Worlds Apart - Taekook - Book 2

Chapter 297 - Vision

'A vision'...

That was the only thought in Kyong's mind as he watched Jara talking to her mother. He was pleased that he'd written down his speech, he would need it, his mind kept blanking on him but who could blame him?! His wife was radiant. The pastel blue dress reminded him of an enchanted ice queen from an anime he enjoyed as a child. It was ironic because he didn't believe in magic but he was definitely under her spell.

Kyong's eyes travelled to Jara's stomach, a stupid action, if she was pregnant, it would surely be too early for anything to be obvious and he'd have noticed by now? He was terrified to touch Jara when she was pregnant, fearful that he'd hurt her... not knowing that any pain she was experiencing was being caused by his evil mother. He'd wanted to wrap his wife up in bubble wrap but she'd handled pregnancy both times with so much strength that he was in awe of her. This time would be different... if there was a 'this' time. Kyong would make sure she had the most idyllic pregnancy, whatever she wanted, just as they'd done with the wedding.

He watches Shin-Hye as she carefully picks an eyelash from Jara's cheek. Nuri used to say that she lived in a house full of males when one of the boys was brave enough to ask for a hug, Kyong thought she'd been quite nurturing when Jungkook and Han-Shik were small but he also considered whether his mind was playing tricks and telling him what he wanted to see? Could it be true that his mother would've been different had she had a daughter?

No... he rubbished the thought almost immediately because his wife was a wonderful mother to their two boys. Both of his sons received all of the hugs and care they needed whenever they wanted and he didn't truly believe that it would be any different if they had a daughter.

Kyong didn't look away when Jara caught him staring. The blush that crept up her face to the apples of her cheeks along with the bashful smile caused butterflies to erupt in his stomach. He got so lucky the day he walked into the coffee shop at Yang Corp. Even when she swats the air with her hand to tell him to look away... he doesn't... he can't... he wants to remember this moment forever.

"A Mother could never ask for any more than that." Shin-Hye says to her daughter.

"More than what?" Jara asks. Her face is burning and yet her husband won't look away. No one had ever looked at her the way that Kyong did. The other staff at work used to tell her that he was smitten and she wondered over the years if that's what fuelled Nuri's hate for her? Maybe Nuri longed for a love like the one that Jara had found?

"A man that puts that smile on your face. A man that puts that look in your eyes... that's what we've wanted for you." She's blessed that her daughter is as beautiful as she is. Regret eats away at her, behind her adoring maternal eyes. Shin-Hye is proud of what they've achieved but it hadn't come easy. They'd worked their fingers to the bone, taken opposite shifts when Jara was a baby, then they'd forced her to mature before she was ready when she had to get her own school clothes ready and pack her own school bag. As some children rebelled around them, Jara was doing chores and learning to be self sufficient. There were days when Shin-Hye couldn't take the credit for the wonderful woman her daughter had grown into but there didn't appear to be any resentment there from Jara's point of view, not that she'd ever braved the topic of conversation.

"Eomma... aren't I blushing enough already?" Polar ice caps were melting from the intensity of heat radiating from her cheeks.

"You look less pale. That's a healthy rosy glow."

"There's nothing healthy about this redness, eomma. I wish Phoenix was still here with her magic powder puff."

"Would you like me to distract Kyong so you can cool yourself down? It's nearly time for you to make your way to the ceremony deck."