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Chapter 2: All of Me – February 19 – 26, 2022

“Seokie, Heejin, Kookie and I discussed it, and we were wondering if you would like to get married in our secret garden?”  Yunyeong’s face was blanketed by a sweet expression. “It’ll be a little cool out still, but the forecast for next Saturday is bright sunshine and a high close to sixty degrees.  It would be a lovely setting.”

Yunyeong was sitting on a couch next to Jungkook.  They were holding hands.  Yunseok and Heejin were sitting on the love seat situated perpendicular to their couch.  Yunseok had picked up Heejin’s hand and set it on his knee.  Then his fingers had come down to rest atop her hand.  He squeezed it momentarily as he glanced at her to gauge her reaction to Yuni’s offer.

“What do you think?”

She was awestruck.  “You’re talking about the garden that Jungkook built for you?”

Yunyeong nodded.  “Yes.  Here.  I have some pictures of it in my phone.”  She passed it to Heejin.

Her face revealed her wonder.  “It’s beautiful!”

Yunyeong grimaced.  “Well, this time of year, it won’t look like that.  It’s pretty bare bones right now.  But Yun and I could decorate it with ribbons and fabric flowers.  It would be prettier at the end of March, but I know you don’t want to wait that long to marry.”

Heejin glanced up at Yunseok.  “What do you think, Seok?  Could you wait a few more weeks to marry me?”

His eyebrows flew up.  “Is it important to you?  Do you want to marry in their garden as everything is turning green?”

Heejin gazed at Yunseok.  The allure of a pretty wedding couldn’t be denied, but as her eyes delved into his, she realized that the only thing that really mattered to her was being with him.  She really loved him.  And she was beginning to desire him more each day.  She had no desire to test him beyond his limits.  Or herself either.

“Yuni, you are wonderful to offer us such a gift.  But I really don’t want to wait to marry Seok.  For one thing, I don’t want to give my appa the opportunity to drive us apart or to try to force me to marry anyone else.  I want to get married next week.”

Yunseok grinned.  “Me too.  But thank you.  Both of you.”

Yunyeong queried, “So where are you going to get married?”

Heejin glanced at Yunseok.  “We have no idea.”

“Why don’t you get married here?” They all turned to watch the triplets’ mother enter the room.  “In our home?” she continued.

Yunseok glanced from his eomma to his fiancé.  But his first question was directed at his mother.

“Where would we hold the ceremony?”

“In here.  We could push the couches up against the walls.  And you could hold the ceremony right here in the living room.  Heejin could wait in Yuni’s room, and she and Yuni could enter by the hallway.”

Heejin laughed suddenly as she thought of getting married in her appa’s opulent home with its grand, spiral staircase.  She was contrasting it with this humble home.  And thinking how appalled her appa would be if he ever discovered that she had married Seok in this rather ordinary room.  All eyes turned towards her.

“I think it’s a delightful idea.  Thank you.”  She glanced at Yunseok.  “Let’s do it!  Let’s get married here.”

Surprised, he quirked his eyebrows.  “Are you sure?”

She nodded.  “I meant it, Seok.  I don’t need a fancy wedding.  I just need you.  Yuni and I found our dresses today.  And I ordered our bouquets.  You’ve got your tux and Jungkook’s rented.  All we need to do now is figure out the reception meal.”  She grinned at him.  “This is the perfect location. After all…our first date was here.  In the kitchen.”

Yunseok chuckled.  “I would love to get married here.  If you’re sure you’re okay with it?”

Heejin nodded.

“And don’t worry about your wedding meal.  You just tell me what you want, and I’ll cook it,” his eomma added.

Heejin glanced at her with tears in her eyes.  “Are you sure?  You’re doing so much to help us already.”

“Sweetheart, you’re about to become my daughter.  This is a momentous occasion and completely worthy of all my efforts.  For you both.”

Heejin was overwhelmed.  She wanted to give the sweet woman a hug.  But she had never really been touched affectionately by her parents, so she found the situation somewhat awkward.  She murmured her thanks instead.  But Yunseok was used to hugs, so he jumped off the couch and crossed the room to gather his mother up against him.

“Thank you, Eomma,” he breathed into her hair.

“You’re welcome, son,” she whispered as her own eyes flooded with tears.  Her baby boy was getting married in one week!

—

A car pulled up in front of Mrs. Wang’s house at half past noon.  A gorgeous, young man climbed from behind the driver’s seat.  He approached her front door with awe as his eyes took in the impressive structure.  But his face was a blank slate.  He rapped loudly on the door a moment later.  It was answered by an austere butler after a few silent seconds.

“I am here to pick up Mrs. Wang,” Tae explained.

The butler led him into the sitting room.  A few moments later, Heejin’s mother entered the room.  A quizzical expression was darkening her face.

“Young man, who are you?”

“I’m Tae.  I’m Heejin’s friend.  She sent me to pick you up for your outing with her.”

She raked him with her piercing eyes.  “I am not about to get into a car with a man I don’t know.”

Just then, her phone chimed.  She glanced at the text message.

“Eomma, please don’t ask Tae any questions.  Just let him drive you to meet with me.  I know that you will be very disappointed if you don’t come today.  I’ll see you soon.  I’ll explain everything when you arrive.”

Mrs. Wang stared in consternation at her phone.  “All right, young man.  I’ll go with you.  Let’s leave now.”

Tae sighed and decided Jungkook had gotten the easier assignment today.

—

Jungkook stared at Yunseok.  “You clean up nice,” he grinned at his brother-in-law.

Yunseok eyed his reflection in the mirror.  “Do you really think so?  You think Heejin will like me?”

Jungkook chuckled, revealing his chubby teeth as he scrunched up his cute nose.  “I think that girl already likes you.  You’ve got nothing to worry about, man.”  He slapped his hand down onto Yunseok’s shoulder.

Yunseok turned towards him.  “Thanks, Jungkook, for agreeing to be my best man.”

“Of course.  Anything for family,” Jungkook murmured.  

Then he turned to head for the living room.  The ceremony was set to begin in an hour.

—

Mrs. Wang climbed out of the ordinary car.  She was a little disgusted.  She’d found a sticky spot on the seat next to her as she’d ridden in silence through the congested streets of Busan.  At least, the young man driving the car had refrained from turning on any of that irritating pop music that all the young people seemed to be listening to these days.  She’d passed a quiet twenty minutes staring out the window as she watched the passing traffic and wondered what on earth her daughter was up to today.

What had gotten into Heejin of late?  First, she’d refused her appa’s choice of husband.  Then, she’d quit her job.  Next, she’d moved out of their house and in with a strange man.  Finally, he had announced they were getting married.

Was he a fortune hunter?  Was he after her daughter only for what he could get out of her?  If he was, then he was headed for a rude awakening.  Heejin had cut herself completely off from her appa and his wealth when she had run out the door with that bold, young man.  She wouldn’t get one won out of her father now.  

But her eomma missed her.  And she was worried about her.  What if this man didn’t love her?  How could he possibly care for her after such a short acquaintance? 

Mrs. Wang had made her own mistake when she’d climbed into a bed with a married man.  When, a few short months later, his frail wife had died and he had asked his mistress to marry him, she had readily accepted, believing her dreams were about to come true.  But she had been quickly disillusioned.  His passion for her had cooled before they’d even been married a year.  She had spent the subsequent years growing weak from bitterness as she watched him turn his attention to younger, prettier girls. 

Having craved his lost attention, in her pursuit of her husband’s affections, she had neglected her daughter.  Fearing him, she had never come to her daughter’s defense when he had beaten the girl.  Now her eomma realized that she barely knew her own child.  And for some reason, it pained her.

Perhaps she was afraid Heejin was bound to repeat her eomma’s mistakes.  Would she end up as miserable as her own mother had been all these years?  Trapped in a loveless marriage with a cold-hearted and cruel man?

Her consternation only grew as she stepped out of the car and stared at the rather average house in front of which the young man had parked the vehicle.  She glanced sharply at him as he began to escort her to the front door.

“Where are we?” she asked caustically.

“I’m going to let Heejin explain that,” he murmured before flashing a dazzling grin her way.  

His chocolate eyes seemed to twinkle at her.  For a moment, she felt her heart skip a beat.  She sighed in disappointment.  Even at her advanced age, she still wasn’t immune to the charms of a handsome man.

—

The elegant hand of that gorgeous man reached up to open the door to the house.  Mrs. Wang followed him into a living room that had been transformed by flowers and chairs into a makeshift chapel.   Men in black tuxedos sat on the couches lining the room.  They seemed to match her driver of today.  She glanced curiously at him.

“Where is my daughter?”

As Tae turned towards her, she suddenly heard the voice of the one for whom she was looking.

“Yun, can you see if my eomma is here yet?”

Then a muffled sound and a voice erupting with laughter.  Mrs. Wang felt her heart dip as she realized that laugh belonged to her daughter.  She felt a pang as she recognized that she hadn’t heard that sound in years.  Heejin sounded almost…carefree.  The way her mother had been before she’d met Mr. Wang.  What she would have given to fully remember that feeling herself!

A moment later, a young woman with long, dark gold hair came meandering down a hallway.  Her eye caught Mrs. Wang’s, and she grinned.

“Hello!” she greeted her brightly.  “You must be Heejin’s eomma!  She is excited to see you.”  That wasn’t precisely true.  Yunseong would have more aptly described her as nervous about seeing her mother, but Mrs. Wang didn’t need to know that.  “I’m Yunseong.  Please come with me.”  

The young woman turned around again.  Mrs. Wang followed her for lack of a better option.  They wandered down a hall before entering an open doorway.  But before they reached the room, she heard her daughter’s voice raised in concern.

“Yuni, do you think she’ll be angry with me?”

“I think she’ll take one look at how happy you are with my brother and realize that he’s a good fit for you.  Especially, when she sees how good he treats you.”

A moment later, Mrs. Wang was sailing through that doorway, but nothing had prepared her for the vision that met her eyes.  She came to a standstill on the other side of the threshold as her eyes collided with her daughter’s.  Heejin was clearly dressed in a wedding gown.

“Eomma!” she exclaimed, startled that her mother had materialized so quickly.  But then her face broke into a wide smile.  “I’m glad you were free today.”  Her eyes traveled down her mother’s outfit.  “And you dressed just perfectly.”

“What is this?” her eomma asked sharply.  

She actually recognized exactly what this was, but she was slightly terrified of having to face her husband’s reaction when he discovered that his wife had attended their daughter’s wedding without him.  She cringed just thinking about it.

“Eomma, I’m marrying Seok today.  And I didn’t want you to miss it.”

Mrs. Wang’s eyes widened at her daughter’s admission.  “Don’t do it!  Your appa will be furious!”

Heejin sighed.  “Appa’s fury is no longer my concern, Eomma.  It is, in fact, half the reason I moved out of his house.”

That stopped her mother cold.  “Half?”  Was she the other reason?

Heejin’s gaze wavered.  Her eyes slid towards the mirror to her right.  “Mmhmm.”

“What was the other reason?” Mrs. Wang asked.

Heejin’s eyes lifted to meet those of the other girl who had been standing with her in the room when Mrs. Wang entered it.  That girl, who looked very similar to the girl who had greeted her in the living room, suddenly spoke up. 

“Heejin, I’ll give you some time alone with your eomma.”

Heejin shot her a terrified glance that lanced Mrs. Wang.  Her own daughter was afraid of her?

“Don’t!” Heejin exclaimed.  Her hand shot out to grab Yunyeong by the wrist.  “Please stay with us!” she begged urgently.

Yunyeong’s face fell.  “At least, let me shut the door.”

“Young lady, who are you?” Mrs. Wang asked suddenly, exasperated.

The pretty girl smiled at her as she stepped forward.  “I’m Yunyeong.  I’m Yunseok’s sister.  It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“I can’t quite say the same thing to you,” Mrs. Wang answered rudely.  “You all have me at quite a disadvantage.”

“I know,” Yunyeong responded sympathetically, “but there was no other way for us to achieve this peacefully.”

She crossed the room and shut the door.  Mrs. Wang stared in consternation at her daughter.

“What does she mean, Heejin?”

“Appa is determined to marry me to Beopdung, Eomma.  But that is never happening!  I will not marry a man who has no love for me but does have a love for bedding other girls!”

Mrs. Wang felt like she’d been slapped.  She gasped.  But her daughter hadn’t meant to hold a mirror up to her soul.  

“Eomma, he’s Eunho’s best friend.  There is no way he can be a good man.  Do you know your stepson very well?”

There was a quality in Heejin’s voice that alerted her mother.  

“What is that supposed to mean?” Mrs. Wang whispered, suddenly very afraid of the words that were about to come out of her daughter’s mouth.

Heejin swallowed, but then she met her eomma’s gaze head-on.  “He hurt me, Eomma.  Many times when I was a child.  And once when I was eleven.  He climbed into my bed in the middle of the night and—”

“Stop!” her mother’s voice cut her off.  “Don’t say any more!  I don’t want to hear it!  I don’t want to hear your lies!”

Heejin stared at her mother in despair.  Tears welling in her eyes.

“She’s not lying,” came Yunyeong’s quiet voice from behind her.  “I can attest to the truth of her words.  For he did worse to me when I was dating him six years ago.  He raped me.”

Heejin stared in astonishment at Yuni.  She had just spilled her greatest secret to her mother!

Mrs. Wang turned to look at the quiet girl leaning up against the door.  But before she could say anything to her, Heejin rushed on.

“He didn’t rape me, Eomma.  But he did touch me and threaten me and hold me down.  He’s not a good guy.  He was in that room with his friends moments after they raped Haewon.  Why do you think he entered that room?  You have to know what he’s like.  And what his friends – including Beopdung – are like.”

Her mother argued, “Eunho married Haewon.  He clearly loves her.”

“Of course, he does!  She’s the one untarnished thing in his life!  He has always loved her!  But she is the only pure thing in his life.  He has never had any love for the rest of us!  Certainly not for me!”

Mrs. Wang stared at her.  Her statement wasn’t true.  As a tiny boy, he had adored his baby sister.  Until her mother had begun to beat him as retribution against her husband.  They had both done horrible things to their children.  Mrs. Wang recognized that, though she had never raised a hand against her own child, she had helped to create the monster who had.  And their appa had beaten them both.

“Eomma!  Please!  I want you here at my wedding! And you know why I couldn’t invite Appa.  But…will you please stay?  I don’t want to shut you out of my life.”

She looked at her daughter’s beseeching eyes and caved in.  She nodded her head.  Then her eyes swept her daughter from head to toe before she spoke.

“You look absolutely captivating, Heejin.    If that boy isn’t already eating his heart out for you, he soon will be.”

“Oh, he already is.  Believe me,” Yunyeong grinned.

—

She was stunning.  

That was Yunseok’s first thought as he glimpsed his bride walking towards him.  She had come down the hallway from Yuni’s room and stepped into his parents’ living room.  Heejin entered to the swelling music and came to stand next to him.  And in front of his sister.  Yuni was dressed in a beautiful, emerald gown and was simply captivating.  But Heejin was radiant.  Yunseok couldn’t take his eyes off of her.  He stared in awe at her, glorious in white satin.

He bent towards her and inhaled as he closed his eyes.  Tangerines.  He felt the comfort of her presence wrapping around him.  Tonight she would be fully his.  He almost couldn’t wait.  

He had possessed his soul – and his body – in patience now for several weeks.  But tonight the wait would be over.  At long last.  He could slip between the sheets with her and finally claim all of her as his very own.  He was giddy with excitement, but he reined it in to concentrate on the recitation of his vows.  He opened his eyes to drink in her beauty once more as he prepared to speak his devotion over her.

Heejin turned her head to gaze at her groom.  Seok was breathtaking in a black tuxedo.  The crisp, white shirt contrasted perfectly with the black coat and matching slacks.  But his outfit wasn’t what drew her eye.  

His gorgeous face was what attracted her notice.  Seok had always been handsome.  But his outfit seemed meant only to intensify the effect of his midnight hair as it fell rakishly over his forehead.  Also, his obsidian eyes seemed to sparkle as he gazed at her.  An expression of supreme tenderness bathed both his countenance and his eyes in an otherworldly light that continued to draw her in.  She wanted to drown in his embrace.  And tonight she would be free to.  She could hardly wait!  

She bent all her attention on the task of reciting her vows.  But she continued to enjoy the beauty of the man standing next to her.  Both his outward allure and his inner heart.  Heejin knew she could not have chosen a better man.  Or a sweeter one.

—

Her eomma was the only one sitting on her side of the room.  Until Yunseong came and plopped herself down next to her.  She was holding her baby daughter in her arms.  Mrs. Wang glanced sideways at the tiny baby.  And the years fell away.  

Heejin was just a few months old the first time Mrs. Wang questioned her husband’s fidelity.  She remembered it like it was yesterday.  She’d been lying in bed nursing her daughter when he’d suddenly entered the room and glanced at them dispassionately.

“I’m headed out.  I’ve got a late business dinner tonight.  Don’t wait up.”

She hadn’t suspected anything.  Until she awoke in the middle of the night to him sliding into bed.  Smelling different.  Feminine.  Her husband never smelled feminine.  She had felt her heart sinking.  Why had she believed an adulterer would be faithful to her?

At the outset of their relationship, his excuse for pursuing Ahin had been that his wife was too frail to endure his advances.  He’d told Ahin that his wife had only a few months to live and could no longer occupy his bed with him.  He had wept in front of her and sought her comfort.  At least, that’s what she’d believed at the time.  

It was over two years before she realized that he had played her.  Quite expertly.  His cheeks still wet with his sorrow, he’d bent towards her sympathetic self and claimed her lips with his own.  Fool that she’d been, she’d eventually allowed him to coax her into his bed.  Now she suspected that he had never had any love in his heart for any of them.  Not for his first wife.  Certainly not for Ahin herself.  And not for the scores of girls he had invited into his bed since he’d married Ahin.  

The man was made of money.  He could afford to lavish if not time then tempting gifts upon his mistresses.  He didn’t lack for charm either when he wanted something that he believed could be had through a little friendly persuasion.  Or an enticing seduction.  He drew girls to himself like honey attracted flies.  But once a girl was on his bad side, there was little hope for her.  Ahin had found that out too.  Eventually.  

She was still terrified of him.  And his monstrous temper.  Even now she was trembling as she imagined facing him and admitting that she had been at Heejin’s wedding.  Would he pull his belt from the closet?  He hadn’t used it on her in over a year.  She’d been very careful not to test his temper.  And he’d been distracted by a young beauty he’d been pursuing of late.  

Ahin would have broken away long ago, but she had nowhere to turn.  No one to whom to run.  He had supplied her every need since she’d married him.  Her material needs anyway.  Certainly not her emotional ones.  She hadn’t worked a job since she was quite young.  She wouldn’t even know where to start in providing for herself.  And she had no home to which to return. 

She had also been afraid he would keep their daughter from her.  Ahin had always feared that.  Since Heejin was about a year old and he had threatened to hide her away if Ahin didn’t do as he asked.  In their bed.  And out of it.  

In consequence, knowing there was a very real possibility that someday she’d return home from a shopping trip or a meal out with a friend to discover her daughter had been taken somewhere, Ahin had begun to distance herself emotionally from Heejin.  Even when she was still a tiny girl.  Ahin had wanted to insulate herself against such a horrid pain as losing her child would have caused.  

She had also desired to give Heejin the strength to stand on her own two feet.  Just in case her appa did ever leave her alone to fend for herself.  Unfortunately, Ahin hadn’t realized that unconditional, steadfast love was the greatest lender of strength, so she had ended up weakening her daughter through her neglect, making her vulnerable to the calculated advances of several men.  Or she would have been if her brother hadn’t molested her, giving her a distaste of most guys.  And if her appa hadn’t sent her to an all-girls high school where her opportunities to meet boys were, thankfully, cut off.   Then, by some kind circumstance, instead of meeting a man who would use her horribly, she had befriended Hobi who virtually ignored her until Yunseok came along.

All her mother’s precautions had been for nought.  Eventually, Ahin felt like her husband had kept his word.  He had sent Heejin off to Seoul for high school.  Without her mother.  After which, Ahin had spent seven lonely years in that house.  Trying to avoid both Eunho and his appa.  Not even her daughter’s beautiful face had been there to cheer her.

Truthfully, she was miserable.  She had been in agony for more than two decades.  As she glanced down at the glowing baby in Yunseong’s arms and at that young mother’s bright smile…as her gaze turned towards her own radiant daughter beaming up at the man she loved, who was returning her adoration…as her eyes slid sideways to see her driver from earlier slide into the seat next to the baby’s eomma and gaze at them both like they were his happiness, Ahin had to choke back a sob.  Life was meant to be so much more than her life had been.  

She had fancied herself in love with a married man.  And allowed him to persuade her to climb into his bed.  It had been the worst mistake of her entire life.  She had felt guilty for making him break his vows.  Then she had accepted his marriage proposal, but the guilt had still lingered long after his wife had died.  It had become crushing the night Ahin knew for certain that he was sleeping with someone new.  For then, Ahin had known how deep such a betrayal cut.  

For the first time, she had understood the agony she must have inflicted upon that frail woman who had birthed Eunho but had never fully recovered from the effort it had required from her already taxed system.  It was difficult to believe she’d wounded such a fragile soul.  Ahin now realized that she herself had once been a kinder person.  Before she’d met Heejin’s appa.  Had she chosen a different path, she would have reaped an entirely different set of consequences, including a more tender heart.

She recognized that she had paid more than one heavy price for her actions.  In addition to being alienated from her philandering husband, she was also distanced from her own daughter.  As she watched Yunseok’s eomma interacting lovingly with her twin daughters during the reception, Ahin realized just how much depth of intimacy was missing from her relationship with Heejin.  Ahin would never have embraced Heejin as Yunyeong’s mother hugged her.  Ahin didn’t even speak to her daughter in the same tone of voice that Yunseong’s eomma used with her.  Ahin found herself quite sad as she spent Saturday afternoon with her daughter’s new family.

—

“I won’t tell Appa you came,” Heejin breathed into her eomma’s ear as she and Yunseok prepared to leave that evening.

Ahin turned towards her daughter.  She furrowed her brow.  “You won’t?”

“Of course not!” Heejin’s eyebrows bounced up.  “I don’t want you to pay the price.  I hope…I hope you’re glad I brought you here today.”  Heejin’s eyes didn’t meet hers.  The girl was staring at the floor.

So she didn’t see her eomma’s face fall.  “Of course, I’m glad you brought me to your wedding, Heejin!” her mother spoke in a kinder tone than she had used towards her in years.

Surprised at both her tone and her words, Heejin glanced up into her eyes.  Then Ahin smiled at her daughter.  Heejin returned her joy.  Then her mother’s smile faded.

“I’m sorry, Heejin.”

Again those eyebrows bounced.  “For what, Eomma?”

“That I’ve been such a distant parent.”  Her gaze wavered.  “I was always afraid he would take you away from me, you see.  Until the day he did,” her voice wobbled, “and you left me for Seoul.”

“Eomma.”  Heejin’s voice was full of compassion.  “I wasn’t running from you.  I was fleeing from Eunho.  And from Appa.  And I didn’t think…” her voice trailed off.

Ahin glanced up sharply, meeting her eye.  “You didn’t think what?”

“I didn’t think you loved me.”

“What?”  Her mother’s heart broke.  “You didn’t know I loved you?”

As tears filled her eyes, Heejin found the courage to meet her mother’s gaze.  “No.”

It was the truth.  Just one of many hideous truths in her life.

“I did.  I do.  I was just so terrified…”  Ahin’s eyes left hers to find her son-in-law. “Are you sure that he’s going to be good to you?”

Heejin studied her mother’s face.  “He’s slept in my bed for two months, Eomma,” she responded quietly.

Her mother’s eyes crashed into hers again as Ahin’s heart sank.  So did her expression, but Heejin wasn’t finished.

“And never touched me inappropriately.  Or pressured me in any way.  He did, in fact, make me wait to have him until tonight.”  A sweet smile tugged at her lips.  “That’s why he’s so eager to leave now.”

Her mother stared in shock at Yunseok.  “Does such a man truly exist?”

“Oh, yes.  I can assure you, he does.”  Heejin’s eyes adored Yunseok.

“No wonder you fled from us.”

“No, Eomma.  I wasn’t fleeing from you.  Never from you.  You were cold.  But you never hurt me.  Not like Appa. Certainly not like Eunho.  I wasn’t running from something.  I was running to something.  Or, rather, to someone.”  Her lips curved in that sweet smile again.  “To my wonderful Seok.”

“Why was he sleeping with you?  I mean, if he wasn’t trying to…”

“To rescue me from my nightmares,” Heejin murmured.

“What?”  Her mother’s eyes were now full of concern.  “What nightmares?”

“Umm.  I was in a car accident a couple months before I returned from Seoul.”

Her mother furrowed her brow.  “You’re still having nightmares from a car accident that happened almost two years ago?”  

Heejin nodded.

“What happened?”  Her mother had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Heejin cleared her throat.  “My best friend was driving.  She died.”

“What?” Shock laced Ahin’s tone.  “Heejin,” her voice was full of sorrow now, “why didn’t you tell me?”

Heejin wasn’t meeting her eyes.  She shrugged her shoulders.  “I didn’t tell anyone.  Until Seok.”

Ahin’s eyes grew wide.  She glanced at her son-in-law as he crossed the room towards them.  He smiled at Ahin, but his arm slid around her daughter as he bent to murmur in her ear, “My love, are you ready to go?”

Ahin watched the joy that slid across her daughter’s face as she shivered under his breath floating across her neck.  She turned her face to gaze up at him with a happiness so palpable it stole Ahin’s breath and made her ache for things she had never had.  

“I am,” Heejin whispered.  Then she turned back to her mother.  “Eomma, thank you for coming!”  Heejin slid out of her husband’s grasp and engulfed her mother in a hug of such ferocity that it shocked Ahin.

“I’ll call you next week, and we’ll do dinner one night, okay?” Heejin offered.

A tear invaded Ahin’s eye.  She unbent enough to cling to her daughter.  “I’d like that.”  

She inhaled deeply.  Had she ever realized that Heejin smelled of tangerines?

“Be happy, darling.”

Heejin beamed at her.  “I am, Eomma.”

A few moments later, she and Yunseok slipped out the door.

—

They headed for their apartment.  Seok had offered to take her to a hotel tonight, but she had wanted their first time to be in her bed, the one in which Seok had comforted her for two months over all the trauma she’d suffered in her young life.   A while later, as they entered her bedroom, he glanced down at the doorknob.  

“Guess you won’t be needing that lock anymore, huh?” A smile was tugging at the corners of his lips.

She looked at him.  “I never needed that lock.”

Something in her voice broke his heart.  His eyes collided with hers.

“Have you any idea how wonderful you are to me?” she whispered.

He crossed the room to gather her in his arms.  “Nearly as wonderful as you are to me.”

She smiled tremulously up at him.  “You’re my refuge, Seok.  You know that, right?”

He grinned.  “And your gatherer of chocolate?”

She giggled.  “That too.  Speaking of which, have you planned any chocolate for breakfast tomorrow?”

A secret smile curved his lips.  “It’s already in the kitchen,” he whispered as he bent his face near hers.

Her eyes lit up.  She drew away from him infinitesimally.  “Can we have some tonight?”

“For dessert?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Okay.  Later.  I have some other delightful things planned right now.”

“Oh?  You do?  Like what?  I can’t imagine anything better than chocolate…”

So Yunseok bent himself to the task of proving there are several things in life that are better than chocolate…