"I think it would be better if we talk about this without Hanni, Danielle can accompany her." Minji whispered while looking at her mother seriously.
"And why is that?"
"You'll find out later Mom, but please, just do as I say."
Mrs. Kim looked at Minji, trying to guess, but finally thought she would find out the reason later in their conversation.
She nodded.
Minji walked up to Hanni and whispered something, she then kissed her on the forehead and gave Danielle the code to accompany her.
The Vietnamese seemed hesitant for a moment before obeying Minji's words, she then kissed Minji before stepping towards their room.
"What's wrong? Why do Hanni and I have to be in the room?" Danielle whispered, her eyes glancing at Minji who was waiting for her to get up from the couch.
"Uuuhh...this is so complicated."
"Am I the only one here who doesn't know anything?" Danielle asked again.
Haerin scratched her chin, over time there was a possibility that her fiancé would find out everything.
But what should she say if Danielle found out that they killed someone?
The woman was very sensitive and caring, but she was very scary when she was angry, and the Australian didn't like being lied to either.
Haerin took a deep breath slowly, why did her Mom have to invite everyone to their lunch hour? And why did that stupid giraffe come too?
This was all very difficult.
"Marsh." Minji's voice called Danielle, she was getting impatient.
“I hope it isn’t anything serious." Danielle kissed Haerin and immediately trotted off after Hanni.
The cat-eyed exhaled, feeling even more guilty.
Minji and Haerin sat next to Mrs. Kim who had taken a position next to Hyein.
"Well." Mrs. Kim crossed her legs, looking at her two children, "Can you two tell me why Hyein has a beaten face?"
Silence.
"Mom, promise me you won't interfere if I tell you." Minji said a bit later.
"That depends."
"Mom."
"I want to know who hit this cutie, what did she do wrong?"
"Minji used to hit her too."
"Haerin I swear..."
"You hit Hyein??"
"Mom, we're not talking about me right now."
"Then tell me what you know."
Minji rubbed her forehead, where should she start? It would take too long to tell from the beginning, and it's too risky to say that Seol Il Sung was the one who bruised Hyein's face.
Mom would ask why Il Sung hit Hyein, and this conversation could lead to what they did to Han Woo. She had to be careful.
"Seol Il Sung didn't approve of his daughter's relationship with Hyein, he thought Hyein is..." Minji stopped her speech, thinking about her word choice, "an ordinary person."
"And? He knew they were close, right? So why hit her?" Mrs. Kim could not contain her annoyance, she then turned to Hyein, "Did you say something that crossed the line?" she asked.
Hyein clenched her jaw tightly, she glanced at Minji, her boss shook her head with an almost imperceptible gesture.
"Hyein wouldn't say or do anything impudent, we all know that Mom." Minji answered Mrs. Kim.
"I know Il Sung isn’t a man who would do something carelessly even though he is just as much of a jerk as your father. But seeing Hyein's face like this, I know that it's not just a matter of blessing." Mrs. Kim turned her gaze towards Minji.
Haerin's lips moved strangely, she wanted to defend Minji and Hyein but she was worried that she would make a different statement from her sister.
I guess I'll let Minji do the talking.
"Haerin, what do you know?"
"Hyein was a former thug and it became a big problem for that old bastard." Haerin answered quickly and smoothly, letting out her thoughts.
She then realized.
Yikes.
Haerin glanced at Minji, the taller one was looking at her, narrowing her sharp eyes. She then glanced at her mother, the middle-aged woman's face looked normal.
"I knew about her background, that's what made your father disagree in the beginning when Minji recruited her as an assistant. But time has proven to me that she has changed, and I trust her now.
Now, what I want to know is, was that the only reason?" Mrs. Kim straightened up, staring at Haerin and Minji.
"If you guys don't speak up I'll go to Il Sung and find out directly from him, but I don't want to do that because I want you to tell me."
There was silence again.
Hyein suddenly got up from her seat and knelt before Mrs. Kim, "Please." She said, "It's just a misunderstanding. I'm fine and you don't need to defend me like this."
"Get up Hyein, let Minji or Haerin answer me. Or you can too if you want. I just need some honesty here." Mrs. Kim patted Hyein's shoulder.
The tall woman averted her eyes, as an uncomfortable feeling creeped up her body.
The mother of her boss sounded very serious and scary right now.
"Do you think we should tell mom that we eliminated Han Woo?" Haerin whispered to Minji.
Minji rubbed her forehead again.
"Haerin." Mrs. Kim's voice was heard, she was getting impatient.
Haerin became even more tense, why did Mom have to say her name? She glanced nervously at Minji, that shithead was looking the other way.
Haerin took a breath and exhaled slowly, she opened her mouth.
"Il Sang found out what we did."
Haerin closed her mouth again when she heard Minji's voice.
"And that's why he hit Hyein when she came to Seol's residence to ask for his blessing. He didn't want his daughter to have anything to do with Hyein, he thinks Hyein is a criminal."
"Repeat your first sentence." Mrs. Kim said.
"Seol Il Sang found out what we did." Minji avoided her mother's gaze.
Mrs. Kim watched the gestures of the three of them carefully.
Minji looked as cold as ever, but she did not look her in the eye, something that Minji almost never did.
Hyein was still kneeling and not raising her head.
Only Haerin kept staring at her, but the cat-eyed one grinned strangely if she looked in her direction. Mrs. Kim knew she was the most nervous of the three.
And it was enough to let her know that this problem was bigger than she had thought.
She moved her body forward and touched Hyein's shoulder, "Get up and sit next to me." She said softly, "Please continue Minji." She said then.
Hyein got up slowly and sat next to Mrs. Kim.
"Il Sung has a relative, this person has a pretty close relationship with him. And this person's son, he..." Minji sighed, feeling emotional, "He did something really bad, unforgivable."
"Is that bad thing related to our family?"
"Yes Mother."
"Continue."
"So me and Hyein, and also Haerin did something to avenge this bastard. Of course we did it secretly, cleaning up everything carefully. But there was a flaw discovered by Il Sung."
Minji stopped talking.
She gazed at her mother, waiting for her reaction.
Mrs. Kim didn't say anything, she looked at Minji but her eyes seemed unfocused.
Minji knew her mother was thinking about something.
The living room was very quiet.
"On your wedding day, after the ring exchange was over, Hyein and Haerin joined you. But no one knew where you went, not even your spouses.
On the same day, there was shocking news about the son of the owner of M University, but no one knew his whereabouts, even to this day."
Mrs. Kim leaned her back on the sofa, "It was shocking to see the news because the young man was known to be a polite and nice person, and he was a lecturer at the university."
Minji clenched her hands into fists, a look of anger on her face.
Polite? He was nothing more than a lump of feces infested with maggots.
"The news was the main topic for more than two weeks, the university's stock went into freefall and many students dropped out or asked to transfer to other universities."
"That's not enough." Minji muttered, she shifted her gaze to the floor. Her eyes flashed viciously at the thought of the punishment that Han Woo's family should pay.
"Did Park Han Woo's disappearance have anything to do with you guys on that day?"
Minji ran her hand through her hair and looked slowly at her mother.
"Yes."
"Was he the one who did something bad to our family?"
"Yes."
"And this is related to Hanni that's why you don't want her to hear this conversation?"
"Yes."
"What did you do to Park Han Woo?"
Minji stared at Mrs. Kim's face, the look in her eyes turning cold and flat.
"We took him somewhere, and tortured him there. Showed him the consequences of what he had done. A scum...a filth like him, unfit to breathe the same air as us.
He hurt Hanni. A very good woman, what did she do to be treated like that? And his family tried to cover it up, with money. Thinking that their money could make up for what that bastard did.
They all deserve to die."
Minji was filled with rage.
"I don't care if you're angry or think what I did was inappropriate. The law didn't give him an equal punishment. I don't regret what I did, I'd even happily repeat it, and torture him more cruelly."
"Minji, what exactly did..."
"He raped Hanni." Minji cut off her mother's sentence, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
She clenched her teeth so tightly that her face felt numb. She was trying to hold back the anger she felt again, the anger that she wanted to let out.
She wanted to throw something, hit something. It was very difficult for her to restrain herself at the moment.
The shock was clear on Mrs. Kim's face, the three words Minji spoke broke her motherly heart.
She loved Hanni very much.
Hanni is a kind and compassionate woman, her gentle demeanor brings positive energy to those around her.
Even her genuine love can change Minji for the better.
How could anyone have the heart to hurt her?
"The incident happened when Hanni graduated from college, not only did he abuse her trust in him, he also physically hurt her, stabbing her with a knife. Hanni suffered inside and out, she had no one to defend and protect her. She had nothing to fight them legally.
Hanni didn't want me to take revenge but I didn’t want to control myself Mom, because I knew I had to kill him, I had to do it." Minji stared into the void, her fists opening and closing.
Haerin rubbed Minji's back gently, she could feel her sister's anger and sadness.
She then glanced at Mrs. Kim, her mother closed her eyes.
What will Mom do?
Mrs. Kim stood up, and slowly approached Minji. She bent her body slightly and kissed the top of her firstborn's head, "I'm sorry dear." She whispered sadly.
"Does Il Sang know all of this?" She asked as she hugged Minji.
"Not in detail."
Mrs. Kim shed her tears, "Get some rest, I'll have Mrs. Ahn cook whatever you and Hanni want for dinner."
"Are you going somewhere?"
"I'm going to see Il Sang."
"Mom, this is my business."
Mrs. Kim released her hug and looked at Minji, "You've done your part well. You all are my children, I will protect you."
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Kim Young Mi put down her teacup slowly, she crossed her legs and looked at the man in front of her.
"I'm surprised you came alone without your husband." Il Sung smiled at her, "I guess you want to talk about things that he shouldn't know about?"
The man glanced at Hyein who was standing next to Mrs. Kim, "And why is she here?" He asked.
"There are two things I want to talk about."
"I'm listening."
"First, I want you to stay away from my children and daughter-in-law, and not interfere in their business."
A spark of interest flashed in Il Sung's eyes, "I assume you already know their sin." He smiled broadly.
"Minji said that you would keep your mouth shut about this, what is your real intention?"
"I know what happened, I'm sorry about your daughter-in-law Young Mi. Your husband often talks about her, saying that she's a very good woman, he's very proud of her."
"Yes, she is indeed a very good woman. So wouldn't it be strange if my daughter didn't do the right thing when someone hurt her?"
"You approve of your daughter killing people?"
Mrs. Kim gave Seol Il Sung a cold look, "Don't play words with me Il Sung, whoever hurts my family will not get forgiveness. "
"You sound more like your husband now."
Mrs. Kim scoffed.
"My children and my daughter-in-law are my priority, Bung Hyo can take care of himself."
She looked Il Sung up and down, "And don't you think I don't know that your hands are covered in blood too, the difference is Minji was brave enough to do it herself, while you..."
Mrs. Kim stopped her words for a moment, "I have no idea how many people you sacrificed for your dirty work." She said with disgust.
"Be careful with your words, Young Mi."
There was a soft knock before the brown door opened and Yoona walked into the room, "Dad, mom called for dinner..."
Her words were halted when she saw her father sitting across from Mrs. Kim, and Hyein standing beside the sofa, staring at her.
Yoona bowed 90 degrees towards Mrs. Kim.
"Mrs. Kim, I apologize, I didn't know you were here."
"It's okay dear, how are you?" Mrs. Kim walked up to Yoona and kissed her on the cheek.
"I'm fine." The brunette smiled softly.
"I'll join you soon, Mrs. Kim will be home in a minute." Il Sung said as he stared at Mrs. Kim, a fake smile on his face.
Yoona lowered her head, she glanced at Hyein, the giraffe was still staring at her. Yoona couldn't read her gaze, she looked away and bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears that suddenly wanted to come out.
She then bowed again to Mrs. Kim and walked towards the door.
Mrs. Kim approached Hyein, "Wait outside, I want to talk to Il Sung alone."
Hyein bowed her head and walked away.
Yoona was about to close the door when Hyein walked out of the room. She removed her hand from the door handle in surprise, Hyein closed the door slowly and looked at her.
Yoona fell silent and took a few steps back.
"Miss Seol..."
"What are you doing here Hyein?"
"Mrs. Kim asked me to meet your father."
"Then why aren't you inside? Did you follow me?"
"She asked me to wait outside, probably to talk about something I shouldn't know."
Yoona turned her face away to avoid Hyein's gaze, "I have to go, Mom is waiting for me." She turned towards the stairs.
"Miss Seol, I apologize for what happened to us."
The doe-eyed stopped her steps, she turned her body around and looked at Hyein.
"I don't need your apology Hyein, I need something that you can't give. Or you don't want to."
Hyein was silent, she let out her breath slowly, "I love you."
"DON'T!" Yoona snapped, she then closed her eyes.
She tried to calm herself down, and Hyein stared at her with mixed feelings.
Yoona opened her eyes, her brown eyes glazed over, "Don't say something you don't mean." She turned her body back around, walking away from Hyein.
"So, Young Mi, what did you want to talk about?" Il Sung sat on the sofa and leaned his back on it, looking at Mrs. Kim with a disinterested expression on his face.
"I'm not happy with what you did to Hyein's face, an apology will raise your value to our friendship."
"What does that have to do with you? Yoona is my daughter and Hyein is just a thug who is your daughter's assistant."
"An apology and blessing for their relationship won't hurt you."
Il Sung laughed, "You want me to apologize to that brat? You have a unique sense of humor." He then picked up his teacup, "And why do you care so much about their stupid love story? Hyein isn’t related to you in any way.”
"You want Yoona's partner to be someone who is polite, kind-hearted and well-behaved, and also good-looking. Hyein has all that, what else? Wealth? Status? Title?
Hyein is an assistant to one of the CEOs of Korea's biggest companies, she is independent and can protect your daughter."
"I can't risk my daughter being with a former street thug..."
"Hyein knew who she was in your eyes, that's why she didn't confront you, she honored you by letting Yoona go. I don't know about this but would Yoona be happier without her? Hyein is a good and loving person, I believe in her future more than her past."
Mrs. Kim stood up and looked at Il Sung, "You already know what's best for Yoona, you just don't want to admit it." She said as she went to the door and opened it, stepping out of the room.
----
****
"Should I tell Dani about Han Woo? She was crying because Hanni told her everything, but your wife didn't seem to say anything about the murder. But I'm afraid if she finds out, she'll be furious."
Minji looked up from her cell phone screen and saw Haerin who was staring at her with furrowed brows.
"Where is she now?" She asked.
"Accompanying Hanni to their favorite cake shop, don't you know? Your wife hasn't stopped talking about the strawberry ogura cake there."
"I only saw Hanni enter the elevator, I don't know if Danielle went as well. Ah yes about that cake, she's been talking about it since yesterday, but I haven't had the time to take her there."
"Is she pregnant? Lately she seems to be very fussy if she wants something."
"I think so."
"You guys had sex like crazy mating animals, it wouldn't be surprising if she did get pregnant."
The sound of the elevator clanking could be heard as Minji pushed Haerin's head in annoyance, "Don't pretend you don’t like doing it with Dani too, your lust is the highest among us."
She then stood up from the sofa and prepared to greet the newcomer, it must be Mom coming. Haerin followed suit.
Both of their brows furrowed when they saw Mr. Kim stepping out of the elevator with his two bodyguards.
"What does that brute want?" Haerin whispered.
Mr. Kim stopped at the threshold of the living room, "Where's your mother?" He asked Minji.
"She went to see her new boyfriend."
"Mom has a boyfriend?" Haerin whispered with a shocked face.
"I'm not playing around Minji." Mr. Kim rubbed his forehead.
"Mom didn't want to be with you anymore."
The middle-aged man gave his daughter a sharp look, "Stop talking shit." He fumed.
He then walked towards the two of them, Minji and Haerin were immediately on alert.
If he hits Minji I will punch him in the face!
"Stay away from my kids, Bung Hyo."
Mr. Kim turned around quickly at the sound of his wife's voice. Mrs. Kim came out of the elevator and approached them, her face cold and unhappy. Mr. Kim's two bodyguards immediately bowed 90 degrees.
Hyein bowed her head to them and bowed to Mr. Kim.
"Yeobo..."
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to pick you up."
"I'm staying here now."
"Yeobo, can we talk about this somewhere else?"
"No. There's nothing to talk about anymore."
"Please, come back home."
Mrs. Kim looked at her husband coldly, "My home is here, with my children."
"Honey, I'm your husband, you should stay with me."
"I won't leave my children, especially after what you did to them all these years."
"Yeobo, they are grown women, independent women. And you know that everything I did was to discipline them." The middle-aged man was getting impatient.
Mrs. Kim's expression turned angry, "Tomorrow is Monday, Hyein will send documents to your office. I want you to read them carefully. Now, I hope you're done because we're going to dinner soon." She said with a raised tone of voice.
"I didn't know we were going out to dinner." Haerin whispered to Minji, the taller one exhaled and rolled her eyes.
This stupid cat was so naive, didn't she know Mom said that to make the old bastard leave?
"Documents?" Mr. Kim squinted his eyes, "What kind of documents?"
"You'll find out tomorrow. Right now, I want to spend time with my children." Mrs. Kim glanced at the door and looked back at her husband, signaling him to leave immediately.
"Why not just now? Where is that document? I can read it now." Mr. Kim said.
Minji rubbed her forehead, this old bastard was really stubborn.
Mrs. Kim sighed loudly, she then stepped towards the elevator, "Haerin, Minji, Hyein." She called, giving a code for the three women to follow her.
"Yeobo."
Mrs. Kim stopped, she closed her eyes in annoyance then turned to face her husband, looking at him sharply.
"We'll talk about this tomorrow morning, I'm going to your office."
Hyein preceded her and pressed the elevator button, the doors opened instantly, Hyein and Haerin bowed to Mr. Kim before following Mrs. Kim and Minji who had already entered the elevator.
Kim Bung Hyo was silent with annoyance, staring at his wife until the elevator doors closed.
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A few weeks later.
Minji hummed happily while nodding her head and staring at the photo on her cell phone screen, she smiled broadly.
There was a picture of an incompletely formed fetus.
“Congratulations Mrs. Kim Minji, your wife is 4 weeks pregnant.”
The obstetrician's words were ringing loudly in her head.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
They were going to have a child.
Their child.
A touch on her hand made her turn her head, Hanni smiled gently at her. Minji smiled back and grasped his wife's fingers.
"Are you okay? Are you tired?"
Hanni shook her head, "I'm not tired, I'm happy." She then chuckled, "This is the first time I've seen you smile non-stop."
Minji just grinned, "Who can blame me?"
Hanni drank her juice and stood up, "I'll order a pastry and a drink for you, after that I'll go to the toilet for a while. Be a good girl for me, ok?" She kissed Minji on the forehead.
The taller one chuckled, "Sure baby."
Hanni smiled and walked towards the display to order.
The winter wind blew gently caressing Minji's face and hair, she closed her eyes to enjoy it.
Minji then opened her eyes and looked at her phone again, she opened the chat app and started typing to inform her mother.
Mom would definitely go wild, she and Hanni had to be prepared for her fussiness.
She then called Haerin after texting her mom.
"Hanni is pregnant." She said when she heard Haerin's voice in her ear.
"Oh yeah, good morning to you too Minji, where are you? MK is coming. .... WHAT??? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"
Minji pulled her ear away from the cell phone and rolled her eyes.
"Hanni is pregnant, it's been 4 weeks." She repeated.
Her ears heard Haerin repeating her sentence to someone, probably Danielle. And soon there was a woman's high-pitched voice, she clapped her hands and bombarded Haerin with questions.
It was definitely Danielle.
"We're going to your place tonight." Haerin exclaimed, Danielle's excited voice still sounding on the other side.
Minji's lips involuntarily formed a small curve.
What a weird couple.
"Kim Minji?"
Minji raised her head, in front of her stood a waitress who was placing a tray with a cup of coffee and a plate of croissants on her table.
The woman covered her mouth, "Minji..." She whispered, her hands shaking.
Minji's cell phone fell onto the table before bouncing off and hitting the ground hard.
But Minji didn't care about her cell phone, thousands of images of her past flashed back in front of her.
Memories of happiness. But not for long.
They faded, and were replaced with anger.
Sadness.
Betrayal.
Minji stood up slowly, her mouth half open, and her lips trembling.
What the fuck...
"It's really you..I..." The petite woman spoke while holding back tears.
The waves of emotions hit Minji so fast, she suddenly felt too frustrated to speak.
She had to leave.
She didn't want to stay there and see that woman's face.
No.
Minji picked up her cell phone, there were some scratches on it. She put it quickly into her pants pocket.
Why is she here?!
The woman seemed to realize that Minji wanted to leave, she touched the woman's arm, "Please...don't go, I have a lot to explain.."
Minji quickly withdrew her arm and gripped the woman's neck.
Her tears fell.
"Don't touch me." She hissed in a trembling voice.
The smaller woman gasped, she tried to break Minji's grip, "Please, I know I was wrong, but let me explain..."
"Wrong? You destroyed everything! My company..."
"I was tricked..."
"I trusted you!" Minji roared.
She then released her grip, remembering she was in a public space.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
"I loved you so much and dreamed of having a little family with you, but you..." Minji gritted her teeth.
"The baby..." Another tear rolled down her cheek, then over her chin.
"I'm sorry Minji, back then I..."
"Back then you were a traitorous whore." Minji snarled angrily, her hands clenched into fists.
She wanted to kill the woman in front of her so badly.
I have to go, or…
"Minji, please!" The woman grabbed Minji's arm as she hastily stepped away from her.
Minji pulled her hand away roughly, "Bitch! Don't make me kill you here!"
"Minji."
That soft voice.
Minji felt a tightness in her chest, she didn't want her wife to meet her ex.
She didn't want Hanni to see her dark side again.
Minji turned her head slowly. And soon found Hanni's dark brown eyes looking at her with worry.
"Why are you angry like that?"
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A/N: Credit to Amariaaw for the editing. Thank you and much love to you.