THE DEVIL WORKS HARD (Kookjin)

Chapter 15

Having been caught neck deep in his little mischief, Seokjin forces a tight lip smile, titling his head upwards to look the woman in the eye. "I'm sorry Ma Park, but grandpa has been in there since that angry man came by and I'm worried about him" he voices his in adorable concern.

Leaning down to pick him up, Ma Park cradles Seokjin to her side as she began descending down the stairs towards the kitchen area. "First of all, stop calling your father an angry man. And secondly, I know it is very normal to be worried about your loved ones, especially when you think they are in trouble or danger. But, that doesn't mean you have the right to intrude on their privacy, and moreover, I think grandpa is old enough and very capable of dealing with whoever he has to, on his own"

Without another word, Seokjin leans his head against the woman's shoulder, nodding in understanding.

"That's my good Jinnie, you're a good boy aren't you?"

Again, Seokjin nodded against her shoulder, this time with a toothy grin.

Smiling in return, Ma Park says, "And good boys get a treat. Now, tell me whatever it is you want for lunch, and I'll make it for you. Remember we went shopping the other day right?, the grocery and pantry shelves are stocked to the brim, so, anything you want, you get" She announces brightly, watching Seokjin's eyes grow in delight.

"Hmmm" Seokjin thinks, twirling his curly hair around his fingers, "what about cupcakes? Can I please have cupcakes Ma Park?"

"Sure, my darling" She replies, setting him down on his feet, "Should we add some whipped cream as toppings too?"

Seokjin practically jumps up in excitement at the mention of whipped cream, it was his absolute favorite. "Yes, yes, yes! please. Can we also make a lot? I will love for Chimchim to have some as well, will he be coming by later Ma Park?"

Nodding her head, Ma Park proceeds to tie an apron around her neck. "Of course my darling, his mother will drop him off much later, so you both can play together"

Seokjin couldn't help but hug Ma Park by her knees, beaming with joy and excitement.

"Where is he? Where's that little scoundrel?"

Minshik's hostile voice booms through the house, disrupting the heart warming moment between Seokjin and his caregiver. Quickly acting out of impulse, Ma Park immediately pulls Seokjin behind her as the thud towards them gradually got louder.

"Where is he? Where on earth on is that little bastard?!" Minshik yells once again, this time already in the kitchen.

"What do you want with him? He's just a kid for heavens sake, stop bothering him, please" Ma Park pleads, properly taking her stance in order to shield Seokjin.

"You're in on this too aren't you? You've joined forces with my parents to strip me of what rightfully belongs to me huh?"

Sighing in exhaustion, Ma Park says, "I have no idea what you're talking about, please leave, stop scarring everybody around here" She says, practically begging.

Minshik nodded as if he understood the simple task, before suddenly trying to lung himself at her. But, she was swift to grab a spatula off the counter top, waving it violently in front of his face.

"Don't you dare come any closer, stay away from him, else I'll have you thrown right back into jail where you belong" She threatened, her hands wobbling in fear, but she knew better than to stand down or appear weak. She needed to stand firm, Minshik was definitely not going to get the best of her.

"Why are you all protecting that bastard? Don't you understand he's gradually taking everything from me?"

"And how is that his fault? What has any of that got to do with him? He's just a six year old innocent boy, who was unfortunately brought into this world by very incapable parents. So, why does he have to pay the price for your recklessness and you're deceptive lifestyle?"

"Because he's not my son, he's not related to us in any way. He's nothing but bad luck, don't you see it? His biological father is nowhere to be found and his lousy mother died just minutes after giving birth to him. Connect the freaking dots and see that this child is nothing but trouble, trouble I tell you!" Minshik raises his voice yet again, his eyes were blood shot red, while continuously huffing out series of ragged and inconsistent breaths.

"And so what! And so what Minshik? Should we have him thrown out? Should we go dump him at an orphanage or something because he isn't yours? He's literally a child, just a baby, it doesn't matter whose he is or whose he's not, but we can't have him living in the streets with no meal in his stomach or a roof over his head" Ma Park sniffs, she didn't even realize she had started crying due to the situation.

"Atleast, just learn to tolerate this child because of your late wife, she went through a whole lot because of you, if you weren't mean to her and drove her over the edge, then non of this would have happened in the first place. No matter how much resentment you hold towards her or this child, it still wont change anything, because everything that ever happened, still boils down to being your fault, it was your fault and no one else's"

"You are all crazy, mark my words, I'll be back. Even if my so called father just chased me out of my own property, I will still be back. You all just wait and see" Minshik threatens with a sneer, before finally exiting the mansion, violently shutting the door behind him on his way out.

As soon as he was out the door, Ma Park dried her tears, then turned around to kneel to Seokjin's eye level, only to see tears uncontrollably gushing down his face.

"W-why does my father hate me so much?" He asked inbetween broken sniffs and hiccups.

This broke Ma Park's heart into very tiny bits, causing her to pull little Seokjin into a warm embrace, where she began soothingly rubbing over his small back. "Shh, don't ever say that Jinnie, he doesn't hate you, and he sure as hell doesn't mean all of the words he said about you. You're an amazing child, an angel, no one could possibly ever hate you my darling"

Unfortunately, the very next morning, Sir Kim was pronounced dead by Dr Han, after suffering from a fatal heart attack the previous day.