008

Sooyeon found herself hopelessly crying like there’s no tomorrow. She cried as if she won’t be able to see the next sunrise. But then, just before she could fall down on her knees, someone caught her just in time.

She looked up to see who it was and to her surprise, it was Donghae. She has no single idea what was he doing there but the reason didn’t matter anymore. She felt safe and protected right in his arms.

He kissed her hair as Sooyeon cried onto her knees. For the past few weeks, she’s been smiling and laughing a lot. She seemed so happy but now, it became odd to see her crying once again. Earlier that morning, Donghae noticed something different to Sooyeon. She was quiet and seemed like deep in thoughts. She looked so disoriented and distracted when she left his place to go somewhere and that’s where his curiosity got the best out of him. He followed her just to be sure she’ll be safe since she wasn’t acting normal.

Then it all leads here.

He keeps on hushing and rubbing her back to somehow make her stop crying. She was crying so hard like tomorrow doesn’t exist. He couldn’t do anything but to take her away from that place. Just as they got out of the building, the rain came pouring down. Sooyeon wondered if the weather really knows the meaning of cooperation and also asked herself why does it always rain when someone’s crying? On the other hand, Donghae immediately took his coat off and gave it to Sooyeon to serve as a cover for her or she might catch a cold.

He led her towards the parking lot as she trails behind him. She was feeling relieved that Donghae was there for her. How could a stranger be so good towards her? In this world where there are tons of people, there are only a handful of those who you can trust. Sooyeon felt lucky that in the middle of those people, she found someone like Donghae for her to be trusted. Knowing he’s a complete stranger, she didn’t know why but she somehow felt safe whenever she’s with him. It’s like nothing wrong will happen as long as she’s with him. But that was then and now, she knows some stuff about him that makes him a stranger no more.

The both of them knew to themselves that they are each other’s someone to lean on at times like this.

Sooyeon probably wasn’t in her right state of mind or maybe she had gone insane already. Maybe it was because she couldn’t think straight anymore that she abruptly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in for a chaste kiss.

He was surprised and dumbfounded, who wouldn’t be? Donghae was totally in awe when she just suddenly pulled him for a kiss. He couldn’t actually believe she could do such thing. He wasn’t quite sure what got into her that made her do that but one thing’s for sure, he liked the feeling of her lips onto his.

In an unknown reason, he found himself kissing her back.

The two of them shared a kiss under the rain.

Minutes after, Sooyeon snapped out of it and found herself getting lost into his kisses. She was asking herself what made her do such thing but instead of pulling away, she did not. The next thing she knew was her arms were wrapped around his neck and savoring the kiss. Sooyeon couldn’t deny that his kiss makes her knees shake like a jelly.

There’s no point of denying the fact that she liked how his lips felt onto hers. It was magical and something that took away all the pain she has inside of her. He placed his hands on her waist and she felt some jolt of electricity inside of her. It’s like his hands were some kind of electricity that sends electric shock to her body.

Donghae was the first one to pull away when his phone suddenly rang. Sooyeon felt a bit embarrassed for doing such thing. She bit her lip and recalled what just happened. How could she kiss him like that? What if he’ll ask her why she did that? Apparently, she has no reason. She doesn’t know what got into her that she just kissed him.

On the other hand, Donghae embarrassedly excused himself to pick up the call. He felt like he’s blushing or something and it might sound gay but he thinks he just blushed. Did Sooyeon just make him blush?

“Hello?”

The voice of Jaekyung being frantic was suddenly heard from the other line. He started to feel nervous about what she’s about to say.

“You need to come here in the hospital! Dad was rushed here!” she told him in a very worried tone. She was out of breath and he could hear his mother’s cry from the other line. Jaekyung told him what hospital they are in.

“I-I’ll be there,” that’s all he could manage to say before hanging up and facing Sooyeon.

She was giving him that questioning look. Sooyeon felt like there’s something wrong going on by slightly hearing a frantic lady’s voice on the other line and seeing Donghae’s worried face, there’s no doubt that there is actually something wrong.

“We need to go to the hospital,” Donghae told her and opened the car door for her. She didn’t bother asking him. What he said was enough for her to know that her intuition was true.

Donghae drove as fast as he could that he almost wished his car could fly just to get to the hospital as soon as possible. The both of them got there twenty minutes later. They saw his mom crying in Dongwoo’s arms while Jooyeon is crying with Jaekyung comforting her. They were outside the emergency room, patiently waiting for the doctor to come out and say something.

Mrs. Lee soon noticed the presence of her on and immediately went to him and gave him a very tight hug. She missed her son so much that she felt sad when he left that night when she invited him for dinner. She was crying in her son’s arms as Donghae hushed her and kissed her mother’s forehead. He hugged her back and continued hushing her telling her everything’s going to be alright even if he isn’t sure what’s happening.

“What happened?” Donghae worriedly asked.

“H-H-He─” his mom couldn’t say a word. Her voice was too shaky and so does her cold hands. Her eyes were swollen and puffy and she looked so tired. It’s easy to tell that she’s way too nervous on what’s to come and the least thing they could do is to calm and comfort their mother.

Dongwoon went to them and held his mother by her shoulders and settle her down. They kept on telling her to calm down and rest for a while but she won’t stop crying.

“Heart attack,” it was Dongwoo who answered Donghae’s questioned. “I know you know that he’s sick even before. He’s been so stressed lately. Considering a problem the company’s facing right now. He’s been problematic and stressed lately,” he explained.

Donghae only nodded and the worry he’s feeling for his father had reached its maximum level. He sat beside Sooyeon and let his elbows rest on his knees. He was looking down while drowning himself with thoughts.

All this time, he hated his father for such reasons. He grew up hating his father and his family for making him feel like an outcast. Donghae was feeling that why does this have to happen. Not when he’s ready to apologize to his Dad. Not when he’s ready to reconcile with him.

Nothing lasts forever. Even us, human, doesn’t and it’s such a waste if he’ll let this pass. He hated his father but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love or care for him. He cares but he chose not to show He knew to himself that he cars but he refused to show them that he does because he rarely feels it from them.

Showing what he feels was really not his father’s cup of tea. He’s the law and the ruthless one. Everyone should be intimidated when it comes to him. But Donghae never liked that side of his father because he grew up seeing that side. He wanted to see his good side and he only sees that when his father’s really proud of Dongwoo. All Donghae wanted from his father was for him to support him in whatever he does ─  but his father didn’t. Then the issue with his brother happened as well. He felt like he never did something right. Everything he does felt so wrong.

Sooyeon noticed him tearing. She asked him if he was okay but he didn’t respond. Sooyeon held his hand and gave it a squeeze telling him that everything’s going to be just fine just like he would always tell her back then.

All of them waited for a couple of minutes before the doctor came out. Everyone automatically stood up from their seats and surrounded the doctor. Mrs. Lee kept on asking the doctor how was her husband. The doctor shows no emotion as he speaks to them. He only told them that their father needs to undergo a procedure to divert the blood flow to the clogged arteries. Dongwoo told the doctor to just do everything that he could just to save the life of their father.

Mrs. Lee recalled that her husband has a history when it comes to heart diseases. She knew about her husband’s condition and she’s always making sure that her dearly beloved is taking his medications regularly as his cardiologist told him.

The doctor added that their father should stop all his bad habits and start living a healthy lifestyle. Also, he reminded them that their father should avoid being stressed and having problems. The doctor told them so many things that they have to know about. He told him what they should do and what their father has to go through before he could recover. He also reminded them that going back to work isn’t a good idea since Mr. Lee has a weak heart. Upon hearing it, Dongwoo took that as a huge problem in their company. What would happen now that their CEO won’t be able to perform his task as the president of the Lee Group of Companies? As the vice president of the company and being in the highest position next to the CEO, he needed to think things through to resolve this problem. He called some board members tp ask for help to somehow give a solution to the problem.

After Mr. Lee has been transferred into the coronary care unit, Dongwoo told Jaekyung to take Jooyeon home and stay at the mansion just for now. On the other hand, Mrs. Lee never left her husband’s side and kept on talking to him. She’s praying for him to wake up soon and for his fast recovery. Meanwhile,  Dongwoo left to go to their company to fix some little things.

Sooyeon took Donghae to the chapel. She knew Donghae needed Him to make him strong and also to make his father strong to get through all of the things he’s going through. He was praying and he couldn’t help himself but to cry. Sooyeon would always tell him that it’s okay to cry because you’re just letting it all out to feel better right after. Sooyeon was silently praying for things to be okay, for his father to be okay and for the both of them to be okay.

She was confused about everything. She felt like finding herself and she knew she wouldn’t find it there in Seoul. She prayed to Him to give her enlightenment and wisdom, to help her in every decision she will make in her life. The both of them stayed there for quite some time. Donghae was just quiet all the time as Sooyeon looked at him apologetically. He looked so tired and helpless. She rubbed his back and kept on whispering that everything’s going to be alright.

An hour has passed, Dongwoo just came back from their company and went back to check on his father. Their mother told him that their father’s doing just fine and that he needs to get ready for the procedure he needs to undergo to. He just finished checking his father and went out of the room and the timing was great to see Donghae with Sooyeon going to his way.

“Hae,” he called his brother.

Donghae seemed so tired and his eyes got a little swollen because of crying. He was crying while praying to God to help his father get through all of what he’s going through. He still needs to apologize and show him he could be the Donghae he wanted him to be. He still wants to make him proud. Somehow, Sooyeon helped him realize how he shouldn’t be wasting a single minute hating his father. If it wasn’t for him, he wouldn’t be here and he wouldn’t have what he has now. She made him realize things and made him think straight. She brought him back to his right state of mind.

“Can we talk?” Dongwoo asked. Sooyeon took it as her cue to leave the two alone. She told Donghae that she’ll be just around and he nodded.

Donghae really seemed tired and he admitted that he’s starting not to feel well.

“Mom told me that the doctor mentioned that it might take some time before Dad could recover and I know you heard his cardiologist earlier that it’s impossible for him to go back to work. I talked to some of the board members earlier and we just can’t let the company run itself, can we?”

Donghae’s brows were furrowed. He’s somehow getting what his brother’s trying to say but he wasn’t really sure about it. Now, Dongwoo’s talking about business and heaven knows how serious he gets when it comes to their business.

“Just tell me what’s your deal,” he plainly replied.

Dongwoo sighed. “I will temporarily replace Dad’s position as the CEO until he wakes up and decide what should happen to the Lee Group. For now, the board agreed that I should train you to be the vice president of the company.”

Donghae’s eyes widened a bit. Was Dongwoo sure about it? How can he entrust him such position when at the first place, he never really wanted to get involved with business? It’s not like he doesn’t know a single thing about it. He knows something about the business field. His father actually agreed to his idea of studying architecture if and only he’ll agree to study business as well right after in which he did just for the sake of studying architecture.

Donghae chuckled in disbelief. “How can you say such thing like it’s an easy thing to do? You’ve got to be kidding me,”

But then, Dongwoo wasn’t. He was pretty serious about it and just like what their father wanted, he will be the CEO and Donghae will replace him as the vice president of the Lee Group. That’s the way Mr. Lee planned and wanted it.

“We have our own architectural firm, Hae. You can handle it yourself. Dad actually established that architectural firm just for you. Just do what Dad wanted for us to do,” Dongwoo seriously told him.

“Why not Jooyeon? She’s better than me. If you want me to handle the architectural firm then maybe I could do that but being the vice president?” Donghae shook his head and smiled apologetically. “It’s not for me, bro. Maybe Jooyeon deserves the position. She’s been working very hard for that position.”

“A-Are you sure about that?” Dongwoo assuringly asked.

He nodded. “Let me handle the architectural firm. Let Jooyeon replace your position. I know she can do the job.” He smiled.

Dongwoo agreed and nodded. He thought that maybe it was a good idea to let Jooyeon have the position she’s aiming for. Plus, Donghae’s the perfect one to handle the architectural firm their company owns. It felt like everything’s fitting.

“Thanks, bro.” Dongwoo thanked and man-hugged his younger brother.

“Sure thing,”

Right at that moment, Donghae knew to himself that the hate he has for them already faded. There’s nothing really to hate about and he felt so stupid for doing so. But that didn’t matter anymore because what’s important is everything’s slowly going fine.