Song inserted in this chap: Tears Stole The Heart by Ailee (credit to owner)

Park Soon Jae walked out of the house with Park Shin Hye and stopped at the front porch. She looked at her father sadly. She adjusted his coat for him and pulled it closer together. Tears started to pool in her eyes.

“Appa, you have to wear thicker when you go to the farm every day. The weather is getting colder and if the wind is too strong then just stays at home. The workers will do the work for you in the farm. Don’t tire yourself out. Call me whenever you are free.” Shin Hye reminded him.

Park Soon Jae smiled at her as he caressed her cheek. His eyes scanned her face, taking in the details that he will be missing soon. “Don’t worry about appa. I’ll take care of myself. I’ve been in this place for my whole life. I know how to cope with everything here.” He heaved a deep sigh and looked at his daughter worriedly. “You are the one that I’m worried about.”

Shin Hye stole a sideway glance at Min Ho who was standing far away from them, at the car porch with So Won waiting for her before looking back at her father. She smiled slightly as she squeezed his hand softly. “I’ll take care of myself too. I’ll call you often and…” She bit her lip. “… let you know about my condition. I’ll be alright. I’ll come back again.” She inhaled a deep breath before wrapping her arms around her father’s neck and buried her face in his shoulder. “I’ll come back again and when that time comes, I won’t leave appa ever again.” She whispered into his ear bitterly.  

Park Soon Jae tightened his arms around her, trying to savour the moment of having his daughter in his embrace. “You have to be strong. Don’t be like your eomma. You are different from her.” He paused as he turned to where Min Ho was standing. “He is different from appa. He will do better than appa. So don’t give up. Stay strong for the one you love. Don’t let your happiness slip away because of your fear.”

Shin Hye sobbed painfully in his arms. “Appa… I’m sorry.”

Park Soon Jae pulled away and cupped her cheeks in between his hands. He gently wiped her tears away. “This beautiful young lady in front of me. You are a miracle that I created using my hardship, my dripping sweat, my whole life. Appa love you so much and I’m so proud of you. You have to learn from appa too. Explore and create your own miracle. Win the battle, come back here and prove to appa that I was right. I was right that my daughter is strong enough to overcome any obstacle no matter how hard it is. Arasso?”

Shin Hye looked down and her body was slightly trembling. “I’m scared.”

Park Soon Jae her hair tenderly. “I know. But what is there to scare about when that man over there is willing to let you lean on his shoulder?”

Shin Hye looked up at her father. “He still doesn’t know about it yet. If he finds out, he will fall apart.”

“How can you have so little confidence in the man you choose to love?” Park Soon Jae asked her.

“I have no confidence in myself. I don’t want to be his burden.” Shin Hye said.

“Love is never a burden. It’s unfair to him that you keep all this away and didn’t give him a chance to tell you how he really feels.” Park Soon Jae sighed as he squeezed her hand softly. “God will not be so cruel to you. Fate brought both of you back together again after so many years, after so many obstacles. It must have meant something.”

Shin Hye closed her eyes and let her tears to roll down her cheeks.

“Eomma…”

Shin Hye quickly wiped her tears away when she heard So Won’s voice behind her. She forced a slight smile before she turned to her.

So Won held her hand and looked at her worriedly. “Why is eomma crying? Are you crying because you miss harabeoji? Appa already promise So Won that he will bring us back again during my school break. We will see harabeoji again very soon. Eomma please don’t cry.”

Shin Hye smiled at her. “Hmmm… eomma will stop crying and we will come back to see harabeoji again during your school break.”

Park Soon Jae laughed softly as he pulled So Won and hugged her tightly. “My little princess have to be a good girl, arasso? Harabeoji will miss you a lot.”

“So Won will miss harabeoji more. Next time when So Won come to see harabeoji, you have to go to Seoul with us, okay?” So Won said, hugging him tightly.

Park Soon Jae laughed. “Okay. Harabeoji will wait for So Won to come back.”

So Won smiled sweetly at him before turning back to Shin Hye. “Eomma, let’s go. Appa is waiting.”

Shin Hye held her hand and nodded as they walked towards the car where Min Ho and the driver were waiting for them.

Min Ho smiled at her as he lifted his hand up for her. Shin Hye took his hand before looking back at her father. “Appa, I’m going now. I’ll call you when I reach Seoul.”

Park Soon Jae nodded before looking at Min Ho with a meaningful gaze.

Min Ho pursed his lips as he nodded slightly, as if understand what he wanted to tell him. He turned to Shin Hye and So Won. “Go inside the car first. I’ll put the luggage for you.”

Shin Hye nodded and after she took one last look at her father again, she climbed into the car with So Won.

Min Ho closed the door for her as he took the luggage and put it inside the car boot. He then turned to Park Soon Jae who was already standing in front of him.

“Remember what I told you last night.” He said.

Min Ho inhaled a sharp breath and looked at him. “Yes. I know what to do.”

Park Soon Jae patted his arm, trying to give him some strength. “I’m giving my daughter to you now. You have to love her, take care of her. She might look strong outside but she has a fragile heart. Your heart needs to be very strong to be with her.”

Min Ho smiled slightly as he nodded. “You have to take care too.” He bowed at him politely before he met his eyes again. “Thank you, abeonim… for everything.” He exhaled deeply before he walked to the passenger door and get into the car.

Park Soon Jae waved his hand at them and as the car slowly disappeared from his sight, the tears that he has been holding finally escaped his eyes. He looked up at the clear sky, his eyes searching for something.

“Yeobo… are you up there? Give our daughter more strength and make her stronger. You already left me alone here. Don’t bring her away from me too.”

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“Take all her clothes out and packed it into a box. And also all other things that belongs to her. Put it in the store room.” Min Ho gave his instruction to the maids as he pointed at Shin Hye’s luggage. “After that, put all Shin Hye agasshi’s clothes into the closet room.”

The maids nodded as they quickly start doing their work.

Shin Hye let out a deep sigh before walking towards Min Ho. “There are plenty of rooms in your big mansion. Why must we sleep in the same room?” She turned to the closet room and sighed again. “You should wait until Yoon Suh is back before you take her belongings out.”

Min Ho held her hand in his and caressed it gently. “She doesn’t belong to this room anymore.” He pulled her closer to him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Before we come back, I already ordered them to change a new bed. If you don’t like the design or furniture in this room, I can change everything and redesign the whole room.”

“Oppa… we…”

“I’ll get a driver for you from now onwards so if you need to go out you can always ask the driver to fetch you.” Min Ho cut her off without giving her a chance to continue what she wanted to say.

Shin Hye’s brows furrowed together. “Oppa… we should…”She tried to speak again but failed.

“I will settle.” He cut her off again and his voice was stern this time. As if he knows what she wanted to say, he continued. “I know you feel uncomfortable with all the arrangement because I’m still a married man and my missing wife is your sister. I will find her and settle it as soon as possible.”

Shin Hye sighed. “I know that already since day one and when I decided to come back here with you, I was prepared to face anything with you. But we still couldn’t find her and technically she is still your legal wife. It’s not right legally that you keep all her stuff away and bring mine in here. If things get complicated when she come back, all these will be a strong point for her to fight back.” She paused as she looked deep into his eyes.

“If she refused to sign the divorce paper, you have to protect your own benefits.” She continued.

Min Ho exhaled sharply. “What benefits? My money?”

Shin Hye nodded. “Yes.”

Min Ho pulled her closer. He needs to feel her, touch her, and keep her close so he could always remind himself that all this is not a dream. She is really here with him.

“Do you think I care about that? If money could settle the problem with her, I will give her as much as she wants.” He said.

Shin Hye sighed again. “You will need to give her half of what you have.”

Min Ho chuckled. “Give her then.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. “I just want you.” He whispered against her soft skin.

Shin Hye leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. “You are an idiot. I don’t worth half of the money that you have.”

Min Ho buried his nose in her hair and nodded. “You are right. You don’t worth that amount.” He inhaled into her sweet scent. “You are priceless.”  

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“… the prince and princess live happily ever after.” Shin Hye smiled when she saw So Won’s eyes closed tightly together and her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. She put the book on the bedside table before she leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She turned the lights off and walked out of the room.

Shin Hye made her way to Min Ho’s study room but couldn’t find him there. She then walked to their room and he was not there either. He told her that he will be busy tonight because he needs to prepare for the meeting tomorrow but why he is not in his study room? She went down to the living room and asked ahjuhma when she saw her.

“Where is Min Ho oppa?”

Ahjuhma pointed at the garden. “Doryeonnim have been sitting in the garden since you went into So Won’s agasshi’s room.”

Shin Hye thanks her before she made her way to the garden.

Min Ho was sitting on the swing, looking at his IPad with full concentration. He looked up when he heard footsteps walking towards him. He quickly off the IPad and put it at the side. He smiled at her and patted at the empty space beside him, asking her to sit.

Shin Hye took the seat beside him and looked at him. “I thought you were busy with your work. But ahjuhma said you have been sitting here for hours. What are you doing here?”

“Hmmm… it was kind of stuffy inside and it felt so much better with the breeze out here.” He replied.   

She glanced at the IPad at the side before she held his eyes again. “Are you hiding something from me?”

Min Ho shook his head and brought his hand up to caress her cheek. “What about you? Do you have anything hiding from me?”

Shin Hye felt her body stiffened immediately. She averted her gaze and smiled awkwardly. “What can I hide from you? You can even find me in my father’s house when I was hiding there. You know everything.”

Min Ho sighed silently. “I’m not God and I don’t stay inside your stomach. If there is something you are hiding or don’t want to let me know, I wouldn’t be able to find out. I can only guess and worried.”

Shin Hye looked down as she bit her lip. “Everybody have a secret. There is always something that we couldn’t say it out loud…” She slowly turned back to Min Ho and stared into his eyes. “… even if that person is the most important one to you.”

“Why?” He asked softly.

“Because the more important that person is, the more you want to protect him from getting hurt.” She replied.

Min Ho sighed. “You mean, the secret you are hiding from me will hurt me?”

Shin Hye pulled her gaze away from him and chuckled. “I don’t have anything hiding from you.”

Min Ho nodded before he let out a long sigh. He gathered Shin Hye into his arms and rocked the swing forward very slowly.

Shin Hye looked up at the dark sky and moved herself closer to him. “You have a very nice and big garden. The scents of the flowers here make my mind felt so relax. It’s so good to be rich.”

Min Ho laughed softly. “You are rich now.”

Shin Hye laughed too. “Wae?”

“Because you have a very rich boyfriend now. As long as you tell me, I can give you anything. Even the stars, I can get it for you.” He looked up at the sky too. “You said you don’t have time, right. I can give you that too.”

Shin Hye’s heart raced tremendously as she looked up at him, shocked.

Min Ho nuzzled her nose as he smile. “I promised you before that I’ll turn the 7 weeks to 70 years. I will give you forever, eternity.” He looked deep into her eyes. “7 weeks already past and you are still here. You have to trust me.”

Shin Hye let out a sigh of relief. She thought he find out about her sickness. She smiled too. “You and your sweet talk.”

Min Ho kissed her hair. “I know you like to hear it.”

Shin Hye leaned against his chest, enjoying the rhythm of his strong and steady heartbeat, echoing into her ear. “I like to hear your voice. It’s deep and smooth. I like to hear your heartbeat. It’s strong and energetic. Whenever I hear your voice, your heartbeat, it was like casting a spell on me.”

Min Ho tightened his arms around her. “I am. And the spell will make you love me deeper with every passing second. It will make you stay with me forever and ever.”

Shin Hye sighed softly. “Forever is too long. But being with you, every second is eternity.” She looked up at him and held his gaze. “Let’s talk about my sister.”

Min Ho’s face hardened. “I don’t want to talk about her.”

Shin Hye pouted her lips slightly. “I know nothing about her. Except for the two letters and the locket, I have not even seen her photo before.”

“You don’t need to see her photo. She looked exactly like you. You can just look at the mirror.” Min Ho said.

“But how about the story between both of you? I want to know.” Shin Hye asked.

Min Ho sighed. “You won’t be jealous if I tell you?”

Shin Hye narrowed her eyes at him. “You just need to tell me the brief story. I don’t need the details.” She looked away. He raised a good question. She will be jealous but she wanted to know more. Not just because of her sister but she wanted to know more about him.

Min Ho sighed again. “The first time when I met her was in her high school, outside a toilet.” He chuckled. “She almost fell down and my heart almost stops beating when I saw her face. I thought I really found you.” He looked down at her and kissed her forehead gently. “I guess I was too immersed into that face and impulsive instinct took over me. Without asking more, without any doubts, I assumed that she was you.”

“It was very fast before I took the first move to call her out. She was only 17 years old and she was very beautiful. She has a very soft personality. She wouldn’t say no to me. Whatever I want, whatever I request, whatever I decided, she will obey and say yes.” He paused as he smiled. “I wanted to marry her and lock her up before any other men could lay their eyes on her.”

“We got married right after she graduated. My father was sick and passed away few months after that and I decided to move here. I put so much effort in designing this garden and thought she would be happy to see all the flowers here.” He continued as he looked down at Shin Hye again. “I still can remember how you smile and how your eyes glistened when you talk about the twinflower. Because I thought she was you, so I thought she will love it too.” He exhaled a deep breath. “She was unhappy with everything in this house. She hated this garden and she hated this place. She said it was too far away from the city.”

Shin Hye sighed. “She said she was lonely. You left her alone in this house most of the time. She felt suffocated.”

“But she never mentions a single thing in front of me. I admit that I put almost all of my time in my studies and then in my work but there were also time where I was at home with her. She should tell me directly if she was not satisfied with what I did. She should tell me instead of locking herself in the house and cry secretly. Her behaviour makes me confused and I don’t even know what and where goes wrong.” He took another deep breath.

“I thought everything will be better when she told me that she was pregnant. But it just makes the situation from bad to worse. I remembered that night I was waken up her cries and I thought something was wrong with the baby but then she told me that she don’t want the baby. She wants to abort it. I was so mad and we fought so badly that night. I tried to ask the doctor and do research and I think she was having some hormones change due to the pregnancy so I tried to make her feel better.” He continued, looking blankly to the front.

“I know she likes beautiful clothes, bags, shoes, jewelleries, so I tried to get her as many as she wants to satisfy her and it worked. Her mood was getting better and she never said that she don’t want the baby anymore.” Min Ho paused as his eyes slowly darkened. “After So Won was born, my love for her slowly becomes something I don’t even know what that was. Maybe it was something like a mixture of annoyance and frustration. The way she treated our daughter makes me fed up with this marriage, fed up with her. I started to regret. I started to doubts my feeling for her. I tried. I tried to salvage our marriage because of So Won but it just doesn’t work. At that time, I just want to escape from all these mess and that was why I chose to drown myself into my work. I ignored whatever she did inside or outside the house. We just threw So Won to ahjuhma and let ahjuhma to take care of her. Except for earning money, I don’t care what happened in this house.”

Shin Hye straightened herself a little when she saw that familiar painful gaze in his eyes. She slowly moved her hand to his face, soothing her with her soft caress. “That was the reason why your relationship with So Won was so bad when I first came here.”

Min Ho nodded. “I don’t understand why So Won love her mother so much even with how bad she treated her. She totally treated So Won like a stranger. And then you came. I slowly understand that she love her mother because she was longing for her attention, yearning for her love.” He looked at Shin Hye with a hurtful expression. “When I found out about her affair with Jang Geun Suk, I understand that she doesn’t love me. I was just a