Nine

16 November

Who does he think he is? How dare he is to insult me like that. If he really wants to see who’s stronger and who’s not, well let’s do it. I’ll make sure myself to be the last one laughing at him.

***

      I was known as someone who couldn’t take decision quickly, I need time to really think through things before I can manage to point out my decision. But usually once I take a decision then I make sure to live it up. This principle was what I implemented with the problem between me and Woobin. After crying for hours which resulted in a very puffy eyes, I started to think and decided to have my revenge on him, and I will not stop till we got even so that he could taste his own fad.

Here came my turn to accompany Dad to the hospital. For the first time after two months, I was going to face him directly. When I heard Dad’s name being pronounced by the nurse, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to enter the battlefield. I saw Woobin smiled at my parents, his smile became wider when he realized that I was there. I showed the sweetest smile I ever mustered and nodded at him. This time I chose to sit right beside Mom who coincidentally was sitting right in front of Woobin who didn’t show any guilty form at all for being caught sleeping with other woman when he flirted heavily with me. Mmmhhh… I admitted that he was a pro, but I refused to concede defeat before the real battle start.

Unexpectedly the meeting started with Woobin shoving a business card toward Mom.

“Aunty, as promised, this is the business card of my family’s trusted lawyer.”

At first, I could only stared at Woobin in confuse before I tear my stare away to Mom who was now observing the business card. I, who was really blank about this country’s laws didn’t really catch the value of the law firm stated on the business card, but I promised to check it all when I get back. Satisfied with my decision, now a couple of questions started to hurry its way into my mind. Why would my parents need a lawyer? And even if they really wanted to have a lawyer, why didn’t they ask me or my brothers, as their children to check on these stuffs? Why bother Kim Woobin?

But before I could express my protest, Woobin continued, “Park Sooman, my uncle is one of the lawyer there and if you’re going to make an appointment with him, just say my name, so that he knows that Uncle and Aunty is the one that I mean. I told him a bit about the condition that Uncle and Aunty has with Hong Kong stock exchange, Uncle Sooman said he will do his best to help.”

Right at that time I understood that Mom has been asking Woobin for his opinion regarding the stock exchange matters. This stuff made me wonder whether my brothers knew about this problem or not?

“Oh. Thank you very much, Doc,” said Mom with a smile.

Woobin nodded with a smile toward Mom who seemed to be more into worshiping Woobin than ever. While me, I didn’t even know whether to thank Woobin for his help or to be annoyed for he meddled into our family’s private matter. I felt like strangling Mom. Why would she share that sensitive matter with a stranger like Woobin? I realized that I was trying hard to find the main source of my annoyance. Mom who revealed the matter or Woobin who tried to help?

Before I could decide on it, the discussion shifted into Dad’s health. The meeting ended with Woobin telling us that Dad’s condition has gotten far better than before and that Dad just need to visit the hospital around January next year. Woobin left a note for Mom to monitor Dad’s blood pressure so that it won’t go too high.

“Our heart, just like any other organs, once attacked, then it will be more vulnerable to be attacked again. Unknowingly sometimes they even invite the attack,” explained Woobin with his eyes glancing at me.

Maybe I was being paranoid, but did Woobin really talk about Dad’s heart disease?

“So we should really be careful right, Doc?” Mom asked with a very worried face.

“Yes. For this time, it really seems like Uncle’s heart is better than before, but still we never know when it will suddenly choose to give up. The main point is, put an extra care with food intake so that the blood pressure won’t go up. Indeed it is very hard, because we want what we want,” Woobin continued.

This time he really stared at me when he said that.

“Yes, Doc. This uncle really likes to eat fried food,” Mom reported enthusiastically which earned her a glare from Dad.

Woobin laughed and said, “That’s human nature. The more we aren’t allowed to, the more we desire it.” Okay, now I was one hundred percent sure that Woobin was talking about our relationship, and not about Dad’s health.

“How about this? If Uncle really likes to eat fried food and couldn’t stop right away, how about we start from decreasing the intake? For example, maybe only just one small cut once a week every Sunday?”

I refused to avert my eyes away from Woobin even though my face was already red like a tomato and my heart has been thumping like crazy. The annoyance that I felt due to Woobin meddling in with my family’s private matter –Hong Kong stock exchange- was long gone. Since when that the conversation about fried food could make me react like this? I tried to seep away my breath without scoffing. It seemed like Woobin really intended to sabotage all my effort to hate him. Okay, I should change my tactic and adjust it a little bit. I have to win. WIN… WIN…

I felt proud of myself to go through that meeting without embarrassing myself with the trigger that I have inside me. I thought about all those mischief that Woobin done to me and when I ran out of all the things he had done to me, I riled up my mind with the image of Woobin sleeping with the woman whose voice I’ve heard through our last phone call. Those two things successfully got me on fire and not to let my guard down.

***

In less than six hours, I was able to dig out the part about the help from Woobin which was known by Insung oppa but not by Jisub oppa. Just like me, Jisub oppa went ballistic over the issue with the lawyer. In the end, Dad has to silence everyone by stating out the next step which was to contact Woobin’s lawyer and make an appointment with him and see whether he could help us or not. The responsibility fell on the hand of Insung oppa since he was the one who recommended Mom to ask for Woobin’s advice, and after a series of threat being leveled by me and Jisub oppa, including the threat to alienate Insung oppa from our sibling relation, Insung oppa finally said yes.

After that matter was solved, I flee to focus my mind on the next, which was to make Woobin kneeled before me. As my plan to adjust my revenge with Woobin, flirting through text messages kept on continuing. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lose.

            Round 1 – One point for Woobin

Woobin: Why were you wearing scarf when you accompanied your father yesterday? Were you sick?

Minah: Nope. I just didn’t want to shock you with the hickey on my neck.

Woobin: Want me to add some more on your thighs?

Minah: Grow up.

Woobin: Ooohhh… I think you clearly knew when you sat on my lap that I’ve grown up.

Minah