Chapter 15

“Jejung, son, are those your footsteps I hear?! Come on into the dining hall! We have an important family slash friend meeting this morning!” Mrs. Kim called out to Jejung, from the dining hall. Tiffany looked at Jejung with her eyes wide open in fear, “Family & friend meeting?” She whispered to Jejung, clutching tightly onto him. Jejung frowned & patted Tiffany’s hand, “Don’t worry. I will be here to take care of you.” He reassured her. He then smiled brightly at her & put his hands to to lift the corner of up so that it will form a smile. Tiffany smiled nervously & pasted on a shaky smile as they made their way to the dining hall. When they reached the archway, they both gasped, shocked at what they saw.

Once the people inside caught sight of the pair, some chairs were knocked over as they abruptly stood up & gazed at them with their mouths wide open. The Kim family as well as the Choi, Lee & Jang family were all present around the big mahogany long table. Tiffany put her hand over as she saw Sunny as well as Siwon, Sooyoung & Keunsuk. Jejung squeezed her hand tightly, trying to calm her nerves. When Sunny & Sooyoung saw their friend, they broke into a smile & quickly went over to hug Tiffany. Tiffany just patted them on the back absently, wondering what they were doing there.

Sunny pulled back & was the first to ask, “What are you doing here girl?” Tiffany stared at her friends & then briefly glanced back at Jejung with a loving expression, a small smile forming on her face, “I.” She didn’t get to finish her sentence because by that time, Mrs. Kim had already made her way over to the three girls. She looked at Tiffany up & down & tears came to her eyes as she reached a hand out to touch the girl’s face. Tiffany started to cry a bit too, & Mrs. Kim wiped her tears with her hand. She grasped Tiffany in an emotional hug, “Miyoung, is that you Tiffany girl? Is it really you?” She asked, looking into Tiffany’s eyes earnestly. Tiffany hugged her back & said tearfully but happily, “Yeah auntie Kim, it’s me.” All three families stared at the display in shock, wondering how they came to know each other. Siwon finally spoke up, “What is going on here?” He received a slight smack on the head from his mother, Mrs. Choi, at his lack of manners. Mrs. Kim then proceeded to tell the story of how they all knew Tiffany. After she was finished, Sunny filled in the rest on how she & everyone else knew Tiffany. When she finished her speech, she glared at Jejung.

Jejung shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. She knew that he was the one that had caused Tiffany so much pain. Sunny walked over to Jejung & to her parents’ shock, threw a punch right at him in the stomach. Jejung doubled over in pain & Tiffany yelped, rushing over to see if he was alright, “Sunny, what is the meaning of this?!” Mrs. Lee shouted at her daughter, clearly appalled at her daughter’s behavior towards their host’s son. Sunny didn’t care for what her mom said. She was just too angry with Jejung & how much pain he had caused her best friend. She pointed to Jejung & jabbed him in the chest as she spoke, “This jerk has caused Tiffany to feel depressed all these years! He made her cry & be picked on these past few days at school. Did you know that was why we were both hospitalized the other day? It was because of this idiot!” Jejung hung his head in shame, shuffling his feet, feeling only slightly better with Tiffany’s hand rubbing his sore stomach.

Siwon & Keunsuk finally made their way over to Jejung, smiling at him way too sweetly. Sooyoung jerked Tiffany away & both guys proceeded to punch Jejung in the face. Tiffany screamed again, “Stop! Don’t harm him like that! I’m okay, seriously guys!” Siwon & Keunsuk protested but listened to her. Then Mrs. Kim came over & Tiffany let out a sigh of relief, thinking that she was going to put a stop to this.

Mrs. Kim walked up to her son & looked into his eyes briefly before she hit him on the head, making him fall back a bit. By now, his whole head was aching & red from all the brutality. Tiffany let out another yelp but was stopped by Sooyoung once again, when she tried to go see Jejung. Jejung just continued to stare at the floor. He knew he deserved every single blow that they gave him & many more. He had hurtled Tiffany way too badly & he knew that he would never be able to make up for it.

“Why are you doing this to Jejung Oppa? He wasn’t the one that caused me all this pain.” Tiffany lied, but no one, of course, believed her. Jejung just shook his head & held up his hand, “Do what you want with me. I know that I deserve all this punishment for all the sorrow that I have caused Tiffany.” He said, looking into her eyes. Tiffany had an intake of breath as she heard his beautiful words. She smiled & cried a little because she was really touched. The whole room went silence & stared at Jejung too, because this was a side of him that they have never seen before, not even his own parents. He looked like a hurt lion deeply in love & regretful of what he had done.

Sooyoung’s hold on Tiffany became loose & Tiffany stepped out of her arms & threw her arms around Jejung. She touched his face & kissed him on the cheek where her hand had been, “Thank you for those words Oppa. I love you & forgive you for everything.” Jejung just clasped her tightly against him & fought back the tears that were already streaming down his eyes. He kissed her on the cheek & said against her hair, “I love you too, & thank you for your forgiveness.” At those words shared, there wasn’t a dry eyed female within the room. Everyone was very emotional & touched.

Mrs. Kim walked back over to her son & Tiffany & put a hand on each of their backs, “Okay, come on you two. Let’s go eat now.” She looked at Tiffany & said, “I’m absolutely filled with joy at the sight of you again, dear. I just wished that you would have come to us all these years that Jejung was gone. You know that the Kim’s household will always have doors wide open for you.” Mr. Kim got up from his chair & also walked over to his son to put his arm around his shoulders. He grinned & said jokingly, “This knucklehead son of mine can be a real troublemaker sometimes. You have always been the only girl to ever let him think sanely. I hope that you will continue to be that woman now Tiffany.” He looked briefly over at his wife before continuing, “& your auntie Kim is right, we will always welcome you with open arms.”

Tiffany got up from Jejung’s embrace & went to hug her auntie Kim & then uncle Kim. Both adults chuckled & ushered her over to the dining table. Once everyone was settled, Jejung finally asked the question that had been on his mind since he caught sight of all the people in his house early this morning, “So, why is there this family/friends meeting this morning?” The four family elders smiled. Mrs. Choi said happily, “Some arrangements need to be voiced out from the union of our families. You know that Keunsuk & Sooyoung are the symbol of the union of both the Jang & Choi family, right?” Jejung nodded his head, looking over at the smiling faces of both his friend & Sooyoung, “Well, I think that it is time to tell you Siwon.”

Siwon stopped his fork in midair & his piece of kimchi omelet fell down onto the table unnoticed. He stared at his mom in shock, “Tell me what?” Sunny started shuffling around in her seat, feeling uncomfortable. She stared down at her feet & didn’t eat anything. All she could do was sip the drink given to her. Her plate was full of food but she hadn’t touched a single thing. Siwon asked again, “Tell me what mom?” Mrs. Choi just smiled a goofy grin, obviously elated at what was going to be said. Mrs. Lee piped in after Mrs. Choi had just smiled for about a minute without saying anything. She smiled at Siwon, “You are going to finalize the engagement between you & our daughter. It has been planned since you two were young.” Everyone of the younger generation except for Sunny widened their eyes in shock & exclaimed, “What?!” However, no one had a louder outburst than Siwon. He had gotten up so quickly that his chair fell down with a loud crash to the newly polished marble floor.

He looked wildly at his parents, “What is auntie Lee talking about dad, mom? Are you trying to tell me that I have an arranged marriage?” His parents were not deterred from their son’s sudden burst. They just stared at their son calmly & smiled at him, “Siwon, you are already twenty-five & its about time that you get married. You will be graduating with your business master degree this year & we think this is the right time for you to finally get engaged to your bride.” Siwon just stared at his parents in shock & then suddenly starting laughing out loud, “Very funny dad, mom. That is such a funny joke. You almost got me that time.”

Mr & Mrs. Choi looked at each other briefly, smile gone from their faces. They looked at their son seriously this time, “This is no joke, son.” Mrs. Chou said. Siwon stopped laughing & gazed at his parents with eyes narrowed, “Why?” His mother sighed, “We just told you why, son. Goodness, two bachelor degrees in accounting & personal finance & still you can be so dumb.” Keunsuk, Sooyoung & Jejung laughed while Tiffany tried to stifle hers. Sunny just continued to look at her feet, finding her freshly painted toenails interesting as the prismatic colors reflected a rainbow as she shuffled her feet. She just didn’t want to look up or join the conversation, something very unlike her.

“Who is my bride to be then?” Siwon said, through gritted teeth. The Choi & Lee’s smiled joyously again, & pointed at his bride to be. He looked to where they were pointing & took a step back to fall down on the ground when he saw who he was to marry.