Song inserted in this chap: Miss, Miss and Miss by K Will. (credit to owner)

Hospital…

Min Ho glanced down at his watch and clenched his jaw upon seeing the time. His heart was still burning, knowing that Shin Hye is with Ok Taec Yeon right now. He tried to call her phone but it was turned off again. If not because Hyun Jun was still unconscious, he might have already storm to Ok Taec Yeon’s house and make a scene there. A deep, exaggerated sigh escaped his lips as he buried his face into his palm.

“Eomma… eomma…”

Min Ho and Se Yeon jumped up of the chair the moment they heard Hyun Jun’s voice. They rushed over to him and stopped beside his bed.

“Hyun Jun… eomma is here.” Se Yeon leaned down to her son and held his hand tightly. She smiled happily when Hyun Jun slowly opened his eyes. “Thank god you are awake. How are you feeling?”

“Eomma…” Hyun Jun whispered softly.

“I’m here.” Se Yeon gave his tiny hand a gentle squeeze.

“Where is eomma?” Hyun Jun shifted his gaze around as he tried to move his head. But the pain on his forehead makes him stop and winced in pain.

Se Yeon furrowed her brows. He is not looking for her. The ‘eomma’ he was calling is not her… it’s Shin Hye.

“Don’t move.” Min Ho leaned over, cupped his tiny face and held him in place. “Are you looking for Shin Hye?”

“Yes.” He tried to nod his head. “Where is eomma? Is she okay?” He asked worriedly as his eyes started to pool with tears. “She pushed me away when the car almost hit me. Where is she? Did the car hit her? She… she was bleeding before… before…”

“What did you say? She is bleeding?” Min Ho cut him off and widened his eyes in shock. How come she is bleeding? Was she injured? But how come he didn’t see anything on her just now?

Se Yeon stared at Min Ho, displeased with his worried reaction.

Min Ho tried to calm himself down, looking at his son and asked again. “Hyun Jun, take a breath and slowly tell appa what happened in the school just now.”

“I… I was having PE class and… we were all at the basketball court. Park Jang Woo wanted to play with me but… I’m not in the mood to play. I was very unhappy because… because eomma didn’t come home last night. So… I just ignored him and don’t want to play with him. He then said… eomma is just a stepmother. She won’t love me and just love appa’s money. I was so angry and… I pushed him. He fell down on the ground and cried. Eomma came… she was very angry. She scolded me and said it was my fault. I wanted to explain but she just wouldn’t listen.” Hyun Jun said in between heavy breath as more tears rushed out of his eyes.

“Appa know it’s not your fault. Don’t cry.” Min Ho caressed his cheek softly, soothing him. “What happened then?”

“I was very angry and… and I ran away. I don’t want to stay in the school and wanted to go home. I ran out of the school and eomma was chasing me from behind. I don’t want to see her. So… so I just ran and ran and I didn’t see the car coming. When I saw it, I was stunned and… I was so scared. But then… eomma rushed over and pushed me away. I… I fell on the opposite road and… my head is very pain. But when I opened my eyes, I saw eomma lying on the ground with an ahjussi holding her. I saw her hand bleeding. She was bleeding.” Hyun Jun grabbed his father’s hand and looked at him worriedly. “Appa… where is eomma? Did anything happen to her?”

When Min Ho parted his lips, wanted to tell him that she is okay, he held his tongue. Is she really okay? If Hyun Jun didn’t tell him about all this, he doesn’t even know that she was injured. His emotion was totally covered by his jealousy just now. A pang of guilt washed over him like a huge wave. No wonder she looked so pale and he remembered hearing her heavy gasp when he held her arm. She must be in pain.

“Hyun Jun-ah, don’t worry. Shin Hye eomma is okay.” Se Yeon cut in and held his hand again. “She was waiting for you outside the ER just now and after she heard that you are okay, her friend sent her home. She… she just had a minor injury on her hand. She is okay. She will come to see you later.” She lied as she stole a sideway glance at Min Ho. She doesn’t want Hyun Jun to be overly anxious and the doctor wants him to rest. And most importantly, she doesn’t like the way both of them are so worried about Shin Hye. After so much hard work of trying to pull them apart, she doesn’t want to fail just because of an unpredictable accident.

“Really? Eomma is really okay?” Hyun Jun asked in disbelief.

“Yes.” Se Yeon nodded, forcing a smile.

Hyun Jun felt relieved and his body began to relax. Although he couldn’t understand why everyone thinks that a stepmother must be an evil one but after the accident today, he finally understand that he was wrong to believe them. If Shin Hye doesn’t love him, she wouldn’t save him using her own life. Even though the accident happened so fast but at that very brief moment, he saw the fear in Shin Hye’s eyes. She loves him, he is very sure. And when he saw her lying on the ground, bleeding, he knows no matter she will still love him or not after she have her own child, he still want her to be his mother.

“The doctor said you have to rest and can’t move too much.” Se Yeon pulled the blanket and covered his exposed shoulders. “Hyun Jun listen to eomma, okay? Don’t think too much and sleep.”

Hyun Jun nodded with his eyes closing and slowly fell back asleep. Just then, Min Ho’s phone rang, breaking the silence again. He took his phone out and it was a number that he doesn’t recognize.

“Yoboseyo.”

“I’m Ok Taec Yeon.”

Min Ho’s eyes instantly darkened. When he noticed Se Yeon stole a glance at him, he walked to the corner of the room so he could talk privately without her hearing anything.

“Where is Shin Hye?” He asked in his dangerous deep voice.

“Are you still in the hospital? I’m at the lobby. I need to see you.”

-------------------------------------------------------------

DCM Corporation’s office… 

The clock had already strike 9pm by the time Shin Hye stepped into the huge and luxurious president’s office that belongs to her husband. All the staffs have already left at this hour and the whole office was dark and quiet. Since Hyun Jun is still in the hospital, she think Min Ho will not come back and this will be the safest place for her to hide. She need some time to be alone, to think and decide what to do next.

She turned all the lights on as she slowly walked to the door that connected to his private room. Just the same like the first time she came here, she just stood there, her eyes wandered around the room. How long has it been since the day she first came here? A year? Or maybe longer? But no matter how long has passed, for her it still feel like yesterday. Being with him… time will never be enough.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly strolled into the room and stopped in front of the huge portrait that was hanging on the wall. Her fingers unconsciously flew to touch the surface of the portrait, trailing along the handsome features on his face. And without realizing it, her lips slowly curved up in a soft smile as tears rolled down her face at the same time.

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

Because my heart feels like it’s broken

I spent another day slouching my shoulders

Because the tears feel like they just pour out

I pretended to smile

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

~~~~~

Min Ho: “You seem very interested with my picture. I did knock the door. But I guess you were too fascinated with my picture and didn’t hear it.”

Shin Hye: “W-Why do you want to see me?”

Min Ho: “I told you that we would meet again very soon.”

Shin Hye: “Y-You… you are C-Choi Min Ho?”

Min Ho: “Unbelievable. You even know my real name before I was adopted. You must have spent a lot of money to find such a good private detective to do a background check on me.”

Shin Hye: “I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

Min Ho: “Let’s not waste time and pretend anymore. Tell me what else do you know. Apart from my real name, besides knowing I have a son, what else do you know about me?”

~~~~~

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

Yeah, I am a fool

A fool who sees only one person, you

I can’t even hold onto you who left

But still, I can’t even forget you

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

~~~~~

Min Ho: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You will regret if you walked out of this room now.”

Shin Hye: “What do you want from me?”

Min Ho: “I want to marry you.”

Shi n Hye: “Thank you for your proposal and looking so highly on me. But too bad, I’m not interested.”

Min Ho: “Your father’s company is facing a very serious problem at the moment. He is going to declare bankruptcy soon if nobody is willing to invest in his company. And the only person who can help them now… is me.”

Shin Hye: “W-What do you want?”

Min Ho: “I’ll give it to you and also the five billion won that could save your father’s company. I need a wife and you need my money. This is a win-win situation. You don’t lose anything.”

Shin Hye: “C-Can you let me consider about it?”

Min Ho: “You have three days to consider about it. But I have confidence that I’ll see you again. Don’t think everything in a complicated way. We are just using each other to get what we want. This is just a business deal. You are not my real wife. You are just… a contract wife.”

~~~~~
 

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

I love you, I love you

There is just one person for me

I miss, miss, and miss you

I miss, miss, and miss you

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

Shin Hye came out from the private room and walked towards Min Ho’s table in his office. She took a seat on his chair and the family photo on his table caught her attention. The photo was taken during their trip to Megève two months ago, when they were snowboarding. The smiles on their faces make her tears flowed down endlessly. It was just two months ago. They were so happy and thought the happiness would last forever. But everything changed in a blink of an eye. Their smiles has vanished and replaced by tears, by angers, by sadness.

She moved her eyes to the empty chair in front of her and the memory of her sitting there, discussing about the marriage contract slowly floated in her mind. At that time, her heart was aching like now too. She had to make the hardest decision in her life, whether to let her father to lose his company or sacrifice her marriage, her happiness to help him. But her decision was obvious. She loves her family, she loves Hyun Jun and… she loves the man that offered the contract to her. And because of all these people that she loves, she decided to let herself to walk into his life and vowed to love him, to take care of him and give him a home.

But everything was a mistake since the beginning. Their relationship started with an coincidence encounter. They were both young, naïve and don’t understand what is the meaning of love. And when they met again, they let another mistake to happen again. He needs a mother for his son and she needs his money to save his father’s company. Their love started with a contract, started with a mistake.

~~~~~

Min Ho: “You came earlier than I expected. I thought I gave you three days to consider.”

Shin Hye: “Since the fact is unchangeable, I don’t see the need to wait three days, wasting your time and risking my father’s company.”

Min Ho: “Once you sign the contract, I’ll transfer one billion won to your bank account as a deposit. The remaining four billion won will be given to you after the wedding.”

Shin Hye: “When is the wedding?” 

Min Ho: “I’m free next Sunday.”

Shin Hye: “The wedding is just a procedure. This procedure allows Park Shin Hye to legally become Lee Hyun Jun’s mother and Park Shin Hye have to fulfil her responsibility as a mother. As for the role of a wife, she doesn’t have the right and authority to control and interfere Lee Min Ho’s private life. Be a responsible mother? Which mean Lee Hyun Jun will be my responsible now? I can use my way to teach him, educate him and you will not interfere?”

Min Ho: “As long as everything you do is for his benefits, I will not interfere.”

Shin Hye: “Do not control your private life. What does that mean? What is your private life covered? Your lifestyle? Your work? Your habit? Your friends? Or… your girlfriends?”

Min Ho: “Everything. You can’t interfere anything about me.”

Shin Hye: “Relatively speaking, my lifestyle, my work, my friends and my everything will also remain unchanged.”

Min Ho: “You can’t. Your lifestyle, your work, your habit, your friends and… your boyfriend, it’s all under my control. You may want to look at the two remaining clauses.”

Shin Hye: “Why me? There are so many women out there. With your outlook and background, you can get a perfect woman that so much better than me. I don’t understand. Why me?”

Min Ho: “Because Hyun Jun doesn’t like those perfect women and only likes you.”

~~~~~

Tears continued to flow down her cheeks, dripping down onto her hand and the ring on her finger. Her gaze slowly dropped down and looked at the three beautiful diamonds on the ring.

~~~~~

“This is a three round brilliant diamonds that painstakingly matched for colour, quality and proportion with three-stone combination. The designer called this ring as a timeless talisman. The three-stone represents today, tomorrow and forever. It’s a blessing for the couple.”

~~~~~

Her face was stained with tears; her eyes were red and swollen as her teeth deeply sunk into her trembling bottom lip.

Today, tomorrow and forever.

If this ring is really a timeless talisman to them, then why did their relationship have to go through so much of heartaches? She tried so hard to make him fall in love with her, she tried so hard to become a good mother, a perfect stepmother, she tried so hard to build a complete home for them… but what did she get in the end? She got nothing. She couldn’t bear a child for the man she love; Hyun Jun hates her, Min Ho blames her. Is it still possible to have ‘tomorrow’ with them?

No.

She doesn’t want to fight anymore. She doesn’t have any strength left to fight anymore. If being with him have to be so hard and painful, she rather let it go. She is very tired… very, very tired.

With her arms crossed, she leaned on the table, sobbing hysterically in her arms.

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

Counting your memories more than sleeping

Will I possibly see you in my dreams

I can’t even throw a single thing of yours away

Because it feels like everything is only you

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

Min Ho ran as fast as he can and punched the passcode to enter his office. The moment he stepped inside, he paused, his breath froze in his throat when he saw Shin Hye sitting at his place, leaning across the table and fell asleep.

Taking a deep inhale to resume his breathing, he walked very softly towards the table and stopped beside her. His eyes immediately shifted to her left arm that her head was resting on it now. He slowly crouched down in front of her, staring at her beautiful face that was stained by tears. He didn’t make a single noise, didn’t move and doesn’t have any intention to wake her up. Si Wan was right. She looked tired. The dark circles were surrounding her swollen eyes and the tearstains were still fresh on her face. With his hand lifted up to her face, he gently brushed some strands of hair away from her forehead while his eyes looking at her attentively.

What has he done to her? Since the first day they met until now, she has been bullied and taken advantage by him. What did she gain from all this? The five billion won that she used to save her father? Or… the emotional abuse and suffering throughout the marriage?

No.

She didn’t gain anything in this relationship. She was always the one who gave in and compromised. She always played the role of a giver. And because of that, he… or even his son take that as their advantage and keep bullying her.

Ok Taec Yeon was right. He is indeed a very selfish man.

~~~~~

“Where is Shin Hye?” Min Ho asked, darting his dagger gaze at the man who brought his wife away just now.

Taec Yeon chuckled sarcastically. “I’m glad you still remember your wife.”

Min Ho clenched his jaw and fisted his hands tightly at the same time. “Don’t try to test my patience. Where is she?”

With the smirk still wearing on his face, Taec Yeon continued to agitate him. “You look worried. The gaze in your eyes is very different from the one at the ER just now. Although you still look angry but your jealousy was gone, your anger was gone. And now… I can see worries and anxiousness.” He paused and narrowed his gaze. “Wae? Are you starting to fear that you might have done something wrong and hurt your wife?”

“Ok Taec Yeon!” Min Ho in a sharp breath before he roared his name through gritted teeth. “We are in the hospital now and I really don’t want to make the headline tomorrow for punching you in a public place. So please help me and tell me where is my wife before I lose my control.” He tightened his fists, getting ready to throw a punch to his face if he dares to challenge him further.

“I’m not here to fight with you.” The smirk on Taec Yeon’s face faded as his expression turned serious. “I don’t care how much you hate me or how much you wanted to kill me… because to be frank, I don’t like you either. But no matter what, the one I do care is Shin Hye and I don’t want to see her cry.”

“What are you trying to say?” Min Ho breathed deeply, annoyed by Taec Yeon’s concern for his wife.

Taec Yeon crossed his arms and stared directly into his eyes. “I thought you might want to know why both of us were together today. Although I think it was unnecessary to explain to you but because of your foolishness, I guess you need an explanation.” When Min Ho didn’t say anything, he continued. “We met in her school today because I was there for a fundraising campaign with my fiancée.” He purposely emphasized the word ‘fiancée’.

Min Ho raised his brows when he heard the word ‘fiancée’.

“It was a coincidence that I was there to witness the fight and how your stubborn son ran away and almost hit by the car. And at the most dangerous moment, the stupid woman that you blamed for not taking care of your son, didn’t care about her own safety and rushed over to save him. If I’m not there, if I’m not quick enough to pull her away, the one who is in the hospital now would not only be your son.”

Min Ho grimaced as he felt a huge wave of guilt passed through him. His gaze slowly softened as his fists loosened at the same time.

“Her arm were injured and she was bleeding. But I don’t know what got into her and what makes her become so brave. She doesn’t feel any pain at all and was just worried about your son. She was crying all the way to the hospital and neglected her own injury until the nurse have to force her to clean her wound and applied some medicine for her. Her whole body was trembling… not because she was cold but because she was scared.” Taec Yeon paused and inhaled a deep intake of breath.

“The moment when she saw you arrived at the hospital just now, I finally saw a smile on her face. That was a smile of relief; a smile that says someone that she trusted and could rely on has finally arrived.” His gaze slowly turned into a glare as he took a step closer. It really needs a lot of strength to control himself not to hit this idiot in the face.

“But before she could get some comfort from you, what she got was you pointing your finger at her.” Taec Yeon let out a sarcastic chuckle, a chuckle that meant to humiliate Min Ho for being a jerk, for being so foolish. “Do you know how much she care for your son? Do you know how much it breaks her heart when the doctor asked who is his mother and it was another woman who answered instead of her?”

Min Ho looked away, embarrassed by each and every word he said. How can he not know it would break her heart during that awkward situation at the ER just now? But because of jealousy, because he was angry to see Taec Yeon being there with her, he ignored her feeling and chose not to bother. 

“Although you hate to admit but let me be honest to you.” Taec Yeon stepped forward and stopped right in front of him. “We are both the same kind of man. We are possessive; we are egoistic and extremely selfish. We just know how to protect our own feelings and never try to understand the people around us. We hurt them and still think that we have the right to do so.” He paused again and heaved a deep sigh.

“But I’m changing. Because I don’t want to repeat the same mistake and lose another great woman in my life, I’m trying to change, to be a better person for the one I love.” He reached out for Min Ho’s collar and held it tightly in his hand. He has always wanted to do this, wanted to punch him for using Shin Hye’s weaknesses to fulfil his ego. “But did you try to change? Did you try to understand the problem that both of you are facing? Do you still think… you deserve to have this woman’s love?”

Glaring angrily into Min Ho’s eyes for a long moment, his grip slowly loosened and pushed him away. “I have no intention to come in between both of you anymore. After the closure I had with her one year ago, I learned to let go and move on. But even if I don’t love her like the way I used to, I still care for her. I want her to find her true happiness and very unfortunately, the only one that could make her happy is a jerk like you. And because of this reason, I force myself to be here, to give you a reminder.”

Min Ho looked at him and he doesn’t understand why his heart raced so fast in a sudden, feeling extremely worried with what he is going to say next.

“She has reached her limit. I can see it in her eyes.” Taec Yeon said, looking at him with a gaze filled with warning. “If you don’t want to follow my path and lose her... you better do something before everything becomes too late. Time will not wait for you. And same goes to Shin Hye. I’m sure you know how stubborn she is. Once she make a decision, nobody could stop her.”

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

My heart is a fool

A fool who only lives for only one person, you

Even if it’s so painful that I feel like I’m dying, it’s good

Even if I die under these circumstances, it’s good

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

“I’m sorry…” Min Ho whispered as he leaned closer to her. “I’m sorry…”

Shin Hye slowly came awake when a soft voice echoed into her ear and wormed it way into her consciousness. Her head hurts and throbbing when she opened her eyes and when her vision began to restore, she was shocked to gaze into a familiar pair of eyes that were looking intently at her.

She gently pulled herself up only to wince in pain when she felt her numbed arm hurting due to the injury earlier.

“Be careful.” Min Ho helped her to lean against the chair and held her arm, checking attentively on it.

“How do you know I’m here?” Shin Hye asked, her voice hoarse. 

Gently rolling her sleeves up to check her wound, Min Ho inhaled a painful breath the moment he saw the fresh scratches on her flawless skin. He stared at the wound for a long moment as his heart felt like bleeding. “This must be very painful.”

Shin Hye didn’t give him any response and just looked at him.

Min Ho studied her face as his hand reached out to caress her cheek. “You look very tired. Your face is very pale. Have you eaten yet?”

“You haven’t answer my question yet. How do you know I’m here?” Instead of replying to his question, Shin Hye asked him back.

“Ok Taec Yeon came to the hospital to look for me.” Min Ho honestly told her.

Shin Hye let out a faint smile, wasn’t surprise with the answer. Taec Yeon was so worried when she begged him to send her to Min Ho’s office just now. It was expected he would tell Min Ho about it.

“I’m not hungry.” She breathed as she looked at him. “How’s Hyun Jun?”

“He is okay. He was awake and… he was looking