19

Soohyun parked his car at the entrance of the village. His father's tomb was located in the village where his father used to live. He was originally from the country side before he moved to the city to become a detective. He hadn't visited his dad's family after his mom got remarried. He just hoped they would welcome him with open arms.

"Hey, look! It's Kim Soohyun!" one of the villagers announced. He smiled and bowed in hello. "Aren't you lucky today. You finally get to meet her!" He didn't know what he was talking about but smiled and continued on.

"Soohyun's here! Soohyun's here!" was all that spread around the village. He was really popular in that village because of his good looks and his status due to his mother's remarriage.

Finally, he arrived at his grandfather's house. His grandfather's house was huge. He housed three families with two children each. It was all because of his father's earnings that the house was built like that. "Grandpa? Grandma?"

"Would you look at this!" He turned around to see his aunt. "Soohyun finally visits us."

"Aunt Seohyun!" he rushed over and she gave him a big hug. "How are you?"

"Could have been better. Man, those kids are sure a pain in the ." Soohyun chuckled. His aunt had no problem complaining about her children.

"Where are they now?"

"With the detective and their grandfather."

"The detective..?" Soohyun asked.

She realized what she just said and face palmed. She wasn't supposed to say that out loud! She had kept the secret for more than five years, so why did she mess up! "Oh God. Your granddad is going to kill me!"

"Aunt Seohyun...who are you talking about?"

She sighed in defeat. There was no point in hiding the fact anymore since the secret was already out. "There's a female detective that comes every year around your father's death anniversary. She started coming here around five years ago. She would come the day before, help us make the food and clean up around the house. Early in the morning she would go to his tomb and pay her respect. She leaves before we wake up and before you and your mom arrive."

"And why is that such a secret?"

"Because of your mom! That kid is scared of your mom. That's why we haven't said a thing to you. We didn't want your mom to be upset." Soohyun was confused. Who would come visit his father secretly? "Since she helped out each year, your granddad told her to come anytime she wanted. She's out on the fields where the twin trees are."

Soohyun trudged towards the field where his grandfather was. It was the field where he used to play in when he was younger and when his dad took him there every holiday. He enjoyed the fresh air once in a while. He thought the city air was suffocating. In the distance, he saw some people playing in the snow bank.

"Hey! Did I tell you not to throw snow at me or not?" Jisu yelled at the boy.

The boy stuck out his tongue. "You told me not to throw a snow ball! I merely threw a fistful at you!"

Jisu blew the bangs out of her eyes and smirked. "You're a one of words, aren't you?"

The boy around 10 shrugged. "I've been told."

"Unnie! We have to get him back!" a little girl yelled.

"Okay, let's get Min Guk, Yerim!" The little girl lunged at her older brother with a handful of snow. He tried running away as fast as he could but he couldn't outrun his younger and energetic sister. He fell down and she jumped on top of him. Then, Jisu pretended to jump on top of them, too. The siblings tried to dodge her and she landed on top of the white snow. The siblings laughed and doggy piled her.

"Grandpa! Noona! Yerim, Min Guk!" Two other boys appeared and they trudged towards the four. They had just come back from school. Yerim and Min Guk got off of Jisu and ran towards their two older cousins. Jisu stood up and patted the snow off her jacket. "Yah, you two rascals! You put snow down my jacket!"

The oldest boy laughed. "That's what you get for playing with these two. They never play by the rules."

"Gee, thanks for telling me this earlier, Youngjae," she said sarcastically.

"Me and hyung are always here to help when you're in need of trouble!" said Youngbae.

She groaned. "Why is that you siblings take each other's side? It's always two against one! I need some back up, too!"
"You've got me." Everyone's head turned towards the deep voice. Their eyes all widened except for Yerim and Min Guk who smiled and ran towards him. "Oppa! How come you're here so early?"

"Yeah! It's not February yet. It's far from February!"

Soohyun chuckled and rubbed the boy's head. "It's not that from February, Min Guk. I'm here to defend Jisu noona. If you two and the other two gang up on her, it wouldn't be fair, would it?" He stood up and smiled at the two brothers. "Yah, why are you two looking at me like that? It's like you've been caught doing something bad."

Suddenly, someone hit his back hard. He whipped his body around to see his grandfather. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to greet me first before you greet them!"

Soohyun sheepishly smiled. "I was just attracted to the fun?"

He sighed. "Who told you we were here? Your grandmother?"

"Aunt Seohyun," he answered without hesitation.

"That idiot," the older man mumbled. "Come on kids. Let's head back home."

Yerim went to Jisu's side while Min Guk went to Soohyun's side. "You all go on ahead. I have to talk to this pretty noona here first." Jisu couldn't stop the urge to roll her eyes.

"Aw," the two younger siblings groaned but went ahead anyways.

"Hyung, you're not going to tell Aunt Haeyeon, are you?" Youngjae asked. "Don't tell her," Youngbae added.

"Just go on you two. You should quickly go home before your mom accuses you of going to the arcade again." The two were hesitant but they eventually left. Once they got to a fair distance, he turned to Jisu. "What are you doing here?"
"Isn't that what I should be asking you? Today's not your dad's death anniversary."

"My question still remains. Why are you here interacting with my family?"

She sighed, "Look, if you're mad then I'm sorry but I will not stop visiting. I'll leave for now." She took a step but he pulled her back.

"Don't ignore the question. Answer me!"

"I'm on vacation, alright! I was allowed to come here any time I wanted so I came here to get some time off!"

"And who told you to get time off? Did I allow you to take a vacation?"

"Is that something you should be asking me right now?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be asking about how I got to know your father and why your mother accused me of killing him? Isn't that what you should be thinking also?" Instead of waiting for his answer, she answered her questions herself. She couldn't stand being interrogated by Detective Kim's family. It made her feel like she was the one who caused his death when in fact she was trying to solve the case. "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth. I rejected your request at first because you told me it was a closed case. I knew how difficult they were because I had two on my hands. I rejected you the second time because that's when I figured you were Detective Kim's son. I didn't want to get your hope up because of a case I worked a decade on. I chose to work on it the third time because I thought the culprit would stay close to you. I thought it would help me with the case. But you know what? Just forget it."

She walked away but he stopped her once again. "Where do you think you're going?" Soohyun called. "Is this what a bodyguard does? Leave her boss in the middle of nowhere?"

Jisu stopped and turned around. "I heard from Shi Yoon that he's your bodyguard now. You don't need me."

"We agreed on something. You are under me. I pay you. The company pays Shi Yoon. You are not to leave until I say you're off duty."

She frowned. "I don't know where you've been yesterday when your mom came in. She does not want me near you."

"But I do."

"Who do you believe? Me or mother?" she argued.

"I believe you," he said, surprising her. "I believe the girl who has attitude and the girl who is always making sarcastic remarks. I believe the girl who hated the boots I bought her and refused to let her cousin be involved in me. I believe the girl who protected me from those girls in the elevator and then threw herself back inside to get her face scratched and her hair pulled on her first day. I believe you and not my mom. Shall I say more?"

Jisu didn't say anything. Instead she just stared at him. At her intense eyes, Soohyun stared to blush but he couldn't look away. He made such a powerful speech and if he looked away, he would have looked like an idiot.

"I'm...I'm disappointed that you believe me and not your own blood." His mouth hung open. He mustered up his courage to say those words, and all she can say is, she's disappointed?! "But thank you. Thanks for believing me."

Jisu smiled and he thought his heart had stopped. He had never seen her smile at him before. She was always scowling and frowning towards him. He thought smiling suited her better than frowning. He wanted for her to smile more often.
"Are you coming?" she asked. "It's time to eat." Soohyun nodded and jogged towards her.

"Hey, noona! Look at me!" Min Guk said, showing her a funny face.

"No, no! Look at me," said Yerim who made another funny looking face.

"Hey, what are you two doing? Just eat!" said Daehyun, one of the older kids in the family.

The family had gathered to eat dinner but it wasn't very peaceful. In fact, it was the loudest dinner they ever had. Maybe it was because the aunts and uncles were talking to Soohyun who hadn't come back in a while or maybe it was the kids who kept talking to Jisu and trying to gain her attention while she tried to eat. Nevertheless, it was the noisiest dinner Jisu and Soohyun ever experienced. They didn't hate it though.

"Daehyun, where's your sister?" Jisu asked while the kids were preoccupied with each other.

"She's still in school. She has a college entry exam too study for."

"Right, it's that kind of year again. It's going to be your turn next year."

He shrugged. "That's next year. But it's too bad for her because her favorite cousin is back home and she's missing dinner with him," he mocked. She laughed and nudged him.

"But, noona," Youngbae spoke, "are you okay with Soohyun being here?" She looked down the table and saw him interacting freely with his aunts and uncles. She nodded, "Yeah. I'm fine. If it's not his mother then I'm fine."

That night was a sleepless night for the family. The younger ones were skipping school the next day, with permission from their parents. With the permission to do so, they stayed up late with Jisu and Soohyun. The most of them stayed with Jisu while Yoona stayed with her favorite cousin.

"How did you feel when you saw Jisu unnie here?"

"How did I feel?" Soohyun questioned.

Yoona nodded. "I mean, the whole village hasn't kept this secret for the past half a decade for nothing, you know. We hid the fact that the detective came every year because of your mom. She would have gone berserk!"

Soohyun chuckled, knowing it was true. "Well, I'm not my mom."

"That's why I'm asking!" she exclaimed.

Soohyun pondered about it. "I felt confused. I didn't know why she was here. I would have never thought she came every year for my dad's passing."

"Confused? You sound like you know her from somewhere."

"I do," he admitted. "She's my neighbor. She's the one working on my dad's case for me. She's my bodyguard."

"Whoa, what?!" she exclaimed, her eyes growing bigger. "She's your neighbor and she's working for you? How can this be? You two were practically forbidden to see each other and now you see each other every day?"

"Forbidden? What do you mean?" She waved her hand. "As in, she never wanted to see you or knew who you were. If she knew, she would feel indebted to you. She would feel guilty because you lost a father. When granddad offered to show her a family picture, she refused. She wasn't polite about it either. But she knew your mom because she came to uncle's award ceremony or something."

Now Soohyun understood. He thought it was almost close to impossible that she knew his mother and not him. Although he believed her before, now he wouldn't have to worry about Jisu ever lying to him.

"Time to sleep," Jisu said, making the younger ones groan. "We're going somewhere tomorrow and if you guys don't sleep, we won't go," she threatened.

Youngjae and Youngbae immediately got up and headed to their rooms with a goodnight. Min Guk and Yerim were led to their room by Daehyun. "Come on, Yoona," Jisu called. "We're going early tomorrow."

The other nodded. "Okay. Just call me when it's time. Goodnight oppa." She waved goodnight and headed to her room. Jisu left the room without saying anything to Soohyun but he stopped her. "Where do you sleep?" he asked. "The guest room?"

She nodded. "Used to. For the past two days."

"Used to?" he questioned.

"My bed is now the couch you're sitting on," she answered.

He raised his brow. "This? Why here?"

"Because I should let my boss sleep on the bed."

Soohyun almost smiled. Almost. "You're off. I don't work for more than 10 hours, so should you."

"I only worked since you got here."

He shrugged. "I'll let you off the hook." He stood up. "Get ready for bed. I'm going to get the pillow and blanket."

"Why would you get them for me?" she asked, not missing a beat.

"For you? I'm getting them for myself. I'm getting the couch. I told you, you're off for now."

She crossed her arms together. "Since I'm off the job, it gives me the more to stay away from the bed.

"...what?"

"I don't want to sleep in that room, knowing you're the one who sleeps in there every visit."

Soohyun frowned. "Then, where did you sleep the other times you've visited? On the couch?"

"No," she answered. "I slept on the bed."

"Then what the heck are you saying?"

"I visit before you and your mom come visit. Then the next year it's the same. I am the one who's in there before you and your mom, so it doesn't bother me. But now that you're here, I can't help but take in the fact you and your mom slept in there. It's uncomfortable."

"Why are you so rude? I'm telling you you can have the bed but you're telling me off.

"I thought you knew who I was. You sure did when you chose me over your mother." She walked up to him. "Well you know what? Don't think I was touched by what you said. Remember, I was disappointed. And don't think you know who I am because you really don't."

Soohyun scoffed and headed towards the guest room without a word. How did he even get his heart to beat for her? What the heck did he see in her that made him blush? She was the rudest woman he had ever met! A pretty face? Sure! A nice personality? Only in his dreams. He thought he was pretty shallow for liking a girl for her face. She had the personality no one likes. How did Kai get to like her? He said she doesn't really mean what she says? She looked serious to him.
Early in the morning, Soohyun woke up to some rustling outside his door. He wasn't normally a light sleeper. It was probably because he wasn't in his own home.

"Hurry up," he heard someone say. He got up and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the clock and noticed it was only six in the morning. Did Jisu plan to go somewhere so early? Nothing opened this early, unless she was planning a trip to the city to get there by noon. He got up and peaked out. He only saw Jisu and Yoona. The boys weren't there.

"Here," Yoona gave Jisu a bag. "Are you sure you can hold all of this? This is a lot of stuff."

Jisu nodded. "Just hold on to the flowers and make sure they don't break."

"But, are you okay? Sleeping on the couch is pretty uncomfortable. Why didn't you let Soohyun oppa sleep here? I'm sure he would be willing to."

"Here we are, rustling and talking. Who can sleep here with all this noise? He doesn't need to wake up to this."

Yoona nodded. "You're right. So you sent him off to the guest room?"

"Yeah. Your cousin must really like the couch. It was difficult to get him into the guest room."

Yoona giggled and opened the door. "He is a gentleman. That's why I like him."

Jisu smiled. "I guess you and my cousin are opposites. He likes rude people the most." Then, the two exited the house.
Soohyun understood now. She said all those things to get him into the guest room. She didn't want him to wake up in the living room. He shook his head with a small smile. "Maybe Kai was right. She has a weird way of saying things."