FATE, WRITTEN BY US - CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 18“WHAT?!! They were at THAT nursery today for WGM filming? Why did you wait till now to call me?!!”
“I’m sorry sir. It’s just that the place became a little chaotic after Ga-In-ssi collaped in the storeroom…”
“WHAT? Collapsed?! What happened? What did THAT woman do to her?!”
“I’m not sure what happened. All I saw was Jo Kwon-ssi blindfolding her and leading her to the storeroom. It looked like he had a surprise for her. But not long after they entered the storeroom, there was a loud scream and Seul Ong dashed into the storeroom to calm her down. After that, without a word, he just left with Ga-In-ssi. Even though he didn’t say a single a word, but everyone could see that he was really angry.”
“What about THAT woman? Wasn’t she around when the whole scene happened?”
“No, Jo Kwon-ssi’s mother wasn’t around. I remembered that because I overheard Ga-In-ssi asking about her whereabouts.”
“So, Seul Ong took Ga-In away? Where did they go?”
“From what I gathered, he took her back to his apartment. Jo Kwon-ssi managed to get permission to go over to visit them and I heard him tell the PD that he was going over to Seul Ong’s place.”
“Alright, since she’s with Seul Ong, I’m relieved. What about the other matter that I asked you to find out?”
“Sir, from what I have managed to find out thus far, it was Ga-In-ssi who wanted to be on the show and she was specific about who she wanted as her husband. Since Seul Ong is also a major shareholder in JYPE, he managed to pull some strings to make sure that Jo Kwon is Ga-In’s ‘fake’ husband. So it was not as ‘coincidental’ as everyone seems to think.”
“Ga-In asked to be in the show and with Jo Kwon specifically? That’s interesting… Why would she do that?”
“I don’t have an answer to that question. I have been observing the two of them when they interact on WGM recordings. I don’t get the feeling that Ga-In-ssi likes Jo Kwon-ssi a lot. But there’s always a bit of an undercurrent between the two of them. Jo Kwon-ssi, however does show that he likes being around Ga-In-ssi.”
“Alright, thank you for finding out all these information. If there’s any updates, please let me know immediately.”
“I will, sir. Please take care of yourself.”
Both men hung up their phones. Park seon-saeng sat at his study table and the frown on his face showed his confusion.
Why did Ga-In want to be in the show with Jo Kwon?
How much does she know about the connection between THAT woman and her?
Is Seul Ong also aware of the connection?All these questions just kept repeating themselves in his head. And the more he thought of THAT woman and what she did to Ga-In, the angrier he got. Finally, he decided that perhaps the best way to find out would be to meet up with Seul Ong and Ga-In. Since he already asked to see them the previous time, it should not be too difficult to set up the meeting. He dialled Seul Ong’s personal number and waited.
JO KWON’S APARTMENTBoth Jo Kwon and PD Jung decided at the latest WGM meeting that it was too risky to have anymore outdoor shoots since locations can be a little sensitive. So they decided that they should stay in the apartment. Jo Kwon wanted to do something nice for her to make up for all the blunders he had made thus far. The only thing that he seemed to have done right was choosing the apartment.
In the meantime, news that Son Ga-In would reveal the truth about her background created a stir and she was asked to stay indoors until the episode revealed that she was an orphan. So she wasn’t present at the meeting but her manager represented her at the meeting. She was also glad that they decided to keep it safe since security was an issue.
Remembering that part of the reason why the apartment was a great hit was because he asked Seul Ong about it, he decided to engage his help again. He picked up his phone and called Seul Ong. The call was picked up almost immediately.
Seul Ong had found out from Ga-In’s manager that the next WGM recording would take place in their apartment. That was good news for him because he really didn’t want to risk another bad location decision. So he was half-expecting the call from Jo Kwon since he knew that he wanted to make up for his mistakes.
“Hyung! How have you been?”
“Kwon-ah, I’ve been great. Yourself?”
“I’m good. Hyung, I need your help.”
Seul Ong smiled, in fact he wanted to laugh but he controlled it since he didn’t want to embarrass Kwon.
“It must be about Ga-In. It’s all about pleasing your ‘wife’ now. What do you need help with?”
“Hyung… Don’t make fun of me! I just don’t want to make mistakes again. The first meeting and the last recording were enough. Oh, I shuddered just thinking about how stupid I was.”
“It’s alright, we all learn from our mistakes. So what do you want to know about our Ice Queen?”
“Don’t call her that, you should know better! She’s not like that!”
Seul Ong could not help himself and just laughed out loud. He could almost imagine Jo Kwon opening his eyes wide and defending his ‘wife’.
“Hyung~ Stop laughing! I’m embarrassed!”
“Alright, alright, I would not laugh. What do you want to know about our Ga-In?”
Our Ga-In? But Ga-In noona’s mine…
Aish~ Jo Kwon! What’s wrong with you?!
Fancy being so sensitive about the mere use of ‘our’!
But it’s true, Ga-In noona’s mine…
She’s MY Ga-In…
Why do I want to share her with anyone else?“Hyung, since we are recording the next episode at the apartment, I was thinking of doing something nice for her. What do you suggest?”
“Since it’s at the apartment, what you can do is quite limited. But girls always like it a lot when guys cook for them. Ga-In is no exception and she enjoys it whenever I have time to cook for her. She always says that there is a certain kind of charm to see a man in the kitchen wearing an apron and cooking, especially if he’s cooking for his girl. Why don’t you try that?”
“Cook for her? But my cooking skills…”
“It doesn’t need to be anything fanciful. The thought that goes into preparing the food is more important.”
“So what do you usually cook for her?”
“It depends on what she feels like eating but mostly Japanese, French or Italian cuisines?”
“What?! And you said it doesn’t have to be fanciful?”
“Well, she knows that I have learnt to cook all these cuisines before so it’s expected. But for you it’s different. Especially if you are not really fantastic at cooking but still makes the effort to.”
“But I really only know how to cook instant noodles…”
“Then make a bowl of REALLY GOOD instant noodles! And you really can’t go wrong with that, can you?”
“Yes... But…”
“Kwon-ah, I’m sorry but I’ve got to go. My meeting is about to start. Good luck!”
“Hyung, thanks for the advice! I would try my best.”
“You’d be fine. Ga-In will understand and know the effort you made. Alright, got to go! Let me know how it went? See you soon!”
Jo Kwon gave a heavy sigh after getting off the phone with Seul Ong. Cooking is really not his forte. He rarely cooks and the only thing that he can cook well was instant noodles, because admit it, anyone can cook instant noodles.
“But I can’t possibly cook that for Ga-In noona… What am I to do? I can’t ask Seul Ong hyung to teach me either since the recording is in 2 days’ time. Should I ask my mum? No, I can’t. She doesn’t like me being on WGM as it is… Wait! Maybe… Yes!”
Jo Kwon dialled another number on his phone and at the end of the phone call, he was smiling very broadly. He started to pack his bag and set off towards his destination. Finally, it was beginning to look like it would be a great recording session. He couldn’t wait to see Ga-In and her expression when she realised that he had made the effort to cook for her.
SEUL ONG’S OFFICE“Sir, do not forget that you have a dinner date with Park Min Woo-ssi tonight. It’s at 7pm at Top Cloud.”
“Thank you Miss Hong! I almost forgot about that. What would I do without you?!”
“Sir, I’m sure you would do just fine. If there’s nothing else, I’d take my leave now.”
“Sure, see you tomorrow then.”
Seul Ong checked the clock and realised that it was already 5pm. He quickly got Ga-In on the phone so that he could ask her to get ready. She didn’t pick up the call.
“Aish! What’s with that girl? What doesn’t she answer the call?”
“Gotcha! You do have a mysterious girl that you are hiding away from everyone! Who is she?”
Ga-In appeared at the door of Seul Ong’s office. She knew he had called her but she wanted to give him a surprise. Not to mention, she was really bored cooped up at home. So she thought she would save him a trip to go pick her up.
“Ya! You gave me a fright! Why didn’t you say anything about coming here?”
“It’s a surprise. Plus, I’m really curious to see if you really have a mysterious girl. So?”
“So what? Isn’t one of you enough? You are mysterious enough, everyone wants a piece of you, now that news that you are going to reveal your past on WGM.”
“But you already know everything about me. Come on, oppa, I’m sure you have someone hidden away. TELL ME~”
Seul Ong refused to answer her. He just sat down at his desk and ignored Ga-In while he got the last bit of business settled before leaving for the day.
Ga-In saw that Seul Ong had turned his attention to his work and knew not to disturb him. She looked around the clean lines of his office and realised nothing has changed since the last time she was at the office. That is just like her Seul Ong oppa – nothing ever changed, the one constant in her life. She sat down quietly on the sofa in the office and read the magazine she had brought along.
The two siblings spent the next 30 minutes in the comfortable silence. At 6pm, Seul Ong finally shut down his computer and started packing to leave. He looked up to see that Ga-In was giving the magazine her full attention.
“In-ah, I’m ready to leave.”
No response.
“In-ah, what are you reading that is so interesting?”
No response.
Seul Ong walked over to the sofa, only to realise that Ga-In had fallen asleep while reading the magazine. He smiled and shook his head. He gently shook Ga-In’s shoulders.
“In-ah, wake up. We got to go and meet Park seon-saeng now. He doesn’t like people to be late.”
Ga-In slowly woke up from her nap, slightly embarrassed. But luckily it was in front of her oppa, so it was not too bad. She rubbed her eyes a little, stretched and let out a yawn.
“Alright, I’m awake. Let’s go.”
The two of them walked out of the office together. Although most of the staff in the office knew that their boss and Son Ga-In are very close, they do wonder what is their REAL relationship. The two of them behaved too freely to really be lovers given their positions as an influential businessman and a famous singer. Yet, it’s definitely more than simply friends.
“Oppa, where are we going for dinner?”
“I thought I told you the other day.”
“I wasn’t paying attention since I know you would pick me up anyway so there wasn’t a need to waste my brain cells remembering.”
“What is going to happen to you when I’m not by your side? Ah~ I know! Now you have your husband. He would take care of you!”
“Stop sprouting nonsense! Who’s my husband? You have to look after me for a long, long, long time! Don’t think you can get rid of me that easily.”
Seul Ong didn’t bother answering since they have already reached the carpark. They quickly got into the car and drove off.
“Do you know where you will be filming WGM next?”
“I heard from unnie that it would be at our apartment. So I guess there won’t be any more mishap. Oh~ I’m actually looking forward to going to that apartment. I really like it a lot.”
She turned suddenly to face Seul Ong.
“Oppa~ Do you think you can persuade Jo Kwon to give me the tenancy early? I want to move into that apartment!”
“You want to live there and still use that as the filming location for WGM? Aren’t you afraid of showing all your bad habits to your husband?”
“Oppa, I’m warning you. Stop calling Jo Kwon my husband. He’s not my real husband. Don’t spoil my chances of finding someone better. And he’s just a tool for me to get back at THAT woman.”
“In-ah, Kwon is innocent. He doesn’t know what happened 18 years ago. Is it really necessary? I can see that he really li…”
“Enough. Are we reaching our destination? If not, I want to nap.”
Seul Ong knew he was not going to be able to get through to Ga-In. Once she made up her mind, she was very unlikely to change it. He really didn’t like the idea of Ga-In using Jo Kwon to hurt his mother. Because he knew that at the end of the day, both of them are very likely to be very hurt by it.
Then why did you help her get onto the show?He looked over at Ga-In and knew that she was not really sleeping.
I never could refuse her anything, not 18 years ago, definitely not now…
Kwon-ah… I’m so sorry… You had everything… Everything that was supposed to be hers… All I could do was try to give her the family that she lost…
Please don’t hate me…
Or your Ga-In noona…After driving in silence for another 15 minutes, they finally reached their destination. After parking the car and making sure there was no one following them, he woke Ga-In up. Without a second word, she took her bag and got out of the car. She didn’t like being reminded that she was using Jo Kwon to get back at THAT woman. After all, she did love Jo Kwon when he was with them at the orphanage.
What about now?A quiet voice in her head asked her the question she refused to look closely at.
Not going there… I can’t answer that question yet…
All I know is I want my answers. I want to make THAT woman suffer in agony, not knowing what is going to happen between the two of us. Maybe I should pretend to be in love with Jo Kwon just to spite her…
Maybe I should do that…A cold smile appeared on her face for an instant when she thought about how much anguish THAT woman will be feeling if she were really to make Jo Kwon fall in love with her.
It was just for an instant but Seul Ong saw that smile and he knew Ga-In was thinking of something malicious. He was also aware that the only person who could make the usually calm and kind Son Ga-In to be that way was THAT woman. He really did not want to know what she was thinking, though he could guess that it might have to do with Jo Kwon.
Ga-In was walking ahead of Seul Ong all the while. Seul Ong finally caught up and held her back. Ga-In turned and gave him a questioning look, and then gave him her most charming smile.
“Oppa~ How long has it been since we last saw ha-ra-beo-ji?”
She linked her arm with Seul Ong and walked into the lift lobby with him. Even though Seul Ong knew she was trying to distract him from talking about Jo Kwon again, he also knew that he could not pursue the topic. He sent her a look.
Don’t think I’m done talking to you about Jo Kwon.Ga-In looked away. She knew that Seul Ong would talk to her again about Jo Kwon. But at least for now, she didn’t have to deal with it.
“Oppa~ Have you eaten here before? What is good here?”
Before Seul Ong could answer Ga-In, the elevator reached their destination.
“Seul Ong hyung! Ga-In noona! What a coincidence!!”
Both of them looked up to see an excited Jo Kwon standing in front of them. He was standing at the reception waiting to be seated.
“Oh~ Kwon-ah! What a coincidence!! I didn’t expect to see you here. How’s your prep…”
Jo Kwon interrupted immediately, afraid that Seul Ong would reveal his surprise.
“Ga-In noona! How have you been? Are you feeling better? I heard from Rinnie noona that you weren’t feeling well. How come you didn’t reply to any of my messages or my calls?”
Ga-In simply gave Jo Kwon her most charming smile again. Both Jo Kwon and Seul Ong were a little taken back by that gesture.
“Kwon-ah~ I’m ok. Sorry for not replying your messages or answering your calls. I haven’t been in a good mood recently and I didn’t want to be grouchy on the phone. How have you been? Are you here alone?”
That was probably the longest conversation that Ga-In had had with Jo Kwon when the camera was not on them. He was a little stunned by the friendliness that Ga-In was showing.
Unknown to the two men, Ga-In saw Jo Kwon’s mother coming out from the restroom behind them. She decided there and then to start her plan of showing more affection towards Jo Kwon.
“I’ve been good. Noona, I’m looking forward to our recording the day after. Do you want me to pick you up from your place? And no, I’m not alone. My mum went to the restroom.”
“Would you really do that? Pick me up before the recording? Should we go for breakfast before going to the apartment?”
Jo Kwon had to blink twice to make sure that what he was witnessing was real. He looked at Seul Ong and was a little perplexed when he saw that he looked like he wanted to kill Ga-In.
He’s probably jealous!
Seul Ong hyung… You can’t hide your emotions very well, can you?“Alright! What time should I pick you up then?”
“I’d call you tomorrow to confirm the time?”
After saying that, Ga-In once again smiled broadly to convey her pleasure at being able to see Jo Kwon again. It wasn’t totally fake since she managed to attain her goal of unsettling THAT woman who was looking on with a shocked look on her face.
“Seul Ong-ah, who is this gentleman you are talking to?”
The trio turned to see Park seon-saeng behind them.
“Park seon-saeng!”
“Ha-ra-beo-ji!!”
Ga-In wasted no time in running towards the elderly man and giving him a hug. What she didn’t see was how Jo Kwon’s mother lost her footing and slumped to the floor when she heard Ga-In call Park seon-saeng ‘ha-ra-beo-ji’.
Does she know?
Does he know?Jo Kwon’s mother slowly got up, knowing that to stay down on the floor was simply showing her weakness. She stood up and put on a calm look on her face even though her heart was beating furiously.
“Aigoo~ Ga-In-ah~ How have you been, my dear girl? I haven’t seen you in so long! You have become prettier haven’t you? Come, let me take a better look at you!”Jo
“Ha-ra-beo-ji~ How come you haven’t contacted us for so long? You don’t want me anymore right?”
You don’t want me anymore right?That caused Jo Kwon’s mother to halt.
Seul Ong realised that Jo Kwon was looking at Park seon-saeng very strangely. When their eyes met, he could see the question in his eyes.
Who is this man? Why is Ga-In noona calling him ha-ra-beo-ji?“Park seon-saeng, this gentleman here is Ga-In’s partner in the new show, ‘We Got Married’. Kwon-ah, this is my mentor, Park Min Woo seon-saeng. Ga-In calls him ha-ra-beo-ji and he’s like a real grandfather to the two of us.”
Park seon-saeng looked at Jo Kwon. The warmth in his eyes turned to ice in an instant.
So this is Jo Kwon. The boy THAT woman adopted after throwing Ga-In in an orphanage.“Jo Kwon-ssi, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Park seon-saeng spoke in a quiet voice that felt restrained, like if he could, he would have shouted at him.
Jo Kwon, Seul Ong and Ga-In were all shocked at Park seon-saeng’s tone. But no one could have predicted what was about to happen.
“Kwon-ah, who are all these people?”
All four turned towards the voice.
“YOU!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”
Park seon-saeng’s holler caused the three younger ones to jump. There was no mistake that he was shouting at Jo Kwon’s mother because he was pointing a finger at her.
“Park Min Woo-ssi, it has been a long time. You are still the same…”
“YOU!!!”
“Kwon-ah, let’s go to another restaurant.”
Without a second word, Jo Kwon’s mother walked towards the lift lobby. Jo Kwon quickly bowed, apologised and took his leave.
“Ha-ra-beo-ji… Are you alright? Why did you get so worked up when you saw Jo Kwon’s mother? Do you know her?”
Park seon-saeng remembered who he was with and where they were. He calmed himself down and then looked at Seul Ong and Ga-In. He could see the confusion and shock on their faces and knew he had to reassure them.
“I knew her from a long time ago. We had a terrible encounter and parted on very bitter terms. Let’s not talk about her anymore or let her ruin our reunion. Come, let’s go in and enjoy our meal.”
Park seon-saeng turned and walked into the restaurant after greeting the manager who had come out to find out what the commotion was about. Seul Ong and Ga-In looked at each other, then followed after him into the restaurant. But the same thought was passing through their mind.
What is Park seon-saeng’s relationship with Jo Kwon’s mother?
Author's Note: To myself, I think I really should stop writing such long chapters. I have outdone myself.. this chapter was close to 3800 words. -.-"
So it's going to be another while before I update this. We'll see. I'm random.
I love the last scene. It's like the great confrontation scene. Now do you understand the picture?
What is Park seon-saeng's relationship with Jo Kwon's mother?
Though if you read really closely, you can possibly guess.
Would Kwon's prepared event go well?
hahahah, ANYONE's guess.
It's amazing how much you can write with just 6 characters.
Or 7. I think Jo Kwon's father needs to make an appearance soon. How soon? Don't know~ hahah ^^