ALL BARK NO BITE | SADISTIC BEAUTY SPINOFF

Chapter 74

~ Room 336, Geriatric Unit, Providence Hospital, Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul

"My son hates me, doesn't he?" Narae took Ryeo's handkerchief, fiddling with it in her hands as others in the ward eyed her and the well-suited, handsome man tucking her into bed. "He doesn't hate anyone" Ryeo simply said as he seated himself at the edge of her bed "He's busy... and he hates hospitals" he explained and Narae looked glum. "He's doing well at the publishing business... you wouldn't think he's new at it," he said and Narae nodded "My son is very capable" she smiled finally and Ryeo smiled too "He's just like you".

"Does he have a lover?" she poked and Ryeo laughed

"Don't be nosy, Narae" he adjusted his glasses and she widened her eyes

"I'm his mother!"

"And he's a grown man... he'll tell you when he feels like it" he said.

"Killjoy" Narae folded her hanky into a swan, frowning and undoing it, then starting over again. "This one looks like Odette... from Swan Lake" she looked proudly at her new creation and then set it on her lap, smiling "I remember papa would take me to the theatre to watch the ballet performance. I fell in love with it" she reminisced. "Did they not all look like Odette before?" Ryeo Bokyung asked softly as he opened a can of sweet pineapple. "Not really..." Narae said "This one..." she stroked the swan's head "Is as demure and innocent as her... head bowed just right, wings spread just right. Not too wide, nor too close" she mused.

"Like remnants of the gentle, graceful swaying arms in the wind... before she was cursed " Ryeo sat with the can in silence, sitting next to Narae on her bed. He didn't say much and Narae paused "Bokyung... do I sound pretentious to you?" she asked and Ryeo quietly shook his head "I know ballet was important to you... is..." he trailed and Narae tilted her head, slowly and shakily drawing her hands up in the fourth position in her Odette's coda, she had perfected over a summer at the young age of 16, even breaking her toenails at one point. "What is pretentious about passion?" Ryeo speared a juicy piece of pineapple with a toothpick and extended it before Narae.

She put her hands back down, enjoying the pineapple... her favourite. "You shouldn't have given it up" Ryeo finally said and Narae smiled sadly "... There's a lot of things I shouldn't have given up..." her eyes grew mellower and sorrowful "... but it's not that easy. I had to get married for the sake of our family's fortune" she gulped and Ryeo looked away "Still... you could have... taken it up sometime later" he reckoned and Narae touched her lips "My new world... with Wonsik... didn't welcome my passions. So I left them behind... then..." she looked at him surreptitiously.

"The estate... I had to take care of family affairs... entertain business partners... then I had Wookyung... it never ended" she touched her belly and Ryeo clenched his jaw "Did it make you as happy?" he asked and Narae hesitated, unable to answer so she asked him "Are you as happy?" Narae paused "... I know you wanted to be a champion but you gave up boxing to support your parents" she stuck her hands out like a balance "We both gave up things we love". "And now?" Bokyung looked up properly, meeting her eyes "What about now?"

Narae looked away quickly.

"Now I can barely walk..." she said weakly and Bokyung frowned at his hands "Why are you doing this to yourself, Narae?" he asked and she shook her head painfully "Don't. Don't make me question myself. Don't give me hope... 26 years have passed... we shouldn't be like this". Bokyung finally gave up, reality creeping up on him like a cloak he much needed but shrugged off in the momentary excitement "Sorry" he picked another chunk of pineapple, feeding Narae "I... spoke out of line" he reverted back to his formal tone and Narae rubbed her eyes in guilt.

She reached out for him, wrapping a hand around his arm and resting her head on his shoulder as Bokyung placed a gentle hand on her head. "I'm so sorry for who I am... I really am" she cried. "I'm sorry too..." Ryeo said sombrely "Both for the things I've done... and those I've not done..."