‘What do you think of this?’ Hero asked as he let you take a glimpse at the wedding pie that was stored in the spare fridge.
It was the most beautiful and also the hugest pie you had ever seen in your life.
You figured it was in the spare fridge not only because it was a secret, but also because it was so large that it wouldn’t have fitted in the regular fridge anyway.
‘It’s fantastic!’ you let out.
A smile came across Hero’s face and he closed the fridge.
‘Enough peeking. Have you found a dress already?’
‘Yup! SooYoung and Max helped me find it.’ you answered, picturing the lovely dress you were going to wear in a week.
‘Xiah has helped Micky find a suit and U-know has booked the location you wanted and taken care of the flower arrangement.’ Hero said and checked all these to-do’s in an imaginary planning in his head.
These days were some very happy days.
All day long you were busy planning your dream wedding with Micky and in the evenings Micky and you would take time to be together.

‘I’m so curious. I really wonder how beautiful you’ll look in your dress!’ Micky smiled at you and caressed your cheek.
He softly bent down and kissed you on the lips, a kiss you were certain you’d never get enough of.
‘I love you so much.’ you breathed.
‘How much?’ Micky grinned mischievously.
‘Sooooo much!’ you said and spread your arms like a three year old does.
‘Not good enough!’ Micky said teasingly and grabbed one of your hands.
Then he went to stand next to you, as an extension of your arm.
‘…but this will do.’ Micky continued.
You laughed and turned to hug him.
He was such a dork, such a lovable dork.

‘YooChun?’ you asked when the two of you were in your own room. ‘For some time I have been wondering how you came to work for PCF. Will you tell me?’
Micky’s face became very serious.
‘It’s not a nice story.’ he said. ‘Are you sure you want to hear it?’
You nodded understandingly, willing to hear whatever hardships he had to go through.

‘I ran from home when I was little. I think I was about 9 years old.’ Micky said.
His eyes were staring at something in the far distance, something invisible to the eyes of non-witnesses of his memories.
You saw how he was biting his bottom lip.
Your hand reached out to his shoulder and you hugged him, feeling how his muscles were tensed from sadness and unprocessed feelings towards his past.
He looked at you and tried to smile while taking your other hand and squeezing it a little.
‘Why did you run away from home?’ you asked softly as you watched his eyes that looked back into yours.
‘Because I hated the way my parents behaved towards each other.’ Micky said through gritted teeth.
His grip on your hand became tighter, but when he saw your worried expression he loosened it again.
The unfair happenings that he didn’t have any control over made him angry and sad.
‘I don’t think you can really imagine how that must have been, since you had the parents I always dreamed of having.’ Micky continued, apologetic this time.
‘My parents had their times too, they weren’t always that lovey dovey with each other, if that’s what you think.’ you replied. ‘At times they yelled at each other and had big disagreements.’
‘That would have been a quiet day for mine.’ Micky sighed. ‘I wish it didn’t go any further than yelling and big disagreements, but my parents really made life hell on earth for each other.’ Micky continued. ‘I hated it, I still hate it… They never thought about me.’
You swallowed.
So this was the wound Micky had been carrying all his life?
One would never guess he did, for he seemed cheerful and carefree most of the time.
You wished you could give him all the love he had missed out on, so much that the loveless memories would be filled up as well.
‘I’ll think about and love you for the rest of my life.’ you said and smiled before giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
‘You’re too sweet.’ Micky smiled back and you felt how his dark mood was blowing over already.

‘I think you must know something more about my parents.’ Micky said to your surprise.
You had been curious about his parents’ way of behaving towards each other, but you didn’t dare to ask about it, now he seemed to want to tell you anyway.
‘You must know that my dad is or was an alcoholic and a player. He used to sleep with other women behind my mum’s back and come home late; drunk. If I was downstairs he would give me a candy bar and send me upstairs, then my parents would start arguing and my dad would hit my mum.’ Micky said and stared into nothingness again.
‘That’s awful.’ you commented.
‘But my mum wasn’t innocent either. With the small amount of money that my dad earned, my mum would buy things for herself or spend it on playing Mahjong. She was an upcoming gambler.’ Micky continued.
‘But if both had that kind of lifestyle, then who took care of you?’ you asked.
You couldn’t imagine anyone taking care of themselves at such a young age.
‘Nobody really took care of me. School was not too far from home, so I went to school alone. Occasionally my mum cooked me a meal, otherwise I prepared something myself. I learned how to take care of the household and I vowed never to become anything like my parents.’
‘I don’t think you’re anything like the parents you just described.’ you said and gave Micky a reassuring smile.
He looked into your eyes and you saw tears welling up in his.
The sturdy Micky was on the verge of crying.
Softly you took his face between your hands, and as you looked into his eyes you said: ‘YooChun-ah, I’ll promise you that I’ll try the best I can to be a good wife to you and that I want to built a stable family with you, with lots of love and respect for each other.’
Tears were rolling down Micky’s cheeks; tears from sadness that had changed into tears from happiness.
He hugged you and kissed the side of your neck.
‘I love you, more than I thought possible…’ Micky said.

________~END OF CHAPTER 60~________