The Beauty of What Could Have Been

Chapter 14 - Blessing in Seoul

It was very clear to his manager on who ultimately pulled the strings of his boss, Mr. Kim Tae-pyung, A-list actor and CEO of VAST Entertainment. It was his boss's boss, a petite woman with child who became the center of his boss's universe, and by default, also his at the moment. And so he made sure that he delivered top quality support to get to her good graces.

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The SUV shook vehemently, shaking the occupants. Instinctively, a hand quickly reached out from the driver's side to extend across Son Ye Jin's chest, pushing her back to her seat. "Are you okay, babe?" She nodded. "Sorry about that", Hyun Bin said, ashamed that he did not see the huge pothole. The two large trays of food shook and shifted in the luggage area behind them, but thankfully didn't spill. They were his father's favourite dishes.

He realized that it was the wrong knee-jerk reaction to take one of his hands off of the steering wheel in such cases at the risk of losing control of the vehicle. Anyway, Son Ye Jin was safely buckled up in her seat belt, but he just couldn't help it. His natural instinct was to reach out and protect her, something that he had vowed to do in all situations. He shrugged the thought away.

It was a bright but windy Saturday morning in Seoul as they traversed a narrow side road to his parents' home for lunch. It was a day of reckoning of sorts for the couple - the day he was going to introduce her to his parents for the first time, to ask for their blessing to wed, and to share that they were expecting. If they were successful, hopeful it would be smooth sailing going forward.

"So who else will be there, Binnie?"

"My hyeong (older brother) and his family will be there, babe. They live in Busan and are in town to visit my parents."

She then sat quietly, and he sensed her foreboding anxiety. He reached out to hold her hand.

Hyun Bin had never introduced any woman to his parents, and it had been an open question in the family, and somewhat of a concern for his parents on whether he even had plans to settle down after his two failed relationships, since he had seemed to have been single for the past two years. They were completely wrong, for the last two years were some of the happiest for their son.

"How much do they know about us?"

"Not much, babe, although I had mentioned you a few times to my eomma....as a close friend. They know you're coming though."

She fully trusted him to handle things, but her heart was about to jump out of her chest. Meeting future in-laws for the first time always carried quite a bit of pressure. A dozen questions had been crossing her mind since they left his Gangnam apartment.

"What will they think about me? Will they accept me? How will they react to the news of the baby?"

She tried to set aside all the questions to concentrate on the objective at hand, but failing miserably at the effort.

"Are....are you scared, Binnie?" she said, almost in a whisper.

He looked at her lovingly and squeezed her hand. "It'll be okay babe. Don't worry. I got this. They will love you." He got a faint smile back from her.

"In fact, once they get to know you, I'm pretty sure they'll end up loving you more than me" he said, hoping the joke would cheer her up. It didn't.

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They entered the foyer which revealed a big living room beyond. She tried to smile as they walked in but could only muster a forced smirk, betraying the anxiety she felt.

The living room was empty and they could hear voices from the kitchen at the far end of the dining area on the opposite end of the living room.

Suddenly a chubby, cute little girl in a dainty white dress hobbled toward then from the kitchen.