An Extra Beat of Love

2. Help? No thanks.

"I wanna play with more Taetae oppa" Hana pouted when Jeongguk finally started talking about leaving for the weekend that night. 

"We'll come back the day after tomorrow, baby. You can play with him the whole week" Jeongguk said. 

"Plomish?" 

"Promise."

"Othay, then. Bye, Taetae oppa!! See you!!" Hana waved at Taehyung excitedly before turning to her grandparents. "Bye, Halmeoni, Halabeoji, good night!!!" she waved at them as well. 

 "Good night, Hana" the three of them waved back at her with grins on their faces, Taehyung's one being albeit a little soulless. 

"Okay, okay, get in the car now" Jeongguk said with a wide grin and held the door open for her. "Stay in the car, okay? I'll come back in a minute" he said after she settled into her seat. "Othay" she said and wiggled in her seat. 

He closed her door and turned to Taehyung. "Taehyung-ssi, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. "Yeah, sure, sir" Taehyung said with a semi bow. 

Jeongguk looked at his parents, silently asking them to leave him and the cook alone. Getting the hint, Jeongguk's parents left immediately. 

Jeongguk cleared his throat awkwardly before reaching into his pocket for his wallet. "I hope my daughter isn't too much of a headache for you" he said. 

"Ahh, no, no, sir" Taehyung waved his hand to deny Jeongguk's words, "she is very adorable. I like her" he said. 

"Ohh, I'm glad. Umm, I just wanted to say that, umm....I'm gonna be leaving her here every week. I just take her home for the weekends, so you are gonna be with her the whole time. So, umm.....if she is being too stubborn or too naughty, please don't hesitate to right it" Jeongguk said. 

Taehyung chuckled heartily at that, gracing Jeongguk with his first ever proper smile. "Sure, sir" he said. 

Jeongguk grinned back at him at that, but his smile turned awkward once again when he remembered what he was going to do. 

He pulled his business card out of his wallet and held it in Taehyung's direction. "I know all about your situation right now, so please don't hesitate to ask for help if you ever need it. You are my mother's friend's son, so I wouldn't think twice before helping you" he said. 

Taehyung stared at the card for a couple of seconds before taking it into his own hands. "Thank you, Mr. Jeon, but I am doing fine on my own" he said with a tight smile. 

"That's good to know. But if you do need a job in a company or something, you can come to me" Jeongguk emphasized. 

"Well, with my educational qualification, this is the most I can get" Taehyung said with his thumb pointing behind him, towards the house, and Jeongguk could see his tight smile starting to strain. 

"Still, thank you for considering it, sir" Taehyung said and bowed to him, making it clear that he didn't want to talk further about the topic. But Jeongguk, being the man that he was, needed to dig in. 

"Why? How much did you study?" he asked. Taehyung took a deep breath and sighed. He looked away from Jeongguk and trained his eyes onto the road instead. "I barely completed high school" he said. 

"Ohh....okay. That's not an issue, though. Just...come to Seoul if you need any help" Jeongguk said. 

"Sure, sir" Taehyung said, but this time, Jeongguk couldn't find that smile anymore. Not even a tight one. His expression told him that Taehyung would never come to him for help unless he was on the verge of losing his life or something more important. 

He sighed and pocketed his wallet. "I'll get going, then. Have a good night, Taehyung-ssi" he said and walked towards his car with one last bow. "You too, sir" Taehyung said and Jeongguk could sense him bowing to him behind his back. 

'He's too humble for his own good' he thought and opened the door of his car. "Ohh?" he made a quiet sound before getting into the car and closing the door silently so that he wouldn't wake his sleeping daughter up. He reached to the other side of the car and pulled her seatbelt around her. 

As he started driving towards Seoul, thoughts about the new cook filled his mind. The fact that his mother's close friend had a son had completely slipped from his mind and now that he was thinking about it, he could recall many disturbing things about him.

He frowned remembering how his mother had once mentioned that her friend's son was born premature and that the doctors had to work really hard to keep him alive. 

Jeongguk sighed and let one of his hands drop to his lap. 'Who would think he would grow up to be such a fine man?' he thought, remembering those tiny, half-arm sized premature baby's photos that his mom had once shown him. 

'If only I could only get my hands on that man who kicked Mina-ssi on her stomach when she was pregnant and then left her and her sick son to deal with their lives alone' he sighed again. 

His thoughts consumed him so much that he didn't even notice reaching his house. He sighed again and parked his car in the small space in front of his small, cozy villa before getting out of the car. He walked to the other side of the car and picked Hana up gently. 

"I'm glad Hyeonie didn't take any rash decision when you were in her stomach, doll. I am glad I have you now" he whispered as he laid her on his bed. Gladly, his mother had already changed her into casual clothes, so he didn't have to worry about changing her clothes for the night. 

He changed his own clothes and got into bed with her. He pulled her close to himself and covered the two of them with a comforter. 

"Good night, love" he said and kissed her forehead gently before drifting off to sleep himself.