KIM YOON JAE

“Kim Yoon Jae-ssi. Roy Zhou is here to see you. He didn’t make an appointment bu–”

“Let him in” I was surprised to hear he was here, in my home of all places.

“Kim Yoon Jae-ssi. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Roy came in, smiling. I had never actually seen him before. He was just like I had pictured. Slim, goodlooking- confident.

“I was not expecting you”

Nevertheless, this was the man that took my grandson away from me. I had mixed feelings about him being here.

“Ah yes, I hope that didn’t interfere with anything. I know you are a busy man afterall.”

“Are you here to return me my grandson?”

He laughed. “That is most certainly not why I am here”

“Then, why are you here?”

“Well you see, now that Miss Kim will be living in under my care I need to make a few things clear.”

I scoffed.

“Your son is to be no where near her at any time.”

“Rin and Changsun are inseparable. You cannot tell her to stay away from him”

“That was not my intention, believe me. I am not possessive by any means. However,” he furrowed his eyebrows. “Your son hurt her.”

“What? Hurt her? Changsun would never do that! He cares about Rin alot”

“Wrong you are. You see…I noticed something strange on her yesterday.”

“Strange?”

“She was wearing a scarf to cover up what your poor excuse of a son did to her. He choked her.”

My eyes widened. “Bwoh!?”

“He choked her so hard, her neck was bruised.”

I could not believe what I was hearing. Thats….why she was wearing that scarf yesterday?

“Why would he choke her?”

“Your son is mentally ill.”

I shook my head. No that couldn’t be right? Joon choked Rin?!

“The girl even defends him now after all of that.” he scoffed unbelievably.

“It’s all your fault! Joon is not himself ever since you took Leo”

“Even you know that is not true. What he did is a pattern that dates back 7 years ago when he burnt down his own family home with Lee Min Jae trapped inside it. You fail to acknowledge he is a sick person”

I shook my head. I refused to believe it.

“You know it’s anything but my fault. You believe he is unstable, you just don’t want to admit it to yourself.”

“Is Rin okay? Why didn’t she tell me?”

“She wasn’t going to tell me. She thought she would be able to hide it. She is okay now.”

I nodded.

“There is another thing I wanted to speak to you about.” he continued, “I am having a benefit next week and I would like you to attend. I don’t personally invite anyone but I saw fit that I do it with you.”

“A benefit? What for?”

“Victims of domestic violence.” he smiled. “You see I hold this very dear to me since my sister was treated with the outmost saveragry by the hands of your son and now….” he continues, “he has moved on to Rin.”

“That’s not true”

“We can go back and forth all day I’m sure. However, like you I am a busy man myself. Here is the invitation. We would love to have you there.”

ROY ZHOU

Later that day, while sitting in my office I decided to call Ha Na. I hadn’t seen her since the day at the hospital.

I wanted to give her space like Rin had mentioned when she told me about herself.

“What?”

“Ri An, it’s me, Roy”

“What do you want?”

“I need to talk to you. Do you have time today?”

“About?”

“It is concerning Leo and Boosung.”

“I can meet now. Where?”

I told her a place and to meet me in 20 minutes. I was surprised that she actually agreed. Leo and Boosung must of been the magic words all along.

CHOI HA NA

I walked in the what seemed like a Chinese restaurant. It looked very expensive.

“I’m here with Roy Zhou.” I told the greeter in the front. She smiled and asked me to follow her. It was clear that there was high profile people here.

“Ha Na.” Roy got out of his chair to greet me. I pulled my own chair out and sat down.

“I’m glad your here. I took the liberty to order.”

I looked at the food. It looked very delicious.

“Let’s eat” he said.

Roy tried making lots of attempts to get me to try all the different kinds of food. He was acting like an older brother would.

I wasn’t sure how to act around him. I was still angry about the night at the hospital but part of me wondered if this was how he was with Leo.

“You can stop glaring at me now” Roy said as he kept eating.

“I’m not..”

“Leo is doing good. He is getting everything, if not more than he was at the Kim’s house. You shouldn’t worry.”
“How am I not supposed to worry when you come across as a cold, calculating person?”

“You should get to know me before you come to such a conclusion.”

“I said you come across as that not that I think youre like that. I don’t think you are ready to hear what I think”

“It wouldn’t faze me because you don’t know me. The real me.”

Tch, he was insufferable.

“You seem pretty confident.”

“I am a business man after all. Confidence comes second nature to me.”

I scoffed.

“You are always welcomed to see Leo at any time.”

“That simple huh?”

“Ofcourse, I have never kept him from you. You will be pleased to know that Rin is living at my home, providing care for him.”

“Rin?”

“Yes. I offered her a chance to come work for me. She was hesitant at first but agreed.”

“She is living there? What happened to living with the Kims?”

“She didn’t leave on a bad note if that is what you are asking.”

“You seem like you intend to keep him long term”

“It all depends on you. If you accept my terms I will gladly release him to you.”

“I don’t believe you”

“It’s fair. You don’t know me so you are wary of me.”

“You speak of terms. What are they?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” he smiled. “As you know, I do not and will not accept Lee Joon to have anything to do with him. He is to stay away from him. Failure to do this will result in me taking Leo back and he will never leave my custody.”

“What?”

“Second. If you are to move to a different country I will be in charge of hiring staff for you.”

“For what purpose?”

“For the purpose of having the peace of mind that Lee Joon is not lingering around.”

“You are being ridiculous.”

“Rin will be a part of that staff.”

“Excuse me? You aren’t even going to allow me the chance to be his mother!”

“Rin is a crucial person in Leo’s life. I will not allow her to disappear from his life ever again.”

“Rin and Joon are close. Are you intending for her to abandon him?”

“I am not as she already has.”

My eyes widened.

“Lee Joon is beyond saving. Rin has understood this”

I shook my head. “You have brainwashed her!”

He laughed. “If you think I’m the villain in all of this, go ahead and talk to her. I am almost certain you will find alot of things in common with her.”

“What do you mean by that?!”

“It’s not for me to say.”

“Roy!”

“Also, I am planning a benefit for next week. I need you to attend.”

“For what?”

“Victims of domestic violence.”

I could not believe him. “You will go to it. Everyone knows Zhoumi is affiliated with Boosung. Ji Hoon has been MIA so I need you to go.”

“If that’s all you have to say then I will make my leave” I stood up.

“I am not done stating my terms.”

“I am not interested. I will find a way to take him way from you without having to sacrifice anything”

“You mean the man you love” he mocked. “There is no other way without implicating him.”

“I absolutely despise you. I wish I would of never met you!”

I said and walked out.

ROY ZHOU 

That hurt. Why couldn’t she understand that I was doing this for her own good? Out of love?

That night I returned home, completely defeated. It had been a long day of planning for the benefit, meetings that I just wanted to lay down and drift off in sleep. I however couldn’t do that. I had obligations.

“Nana, how was your day?” As we ate dinner, I tried my best to sound interested.

“I went to the doctors today”

She was so determined.

“How did it go?”

“Doctor Choi suggested suregousy.”

“Nana you know how I feel about that” I didn’t have the mind space to talk about something so complex at this moment.

“I know honey but won’t you at least consider it? This may be our only option”

I put my fork down. She knew how I felt about that. It was something I didn’t agree with.

“Nana. Let’s talk about it another day.”

She scoffed. “You can care less about having a baby with me.”

“That is not what I said-”

“You don’t have time to talk about it….you never do!”

“We can talk about it tomorrow. Maybe we can have lunch”

“You’re going to pencil me in? Im not one of your investors Roy, I’m your wife!”

I sighed. Why tonight out of all nights?

“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t continue to live my life with someone that doesn’t give me the light of day!”

I raised a brow, “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m done Roy! This has been going on for years! I can’t handle it anymore…I thought I could make it work with you but it’s so clear to me that you are too busy!”

“You’re leaving me because I don’t want to talk about the surrogacy now?”

“Thats all you think this is? How many times have you spent with me since we got married? Huh?” she cried. “I thought maybe having a baby would fix everything but you aren’t even giving it a chance!”

“Look if this is about me working so many hours I can cha–”

“No it’s not Roy!” she ran out of the dining room. I slammed my fist on the table. Why couldn’t I see it before? Is this how Nana felt all these years?

“Samcheon...” I heard a faint voice coming from the corner of the room. I looked up and found Leo.

“Leo?”

He came up to me. Why was he still awake at this hour? Did Rin leave?

“It’s late, you should be sleeping” I carried him into my lap.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Why?”

“Because Rinnie isn’t sleeping next to me.”

“Where is she?” I asked. He shrugged. Where could she be?

“Here let me walk you to your room and I’ll go look for Rin.”

I tucked him in and when he was asleep I heard someone come in. It was Rin.

“Mr. Roy” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“Leo came to find me earlier because he couldn’t sleep. He said you weren’t in the room.”

“Oh…yeah I had to step out a little.”

I didn’t pry.

I turned to Leo and combed his hair out of his face with my hand. Rin came towards us and sat on the bed.

“He looks just like him.” I couldn’t deny the resemblance he shared with Lee Joon.

“I also see Ms. Jung Rian too” she smiled. How optimistic. Was she trying to make me feel better? I couldn’t tell. I wish I saw my sisters face too. I couldn’t.

“I am envious at how soundly he can sleep.” I smiled.

“Have you not been getting enough sleep, sir?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t been able to since the day I was named CEO of Zhoumi.”

“I’m sorry. It must weigh heavily on you”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle.” I smiled. I was wrong. I couldn’t handle it all. It was either work or having a family. My family life was crumbling right in front of my very own eyes.

“Anyway, I should go to my room. Leo is asleep and you are back.” I stood up and made my way to the door.

“Goodnight sir.”

“Rin, I need to talk to you early tomorrow. Could you meet me in my office at 7am?”

She nodded. “Yes ofcourse sir”