The only reason
Aiming for the moon-Flashback-
Moonbyul stared at the woman sitting in front of her and opened slightly, though not a single word was being exchanged between the two of them.
Moonbyul doesn’t have any idea how long has she’s been staring at her, because to be honest, no one is keeping track of the time ticking anyways.
What happened a while ago was a lot for the younger girl to take in and the other one knows, based on Moonbyul’s reaction; it takes no brainer to figure out what the girl is actually thinking.
Out of nowhere, dropping the bomb in the middle of her life with not a tad knowledge of her past, and what? It has been 18 longs years and none of these ever came before? How is that even possible?
“What… what are you talking about?” The girl responded at last and upon seeing the first sign of the girl being alive even after the statement she made a few minutes ago, the older woman unknowingly let out a tiny sigh in relief.
Well at least she’s not shouting and screaming at her face, and that’s always a good thing.
“My son is your father.” Madame said simply in return; comforting the girl at this moment won’t make the situation any lighter so the older woman opted to remain honest and straight-to-the-point instead.
‘It’ll make things easier for the both of us.’ Madame thought.
“I have no father, nor do I have a mother.”
“I know.”
“I was an orphan.”
“I know.”
“I was left outside the orphanage centre when I was still a baby.”
The older woman, taken aback by the unflinching tone of the girl, hesitated for a split second before quietly adding, “I know.”
Moonbyul frowned but her eyes refused to waver away from the face in front of her. Her hands, though tightly gripped against each other on her lap, her feet however remained rooted to the surface of the wooden floor.
She wasn’t nervous, she was feeling a thousand things; shock, angry, confused, sad, disbelief… but she wasn’t nervous, not anymore.
For all its worth, Moonbyul should be feeling a bit betrayed and hurt. All those time living under the roof of the orphanage home, feeling like an unwanted child every single day, being adopted by families that wouldn’t even care about her even for just a short period of time, and feeling rather unloved for so many years.
And suddenly, out of nowhere, there they are… pure blood and flesh of her own family now came looking for her existence, after 18 long years.
“Why now?” Moonbyul wondered.
“Because we need an heir.”
‘How selfish of you!’ Moonbyul wanted to scream. She wanted to cry, but she shouldn’t show any weaknesses in front of this woman; she wouldn’t.
“Tell me everything.” The younger girl ordered, her voice firm and she would not take ‘no’ as an answer; that part is much clearer to Madame’s ears.
‘Don’t sugar coat me,’ is what Moonbyul meant and the older woman immediately understands. This is only just their first meeting, but if she was in the shoes of the younger girl, she would undoubtedly command for the truth too and that’s why she can understand what the girl is thinking.
“Your father was my only child. He was supposed to be the future heir of the Moon household,” Madame paused, “He was supposed to marry the Young Lady Im from the Im household.”
Upon receiving the absolute silence from the girl in return, Madame Moon continued further.
“He… fell in love with another woman; the daughter of our maid.”
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
Moonbyul lowered her gaze to her lap; hey eyes now glistened with unshed tears.
‘My parents were in love’ and that was honestly good enough for the tall girl, even if she wasn’t part of the story at the first place. But knowing that she was born out of love; that was good enough for her.
“My husband and myself included, weren’t particularly happy with his decision.” Madame sighed deeply, her eyes now instead concentrating towards the steams that rose up above the hot cup placed on the uneven tiny table between the two them.
Seeing the hurt behind the younger girl’s eyes make things much harder than the older woman expected. She read about her, looked for her, studied her, and researched her background ever since she was just a little girl. She wasn’t supposed to care about her grand-daughter’s feelings because that wasn’t part of the original plan.
The plan was to recruit the girl, train her, prepare her, and bribe her even to become the CEO of her company.
But seeing the girl up close, Madame couldn’t help but to think and see the situation from the girl’s perspectives instead, and that makes the older woman feeling quite heavy with guilt and even longing.
Madame also couldn’t help but to grasp how much the younger girl resembled her lost son so much and a tiny tug on her heart can be felt.
“What did you do?” Moonbyul whispered softly, using whatever energy she has left found inside her body.
“You’d have to understand, your mother was not a Young Lady; she was… a regular person with a regular job. They were so young when they met. So we gave them a choice; whether they forget whatever they are having with each other and my son would move one on to become the future CEO of our company… or they could be together, under one condition.” Madame Moon paused, her eyes now staring back to the younger girl’s face, trying hard to detect any changes of her expressions. “He would be stripped away from the honour of being a Moon, meaning that he would not get fortunes from us, he would not carry the surname along, and he would no longer be supported by us. He would be gone from our life and he would no longer be as the son of ours.”
“What did he choose?”
“He chose the latter.”
Moonbyul smiled bitterly, ‘how stubborn’.
“This is ridiculous, you know?” The younger girl scoffed, her finger drumming softly against the top of the table and her other hand went up and caressed her chin, feeling the smooth skin beneath her clammy palm.
“Why should I believe you? You could be lying.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know! But it doesn’t make any sense!” Moonbyul shouted, loud enough to gain attentions of the people from the other nearby tables.
All the older woman could do was to blink her eyes, unaffected by the sudden outburst. It was expected, this type of reaction from the young girl.
“Why would my parents left me?” Moonbyul insisted, her hands starting to shake; not in fear, but more in anger and regret.
“After being banished, your parents… had quite a struggle to make a living outside the world they were used to having, especially your father. Without having money and proper jobs, they were getting desperate to feed themselves, to feed you.” Madame calmly continued. “Desperate enough to borrow money from bad people and of course that leads them to having tons of unpaid debts overtime.”
“Let me guess, they cannot pay them and that made them in an absolute danger? What is this? A TV drama?” Moonbyul glared. ‘What kind of rubbish is this?’
“Yes.”
“What?”
“You are right. They cannot pay them back so they were threaten to get killed.”
“How ridiculous.”
“Indeed, that I do believe.” Madame interjected, her eyes observing the shaking movements of the girl’s hands, though it subsided, the shaking was still there and that makes Madame filled with worry.
“They threatened to harm you, most importantly.”
“I was already born?”
“You just turned 1 year old by then.” The older woman smiled, regretting to have missed quite a huge part of seeing her grand-daughter growing up.
“Your parents, they loved you.”
“Yeah right.” Moonbyul rolled her eyes in disbelief.
“They left you outside the orphanage centre with a single card beneath your pink fluffy blanket.”
“You could’ve found that on the internet.” Moonbyul shrugged.
“The same night, your parents died in a car accident. Do you think that was a coincidence?”
“Stop.”
“They were protecting you.”
“Please stop.”
“And they did, but they paid the price with their own lives.”
“Stop!” Moonbyul cried, her tears flowed heavily down both of her cheeks as she lowered her gaze, gripping tightly against the rough skirt of her uniform; her head felt like someone just hit her with a brick.
This is too much.
“Moonbyul, you know I’m right.”
“No, I don’t!”
“Yes, you do! The card, it says MoonByul isn’t it?”
“No…”
“You read it; you know that’s what it says.”
“Please…”
“Your name wasn’t supposed to be just Moonbyul, it was supposed to be Moon Byul Yi. Moon is your family name.”
The girl continued to cry her heart out. Moonbyul didn’t care who was watching. Her life has been a lie and she deserves to cry.
She wanted to believe how false the story is, but deep down she knows. She knows the woman is telling the truth.
“Why do you need me now?” She asked, knowing that if she doesn’t ask questions now, she would not be able to ask questions in the near future.
“Your father is my only son, and that makes you my only grand-daughter. I’m stepping down soon from the company, and I need you to be the one who’s replacing me.” Her tone become serious again and Moonbyul hated it.
Moonbyul hated how she felt like she was being commanded instead of being asked.
“If I say no?”
“Then, we negotiate.”
“I don’t do negotiation.”
“You will have to this time.” The older woman replied, quite persistently and her voice secured with orders.
“Your adopted mother, Mrs Choi… correct?”
Moonbyul frowned upon hearing her mother’s name but before she could give an answer, the woman swiftly responded instead, causing Moonbyul’s eyes to widen and her heart beats faster in fear this time.
“She is sick, I believe? Of course, even as a scholar… you’re still a student. In her current state, it must be very expensive to pay for her medical bills. And how are you planning to pay them, Moonbyul-shi?”
“Are you… are you threatening me now, Madame Moon?”
“I’m simply negotiating, Miss Moon.”
-End of flashback-
“How was the date?”
“It was fine.”
“I saw the news.”
“What news?”
“About your date.”
“I see.” Moonbyul sighed as she switches off her iPad on her right hand, avoiding the temptation to search the said articles, no doubt mentioning her date with Young Lady Jung last night.
“I didn’t know you’re such a good actress, Miss Moon. Seeing the pictures now, the date does seem almost as real as it could be. If I don’t know any better, I’d definitely believe that you guys are deeply in love.” Madame Moon smirked as the younger girl sitting in front of her let out a short and awkward cough in return, undoubtedly avoiding her eyes contacts at all costs.
“Did she find any suitable wedding dresses?”
“Yes, she found one and she bought one.” Moonbyul let out a tiny smile, remembering how fun it was doing a such ridiculous shopping trip with the younger girl last night, which of course didn’t go unnoticed by the older woman who is currently staring at her like an eagle.
“Well, your marriage between the two of you is real after all, in the paper that is. Though the marriage was nothing but to create a bond between two strangers, but it doesn’t hurt to like your own future wife, now is it?” Madame crossed her arm, her left eyebrow rose in suspicions, and her tiny smirk now developed into a thin line instead; wondering whether or not the younger girl is still acting nor does she actually take an affection with a certain black haired lady.
“Yes, I do quite enjoy my time with her.” Moonbyul admitted, failed to hear the tiny gasp that came out from the older woman sitting across her.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“That’s… good, I guess.” Madame Moon shrugged, trying as hard as she could not to show any excitements behind her grand-daughter’s obvious happiness.
The girl definitely, little by little left quite a huge imprint in her heart; no one has ever done that to her before, not even her late husband. Only her son has.
Though she would never say it to any living souls nor will she say the love for the girl in front of her out loud, but seeing the sincere smile spread across Moonbyul’s face like this is like seeing her son again.
They have the same smile, the same expression almost, and the same gentle manners. Madame Moon smiled softly.
Of course, arranging marriage between the two families would be a bit harsh for the taller girl but it was a good opportunity, not only for the company but for the girl’s future as well and the opportunity shouldn’t be rejected right away; and the girl knows how important and how hard is it to maintain power as a young CEO.
“So how the date ends? In a good note, I hope.”
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“That was fun, right Byul-shi?” Wheein smiled brightly as the car halted to a stop in front of her house; her eyes instead of looking out of the windows like she usually does every time, now were looking intently at the girl next to her seat.
“Absolutely.” Moonbyul smiled back, “Are your parents not home? Should I greet them?” Moonbyul’s hand was already on the door’s handle, preparing to leave the car before she felt a warm hand pressed gently against her another unoccupied hand on her lap.
“There’s no need to do that, Byul-shi.” The shorter girl chuckled, “My parents are out for the night. I think they went to some dinner party early this evening.”
“Ah I see. Well, maybe next time then.”
“I hope so.” Wheein blushed, “I really had a lovely time tonight.”
The younger girl doesn’t really know where the courage came from but she did drink a few glasses extra of the champagne served by the store earlier on; at which the other beautiful girl refused to take in with an excuse of being the responsible driver.
Maybe that’s why she’s feeling a bit bold as now their faces are inches away from each other as Wheein unconsciously pulled the girl’s arm towards her.
There it goes again, her heart. ‘Stop beating like a crazy person’ Wheein wanted to say. But at the same time, the feeling was quite exhilarating. It’s a feeling that makes Wheein wanting to sit at the edges of the seat and oddly, she doesn’t really want the feelings to stop.
All she knows is she like spending time with the older girl and that should be enough reason for Wheein to stare directly at the girl’s eyes right now, and her hand still not moving away from her fiancé’s exposed arm.
“M-me too Wheein-shi.” Moonbyul stuttered, shy upon seeing the ultimate and intense attention that the younger girl is giving.
And the two remained silent without even breaking their firm eye contacts. To anyone, it may seem like it was an awkward situation, looking at each other’s pupils for that long. But for the both of them, each felt like the time was slowing down, and Moonbyul ignored her inner voice admitting how cheesy that sounded just now.
It was calming, almost. Their breaths mixed well with each other and Moonbyul can smell the sweet yet soft perfume the girl is wearing.
And those mesmerizing eyes, Moonbyul felt like she cannot move her gaze away from those golden chocolate eyes in front of her. But it was maybe the reason why they lost track of the time.
One second, their eyes were each other’s, but as another second went by, Moonbyul suddenly felt a soft touch against her left cheek; and it stays there for a good few seconds.
Moonbyul ‘s eyes widened in realization and her heart thumped like as if she has been running for a thousand miles.
The feeling of Wheein slightly wet lips grazing softly against her own skin causes the older girl to open lightly in surprise but didn’t pull away from the other girl.
Because even though the gesture was quite sudden and absolutely unexpected; but it was definitely not unwelcomed.
As Wheein pulled away from her, Moonbyul can see the red colour of the girl’s cute cheeks and a tiny smile on her beautiful face.
“Goodnight Byul-shi.” The shorter girl said quietly, opening the car’s door before quickly went out of the vehicle.
“Go-goodnight Wheein-shi.” Moonbyul said in return, frozen to her seat and her eyes still not leaving the mouth of the younger girl even after Wheein has already step out of the car.
“Byul-shi,” the girl hesitated causing Moonbyul’s eyes to snap back to the stunning eyes of her fiancé.
“Do you like Paris?”
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“Th-the date ended w-well.” Moonbyul stuttered, suddenly reminded herself how soft the younger girl’s lips were upon making an impact with her cheek and Moonbyul blushed deeply, once again confusing the older woman with her almost consistent reaction whenever Wheein’s name is mentioned.
“I see.” The older woman smiled knowingly, making the younger girl to clear uncomfortably.
Moonbyul knows that Madame senses something about her but she doesn’t really know what it is yet and that makes Moonbyul rather insecure.
She trusts the woman over time even if it took her more than 5 years to begin with but her respect for the older woman has grown over the years. But that doesn’t mean that sometimes Moonbyul doesn’t question her motives every now and then and just like how she was taught by Madame at the first place; always be on your guard, especially those who are closest to you.
“Speaking of wedding dresses,” Moonbyul started, her legs crossed elegantly over each other, “You have been very strict about it. Do I get to see it soon?”
“Be patient, my dear.” The smile was still in place but her attention has been taken away slowly by the soft wordings of the newspaper in her hands. “You need to have patience.”
“I don’t prefer surprises.”
“It’s your mother’s.”
“Pardon?” Hearing the infrequent nickname from the older woman’s mouth causes Moonbyul to feel things all of a sudden, she doesn’t really know what it is but it almost felt like… sadness, and that would be considered as weakness.
“You’ll be wearing your mother’s wedding dress.” Madame put her glasses away from her face and put it gently on top of the marble table placed in between the two of them and converting her full attention towards the younger girl.
“Why do you have my mother’s wedding dress?”
“Well, after they died, their belongings were all given to me,” Madame folded her hands over each other on her lap and tilted her head sideways, “For privacy purposes, of course.”
“And you want me to wear them?”
“If you want, yes. Do not need to fret, we will alter the dress a little bit to make sure it fits your body proportion and to ensure that it is actually suitable for the 21st century wedding event.”
“Why?”
Madame became quiet. Of course she was expecting the girl to ask questions about it but the one thing about her is that, she doesn’t really talk much about feelings and she feels rather ridiculous to start now.
She was about to lie to her grand-daughter but upon seeing the pure face of the child in front her, she somehow couldn’t. Maybe the girl does deserve some truths.
“Because,” Madame gulped loudly, “the thing I regret the most other than missing the chance of seeing you growing up, is missing the chance of seeing my son stand at the alter and my daughter-in-law walking down the aisle, with her beautiful wedding dress on.”
Moonbyul blinked her eyes slowly in realization.
“And I think she would like it too if you’re going to wear them.”
“Thank you… Madame.”
“Well, yes…” The older woman awkwardly replied.
“Moonbyul,” she continued, “you could… you could say no.”
Moonbyul frowned in confusion, “Say no to what?”
“To the marriage.”
Moonbyul gaped at the older woman. As long as she remembers living under the roof of Madame Moon, never did the woman ever give her choices like this especially to these kind of things.
“I know I’ve ordered you a million things before and I know how important the marriage is, you do too. But I couldn’t risk your… your happiness, just because of what the company needed.”
“I thought you said I couldn’t say no because it’s the Jung household we’re talking about.” Moonbyul pressed further.
“You shouldn’t say no, but that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t.” Madame notices her own decision; to give the younger girl a much needed option. She knows how out of character she is right now but she oddly couldn’t care less.
She lost her son once because he was forced to get married with another woman while he’s in love with another. Even though she doesn’t really know if Miss Moon indeed has a lover or not, but forcing the girl for a marriage that she would be stuck with probably for a long period of time would be inhumane of her on her behalf, especially when she did the same mistake with her son so many years back.
“They won’t hesitate to bring me down if I rejected their proposal.”
“Well, they do not have armies but we do. So no matter how hard it’s going to be, the Star will still be standing tall even if you don’t get to marry Young Lady Jung.” Madame reassured and gave her a pointed look. “It’s your last chance if you want to back out. Your wedding invitations will be distributed soon so you need to decide now.”
Moonbyul hesitated, her eyes suddenly out of focus, and her mind running back and forth between the pros and cons of marrying Wheein.
Rejecting the marriage would mean freedom; maybe even a chance of finding love on her own terms, will and time.
But at the same time, she won’t be marrying Wheein and the tall girl is still trying to decide whether that would be consider as an advantage or disadvantage for her.
But it’s Wheein, and she could hear Seulgi’s voice at the back of her head saying how stupid she really is, getting attach to the same girl who broke her heart into a thousand useless pieces.
But yet her heart says the other thing, thumping like crazy whenever Moonbyul think about the younger girl… her future wife.
“It’s probably raining hells but we could just destro-”
“I would marry her.”
Madame stared at the younger girl.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“It is decided, then.”
Why stop being stupid now anyways…
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p/s: Madame Moon is a good person, see? :D hahaha again, a bit of WheeByul there, yayy~ Do comments what you guys think so far :) and thank you for your support! :D <3
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