They both lifted up their heads to look at each other’s faces. That was when the women gasped and Yunho had his eyes wide open in shock. As soon as their eyes met, Yunho quickly turned around and started to walk away. But he was stopped when she grabbed his hands.

“Yun… wait…” she mumbled, holding onto his hands.

Yunho still had his back facing her, gritting his teeth and sighing heavily in frustration. He tried to pry off her hands, but she kept holding onto him tighter.

He slowly turned around and pried his hands away from her. “What do you want?”

“Long time no see… how have you been Yun?” the women smiled, staring into his eyes.

“Tch, Yun? After all that you’ve done, you still call me Yun?” Yunho rolled his eyes and smirked.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done. I have my reasons…” she lowered her head, feeling guilty.

Yunho scoffed, he couldn’t believe she still have the guts to say that. “What reasons? Focusing on your carrier?”

“Not just me, you should too,” she looked up at him.

“Fine, but now there’s nothing between us anymore. You go your way, and I’ll go my way,” he nodded, pointing to the direction that he told.

The women could do nothing than lowering her head again, loss for words. Then, she caught a glimpse of his wedding ring. “Y-you’re married? When?” she asked, slightly shocked to see that.

“Yes, I’m happily married about nine months ago. So I suggest you don’t interfere in my life anymore,” Yunho smiled proudly, showing off his wedding ring.

“W-who is s-she?” she asked, still staring at the ring.

“Someone who loves me for who I am and will always be faithful to me no matter what,” he finished, before walking away and leaving the women alone staring at him as he disappeared out of her sight.

Ji Eun received a phone call earlier that morning. She smiled as she quickly picked it up, without even looking at the caller ID. “Yoboseyo?”

Instead of her husband, Kim Jaejoong’s voice was heard through the phone. “Ji Eun-ah, where are you? I went to your apartment but no one’s there,” he asked worriedly.

Ji Eun sighed in disappointment. “Ah, oppa… I’m at my parents house,”

“W-what? Why are you there?” he was shocked to hear that and asked.

“I miss my dad… besides I’m starting to feel lonely and scared being alone at home…” the girl pouted.

“What about Yunho?”

“I tried calling him, but it all went to his voicemail. I left a message that I’m at my parents house,”

“He didn’t pick up your phone the whole day?” her brother widened his eyes and gritted his teeth.

“Ne… but maybe he’s really busy,”

“What is so important to him that he’d rather not pick up a phone call from his wife?” Jaejoong snapped.

“It’s fine oppa… really,”

“Ji Eun-ah, would you please for once, think about yourself first?” Jaejoong was starting to get worked up with Ji Eun’s innocence.

Then suddenly, the door to Ji Eun’s room burst open, revealing her ‘mother’ who was standing with her arms on her waist. Ji Eun jumped in shock and almost drop the phone in her hand. Jaejoong who was on the other side of the phone could hear the loud bang too.

“O-oppa, I need to go. I’ll call you back ok?” she mumbled before hanging up on him.

Ji Eun slowly stood up from the bed, facing her mother with an anxious look. “Mum… what is it?” she asked.

“Go prepare lunch for me,” Lee Yejin simply stated.

“N-ne?” Ji Eun was taken aback with what she said.

“Just because you’re already married, doesn’t mean you don’t have to follow my orders anymore. Besides this is my house, you have to do a little work if you want to stay here,” Yejin stated firmly, glaring at the young girl with her scary eyes.

Ji Eun felt her stomach tightened and a lump forming in . It’s the same feeling she had when Yejin used to order her around the house. She never knew she would experience the same thing again.

Seeing Ji Eun tongue tied at her request just now, she asked, “Do you have any problem in understanding that simple thing?”

“A-aniyo… b-but I’m n-not feeling well. I’m a little dizzy…” Ji Eun tried to reason with her stepmother as she stared at her still bandaged hands.

“Don’t act like a princess! I just told you to cook, not build a house for me!” Yejin barked, making the whole room shook with her voice.

Knowing the if she refused the second time would result in physical violence from Yejin, Ji Eun bowed and walked slowly downstairs towards the kitchen to prepare lunch. In her heart, she somehow hoped that Sugeun was home at the time. 

Jung Yunho was packing up his things for the flight back to Seoul. All the problems seemed to have settled for now and he couldn’t wait to go back home to see his wife. He remembered how long has it been since the last time he talked with Ji Eun. He knew she must’ve been a little hurt when he left the other day.

“I should make it up to her…” he mumbled to himself. Yunho reached for his cellphone and called his wife.

Ji Eun would usually pick up a call from him after three rings, but he had to wait until the call went to her voicemail. Yunho tried calling her again and again, but the result is still the same.

“Are you mad at me baby?” the husband asked as he stared at her smiling picture on his phone’s wallpaper.

“You said you were fine, but why didn’t you pick up my call?” Yunho was starting to get worried, though he should be worried a long time ago.

He was starting to get worried and uneasy when she didn’t pick up his call. Was she mad at him? Or something happened to her? Then he caught a glimpse of the teddy bear phone accessories that was given by Ji Eun the day he confessed to her. She also had the same thing.

“Maybe I really should make it up to her…” he sighed as he decided to buy something for his wife before he board the plane.

The two housemaids who were supposed to cook unch stared worriedly at the young girl who was standing near the kitchen counter, preparing lunch. She was doing the work rather slowly because of her bandaged hands. Ji Eun was looking weak and pale too.

“Ji Eun-ah, let me do that… your hands are injured, you shouldn’t be doing a lot of work,” Nayoung, the housemaid offered when she saw her bandaged hands.

“That’s ok unnie, mum will scold you if she sees you helping me,” Ji Eun refused as she continued cutting up all the vegetables. “Besides, don’t you miss my cooking?” she tried to lighten the atmosphere.

“You’re the best cook I know!” the maid nodded.

“Speaking of cooking… how’s your husband response about your cooking?” Sunhwa, another maid interrupted.

Ji Eun immediately blushed when they mentioned about her marriage. “Well… oppa really liked it. He always finishes his meal,” she mumbled shyly.

“Aww~ you guys must be a really happy couple right?” Nayoung giggled teasingly.

Ji Eun blushed even redder at the compliment, but then she pouted when she remembered about Yunho missing her birthday. “Ne… I guess…”

“Yah! What took you so long?!” Yejin came charging into the kitchen. She gave a fierce glare to the two housemaids as she walked closer to Ji Eun.

“Mum… will dad be home for lunch too? If so, I need to cook more…” Ji Eun tried to smile though she was feeling scared inside.

Yejin took a deep, frustrated breath before she continued the cold stare at the girl. “NO! Just hurry up!” she yelled and threw an apple towards Ji Eun which hit directly at her eye.

“N-ne…” Ji Eun bowed apologetically as she slowly rubbed her eyes that was starting to get teary from the throw.

“I hope she likes this…” Yunho smiled hopefully as he clutched tighter to the gift he bought for Ji Eun.

He was planning to apologise for his absence and present her the gift. Yunho already arrived at the front door of their aparment as he braced himself for any possible attacks from his wife. He fixed his clothes and tried to hide the gift behind him.

“This won’t work, it’s too big…” he scratched his head in confusion. “I’ll have to hide you somewhere inside…” he stared at the gift.

Wanting to surprise his wife, Yunho opened the door using his spare key and stepped inside slowly. He peeked into the kitchen and the living room and found out that his wife wasn’t there. He carefully hid the present and stepped inside their bedroom. But to his dismay, his wife was nowhere to be found.

Yunho was starting to get worried and scared when he searched around the house for his wife. “Ji Eun-ah! Baby, where are you?” he called out.

But Jung Ji Eun wasn’t there to answer. He was beginning to think something happened to his wife. He noticed some of her clothes were gone from the closet. “Don’t tell me she ran away?!” he yelped, fearing for the worst.

At last, he decided to call her guardian angels. “Jaejoong-ah, Ji Eun’s not at home! Did she ran away?”

Jaejoong wanted to keep a secret about Ji Eun’s whereabouts to pay Yunho a lesson, but he remembered how sad his sister has been these few days. “Didn’t you receive her voicemails? She sent you a lot telling that she’ll be at her parents house,”

“Huh? V-voicemails? I…”

“Yah, Jung Yunho! What are you thinking by not answering her calls huh? You don’t know how hurt Ji Eun was,”

“I… I need to find her!” Yunho hung up on the call and grabbed his car keys as he dashed to his car.

While he was running he checked his phone for the voicemals that Ji Eun left and found that there were about ten of them. Yunho felt like smacking himself for not picking up all the calls from his wife. He pressed a button to hear the voicemails.

“Oppa… Ji Eun here. I can’t reach to you… call me as soon as you get this okay? Just want to tell you that I’m leaving for my parents house. Please call me back,”

The first  voicemail sounded desperate. She must’ve already called him many times and gave up. Yunho could sense that Ji Eun sounded very worried.

“Oppa… I’m at my parents house right now, I already told you that this morning. Uhm… you promised that you’ll call me… I miss you…”

The second voicemail made him feel like he was struck by lightning. Yunho promised to call her back, but he forgot. She must be waiting for his call anxiously. And the last words, ‘I miss you…’ sounded so melancholic as if Ji Eun was at the verge or tears.

“Don’t worry baby, I’m coming,” Yunho said as he started the engine and sped off towards his in-laws house.

Lee Sugeun just came back from work as he walked towards the dining room when he smelled a delicious aroma from there. He knew that smell, his daughter must be cooking that day. But he frowned when he saw his wife eating by herself at the table.

“Where’s Ji Eun? Why didn’t she join?” he asked as he took a seat.

“She never eats at the same table as us, why should she do that now?” Yejin scoffed.

“How many times do I have to tell you that she’s not your maid? Besides, she’s married now, show her some respect,”

“Huh? Respect? Why should I?”

“I know she’s not your daughter, but she respects you just like her own mother,”

“That’s because she doesn’t know that I’m not her real mother!” Yejin slammed the spoon down as she yelled at the top of her lungs.

PRANGG!!

Sounds of broken glasses were heard from a distance as both of them turned at the noise. Sugeun had his eyes wide open in shock when he saw his daughter standing at the door to the dining room. Apparently, Ji Eun was listening to the whole conversation and she accidentally dropped the glasses when she heard the secret.

A lump was foming in as she felt tongue tied and tears were pooling in her eyes. “N-not my r-real m-mother? What do you m-mean?” she choked on her tears.

“It means that I didn’t give birth to you! How can you be so stupid to not even realize that?!” Yejin answered when Suguen just stared at Ji Eun.

“D-daddy… is this t-true?” Ji Eun tried to ask again, not believing what she heard.

She just earned a guilty nod from her father. “W-what? No, t-this can’t be right! You’re l-lying r-right? You’re just joking right?”

“It’s the truth just accept it!” Yejin butted in.

Hearing that last comment, Ji Eun suddenly felt dizzy and light-headed. She turned around and slowly walked away, wanting to be away from her parents for a while.

“Ji Eun-ah sweety, but I’m still your real father!” Suguen tried to console her by grabbing her arms.

“No! I don’t want to hear anything!” Ji Eun brushed his hands away and quickly ran to her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

hi there~ sorry for the long update. been having some problems lately. i hope this long chapter made up for the long wait! hope you enjoy!