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53. SURPRISE GUEST

Puppy and I were finishing our evening tea when our doorbell rang. Byong rushed to open the door. We were sitting at the dining table supervising Byong’s homework and he was waiting for any excuse to leave his school books. We were the only three at home as imo was at Minx’s house to get a fix of her baby addiction.

The babies were now three months old but imo still spent the entire day with Hyemi noona and Minx to ‘help’ them look after the babies. We couldn’t complain because we also spent all our free time taking care of and playing with the little bundles of joy, that is, if we got our turn to pick them up. Kibum, Heechul, Siwon, Hyukkie, DongHae and Duckie always claimed first dibs on them. And if Kai, Taemin, Amber and Soo were present, we did not even get to see the angels. The only time we got to hold them was when we brought them over to sleep with us. Sehun and Minx thanked god that there were three of them to go around for our large family.

Byong’s words brought me out of my reverie, “Hello Ahjeossi! Please have a seat. I will call ummappa.” We heard the element of surprise in Byong’s greeting as he showed our unexpected guest to the living room.

I heard the rumble of a deep voice responding to Byong and my eyes opened wide in shock, unknown to me I whispered out the name that sprang to my mind, “Minho?”

Hearing that one word Puppy leapt up from his chair and pressed a hand to my shoulder, “You wait here yeobo. I will check out.” He left the dining room just as Byong was entering it to inform us. Puppy asked Byong in a barely audible whisper as they crossed paths, “Choi Minho?” Byong nodded. I got over my shock and followed Puppy into the living room.

A well-dressed Minho was sitting very uncomfortably on our plush couch. He stood up as soon as he saw us coming. Puppy shook hands with him and bowed his head very slightly in greeting. I just stared at him. We hadn’t seen him since Minx’s wedding and to say that I was shocked to see him inside our home was an understatement.

“What brings you here Minho-ssi?” Puppy came directly to the point as he took the couch opposite Minho and pulled me down to sit next to him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder to give me strength. I knew it was also to show to Minho that I was not alone. Well, beyond the shock, I was not emotionally weak about Minho anymore. But I let Puppy tuck me into his side.

“I guess you have not heard that I am now living in Daegu.” Minho smiled at us confidently but his eyes betrayed his uncertainty.

Before we could respond, Byong served water to our guest and asked, “Ahjeossi would you like to have some tea, coffee or juice?”

“If it’s not any problem, juice would be fine.” Minho answered politely to Byong’s question. Then he fixed his neck tie, betraying his nervousness.

Though we had someone come in for daily cleaning services, imo preferred to keep the cooking under her control. Actually, we all helped in the kitchen and were good cooks because we didn’t want to burden imo with cooking for four grown up males and our myriad family members who had the propensity to drop in unannounced at any hour for any meal.

Byong’s interruption had given us a few moments to compose ourselves and overcome the shock of Minho’s announcement that he was now residing in the same city as us. Puppy’s arm tightened around my shoulder and he pulled me even closer to himself. My entire right side was flush with Puppy’s body. We looked at each other and pasted polite smiles on our lips, before turning to face Minho once more.

“Where in Daegu?” I asked.

Minho gave his business card to us, “This is my personal card, and at the back you will find my personal contact details.” We turned over the card to read his house address and realized it was not very far from our home.

We turned the card again to read Minho’s business details. He was now the owner and President of a private hospital in Daegu. Leeteuk had informed us that the said hospital had changed hands recently. We had also read about it in the newspaper, however, we did not want to show Minho that we kept ourselves regularly updated about his life.

“Wasn’t this hospital part of your wife’s chain of hospitals?” Puppy raised his brows mockingly as he questioned Minho.

“Oh, we got divorced a month ago and this hospital is part of the settlement,” Minho responded nonchalantly. I suppressed my desire to smirk at that information. Minho’s ex-wife seemed to have paid a hefty price for divorce, but then she could afford it without breaking a sweat. I concentrated on Minho again, as he uttered his next bit of craziness, “I wanted to be near my family.” Minho looked at me as he said the word ‘family’ and I tried not to look away in displeasure.

“I wasn’t aware you had any family in Daegu, Minho.” I pretended not to understand his meaning.

Byong served our unwanted guest a glass of orange juice and some nicely arranged snacks. Instead of leaving, my boy sat down on my left and wrapped his arm around my waist. He was almost tall as I was and I just turned my head to kiss his cheek.

“How could you forget Angie?” Minho smiled at me while using the nickname he had given me during our time together, “You and Minki are my family.”

“My name is Jinki. And my daughter is Hyunjin.” I pressed Puppy’s thigh to keep him silent and corrected Minho myself. Minho looked at my hand on Puppy’s thigh and frowned.

“You will always be my Angie and my daughter will always be Minki to me. A change of name does not change the fact that you both are my family.” Minho tried to erase the frown from his face and smile again.

“Minho-ssi, please keep in mind that you are sitting in ‘my’ house and talking to ‘my’ husband about ‘our’ daughter. If you do not like the fact that they are no longer your family, you are welcome to leave.” Puppy maintained a straight face and a polite tone, but his well-chosen words left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was quite capable of throwing Minho out of our home if necessary. His emphasis on the words ‘my’ and ‘our’ made Minho look at him in surprise.

“She may call herself Kim Hyunjin now but she will always remain Choi Minki.” Minho kept to his argument.

I could feel Byong itching to interrupt and correct Minho that his sister was now Oh Hyunjin, but I wrapped my left arm around him and pressed his shoulder, signaling him to keep silent.

“You signed away all rights over Minx and she is officially my adopted daughter Kim Hyunjin,” Puppy coldly informed Minho.

“Minx?” I could see Minho beginning to strategically retreat when he shifted his gaze to look at me once again. “I like that. I can call her Minx.” He smiled again, “You can change her name Jinki, but you cannot change the fact that she looks like me, her real father.”

I smiled at him, reigning in my emotions, “Yes Minho, she looks like you. But she is Jonghyun’s daughter when it comes to faithfulness.” Minho couldn’t control his shock at my words.

Puppy kissed my cheek and grinned, “And yours yeobo. She is truly our daughter.” He deliberately used ‘yeobo’ to address me in another display of our intimacy.

“I didn’t come here to argue with you Jinki,” Minho’s words showed his defeat, “I want to see my grandchildren.” He barely whispered his reason for visiting us, without meeting our eyes.

Next to me, Byong gasped and shook his head in a silent no. I again squeezed his shoulder to calm him. I knew Minho loved children. Puppy and I tried to read Minho’s mind but his face showed nothing but a sincere desire to meet Minx’s babies.

“Please Jinki,” Minho said the words which I knew were the most difficult for him. “I know I have made many mistakes in the past. And I am really sorry for them. But, I am a changed man now. Please let me meet my grandchildren.”

I couldn’t look away from the 57-year-old man in front of me who was apologizing for the unbearable pain he had given me during our time together. I had left him more than 2 decades ago. And, in the past 20 years, my Puppy had healed my broken heart and soul. But, we had always felt the lack of remorse from Minho for his hurtful acts.

“Byong, go get your niece and nephews. Tell imo to stay with Hyemi noona only.” Puppy asked our son.

Byong looked ready to refuse his father’s request but Puppy’s tone had left no room for argument. He got up and left to fulfill Puppy’s demand.

“Thank you for accepting my request,” Minho smiled at Puppy. “I have brought gifts for them. If I have your permission, I can get them from my car.” At our nod, Minho rushed out and returned very quickly with an armload of brightly wrapped gifts.

“Oh no Minho-ssi, these are too much. They are only three months old. “Puppy protested at three huge stuffed toys, aside from the wrapped gifts, that Minho piled onto one of the couches.

Minho just said one word, “Please,” and his overjoyed face silenced Puppy. We knew what it was to feel the joy of becoming a grandparent and my mushy, soft-hearted Puppy could not ignore the hopeful look on Minho’s face as he eagerly waited for Byong’s return.

We urged Minho to drink his juice as he waited. Then we cleared away the glass and untouched food. Three babies, who had begun to wriggle and throw around their limbs, were a handful and Minho would need a lot of space around him.

Byong returned, carrying all three babies in the special triplet baby carrier that Kai and Amber had brought over from their honeymoon. Byong carried mischievous Jungkook and Taeyong on his chest and the quieter Joohyun on his back. He held three half-full bottles in his hands. “Sorry it took me some time. The babies were having their milk.”

All three of us rushed to relieve Byong. I took out Taeyong and gave him to Minho to hold. Puppy took Joohyun in his arms and a bottle from Byong to feed her. Byong handed Jungkook to me and removed the carrier before taking him back and feeding his nephew.

All three of us watched Minho as he held his youngest grandson tenderly in his arms. He had tears in his eyes as he tried to smile at the baby. His voice shook with emotions when he introduced himself, “I am your harabeoji, Minho harabeoji.”

Taeyong gurgled in response, smiled widely and took hold of Minho’s tie. He pulled his grandfather closer to him with his strong grip on the tie. Minho leaned closer and kissed his forehead, making the little one pull even more on the tie. Seeing him almost strangle Minho, I went over to them and eased Taeyong’s grip and removed the hazardous piece of clothing from his reach by putting the tie over Minho’s shoulder. Minho smiled his thanks at me and then looked back at the baby in his arms.

With the tie out of reach, Taeyong became unhappy and gave a loud wail of protest. Minho looked at me with worry. “I didn’t do anything Jinki. Promise.”

“He is just hungry. He was having his milk when Byong brought him here. Either we let him strangle you or give him his milk.” I took the crying baby in my arms and gave a small smile to Minho to put him at ease. It felt strange to smile at him.

There was a loud burp and I looked to find Byong burping Jungkook on his shoulder. Minho watched as Byong gently wiped Jungkook’s lips and chin before kissing him on his forehead. Jungkook gurgled in happiness. I saw the longing look in Minho’s eyes and asked Byong to give Jungkook to Minho. Byong did as I asked and took a now-silent Taeyong from my arms to give him his remaining bottle.

Before taking the baby from Byong, Minho removed his tie. He sat down and began cooing to his older grandson. After a few minutes he looked up with his eyes huge and round. “Uh, what are their names?” He asked us shyly.

I wasn’t sure if my eyes bugged out at the scene in front of me, it felt like that to me. I had not seen that shy look on Minho’s face since our college time. Puppy glanced at me and answered, “This one in my arms is the eldest baby Joohyun. You are holding Jungkook who is younger to his sister by three minutes. Byong has the youngest son and naughtiest of the lot, Taeyong.”

Minho repeated the names as if to remember them, “Joohyun, Jungkook, Taeyong.” Then he looked down at the baby in his arms and smiled widely, “Hello baby Jungkook. I am your grandfather, Minho harabeoji.”

Puppy, Byong and I watched the two in front of us. Taeyong began pulling on Byong’s hair to get back his attention. When Byong looked down at him with a pretend scowl, he just smiled around the of his bottle and twinkled his big eyes. The eyes that were so like the man sitting in front of us, cooing at his grandson.

When Joohyun pushed the bottle out of and pursed her lips refusing to drink more, Puppy grinned at her, “Darling you can diet later in your life. For now you need to drink up all the milk you can so you grow as strong as your naughty brothers.” He rubbed the on her lips and opened his mouth in a wide o, and his granddaughter mimicked him. He quickly pushed the into and coaxed her into finishing the bottle.  

I watched Minho as he watched Puppy feed Joohyun. With an eager look in his eyes he asked Puppy, “Can I burp her?”

I took Jungkook from Minho, and Puppy handed over his eldest grandchild. Unmindful of his expensive suit, Minho put Joohyun to his shoulder and began rubbing her back to make her burp. A few later, out came a loud burp and a mouthful of milk. Minho took out his handkerchief and wiped and his suit. He laughed and cooed at the sweet girl, “You burp just like your mother. Come on give me a big smile princess.” He beamed when Joohyun showed her gums in a smile. He lifted her higher and rubbed his nose on her tummy. “Oh your tummy is really full. Be careful don’t throw up on my hair.”

Minho stayed for over an hour playing with all of his grandchildren. Joohyun was sedate but Taeyong did throw up in Minho’s hair when his grandfather playfully rubbed his nose in his full tummy. Minho had laughed and wiped his hair with his already soiled handkerchief. Before leaving he turned to Puppy with hopeful eyes, “Can I visit again?”

Puppy nodded, “Just call us beforehand to make sure there are no other family members visiting to play with them.”

Minho gave a silly grin, “Thank you Jonghyun-ssi. Thanks Jinki.” Then he turned to the babies who were in their baby carrier on Byong’s chest and back. “Did you hear that? I can see you again soon. Be good babies and don’t trouble your mother too much. Tell her that I love her and miss her.” He kissed each baby good bye and reluctantly took his leave.

“Ummappa I will drop the babies home and then I want to talk to you both,” Byong went next door and then ran back in a hurry.

We went into the kitchen to begin dinner. Uncle would return soon. Byong joined us and began cutting onions. “I don’t understand why you allowed him to play with the babies and stay for so long. Imo-halmeoni is very upset.” Byong sniffed away his tears brought on by the chopped onions.

I looked at Puppy and struggled with words to explain to a 17 years old boy what it was to be a grandfather. “He looked genuinely remorseful for hurting me,” I began.

“But he hurt you.” Byong cut me short. “He has no claim over you ummappa. It’s you and appa who are a couple and together.” Byong was clearly unhappy.

I tried again, “Human relations are complex Byong. It is petty to hold on to grudges and painful acts of others. We must always try to look at the good points of others rather than their negative aspects. Remember none of us is perfect. We all make mistakes in life. How would you feel if we never forgive you your mistakes? Or you always hold on to our mistakes? Only way to move forward in life is to learn from our mistakes and focus on the good in everyone. Live life positively to be really happy.” I looked at the boy on the verge of maturity who was struggling to make sense of the recent events. I kissed his cheek and then pecked Puppy’s lips.

I knew Puppy was thinking about the time he took revenge on three men who had helped Minho give me the greatest pain in my life. I softly kissed him again to let him know it was okay. Byong would learn that things were never black or white but different shades of grey. But he still had to a long way to reach that understanding.

“Byong, Minho may not have kept in touch with your noona all the time. But he loves her in his own way. We cannot deny that he is her biological father. You saw how happy he was to meet the babies. Do you honestly feel we should have denied his request?” Puppy put the chopped onions in the stew that he was cooking.

Byong wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeves and began cutting vegetables. He took a moment to think before answering, “I think he expected us to refuse. He really did look very happy. In fact, he looked exactly the way you two look when you are with the babies.”

Puppy smiled at him and ruffled his hair, “That’s our boy. It might be a little confusing now. But it will become simpler as time passes and you grow older.”

“Appa don’t touch my hair. It took me an hour to get it right.” Byong pouted at his father. “I am trying to see your point of view. But how will you explain to imo-halmeoni? She does not even want to hear his name. She was gnashing her teeth when I dropped the babies off and must have drunk at least a ton of coffee. Even now she has stayed over because she is full anger. Her only calming factor is that Minx noona stayed back and did not express any desire to meet him. You really have a diplomatic daughter.”

“That’s why we are cooking imo’s favorite dishes tonight,” Puppy grinned and changed the topic, “You are becoming really strong Byong. Carrying those three together is tough. They must weigh what? About 8 kilograms each?”

Byong laughed, “Last week we checked, Jungkook was nearly 9 kilograms and Sehun hyung said he is overweight. Noona just made a face and said he was jealous because he was a bag of bones himself. Hyung promised to show her what the bag of bones could do to her at night.” The naughty boy winked at me as he continued, “Appa what did hyung mean by that?”

“Tokki, my babygirl!” Puppy immediately wailed in distress. Byong laughed heartily at his father’s predictable reaction.

“Don’t tease your father Byong. He will not sleep the whole night thinking of his babygirl and her bag of bones.” I hi-fived Byong behind Puppy’s back.

“Yeobo, you too!” Puppy gave an even more distressed wail. “They are married but I don’t want to know what they do. I don’t want to hear what they talk about. She’s my babygirl!”

“But I want to know appa,” Byong refused to drop the topic. “Do you think hyung would tell me if I ask? I want Duckie to smile the same way noona did when hyung promised her a show. I thought a bag of bones can only rattle and make a lot of noise.”

Oh my god, our son was just as much a ert as his fathers. “You are only 17 Byong and Duckie is still a month short of 17. If you try any show and tell with her, she will beat you black and blue.” I was quick to remind him as Puppy turned tomato red.

The door bell rang, cutting our delightful conversation in between and Puppy sighed in relief. It was imo and Uncle. Imo glowered at Puppy and me as she entered the kitchen.

“Imo?” Puppy hugged her back as she washed her hands to help us with dinner.

“Don’t talk to me lapdog. I am very upset with you. How could you allow Minho inside my house and let him meet the babies?” Imo swatted at Puppy with soapy hands. “Let go off me, you horrible Puppy.”

“Imo it’s been twenty years. Forgive him.” I pecked her cheek.

“No, never. Not in this lifetime.” Imo was vehement in her refusal. “He hurt my boy. I will never forget what he did to you.” Imo looked furiously at Puppy, “How can you forget what he did to Jinki?”

“Dae Hee, remember your blood pressure. Spit out your anger and get me a cup of tea.” Uncle patted my back. Byong handed him his tea that he had prepared while we talked to imo.

Puppy wrapped imo in his arms and put his chin on her shoulder to rub his cheek on hers, “Imo I have not forgotten anything. But Tokki is over that time of his life. It no longer hurts him. Forgiveness is the final step in healing completely. Don’t you want your baby to heal and to really bury his past?”

“I want to bury that good-for-nothing giant,” Imo mumbled in annoyance. “Stop rubbing away my anger lapdog. Rub cheeks with your bunny and let me go talk to you uncle. Serve the food quickly, I am dying of hunger.” Imo pushed Puppy away from her.

Puppy immediately hugged me and rubbed his cheek on mine only to make Uncle comment, “Shameless creatures.”

We grinned and hugged Byong to us as imo and Uncle left the kitchen to sit at the dining table. Byong whispered, “Appa are you going to show ummappa what your bag of bones can do tonight?”

It was my turn to blush and Puppy’s to grin mischievously, “Son if your ummappa was a woman he’d already be a mother of twenty by the way I rattle my bag of bones.”

Uncle loudly whispered making all of us, including imo, laugh, “Shameless creatures.”

We continued to tease each other and laugh through dinner. Our surprise guest had taught all of us a valuable lesson. If revenge was sweet, forgiveness was even sweeter.