyun asked with her still in his embrace.
"What?"
"Do you want to cancel the wedding?"
"No."
"Chaerin, I love you to bits. That's why I really want you to be happy. And if getting back together with ex-hubby makes you happy, I will totally support you." his words were filled with concern.

"If we cancel the wedding does that mean we're getting back together? I'm not even sure if he loves me. I'm not sure if I love him. Everything is different now. And to be honest, the hurt I felt four years ago was really hard to forget. I can't let that happen again"
"Well then, I should give you time to think. Evaluate your feelings. Let's just skip this whole planning the wedding thing for a while"
"No. We're planning today. I'm pretty sure I don't love him as much as I did before. I'm just tired so I'm all scatter-brained right now. Now let's plan about that wedding okay, future hubby?" Chaerin kissed his cheek.

"Eew!" Seunghyun jokingly shrieked.
"Shut up! You love me really!" She hugged him tighter.
"Of course, cupcake" he endearingly remarked.

The two suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.

Jiyong was about to press the doorbell when he heard Chaerin's laugh from outside. He peaked through the window leading to the kitchen and saw her - happily laughing in the arms of another man. He suddenly stiffened at the sight. 'She looks so happy with him...'

"Appa?" Chaeyoung tugged on his shirt.
"Appa? What's going on?"
"Appa?"
"Appa! Can we press the doorbell now?"

Jiyong held his daughter's hand and forced a smile, "Chaeyoung-ah, I think omma's busy. We'll just get your DS some other day."

____________________________

Sorry for giving Jiyong 2 heartbreaks in a row. It will pay off soon...I hope!:) And thanks for reading!
I've already written the chapter after this. OMG. I'm so excited to post it. But I'll let you guys read this first. Haha.:) x