~~~~~

How in the world Joohwan knew it was her mother in the house, she needed to know. Had Kyung given her away? Because other than him she couldn’t think of anyone else that could be held accountable.

Shaken, she clumsily dug out her phone the second she got into the cab and dialed for him, urgently demanding for him to wait at the smoothie bar they sometimes frequented. Kyung was there as requested with his backpack in the seat beside him and two smoothies on the table – that which she had absolutely no appetite for. Unlike other times he had glasses on which meant he’d come running directly after class without sparing himself time to slow down and relax. Namjoo felt apologetic but her case was more urgent. She needed to know how Joohwan knew about their mother.

“You called,” he stated surprised but glad. “Here, have this.” Pushing the smoothie cup toward her he said, “I just got out of class when I got your message. You sound out of breath.”

“Was it you?” she blurted.

Confusion imminently shone over his face. “Did I do something?”

“No,” Namjoo clamped her eyes shut wondering what she was even saying and shook her head. She still couldn’t get over the panic rising through her from when Joohwan yelled at her and threatened her. “You…when you came to the wedding…you didn’t, by any chance, take a picture or anything?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Then you, did you say something about the wedding to Joohwan?”

“I didn’t. I promised you I wouldn’t.” Kyung said then asked baffled, “What’s going on, Namjoo?”

She was so dumb! Kyung would never give her away. Not like this, not in such a pathetic way. All along, despite being aware of her motive for going after Jongin he hadn’t said a thing. It was a relief to realize it but dread continued to settle at the pit of her stomach. Something still wasn’t right and it wouldn’t end up pretty. Today wasn’t her day of sunshine and rainbows.

“Namjoo, do you know what I realized?” there was a note of severity in his tone. Tapping his hand against the table he said with a depth of seriousness, “You’re related. You and Jongin.”

Crushed, Namjoo found her eyes meeting his. Denying everything she shook her head, “No. Our mom…Jongin’s not her real child.”

“She is on paper,” Kyung’s eyes burned into hers. Very much like her younger brother he didn’t hold back his disapproval with the situation. “You said she’s Jongin’s mother? Then she’s married to his father. Still is. She has every right to be his mother and she still has ties with you. I’ll be honest that I am dumbfounded and shocked, but whatever happened between you and your mother you’re not cut off from the family tree. You’ve never been legally disowned, so by law and court you are her family. This is wrong Namjoo. You can’t be married to Jongin right now.”

She was on a dangerous rocking boat, tilting from both ends, threatening to drop her off into the raging sea. No matter what the scenario was everyone would be vying for her to leave Jongin. Namjoo couldn’t predict how worse the day would become, so unable to sit there and listen to Kyung tell her her rights and wrongs she shot up from her seat.

“I…I have to get home,” she pushed an imaginary strand of hair behind her ear. “Lets talk next time, hmm?”

As she rushed toward the door she could hear Kyung shouting after her.

The moment she stepped out of the shop all she could think about was that she needed a breather. Hurrying down the street Namjoo continued in deep breaths while listening to the rest of the chaotic world make noise around her. Pausing at the red light with a crowd she felt everything in her mind jumble up messily. A hoard of thoughts seemed to have dropped on her without warning, weighing on her sense of moral judgment. So many voices were screaming at each other in her head and she wished…she wished Jongin was there to tell her everything was ok.

The lights switched to green but Namjoo didn’t move forth. Blanked out she stood there as people brushed passed, bumping into her along the way. Never like before, almost as bad as the week she’d went without Jongin she longed for him to a level she didn’t really understand. Abruptly fumbling through her pocket she discovered her phone and pressed the speed dial for him. For a span of time she listened to the phone ring continuously, the same beep haunting her ears until she was sent to voicemail.

Jongin was busy. It was only his second day at work but he was busy, too occupied with his tasks for her. After being accompanied so often by him Namjoo had forgotten how to deal with aloneness by herself. She was becoming a whiny and clingy thing but she couldn’t help it. Jongin had made her this way by making her believe he would be there for her.

Pressing a hand to her forehead Namjoo fought to calm herself then turned to get a cab. She needed to do something. Joohwan was angry with her and before he could come back to make a scene, she needed to deal with the person who’d turned the situation this way. And before Kyung and Joohwan joined hands to take action, Namjoo couldn’t simply sit back.

If it wasn’t Kyung, if it wasn’t the papers that had announced the wedding – because she was damn sure no media had been invited that day, there was only one other person plausible.   

The ride home was short but along the way Namjoo had nervously chewed her thumbnail out. She rushed up the steps to the home after paying the driver and flew through the door like there was no tomorrow. Stomping through the rooms with urgent feet she quickly began searching for her mother who was not in the kitchen.

Jongin’s large home was deathly silent. Jaegeun, she figured, must be taking his nap. After a long minute she discovered that woman putting the vacuum away in the storage closet down the hall. Without hesitating and ignoring the disgust that crawled up her arm as she hauled the woman into some room whose surrounding was composed of only a table and some books, she closed the door and her.

“Are you crazy?! How dare you?!” Namjoo raised her voice at the top of her lungs. The woman stared back at her bewildered.

“Namjoo,” there it was again. Her soft, gentle voice that held all the world’s patience. Namjoo hated it.

“Don’t say my name,” she hissed. “And don’t you say Joohwan’s either.”

Namjoo caught the glint that shone in her mother’s eyes at the mention of her younger brother. Then like him earlier she laughed menacingly because she was too stunned and exasperated.

“Did you really think that approaching my younger brother you’d be easily forgiven?” Namjoo’s eyes went wide with austerity. “Think again, because we both have forgotten you. What did you expect when you went to go find him? That my brother would have his arms open wide for you?”

“Of course not, but listen to me. Please listen to me.” she pleaded.

“Why should I?” Namjoo glared. “Why should I lend an ear to the woman who never looked back? We, too, like you have moved on and never looked back. I’m warning you, don’t you ever go near him again. If you dare try to put a finger on our lives, I’ll make sure that we’re the ones who leave you next so you can have a taste of how it is to be abandoned.”

Shooting her a last stern glance Namjoo turned around to leave, slamming the door after her.

~~~~~

Jongin didn’t make it back for dinner that night. Right after dinner she accompanied Jaegeun by playing with him for a while. When her mother came to give him a bath she resorted to the bedroom where she remained. Joohwan called before her shower. He sounded distant and cold, angry still.

“How long are you planning to stay there?” he wanted to know.

“I’m married, Hwan. What do you want me to say?”

“That guy, are you sure you love him? Kyung says you barely know each other.” His point was to make her lose.

Damn Kyung, but he’d only spoken the truth which wasn’t a lie at all.

“Does time equate how much feelings people have for each other?” Namjoo refuted.

“Why are you acting this way?” her brother demanded. “You, who have known nothing but work, suddenly want to settle down and get married? I’m sorry, Namjoo, but I don’t believe it at all. You meet this guy out of the blue, you get married out of the blue, and most shocking…you’re there with the woman you swear you will never forgive. How are you doing this? No matter how many times I think it through, this isn’t like the sister I know at all.”

Namjoo silenced. Joohwan would catch on. If he discovered her motive for marrying Jongin he wouldn’t sit back and keep his lips shut like Kyung. He would go straight to Jongin and tell him everything. Namjoo could picture it inside the very depth of her mind and it frightened her.

“Why are you so worried?” Namjoo tried to keep her nerves at bay. “Do you think that I can stand the sight of that woman too? Do you really see me living here happily, knowing I have to share a roof with someone we both resent? Do you really see me like that?”

“Don’t you turn this on me,” Joohwan warned. “I’m your brother Namjoo. The very least you can do is try to take my words into consideration. I’m looking out for you because I understand the kind of person you are. I care and I don’t want you hurt.”

“I’m tired. I’m going to hang up.” Namjoo cut their conversation up and put her phone down before going in for a long, hot shower.

This was turning out into a much more complex situation than she had imagined. The road ahead was foggier than it was clear and it suddenly held so many uncertainties.

Desperate to call it a day she crept into bed without waiting for Jongin and drifted off only to be woken hours later when she felt Jongin crawl into bed beside her. Without hugging or cuddling she listened to his breathing soften as he succumbed to sleep while she lay there wide awake.

Namjoo about turned to snuggle against him, yearning for his gentle warmth but never moved as Kyung’s words haunted her mind.

“You said she’s Jongin’s mother? Then she’s married to his father. Still is. She has every right to be his mother and she still has ties with you. I’ll be honest that I am dumbfounded and shocked, but whatever happened between you and your mother you’re not cut off from the family tree. You’ve never been legally disowned, so by law and court you are her family. This is wrong Namjoo. You can’t be married to Jongin right now.”

If Jongin’s father was alive to witness this, to discover this she wouldn’t even be here but back at the hostel trying to seek a better life. Most important of all, how did she feel?

~~~~~

“You’re not going in for work this morning?” Jongin asked the next morning upon seeing Namjoo without her work uniform.

“No,” she lied then reached for the envelope she’d received yesterday. “Oh, Yeji dropped this off yesterday.”

She watched him pull out the invitation as well as a confirmation of the hotel ticket then looked at her. “Want to go?”

“You’re the star of the party, you should go.”

“All right then,” Jongin smiled and stuck the invitation back into the envelope then handed it back to her. “You hold onto it. I don’t want to lose it.”

“If you say so.” There was a slight pause before she caught him looking at her. “What?”

“You were asleep when I got back yesterday.”

“Oh…yea.” Namjoo felt her eyes drift to the side.

“You don’t seem happy. How did the tea party go?”

She hadn’t expected him to ask so she hadn’t prepared what to say. She didn’t want him to know that they had spent the entire time gawking and criticizing her to their negative hearts’ content. It was embarrassing and she didn’t want to appear like a shameful lowlife to him. Not this way at least.

“It was so-so,” she lied.

“Was it?” he asked without doubt and she wondered if he really did trust her without a second thought.

“How was work?” she hoped to switch the subject.

“Boring. A lot of meetings. I don’t really like the board members.”

“Yea? Why’s that?” she tried to sound interested even though she wasn’t.

“They’re just pushy old men.” Jongin smiled and reached out to cup the side of her face. “I feel better that we talked. Sorry I couldn’t get your call yesterday.”

“Oh…that? It’s all right,” Namjoo smiled.

“I have to get going,” he sounded rushed then leaned in for a kiss. “I’ll try to come back early.”

Namjoo nodded and felt him walk by before closing the door. As soon as she confirmed that he’d really left she quickly dressed and made her way out. Today she would accomplish a good amount of tasks then she’d shop till she dropped. She at least deserved that for all the hectic things that happened yesterday.

First she stopped by the ATM to withdraw money and then she finally paid a visit to the person she’d long been trying to avoid. The loanshark.

His studio was a small room that consisted of leather furniture and a desk to make it look as much like an office as possible. Namjoo thought it resembled a gangster’s quarter more than the office it was supposed to be, but of course she didn’t share her thoughts.

The baldy and his gangster wannabe sidekicks were there at the couch hatching a formula over how to next attack their next victim who hadn’t stayed up to date with his payments. They all turned when the door closed and she stepped toward them anxiously. Today the baldy was dressed in a lame dark red dress shirt and biker’s jacket that smelled fresh of cigarettes. Namjoo had to resist the urge to cover . Offending the baldy was the very last thing she wanted.

The baldy immediately grinned and excused his men who left at once before waving her over. “I was due for a visit. I was about to make you a first priority today, but when I remember your sad, sad story I pushed it to tomorrow. Sit, sit. What can I do for you today?”

With bag on her lap Namjoo pulled out the cash she’d withdrawn and settled them onto the tiny wooden table separating them. “That should be two thousand.”

The baldy’s eyes immediately widened and he looked up at her then back to the money. Shamelessly leaning forward he pulled the money toward him and sniffed the fresh waddles of cash.

“Brilliant!” he commented. “How ever did you get this, darling?”

Namjoo glanced at him and uneasily smiled a silent reply. “Then…I should go now.”

“Yes, do go ahead.” the baldy nodded. Namjoo shot him another quick glance then nodding she stood and quickly left. As soon as the door clicked shut behind her the baldy called one of his minions over. “Tail her.”

~~~~~

Kyung had had a long day at the law department and was resolute on replenishing himself by taking a long two hour nap. Completely exhausted from the analysis he’d just turned into the professor he yawned as he pulled up into the driveway, missing sight of the Audi parked across the street. As soon as he pulled his backpack out from the back seat he heard a car door close and turned to see a woman dressed in a feverishly blue dress hike up to him in her heels. She barely towered over him by two inches.

Befuddled by her sudden presence he observed her quietly then asked, “Can I help you with something?”

“Mr. Han Kyungmo?”

“Yes…that’s me.”

The woman’s smile reminded him of a snake up to no good. “Yes, you can definitely help me with something. Lets find a place to sit down and talk, shall we?”  

***Everything's slowly crashing in on Namjoo from all sides and the one thing she's never thought about, the fact that she and Jongin both share a mother. Lets be honest, we can't ignore this perspective of their relationship, but it is sad and a disappointment that both Hunmi and Namjoo know this except for Jongin who's kept in the dark. The truth will slowly nag Namjoo at the back of her head but how will Jongin react when he finds out?