Entangled Love

Chapter 90: The Distance

Carrying Hyo eun in her arms, she walked behind Gary as he pulled the luggage into the apartment. Mixed emotions ran through her. The house contained many good memories but it also reminded her about the unhappy ones. Walking in, she noticed a large puzzle set laid out on the coffee table in the living room. She has never seen that before. She settle Hyo eun down on the sofa and went forward to get a closer look.

It was a blown up image of the picture, in a puzzle form, that she received from Gary weeks ago. There was a missing piece in the middle. "Our family won't be complete if either of us are missing, just like the puzzle." Gary appeared from behind with the last puzzle piece in his palm. Jihyo looked at him and then at the puzzle piece. She picked it up and fit it into place.

"Thanks for giving me another chance," he said, leaning forward to hug her.

Jihyo pull away from the hug and mumbled, "I'm doing this for Hyo eun's sake."

She brushed past him and went inside the room to unpack her luggage. She hanged her clothes in the wardrobe and lined her perfumes and make up bag on the dressing table. Turning back to her luggage, she found a blue envelope at the bottom of it. She didn't notice it initially since it was fully covered with the clothes and her other items. She don't remember putting it inside or maybe, she subconsciously did. She removed it from her luggage and placed it on the bed.

Though the room door was wide open, Gary still knocked on it, twice, to attract her attention. She turned to look at him and waited for him to speak. He entered the room and spotted the blue envelope on the bed. "I think I still owe you an explanation.. about Seul ra.." he shifted his gaze back to her and said. She was all ears, waiting patiently for him to continue.

"All of these were planned by her. Breaking up our family, the one-night stand and the day.. when I missed the birth of our daughter," his voice softened at the end as he said with full regrets. He was quick to continue after noticing the frown on her face.

"Yes, I was with her that night and I know I shouldn't have kept it from you for so long. I was being selfish. I was afraid that you will leave me. It was only recently that I found out she spiked my drink that night causing me to lose conscious. She thinks that I'm the cause of the death of her close friend, Eun ji and because of that, she wanted to seek revenge." he stopped speaking and looked at her.

She was still frowning and it was evident that she was disappointed or maybe, even upset with him as words struggled to get out from her mouth. It took her a few minutes to compose herself and she thought she would raised her voice at him, shout at him, or anything just to show him her displeasure but all she could managed was just a simple sentence.

"I get it." she quietly replied.

Gary could feel that she doesn't want him to continue any further. He nodded his head to her reply and looked down at the floor, hands in his pockets. "I..I'll make a trip down to the supermarket to get some ingredients." he lifted his head and awkwardly said to her.

"Hmm," she acknowledged and turned her back towards him. He rubbed the back of his neck as he observed her back view for a few seconds before leaving the room. She kept the envelope in a box filled with items that were given by Gary and placed it at the corner of the wardrobe. She heard the sound of the front door closing and headed to the living room.

"Omma. Appa." Hyo eun uttered as she pointed at the framed puzzle opposite her, hanging just above the television and looked at Jihyo. Jihyo stared at it for a brief moment before turning around to carry Hyo eun.

"Omma, Hyo eun and appa." she said to her daughter while pointing at their faces. Hyo eun giggled and swayed her body left and right in her arms.

"Why are you so happy today?" she questioned. Hyo eun cling onto her and buried her face against Jihyo's shoulder for a few seconds and lifted her head again, squealing. Jihyo smiled at her cheeky little precious girl and cooed at her.

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Twenty minutes later, Gary came back with two bags of groceries. He placed them on the kitchen counter and proceed to remove the items from the bags. Yogurts, rock melon, vegetables, beef and pork ribs soon occupied one-third of the counter. "Why did you buy so many stuff?" Jihyo came out of the bedroom and asked after seeing the amount of stuff that he bought.

"The yogurts and melon are for Hyo eun. As for the rest.." He paused and looked around. "Maybe I bought too many things.. I'll prepare dinner." he continued, looking at her sheepishly.

He spent two hours in the kitchen preparing the meals and by the time he was done, Hyo eun just woke up from her nap. He made the baby food as well and placed it on the dining table together with the pork rib stew and spicy noodles.

The family of three gathered around the dining table. Gary did the job of feeding Hyo eun as they digged into their dinner.

As night falls, Jihyo gave Hyo eun a quick bath and retreated back into the room. She laid her down on the mat and played some white noises beside her. Gary watched Jihyo as she tucked Hyo eun under the fluffy unicorns printed blanket, and gently pat her. It didn't take long before she was completely asleep. She kissed her on her forehead and quietly stepped away from the mat.

Without looking at Gary, she took a pillow from the bed and walked towards the door. "Where are you going? Aren't we sleeping together?" Gary stood up and asked softly.

"I'll sleep in the living room," she replied.

"Why?"

Jihyo shrugged her shoulders and looked at him. "Just.." her voice trailed off.

Gary stared at her silently. The atmosphere in the room was suffocating. "I understood.. You can have the bed. I'll sleep on the couch." Gary mumbled and took the pillow. She could see the disappointment on his face as he walked past her. He closed the room door on his way out.

It was no longer the same as how it used to be.