Pay With Your Heart

Eun-sun tried to tear her gaze away from the woman sitting adjacent to her on the plane. She has been staring at her with ferocious intensity since they boarded. Her intent look made her so uncomfortable, and she began to wonder if she had seen the woman before or rather if they had met before. She had long noticed her awkward gaze from the moment she had spotted her earlier.

This was weird.

'Could she ask why she was staring at her? Did she perhaps recognise her from somewhere?' She pondered in her heart.

Eun-sun had thought about the woman's relationship with Mrs Lee, especially when she noticed how attentive and lovely Mrs Lee was to her. She had a feeling she was someone important to her. But why has Mrs Lee never mentioned her before?

She wasn't trying to pry into anyone's personal life, but Mrs Lee had shown her to all her friends except her.

Slightly pinching Dan-Han on his arm, she beckoned on him and whispered into his ears when he glanced at her, "Who is she?" She asked, surreptitiously pointing at the woman with her eyes.

Following her gaze, he replied, "She's one of mother's beneficiaries."

"Beneficiary?" She muttered, more to herself. If she was a beneficiary, why then was she looking at her like that? Like they've met before.

Noticing how tightly her brows were creased, Dan-Han leaned closer to her and asked, "What? Is something wrong?" He could tell something was up with her, but she shook her head.

"Then why do you look like that? And why did you ask about her?" He further inquired, making Eun-sun turn her gaze towards him.

"Because she keeps staring at me," She replied as she took another glance at the woman who was very much still staring at her.

Dan-Han turned towards the woman's direction, and he also noticed the woman's intent gaze on Eun-sun. It was too intent, and it felt spooky. Though he was glancing at her now, the woman was too engrossed that she didn't notice him.

Dan-Han's eyes narrowed when he saw the way she was staring at Eun-sun. There was something about her gaze. His creased brows relaxed when he finally understood the emotions looming in the woman's eyes.

He turned back to Eun-sun and placed a hand around her shoulders, slightly pulling her closer to himself before placing a kiss on her temple, "Let her be. She must be missing someone." He said.

"Who?" Eun-sun asked, her eyes curiously staring at Dan-Han.

"Let's talk about this later." He said in a persuasive tone. It would be rude to talk about the woman's predicament when she was so close to them.

Although Dan-Han's last statement had piqued her interest, even more, Eun-sun could understand why Dan-Han had chosen not to talk about it now.... whatever 'it' was.

Eun-sun reluctantly piped down her curiosity as she gave the woman one last look before looking ahead.

The trip lasted for about four hours, with Eun-sun feeling quite bored all through, as Dan-Han was slightly busy reading through emails, while Mother Lee and the rest of her team, Jae-Hyun included, were active going over their itinerary.

In-Ha was awkwardly quiet, and if she was right, he had been ignoring all her beckoning signals, almost as if he was avoiding her. But that couldn't be possible. No, she didn't think so.

When Mrs Lee told her about all the places they'd be visiting on this outreach and the different kinds of people they would be encountering, she had been excited. She was eagerly looking forward to an eventful trip. At least it should be able to take her mind off the boggling problems she was challenged with right now. But it seems the trip wasn't going to be as promising as she had thought. It had barely started, but she was already feeling useless.

They'd be visiting a total of twelve provinces across four countries. And their first stop was the provinces in a neighbouring country. And Eun-sun couldn't help but desperately wish for this plane to touch down.

And as if her prayers were answered, they landed in half-hour, and she couldn't be more grateful.

"I'm sorry for being too busy, love." Dan-Han apologised when he heard her heave a sigh of relief. "I just had to do this." He said with a guilty look on his face.

"It's okay. I dragged you here despite knowing the level of work you had to do." Despite the amount of work Dan-Han had tried to handle in the past few days before embarking on this trip, there was still more work left to be done. As the Captain of a conglomerate such as PK corps, the man was bound to be swarmed with work.

"I promise this will be the last....unless it's an emergency." He genuinely promised while Eun-sun smiled at him. He was already doing enough, and she was content with that.

"Let's go." She said when she realised they were the only ones still lagging. Everyone else had alighted the plane.

He nodded and smiled at her as he took her handbag and helped her alight the jet.

Stepping out of the plane, Eun-sun was stunned by the number of people waiting to greet them. She could see the elated smiles on their happy faces as they cheered. She could imagine the happiness they must have felt when they heard charity would be reaching them soon. A proud smile split her face when she saw Mrs Lee hugging and conversing with some of the locals like she had known them before now. This woman was indeed blessed with an enormous heart, she said to herself.

Once again, Eun-sun waved at In-Ha, who was pushing past with his luggage, but again he walked past her without acknowledging her presence.

Did he not see her? She pondered.

"In-Ha." She called, but the man continued walking, making Eun-sun frown.

She shot a questioning look at Dan-Han, who also had his gaze fixed at In-Ha.

Eun-Sun looked at the disappearing silhouette, a myriad of questions going through her mind.

Did she do something? She didn't think so.

But something was seemed to be wrong with him. And she wondered what it could be.

While Eun-sun pondered what could have made In-Ha act this way, Dan-Han thought he had a clue of what this sudden attitude was about. But he really hoped that was not the case. Because he thought they had sorted themselves out.

Dan-Han was about to lead Eun-sun towards the awaiting car when his phone suddenly chimed. It was a message that read,

"We have them."

.....

Author's note: Good day lovelies, I'm so sorry there haven't been any updates in a while. I was enlisted for my one-year national service. The enlistment was quite impromptu - courtesy of Covid. I just got back from the military base. So sorry there was no prior notice, I'll make up for it.

I want to appreciate every one of you for your patience. I'm really grateful. LOVE YOU GUYS, AND HAPPY NEW MONTH.

Yours truly,

DA_ROSE.