Chapter 33

Yonghwa was silent during the elevator ride with buddy

“Yonghwa, are you busy today?”

“Not really Buddy why?” he looked at the old man

“I was wondering if you can drive me to the Blue house, I just need to get something then we can grab a quick lunch before depositing me back here, the service is just too luxurious for me it’s making me uncomfortable that is if you’re not busy or anything” the old man sheepishly smiled

“Of course I can do that” he smiled while tapping Buddy’s shoulder. He had become unbelievably close to the old man. Despite the title “General” and the aura that the old man exudes, he is one soft dude after all. It was Buddy who opened the doors for him to be with his family, well to be with his daughter. It was Buddy who came to understand him and opened his arms to him even after what he did to the elders’ grand daughter.

When they went out of the hotel a few reporters were still standing by waiting for him to come out. He had his car wait right outside the hotel doors just to avoid the press. When the two men were inside the car

“How does it feel being famous?” Buddy asked while looking behind him to see the press

Yonghwa chuckled, he thought for a moment thinking of what it really felt to be in the limelight. What it felt to be overly patronized by everyone, some even pretending to be his friends.

 “At first it was like a dream come true, not everybody is given a chance to go after and catch their dreams. It’s like a key to me, opening doors to many opportunities. Sometimes I don’t even have to ask and it’s right there in front of me. I get to see the world in a way nobody will even ever get to dream of. Eventually it became a curse, to the point of losing myself in the process and losing people that are important to me. As much as it’s a key that open doors, it’s also a key that locked my heart”

“That is a fairly complicated situation good thing you were able to find yourself again”

“Yes I did but the people who are important to me are now gone” the old man nodded as he knows what exactly Yopnghwa was talking about

“Perhaps not gone but just gave you distance to think and to grow, to run after what your heart desires”

He thought about what the man beside him just said

“Buddy, may I ask you something and I please don’t take this the wrong way and I will understand if you choose not to answer” They were on a red light and Yonghwa was now looking at the elder “Do you think Joohyun still has feelings for me? Do you think she can still take me back? Even after what we have gone through? Because I'm sensing that it's really over between us”

Buddy looked at him, heaved a deep sigh and stared out the window. They drove silently for awhile when the older man spoke

“Joohyun as a child has always been the quiet and shy type. Since she is an only child, we always see her in a corner playing by her self. She would ride her bike and won’t hesitate to laugh out loud. She would pick flowers for Nana and me and present it in the grandest way she knows how. She would stay awake until midnight just to wait for Nana so she can have dinner with her. She would hang out in Nana’s boutique or I would take her with me to work. She would sit in my office for hours listening to me talk and bark orders to people.  You see, she grew up with me and Nana because her parents were busy living their lives. They would take her to us during weekends at first until she eventually had to stay over even on week nights. When her parents told us that they’ll be getting a divorce, we were wary of how to tell her. We have always showed our love to her because we don’t want her to feel that she was a mistake made by her parents.I mean, how would you feel when you’re an only child but you almost never get to bond with your parents?” Buddy looking at a distance

“When she came to live with us, every morning she would slowly creep up behind me and surprise me and I’d act all frightened and shock but of course I know she’s just behind me but seeing her laughing and excited face from scaring her old gramps was just joy to me. She never was the type of child to want anything else except of what was given to her. I remember, even with our financial status, I gave her a second hand giant story books that caught my eye in a thrift shop, she lit up the moment she opened that gift. She was so proud of it and even brought it to school as her treasure. Growing up, she seldom made chaos and was never a bad child, even after her parents divorced; she silently went through the pain and accepted anything that comes her way without questions you know why?”

Yonghwa only shook his head. Listening to buddy was like reading Joohyuns diary

“Her young self told me that she would like to see everyone she loves happy even if it means sacrificing her happiness. She said that if she can’t give that happiness to someone, she’s more than willing to let go and let them find what will truly make them happy. All she wants is at the end of the day when she ask you, are you happy or were you happy you answer her with a truthful yes."

The old man continued

"During her teenage years, she flourished to be a young capable lady, doing theaters for school and her hobby which is racing, she never showed any resentments towards her parents so we thought she was doing okay. She met Kyuhyun or Marcus as we know him during middle school, I guess it was the first time someone actually thought of her first, thought of her happiness first. When she told us that she was pregnant, I was broken hearted, how can my baby girl raise a baby when she is just a kid herself? Imagine her friends picking out dresses and going to homecoming dance all made up with their dates while she tends to her crying baby at home alone because her young husband was at his part time work, her friends picking out where to go to college while she was again pregnant and had to go to work because they need to pay for bills. But when we see her and listen to her talk it’s like she’s living her dreams, she showed no pain and hardship, maybe her pride? I would never know. She never did asked a single cent from us even if their on the verge of bankruptcy. She would work harder juggling all her responsibilities." the elder still looking at a distance as if seeing the old Joohyun in front of him

"Then came her divorce, she was so scared, but not of losing her ex husband but taking the happiness of her kids away. A complete family. The last that she wouldn’t want to hear was that she was a bad and selfish mother. She was willing to endure it all just to see her children happy even if it means losing herself. What woke her up one day was when Ia was practicin