The warm blanket over her and the large bowl of cut kimbap with a warm mug of milk at the front porch is perfect for Sooyoung. Mrs. Wu made her change into pajamas into which she proudly bought in her trip abroad.

“I thought of you the moment I saw that,” she said gesturing over the milky white cotton pajama set with large pink rose prints.

“Gomawo,” she whispered, curling over the seat as she hugs her bowl, eating to her heart’s content.

“You look like you didn’t have dinner,” Mrs. Wu remarked.

“I am just like this, always greedy when it comes to food,” Sooyoung smiled.

“Yeah, and that is the first time I have seen a kimbap with cheese overload,” Mrs. Wu smiled as Sooyoung stuffs another kimbap on .

It took her more than ten minutes to finish the large bowl and her mug of milk.

“What was that you are going to tell me about Kris?” she asked after a loud burp.

“What do you know about Kris?” Mrs. Wu looked at her. It’s enough to make her speechless.

Mrs. Wu gave a smile as she moves to have a comfortable position.

“You see, Kris is actually a one night affair mistake,” she started which made Sooyoung gape at her.

Seeing that she will not speak, she continued.

“It was one of those very prestigious parties where all the supposed heirs and heiresses were invited. I am no exception being the only heiress of the Wu clan. You meet all kinds of people in there, young and old, all showing glamour and being elite. You will experience different techniques of being fake especially in dealing with family rivals and enemies. I am no exception, but our family rival, the one owning a large tourism company has an heir, a male prodigy.”

“We partied to our heart’s content till almost all of the young ones got drunk. As what I have said, I am no exception. The very vague memory I had was kissing a man and soon we are already in a room and that’s when it happened,” Mrs. Wu paused to give a sigh.

“What happened next?” Sooyoung asked.

“The next day I woke up and got completely surprised when I saw who the guy beside me is. It’s none other than the Li’s only prodigy, Zhang Yin Li. I was completely shocked but I was able to regain my composure and left the room earlier before he wakes up.”

“It was only after two months did I learned that I was pregnant. What a shame it is for my parents to know that their only daughter brought up in such decency and schooled on the finest gets to be pregnant from a one night affair. When they asked who the father could be, I told them it’s Zhangyin,” she looked at Sooyoung who is so eager in listening.

“My parents went over the enemy’s territory to demand their son to face the consequence of his mistake, but they turned a deaf ear. It was only the twin sister of Zhangyin’s mother who welcomed us and accepted the responsibility. But her older sister is cruel that she dared to remove her out of their lineage accusing her of being a traitor. Despite that, she still has an ample amount of money to purchase a mansion and start a new business which soon bloomed. She was the one you met in Korea, the one who asked for a dinner and even provided a dress for you,” she smiled at Sooyoung.

Sooyoung was still tongue tied at the story and just blinked in response. Mrs. Wu chuckled.

“So there, I didn’t abort Kris and brought him into this world. I insisted his birth name to go with his real father so his birth name is Li Jiaheng. When my fiancé married me despite my early pregnancy, we moved to Canada and had his name re-registered using my surname, Wu Yi Fan. It was my present husband who gave him the name Kris since he had a hard time pronouncing Yifan.”

“When my parents died, I took over the company and to my disgust, Zhangyin demand that he wants custody of Kris. We had a long trial court about it till it boils down to the child’s decision. He was twelve already at that time. Of course, he chose me. But to settle it fairly, he was to stay in them every weekend till he turns twenty. Once he reaches that age, he is free to either visit them or not.”

“For once, I thought they would poison his mind about going over to their side, but then he was old enough to know that his real father abandoned him and that he just took interest over him when Zhangyin’s fiancée left him for another man. Oriental culture has this favor over sons more than the daughters,” she paused to savor the blow of the wind.

“They even had him arranged into a fixed marriage. That was his first encounter of love. He got totally hooked on the girl and has plans of marrying her for real. But turns out that she is just a rich spoiled brat who would only marry Kris for inheritance. “

“When he was twenty four, I had him take over the company up to now. But then, his grandmother is very persistent on putting the company into bankruptcy so he will be forced to go and join forces with them. That is what makes him so busy over the company,” she looked at Sooyoung, “Then perhaps you know the rest of the story after we met,” she added.

Sooyoung made a deep sigh and moved to hug Mrs. Wu’s arm, cuddling closer to her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know he went a lot through many things. But why are you telling me these?” Sooyoung looked up at her.

“Because I know Kris will never be able to tell this. He doesn’t have the courage to let you know about his horrible past. The boys learned it because of me, not because he told them about it. He actually avoids the topic regarding his past,” Mrs. Wu replied, “Do you have anything to ask about?” she looked at Sooyoung.

“Why did you let him be fixed on me?” she asked.

“I just have that feeling that you are the one he needs. Besides, I already know your family background so it made me sure that he will be married to a woman who will take care of him through and through despite all odds,” she replied, smiling at the blushing Sooyoung.

“Anymore question?”

Sooyoung shook her head as she let out a yawn.

“Looks like you are sleepy. Would you want to retire to your room now?” Mrs. Wu asked.

Sooyoung gave a nod as the two of them moves to get to Sooyoung’s room.

Once tucked under the sheets, Mrs. Wu sat for a while on her side bed as she pulls Sooyoung close, rubbing her hand on the younger one’s back soothingly and hums a tune which made the latter fall asleep faster.

--------

Once assured that Sooyoung is already asleep, she waited for her son to arrive. The guards for the night shift are all alert as she waits for him by the living room. She checked the clock and it read 12:42. Kris will not be around till two in the morning so she decided to take a nap.

Soft lips pressed on her forehead and a husky voice whispering woke her up.

“Umma, you should be in your room,” Kris waited for her to pull herself up.

“I see you are already here,” she smiled as Kris moves to sit next to her only to stop when he saw something familiar on the one seat sofa in front of them.

He moved to get near it and picked it up, “Umma, why do you have this here?” he looked at his mother who remained on her seat.

Her silence is enough to confirm that the one who owns that hoodie identical to his is in the household.

Without waiting for her, he immediately spun on his heels and started moving to check the rooms upstairs as Mrs. Wu follows her.

“Kris, don’t do it. This is not yet the right time,” his mother tried to stop him.

He checks the first door then moved to the second one, “Then when? When she is already gone again?” he looked at her as he continues to search for the room.

He stopped on the fourth one, in which its door is slightly ajar. His hand trembles as he reaches for the knob, slowly pushing the door. He took careful steps till he finally saw Sooyoung sleeping peacefully on the bed; the lampshade illuminating her, giving off that very ethereal look.

The tug on his arm made him stop from moving further, “No, not now. You will just lose her if you insist,” Mrs. Wu whispered.

The tears on his face and the pain in his voice made her release him.

“But I just want to hold her. You don’t know how long I have waited to see her. I just want to know that I am not dreaming.”

It pained her to watch her son lift a trembling hand to touch Sooyoung’s face like it’s the most precious thing he has seen. Kris tucked a few strands of hair on her ears as he let his knuckles brush through her face ever lightly, tears falling down his face.

The ache of missing her chokes him breathless as he tries not to sob loudly. When he felt like he can’t take it anymore, he moved to kiss her lightly on the forehead and rushed outside to let out the sobs he had been holding back.

“Wae?” he asked, looking at his mother after wiping his tears.

“Baby, trust me. This is not the right time for you to get her back. You will lose her completely if you insist,” Mrs. Wu moved to hug Kris after closing the door of Sooyoung’s room. They went back to the living room as Kris held Sooyoung’s hoodie, tracing the initials embroidered on it.

“Would you want to stay for the night?” Mrs. Wu asked.

“Aniyo, like you said it will do us no good. I might just stay on a hotel,” he replied, taking the scent of the hoodie.

“Baby, I’m sorry. I know you want to have her back but this is not really the right time. She will be doing a project under the Li Empire so if you happen to move and get her back, they might use her as the bait for you to agree on whatever terms they want. For now, they know that you two are in a struggle to fix something so it will be an advantage for you. They will not harm her if you will ignore her till she returns in Korea,” Mrs. Wu explained.

Kris sighed, “Ne, I understand. Can I just have one last look at her?”

Mrs. Wu smiled and gave a nod as Kris stood up, bringing along the hoodie to get inside Sooyoung’s room.

She is still sleeping, a smile tugged on her lips like she is having a beautiful dream. He bends near the bed, tracing ever lightly her face from her forehead down to her nose then to her lips. “Sooner, I will get you back. I promise that and I will do everything to fulfill it,” he whispered looking at her sleeping face before he moved to kiss her lightly on the lips. With a heavy heart, he stood up and left the room.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

KOREA

The three of them had to wait for the sun to get down before they decided to pull the tied up and unconscious Woobin out of his unit. They had a hard time subduing him. He was really indeed skilled. The once tidy unit is already in mess, broken things are everywhere; evidences of the fight they had before they managed to tie him up after knocking the sense out of him.

“He is really tough,” Tao winced as Chanyeol dubs the cotton wet with alcohol on his wound. Kai had been done on the treatment, earning a few bruises and a cut on his lips. Tao has earned a simple cut on the arm from the broken glass.

“Did you manage to interfere with the caption of the CCTV in this unit before we got inside?” Chanyeol asked Kai.

“Ne, even those outside. It will be a clean cut. There will be no feed of us getting in here and escaping,” Kai replied.

After dressing the wound, they moved to drag the lifeless Woobin out the unit. They used the emergency stairs, praying that no one will use it for the mean time. Once they are on the ground floor, Kai checked the perimeters as Chanyeol moves to get the car and parks it on the exit door near the emergency stairs.

After pushing Woobin on the seat, Tao got inside as Kai moved on the front seat. Chanyeol zoomed out to get to where they would detain their hostage for the mean time since they have to wait for Kris to arrive.