RIN

It was 6:55am when I knocked on the door to his home office. I wondered if he was the punctual kind to wait until exactly 7am or if he was a bit of an early bird. Either way, I decided to be a few minutes early.

“Come in” i heard him say from behind the door. I opened it and saw him sitting behind his desk, suffling papers around.

“Good morning sir”

He looked up at me and said it back.

“Please sit.”

I did as he asked. I had never been to his office before. It was adorned with many books and old fashioned furniture like the rest of the house. He likes to read. I thought.

I was a little nervous about what it was that he needed to speak to me about.

He didn’t seem mad or annoyed. Everytime that Joon asked me to talk it always was to yell or critized me. My immediate reaction was to think that he was going to scold me.

“I am hosting a benefit party. It is a charity event.”

“That’s great Mr. Roy. What is the cause?”

“Victims or domestic abuse.”

My eyes widened.

“It has impacted my life so I decided to help those that suffer from it.”

I nodded.

“What I’m getting at is that I want you to attend. I am sure you went to many events as you did grow up in Kim Yoon Jae’s care.”

“You are wrong sir. I have only attended one.”

He was surprised. “Come again?”

“Yoon Jae-san never forced me to live in his world. I never thought I was needed since I wasn’t actually his real daughter.”

“He gave you the power to choose” he said as he crossed his arms . I nodded.
“That’s very commendable of Kim Yoon Jae. If only his child would of inherited his good heart.” he scoffed. He continued, “You mentioned that you had attended one?”

“Yes but it was one I regretted going.”

“Why is that?”

“I felt out of place. Everyone was very different from what I imagined.”

“People in my world are cruel Rin. I don’t blame you for being uncomfortable or scared. However, I would like you to attend so that you can learn event ettiquette and teach it to Leo. He is going to take part of events in the future and I want him to be prepared. Ofcourse, it is your decision wheter or not you go.” he stood up and walked over to me.

“I would like it if you went.”

I blushed.

“O-Ofcourse Mr. Roy.”

“If it brings any type of relief, you would be going with me.”

With him? My heart began to beat quickly.

“With you?”

“Nana won’t be able to attend.”

As I sat in Leo’s room I kept thinking about what I had talked about with Roy. He wanted me to go to this event with him. Without his wife.

What was all that about?

Why wasn’t she going? She usually accompanied him to all his events, so why not this one?

“Rinnie?”

I heard Leo call out for me. I was sitting next to him while he was doing his homework. “Yes Leo? Are you stuck with that math problem?”

“You seem really distracted today. You keep thinking about something”

I laughed nervously. This kid really was intuitive.

“What would I be thinking about?”

“I don’t know…maybe dad?”

I was not expecting him to say that. Joon? He thought I was thinking about Joon? It had been days that he had even crossed my mind.

“You miss him don’t you?”

“I miss everyone Leo. Grandpa, auntie Keiko, uncle Ren”

“Rinnie…do you like my dad?”

I was so confused. Where was all this coming from?

“Leo? Is everything okay?”

“I just don’t understand why you came to live here with uncle”

“I came because I wanted to be here with you”

“But don’t you miss dad?”

“I miss everyone. But you are far more important than anyone else.”

“Will we ever go back home with them?”

“Leo. This is our home now. Uncle is so happy we get to be here with him.”

“Maybe it would feel more like my home if I knew my mom.” he said looking down, sad. I knew why he felt like this. He couldn’t feel close to his uncle because he didn’t know his birth mother.

“Where is she?”

“She is going to meet you soon Leo.” I heard Roy come into the room. I jumped, startled. He was listening to our conversation.

Roy kneeled in front of Leo and touched his shoulders. “That is a promise.”

“She doesn’t hate me?”

He shook his head. “Ofcourse not.”

ROY ZHOU

I walked into Boosung before I went into work. I needed to speak with Ha Na.

I didn’t have an appointment so she was going to be angry.

“Sir, we were not expecting you.” her secretary said.

“I realize this.”

“I can’t let you in”

“Roy.”

Ha Na was out of her office. She looked angry, like I had predicted.
“I need to speak with you”

She rolled her eyes and walked back inside. I followed. She didn’t look as pale today as she had when I saw her at the resturant. She also looked more put together with her outfit.

“You look better.”

“Did I ever look bad?”

“You looked tired and pale when I saw you last.”

“Well what do you expect when you take my child to god knows where?”

“I took Leo to my home. He is being cared for in the best way.”

“Right.”

“Precisely that is what I wanted to speak to you about.” I sat down.

“Well do tell” I heard the sarcasm in her tone.

“I want you to visit Leo as soon as possible.”

She looked shocked.

“What?”

“I want you to come to my house and introduce yourself to him.”

“He asked me why you weren’t around. He even asked me if you hated him”

“I promised him that he would meet with you soon.”

“What do you get from that?”

“He said he didn’t feel like he was home because I was a stranger to him. How could I be anything but? If he knew his mother he would feel closer to me, wouldn’t he?” he continued, “Meet with him. If you don’t want anything to do with him afterwards, I will raise him as my own.”

“I am not going to be with Lee Joon.”

I raised a brow. “Really now?”

“No Min Woo and I are going to marry.”

That stunned me. “I must admit, I am very shocked.”

“I have a condition.”

I smirked. She was my sister after all.

“What is it?”

“Leave Lee Joon alone.”

“If you marry and are not around him anymore, there is no reason he would be of interest to me.”

“You are not going to turn him in to the police.”

“You have my word.”

“Then I will go and meet my son, tonight.”

************************************************

“Thanks for agreeing to me picking you up.” Roy said both sat on the back of the car. It was 8pm, and she had agreed to Roy picking her up to go to his house.

“Did Leo really ask if I hated him?” she ignored Roy’s comment, as always. That had been weighing very heavily over her since she heard from Roy.

“He did.”

“He must think I am the worst mother”

“Tonight is your chance to set the record straight. You should tell him the truth.”

“He is too young to know”

“Is that what your scared of? Is that the reason you have been neglecting him this entire time?”

“Part of it. I mean, how do I tell him that his father hated him? The father he loved and respects so much? Joon turned the way he is because that happened to him”

“So you rather him live his life adoring that piece of human trash?”

She looked away from him.

“Roy I don’t believe you are cruel enough to ask me to do this”

“You will continue to protect Lee Joon even though he tried to kill you and Leo? You should loathe the man! Leo should too”

“Then what?”
“It is up to you but I don’t think that should be a reason to keep living away from your son.”

“Mr. Roy, you're home” Rin stood up, happily as she saw him walk through the door. She was playing with Leo in the living room. Her face turned to horror when she saw who walked up behind him. It was Jung Ri An.

Rin bowed. “Yes, ofcourse. Good evening Miss Jung.”

Leo stood up too. He stared at Jung Ri An. He had seen this women before.

“Good evening Miss Rin.”

“Please have a seat.” Roy walked over to the living room and held on to Leo's shoulders. He smiled proudly as he faced him to Jung Ri An.

“Leo…this is someone special I would like you to meet.”

Rin looked down and distanced herself from them. She wanted them to enjoy the moment and not have it be interrupted by her. She watched from a distance.

“This is my sister. Which means, this is your mother.”

Leo looked confused. “My mother?”

Ri An sat on the couch in front of him and took his hand.

“I am your mother Leo. I’m sorry I haven’t come all this time”

Leo shook his head. “No…you aren’t” This stunned everyone in the room.

“What…Leo--”

“I have seen you before…at my dad’s company. You didn’t say anything to me before”

Roy looked over at Rin. He wasn’t aware of this. He wasn’t aware that Rian and Leo had crossed paths.

“Leo..”

“You aren’t my mom!” he yelled at her and ran towards Rin.

“Leo..” Rin tried to calm him down. “She was that scary women that was mean to my dad!”

That scary women.

Rin looked at Rian. Rian didn’t make an effort to sooth him. She just stood there, stunned. She understood why she was shocked, she would be too.

Rin crouched down to be at eye level with Leo. His eyes where teary.

“Rinnie…that’s not my mom...it can't be!”

“Leo-yah..”

“Rin, take Leo and calm him down please. Ri An and I will be in my office.”

She nodded and did as he asked.

CHOI HA NA

“You never told me you had seen him before” Roy asked me when we entered his office. I was too shocked to catch up with what was happening.

“Ri An!”

“It was a few months ago….at Boosung”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I didn’t remember…I-I”

Roy sighed. “What surprises me is not that you didn’t tell me but how could you not hold that child after seeing he was alive!? Tell him you were his mother? Instead you argued with Lee Joon?”

“I didn’t know that was him! That child could of been anyone. He could of adopted a random kid for all I knew!”

Roy scoffed. “What if it was? It was a child for god sakes! What fault would a child have!?”

“I was not going to be fooled by Lee Joon ever again!”

Roy was absolutely dumbfounded. “Had I known this I would of never brought you here”

Roy took the home phone and dialed Rin.

“Make sure Leo is in his room while this person is still in my house.” he hung up.

“Roy wh–”

“You need to reevaluate your own life before you can be there for Leo. I will not hand him over to you now. After everything I’ve seen…”

“You have no right to do that!”

“I am the only one that has custody of him. He is my responsibility.”

“This was all part of your twisted plan wasn’t it?! You were never going to give him back!”

He let her cry and scream all she wanted.

“It’s not about me giving him back, you need to earn his trust.”

“He hates me”

“He doesn’t know you. He’s seen you for the character you tried so carefully to portray. Jung Ri An scares him.”

“I am not her..”

“Show him that.”

She kept crying. “How?”

“That is up to you. I will not bring him back for today. I will let you know when you can come back.”