19. Bo Soyeon

Taeho padded softly into the room, having left his shoes at the door. The floor felt warm under his sock clad feet and he took a quick look around the drawing room. It was still the same as ever. As he could remember. It was a small cozy house and the room reflected on it. The walls were a simple white with minimal decor, but there was an abundant number of photo frames sitting on the wall. One side of the wall was basically a sliding glass door that opened up to the backyard. The TV was on and was playing some sort of cartoon show as the little girl, Taehee laid sprawled across the floor with a drawing book in front of her and an assortment of crayons in her hand. The floor table was laid out in the middle of the empty space, in front of the sofa set. Taeho looked back, and then back to the room. He slowly placed the beer pack down on the low table and slowly approached the girl who was busy humming.

"That's a nice drawing." He said, making the girl jump.

She looked up until her neck strained and blinked at him silently before burying her face back into the drawing book, scratching the crayon away.

"So you came."

Taeho looked back, and stood up straighter. Doyun looked at him from the hall, standing awkwardly and he didn't seem to know what he should do with his hands.

Apologize, the angel in his head whispered immediately and Taeho shook his head, trying to get rid of it. He wasn't going to do that any time soon. If anything, he thought he did the right thing after all.

"You should ice that." Taeho offered, smiling as he sat down on the sofa. He made himself comfortable. The sofa was apparently new but the place wasn't. He wasn't about to admit defeat just because he has been absent for a few years.

Doyun looked down, touching the cut on his lips and scoffed. When he looked up, he was glaring at Taeho. He took a step closer.

"Listen, I don't know what your problem is but it's better if you stay out of it. This isn't the city. You don't poke your nose into other people's business."

"Other people's?"

"Yeah, that's right. Are you not right here?" Doyun sneered, tapping his forehead as he said that, "You shouldn't get too ahead with your hero complex. You're not helping anyone here."

"Are you fighting?" A little voice came up in between them.

The two men immediately dialed their murderous intent down and looked away, occupying themselves with something else. Taeho smiled at the kid, shaking his head.

"No, no fighting." He chuckled, "Just your daddy and I were having a very serious talk about Santa. You know, Santa is very serious with his work."

"But you didn't say Santa."

"That's because it is supposed to be a secret." A fake exaggerated gasp escaped his lips, "Did I just tell you the biggest secret? Santa is going to be mad at me."

"W..what happens if Santa is mad?" Taehee inquired, sitting up straight in attention.

"If Santa gets mad, nobody is going to get gifts this year. It will be a sad christmas. But! But don't worry. Santa won't know if you keep it a secret. Will you do that? For me?"

"Sure." Taehee mumbled, suddenly finding her drawing more interesting than the conversation, "Doyunnie is not my daddy."

"Is that so?" Taeho looked up at the mentioned guy with a certain kind of triumph on his face, "I see."

"Stop teaching my child bad habits." Doyun threatened, all the while smiling so as to make it seem like they were simply talking to each other.

"At least she's learning some valuable tactics from me. Then she won't end up like you."

"Are all city people as rude as you are?"

"I wouldn't say that. We just don't tolerate nonsense from nonsense people like you."

"Nonsense." Taehee repeated, giggling as she continued to scratch on the book.

Doyun smiled tightly, "I hope you can explain this to Yejeong."

"Oh, I am sure Yejeong already knows."

"You are crazy."

"As long as I am not like you, I will take crazy any day."

Doyun was beyond confused, he was feeling bigger words like discombobulated. Confused wasn't cutting the state he was in. He was a simple fellow. He was brought up in this small village. He played rowdy games with his friends as a kid, he listened to creepy stories his grandma told him and he figured that if you liked a girl, you should be mean to her. That is how you would stand out from the other suitors going after her. Girls liked mean boys, right? They liked the rowdy kind, the harsh kind, the black blazer wearing kind in those old japanese movies. He wanted to be one of those guys immediately as soon as he saw the movie as a kid. It was played on the only proper TV his uncle had and as the whole family tree was watching the weird movie, he realized what he wanted to be. Only that he couldn't be. He loved rules too much but the bullying…he could do away with the bullying. Only that he didn't have a girl to be mean to.

Until his shuttlecock got stuck on a tree branch.

"Is the guest here?"

It was an expectant older voice and Taeho immediately recognized it even before the person came into the room. Bo Soyeon stepped into the room, ready with a smile for a guest.

Yejeong's mother.

Taeho stiffened up and strangely, he noticed that Doyun stiffened up as well. Soyeon smiled placidly at the both of them, switching her subtle judgment between the two. She was old but not as old as a mother would usually be. She clearly had Yejeong when she was quite young. She looked youthful, not a year above forty. Dressed in a long skirt and a simple pink shirt, she looked like she dressed up for the occasion.

"Soyeon, this is Lee Tae. He's from Seoul."

"Ah," Soyeon whispered as her brows went up, "from the capita–" She came to an abrupt stop as she frowned. Taeho's throat bobbed as he took a careful swallow. Damn it. He was wishing that this wouldn't happen. But of course, it was Soyeon. This was supposed to happen.

"What did you say your name was?"

Shit. Taeho tried to remain as calm as he could be as he smiled, "Lee Tae."

"Lee Tae." She tried the name on her lips and nodded thoughtfully, "And you're from Seoul?"

"Yes."

"That sounds nice. I hope you have a great stay in Woosun, Mr. Lee." She spoke kindly but there was something frigid under her polite face and tone. Something telling him off.

"I hope the same too."

"Doyun! Mom! You guys!" Yejeong huffed as she walked in hurriedly, "I need you in the kitche– Oh, you have met each other."

"Yes, Lee Tae is from Seoul, I hear?"

Yejeong stopped, immediately getting the unspoken waves passed through between mother and child. She sighed and looked away, fixing her hair. She knew it. Of course, her mother recognized who he was. It was a miracle that other people didn't recognize him at all. Of course, he looked completely different from who he was previously. She was sort of counting on that for her mother to be unable to point out the difference.

Again, you can't really hide anything from mothers after all.

"I need you guys in the kitchen." Yejeong mumbled, "Or just Doyun. Doyun, come with me."

"Me?" Doyun huffed, trying to contain his smile.

He made sure that he passed on a triumphant look over to Taeho before he left, even though he was not sure why he felt like he had to prove something to his new city guy. But he left for the kitchen with a sense of victory. As he left, he seemed to take the conversation away from the room as well. Because a hefty silence fell on the room.

"Taeho."

Taeho stood silently, looking at the TV as though he was seven years old again. He wasn't going to deny nor confirm anything.

"Taeho, it's you, isn't it?" Soyeon whispered, her voice shaking as she spoke, "You…you shouldn't be here."

Yeah, he didn't know that. He didn't know that as he was driving here. Like he didn't think of that as soon as he began thinking of her. It was as though he wasn't fighting the urge to come back to this village he once called home as soon as he had left. He grit his teeth. Every time it was that he shouldn't be here, never once considering the fact that he had to leave his entire life behind just because of everything that had happened.

"Taeho-ya…" He heard him call him, and the times flew back in his face. She was his mother too once, the mother he never had. He was always thankful for Yejeong's mother and Giseok's parents. They were always the people he needed in his life.

Now he is standing here and he hated that he knew what she was going to say.

"Go away, it's not too late. It's really not too late. You shouldn't be here."