Hearts in Seoul ✧

xxxvi

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warning: strong language

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"Dad," Lucas retorted when he came home, walking to his father's office. "Can we have dinner together? You, me and Yohan?"

"What is it?" he asked, not looking up from the paper he was signing. Christoper Hyun — the placard on his desk wrote — Hyun Airlines, CEO. "Can't you tell me now?"

"No. I want to tell you and Yohan over dinner," he shook his head, sitting on one of the chairs.

"I'm busy, Lucas," he sighed, shifting his eyes from the paperwork to the spreadsheet displayed on the computer. "I've got a meeting in a few hours, five hours tops, and it might take a while. I might even skip dinner. Sorry."

"Dad, we haven't had dinner together as a family, since I was five," he argued. "Can we have just one today? It's important."

"Then? Why does it have to wait until tonight? If it's so important then why not tell me now?"

"Dad, are you really that clueless? Do you really not care about me?"

Christopher sighed, his fatigued eyes pierced through Lucas's soul, as his wrinkles protruded. "I have a lot to do Lucas. I'm preparing the company for you. Please understand that. Now, please, if you've got nothing to say, and if you've only come here to argue with me, leave, before I resort to something else. Go tell your brother. He'll have dinner with you," he simply said, looking back at the spreadsheet.

"I wish Mum was here," he whispered loudly, purposely, for his father to hear before he turned his back on him. "Maybe she'll care."

"Lucas, your mother left us," his father heard. Good. "Haven't I said, and clarified, that we shall not speak of her in any way? Haven't I made you sign a contract for that?"

"That's all you care about, Dad. IT'S ALL YOU CARE ABOUT," Lucas spat, angrily, rather loudly he was sure it would bleed through the walls. "YOUR BUSINESS, THE MONEY, MY INHERITANCE. YOU KNOW WHAT, FUCK THAT. I DO NOT FUCKING CARE."

"Lucas," his father flared, though he remained eerily calm. "That is not the way to talk to your father. And sure, if you don't want the company, I'll gladly give it to Yohan. Now if you may, please leave. As I said, I am quite busy. "

"What about, Mum? Are we not going to talk about her?" Lucas challenged.

"No."

"I forgot her name. I don't even know her face, Dad. I need to see, Mum."

"Your mum does not care about you. Why do you think she left you — no, abandoned — you and Yohan?"

"Mum cares. She does."

"Okay. If you believe that, then so be it."

Her father turned back to the computer as he dismissed himself, before realising something. "Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"You and Jeremy-wong jangnim are friends right?" Lucas asked. "There was a woman... a pretty woman, in her mid-forties or so, who visited campus today. She's pretty. Do you know her? She seemed pretty close to Jeremy-wong jangnim."

"Perhaps. I'm not sure. What was her name?"

"I'm not sure either. I didn't ask. But he looked like Hans' mum."

"Hans?"

"A new student from America. I hate him."

"Okay."

Before Lucas could close the door, he saw his father look up from his computer, gesturing him to wait for a second. "Before you go, I just want you to know that your mother is the only woman I've ever loved. I treasure you and Yohan so much because you are the only two people that remind me of her and that remind me of the love we once had for each other. That's why I never remarried. Your mum will always be in my heart, no matter where she is right now. No matter who she's with right now. No matter who she loves right now."

"Okay."

"What happened, though, seriously? Why do you want to have dinner tonight?"

"Lots, Dad. I have a new girlfriend. That is it."

Lucas closed the door, locking it, not waiting for his father's reply, noticing that he immediately got to work, after having a few minutes to spare talking with his eldest son. Lucas made his way to his brother's room, knocking on his door.

"Yohan? You there?"

"Yes. I am."

He rarely talked to his brother. Yohan Theo Hyun was a very studious man, spending his time hitting the books and studying. He was a member of his own gang, and Lucas considered Yohan as the Noah of the gang. "Anything you want, hyeong?"

"Nothing. I wanted to talk to you," Lucas whispered, sitting on his brother's made up bed.

"Tch. You rarely talk to me," he blurted, taking out a pen as he wrote down a few notes.

"This is an exception, Yohan."

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Well, other than the fact I have a girlfriend — my first girlfriend — did Dad ever tell you about Mum?"

"No. Why so sudden? Haven't we decided to forget about her?"

"She's still our Mum, Yohan..."

"So?" he heaved, slamming his fists on the table. "She left us. She left me when I was only a month old and you saw everything, Lucas! How can you forget that?"

"She told me she'll come back..."

"Hyeong, I'm sorry, but we should forget about her. It's been seventeen years."

"Okay..."

"Why so sudden, by the way?"

"Nothing," he lied. He remembered the way Hans' mother stared at him, how they locked eyes for a brief moment, yet, somehow, he felt a weird tingle course through his veins. "It's nothing."

His brother hummed. Walking out of the door, and going down the stairs to the kitchen, Lucas decided to make himself dinner — his favourite, his Mum's recipe, Salmon Baked Pasta. He was surprised when his Ahjumma had already been there, preparing the plate, as she closed the oven door.

"Ahjumma, you didn't have to," Lucas said, scrambling to get the knife away from her. "I can do it."

"Ah, Chang-Min," she cooed in Korean. "You've grown so much. It's okay I can handle."

"No, Ahjumma. It's my dinner. I can do it."

"Oh? I made a lot. Isn't your brother and father eating?"

"I doubt," he shrugged. "Did Mum teach you how to make this a long time ago?"

"Yes. She told me it was your favourite and she taught me how to make it before she left, almost as if she was foreshadowing her leaving," she responded still in Korean. "Chang-Min, I'm sorry. I've been with this family for so long, I'm sorry I couldn't do anything."

"What are you sorry for, Ahjumma? It's not your fault."

"Chang-Min, my memory is a little hazy, but I do remember your mother. She was a beautiful woman. I doubt that she doesn't love you. She must have a reason as to why she had to leave you. Yes, she and your father were young parents, but regardless, she loved you both."

"I love Mum, too. Maybe if she stayed, we... this wouldn't have happened."

Ahjumma smiled, washing her hands. "Congratulations on your new girlfriend, Lucas,"  she beamed, washing the dishes cluttered on the sink. "You've grown so much now."

"Thank you, Ahjumma. Thank you."

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