Chapter 13
I Know You Like MeLeenah reunites with her birth parents, but finds out another secret.
I Know You Like Me:
Another Secret:
The three composed themselves when they saw the door finally open. Leenah saw that it was a young woman, possibly in her thirties, and she looked a lot like her. The same chestnut brown hair, the same nose, and eyes. Leenah Jung was finally looking at her real mother. Leenah made sure she said the phrase the best she could, even though she was ready to pass out.
"It-It's nice to meet you. I'm Leenah Jung."
It was a moment before the woman answered her. "I'm Rachel. You, you're Leenah?"
Leenah looked at her feet and just nodded her head nervously. Please like me, please like me, please like me. I won't be able to bear it if you hate me too.
"You're so beautiful." Rachel teared up a little, which made Leenah lift her head. She heard the familiar word, "beautiful". She was beautiful, was that it? "Can I hug you, Leenah?"
"She wants to know if she can hug you." Henry whispered into Leenah's ear.
"Really?" Leenah nearly jumped in excitement. "Yes, yes! Yes, please!"
Leenah quickly threw her arms around her mother, hugging her tightly, which Rachel reciprocated.
"I'm Henry, it's nice to see you again. I'm here to help you communicate with Leenah." Henry waved a little then pointed to Heechul. "And this is Heechul, of course, the one who made all this happen."
"Thank you so much, both of you." Rachel cried a happy tear, not wanting to let go of Leenah. "Come inside, we have so much to talk about."
The three of them entered, immediately removing their shoes and jackets. Leenah looked around the house. It looked like a fairly normal middle-class American household.
"You've been in Korea all this time, haven't you?" Rachel spoke up once they entered the living room and sat on the couch.
"Oh, yeah." Leenah replied once Henry translated it for her. "I've always been thinking of questions I wanted to ask you."
"Feel free to ask anything you want. I promise I'll answer you truthfully." Rachel sat in a chair across from her.
"Well, what made you decide that my adoptive parents were the right choice for me?" Leenah asked, which Henry translated as he sat next to her.
"Truthfully, I didn't know who adopted you." Rachel answered, growing sad at the memory. "You were put up for an anonymous adoption, which means that I would have no right to see you, or pick the family you went to, and you wouldn't know of our existence. And believe me, I regretted that decision everyday, but after the papers were signed, I couldn't just take you back."
"May I ask, if it's okay with you, why was I put up for adoption?" Leenah asked, wanting to keep the strength in her voice.
"My boyfriend and I, who I'm married to now, we became teen parents, we weren't ready for that. I thought it would be best if you went to someone who was ready for it, or if you went to someone who couldn't have children of their own." Rachel admitted. "For a while, I thought about tracking you down, but I have many reasons why I didn't. I thought you were better off without knowing me. I didn't think you wanted to know me, and I just didn't know where to start looking for you."
"Would it be okay if I said something?" Leenah asked. "Henry, be sure to keep up with me, okay?"
"Okay." Henry replied.
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