Two hours ago…

“Appa!”

Lee Yeo Jin ran towards Min Ho the moment she saw him walking into the house. It has been almost a week since she came to this place and stay with her grandparents after she was discharged from the hospital. This was the first time she has been to this house and she has no idea where is this place. She doesn’t understand why her father didn’t bring her to the house that she usually go to visit her grandparents. She tried to ask them but no one answer her. Although she promised her father that she would help him, but she really missed Shin Hye a lot. Why must she stay here with her grandparents and can’t be with Shin Hye in order to not lose her father? And why does her mother want to leave her father? She doesn’t understand.

A soft smile spread across Min Ho’s face the moment he heard Yeo Jin’s voice and saw the tiny figure running towards him. He opened his arms widely as Yeo Jin threw herself into his embrace. After a while, he gently pulled back and looked at his beautiful daughter.

“Do you miss appa?” He asked with another warm smile.

Yeo Jin nodded vigorously as she pouted her lips slightly. “Yeo Jin miss appa… but… Yeo Jin also missed eomma.” She paused and asked cautiously. “When can Yeo Jin go home to see eomma?”

Min Ho pressed his lips together as he looked upon her face, his one hand moving to her cheek. “Appa know you missed eomma… but… appa still need a little more time.”

Three days has passed since their unhappy discussion at Yuri’s place. He promised her that he will consider about the divorce and in these three days, Shin Hye keeps calling him. He didn’t answer any of it. Not that he want to break his promise, but he just needs more time to think. To be honest, he regretted right away after the word ‘consider’ slipped out his mouth on that night. What is there to consider? His heart is definitely not willing to let her go and he knows it very well that he wants her. He wants her to stay by his side like in the past and he wants her to be happy by being with him. It hurt so much whenever he thought about her tears and pain in those beautiful eyes. What has he done to her?

And then there is this Kim Rae Won… the man that makes the situation worse than it already was. Although he knows Shin Hye doesn’t feel anything for this man, but still he is a threat to their relationship. Women’s heart get soften very easily.

“Appa…” Yeo Jin’s voice brought him out from his deep thought as she continued. “Then when can Yeo Jin see eomma?”

Letting out a soft sigh, Min Ho didn’t reply her. He just gave her a light smile as he carried her tiny body in his arms, heading towards the stairs. “It’s late now. Have you finished your homework? Children have to sleep early and can’t stay up late. Let appa check your homework and then put you to bed.”

One hour later…

“Okay. It’s time to sleep now.”

After checking Yeo Jin’s homework and bath her, he patiently put her to bed as he took a seat beside her and took a storybook out from the bookshelf. “It’s our princess’s story time.” But before he could open the book and start reading, Yeo Jin reached out and grasped his hand.

“Appa…” Yeo Jin looked at him intently. “Yeo Jin doesn’t want to listen to story tonight. Can we just talk?”

Min Ho put the book down as he held her tiny hand, caressing it softly. “What do you want to talk?”

Yeo Jin bit her lip, staring at her father with a serious gaze. “If Yeo Jin go home to stay with eomma… am I… am I not going to see appa anymore? Is that the reason why… appa doesn’t want to let Yeo Jin go home? Are you worried… if I go home, eomma will not let Yeo Jin to see appa anymore?”

Min Ho was totally taken aback by her sudden words that make a shocked expression spread across his face. And without realizing, his grip around her hand tightened.

“N-No…” He said, his voice quivered slightly. He can clearly feel a pinch in his heart when he heard the fear in Yeo Jin’s voice. “You are my daughter. You will always get to see me. No one can ever stop you from seeing appa.”

“But then why can’t we go home and stay with eomma?” She asked again, and this time her eyes were reddened. “Although Yeo Jin doesn’t understand, but I know something is not right. Eomma never cry before. But that day… eomma cried so hard and Yeo Jin knows eomma is very sad.” She paused as tears started to pool in her eyes. “In the past, appa seldom come home. Eomma always sits alone in the room, looking at the ring on her finger. Yeo Jin doesn’t understand why but I know eomma is not happy. I asked ahjuhma and she said eomma missed appa.”

Yeo Jin looked up at Min Ho and tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. “Eomma is always not happy. Why is appa always not home? Ahjuhma said appa needs to work hard and earn a lot of money for Yeo Jin. But Yeo Jin doesn’t want a lot of money. Yeo Jin just wants appa and eomma to stay with me. Just like lately… appa always come home and eomma is always smiling. We are always together and eomma is very happy. But… everything changed after Yeo Jin is sick. Eomma doesn’t smile anymore. It is my fault, isn’t it? Because Yeo Jin got sick, eomma is angry at appa.”

“No…” Min Ho shook his head and quickly pulled Yeo Jin into his arms. His heart tore apart, and he bit his lip hard, his shoulders slightly shaking. He didn’t know that a five-year-old girl could have say something like this and thought that what is happening to them now is her fault. She must be so scared and insecure.

‘What have I done?’, he keep asking himself. A pang of guilt hit him hard. He suddenly felt extremely regret with what he did towards them all these years. He neglected them and missed the precious moment being with them. His wife is deeply hurt, disappointed and giving up on him. And here… his daughter is blaming herself for everything that caused by him.

“It’s not your fault.” He said as he gently pulled her out of his embrace and looked at her. “Don’t cry.” His fingers moved to her face and wiped her tears away. “Appa promise Yeo Jin. No matter what happen, appa will bring eomma back and all of us will stay together… forever.”

Yeo Jin smiled with her teary eyes as she nodded her head before throwing herself into Min Ho’s arms again.

This is a promise… and this time… he will keep his words.

After about half an hour comforting Yeo Jin, she finally fell asleep. When Min Ho came out from her room, he was surprised to see his mother, Han Jae Eun standing at the hallway waiting for him.

“Is she asleep?” She asked.

Min Ho nodded softly as he walked towards her. “Are you waiting for me? Anything you want to say?”

Han Jae Eun stared at her son for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. “Sometimes, I’ll ask myself… did I make a mistake? If I know things will become like this, I will not force you to marry Shin Hye.”

A light sarcastic chuckle escaped Min Ho’s lips. “Don’t you think it’s a little too late to regret now? Pain… has long been created. There is no turning back.”

“But I don’t regret choosing Shin Hye as your wife.” Han Jae Eun said with a firm tone. “Shin Hye is a good woman. She is a good wife… a good mother. But I just don’t understand why can’t you see this and try to love her. If you are still angry because of what happened six years ago, then you should put the blame on me. It was me who trapped you that night. It has nothing to do with Shin Hye.” She paused and inhaled a deep breath, guilt evident on her face. “I really feel sorry for her. Because of my mistake, she has to bear the consequences all these years.”

“I don’t need anyone to tell me what kind of woman she is.” Min Ho said, looking into his mother’s eyes. “I have no doubt that she is a good wife, a good mother. And about what happened six years ago…” He paused, clenching his jaw before letting out a long breath. “… yes, I admit I was angry with that incident… but I know it wasn’t her fault.”

“Then what is wrong with her?” Han Jae Eun asked, unable to understand the reason why her son couldn’t love a decent woman like Shin Hye. “Why can’t you try to know her more… try to love her? She is…”  

“Who told you I didn’t try?” Min Ho cut her off, his voice sounds displeased. “If I didn’t try to love her, why do you think I need to keep Yeo Jin away from her? I should be more than happy when she wants a divorce. I can accept the divorce and just fight for Yeo Jin’s custody. With our family’s power in Korea, do you think I can’t win over a child’s custody?” He paused again and inhaled a sharp breath. “But I didn’t. What I’m doing now… is fighting for my family… fighting for her… fighting to be with her.”

Han Jae Eun parted her lips, but for a moment she found no words could form in . Min Ho is her son and she understands her son very well. Looking at the gaze in his eyes, she knows he is serious. Although his feeling towards Shin Hye might not be love yet, but maybe… maybe one day he will fall deeply for her.

And just when Han Jae Eun wanted to ask further, the sound of the ringing phone breaking down the silence. It was Min Ho’s phone.

Min Ho took his phone out from his pocket and just when he thought the call was from Shin Hye again, he was wrong. His eyebrows knitted together as he saw the name on the screen. He consider for a moment before he finally answered the call.

“Yoboseyo…”

“Lee Min Ho!”

The furrow between his brows immediately deepened when he heard Kwon Yuri’s loud shouting voice.

“If you are still a human, come to my apartment right now.”

He felt his heart dropped into his stomach as his face turned ashen. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. S-Shin Hye… she fainted.”

Min Ho’s eyes widened in shock and without wasting any more time to reply her, he cut the line off and ran to the stairs.

“Min Ho… what’s wrong?” Han Jae Eun asked worriedly, but by the time she looked down the stairs, Min Ho has already disappeared.
 

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Hospital…

Min Ho paced back and forth outside the hospital ER, clearly worried and distressed. When he arrived at Yuri’s house and saw Shin Hye lying lifelessly on the bed, he almost loses his control and wanted to shout at Yuri for not taking good care of her. But he didn’t waste time saying anything and straightaway carried Shin Hye to his car, rushing to the hospital.

Thirty minutes has passed since Shin Hye was sent into the ER and his face seemed to grow paler with each passing second. While he was waiting impatiently outside the room, he didn’t realize that Yuri was standing at the side watching him quietly.

Looking at his expression, Yuri was completely confused and couldn’t understand this man at all. If Shin Hye is right that Min Ho doesn’t love her, then why does he look so worried, as if the woman inside is someone very precious and important to him? If he really doesn’t love her, why doesn’t he just agree with the divorce and get rid of her? It doesn’t make sense at all.

And there is only one possibility to answer all this confusions. Could it be… Shin Hye was wrong all this while? Could it be… Min Ho love her too, but he just doesn’t want to admit? She is a woman, she believe woman’s intuition. She can clearly see the strong emotion in his eyes.

After a short moment of consideration, Yuri decided to find out the answer. She slowly walked towards Min Ho and stopped beside him. “If you continue to act like you really care, I will misunderstand that you are actually worried about her.”

Min Ho turned to look at her with a murderous gaze. “The woman inside is my wife. What is wrong that I’m worried about her?”

“Wife?” Yuri smirked sarcastically. “Of course there is nothing wrong if both of you are a normal married couple. But we all know that both of you are not.” She paused and seriously stared into his eyes. “Do you love her?”

Taking a deep breath, Min Ho’s lips pressed into a brim line. His expression clearly revealed agitation. “Love her or not, it has nothing to do with you.”

“Wae?” Yuri’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why won’t you answer my question?”

“Because it’s none of your business. I have no obligation to answer anybody.” Min Ho said egotistically. 

Another sarcastic chuckle scoff from Yuri’s lips. “Is it really none of my business… or… you are just avoiding my question?” She took a step closer to Min Ho as the smile on her face vanished. “Deep inside your heart… you already have the answer. You are just too coward to admit that you actually love..”

“Shut up!” Min Ho raised his voice uncontrollably, cutting her sentence off.

“Lee Min Ho!” Yuri shouted back. “It has been 7 years already. The woman that you called your wife has loved you for the passed 7 years without any regret. She spent her most precious time just waiting for you. And what were you doing all these years? Except for taking care of people’s wife and son, what else have you ever give her? Don’t you think her sacrifice is worth at least an answer from you?”

With hand clenched tightly at both sides, Min Ho glared at Yuri, chest heaving. Every word that came out from makes him clearly feel his blood boiling under his skin. He hates everything she said, but yet… he couldn’t find a single word to fight back. He was totally speechless as his lips sets into a grim line.

Letting out a long, breathy sigh, Yuri continued when she didn’t get any reply from him. “If your answer is no, if you don’t love her… then let her go. Divorce her and let her live a new life without you.” She paused and bit her bottom lip. “But if your answer is yes, if you really love her… then tell her. Don’t let the stupid woman inside continue to think that the man she loves for so long doesn’t feel anything for her. Don’t torture her and ignore your true feeling just because of your anger and resentment towards this forced marriage.”

Anger and resentment?

Min Ho chuckled silently. Maybe she is right. Until now, although he clearly know that he likes Shin Hye, but he still not dare to open his heart completely. He is avoiding because once he open up to face his feeling for Shin Hye, he will have to admit that his parents were right from the beginning. He has to admit defeat. Maybe… this is the main reason for him being so stubborn. He was still angry with his parents interfering his life, arranged his marriage and controlled his future.

“What happened 7 years ago…”

Yuri’s voice was heard once again, snapping him out of his deep thoughts. 7 years ago?

 “… it was a misunderstanding.” Yuri continued.

“What misunderstanding?” Min Ho asked, his brows furrowed.

Yuri bit her lip hard, struggling whether to tell him or not. Shin Hye has been hiding the truth all these years and she knows Shin Hye should be the one who tell him if she wants him to know. But… she cannot stand watching her best friend continue to torture herself anymore.

“That night… when Choi Soo Young rejected you, when you were deadly drunk…”

Min Ho’s eyes squinted upon hearing what she said. How did she know about that night? He remembered very clearly that they were alone when he confessed to Soo Young and she rejected him. He indeed was deadly drunk that night. And when he woke up the next morning, he was already in a hotel room and found the mysterious earing. He slept with a girl that he couldn’t remember who. But… he never told anybody about this before. It’s not possible that Yuri will know about the incident. Unless… she was also there.

“How do you know…”

He wanted to ask Yuri further, but his question was cut off when the ER’s door suddenly opened and a doctor came out together with a nurse.

“May I know who is Park Shin Hye’s family member?” The doctor asked.

Min Ho and Yuri quickly rushed to him as Min Ho answered impatiently. “I’m her husband. What is wrong with my wife?”

The doctor turned to Min Ho and gave him a light smile. “No worries. Nothing too serious.”

“But she fainted at home.” Min Ho interjected sharply, looking unconvinced.

“Basically, there are few reasons that caused her to pass out.” The doctor begins to explain. “She looked tired and her blood sugar level is very low. This can be caused by lack of sleep and skipping meals.”

Min Ho turned to glare at Yuri, as if blaming her that all this happened because of her.

“Yah! Don’t look at me. You are the one who caused her to have insomnia and no appetite.” Yuri snapped, rolling her eyes.

“This is unhealthy especially with her condition now.” The doctor continued. “Although this is normal to some of the women at the early stage, but to prevent encountering more problems in the next few months, it’s advisable that she could get a lot of rest and have proper meals.”

Min Ho looked at the doctor in confusion. “For the next few months? What… what does it mean?”

The doctor smiled. “It means… you are going to be a father soon. Congratulations, your wife is 5 weeks pregnant.”

“What? Pregnant?”

Min Ho and Yuri asked together, they looked at the doctor with identical expressions of shock. And because of this unexpected news, Min Ho has totally forgotten about his incomplete conversation with Yuri a while ago.

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After Shin Hye was transferred to the normal ward, Yuri went home to pack some clothes and toiletries for Shin Hye while Min Ho stay in the room to keep her accompanied.

Min Ho took a seat beside the bed, watching intently at Shin Hye who was still unconscious. He gently caressed her cheek with his thumb as a smile slowly curved his lips.

She is pregnant… pregnant with his second kid. Is this how a man would feel when his wife is pregnant and knowing that he is going to be a father… again? The feeling is… unexplainable. The moment when the doctor announced about the pregnancy, he was totally dumbfounded, stunned. He wasn’t there when she found out that she was pregnant with Yeo Jin last time. So he doesn’t know that it would so… happy.

As Min Ho was still immersed in his happiness, he saw Shin Hye’s long lashes fluttered, and her eyes slowly opened. He straightened himself up as his eyes nailed on her face.

Shin Hye slowly opened her eyes to see the clean and white ceiling on top of her. She blinked her eyes a few times as she finally recovered her full consciousness only to realize she was lying on a bed, in a room that looked familiar. This place is her workplace… the hospital.

“Arghhh…” She winced in pain when she tried to pull herself up. Her head was still spinning.

Min Ho felt fear clenched his heart as he quickly moved closer to her and held her hand, stopping her from sitting up. “Careful…”

Her body froze altogether, feeling a firm grip on her wrist as the familiar voice echoed into her ear. She slowly turned to her right side and she immediately held her breath to see Min Ho looking at her.

“You are awake.” He said, a relie