Tangled Fate

"Jinri-ah … you‘re still alive"

With those words spoken, the whole scenario became palpably tense as everybody seemed to compute the consequences of such possible reality. Both Minho and Sulli were baffled by the President and her mom’s reaction towards each other.

“Father … This is Mrs. Choi, Kim Minji, omma’s twin sister” Minho tried to explain patiently to his father.

The President must be shocked to see the resemblance; he tried to reason out his father’s words. That must be it, he said trying to convince himself; last time the President thought Sulli was his late wife. It should be the same case, shouldn’t it?

“Son … that’s my Jinri. She is not Kim Minji” his father said slowly.

“Jinri-ah … You still make your own brew of organic tea it seems. Half portion of rosehip and half chamomile, isn’t it? And your butter cookies still tasted the same after all these years” the President said looking at Sulli’s mom with a voice laced with affection and familiarity.

"Omma?" Sulli finally said, breaking the awkward pregnant silence ensued the occupants of the living room after awhile.

Her expression mirrored Minho’s; both of them were confused and at the same time something cold started to creep into their hearts. Right now, the both of them were feeling very unsettled and they could only look at each other, silently trying to comfort one another.

Visibly shaken, Mrs. Choi seemed to struggle schooling her composure but managed to say something at last.

“You must be imagining things Mr. Choi Hyuk Man” she answered trying to etch a smile but failed when the corner of trembled slightly.

“You can deny all you want, Jinri-ah” came the reply.

“That scar above your lips … I can explain perfectly how it happened to be there because I was the reason for it”

Sulli looked at her mother’s barely visible scar on her upper lip and an unexplainable feeling of dread came over her. How would the President know about it since the said scar has faded into a thin white line nearly undetectable unless if you see them up close before? He just met her today, but how would he know about her mother’s rosehip tea mix so well? Her mother’s expression seemed to hardened and she could see that there would be a some sort of impending confrontation coming between her and the President.

Her mother despite her age was still a beautiful woman and had always won the hearts of people around her. Her shoulder length hair was tinged with attractive shades of grey and white and she had a certain refined taste in the way she dress and carry herself. Her mother most of the time wore long skirts and cotton blouses instead of the usual ahjumma getup that Sulli used to see around the neighborhood. Her movements were graceful but her words were firm when she made decisions.

She worked hard to take care of her father and her and would be the driving force behind the family. Though she never witnessed the sort of lovey dovey kind of relationship between her parents but both were caring to each other and went along very well together. Her father worked in another district so it made sense that he would rent a room there than commute back and forth from their place but he would come back home at least twice a month to see his family. She never doubted her parent’s relationship with each other but somehow the things that Minho’s father was saying sowed some seeds of doubts in her mind. Sulli was quite sure that her own father never knew about her mom’s special tea mix. She then scolded herself for having doubts over something trivial like that. The President could have had a good sense of taste and was able to discern the composition of the tea. She was praying hard that would be the reason.

"Ssul, please take our other guests out to the deck and show them around the place if you'd like. I would like to speak with the president privately” her mother instructed her.

Sulli was about to protest but her mother gave her a pleading look, asking for her to follow the instruction. With a sigh, she conceded and with a heavy heart, Ssul ushered Secretary Kim Jung In and Minho out of the room. She gave her mother's hand a squeeze when she passed her on the way to the kitchen, heading towards the backyard deck.

“Hyuk Man … Why are you here?”

Minho followed Sulli closely and when they were out on the deck facing the beach, he came near her and took her hand into his. He laced his warm hand with her cold ones in an attempt to calm not only her heart but also his.

Sulli tried to pull away since she was confused with the situation but Minho held fast. What ifs scenarios were running amok in her mind and she shudder to think if any of it came true; her mind was f