Would you believe | Ambw | Discontinued

Chapter nineteen: A heavy heart

HAE-JIN

I came to my parent's house early, before Ji-Min arrived. I needed to speak with them alone without her being here. It seemed easy though.

I sliced the peach cream cake putting a slice of the cake on a plate for my mother. She sat across from me. The stern look on her face never breaks. She picks her fork and digs into the cake. She asked my father in the kitchen behind us to make a pot of coffee.

"Bringing my favorite dessert will not make me feel any better." She said.

And that's what I was hoping for. My mother placed today's paper on the table and pointed at the photo with her red fingernail.

"This woman who she is?" my mom asked.

"Eomma," I whined. "I had a hard day. Can we not do this?"

She cut her dark eyes at me. "Who. Is. She."

"My girlfriend," I said with my head held high.

My mother smiled. But it was a tight smile. One she was forced. "No, she isn't."

I looked at my mom, confused. "She isn't?"

My dad placed two hot cups of coffee on the table and he took a seat next to my mother. My dad didn't speak much. The times he did speak was to either calm my mother down or to agree with her. So there was no hope of my father taking my side.

"You heard me, didn't you?" my mother asked. She eats more cake.

"Yes, but I don't understand."

She throws her fork down. Her eyes looked into mine. The look made me want to run and hide like I did when I was a small kid.

"Ji-Min is the one you're going to be with." 

"No, she isn't," I said. "She nearly ruined my goddamn life.

"Things between you and her can be worked out, Hae-jin." My mother said, "If you hadn't made her abort the baby then things wouldn't have ended up so messy."

I bounced my right leg to calm myself down. Ji-Min had a way of making people feel sorry for her. She's a snake.

"Eomma.." I said. "Why would you even mention that?"

She shrugged, picking up her cup of coffee. "Because you seem to forget you're the one who caused all this."

I banged my fist on the table. "You thought I was going to raise another man's child?"

My mother sat her cup down. "Honestly, I think you were being selfish. You have always been that way since you were a small boy, Hae-Jin."

The buzzing from the doorbell interrupted us. My dad went to get the door. It was only a few short minutes later when he returned with Ji-Min. 

"Aw, Jin, I was hoping we could show up together." She said, "What have you all been speaking about?"

Ji-Man pulled out the seat beside me and sat down. Ignored her when she ran her hand down my arm and tried to hold my hand.

"We were discussing the loss of our grandchild."

And that's when the fake tears started from Ji-Min. "I was looking forward to being a mother. and happy for you and Mr. Park to meet the baby."

My mother laughed looking at me. "Hae-Jin still thinks that child wasn't even his."

"That's a shame. Mrs. Park, I was heartbroken when Hae-jin brought up me aborting the baby. The long nights we fought. the many nights I cried. I tried my best to think of getting rid of our baby as to lessen the burden on Hae-Jin. he was in the high of his career and the baby would have just gotten in the way." Ji-Min lets out a small sob.