Again

Chapter 21 - Again

Jeong Hyeok chuckled. Holding on to her so she won't fall, he carried her to the large sofa. When he sat, Se-Ri made good on her promise to be a koala and sat on his lap, still clinging onto him. "I don't know if your father will ever be able to accept me," Jeong Hyeok started, while stroking her back.

Se-Ri sighed. "I know. It's going to be tough."

For now, there were no other words of reassurance to offer each other because they didn't know what the chat with her father would bring. Tomorrow, they would face it. For now, Jeong Hyeok kissed her lightly. "I wasn't going to leave. In case you forget, this is my house, Ms. Yoon."

Se-Ri grinned. "Then, I'm going to camp out here. You're going to have to drag me to get me out."

"You know I'd never do that," Jeong Hyeok assured.

Hugging him, Se-Ri whispered, "Hyeoky?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm in love with you."

Jeong Hyeok pulled back to stare at her.

She giggled. "Why do you look so surprised?!"

He smiled. Cupping her face, he whispered, "It's just different to hear it. It means a lot."

"And?"

"And I'm in love with you, too." Leaning forward to kiss her, he poured everything he felt in that kiss hoping to be able to let her know just how much his heart longed for her. "Se-Ri?"

"Hmmm?"

"Make love to me tonight?"

Se- Ri was the one surprised this time. Quickly recovering, she said, "Yes."

Then the two of them disappeared in his bedroom where they were able to finally say with their bodies what they had known all this years. It will be Jeong Hyeok and Se-Ri.

Still.

Always.

*

Hand-in-hand, they walked together to the private entrance of the family restaurant, its current size much closer to the one Se-Ri's parents originally put up. This rebirth for their business was possible when Se-Ri gave her parents her entire paycheck for an international endorsement she bagged a year after the restaurant closed.

Se-Ri's mother came rushing out to hug her. "I have missed you. How have you been, my dear?"

"I am well, Eomma," Se-Ri replied. Stepping back, she motioned to Jeong Hyeok. "You remember Lee Jeong Hyeok?"

"Yes —" anything further she wanted to say was cut off by the arrival of Se-Ri's father.

They all sat and without preamble Se-Ri's father addressed Jeong Hyeok. "So you went ahead with my daughter after I explicitly told you not to?"

"Mr. Yoon, I hope you understand. I have nothing but good intentions," Jeong Hyeok explained.

"You left her. Your family closed down our business," Yoon Keun-Suk continued.

"Appa, he had nothing to do with what happened to the restaurant," Se-Ri defended. "I know it is painful but we are open again now. I don't ask you to forgive his father, that's up to you and him, but please leave Jeong Hyeok out of this."

"He still left you."

Jeong Hyeok accepted that fact. "I did and I have regretted doing so every second since. I am doing my best to make it work this time and am fully aware that not everyone gets as many chances as I have to make it right."

"May I speak? It is, after all, my life," Se-Ri interjected.

Her father stayed silent, while Jeong Hyeok briefly expressed his apologies. When she had the floor, Se-Ri spoke. "Whatever issues we had, we've talked about it and, as Jeong Hyeok said, we are giving us another chance. That's a decision that only he and I can make."

"You are my child," Yoon Keun-Suk said.

"I am. I will always be. I will forever be grateful for how you raised me and for continuing to love me. But, Appa, this relationship is me and Jeong Hyeok," she insisted. "Whether you stay mad or support will of course affect us, but at the end of the day, it's him and me."

Her father said nothing and it broke her heart, but her decision was made. With unshed tears making her voice uneven, she said with finality, "I'm not leaving Jeong Hyeok and I'm going to marry him."

Her parents and Jeong Hyeok looked at her with the same shock on their faces. Jeong Hyeok's dimples, however, made an appearance so Se-Ri knew he was pleased. "You are?" He asked, quietly. "You'll have me?"

"Yes," Se-Ri answered. "I wish to leave." Standing with Jeong Hyeok, she bid her parents goodbye. "I am sorry for hurting you and hope that one day you could love both of us."

"Se-Ri-ah, a quick word please," her mother asked. Jeong Hyeok nodded and waited by door, while her father stomped away. "You're marrying him?"

Se-Ri nodded. "To be honest, he hasn't asked but I know he's the one for me. If he doesn't soon, I'll propose."

Her mother chuckled. "You do that. I do not think Jeong Hyeok will decline."

"He loves me," Se-Ri declared happily.

"He does." After another pause, her mother said, "I guess you were right."

"With what?" Se-Ri wondered what her mother was pertaining to.

"What you said before... he is your one great love."