Chapter 14

BREAKING NEWS: LION INDUSTRIES CEO HAS NOW BEEN ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL AND SPECULATIONS SAY THAT HE’LL ONLY HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS TO LIVE. HE HAS NOT ANNOUNCED WHO THE HEIR TO HIS GREAT EMPIRE IS AND IT LOOKS LIKE HE’S RUNNING OUT OF TIME.

“Aren’t you going to visit your father?” Eunji  asked him.

“No,” he replied.

“He’s still your father,” she said.

“You’re one to talk,” he spatted carelessly.

“You’re right,” she said, her voice sounding low.

They sat on the living room couch in silence. They were waiting for the Saturday gag show they always watched on Saturday evenings. Eunji knew about Daehyun’s father but they never really discussed the details of his family. He didn’t like bringing it up and Eunji respected that decision. But still, she couldn’t help but be curious and worried about Daehyun.

He leaned on her shoulder as the show started. They began laughing, forgetting about the conversation they had earlier. These were the moments that they wished would last forever. Eunji who was also cuddling Kekemato in her arms, feeding him small slices of carrots. Their trance was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. Daehyun stood up to open it.

“Jung Daehyun?”

“How did you know I was here?” Daehyun interrupted the man standing in front of the door.

“That’s not important right now, what’s important right now-“

“I don’t care” he cut in and pushed the door close but before he could, the man kicked the door open and grabbed Daehyun by the wrist. He locked  both Daehyun’s arms by the back and pushed him down the floor, holding him down. Daehyun struggled and kicked but the man was too strong to budge.

“Your childish street fighting won’t work on me, Jung Daehyun.”

Eunji rushed to Daehyun’s side.

“Daehyun!”

“I won’t hurt your girlfriend and I don’t want to harm you either. Your father wants to see you, so I either force you to the hospital or you willingly go with me.”

“And what if I choose neither?”

“Then I have no choice but to use your girlfriend against you.”

Eunji stood frozen still holding Kekemato in her arms in fear. Daehyun looked at her. He couldn’t afford losing Eunji, let alone make her suffer. He sighed and eased.

“I’ll go.”

Eunji didn’t like hospitals. It brought back bad memories of beeping noises and eerie clinking sounds. She especially didn’t like whailing infant noises. She wanted to close her eyes and cover her ears. Daehyun noticed her discomfort and placed the earphones he was wearing on her ears. She held her hand and softly whispered, “It’s fine. Don’t be scared.”

She didn’t hear it but she didn’t have to.

She squeezed it back gently.

Daehyun’s father sat on his bed watching the news on TV. It had been a long time since Daehyun saw his father in person. It had been eight years since he ran away from home. His father looked skinnier and paler than the last time he saw him. He wasn’t scared of his father anymore. He was more angry than scared. He didn’t want to face him nor did he want to inherit the company he worked so hard to train him for. He didn’t want any of his wealth. He wanted that it would all go down with him.

“Daehyun,” his father turned to his direction.

“What do you want with your illegitimate child?” he cut him off bluntly. “Aren’t your legal children good enough for you?”

“Still as childish as always I see. Aren’t you already twenty-one?”  his father said in his usual stern voice.

“I don’t want it. Any of it. How many times do I have to tell you? How many men do I have to fight for you to actually listen to me?”

Eunji hung the earphones on her neck. She looked back and forth between Daehyun and his father. They stopped holding hands when they both went inside the room. Her hand would have been crushed if they were still in that position at that moment. Daehyun looked enraged.

“Its funny how you ran away because you wanted to experience the world and yet, you do not understand the half of it.”

“Please tell me what I do not understand, CEO-nim?” he gave his father a snarky look.

“The consequences of not running my company. How many lives you will ruin, how many people you will disappoint and how many children you will starve.”

His father’s point dawned on him. He didn’t want his father to know he won. He didn’t want to go back to him no matter what. His pride wouldn’t let him. So what if the company went down?

Thinking about that possibility made him sick. He didn’t want people to go down with his dad.

His mind was all jumbled. And without knowing, his feet started moving and he left the room.

“JUNG DAEHYUN!”

Eunji was about to go after him but she stopped and turned to Daehyun’s father first.

“Take care of my son. The kind of world we live in is really lonely and he might need someone to lean on but if you are also like him, disfunctional and broken then its best that you stay away from him or else, you too will be like his mother.”

Eunji bowed in respect and left without a word.

She didn’t expect Daehyun’s life was really heavy. She probably didn’t understand how much a child had to work in order to meet that kind of expectation. The expectation of holding a thousand lives in his hands. That was probably the reason why he wanted to run away.

Daehyun waited outside the hospital. He sat on the bench staring up at the dark sky filled with twinkling stars. Eunji sat beside him. The air they shared was filled with silence but it wasn’t uncomfortable silence. They just needed time to feel light again.

They needed to feel like they weren’t falling down a never ending pit called reality.