Chapter 30: Abduction |
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Once Sora arrived at the hospital, Miranda was already waiting for her at the lobby.
“Sora-ssi, follow me this way!” instructed Miranda.
“How is he? What happened? How did he end up in the hospital?” Sora asked as she paced alongside Miranda.
“I’m not sure either. The pain started this morning and he took a few painkillers to supress it. But then the pain came back when he was in the meeting with all the management staff at the office and then he collapsed onto the floor. Thereafter, he was sent to this hospital. The doctor said something about poison. Over here Sora-ssi,” explained Miranda as she led Sora the way to the private room that Park Jungsu was staying in.
“Poison? But how?” asked Sora as she followed closely.
“Yes, poison. The doctor said they found a substance in his stomach that is poisonous and harmful to the body if taken in. So they performed a gastric lavage for President Park to clean it out of his body. This room over here, Room 1004,” said Miranda.
Sora nodded and thanked Miranda for showing her the way. Her heart was still beating rapidly as she gripped onto the door handle tightly, nervous to enter.
Slowly opening the door, she walked into a large room and saw Park Jungsu resting in bed. She slowly made her way to his bedside and sat down in the chair next to his bed.
His face still looked pale from the gastric lavage procedure and it was heartbreaking for her to watch as tears started to form in her eyes.
“You must have been in a lot of pain, Jungsu-oppa,” she said to herself as she placed her hand on his face and tears began to roll down from her eyes.
She held onto his hand and placed her head down onto his bed as she couldn’t control her tears anymore and started to cry.
“Yah…How am I supposed to rest if you’re going to cry like that?” complained Park Jungsu with a weak voice.
Sora quickly perked up when she heard his voice. “You’re awake,” she said with tears still rolling down her face.
“Of course I’m awake. How can I sleep with you crying like this?” he said as he wiped away her tears with his thumb.
“Well, I was worried! How are you feeling right now? Let me inform the nurse!” she said.
Just when she was about to get up, he grabbed hold of her hand and said, “Kajima.” He pulled her back and asked her to stay with him for a bit.
She sat back down in the chair next to his bed, feeling upset to see him like this.
He held her hand tightly in his and suddenly noticed her finger was injured. “What happened to your finger?” he asked worriedly despite his own condition.
“Ani…it’s nothing. Just a minor cut while I was cooking. Nothing serious,” she replied with a smile, pulling her hand away.
“Pabo, you should have paid attention when you’re cutting things with a knife,” he scoffed at her.
She looked at him with tears filling up her eyes again. “I was making dinner for you and then…” she couldn’t finish her sentence as she began to weep, thinking back to the moment when she got the call from Miranda.
Just at that moment, Park Jungsu sat up from his bed and pulled Sora into his arms as he embraced her. “Mianhe, Sora-ah…” he said softly while stroking her hair to comfort her.
She placed her arms around him and embraced him, pulling herself closer as tears continued to flow down her face.
It took Sora a few minutes to dry her tears while she remained in his embrace. Then she heard him sigh.
“Ottoke? I’m such a bad boyfriend because I made you cry so many times…”
Sora pulled herself away and said, “You finally noticed?” as she wiped away her tears with her hands.
As quickly as he made a grin on his face, he had to compose himself as he wiped the grin off his face for what he was about to say. “What to do then? Perhaps I should take responsibility by officially making you my woman,” he said slyly.
“Yes, you should take respon– Wait, what did you just say?” she asked.
“I was saying—“
However, he was quickly interrupted before he could complete his sentence as the doctor came in to check up on his condition.
“I see that you’re awake now. So, how are you feeling right now, Mr. Park?” his doctor asked.
“My abdominals are hurting a bit and when I swallow, I can feel a bit of pain as well,” Park Jungsu explained while lightly rubbing his chest to indicate the area in pain.
The doctor explained that it’s possible to feel that way after the procedure. “You might feel or suffer a bit from pain when swallowing, chest pain, coughs, shortness of breath and perhaps abdominal pain after the gastric lavage we performed on you. So it’s best if you stay another day or two here so that we can observe your condition after the procedure. Meanwhile, it’s probably best to avoid solid food for the time being,” said the doctor.
Sora stood up from her chair and asked the doctor about what could have caused his pain.
“Well, it seems like Mr. Park here had some poison entered his stomach. Luckily, he was sent here in time, or else it could’ve been fatal. Also, it’s a good thing you’re awake now and show no signs of fever,” his doctor pointed out.
“But where could he have gotten poisoned from?” Sora asked.
The doctor raised his eyebrows and said, “Well it could be from anything from food to drug intakes.” The doctor flipped over the pages on the clipboard and filled out Park Jungsu’s statistics.
“It’s probably those awful tasting chocolates from that Choi Minho guy!” said Park Jungsu as he squirm his face from pain after his procedure.
“Oppa, are you alright? Calm down and don’t make such intense movements,” said Sora.
“That’s right Mr. Park, you should listen to your girlfriend here,” said the doctor with a smile on his face.
“Soon-to-be-wife actually,” corrected Park Jungsu with a smirk.
“Oh? Jinja? Congratulations then!” said the doctor.
A dumbfound expression appeared on Sora’s face. Her mouth dropped opened while waving her hands denying what Park Jungsu just said. “Aniya!” she denied and quickly looked at Park Jungsu as she complained, “Yah! Who said I was going to be your wife?”
Park Jungsu’s eyes widened and said, “Waeyo? You don’t want to? You even agreed when I said I have to take responsibility.”
“Aniya, I didn’t agree and that wasn’t even a proper proposal!” Sora argued.
The doctor stood there watching the two bickering away and then joked, “Wow, you two are already bickering like a married couple before even getting married.” He chuckled as he placed the clipboard back to its place.
The two stopped and turned their attention to the doctor, as if they finally remembered that they’re not the only ones in the room.
“I shall leave you two alone now. Oh and remember not to make too much movements Mr. Park and make sure you get some rest as well.”
Both thanked the doctor and soon the two were left alone after the doctor exited the room. Sora looked back at Park Jungsu.
“Oppa, about the chocolates…”
“Ne? What about those poisonous chocolates?”
“Minho-ssi said that he didn’t send me any flowers or chocolates,” Sora told Park Jungsu.
He gave her a doubtful look and pointed out, “It clearly says his name in the card. So you believe him just because he said it wasn’t him?”
“Aniya, it’s just that I don’t think Minho-ssi would do such an awful thing as in giving people poisoned chocolates.”
With a displeased look on his face, Park Jungsu asked, “So you’re defending him now?”
“Well, I’m just saying why would anyone be so stupid enough to leave a trace like their name if they were going to poison someone? If you were to do something bad like robbing a bank, would you go in without a mask and tell everyone ‘I, Park Jungsu, the president and CEO of JSE am robbing this bank!’? Aniya, you would keep it a secret unless you purposely want to be sent to prison, right?” Sora laid out her argument as she rationalizes about the situation.
“You do have a point there. But why do you have to use me as an example for your argument? You should have used someone else instead!” he whined.
“Because you’re right here in front of me,” she said with a light smirk.
“So who could it be? Why would they pretend to be that Minho guy and send you those chocolates?” asked Park Jungsu.
“Well whoever that person is, he/she probably wanted me to eat those chocolates. But then you just had to eat them all by yourself,” said Sora, poking fun at Park Jungsu and feeling a bit guilty at the same time.
“Are you trying to say that I brought this upon my own self?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Aniya,” Sora denied as she looked away with an expression of guilt on her face.
Upon seeing that look, Park Jungsu decided to change the topic. He took her hand and said, “Enough said. Let’s get back to some serious business here.”
Sora turned back to him, clueless as to what he meant. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“The discussion we were having a while ago, about me taking responsibility,” he reminded, giving her a serious look.
To avoid the conversation on that matter, Sora diverted the attention to another matter and said “Omo! Look at the time now!” She freed her hand from his hold, looking at her watch. “It’s getting late and your doctor said that you have to rest more. So hurry and lay back down,” she said as she gently pushed him onto his pillow and covered the sheet over his body.
At that moment, he felt like a young child being forced to sleep. He looked at her with a helpless expression written all over his face. “Sora-ah…” he called out her name.
However, instead of answering to his call, she gave him a swift kiss on the cheeks and then began to make her way out. “I’ll come and visit you tomorrow,” she said as she made her way to the door.
“Yah! Sora-ah! Wait a minute!” he called as he sat back up. “Yah! Kang Sora! Come back here! We’re not done talking yet! Kk…kajima!” He ran out of breath shortly after using all his energy in attempt to call her back, but failed as she already made her way out of his room.
He slowly plumped back onto his pillow and whined, “Aish! Why does she have to leave in a hurry?”
Behind the closed door, Sora quickly had her hand over her left chess. She could feel her heart thumping unimaginably fast. Taking a few seconds to calm down, she said to her own self, “What just happened? Was he trying to propose to me?” She shook her head vigorously, “Aniya! That wasn’t even a proper proposal!”
As she made her way out of the hospital, someone in a black car was watching her from afar. Next to this person in the passenger seat were secretly taken photographs of Sora and those who are close to her. Of those pictures, not only was she circled with a red marker but her father as well.
***
The next day, Donghae and the others came to the hospital to pay their hyung a visit.
“Hyung! Are you alright?” they all asked.
Park Jungsu nodded and said, “Ne…Nan Gwaenchanha.” He sat up from his bed.
“What happened? How did you end up like this?” Siwon asked.
Park Jungsu sighed and replied, “Let’s just say that having too many chocolates can be dangerous.”
“So you got food poisoning from chocolates? Who gave you those chocolates?” Sungmin asked.
With Sungmin’s question, Park Jungsu hesitated as he knew that he ate all those chocolates without someone’s consent.
“No one gave him chocolates. He took them without asking and finished the whole box all by himself without even leaving a single one behind,” said a voice from behind.
Everyone turned around and found Sora at the door with some food. She gave a quick bow to greet them all.
“It’s our hyungsunim! Anyeong!” they all greeted in harmony.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Sora said, “Omo! I think it’s a bit early to call me that.”
Eunhyuk ran over to Sora, placing his arm behind her shoulders and asked, “Waeyo, Sora-ssi? You’re going to marry our hyung, aren’t you?”
“Yah! Eunhyuk! What are you doing with that arm of yours?” Park Jungsu yelled out.
Joining in on the fun, Donghae also went over to Sora and threw his arms on her shoulders as well. “No…no…no. Sora-ssi here is going to marry me. Right Sora-ssi?” said Donghae, teasing Park Jungsu who was still in the hospital bed.
“Yah…Lee Donghae, don’t make me go over there! And both of you, stop getting close to my Baby Princess!”
Everyone stopped when they heard him call Sora by that name. They all looked at Park Jungsu and then everyone in the room burst into laughter.
“Hyung! Is that how you address Sora-ssi by? ‘Baby Princess’?” asked Siwon.
Park Jungsu looked at Siwon with a clueless expression. “Well yeah. To me, she’s as beautiful as a princess and adorable like a baby.”
Everyone got shivers from his reply and Sora was no exception. She felt embarrassed being in the room and so she quickly excused herself. “I brought over some porridge. Let me get a clean bowl from outside,” she said with her face already blushing uncontrollably.
“Sora-ah! Wait!” he called out, but she had already made her way out of the room. Then he looked at all his dongsaeng and said, “Yah! You all want to die? Look what you all did? You all made her leave the room.”
They all apologized and then Siwon asked, “But hyung, are you planning to marry Sora?”
Everyone’s attention turned to Park Jungsu after Siwon popped the question.
“Of course I am! She’s mine and I won’t let anyone take her away from me!” he declared. Then he looked at everyone with a big grin on his face as if he couldn’t hold in the thought of Sora being his wife. Taking a few seconds to calm down, he continued, “I even told her that I’ll officially make her my woman and that I am going to take responsibility!”
“Oh…someone’s already being possessive…” Siwon teased.
“Am I? Do you think that’s why she avoided my proposal?” Park Jungsu asked.
Siwon looked dumbfound for a moment. “Huh? You mean she didn’t give you an answer?” Siwon asked.
“Aniya,” Park Jungsu replied while shaking his head.
“Wait a second, hyung. Tell me how you proposed to Sora,” Siwon instructed.
Park Jungsu took a few glances at everyone in the room as if he was being interviewed by reporters.
“Siwon, by the look on his face, I don’t think did a proper proposal,” suggested Sungmin.
“Hyung! You did do a proper proposal, didn’t you?” Siwon asked.
“A ‘proper proposal’…? I just told her ‘perhaps I should take responsibility by officially making you my woman’,” Park Jungsu said confidently.
Everyone’s jaw dropped with their eyes staring plainly at him.
“Hyung. That isn’t even considered a proposal and that’s exactly why Sora-ssi didn’t give you a straight answer,” Siwon stated.
“If I was her, I would have been disappointed. I mean, almost every girl if not all would dream of a romantic proposal from their lover,” said Sungmin.
“Hyung, did you even prepare a ring and flowers?” asked Donghae. “Those are the most basic things you need to propose to someone.”
By the look on Park Jungsu’s face, they all could tell that he didn’t prepare them at all.
“Oh come on, hyung! You’ve got to be kidding. Even Donghae knows you need a ring and flowers to propose,” said Siwon in disbelief.
“Well I said what I said because I wanted her to know that I have intentions to marry her,” explained Park Jungsu. “Besides, how am I supposed to prepare all that when I’m here in the hospital?”
“Okay…so how are you going to propose to Sora-ssi so that she will officially be our hyungsunim?” asked Siwon.
“I say, take her to a nice restaurant with candlelit dinner and propose to her there!” suggested Donghae.
Everyone shook their heads to Donghae’s suggestion.
“That’s too cliché. It has to be special and surprising at the same time. So you have to give it some thought, hyung” stated Siwon.
“Arasso, arasso! I’ll think of something,” said Park Jungsu.
Just then, Sora returned from her bowl hunt and everyone turned quiet. “Am I interrupting your conversations? You all aren’t talking about me, are you?” she asked with a smile.
“No. Aniya, hyungsunim. Not at all,” they all said together. Some moved aside to give Sora room as she placed the bowl on the table and taking out the porridge that she brought.
“Good then,” she said looking at Park Jungsu, who was glancing around the room. “I made you some porridge, well my mother did, but I helped with putting in the ingredients and stirring it once in a while,” explained Sora as she poured it into the bowl.
“Jinja? Then I really have to give it a try then,” he said happily.
Sora took a spoon of porridge and lightly blew on it to lessen the heat. She then fed it to Park Jungsu who accepted it wholeheartedly. His face was filled with content and love when Sora fed him.
“How is it?” Sora doubtfully asked with a raised eyebrow.
Park Jungsu couldn’t keep his eyes off of Sora as he told her with a big smile, “Mashta.”
“Jinja? Then have some more,” Sora said happily, feeling relieved as she took another spoon and fed it to Park Jungsu.
All the boys stood there watching Sora feed their hyung and how he is lovingly taking in every single spoon fed to him.
“Aish…this is really hard to watch both of you being like this,” said Eunhyuk as shivers went up his spine and all the other boys felt the same way.
“This really is too much to watch, making us envious and shiver at the same time!” said Kyuhyun, clenching his fingers.
Then Donghae went and sat on the other side of the bed and asked, “Sora-ssi, can I try some too?” He opened his mouth, waiting for a taste.
However, just before Sora could say anything, Park Jungsu said, “Yah…Lee Donghae, who is the patient right now? Sora-ah made this for me, not for you, arasso? If you’re hungry, you can go to the cafeteria downstairs.”
“Aish….Jinja, I’m just asking for a taste. It’s not like I’m going to take the whole thing,” Donghae complained while everyone else laughed. “See Sora-ssi? This is how he’s treating me after he met you.”
“Mianhe, I’ll make you something delicious next time if you visit me at my place,” said Sora, trying to comfort Donghae for his hyung’s action.
Park Jungsu’s eyes quickly gazed at Sora that read: What did you just say?
“Donghae-ah, don’t you ever go to Sora’s place without my consent, arasso?” he ordered. “If you want something to eat, I’ll make it for you when you come over to my place.”
“But I want to try Sora-ssi’s cooking, hyung!” argued Donghae.
“Alright you two, stop this now. Come on Donghae, let’s leave the two lovebirds alone. They already have way too many wheels in this room and it feels crowded,” said Sungmin.
Donghae complied and said, “Fine fine fine…”
As they all were making their way out, Donghae looked at Sora and whispered, “Call me!” He made a hand gesture as well so that Park Jungsu could see.
“Enough Donghae, let’s go already!” said Eunhyuk, who lightly pushed Donghae from behind.
The two watched as the others left the room. Sora chuckled and shook her head in regards to what she just witnessed and that was how adorable Park Jungsu’s dongsaengs were.
She then turned back to Park Jungsu and said, “Well, you better hurry and finish up the porridge before it all goes cold.” She took another spoonful and directed it towards his mouth.
Park Jungsu took the bite and asked, “How come you never invite me over to your place?”
“Huh?” responded Sora, feeling oblivious for a moment.
“You openly invite Donghae to your place, but you never invite me like that,” he continued.
Sora chuckled after hearing his reason. “How can I when you just invite yourself to my place before I could say anything?” she countered.
Her statement left him speechless as it did seem like the case.
She looked at him and knew she had won the argument by his diverted attention. “So did the doctor say when you can get discharged from here?” she asked.
Park Jungsu nodded as he swallows the last bit of porridge from his bowl. “Yeah, I’ll be discharged tomorrow if everything goes well.”
“That’s good then. Is there anyone picking you up tomorrow or shall I come and pick you up?” she asked as she was cleaning up.
Just when he was about to answer, his mother opened the door to the room and rushed over to his bedside.
“Our Jungsu-ah, are you okay? Why didn’t you tell me you got admitted to the hospital? If I hadn’t called Miranda, I wouldn’t have known you’re here!” his mother asked with worry.
“I didn’t want you to react the way you are reacting right now,” he told his mother and then gazed at Sora.
His mother noticed his eyes were settled elsewhere. It was then that she turned around and found Sora behind her. “Omo, Sora-ssi! I’m so sorry for not seeing you here. Oh dear! Was I interrupting you two?”
Sora smiled and greeted Park Jungsu’s mother with a bow. “How do you do Mrs. Park?” she greeted.
“Forgive me, I’ll be on my way. Jungsu-ah, remember to rest more, arasso?” his mother instructed.
Just then, Sora held Mrs. Park back and told her that she was about to leave after cleaning up.
Mrs. Park looked around and saw the bowl and porridge container on the table. Her reaction was quite surprised and happy as she asked Sora if she had brought her son food. “Omo, Sora-ssi, did you make our Jungsu food?” Mrs. Park asked.
“Oh it’s nothing fancy. I just brought him some porridge that I helped my mom make. I’m not that good in cooking,” Sora explained.
“Omo, porridge? He actually finished the whole bowl?” Mrs. Park sounded surprised as she saw the empty bowl.
Sora answered and asked, “Ne…waeyo?” For a moment, Sora felt surprised as to why Mrs. Park reacted the way she had.
Mrs. Park gave her son a smirk and said, “Well…of all the food, our Jungsu here dislikes porridge the most. So that’s why I’m surprised he actually finished the whole bowl.”
Sora looked at Park Jungsu while saying, “Omo! He dislikes porridge? Just a while ago, he said the porridge was delicious.”
“He did?” Mrs. Park sounded even more surprised.
Park Jungsu's ears turned red and avoided eye-contact with the two ladies.
"Well seems like our Jungsu will like anything you make for him Sora-ssi," Mrs. Park suggested.
"Eomoni!" he tried to stop his mother from going on further.
However, Mrs. Park continued, "Sora-ssi, you know what you should try making?"
Sora listened tentatively while nodding at the same time as if a daughter-in-law was listening to her mother-in-law suggesting what she could cook for her husband.
Watching the two ladies discuss about cooking, Park Jungsu was being left out in his bed, feeling abandoned. He plumped back and placed his hand over his eyes, not believing what he's seeing before him.
"Excuse me," he said, waving his hand at the two, "I'm still here! Can't you two talk about this some other time?"
The two ladies stopped their discussion and turned their attention to Park Jungsu.
"Oh! Mianhe Jungsu-ah. I got carried away just thinking how wonderful it'd be when you two get married and our Sora-ssi taking care of your meals," Mrs. Park explained, unable to control her happiness as the smile of joy surfaced on her face.
With the mention of marriage, the two couple turned red. Sora looked away, holding in her smile while Park Jungsu felt embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eomma!" he called, glancing at Sora at the same time.
Sora glanced back at Park Jungsu with her flushed cheeks and turned to Park Jungsu’s mother. "Mianhe Mrs. Park, but I have to be on my way now. It was nice seeing you today," Sora said with a smile.
"Omo, why leave so soon Sora-ssi?" Mrs. Park asked.
Sora told her that she had other matters to attend to and then turned to Park Jungsu and informed him, "Wait for me tomorrow. I'll come and pick you up."
"Jinja? You don't have to if you have other things to do," he said in surprise, but deep down he was jumping with joy to know that she cared for him this much.
"Yes, Sora-ssi, like Jungsu said, if you're busy, you don't have to trouble yourself. I can take care of it tomorrow," said Mrs. Park.
Park Jungsu gave his mother a look that read "what are you saying?" as the reason why he told her she didn’t have to was so that he would seem understanding when deep down he really wanted her to pick him up tomorrow.
Seeing the reaction from his face, Sora played along and said to Mrs. Park, "Well, if that's the case, please take care of oppa for me then." Seeing the disappointment on his face straight afterwards, she went up to him and whispered, "I'll come tomorrow morning." She then kissed him on the cheek and made her way out while bidding Mrs. Park goodbye.
As soon as Sora left the room, Mrs. Park turned to Park Jungsu and demanded, “I don’t care what you do, but you better make Sora-ssi my daughter-in-law, arasso? That’s the first thing you need to do.”
“What do you mean by the ‘first thing’ I need to do? There’s a second thing?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You’ll know what the second task is once you complete the first one!” Mrs. Park replied with a smirk as she gathered her things together. “Well, you better rest now and remember to pack your things before someone comes and pick you up tomorrow.”
Park Jungsu sat in his bed, speechless while he watched his mother leave the room.
***
As promised, Sora went to pick Park Jungsu up the next morning. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Park Jungsu was already all dressed and sitting comfortably on the sofa with his phone in hand while waiting for her.
Sora was surprised as soon as she walked in. “Omo! Oppa, you’re ready already?” She glanced around the room and found everything was in its place.
Park Jungsu looked up and replied, “Ne, what took you so long?”
“Mianhe, there was a bit of morning traffic,” Sora explained.
Park Jungsu got up and stretched his arms and back. “I see. Shall we get going now? I’m feeling a bit hungry. Let’s have breakfast together,” he suggested as he grabbed his bag and placed his other arm around Sora’s shoulders and trawling her with him.
After having breakfast, Sora told Park Jungsu she had things to do at work and that she’ll drop him off at his place before she goes back to her office.
As much as he didn’t want her to leave, he did bid her goodbye for the day.
Given he just got discharged from the hospital – he thought he might as well take another few days off from work.
However being all alone with nothing to do, he decided to go out rather than conceal himself inside his own home. He got into his car and drove out to the city. After a bit of commute he arrived at one of Seoul’s biggest shopping malls.
Roaming around the mall without much thought of what he wanted to do there, something suddenly caught his eyes when he passed by one of the many stores in the mall. He got up close to the window and saw several beautiful diamond rings displaying in the showcase.
As he stood there, he began to imagine how happy he would be taking Sora’s hand for marriage and putting a beautiful diamond ring on her wedding finger.
A lady salesperson from the store saw him standing outside their store and went out to greet him.
“Good afternoon sir. Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked with a warm smile.
Park Jungsu looked up, a bit startled at first but said, “Umm…Yes, I’m looking for a ring.”
“Yes, I can very well see that. Is there any particular type of ring you’re looking for? Any particular occasions?” the person asked as she led Park Jungsu inside the store.
“Well…I’m thinking of proposing to my girlfriend and I need a ring for that,” he answered while looking at several other rings displayed in the store.
The lady smiled and said, “Yes, you would need a ring for that occasion. Well, we have a few new designs that just came in this week and they are these ones here.” The lady showed Park Jungsu the new rings.
Park Jungsu took a look at the rings and began to analyze each. “This one has a good shine to it, but it’s too small.”
“Perhaps this one?” the lady asked as she showed him another ring.
Park Jungsu shook his head and commented, “Well, this one is only average. There seems to be a bit of inclusion inside.”
The lady then showed him another ring with a big diamond. “How about this one?” she asked.
He shook his head again. “No, that won’t do. The colour of that diamond seems to have a bit of fainted yellow to it. I want something white or like colourless…”he said as his finger traced over the showcase in search of what he’s looking for, “…that has a nice cut and clarity to it…and the right carat size…just like this one here.”
His eyes were locked to the ring that had caught his attention. Being dazed by the cut, clarity and colour, he admired the glow coming from it.
The lady then complimented, “Well, you do have a good eye for rings, sir. The diamond on this ring is actually one of our few rarest diamonds in our store. It’s unique and is endowed with its own personality and characteristic.”
“Is that so? And what would that be?” he asked, curious as to what story the diamond tells.
“The diamond will shine brightly forever like the love the man gives to his woman that will last eternally, resembling to ‘Everlasting Love’,” the lady said in the most heart-warming way.
Park Jungsu nodded and said, “I’ll take this one then.” A smile appeared on Park Jungsu’s face as he bent over for a closer look at the ring and repeated the words to himself, “Everlasting Love”.
The lady smiled and said, “Very well then. May I please get the ring size of your lucky lady?”
The smile soon fainted as he asked, “Ring size?”
The lady nodded and said, “Yes, the size of your girlfriend’s finger.”
Park Jungsu rubbed his chin, feeling a bit embarrassed as he didn’t really know the size of Sora’s finger. He then began to look at his hand and fingers. “Perhaps almost the same size as this finger here?” he said to the lady, showing her his finger.
He could see the unconvinced looked on the lady’s face and said, “This is embarrassing. I’ll take the ring, but can I give you the size later?”
The lady smiled and said, “Yes, certainly. You wouldn’t want to give her a ring that won’t fit properly.”
Park Jungsu nodded in agreement, “Yes, that wouldn’t be good now would it?”
The lady thanked him for the purchase and he walked out the store comparing his hands and fingers.
…
Park Jungsu arrived at the underground parking, where he parked his car, he found a man standing by the entrance, waiting for someone to pick him up. From the back, he looked sturdy and tall as if he’s seen the man somewhere before.
When the man turned around, Park Jungsu was a surprised to see Sora’s father standing before him. The same reaction happened with Chairman Kang when he saw Park Jungsu.
He nodded at Sora’s father and Chairman Kang slightly nodded his head as a courtesy.
Park Jungsu walked up to Chairman Kang and said, “Good afternoon, Chairman Kang.”
“Good afternoon,” said Sora’s father as he looked at Park Jungsu emotionless and then looked away.
Park Jungsu felt awkward and decided to drop his intention to converse with Chairman Kang. However, to his surprise, Chairman Kang continued on and asked if he was okay from the recent incident. “How are you feeling right now? I heard you got discharged from the hospital this morning,” said Chairman Kang.
Park Jungsu nodded and thanked Chairman Kang for his concern. “A few chocolates won’t kill me. How did you know I was in the hospital?”
Chairman Kang looked a Park Jungsu for a second and said, “How would I not know when the two ladies in family were talking about it and more so making porridge for you.”
“You’re not happy with that, are you?” Park Jungsu asked.
“Will it change anything if I told you I’m not, Mr. Park?” Chairman Kang asked.
Park Jungsu just looked at Chairman Kang without saying anything.
“I guess not. Enjoy the rest of your day, Mr. Park,” said Chairman Kang.
“Thanks. You too, sir,” replied Park Jungsu as he bowed and walked to his car.
As Park Jungsu arrived at his car, he said to himself, “That didn’t go too bad.”
When he settled inside his own car, he saw Sora’s father still waiting and thought maybe he could give him a ride instead.
However, just when he started his car, a black car with tinted windows stopped in front of Chairman Kang. A man all dressed in black with a mask and cap wearing sunglasses walked up to Chairman Kang and attacked him with a taser gun. Immediately, Sora’s father fell to the ground. The man in black swiftly carried Chairman Kang inside his car and was about to drive off.
As soon as Park Jungsu saw what happened, he tried to call the police, “Come on! Come on!” However, his call for help was unable to connect through due to weak signal in the underground parking. “Damn it! Of all the times, you don’t have signal now!” he complained vigorously.
While Park Jungsu was busy trying to contact the police, the man had started to take off. Park Jungsu tossed his phone aside onto the passenger seat as he quickly followed the black car from behind.
The black car drove without slowing down at all when it came to the speed bumps and Park Jungsu followed. But when he did, the bump was so strong that it flung his phone onto the car floor – making it hard for Park Jungsu to reach.
“God damn it!” he screamed in his car while glancing the phone on the floor.
As soon as the kidnapper got out to the open street, he began to drive with great speed – dodging the cars around him. Park Jungsu had to keep a fair distance while keeping up with the black car in order for him not be discovered as Chairman Kang’s life was at risk.
He tried reaching for his phone a few times before giving up as he needed to keep his eyes on the road. Like the black car, he also had to dodge several cars just to keep up.
After some time, when the sky became dark, the black car finally arrived at an abandoned factory just outside of the city and Park Jungsu was just right behind – driving slowly at a distance with his headlights off.
The kidnapper had blindfolded Chairman Kang and had his hands tied up. He took Sora’s father into the old worn out factory.
Park Jungsu quickly turned off his car and reached for his phone on the floor. He got out of his car and quietly made his way closer to the factory. Making his way closer, he managed to get a glimpse of the car’s license plate.
Once Park Jungsu got to the factory, he peeked through the small gap from the two large metal doors and saw Chairman Kang with his arms and legs tied up. He glanced around and the kidnapper was nowhere in sight. For a moment he wondered where the kidnapper had gone, but then he knew that that wasn’t the main concern at the moment. The first thing he needed to do was try to get Sora’s father out and call for help.
Without hesitation, Park Jungsu took out his phone. He activated his GPS on his phone so that he could find out where their location was and dialled 1-1-2 for the police. As the phone was being put through, he slide opened the door and quietly snugged in.
“Come on! Put me through already,” Park Jungsu mumbled to himself and not long, the line was put through.
“1-1-2, this is the police department,” a dispatcher said on the phone.
Park Jungsu was relieved to hear someone on the other line and informed, “Yes, I’m calling to report a kidnapping.”
“What is your name and where are you calling from, sir?” the dispatcher asked.
“My name is Park Jungsu and I’m calling from my mobile. Someone kidnapped the chairman of KS Productions,” he replied as he began to pant.
“Do you know the exact or approximate location of this kidnapping?” asked the dispatcher.
“I’m not sure. I’m not getting anything from my phone’s GPS. But I’m at this abandoned factory just outside the city. Please hur—“
Before Park Jungsu could finish his sentence he was knocked out from behind by the kidnapper with a baseball bat and his phone had dropped onto the ground.
“Sir, are you still there? Sir, are you alright? Can you hear me?” asked the dispatcher on the other line.
The kidnapper picked up the phone and ended the call. “Park-Jung-su? How interesting,” the kidnapper said in a subtle voice.
“Sora-ssi, follow me this way!” instructed Miranda.
“How is he? What happened? How did he end up in the hospital?” Sora asked as she paced alongside Miranda.
“I’m not sure either. The pain started this morning and he took a few painkillers to supress it. But then the pain came back when he was in the meeting with all the management staff at the office and then he collapsed onto the floor. Thereafter, he was sent to this hospital. The doctor said something about poison. Over here Sora-ssi,” explained Miranda as she led Sora the way to the private room that Park Jungsu was staying in.
“Poison? But how?” asked Sora as she followed closely.
“Yes, poison. The doctor said they found a substance in his stomach that is poisonous and harmful to the body if taken in. So they performed a gastric lavage for President Park to clean it out of his body. This room over here, Room 1004,” said Miranda.
Sora nodded and thanked Miranda for showing her the way. Her heart was still beating rapidly as she gripped onto the door handle tightly, nervous to enter.
Slowly opening the door, she walked into a large room and saw Park Jungsu resting in bed. She slowly made her way to his bedside and sat down in the chair next to his bed.
His face still looked pale from the gastric lavage procedure and it was heartbreaking for her to watch as tears started to form in her eyes.
“You must have been in a lot of pain, Jungsu-oppa,” she said to herself as she placed her hand on his face and tears began to roll down from her eyes.
She held onto his hand and placed her head down onto his bed as she couldn’t control her tears anymore and started to cry.
“Yah…How am I supposed to rest if you’re going to cry like that?” complained Park Jungsu with a weak voice.
Sora quickly perked up when she heard his voice. “You’re awake,” she said with tears still rolling down her face.
“Of course I’m awake. How can I sleep with you crying like this?” he said as he wiped away her tears with his thumb.
“Well, I was worried! How are you feeling right now? Let me inform the nurse!” she said.
Just when she was about to get up, he grabbed hold of her hand and said, “Kajima.” He pulled her back and asked her to stay with him for a bit.
She sat back down in the chair next to his bed, feeling upset to see him like this.
He held her hand tightly in his and suddenly noticed her finger was injured. “What happened to your finger?” he asked worriedly despite his own condition.
“Ani…it’s nothing. Just a minor cut while I was cooking. Nothing serious,” she replied with a smile, pulling her hand away.
“Pabo, you should have paid attention when you’re cutting things with a knife,” he scoffed at her.
She looked at him with tears filling up her eyes again. “I was making dinner for you and then…” she couldn’t finish her sentence as she began to weep, thinking back to the moment when she got the call from Miranda.
Just at that moment, Park Jungsu sat up from his bed and pulled Sora into his arms as he embraced her. “Mianhe, Sora-ah…” he said softly while stroking her hair to comfort her.
She placed her arms around him and embraced him, pulling herself closer as tears continued to flow down her face.
It took Sora a few minutes to dry her tears while she remained in his embrace. Then she heard him sigh.
“Ottoke? I’m such a bad boyfriend because I made you cry so many times…”
Sora pulled herself away and said, “You finally noticed?” as she wiped away her tears with her hands.
As quickly as he made a grin on his face, he had to compose himself as he wiped the grin off his face for what he was about to say. “What to do then? Perhaps I should take responsibility by officially making you my woman,” he said slyly.
“Yes, you should take respon– Wait, what did you just say?” she asked.
“I was saying—“
However, he was quickly interrupted before he could complete his sentence as the doctor came in to check up on his condition.
“I see that you’re awake now. So, how are you feeling right now, Mr. Park?” his doctor asked.
“My abdominals are hurting a bit and when I swallow, I can feel a bit of pain as well,” Park Jungsu explained while lightly rubbing his chest to indicate the area in pain.
The doctor explained that it’s possible to feel that way after the procedure. “You might feel or suffer a bit from pain when swallowing, chest pain, coughs, shortness of breath and perhaps abdominal pain after the gastric lavage we performed on you. So it’s best if you stay another day or two here so that we can observe your condition after the procedure. Meanwhile, it’s probably best to avoid solid food for the time being,” said the doctor.
Sora stood up from her chair and asked the doctor about what could have caused his pain.
“Well, it seems like Mr. Park here had some poison entered his stomach. Luckily, he was sent here in time, or else it could’ve been fatal. Also, it’s a good thing you’re awake now and show no signs of fever,” his doctor pointed out.
“But where could he have gotten poisoned from?” Sora asked.
The doctor raised his eyebrows and said, “Well it could be from anything from food to drug intakes.” The doctor flipped over the pages on the clipboard and filled out Park Jungsu’s statistics.
“It’s probably those awful tasting chocolates from that Choi Minho guy!” said Park Jungsu as he squirm his face from pain after his procedure.
“Oppa, are you alright? Calm down and don’t make such intense movements,” said Sora.
“That’s right Mr. Park, you should listen to your girlfriend here,” said the doctor with a smile on his face.
“Soon-to-be-wife actually,” corrected Park Jungsu with a smirk.
“Oh? Jinja? Congratulations then!” said the doctor.
A dumbfound expression appeared on Sora’s face. Her mouth dropped opened while waving her hands denying what Park Jungsu just said. “Aniya!” she denied and quickly looked at Park Jungsu as she complained, “Yah! Who said I was going to be your wife?”
Park Jungsu’s eyes widened and said, “Waeyo? You don’t want to? You even agreed when I said I have to take responsibility.”
“Aniya, I didn’t agree and that wasn’t even a proper proposal!” Sora argued.
The doctor stood there watching the two bickering away and then joked, “Wow, you two are already bickering like a married couple before even getting married.” He chuckled as he placed the clipboard back to its place.
The two stopped and turned their attention to the doctor, as if they finally remembered that they’re not the only ones in the room.
“I shall leave you two alone now. Oh and remember not to make too much movements Mr. Park and make sure you get some rest as well.”
Both thanked the doctor and soon the two were left alone after the doctor exited the room. Sora looked back at Park Jungsu.
“Oppa, about the chocolates…”
“Ne? What about those poisonous chocolates?”
“Minho-ssi said that he didn’t send me any flowers or chocolates,” Sora told Park Jungsu.
He gave her a doubtful look and pointed out, “It clearly says his name in the card. So you believe him just because he said it wasn’t him?”
“Aniya, it’s just that I don’t think Minho-ssi would do such an awful thing as in giving people poisoned chocolates.”
With a displeased look on his face, Park Jungsu asked, “So you’re defending him now?”
“Well, I’m just saying why would anyone be so stupid enough to leave a trace like their name if they were going to poison someone? If you were to do something bad like robbing a bank, would you go in without a mask and tell everyone ‘I, Park Jungsu, the president and CEO of JSE am robbing this bank!’? Aniya, you would keep it a secret unless you purposely want to be sent to prison, right?” Sora laid out her argument as she rationalizes about the situation.
“You do have a point there. But why do you have to use me as an example for your argument? You should have used someone else instead!” he whined.
“Because you’re right here in front of me,” she said with a light smirk.
“So who could it be? Why would they pretend to be that Minho guy and send you those chocolates?” asked Park Jungsu.
“Well whoever that person is, he/she probably wanted me to eat those chocolates. But then you just had to eat them all by yourself,” said Sora, poking fun at Park Jungsu and feeling a bit guilty at the same time.
“Are you trying to say that I brought this upon my own self?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Aniya,” Sora denied as she looked away with an expression of guilt on her face.
Upon seeing that look, Park Jungsu decided to change the topic. He took her hand and said, “Enough said. Let’s get back to some serious business here.”
Sora turned back to him, clueless as to what he meant. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“The discussion we were having a while ago, about me taking responsibility,” he reminded, giving her a serious look.
To avoid the conversation on that matter, Sora diverted the attention to another matter and said “Omo! Look at the time now!” She freed her hand from his hold, looking at her watch. “It’s getting late and your doctor said that you have to rest more. So hurry and lay back down,” she said as she gently pushed him onto his pillow and covered the sheet over his body.
At that moment, he felt like a young child being forced to sleep. He looked at her with a helpless expression written all over his face. “Sora-ah…” he called out her name.
However, instead of answering to his call, she gave him a swift kiss on the cheeks and then began to make her way out. “I’ll come and visit you tomorrow,” she said as she made her way to the door.
“Yah! Sora-ah! Wait a minute!” he called as he sat back up. “Yah! Kang Sora! Come back here! We’re not done talking yet! Kk…kajima!” He ran out of breath shortly after using all his energy in attempt to call her back, but failed as she already made her way out of his room.
He slowly plumped back onto his pillow and whined, “Aish! Why does she have to leave in a hurry?”
Behind the closed door, Sora quickly had her hand over her left chess. She could feel her heart thumping unimaginably fast. Taking a few seconds to calm down, she said to her own self, “What just happened? Was he trying to propose to me?” She shook her head vigorously, “Aniya! That wasn’t even a proper proposal!”
As she made her way out of the hospital, someone in a black car was watching her from afar. Next to this person in the passenger seat were secretly taken photographs of Sora and those who are close to her. Of those pictures, not only was she circled with a red marker but her father as well.
***
The next day, Donghae and the others came to the hospital to pay their hyung a visit.
“Hyung! Are you alright?” they all asked.
Park Jungsu nodded and said, “Ne…Nan Gwaenchanha.” He sat up from his bed.
“What happened? How did you end up like this?” Siwon asked.
Park Jungsu sighed and replied, “Let’s just say that having too many chocolates can be dangerous.”
“So you got food poisoning from chocolates? Who gave you those chocolates?” Sungmin asked.
With Sungmin’s question, Park Jungsu hesitated as he knew that he ate all those chocolates without someone’s consent.
“No one gave him chocolates. He took them without asking and finished the whole box all by himself without even leaving a single one behind,” said a voice from behind.
Everyone turned around and found Sora at the door with some food. She gave a quick bow to greet them all.
“It’s our hyungsunim! Anyeong!” they all greeted in harmony.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Sora said, “Omo! I think it’s a bit early to call me that.”
Eunhyuk ran over to Sora, placing his arm behind her shoulders and asked, “Waeyo, Sora-ssi? You’re going to marry our hyung, aren’t you?”
“Yah! Eunhyuk! What are you doing with that arm of yours?” Park Jungsu yelled out.
Joining in on the fun, Donghae also went over to Sora and threw his arms on her shoulders as well. “No…no…no. Sora-ssi here is going to marry me. Right Sora-ssi?” said Donghae, teasing Park Jungsu who was still in the hospital bed.
“Yah…Lee Donghae, don’t make me go over there! And both of you, stop getting close to my Baby Princess!”
Everyone stopped when they heard him call Sora by that name. They all looked at Park Jungsu and then everyone in the room burst into laughter.
“Hyung! Is that how you address Sora-ssi by? ‘Baby Princess’?” asked Siwon.
Park Jungsu looked at Siwon with a clueless expression. “Well yeah. To me, she’s as beautiful as a princess and adorable like a baby.”
Everyone got shivers from his reply and Sora was no exception. She felt embarrassed being in the room and so she quickly excused herself. “I brought over some porridge. Let me get a clean bowl from outside,” she said with her face already blushing uncontrollably.
“Sora-ah! Wait!” he called out, but she had already made her way out of the room. Then he looked at all his dongsaeng and said, “Yah! You all want to die? Look what you all did? You all made her leave the room.”
They all apologized and then Siwon asked, “But hyung, are you planning to marry Sora?”
Everyone’s attention turned to Park Jungsu after Siwon popped the question.
“Of course I am! She’s mine and I won’t let anyone take her away from me!” he declared. Then he looked at everyone with a big grin on his face as if he couldn’t hold in the thought of Sora being his wife. Taking a few seconds to calm down, he continued, “I even told her that I’ll officially make her my woman and that I am going to take responsibility!”
“Oh…someone’s already being possessive…” Siwon teased.
“Am I? Do you think that’s why she avoided my proposal?” Park Jungsu asked.
Siwon looked dumbfound for a moment. “Huh? You mean she didn’t give you an answer?” Siwon asked.
“Aniya,” Park Jungsu replied while shaking his head.
“Wait a second, hyung. Tell me how you proposed to Sora,” Siwon instructed.
Park Jungsu took a few glances at everyone in the room as if he was being interviewed by reporters.
“Siwon, by the look on his face, I don’t think did a proper proposal,” suggested Sungmin.
“Hyung! You did do a proper proposal, didn’t you?” Siwon asked.
“A ‘proper proposal’…? I just told her ‘perhaps I should take responsibility by officially making you my woman’,” Park Jungsu said confidently.
Everyone’s jaw dropped with their eyes staring plainly at him.
“Hyung. That isn’t even considered a proposal and that’s exactly why Sora-ssi didn’t give you a straight answer,” Siwon stated.
“If I was her, I would have been disappointed. I mean, almost every girl if not all would dream of a romantic proposal from their lover,” said Sungmin.
“Hyung, did you even prepare a ring and flowers?” asked Donghae. “Those are the most basic things you need to propose to someone.”
By the look on Park Jungsu’s face, they all could tell that he didn’t prepare them at all.
“Oh come on, hyung! You’ve got to be kidding. Even Donghae knows you need a ring and flowers to propose,” said Siwon in disbelief.
“Well I said what I said because I wanted her to know that I have intentions to marry her,” explained Park Jungsu. “Besides, how am I supposed to prepare all that when I’m here in the hospital?”
“Okay…so how are you going to propose to Sora-ssi so that she will officially be our hyungsunim?” asked Siwon.
“I say, take her to a nice restaurant with candlelit dinner and propose to her there!” suggested Donghae.
Everyone shook their heads to Donghae’s suggestion.
“That’s too cliché. It has to be special and surprising at the same time. So you have to give it some thought, hyung” stated Siwon.
“Arasso, arasso! I’ll think of something,” said Park Jungsu.
Just then, Sora returned from her bowl hunt and everyone turned quiet. “Am I interrupting your conversations? You all aren’t talking about me, are you?” she asked with a smile.
“No. Aniya, hyungsunim. Not at all,” they all said together. Some moved aside to give Sora room as she placed the bowl on the table and taking out the porridge that she brought.
“Good then,” she said looking at Park Jungsu, who was glancing around the room. “I made you some porridge, well my mother did, but I helped with putting in the ingredients and stirring it once in a while,” explained Sora as she poured it into the bowl.
“Jinja? Then I really have to give it a try then,” he said happily.
Sora took a spoon of porridge and lightly blew on it to lessen the heat. She then fed it to Park Jungsu who accepted it wholeheartedly. His face was filled with content and love when Sora fed him.
“How is it?” Sora doubtfully asked with a raised eyebrow.
Park Jungsu couldn’t keep his eyes off of Sora as he told her with a big smile, “Mashta.”
“Jinja? Then have some more,” Sora said happily, feeling relieved as she took another spoon and fed it to Park Jungsu.
All the boys stood there watching Sora feed their hyung and how he is lovingly taking in every single spoon fed to him.
“Aish…this is really hard to watch both of you being like this,” said Eunhyuk as shivers went up his spine and all the other boys felt the same way.
“This really is too much to watch, making us envious and shiver at the same time!” said Kyuhyun, clenching his fingers.
Then Donghae went and sat on the other side of the bed and asked, “Sora-ssi, can I try some too?” He opened his mouth, waiting for a taste.
However, just before Sora could say anything, Park Jungsu said, “Yah…Lee Donghae, who is the patient right now? Sora-ah made this for me, not for you, arasso? If you’re hungry, you can go to the cafeteria downstairs.”
“Aish….Jinja, I’m just asking for a taste. It’s not like I’m going to take the whole thing,” Donghae complained while everyone else laughed. “See Sora-ssi? This is how he’s treating me after he met you.”
“Mianhe, I’ll make you something delicious next time if you visit me at my place,” said Sora, trying to comfort Donghae for his hyung’s action.
Park Jungsu’s eyes quickly gazed at Sora that read: What did you just say?
“Donghae-ah, don’t you ever go to Sora’s place without my consent, arasso?” he ordered. “If you want something to eat, I’ll make it for you when you come over to my place.”
“But I want to try Sora-ssi’s cooking, hyung!” argued Donghae.
“Alright you two, stop this now. Come on Donghae, let’s leave the two lovebirds alone. They already have way too many wheels in this room and it feels crowded,” said Sungmin.
Donghae complied and said, “Fine fine fine…”
As they all were making their way out, Donghae looked at Sora and whispered, “Call me!” He made a hand gesture as well so that Park Jungsu could see.
“Enough Donghae, let’s go already!” said Eunhyuk, who lightly pushed Donghae from behind.
The two watched as the others left the room. Sora chuckled and shook her head in regards to what she just witnessed and that was how adorable Park Jungsu’s dongsaengs were.
She then turned back to Park Jungsu and said, “Well, you better hurry and finish up the porridge before it all goes cold.” She took another spoonful and directed it towards his mouth.
Park Jungsu took the bite and asked, “How come you never invite me over to your place?”
“Huh?” responded Sora, feeling oblivious for a moment.
“You openly invite Donghae to your place, but you never invite me like that,” he continued.
Sora chuckled after hearing his reason. “How can I when you just invite yourself to my place before I could say anything?” she countered.
Her statement left him speechless as it did seem like the case.
She looked at him and knew she had won the argument by his diverted attention. “So did the doctor say when you can get discharged from here?” she asked.
Park Jungsu nodded as he swallows the last bit of porridge from his bowl. “Yeah, I’ll be discharged tomorrow if everything goes well.”
“That’s good then. Is there anyone picking you up tomorrow or shall I come and pick you up?” she asked as she was cleaning up.
Just when he was about to answer, his mother opened the door to the room and rushed over to his bedside.
“Our Jungsu-ah, are you okay? Why didn’t you tell me you got admitted to the hospital? If I hadn’t called Miranda, I wouldn’t have known you’re here!” his mother asked with worry.
“I didn’t want you to react the way you are reacting right now,” he told his mother and then gazed at Sora.
His mother noticed his eyes were settled elsewhere. It was then that she turned around and found Sora behind her. “Omo, Sora-ssi! I’m so sorry for not seeing you here. Oh dear! Was I interrupting you two?”
Sora smiled and greeted Park Jungsu’s mother with a bow. “How do you do Mrs. Park?” she greeted.
“Forgive me, I’ll be on my way. Jungsu-ah, remember to rest more, arasso?” his mother instructed.
Just then, Sora held Mrs. Park back and told her that she was about to leave after cleaning up.
Mrs. Park looked around and saw the bowl and porridge container on the table. Her reaction was quite surprised and happy as she asked Sora if she had brought her son food. “Omo, Sora-ssi, did you make our Jungsu food?” Mrs. Park asked.
“Oh it’s nothing fancy. I just brought him some porridge that I helped my mom make. I’m not that good in cooking,” Sora explained.
“Omo, porridge? He actually finished the whole bowl?” Mrs. Park sounded surprised as she saw the empty bowl.
Sora answered and asked, “Ne…waeyo?” For a moment, Sora felt surprised as to why Mrs. Park reacted the way she had.
Mrs. Park gave her son a smirk and said, “Well…of all the food, our Jungsu here dislikes porridge the most. So that’s why I’m surprised he actually finished the whole bowl.”
Sora looked at Park Jungsu while saying, “Omo! He dislikes porridge? Just a while ago, he said the porridge was delicious.”
“He did?” Mrs. Park sounded even more surprised.
Park Jungsu's ears turned red and avoided eye-contact with the two ladies.
"Well seems like our Jungsu will like anything you make for him Sora-ssi," Mrs. Park suggested.
"Eomoni!" he tried to stop his mother from going on further.
However, Mrs. Park continued, "Sora-ssi, you know what you should try making?"
Sora listened tentatively while nodding at the same time as if a daughter-in-law was listening to her mother-in-law suggesting what she could cook for her husband.
Watching the two ladies discuss about cooking, Park Jungsu was being left out in his bed, feeling abandoned. He plumped back and placed his hand over his eyes, not believing what he's seeing before him.
"Excuse me," he said, waving his hand at the two, "I'm still here! Can't you two talk about this some other time?"
The two ladies stopped their discussion and turned their attention to Park Jungsu.
"Oh! Mianhe Jungsu-ah. I got carried away just thinking how wonderful it'd be when you two get married and our Sora-ssi taking care of your meals," Mrs. Park explained, unable to control her happiness as the smile of joy surfaced on her face.
With the mention of marriage, the two couple turned red. Sora looked away, holding in her smile while Park Jungsu felt embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eomma!" he called, glancing at Sora at the same time.
Sora glanced back at Park Jungsu with her flushed cheeks and turned to Park Jungsu’s mother. "Mianhe Mrs. Park, but I have to be on my way now. It was nice seeing you today," Sora said with a smile.
"Omo, why leave so soon Sora-ssi?" Mrs. Park asked.
Sora told her that she had other matters to attend to and then turned to Park Jungsu and informed him, "Wait for me tomorrow. I'll come and pick you up."
"Jinja? You don't have to if you have other things to do," he said in surprise, but deep down he was jumping with joy to know that she cared for him this much.
"Yes, Sora-ssi, like Jungsu said, if you're busy, you don't have to trouble yourself. I can take care of it tomorrow," said Mrs. Park.
Park Jungsu gave his mother a look that read "what are you saying?" as the reason why he told her she didn’t have to was so that he would seem understanding when deep down he really wanted her to pick him up tomorrow.
Seeing the reaction from his face, Sora played along and said to Mrs. Park, "Well, if that's the case, please take care of oppa for me then." Seeing the disappointment on his face straight afterwards, she went up to him and whispered, "I'll come tomorrow morning." She then kissed him on the cheek and made her way out while bidding Mrs. Park goodbye.
As soon as Sora left the room, Mrs. Park turned to Park Jungsu and demanded, “I don’t care what you do, but you better make Sora-ssi my daughter-in-law, arasso? That’s the first thing you need to do.”
“What do you mean by the ‘first thing’ I need to do? There’s a second thing?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You’ll know what the second task is once you complete the first one!” Mrs. Park replied with a smirk as she gathered her things together. “Well, you better rest now and remember to pack your things before someone comes and pick you up tomorrow.”
Park Jungsu sat in his bed, speechless while he watched his mother leave the room.
***
As promised, Sora went to pick Park Jungsu up the next morning. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Park Jungsu was already all dressed and sitting comfortably on the sofa with his phone in hand while waiting for her.
Sora was surprised as soon as she walked in. “Omo! Oppa, you’re ready already?” She glanced around the room and found everything was in its place.
Park Jungsu looked up and replied, “Ne, what took you so long?”
“Mianhe, there was a bit of morning traffic,” Sora explained.
Park Jungsu got up and stretched his arms and back. “I see. Shall we get going now? I’m feeling a bit hungry. Let’s have breakfast together,” he suggested as he grabbed his bag and placed his other arm around Sora’s shoulders and trawling her with him.
After having breakfast, Sora told Park Jungsu she had things to do at work and that she’ll drop him off at his place before she goes back to her office.
As much as he didn’t want her to leave, he did bid her goodbye for the day.
Given he just got discharged from the hospital – he thought he might as well take another few days off from work.
However being all alone with nothing to do, he decided to go out rather than conceal himself inside his own home. He got into his car and drove out to the city. After a bit of commute he arrived at one of Seoul’s biggest shopping malls.
Roaming around the mall without much thought of what he wanted to do there, something suddenly caught his eyes when he passed by one of the many stores in the mall. He got up close to the window and saw several beautiful diamond rings displaying in the showcase.
As he stood there, he began to imagine how happy he would be taking Sora’s hand for marriage and putting a beautiful diamond ring on her wedding finger.
A lady salesperson from the store saw him standing outside their store and went out to greet him.
“Good afternoon sir. Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked with a warm smile.
Park Jungsu looked up, a bit startled at first but said, “Umm…Yes, I’m looking for a ring.”
“Yes, I can very well see that. Is there any particular type of ring you’re looking for? Any particular occasions?” the person asked as she led Park Jungsu inside the store.
“Well…I’m thinking of proposing to my girlfriend and I need a ring for that,” he answered while looking at several other rings displayed in the store.
The lady smiled and said, “Yes, you would need a ring for that occasion. Well, we have a few new designs that just came in this week and they are these ones here.” The lady showed Park Jungsu the new rings.
Park Jungsu took a look at the rings and began to analyze each. “This one has a good shine to it, but it’s too small.”
“Perhaps this one?” the lady asked as she showed him another ring.
Park Jungsu shook his head and commented, “Well, this one is only average. There seems to be a bit of inclusion inside.”
The lady then showed him another ring with a big diamond. “How about this one?” she asked.
He shook his head again. “No, that won’t do. The colour of that diamond seems to have a bit of fainted yellow to it. I want something white or like colourless…”he said as his finger traced over the showcase in search of what he’s looking for, “…that has a nice cut and clarity to it…and the right carat size…just like this one here.”
His eyes were locked to the ring that had caught his attention. Being dazed by the cut, clarity and colour, he admired the glow coming from it.
The lady then complimented, “Well, you do have a good eye for rings, sir. The diamond on this ring is actually one of our few rarest diamonds in our store. It’s unique and is endowed with its own personality and characteristic.”
“Is that so? And what would that be?” he asked, curious as to what story the diamond tells.
“The diamond will shine brightly forever like the love the man gives to his woman that will last eternally, resembling to ‘Everlasting Love’,” the lady said in the most heart-warming way.
Park Jungsu nodded and said, “I’ll take this one then.” A smile appeared on Park Jungsu’s face as he bent over for a closer look at the ring and repeated the words to himself, “Everlasting Love”.
The lady smiled and said, “Very well then. May I please get the ring size of your lucky lady?”
The smile soon fainted as he asked, “Ring size?”
The lady nodded and said, “Yes, the size of your girlfriend’s finger.”
Park Jungsu rubbed his chin, feeling a bit embarrassed as he didn’t really know the size of Sora’s finger. He then began to look at his hand and fingers. “Perhaps almost the same size as this finger here?” he said to the lady, showing her his finger.
He could see the unconvinced looked on the lady’s face and said, “This is embarrassing. I’ll take the ring, but can I give you the size later?”
The lady smiled and said, “Yes, certainly. You wouldn’t want to give her a ring that won’t fit properly.”
Park Jungsu nodded in agreement, “Yes, that wouldn’t be good now would it?”
The lady thanked him for the purchase and he walked out the store comparing his hands and fingers.
…
Park Jungsu arrived at the underground parking, where he parked his car, he found a man standing by the entrance, waiting for someone to pick him up. From the back, he looked sturdy and tall as if he’s seen the man somewhere before.
When the man turned around, Park Jungsu was a surprised to see Sora’s father standing before him. The same reaction happened with Chairman Kang when he saw Park Jungsu.
He nodded at Sora’s father and Chairman Kang slightly nodded his head as a courtesy.
Park Jungsu walked up to Chairman Kang and said, “Good afternoon, Chairman Kang.”
“Good afternoon,” said Sora’s father as he looked at Park Jungsu emotionless and then looked away.
Park Jungsu felt awkward and decided to drop his intention to converse with Chairman Kang. However, to his surprise, Chairman Kang continued on and asked if he was okay from the recent incident. “How are you feeling right now? I heard you got discharged from the hospital this morning,” said Chairman Kang.
Park Jungsu nodded and thanked Chairman Kang for his concern. “A few chocolates won’t kill me. How did you know I was in the hospital?”
Chairman Kang looked a Park Jungsu for a second and said, “How would I not know when the two ladies in family were talking about it and more so making porridge for you.”
“You’re not happy with that, are you?” Park Jungsu asked.
“Will it change anything if I told you I’m not, Mr. Park?” Chairman Kang asked.
Park Jungsu just looked at Chairman Kang without saying anything.
“I guess not. Enjoy the rest of your day, Mr. Park,” said Chairman Kang.
“Thanks. You too, sir,” replied Park Jungsu as he bowed and walked to his car.
As Park Jungsu arrived at his car, he said to himself, “That didn’t go too bad.”
When he settled inside his own car, he saw Sora’s father still waiting and thought maybe he could give him a ride instead.
However, just when he started his car, a black car with tinted windows stopped in front of Chairman Kang. A man all dressed in black with a mask and cap wearing sunglasses walked up to Chairman Kang and attacked him with a taser gun. Immediately, Sora’s father fell to the ground. The man in black swiftly carried Chairman Kang inside his car and was about to drive off.
As soon as Park Jungsu saw what happened, he tried to call the police, “Come on! Come on!” However, his call for help was unable to connect through due to weak signal in the underground parking. “Damn it! Of all the times, you don’t have signal now!” he complained vigorously.
While Park Jungsu was busy trying to contact the police, the man had started to take off. Park Jungsu tossed his phone aside onto the passenger seat as he quickly followed the black car from behind.
The black car drove without slowing down at all when it came to the speed bumps and Park Jungsu followed. But when he did, the bump was so strong that it flung his phone onto the car floor – making it hard for Park Jungsu to reach.
“God damn it!” he screamed in his car while glancing the phone on the floor.
As soon as the kidnapper got out to the open street, he began to drive with great speed – dodging the cars around him. Park Jungsu had to keep a fair distance while keeping up with the black car in order for him not be discovered as Chairman Kang’s life was at risk.
He tried reaching for his phone a few times before giving up as he needed to keep his eyes on the road. Like the black car, he also had to dodge several cars just to keep up.
After some time, when the sky became dark, the black car finally arrived at an abandoned factory just outside of the city and Park Jungsu was just right behind – driving slowly at a distance with his headlights off.
The kidnapper had blindfolded Chairman Kang and had his hands tied up. He took Sora’s father into the old worn out factory.
Park Jungsu quickly turned off his car and reached for his phone on the floor. He got out of his car and quietly made his way closer to the factory. Making his way closer, he managed to get a glimpse of the car’s license plate.
Once Park Jungsu got to the factory, he peeked through the small gap from the two large metal doors and saw Chairman Kang with his arms and legs tied up. He glanced around and the kidnapper was nowhere in sight. For a moment he wondered where the kidnapper had gone, but then he knew that that wasn’t the main concern at the moment. The first thing he needed to do was try to get Sora’s father out and call for help.
Without hesitation, Park Jungsu took out his phone. He activated his GPS on his phone so that he could find out where their location was and dialled 1-1-2 for the police. As the phone was being put through, he slide opened the door and quietly snugged in.
“Come on! Put me through already,” Park Jungsu mumbled to himself and not long, the line was put through.
“1-1-2, this is the police department,” a dispatcher said on the phone.
Park Jungsu was relieved to hear someone on the other line and informed, “Yes, I’m calling to report a kidnapping.”
“What is your name and where are you calling from, sir?” the dispatcher asked.
“My name is Park Jungsu and I’m calling from my mobile. Someone kidnapped the chairman of KS Productions,” he replied as he began to pant.
“Do you know the exact or approximate location of this kidnapping?” asked the dispatcher.
“I’m not sure. I’m not getting anything from my phone’s GPS. But I’m at this abandoned factory just outside the city. Please hur—“
Before Park Jungsu could finish his sentence he was knocked out from behind by the kidnapper with a baseball bat and his phone had dropped onto the ground.
“Sir, are you still there? Sir, are you alright? Can you hear me?” asked the dispatcher on the other line.
The kidnapper picked up the phone and ended the call. “Park-Jung-su? How interesting,” the kidnapper said in a subtle voice.
At last, I've finally managed to complete this chapter after a long while. I sincerely apologize for the long wait for this update on this fanfic of mine. For those who have waited, thank you.
I hope this chapter had got things going and if you have noticed, with the mention of the "ring" and kidnapping, I'm pretty sure you all know where the story will be heading to in the coming chapters (which I hope I can finish).
This is actually the first time that I'm incorporating a little bit of suspense to the story (I hope I didn't do too bad. LOL), so i hope I get a pass for it.
Since I've been trying to update this fanfic when I have time (as time is not on my side), it kind of means that I only manage to have time to write but not necessarily check it for grammatical or spelling errors. Hence, please kindly forgive me if you see any mistakes. ^^
Once again, thank you all for your support and patience. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
lazyme2day
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