Six years.
Six fucking years later, the head of Trauma surgeon at Seoul General Hospital, Lisa Manoban, and Roseanne Park meet again on the familiar path of romance they once were. But stubborn hearts are hard to convince.
...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I pause my step in the foyer soon as I see Roseanne relaxing alongside her three favourite girls. They are already in their comfy pyjamas, seated lazily on the grey Chesterfield that has Roseanne's R monogram stitched to perfection on its backrest.
For a second, I look at how happy she is right now. Her one arm curls loosely around Chaeyoung's neck as the dark - haired turn to talk something to her big sister who has her eyes on the 85 inch tv mounted to the strong wall before for a moment or two, she lifts them off it and stares at her younger sister instead.
They exchange a few nods, hand gestures and a laughter is heard before Lilibear tucks her head against Chaeyoung's side and presses her lips together as they continue to watch whatever that is served on the screen.
Our Ji-Ae sits by Roseanne's left, drooling as she sleeps and the atmosphere is deafened by her adorable snoring.
"Little Dory" Roseanne mumbles as she draws her arm from Chaeyoung's neck and pulls the little Dory against her chest and bends slightly to her front so that she can brush her lips against Ji-Ae's puffy cheek.
Little Dory, I grin a little as I remember that nickname I heard a few days ago after we brought Chaeyoung home from the hospital.
Lilibear said Roseanne calls our darling little one that because she is a forgetful little soul who forgets almost everything but not when it comes to her darling mommy or the food she buys.
I shake my head as a smile spreads all over my face and watch keenly at Roseanne and our three girls. For once, it looks like everyone has found their own places in this place, Roseanne says we should call home.
But as much as I want to call this place home, there is still something within me that is worried over the fact that we once failed as a family. What makes this time different? I guess I will never know.
A simple jab to my left rib pulls me back to reality. I blink my eyes and notice for a moment that Roseanne wasn't on the couch anymore this time. There are only Lilibear and Chaeyoung and our sleeping darling.
"Hey" her soft voice catches my attention and I turn my head to stare at the direction of the sound. Roseanne stands in front of me, a smile on her face as we stare.
"Hey" I croak, clearing my throat as I travel one hand into the pocket of my navy kangaroo sweatshirt.
"You've been staring into oblivion" she chuckles before framing me against the wall, my back hits the sturdy surface and she chuckles again before tiptoeing to plant a kiss on my lips.
A moment later when she retracts, a concern rings through her sets of brown eyes. "Is everything okay?" she asks and I fake a smile. "Yeah" I drag my voice as I run my fingers through my short hair. "I'm just tired, I guess"
"Oh" she shoots her eyebrows upward. Tugging her blonde hair behind both ears, she looks confused for a moment before she speaks again. "Um, well. Are you hungry?" she asks.
"I mean" her thumb points inwardly at the kitchen. "I can go and make you a quick dinner if you want. I think we still have a stack of bread. I can make a sandwich and ..."
"It's okay, honey"
I kiss her cheek and excuse myself as I retreat into the room. I am not sure what I am feeling right now. We are at the stage of fixing what has been broken but why the hell does it feel so wrong?
***
When I open my eyes to find the clock screaming 3 a.m. at me, I turn on my back from my side only to see Roseanne sleeping next to me soundly in her pyjamas. Our darling little one sleeps in the middle between us, totally engulfed in her thick white duvet making her look like a mini burrito.
I take a deep breath and pull myself up into a sitting position. Burying my face into my warm palms, I drop them to my side as I decide maybe it's a good day for a run. A good, long run.
When I am fully dressed up in my Adidas tracksuit and their signature track jacket, I take one good look at Roseanne before blinking my eyes and guess, it's already time to say goodbye.
***
I bend over my knees for a second as I pause after 15 continuous laps around the park. Panting, I take a deep breath again and again and steal a glance over my watch. It reads 15 minutes before 4 in the morning. The park is eerily silent and nobody else is there except me.
But that actually makes me feel more relaxed. "Never knew you were such a sprinter" a honey voice comments from my back out of blue and I frown first before turning around only to glance at a familiar face of a woman also in her running garments and a pair of beautiful, warm brown cat eye.
"You're back"
I find myself saying and the person nods. "Yeah, pretty sure the whole Seoul is going to know by tomorrow".
