Icy-Shock (Completed)

19. The garage

Heartina...

Next morning, I woke up at 6:00 AM, and dressed up and went down to the café. There were Yoon Min Joon and Choi Young. Choi Young smiled at me when I entered while Yoon Min Joon did not say anything and pretended as though he was really busy. He still thought that I was the murderer. Both of them were sitting at the table nearest to the kitchen and were having coffee when I entered inside. When I moved towards their direction, Yoon Min Joon went inside to clean the dishes. So, I decided to move away and I sat at a table far away from them facing the garden. The garden was rich with freshly blooming flowers and as it was early, we could also see the dew drops on their leaves. It reminded me of my own garden back in Seoul. Choi Young came and sat in the next chair and he had bought a big mug of hot chocolate for me.

"Here you go Heartina. A very good morning to you", he said.

"Good morning Young", I replied.

"Don't worry about Yoon Min Joon, he will come around soon", he said in a comforting voice.

"I do understand Young. Now I believe the fact 'Situations change people'", I said.

"Of course it does", he agreed.

I turned to the garden. I saw a squirrel cracking a nut and an owl going back to sleep in the early morning. I was enjoying.

"Do you have a garden at home Heartina?" asked Choi Young.

"Yes, it is just a kitchen garden. I grow my favorite vegetables there to cut down market expenses. We call it as 'HEARTINA'S VEGLAND'. Also I have pets there. I miss them very much Young. But, how did you guess it Young? I have not mentioned about my garden to you. Have I?" I asked.

"You haven't mentioned it Heartina", he smiled.

"Then how?" I asked puzzled.

"It is just the way you watch my garden here. You watch it with a mixture of passion and longing and so I sort of guessed it."

"I am worried Choi Young."

"Why?"

"It is just because I don't know how I am going to spend my days here. I don't have a job and all three of you will be busy doing your daily chores. I will be bored."

"You don't have to worry about that."

"Why?"

"You can come with me".

"But, you are a doctor and will visit the sick. I don't wish to interfere".

"No... no. Today, I am going to an orphanage where I will be doing a free treatment to all the kids there. Will you come with me? It will take the whole day and it will be a good time pass to you".

"WOW!!!! I am just very proud of you Young. At what time will we be leaving?"

"Sharp at 9:00AM we will be leaving Heartina."

"Alright, I will get ready by that time."

9:00 AM

I came down and felt a twinge of embarrassment because Choi Young was dressed in the same colour as mine. He saw me and smiled and said "We match". I gave a sheepish smile. We walked down to the garage together. It was my first visit to that place. It was closed with a big shutter in it. Choi Young just pulled out a remote and pressed a button. I thought how stupid he was. Instead of lifting the shutter what the hell was he doing with that remote?

But to my surprise the shutter lifted and it was empty. He gave another click to the remote and it exposed not a car shed but a big show room of automobiles. My mouth fell open and I was not blinking at all. I always kept forgetting that he was a billionaire and a king of fortunes who appeared really simple. He smiled at my expression.

"Let's go inside Heartina", he gestured.

As we walked in he said, "Let me explain. At present we are in the floor 0 that is, the underground. I call it the basement. It is just adjacent to Kim Ji Won's studio. This floor has two levels- the top and the bottom. Now we are here at the top. The bottom is large and is the size of the entire house to accommodate the whole lot of vehicles. The top displays only the first half of the vehicles and is meant for me to choose a vehicle. After choosing a vehicle, I put all my vehicles back to the bottom part of the basement. That is all"

I went in and saw that there were all sorts of vehicles and they were only half. He gave another click to the remote and the entire lot disappeared and was replaced with another set of vehicles. There were about 20 small cars of all really rare colors and 10 big cars that could fit 10 people in. Also there were 25 racer bikes.

"Heartina, select a vehicle", he said. I did not know which one to select. I decided to choose a small car which could accommodate around 4 people. Now the problem was there were many colors that I liked. Which one to choose? Finally, in the corner was a black shiny car, a BMW and I selected that one. Choi Young gave another click to that remote. All the other vehicles shifted their positions and moved to the bottom part of the basement.

"Hop in", he gestured. He took the driver's seat and I opened the back door. But he beckoned me to sit in the front seat next to him. I got inside. I was not used to cars because my father's earnings were not sufficient to buy a car. We had to work really hard to meet our daily needs. "Put on your seat belt Heartina", he said.

"Young, I don't know how to put on a seat belt. This is the first time I am asked to wear a seat belt. So, can you help me?" I asked ashamed. He simply stared at first but then not to hurt me, he smiled encouragingly.

"No problem Heartina. This time I will teach you and while coming back from the orphanage, I want you to put your seat belt and also put mine, so that you can learn it faster. Will you?"

"OK", I said. He bent down close to me and pulled the belt and taught me. He pulled it out and taught me the same process 5 times and the process was clear to me. He came so close to me that we shared the same breath. He smelled strongly of cologne and fresh soap. It was the same smell that I inhaled last night in the terrace.

"Shall we go?" he asked and I nodded. He drove fast which made me think he was a racer. I could not control this thought and asked him. He simply smiled and said no.

"What is the name of the orphanage that we are about to visit?" I asked.

"KIND HEARTS OF CHOI is its name", he said.