Chapter: XVIII
CL's Anatomy
Returning his sweet, lingering kiss and handing him his bag, Chaerin kept straight faced(as always) and closed the door. Breathing out a sigh of relief, the slam of the door echoed throughout the now desolate apartment.
"Finally, he's gone. I thought he'd never leave." Running her day old manicured nails through her ratty hair, Chaerin plopped down on the oversized armchair and clicked the TV on. It was Saturday, snow falling just outside the large glass window. Yawning again for about the sixth time in the last two minutes, Chaerin sighed and began to think of her plans for that day.
She had none.
Lee Chaerin was in her juvenescent, and yet here she lie flipping though early morning news channels. It wasn't even 7, and yet all traces of drowsiness had faded away. Chaerin had no idea how she would spend her day, let alone a whole year.
Before an idea came to her, she'd sat in the oversized armchair for about and hour. There was nothing really on, but she still had no other way to past the minutes. Blinking a couple times, Chaerin glanced down at her and sighed. She clicked it open with just a few taps and then she set her thumb on the application that read: "contacts". Scrolling down at lighting speed, Chaerin stopped at the name "Mr. Park Daejung".
"Hello, Mr. Park? It's Chaerin. I know you haven't heard from me in a while, but can you send a car to come get me?" Ruffling her hair once again, the girl gave the address then hung up.
The moment Chaerin hung up, she rushed up and headed for the bathroom. Her cold, skinny fingers grasped the glass nozzle, turned it on medium temperature. Pulling her attention her cell phone know, her fingers typed in the name of something quickly and pressed play.
"I'm officially missing you." Singing along to the song in a hushed voice. She surely wasn't ever going to admit it, but Chaerin actually really was going to miss Ji Yong. The smell of his cologne, his gentle kisses before bed every night, and especially the way he held while when she had nightmares or simply couldn't sleep. Now that she thought, her insomnia hadn't reared its ugly head for quiet some time. Chaerin sighed, which seemed to be doing a lot recently, then rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. Today she had to look her best. No, she had to look better than her best. Lee Chaerin had to look like the perfect daughter. The perfect young woman
"Miss Lee, I haven't seen you in a while. I can't even remember the last time." He wore a black suit and dark sunglasses even though the windows were tinted. "How have you been? Ha Yi has been meaning to visit you." When the man asked how she was, Chaerin glanced at her hand and tried to form a fist. She succeeded, but anyone with eyes would be able to tell that there was something off about it.
"I'm doing alright." She wasn't good, she wasn't fine, she was just alright. "How's Mr. Kang? Is he treating Ha Yi good?"
"Why are you always referring to him like that? He's your father." The driver looked in the mirror at Chaerin and raised his eyebrows.
"He's my father. Not my dad. I wasn't fortunate enough to grow up with that. In fact, I wasn't fortunate to grow up with a lot of things." Looking away, she said that last part under her breath. "Not to sound rude, but can you role up the partition? I need to make a call."
"Whatever you say Miss Lee."
Chaerin closed her eyes for a few moments, pulled her phone out, and dialed a number.
"Hey, can you please meet for drinks in about half an hour? At the place." Hanging up, Chaerin felt the car began to slow down and eventually come to a halt. They must've been there. Breathing in, then out, Chaerin cautiously opened the door. The bright winter sun shun brightly down on her, making her red gown seem even brighter. "Thank you Mr. Park."
Lee Chaerin stood in front of an enormous mansion that had a the name "Estate of Lee and Kang" written on the elegant mailbox. She remember this place like the back of her hand, which sported scars just like the memoirs of his wretched house. This place was never "home" to her. That was another thing she wasn't fortunate to grow up, a place called home. Yes she always had roof over her head, but none of those places had the loving feeling she'd heard so much about.
Looking up at the large wooden doors, Chaerin cautiously walked up the steps and rang the exaggerated door bell.
"Excuse me, but I am not allowed to let anyone in- Miss Lee?! I am so very sorry, please come in." An aged, grey-haired man in a suit answered the door, and let her in in a flustered manner.
"It's fine Mr. Oh. Is she home, that's the reason I came here."
"She's in the office, but I'd advise you on to go in there. She's in a horrible mood."
"You obliviously don't know her then. That's just the way she is, it's not a mood."
While on her way to one of the most important rooms in the house, Chaerin noticed something oddly different about the place. The room that was one locked up and desolate was now filled with a child's toys and was painted with animals on the walls.
That room had been Mirin's room.
Mirin was Chaerin's sister.
Without even knocking on the door, she opened it and saw her standing there.
"Get out, I'm busy."
"With what? Finding a new husband for when this one leaves you?"
The woman froze, and slowly turned around with wide eyes.
"What the hell are you doing here? And who let you in?" Her mother wore an expensive looking skirt with a matching top and diamond accessories.
"I'm here to talk. First, what's all the in Mirin's room? You've never been one to like children. Oh wait, no, you just didn't like me."
"That's none of you're business. And you are right. You could've been the bride to a well respected CEO and made your life easier and comfortable. But no, you had to go and be some other stupid profession."
"I'm a surgeon! I save lives! What do you do all day? Just sit around using your "husband's" money because all you are is some low life gold digger." Chaerin walked closer to her mother's desk, slamming her fist down.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that. You don't know half of what's happened in my life!"
"And you think mine has been any better?! Having my mother reject me and pick my sister as the best. Then blaming me when she died? You think that's easy? And now coming here and seeing you've replaced Mirin."
"Stop, now! You know nothing about what we've gone through." Her mother's eyes were filling with rage, but Chaerin wasn't going to back down.
"No! I'm done listening to your bull. So now you've gotten yourselves a kid that's practically going to be your puppet? That's great, just great. While you're at it, I might as well give you the best parenting award too."
"She's a girl we adopted from my sister after your sister died! We had no choice."
"No choice?! You had all the choice in the world. Now let me ask you this: why didn't you tell me about the kid? And why'd you do it? To replace Mirin? To replace the real daughter you wanted because I wasn't good enough?!" Chaerin ran her arms across the desk, wiping it of its contents.
"Shut up!" A swift hand came down on Chaerin's cheek roughly, leaving a small cut that Chaerin could tell was bleeding. "You have no business talking about her! You're the one who screwed her up! We didn't tell you let alone let you near Soojin because we didn't want you screwing her up either. That seems to be the only thing you're good at! You ruin anything you touch! That's why you're always going to a worthless, sad, lonely person! Now get out, I've got better things to deal with than you."
Chaerin looked at her mother, completely emotionless and ran her cold, pale hand across her face. Her cheek stung, and she knew it was red. While still feeling her cheek, Chaerin her heel and stomped out.
"Miss Lee, may I call a car for you?" She honestly didn't hear what he said, Chaerin just kept running. As she ran, the blonde spotted a small girl that only looked about six or seven.
That must've been Soojin.
The girl's face innocent, with actually reminiscences of both Chaerin and Mirin despite being just their cousin. Soojin's eyes were wide as an owl, and Chaerin just tell by one simple glance that she'd have an easy life.
"Excuse, you're Soojin, right?" Chaerin approached the girl gently, trying not to scare her.
"Yeah! Who are you? And what happened to your cheek?" Soojin smiled brightly and rose from her small tea party.
"My name is Chaerin. I'm just a friend of Ha Yi, and don't mind that. I'm just here to say something. Soojin, please never give up on whatever you dream is. You can you anything you set your brilliant mind too. Okay? Promos that." Chaerin put her pinky out in front of the girl.
"Hm! I promise!" Soojin wrapped her pinky around Chaerin's, then kissed both. "I want to be fashion designer. I want to make people look pretty!"
"Then you do, alright?" Chaerin smiled warmly as Soojin ran into her arms. Chaerin ran her hand down the girls head softly. "I have to go now, and I'm not sure when I'll be back."
"No! Stay and play with me! You're dressed perfectly for a tea party!"
"I can't. Your mom would be mad if I did." Chaerin rose from her crouching position and walked out the door, glancing back at the girl. In a strange way, Soojin reminded Chaerin of herself.
Walking out into the crisp, January air and she looked down the road. Pulling her phone out, Chaerin dialed a different number and put the phone to her ear.
"Hello? Chaerin? I'm so glad you called. I'm missing you already. I'm in Japan right now, we're just staying here for night before the team gets going."
"Ji Yong, how would you feel if we had a baby?"
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