Chapter 19: Family Reunion – November 24, 2024
Haewon felt understandably nervous as they drove to Nari’s house.
Would Mrs. Beom remember her? How would Minha and Naru respond to her presence?
What did it matter? Today wasn’t about her. It was about Dahui.
Haewon glanced at Myeong. He’d been true to his word. He’d taken them out for a lovely breakfast. Then he and Dahui had spent the remainder of the day helping her prepare for class on Monday. Now that it was nearly five o’clock, they were headed to the Mins’ mansion. Or so Myeong had described it. Haewon was curious to see if his appellation was apt. As they pulled up in front of the huge house, Haewon had to admit that it was.
Carrying her pan of apple crisp, Dahui exited the car. Myeong came over and opened Haewon’s door, then he reached in to liberate one pan of apple crisp from her lap before she popped out of the car carrying the other pan in her hands.
Nari greeted them at the door and glanced down at the pans they were holding.
“Oooh! You brought food! What is this? It smells amazing!”
“Apple crisp,” Dahui asserted.
Nari’s eyes found the girl. She’d entered behind her Appa. Nari grinned broadly at her. “You must be Dahui. I’m your, um, I’m Nari.” Her eyes slid sideways to collide with Myeong’s. She was so excited to meet the little girl that she’d almost spilled the beans. “Come! You can bring those to the kitchen.”
Nari led them towards the kitchen to deposit their sweet burdens on a counter. She smiled down at the little girl. “Your apple crisp looks delicious. Thanks for bringing it.”
Dahui giggled, “Mrs. Wang said that we couldn’t possibly eat all three pans, so we should bring some today.”
“Mrs. Wang? Who is Mrs. Wang?”
“I am,” Haewon responded quietly.
Nari glanced at the woman standing next to Myeong. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Beom Nari.”
“Nari, this is my friend, Haewon. Wang Haewon. She’s Dahui’s teacher.”
“Oh!” Nari’s eyes grew wide. “I see.”
“Do you?” Myeong grinned at her.
“Mrs. Wang, you’re the friend Myeong wanted to bring with him tonight?”
Haewon nodded.
Suddenly, Nari’s eyes widened again. “Wait a minute! You’re Mrs. Wang.”
The woman seemed familiar. She reminded Nari of a girl she’d once known. Then, all the pieces suddenly fell together in her mind as she recalled a conversation she’d had with her mother and Naru a couple of years ago. “Are you Eunho’s wife?”
Haewon bobbed her head.
“I don’t know if you remember me,” Nari responded. “Our mothers were friends when we were children. I met you once, but you probably don’t remember. You were pretty tiny.
“But I met your husband a couple times too. A long time ago. Anyway, welcome to my home! I’m so happy to meet you both.” She smiled down at Dahui.
“Do you have a daughter?” the little girl asked.
“No, sweetie. I have two boys. Jungju – he’s eight. And Junghee – he’s four months old.”
“A baby! He’s the baby! Oh, can I see him? Can I hold him?!”
“Sure. Come with me. His appa is holding him right now. But you can borrow him for a few minutes.”
Myeong and Haewon followed them into the living room. Before long, Dahui was ensconced on the sofa with a tiny baby in her arms. And pure delight on her face. Haewon’s eyes left her countenance to meet Myeong’s. They smiled at each other.
Dahui was already at ease holding her baby cousin. Myeong felt a pang as he watched the happiness play across his daughter’s countenance. How could he have ever contemplated keeping her away from her family? She fit in with them. The amazing thing was that they had all made him feel like he’d been coming home too. He had the feeling that Haewon had also felt the same beautiful welcome.
For a moment, he felt a pang of grief for what his wife had missed out on. She should have been part of this wonderful family.
Nari glanced up at him. She seemed to read his mind. “We weren’t always this happy, Myeong. My brother was kind of a mess for a long time. Until he met his wife. And my eomma has opened up a lot since Minha and Ajin entered our lives. I think my eomma closed a part of her heart off to all of us when she sealed up her secret. It definitely affected us all.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s all right,” she shrugged. “It’s just life. How could she not be affected by the loss of her daughter?”
He gave her a rueful smile. But before he could say anything, the front door opened, and Naru came striding in, carrying a beautiful, little toddler on his hip. Her hair had been pulled up into two pigtails on the top of her head. He was followed by a lovely woman and a pretty girl who appeared to be a couple years younger than Dahui. An elegant, older woman came walking through the doorway behind them.
As this new party joined everyone in the living room, the older lady suddenly spoke up.
“Haewon?” Aejeong’s eyes grew large as she surveyed a girl she’d known for over fifteen years. “You look wonderful! How are you, darling?” She stepped forward as Haewon stood up, and Mrs. Beom embraced the young woman. “What are you doing here?”
“Eomma, allow me to introduce Kang Myeong and his daughter, Dahui. And this is his friend—”
“Haewon!” Aejeong exclaimed. “I know Haewon. I’ve known her since she was a tiny girl. You’re the ‘friend’ we were expecting to meet?”
Nari was smiling at her mother’s shock.
Haewon smiled. “I guess?”
Aejeong suddenly noticed the little girl sitting on the couch holding her grandson. “Is this Dahui?” she asked breathlessly. She couldn’t take her eyes off the beautiful girl.
Dahui raised her eyes to meet her grandmother’s. Aejeong gasped inwardly as tears filled her eyes. Had her darling daughter looked like this little girl? Was she seeing a carbon copy of the tiny baby she’d given away?
Dahui smiled at her before lowering her eyes to adore the baby in her arms again.
Aejeong backed up a step. As she lifted her gaze from the child, she met the eyes of a beautiful man. As she studied his face, her eyes traveled back to the little girl again before searching his countenance once more. This lovely girl resembled the handsome gentleman a little.
“You must be Dahui’s appa.”
“Hello, Mrs. Beom. I am Kang Myeong, Dahui’s appa.”
And my Dahui’s husband. What a handsome man!
No wonder her daughter had fallen in love with him. Aejeong suddenly had a thousand questions.
“Mrs. Beom, please, come with me to the kitchen,” he murmured quietly.
She followed him. A moment later, he pulled a book from a bag he was holding. He opened it and held it out towards her. “She looked exactly like you,” he whispered.
She reached for the book and glanced down at the page in question. Then she gasped again. This time verbally.
“Oh, my! She did!”
The tears that a moment ago had flooded her eyes now spilled down her cheeks. She began to thumb through the book.
“How long did you know my daughter, Mr. Kang?”
“Please call me Myeong,” he murmured quietly.
She glanced up to meet his kind eyes. Her expression relaxed.
“I met Dahui when I was sixteen. I asked her out a few months later. We were together for seven years. I was her only boyfriend. She was a very sweet girl.”
“Was she happy?”
“With me? Yes.”
“Before you.”
He just looked at her.
“With her adoptive parents.”
“She missed you. She spent her whole life wondering about you. Wanting to meet you.”
The tears just kept coming. Aejeong stared at him. She found a chair and sat down abruptly. She pleated one leg of her pants nervously for a moment. Then she spoke.
“You’re probably wondering how I could give my daughter up for adoption.”
“I figured you were just a scared kid who didn’t think she could raise a baby alone.”
She glanced sharply up at him. “That is exactly the truth.”
“I told Dahui as much. I told her that I bet you loved her and just wanted a better life for her.”
“Did she get it? A better life.”
“She never wanted for anything material. Her parents were wealthy. They took good care of her.”
“And her heart? Did they take good care of her heart?”
He paused as his own heart broke. “She had a nanny who adored her. She was part of her life for fifteen years. I entered the picture shortly thereafter.”
Her face fell. “Her parents didn’t love her?”
“I think they did. As much as they knew how. They were an older couple. In their fifties when they adopted Dahui. They had never had any children of their own. They both worked. They weren’t often home. But they gave her everything they had. When they died, they left it all to her.”
“They died? When?”
“A couple years before our daughter was born.”
“I am so happy she found you,” she breathed suddenly. “You’re a good man. I can tell. You took good care of my daughter, didn’t you? And now you’re taking good care of my granddaughter.”
“I adored your daughter. And Dahui is my life. She’s a darling girl. I’ve poured my life into raising her to know I love her. I never wanted her to question the things her eomma questioned. I hope that Dahui has grown up secure in my affection.”
“She looked like one contented, little girl out in the living room.”
He shrugged. “That’s easy. She loves babies.” He smiled at her, and she could absolutely see what had attracted her daughter to him.
“Thank you,” she breathed.
He furrowed his brow. “For what?”
“For loving my daughter when I couldn’t.”
“You never stopped loving her,” he murmured. “I told her so. Many times. I was convinced of it.”
Another tear rolled down her cheek. “But I never got to hug her. I never got to tell her I loved her. But you did. You manifested love to her. I will always be grateful to you for that. And for giving her a daughter. For giving me a granddaughter. And for letting me see her.”
“Dahui needs her grandmother. And her aunt. And her uncle. And her cousins. Her whole family. Before Naru found us, she had only me. I want her to have more. She should be completely surrounded by love.”
Aejeong gazed at him. “She has been. Her whole life. By your love. But now she has us too.” Her lips lifted in a tremulous smile. She stood up and crossed the distance between them. “Thank you.”
Myeong simply smiled at her. He didn’t know what else to do.
—
As Myeong left the room with Mrs. Beom, Haewon was left standing awkwardly in the living room across from the family that had entered with Nari’s mother. Haewon was relatively certain the handsome man was Naru and the beautiful woman was Minha. She swallowed as grief suddenly overwhelmed her. She lowered her gaze to the floor.
Haewon couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Eunho had attacked this beautiful woman in Mrs. Beom’s house. She was suddenly mortified to be here with them all. Blindly, she turned and headed for the foyer.
Why, Eunho?
Minha watched the unfamiliar woman turn and flee the room. She glanced at Naru. Then she followed Haewon.
Haewon opened the front door and escaped outside. As it closed behind her, she heaved a huge sigh of relief. Coming with Myeong and his daughter today had been a mistake. Today was about Dahui and her family. Haewon had no place here.
As tears began to stream down her face, she turned to walk towards Myeong’s car. Uncertain about where she should go. But she stopped suddenly as she heard the door open behind her.
“Haewon?” called a hesitant voice.
She froze. She daren’t turn around.
“Where are you going?” came that gentle voice.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled.
“I’m Minha. Naru’s wife.”
“I know who you are,” Haewon breathed.
Perplexed, Minha wrinkled her brow. “You do?”
“But you don’t know who I am. And I’m afraid to tell you.”
“What?” Confusion was clear in the other woman’s voice. “Why?”
Slowly, Haewon turned around and met her eye. “Because I’m Eunho’s wife.”
Minha’s eyes widened. “What?”
Speechless, she stared at Haewon for a few beats. Then, quite suddenly, Minha stepped forward and embraced Haewon, hauling her up against her chest.
“Thank you,” Minha breathed.
“Wh-what?” Startled, Haewon gasped the word.
“I don’t know what you did, but you changed him,” she whispered. “And I am so glad that he wrote me that letter before he died.” Her hold on Haewon tightened as she fought off a little bubble of grief that was trying to surface in her mouth.
Stunned, Haewon stood, unmoving. Her mind could not grasp Minha’s words. “My husband hurt you, and you’re embracing me? I thought you would hate me.”
“Hate you? No. Why would I hate you?” Truly shocked, Minha stepped back to look down at Haewon.
“Don’t you wonder how I could marry such a man?”
“I…” Minha couldn’t find any words for a few moments. “I don’t know that I questioned that, really. Eunho could be charming when he wanted to be. I guess I just figured he had you fooled.”
Haewon shook her head. “But he didn’t. Not by the time I married him.”
Minha narrowed her eyes as her eyebrows fell down to threaten them. “Why did you marry him then?”
“He was always my salvation.”
Minha frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“I knew Eunho from the time I was a little girl. He was the one true friend I had until…very recently, really. You see, I was a frail, little thing. I was born with a heart defect. My parents expected me to die before I became an adult.
“They were very protective of me as a kid. They wouldn’t even let me play outside. But, sometimes, they’d let me stay all day at his house while they went to work. Eunho would take me outside. Into the sunshine. So I could breathe. He always watched over me. I think he saw me like a doll. A fragile, china doll. He never wanted to break me.
“But one of his so-called friends did. He lured me to a party, and drugged me, and raped me. Eunho found me afterward. I think it broke him. He changed. He took me to the hospital. Then he asked me to marry him. So he could protect me. And give me the life I had always wanted.
“But I made him promise me he would never touch another girl. And he never did. He died less than six months after we married. He stepped between me and a blade wielded by the man who raped me. As he lay dying, Eunho insisted that the doctors give me his heart. He’s the reason I’m here today. Still alive. My heart still beating.”
Minha simply stared in awe at her. “Now I understand.” She tilted her head slightly. “You are the reason he changed. You’re the reason he wrote the letter.”
“He wanted to tell you he was sorry face to face. But I understand why your husband protected you from him.”
Minha frowned. “Was he good to you? Eunho? Did he hurt you?”
Haewon shook her head. “No. The only time Eunho ever hurt me was when he died. He was sweet and gentle with me.”
Minha’s face relaxed. “I’m glad. Please come back inside.”
“I don’t belong here.”
Minha gasped. Haewon was echoing the thoughts Minha had struggled with back when Naru had begun to pursue her.
“Here? With the Beom family, you mean?”
Haewon nodded. “My husband wronged you all. He dishonored Naru’s parents by attacking you in their house. Obviously, he dishonored you. And Naru, who was dating you at the time.” She swallowed. “I should go. Would you please tell Myeong that I found a ride home?”
“Does Myeong love you?” Minha’s soft voice arrested her.
Haewon glanced back at her. “I think so.” After all, he had told her she was the most important woman in his life.
“Then you belong here just as much as I do. Naru’s love made me belong in a world that I never before belonged to. A world of privilege and extravagance. I tried to run away too, but he wouldn’t let me. He did, in fact, give up his world for me. He loved me that much.”
Haewon stared at her. She didn’t know what to say.
“Myeong’s daughter, Aejeong’s granddaughter – Dahui? That’s her name, right?”
Haewon nodded.
“Does she love you?”
Haewon lifted her chin and then let it drop once, nearly bouncing off her chest.
“Won’t you break her heart if you leave?”
Haewon sighed. “I doubt she’ll notice today.” Then she smiled. “All day long, she’s been looking forward to playing with your daughter. And she’s completely taken with Nari’s baby. My presence is hardly necessary today.”
“What about Myeong?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think today is difficult for him? Don’t you think he needs you to hold his hand?”
Haewon gaped at her as she realized the truth of her words.
“We’re not going to hold your association with Eunho against you, you know? Not any of us. If you ask me, you’re the hero of that story. His love for you changed him for the better. If you hadn’t existed, Eunho would still be hurting girls.”
Haewon gasped.
Minha held her hand out towards her. “Come on. I consider you my friend. And I’m pretty sure you and I are going to be family someday.”
“What do you mean?”
Minha grinned suddenly. “Haven’t you seen the way Myeong looks at you?”
Haewon shook her head.
Minha’s smile grew. “It’s the same way that Naru looks at me. And he wasn’t about to let me get away. Myeong won’t let you outrun him either.”
Haewon’s gaze shifted from Minha’s eyes to her hand.
“You’re sure? About me being welcome here? By everyone?”
“Didn’t you see how much Aejeong adores you?” Minha smiled as Haewon met her eyes again. “I’m sure. Come on. I’ll introduce you to Naru and our girls.”
Haewon glanced down at that still proferred hand. She didn’t have it in her to leave the woman hanging, so she reached out and took it with her own before following Minha into the house.
—
Myeong, Haewon, and Dahui all enjoyed a pleasant meal with the Beom family. Dahui absolutely adored Ajin, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. They both played happily with Jungju too. Haewon found herself truly enjoying Nari and Minha, and Myeong found both Naru and Yoongi to be sensible, brilliant conversationalists. The only person who spent the evening in silence was Aejeong. She sat at the head of the table and watched her children and grandchildren all enjoying each other, and she wept silent tears on the inside of her soul.
She had a granddaughter. A beautiful gift that her darling girl had left her. Aejeong was still mourning the loss of that daughter. The loss of the hope she’d carried around for more than thirty-three years. The hope that one day she would find her daughter and get to know her. That would never happen now. But she would get to know her little girl, and there was great joy in that truth.
Aejeong smiled as she watched Dahui play with Ajin and Jungju. The three of them seemed to be fast friends. Aejeong had also spent quite a while watching Dahui enjoy her younger cousins. She clearly loved tiny ones. And was a natural with children.
So was Haewon. She had asked to hold the baby and sat quite contented for over a half hour while the little boy slept in her arms. It was only as she was passing him back to his mother that Aejeong caught the sorrow in her gaze.
“Haewon, what’s wrong?” Aejeong bent and whispered into her ear.
The young woman turned towards her with a smile. “Nothing. He’s a beautiful, little boy. Just darling.”
“But, my dear, I saw a glimmer of sadness in your eyes.”
Haewon gave her a tremulous smile. “I’ll never have one of those,” she breathed so quietly that Aejeong almost didn’t hear her.
“You mean a baby of your own?”
Haewon nodded.
“Because of your heart?”
“It’s too risky.”
“Ah. I see.” Aejeong’s eyes shifted to her son-in-law before traveling back to Haewon.
If she wasn’t mistaken, the man was head over heels in love with the young teacher. As well he should be. She was a beautiful, brilliant, sweet woman. Everything Aejeong had always imagined her own daughter to be.
Then her eyes traveled to Dahui.
If Myeong married Haewon, then her granddaughter would finally have the mother she deserved.
Aejeong fervently hoped the two of them worked it out.
—
Later that evening, Haewon returned to Myeong’s apartment with him. He tucked his daughter in before joining Haewon on the couch. He turned towards her and began to talk about the thing that had been burning in his heart for hours tonight.
“I’m not sure how to tell Dahui about her eomma’s family.”
“She clearly adored them all, Myeong. I think it’s very simple. You just explain that her eomma was adopted. Explain what a closed adoption is. And that her grandmother wanted to find her, so her uncle, Naru, hired a private investigator who just found you.”
“But how do I explain why I didn’t introduce them to her today as her family?”
“Tell her you wanted her to be completely comfortable with them. You didn’t want to put pressure on her by telling her they were her family. You wanted her to just be herself with them.”
He nodded. “How soon do you think I should tell her?”
“Well, that depends. Are you going to allow them to be a part of her life after today?”
He met her eyes in surprise. “Of course.”
Haewon smiled. “You liked them, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, so did you.”
“I loved them all. They are a very nice family. Dahui is one blessed, little girl. First, to have you for an appa,” she glanced at him adoringly, “and now to have met such a wonderful family full of aunts and uncles and cousins. And a grandma and grandpa. I’m so happy for you both. And for them.”
He probed the depths of her eyes for a few moments. “You don’t feel excluded, do you?” he murmured suddenly.
“What?” she asked in surprise. “Excluded? How?”
But he didn’t answer her question. “Haewon, I consider you our family too.”
She gasped, “What?”
He nodded. “For so long, I couldn’t breathe. I was terrified that I would mess up Dahui’s life trying to raise her alone. But I was just as terrified of falling in love again. If my first wife could be taken, then what was to stop my second wife from dying too? So I closed my heart and avoided women. Until the day I entered Dahui’s classroom, and a beautiful woman with great, dark eyes looked my way. And I was lost.
“That happened to me once before, you know? When I met Dahui in high school. She looked at me, and I was a goner.”
Haewon smiled at him. “That’s sweet.”
“I felt the same thing for you when you first looked at me. It scared me. I didn’t think my heart was ready to wake up. But you were so sweet with Dahui. And, recently, I have begun to feel truly inadequate as the only parent in this household. She’s going to hit puberty soon. I have absolutely no idea how to deal with any of that. She needs an eomma, Haewon.”
She furrowed her brow. “What are you saying?” Her heart seemed to have stopped, and she was breathless now.
“I’m saying that you always seem to know what to do or what to say. How to help me. Whether she’s missing in a restaurant or about to meet her extended family for the first time. Or can’t find her eomma’s apple crisp recipe. You always make it better, Haewon.”
“I didn’t the day she disappeared,” she muttered.
“That’s not true. I was the problem that day. I blamed you for my own choices. You were trying to comfort me, but I was still too bound up in fear. Fear of losing her.”
She glanced sharply at him then. “You were afraid of losing Dahui?”
He nodded. “After her mother died, I was afraid I would do something wrong, and she would die too. After a while, with the nanny’s help, I grew in confidence concerning the responsibilities of taking care of her. Still, for a long time, there was a lingering fear that the rug would be pulled out from under me again.
“Sometimes, I still can’t shake it. That day at the café when she disappeared, all that terror came rushing back. I thought I’d failed to keep her safe. I thought I hadn’t kept the promise I made her eomma.”
Haewon frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“When Dahui died, I stood at her grave and promised her I’d take care of our baby. I’d keep her safe. I’d make sure that she knew how much I love her. And how much her eomma had wanted her.”
“You’ve done it. You’re an excellent appa, Myeong. That little girl adores you, and she knows you adore her too. She’s very secure in your love.”
“I hope so,” he murmured.
“I know so,” she asserted with a definitive bob of her head.
He paused a moment as he stared at her. “Dahui was just trying to draw us together, I think.”
“What?” she glanced up at him in confusion.
“I’ve thought about it a lot recently. I think she hid from us on purpose. That day at breakfast. Thinking it would draw us together. We would work together to find her. Which is exactly what I should have done. But, instead, I panicked.”
“Of course, you did! You lost your wife, and you were afraid of losing Dahui too. It’s completely understandable.”
“See? There you go again. Being absolutely adorable.”
“What?”
He grinned as twin lines carved themselves between her eyebrows. He reached out and pushed his thumb against those little valleys in an attempt to smooth her forehead.
“I love you, Haewon. And Dahui just adores you. She has from her very first day in your class.”
Another pause. “I can see it, Haewon. You – in our lives, in our apartment – with us all the time. Not having to come home to your lonely apartment. I don’t want to be without you. Not ever again. The last couple of months were positively miserable without you. Is there any way you’d consider having a future with us?”
Her heart stopped beating. “Myeong, you barely know me.”
“That’s not true, you know. You’ve been Dahui’s teacher for three months now. We’ve cooked together. Eaten together. Watched movies together. Done schoolwork together. Evaded the rain together.” He gave her a faint smile.
“You walked me through the challenge of this weekend, meeting my wife’s family. Determining whether I should let them into our lives. Together, we survived a field trip with twenty kids, for goodness’ sake! That’s got to count for something! I feel like I’m up to any challenge when I’m with you. And I don’t believe in wasting time. Tomorrow is uncertain enough as it is.”
He gazed at her for several beats of her heart. Then he leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers. He slid his arm around her waist and tugged her close. She reached up to rest her hands on his chest as she lifted her face to return his sweet kiss. They spent several blissful moments wrapped in each other’s arms before he drove her home.
He had just filled her heart with several very sweet dreams.
