Weathering the Storm

Rules of Engagement

The car ride back to the hospital at 5:22 in the morning was in companionable silence. It felt slow even though Hyun Bin was going well over the limit. They were going to be early for appa's operation anyway, and Yejin hadn't told Bin to rush, but seeing the urgency in him gave her a sense of comfort. Although he never lacked showing his care and compassion for her father, the reassurance was warming.

She stared at her husband still in name, the previous night poured in as she ruminated on the things Bin said to her. Their past turbulent moments together had also done a number on her. It was quite clear then that they weren't over each other, and neither had seemed to have moved on.

And when she thought was on that route when Kim Nam-Gil came back into her life, charmingly and polishedly persistent, a detour had unexpectedly appeared. That detour was none other than Hyun Bin. Or was he more of a roadblock?

Here they are in this fragile, preliminary stage in an attempt to repair what they once had.

Bin kept his eyes focused on the road, his jaw set in a lock as tight as the air in the car. She didn't know if he was deep in thoughts. He always had the look of a pensive scholar, difficult to unravel yet somehow, transparent at the same time.

No regrets, he'd said.

Did she have regrets?

She'd almost forgotten the intimate night they had two years ago, mostly because she'd felt so embarrassed about succumbing to her vulnerability like that. But why did it matter so much then, when it didn't now?

Yejin was the kind to stay strong for the ones she loves. She refused to let herself stew in grief when her mother fell sick and died, because her father needed her to stand tall when he couldn't even lift his head.

Then... it happened with her child, and that grief she'd suppressed from the times with her mother came back with twice the force, unrelenting, and so blindingly painful. She'd expected Bin, her own husband to be there with her during the fall. Instead, he was nowhere to be found. It was like a betrayal she didn't anticipate.

She knew he had his reasons, but even so, would it justify all the suffering she-they'd endured? That was something she needed to reconcile on her own.

Once they parked, Bin took her hand as they walked through the hospital entrance, up the floors until they reached the appa's room as he rested before his procedure.

A bypass surgery. Even though the doctors said it was a likely successful operation, it was still too invasive for her to stay calm despite Bin's many attempts to soothe her.

As soon as Bin opened the door, the room revealed a visitor who elicited different feelings from all parties. Instantly she could feel Bin tense up next to her.

"Nam-Gil," Yejin said automatically.

Kim Nam-Gil stood by the sitting area of the room, his hands on a fresh bouquet arrangement on the small table. He looked up and smiled when he saw her.

"Yejin, good morning," he breathed, then gave her husband a polite nod. "Bin."

Her husband merely stared back at the man stonily.

Nam-Gil's morning greeting reminded her that it was still early, more early than people would normally get up and yet he was here, delivering flowers to her father.

"What are you doing here?" Bin growled lightly, and she could sense him resisting the inferno.

Nam-Gil didn't so much as blink at the attitude coming from Bin, and offered another smile. "I'm here to pay my respect to abeonim and help Yejin, of course. I'm here to support her."