There was no reason for Mrs. Kim to not be happy this morning. Her smile was wide, almost reaching her ears. Why wouldn’t she? What could make her more contented than having her husband, her son, and her soon to be daughter in law sit together for breakfast? It put her heart at ease when she saw Jonghyun on his office attire, ready for work because that was what her husband wanted on their only son to do, working for their company.

Jonghyun didn’t talk much during the breakfast, though. If anything, he was far from happy. Unlike his mother, he clearly didn’t enjoy this. He wanted for this breakfast to end, but on the other hand, if this ended, it meant he had to sit with his fiancée on the ride to his office. He really detested it when his father came up with ideas about her like why his father had to stick her up on him. But he hated it more when his mother didn’t do anything about it.

“Cheer up, baby.” His mom said as she straightened his suit. “You’ll have a nice day at work, I’m sure of it. It’ll end just before you know it.”

“Yeah, and then I’ll come to see Jongki again.” Jonghyun smiled. “Mom, do you have some time this evening? I want to buy some dolls or maybe toys too for Jongki after work.”

“Does he like plush dolls?” she asked.

“Yeah,”

“What about you take a look on your old stuff I’ve keep in the room. Maybe you can give them to him. If nothing catches your interest then we can go look for some?” his mother offered.

“You still have my toys from when I was a child?”

“Of course, honey. I don’t throw them away. I think you might like the idea of sharing your stuff with the child looking at how much you like him.”

“That sounds like a good idea!” Jonghyun’s eyes sparkled at the thought of him telling Jongki the story about his toys as they played together. “Wait for me, mom. I’ll return right after the office hour’s ended!” His mother smiled at her overexcited son. Maybe it was a good thing, the car accident, because if it wasn’t happened, then she wouldn’t witness this new side of his son.

It was five minutes before lunch time when Jonghyun’s phone vibrated, showing a new notification. It was Junghee, telling him that she was already booked a table at the restaurant next to his office for lunch. As much as he wanted to ignore it, he couldn’t. The last thing he needed right now was another long argument with his father about his relationship with Junghee. So he got on his feet and made his way to meet her.

He spotted her on the table next to the window, eyes focused on her phone, probably on a group chat with her friends. As he walked closer to the table, she looked up and saw him coming so she flashed a smile and greeted him with her overly sweet voice. He didn’t return it. His face was indifferent as he took a seat in front of her. He ordered meals for the two of them right away, wanting to spend less time possible with her.

“You know what; your father asks me when I’m going to be ready for marriage. I only want you to know that I’m ready. I’ve been waiting for it –“

“We’re not going to get married. You know that. You better stop fantasizing about it because it will never happen.”

“I don’t think so. Wake up, Jonghyun. You know you have no say in this matter. Your father likes me and you’re going to ask for my hand in marriage.”

“It’s my father who likes you so much –“

“And your mother too.”

“Listen, I’m not going to settle down with you. I will never marry someone like you.”

“When will you learn that those words mean nothing for me? You can hate me all you want but your family is still going to make you marry me.”

“Well, they can’t… if I leave first.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Jonghyun smirked, knowing he won. “No, I’m not. If the only way to avoid this is by leaving my family, then I will.”

“You can’t!”

“Why can’t I?”

“Where are you going to go?”

For a moment, Jinki’s house came across his mind. Then he wondered, how nice it would be if he lived there. Like, he could watch over Jongki for free and he could be with the child 24/7.

“So where are you going to go, Jonghyun?” She repeated a bit daringly.

“What makes you think I’m going to tell you? So you could go find me and want me back? Shouldn’t you also start thinking what you’re going to do if you’re going to have me as your husband? Maybe you want to consider being my father’s second wife. After all, it’s his money that you want.” It was happening in flash, Jonghyun could feel his cheek sting from what he assumed Junghee’s hand.

“What? It’s a win-win solution. He likes you a lot. He wants you. And you want his money. That’s about the best option left for you if you can’t have me.”

He looked at how she couldn’t say anything and stood up and silently walked away. He was satisfied, extremely satisfied. He didn’t think what his mother would say. He would be a jerk if he had to and he didn’t mind it. He was just tired with his father’s obsession over her. If only she could cooperate with him and cancel the engagement, he would never think of hating her.

“Let’s see…” her mother mumbled more to herself than to Jonghyun when they open a large box her mom kept on her study room. It contained of all the things Jonghyun used to play when he was a child.

“Woah, you still have this,” Jonghyun exclaimed when he saw a broken car toy he cried over when he was five. It was his favourite and he accidentally dropped it when he was on the stairs and the poor thing bounced all the way down and shattered when it reached downstairs.

“I also have all the plush dolls you liked so much back then” said his mother with pride on her voice.

“Oh mom, didn’t you ask me to take pictures with him? I did!” Jonghyun took his phone up and browsed through his gallery. “Do you still remember Jinki’s face? He looks exactly like him, except for his eyes. But that’s what drawn me into him. You’re going to fall in love with his eyes.” Jonghyun blabbed while he tried to find the picture. “Oh, look!” He showed her the picture. “He is so cute, right? Just scroll down, I have more.”

“Aw, baby, he is.” His mother took the phone from him for a better look. “His eyes remind me of yours when you’re still a baby.” She scroll down and stopped at the picture of her son posing beside the sleeping child. “He sleeps just like you. You used to sleep with a plush when you were little. One day I took it away and you were awakened and started crying.”

“Did I?”

She turned around when she sensed the uneasiness on her son’s voice. “Yeah, maybe that’s why you’re so fond of him. I feel it too, with you.”

“Well, you can be right.” Jonghyun smiled. But he wasn’t really smiling, though. There were few things on his mind as he listened to her just now.

“So, which ones we shall give to him?” Her mother started to sort the stuff in the box, picking decent ones for Jonghyun to decide. However, he couldn’t care about them anymore; he wanted to just bring the whole box and headed to the child. He wanted to see him right now. There were new questions on his mind that he wanted to ask the child, just to make him feel secure.

A new chapter :D