Behind the Mask

Reconcile

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Chaeyoung was walking towards her dad's office when she saw Prof. Myoui come from it. She continued walking in her direction.

"Good afternoon, Prof." Chaeyoung politely greeted her and prof smiled wryly at the girl.

"I saw Prof. Myoui coming from here. Did you fire her? Did anything happen? What did you say to her?"

Chaeyoung asked President Son upon entering the office. Mr. Son cleared his throat and fixed the way he sat more formally.

"Ms. Son, is that the way you talk to the president?" He asked formally.

"Oh, right." She said sarcastically.

"So what's your concern? Kindly state it one by one."

"Did you fire, Prof. Myoui? Sir, you can't fire her. She's one of the best and she's too competent to lose her job."

"No one's gonna lose her job, Chaeyoung." The president assured her. "Anything else."

"Uhmm... Well... It's not school-related, sir." She said hesitantly. "But... If you have time..." Chaeyoung cleared her throat finding the courage to finish her sentence. "Probably... Later... Would you... Uhm... If you can come by at my house?" She said finally finishing her sentence.

A smile slowly curved at the man's lips. He tried so hard to stop from smiling so it won't be obvious.

"I'll check my schedule."

"No pressure but... You can tag Ms. Jeon, I mean your wife if she's free."

Chaeyoung left the room feeling relieved.

• • • • •

"Do you think this would be enough? Or should we order something else? How was my pasta? Do you think they would love it? Wait, do w---"

Mina gave a peck on Chaeyoung's lips which made the latter cut her sentence off and made her blush.

"You worry too much." Mina said while fixing Chaeyoung's hair.
"I'm sure they'd like it."

"It's just...it's been years since I last sat down with him."

Mina went towards Chaeyoung's back and wrapped her in her arms. Mina then leaned her chin on the girl's shoulder.

"Would this make you relax?" Mina mumbled in Chaeyoung left ear.

"You know how to calm me down." Chaeyoung pulled Mina's arms which lead the hug to tighten.

"Ehem... Sorry to interrupt you two but they are almost here." Somi said.

"Gosh, why do I feel like they'd be asking for dad's blessing." Somi whispered but it was loud enough for Mina and Chaeyoung to hear. Both of them chuckled upon hearing her.

When Mr. Son and his wife arrived, they were greeted by the three; Somi, Chaeyoung and Mina then they went to the dining table to have their dinner. The dinner was awkward and was almost silent the whole except when Somi would say something to break the silence. They went from total silence to Somi cracking some jokes to laughter to silence again.

When the dinner ended, Chaeyoung went to the pool area and sat at one of the pool's corners while her feet are soaked in the water.

"Would you mind?" Mr. Son asked as he approached Chaeyoung.

Chaeyoung looked at him for a while before tapping the floor indicating permission to join her. They were both silently looking straight at the pool.

"Thank you." Chaeyoung said while looking still looking at the pool.

"Hm?" Mr. Son hummed looking at her daughter.

"Uncle Yoo told me how you defended me and Min... I mean prof. Myoui during your meeting with the boards."

"It's nothing. I did what I have to and presented facts."

Chaeyoung just nodded.

"And Jeongyeon told me you asked her for a favor, thanks."

Mr. Son just nodded filling the atmosphere with silence.

"Do you like her?" Mr. Son asked, breaking the silence but Chaeyoung just nodded.

"What's your plan?" Chaeyoung looked at her dad.

"I'll marry her someday." She confidently said.

"Nice. But don't you think it's too early to say that? I mean you only knew her for a couple of months."

"Nope. We knew each other for quite some time and she already met mom a couple of times..." Chaeyoung said with a cracky voice.

"She's pretty cool... Mina. She made me realize some things." Mr. Son said which made Chaeyoung frown her eyebrows in confusion.

"Well, she made me realize how I was so hard on you that I almost forgot I am your father. Well..." Mr. Son cleared his throat. "He showed a video of you being bullied, how you reacted and said some words that made me think about my past behaviours towards you."

"You saw me... Like as in?" She couldn't find the right words that would fit the question if her dad knew how she acts whenever she's mad. "I'm seeing a psychotherapist for that." She said trying to assure her father.

"Not exa... Wait...what? Yeah, Somi told me that but I'm not talking about your anger issue." Mr. Son took a deep breath.

"I just want to say sorry to you, Chaeyoung... For not being a father to you... When your mom died, my world collapsed losing the will to live. I didn't know what to do. I loved her Chaeyoung and I still love her, no one can replace her."

" I was so focused on my loss that I forgot that you lost her too and eventually lost me too. It must be hard for you yet I made it harder by pushing you away, by abandoning you."

"You might think that I am happier. But believe me or not, there's no single day that passed when I can't help but blame my self. If only we talked that day... That one night mistake if only I could go back to that time, she would still be here... We will still be living under one roof. God knows how much I missed her, how much I want to hug her, to kiss her, to hold her tight but I can't... But that would never happen again. But whenever I looked at Somi... She's the only good thing that happened that night. Not that my regret vanished every time but I-I..."

A tear falls from Mr. Son. Not long after, he started to cry out loud like a child. Chaeyoung was hesitant at first but she eventually hugged her father and tapped his back.

"I'm sorry, Chaeyoung... Dad failed you. I understand how much you hate me, but... Can you give me a chance to be a father to you?" He said while sobbing.

Mr. Son continued to cry while Chaeyoung comforted him. When he finally calms down, he stood up.

"I'm sorry." He said in a low voice. "And be careful... You and Mina... I managed to defend you, but if someone caught you, I might not be a big help."

Chaeyoung nodded and smiled timidly. They both went inside.

"It's already late... We should be going." Mr. Son said as they arrived in the living room where Somi, her mom and Mina are sitting.

"Hm... thanks for the brownies, Ms. Jeon." Chaeyoung said as they arrived at the door to wave them goodbye.

"Hope you'll like it." Chaeyoung just smiled.

"And... Thanks...Dad."