61. PLAYING COUNSELLOR

With the stressful events of the past two months, puppy and my relationship gained a new depth. We realized how much we were willing to sacrifice to be together as a family. Puppy’s refusal to go anywhere away from Daegu and repeated intentions to resign from police work silently told me that he considered me the single-most priority in his life. The intensity of our devotion to each other reached a new level.

I still teased puppy for promising our Byong away to Duckie. Imo and uncle had laughed for a long time after hearing our account of the incident. Soo poked me in the shoulder and announced that I was the most “marriage-crazy” person she had met in her life. When I pointed out her turn was coming up soon, she decided to keep silent.

Our life went back to old routines except for more frequent weekly visits from Heechul’s father. He became a regular weekend guest in their house. My father found a new drinking buddy in him.

Puppy was happy under his new boss, DongHae, who turned out to be just the kind of mentor he was looking for in the CCIS. Siwon told us his Chinese-American wife had died after giving birth to their first child. She contracted drug-resistant encephalitis which took her life when the baby was just 10 days old. Puppy and I socially met DongHae and his 10-year-old daughter, Amber, whenever we visited Heechul and Siwon’s home. Amber won our hearts and Heechul and I took her under our wings.

Amber would come straight to our hagwon from school, just like Minx, and they would remain with Heechul and me. If DongHae worked late, Heechul took her home with him. Amber and Minx attended classes in the hagwon and remaining time played together with Sehun or with Byong and Duckie. Sometimes the two girls would attend the Mothers Club activities. It was more of a disruption than attendance. But they did begin to learn some new skills. Kai was attending the general academy under Kibum’s watch.

Heechul and I asked his father about Miran’s children. They were living with Miran’s family and their grandparents were showering them with love and care. It eased our worried minds.

But how can my mind remain without worry. One day my aunt Hee Young called my father, Taemin and me urgently to her home. Puppy and Kibum also went with us. My father gave us the lowdown on the issue on our way. My 23-year-old cousin, HyukJae was leaving his father’s business to go to Seoul to join the entertainment industry there as a choreographer. Not only that, the main reason was his love for an older choreographer there who was assuring him that she would help him get work. The icing to top these problems was the fact that the girl he was in love with was married before.

At their home, we found the usual Lee melodrama. My uncle was busy throwing tantrums and threatening HyukJae that if he left home, my uncle would go and join a monastery. HyukJae was adamant that my uncle was stifling his creativity, choice of career and love. My aunt was trying to play the peacemaker between both of them.

 Puppy and I wondered why there was a problem. Why not give HyukJae five years to make a career of his choice? He could always rejoin uncle’s business if things didn’t work out during that time.

It turned out, career was a small issue. The bigger and major issue was his desire to marry the girl of his choice. Here my father, uncle and aunt were of the same opinion that it was nothing but a mistake. My aunt made her opinion clear that the girl was nothing but a gold-digger.

HyukJae just pointed at me, “Jinki hyung is also older than Jonghyun hyung. And this is also his second time around. When Jonghyun hyung is happy with him, why can’t I be happy with the girl I love and want to marry?”

Aunt Hee Young was adamant, “If she was even remotely like Jinki, I would be the first person to welcome her in the family. But she is not. I’ve met her and I know she wants you only for your money and to just have a good time with you.”

HyukJae dug in his heels even more. “I don’t care what you say. She loves me and I love her. I don’t care what any of you say. I am going to Seoul to be a choreographer. Either you send me willingly or I am going to run away from home. I am of legal age and you can’t stop me.”

Taemin got up to hit HyukJae, Kibum held him back. “How dare you talk to your mother like that? You little whelp. How can you be so ungrateful to your parents?”

“How dare you threaten hyung and hyungsunim?” My father was quicker than all of us and slapped HyukJae before I held him back. Puppy stood before HyukJae to prevent further attacks on him.

Taemin was still trying to get out of Kibum’s hold. “Let me go Kitty. This bastard needs to be taught a lesson. He has forgotten his place in the family.”

HyukJae looked at my father and Taemin in shock. His parents had never raised their voice or hand at him. To see his uncle and cousin in this violent mood shook him.

I made my father sit in a chair far from HyukJae and blocked his way to Hyukkie before speaking up. “Tae calm down. Getting violent and abusive is not a solution. I am sure we were not called here to brow beat or hit Hyukkie. Jjong and Kibum please take Hyukkie to the other room, I’ll try to calm these two here.”

As soon as three of them left, I closed the door and spoke my mind. “He is 23 years old, for god’s sake. What are you two thinking raising your hand at him?”

“Jinki this is not the time for soft approach. He needs to learn to respect your uncle and aunt.” My father defended his violent approach.

“Hitting him is not the solution. Why are you all forgetting he is 23 years of age? He has a right to select his own career and life partner. If you don’t accept his wishes, he will really run away from home.”

“Let him try to run away. I will go to Seoul and drag him back home.” My father was vehement in his opinion.

“You can’t do that appa. None of us have a legal right over him. He has made up his mind and he is a Lee. Even if he’s wrong, he will never accept it. I suggest we let him go and do what he wants. At the same time let him know that if he needs us, we are there to support him and will welcome him back whenever he wants to return. If he becomes a success, we will celebrate with him.”

“No, never.” My father said bull-headedly.

I left him to his opinions and turned to face my uncle and aunt. My uncle was clearly of the same mind as my father. I knew it was hurting them a lot. Their world revolved around HyukJae. “Do you really want him to go Seoul after burning all his bridges behind him and have no way back to return home?”

“No Jinki I don’t want that. But your uncle is adamant that if Hyukkie leaves home, he will join a monastery.” My aunt responded.

Appa spoke to his brother, “Hyung what nonsense you are talking at your age. How can you punish hyungsunim for Hyukkie’s actions? Did you marry her to leave her alone like this?”

“I can’t live without him Dae. And he knows it and is taking advantage of our love for him.” My uncle appealed to my father.

“So many parents live without their children who move away after marriage or for jobs. You will also learn to live hyung. Didn’t we part with Jinki when he left for Seoul?” My father consoled his brother.

“The issue is not just his move to Seoul Dae hyung. That girl is totally wrong for him. She will leave him soon like she left her first husband.” My aunt clarified for us.

“I still think a solid beating will cure him of this nonsense.” Taemin stood up again. I glared at him and motioned him to sit down. I stood before the closed door with my arms folded across my chest. Tae knew he wouldn’t be able to budge me from my protective stand to carry out his wishes.

“How can you be sure of that? Maybe she really loves him.” I asked my aunt while still glaring at Tae.

“Jinki I am a good judge of character. That girl came to Daegu to meet us a month ago and stayed three days with us. I let her stay only out of courtesy not because I approved of her. I am telling you, I have talked at length with her and she is nothing but a gold digger. She is absolutely the wrong type of girl for him. Hyukkie will be very unhappy with her. Age and divorce make no difference to me. Her personality and character are all wrong for Hyukkie.” She gave us the reasons for her disapproval.

“Just think, if he runs away what can anyone do? He has made up his mind. We can either give in gracefully and let him do as he desires for the next few years and keep our doors open for his return, or we can fight with him which will end up in sour relations for years to come or even whole lifetime. I personally prefer maintaining relations with him.” I gave my advice.

“I still think we should beat some sense into him.” Tae stuck to his point.

Appa nodded and agreed with Tae.

My uncle just looked broken. My father had his one arm wrapped around him and was rubbing his back to soothe him.

My aunt looked unsure. She looked at me with some hope shining in her eyes. I went to her and hugged her. “Let him go if he is so passionate about it. If you stop him, he might stay but he will resent you and uncle forever. If it was just about career, he might listen to you. But since there is a girl in the picture, I can guarantee he will run away to be with her.”

“What if he doesn’t come back Jinki?” My aunt spoke in a small voice, finally accepting my words.

“Don’t say that hyungsunim. I will drag him back from hell for you.” My father assured her.

“If he does not come back, we should honor his wishes. He is of legal age. We cannot force him to live at home if he doesn’t want to.” I cautioned her, not wanting to give her false hopes.

“You have gone crazy Jinki. Hyung and hyungsunim did not call us here so we can side with Hyukkie. They called us here to make him see he is wrong and they are right.” Appa scolded me.

“We know he is wrong appa. We all know that very well. But will he accept it? He is blinded by love at the moment. All he sees, hears and thinks of is that girl. It was a long time ago, but I felt the same at one time. I know what he is feeling. I can guess what he will do if we stop him. He will cut off all ties with us to be with his love. We can only guide him towards the right path. But if is hell-bent on taking the wrong direction in life, we can only let him go and be there to catch him when he falls. We can only pray that the wrong path miraculously becomes right for him.” I defended my advice.

My aunt agreed with me. Once she agreed, everyone else had no option but to listen to her. We called the three of them back. I could see that Jjong and Kibum had tried their own reasoning with Hyukkie but not met with any success.

Hyukkie had his bags packed that night and left home the next day. My uncle cried for a week. Jjong and I began visiting my uncle and aunt regularly. We tried, but we couldn’t fill up the vacuum in their lives that Hyukkie had left behind him.

A year passed and we kept receiving reports from my aunt’s other nieces and nephews who visited Hyukkie in Seoul. He was living with the girl he loved but he did not appear happy to his cousins. My uncle and aunt kept sending him money to live in Seoul.

Hyukkie decided to get married to his love.

My uncle forbade any of us to attend the wedding. Hyukkie anyway did not invite us. I felt a little hurt but puppy pointed out that it wouldn’t have mattered. At least I was saved the dilemma of going against my uncle’s diktat.

Six months after the wedding, Hyukkie came to Daegu with his wife and puppy and I went to meet them. He did not inform his parents and was staying with a friend for a few days. I met the girl for the first time and it was really awkward. She did not speak to me at all after the initial greeting. The funny, talkative Hyukkie had married this sourpuss of a girl? Puppy and I knew then that the girl was all wrong for him. My aunt was totally right.

My aunt and uncle came to know Hyukkie was in Daegu with his wife and they called and welcomed them home. They held a dinner for a few close family members. The girl hardly spoke a few words to anyone. She never once smiled. In fact I never saw her smile at all.

Another year passed. Hyukkie continued to live in Seoul, coming down home every few months with or without his wife. One day my aunt called me again. She wanted me to talk with Hyukkie and find out what was wrong, why his last two visits were without his wife. I told her they would have either separated or divorced and he did not wish to admit to his parents he was wrong. Puppy checked for us and found out that Hyukkie was divorced a year after his marriage. He was living alone in Seoul for the past few months.

I spoke with Hyukkie. He confided in me that he was divorced. After a lot of probing he revealed the reason. The girl had cheated on him constantly and soon after she was accepted by his family, she had thrown him out of her home. They had divorced quietly. He made me promise I won’t tell anyone. I promised for all except puppy. He could live with that. I advised him to tell my aunt about his divorce and trust her to do the right thing.

He took my advice and tried to mend his fences with his parents. But he did not come back home. My uncle and aunt continued to send him money. Puppy and I watched their hearts break more and more, the hope in their eyes dim with each passing day.