Pay With Your Heart

Chapter 417: Damaged.

Eun-sun keenly observed Ni-Na after Dan-Han had left. She watched as she yawned and slumped back on the bed, her arms spread wide as she let out a weary sigh.

Eun-sun stood at the foot of the bed with her arms folded across her chest as she observed her. Though she now looked way better than she did when she first walked in minutes ago, Eun-sun could still tell something was off with her, something she was trying to hid behind her current elation over Dan-Han’s card.

“Out with it.” She said making Ni-Na turn her head to her, her brows narrowed in a quizzical manner.

“Out with what?”

“Why you look like you didn’t sleep last night? And why you had walked in here like you rather be in your bed with your quilt over you?”

“I looked that way?” Ni-Na asked in an innocent tone which Eun-sun didn’t buy.

“Yes.” She replied while Ni-Na sighed.

.....

“Well, I did sleep last night. And if truly I had looked like that when I walked in, then it would be because I was tired, but not anymore.” Her lips curled up as she waved the card in between her fingers to Eun-sun. “This is a pain killer. A stress taker. It takes all stress and worries away.” She chirped with a contagious smile that had Eun-sun smiling back at her.

“Is it the card or the shopping that takes your stress away?” Eun-sun amusedly asked.

“Both sister-in-law. Both! They come as a package. One for the worry and the other for the stress.” She chirped, and they both rupt out in laughter.

Ni-Na was too much of a vibe for her.

Ni-Na jerked up to a sitting position as she slammed her hand against the bed. “Enough thinking about what isn’t relevant. Let’s get you something to wear so we can hit the mall. We’re going to shop till we drop. And no thinking about boys.”

“Boys?” Eun-sun cocked a brow at her.

“Boys as in my brother.” She hastily corrected. “There’s no thinking about him and his rules. So, let’s go have some fun, okay?!” She chirped with excitement and even though Eun-sun’s really didn’t believe what she had just said, she nodded her head.

With Ni-Na, it was always about the fun.

...

“Did In-Ha tell you if he was lodging here?” Eun-sun curiously asked as they stood in front of the hotel, waiting for the car that has been provided for them to come.

“He didn’t,” Ni-Na replied.

Eun-sun sighed as she looked back at the lobby. “But do you think he might be staying here, or maybe he was just visiting the club last night?” Eun-sun turned to her and asked.

She noticed the awkward change on Ni-Na’s face before she replied, “I don’t know. But it really wouldn’t be surprising if he came here strictly for the women and sex. It has always been his mechanism for coping with whatever mess he finds himself in. In-Ha is just as damaged as that.” She blurted out. She looked at Eun-sun and sighed when she observed the look she was paying her and she readily regretted letting her emotions get the best of her.

She has promised herself she wasn’t going to think about anything or how awkward last night has been, but it seemed she wouldn’t be able to keep to that promise.

She noticed Eun-sun’s lips part to say something, but she turned towards the SUV that suddenly pulled up in front of them, and a tall wiry man walked around it and bowed to them.

“Good morning madams, president Lee has ordered I go with you today.” The man said and they both greeted back.

Ni-Na quickly led the way to the car, feeling grateful for its prompt arrival. She held the door for Eun-sun before getting in herself.

“So what’s your name?” Ni-Na asked the guy who was supposed to take them around town and was currently occupying the driver’s seat. “We can’t call you hello, or hey all day, so please tell us.” She politely requested.

“Simon.” The man replied.

“Okay, Simon. Please take us here.” She said, handing out a card that she had pulled out of her purse, and he received it.

Eun-sun shut her quizzical look and she smiled. “Relax, it’s a spa. I heard the place is remarkable and very expensive!” She stressed in her last word. “But money isn’t a problem, not with this.” She pulled out Dan-Han’s card and winked at Eun-sun who chuckled.

Both ladies were completely immersed in the relaxing massage from the masseuses standing over them, whose hands of gold tended to every knotted muscle and nerve in them. The relaxing incense further driving the effect of their massage.

“This is to die for. I wish I can be on holiday every single time.” Ni-Na moaned under her breath as the masseuse gave a finishing touch to her shoulders which were aching for more attention, while Eun-sun chuckled. She liked how Ni-Na always spoke everything on her mind.

Ni-Na turned her face towards Eun-sun who also had her face in her direction but had her eyes closed as she relished the relaxing effect of her massage. “You don’t mind me moving in with you guys when you finally get married, do you? I don’t want to miss having trips like this.”

Eun-sun couldn’t help but smile at her. “I’m sure if that’s what you want, none of us will ever be able to stop you. You’ll probably bulldoze your way in and occupy every space with no fear.” She said matter of factly.

Ni-Na giggled. “You make me sound like a troublesome villain.”

“You’re more than that, Ni-Na. But that’s what I love about you.”

“I love you too, sis.” Ni-Na blew her a kiss.

They both remained still on the massaging bench long after their masseuse had left, totally unable to move their jelly muscles, each enjoying the other’s silence, till Eun-sun thought about a question and the most appealing way to ask what she had in mind.

“Ni-Na,” She gently called, and Ni-Na opened her eyes to look at her, innocently waiting to hear why she had called her.

“Are you... are you angry with In-Ha? Did he do something to you?” Eun-sun inquisitively inquired, making Ni-Na slightly tense up at her question.

Eun-sun observed the nervous darts in her eyes, and she wondered what they meant.

“Why do you ask?” Ni-Na questioned, as she quickly composed herself while she wondered what had prompted Eun-sun into asking such a question. She didn’t give anything away, did she? She hoped not.

Eun-sun managed whatever shrug she could of her shoulders as they were too limp to move. “I don’t know. You always seem to banter with him, and just now at the hotel, you seemed sort of angry at him.”

“I did?” Ni-Na feigned an innocent tone.

“Yes,” Eun-sun confirmed. “And then there was that thing you said about him being damaged. What did you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” Ni-Na abruptly answered, her countenance and tone completely changing, but she soon regretted her actions when she observed how Eun-Sun’s brows reflexively arched at her.

“Ni-Na,” Eun-sun called with a soft drawl which made Ni-Na sigh.

The words Ni-Na had said had left some awkward feeling in her heart. She remembered when she had sometime said In-Ha had experienced worst than the Dan-Han and Jae-Hyun, and she wondered what she also meant by that.

Ni-Na sucked in her nether lip as she tightly bit on it before sighing again.

“In-Ha is....” She paused when she tried to find the word to continue, but she sighed out when nothing came to mind.

She paused for a while but Eun-Sun patiently waited.

“In-Ha had a led a tough life as a boy.” Ni-Na started. “He grew up enduring his father’s monstrosity towards his mother and him. Each day, he woke up to them fighting and his mother adorned with fresh bruises that overshadowed the healing ones. He witnessed the abuse, disrespect, and dishonor his father tossed at her.” she told Eun-sun who was paying rapt attention to the shocking story she hasn’t imagined to hear.

“Chairman Kang was publicly known for his infidelity towards his wife, which was something he wore with pride. He slept with everything in a skirt having no regard for his family. He threw whatever was left of his family wealth at the laps of women and he had no restraint.” Ni-Na narrated.

She paused and sighed. “I was still very much a kid, but I remember people advising her to leave, most especially my mum and aunt, but she refused, claiming she couldn’t leave her child as Chairman Kang had threatened to take In-Ha from her. So she stubbornly persevered till she met her pitiable end that left In-Ha stigmatized.”

“What happened?” Eun-Sun anxiously asked, totally not liking where the story was going.

“Well, I think it was In-Ha’s sixteenth birthday and Chairman Kang was set out to leave again, but she begged him to stay and skip his mistress’ bed for one day and simply be with their son, but he was adamant about leaving and nothing could stop him. She insisted and continued to beg, but he got angry and started hitting her. In-Ha being a kid couldn’t watch his mother being beaten, and he jumped in to protect her and he hit his dad in the process.” Ni-Na paused and scoffed when she remembered In-Ha narrating this ordeal three years after the incident.

She briefly sighed and continued, “His father saw his actions as his mother’s instigation against him and angrily kicked her down the flight of stairs.”

She turned to Eun-sun when she heard her gasp in horror. She wearily hissed and turned away to focus her gaze on the flowers placed in vases just by the window. They reminded her of the person she was talking about, of his blue-green eyes and how they always glowed.

“We heard he watched her die in the pool of her own blood. In-Ha had tried calling for the ambulance, but they pinned him down and locked him away. When he was let out days later for her funeral, no one said a thing. Stories were made up and no one asked any questions, even when they did, Chairman Kang threatened to sue for defamation. In-Ha lived with the guilt of his mother’s death for years, and we all saw how it tortured him. When he was eighteen, Aunty took him in and he lived with us for five years. He was reticent and withdrawn at first till he started opening up again. He hated his life and his dad, but with Aunt’s help he started to come around.” Hearing this Eun-sun reminded herself how much of an angel Mrs. Lee was, and how unfair the universe was.

People weren’t supposed to die, while monsters like In-Ha’s father roamed around with their life intact. This was just a reminder of the world’s crazy bias.

Eun-Sun observed as Ni-Na’s face suddenly turned grim as she continued her yet concluded story. “A few years later, In-Ha met that bitch Ji-A and he fell in love with her crazy ass. I guess he really healed and he was excited to marry her. He was really happy till that crazy witch decided she wasn’t in love with him, but rather with his demented father, just a few days before their wedding. That broke In-Ha again, and that’s when he picked up the libertine skills of his Father and lived each day through different skirts, and that was-” She paused and turned to Eun-sun whose face had turned with shock.

“-till he met you.”

“Me?” Eun-sun pointed a finger at herself in disbelief as she tried to fight the tears that were already streaming down her cheeks.

“Yes, you, sister-in-law. In-Ha changed because of you and I believe you know why.”