Pay With Your Heart

Eun-Sun found it strange that In-Ha was not just ignoring her, but he was also ignoring Dan-Han as well. It made her wonder if both friends were currently having issues?

Seeing that they were not alone at the moment, she decided to ask Dan-Han about it later.

Letting out a soft sigh, She turned her gaze outside the window to pay attention to the scenery outside. This was far better than thinking about what she did and did not do.

Though the drive from the airport to their destination was a long one, Eun-sun didn't mind. As a matter of fact, she didn't even notice because she was amazed by the beautiful scenery outside. The place they were headed was one of the rural areas in this part of the country, but the grassland, the small hills made perfect scenery. The sky was clear, and the vegetation was so green, it gave a relaxing feel. It made her remember those days when she had dreamt of settling down in her place like this to hide away from all the problems in the city. Those days when she could barely keep her head above water as she was neck-deep in debts.

She glanced at the man seated by her side, her eyes filled with much love and appreciation for him. She leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek, surprising him.

"What was that for?" Dan-Han asked with a smile.

"A thank you." She replied, making him cock his brows at her.

"For what?"

"For being the best man on earth." She replied, wrapping her hand around his waist and resting her head on his chest. Dan-Han couldn't help the smile that split his face. He kissed the top of her head before patting her gently on the head, "Then you should thank me more often." He said while she bobbed her head in concordance, letting Dan-Han cuddle her. This was indeed a nice distraction from all the parent issues...sigh.

Half an hour later, the car finally came to a stop. Eun-Sun looked outside, and she saw the vast tents that were set up in the open field. Mrs Lee and the others were already there, as she and Dan-Han were the last to arrive.

Stepping out of the car, Eun-sun was amazed by the large number of resources Mrs Lee had brought for the sake of the outreach. It seemed the number of staff that had received them at the airport was not as much as the people waiting for them there. Medical personnel were robbed in their lab coats and other people who had the foundation T-shirt on, offloading several stuff from the huge trucks parked around.

Eun-Sun couldn't believe the amount of money the Lee family must have spent on all this. And to think this was only their first stop?

"Come on," Dan-Han said, beckoning onto her with his hand. Slipping her hand into his, he led her towards where the others were standing, and for a moment, she thought she saw In-Ha staring at them before he abruptly turned his gaze away.

For Pete's sake, what was wrong with that fellow? She hissed in her head. She was going to tackle his madness pretty soon.

"Honey, come here." Mrs Lee beckoned to her when she saw Eun-sun and Dan-Han approaching them. Eun-Sun happily withdrew her hand from Dan-Han and sauntered over to Mrs Lee, making Dan-Han frown.

Sometimes it feels like he's wasn't just in a relationship with Eun-sun but also with this Mother. Why does he feel like he has to compete with her for his woman attention?!

"Come here, let me introduce you to my friends here." She said with a happy smile.

"This Matt, he's my foreign associate." She said, pointing to the man standing in front of her, "And this is Yeona, she's from the NGO. This is my daughter-in-law, Eun-sun." She introduced them with a proud smile on her face while Eun-sun bowed respectfully to them.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Matt greeted back.

"She's a pretty girl." Yeona complimented her.

"I know, right?" Mrs Lee couldn't be more proud.

Eun-Sun turned towards the woman standing beside Mrs Lee but had her gaze fixed on her.

Mrs Lee gasped when she noticed Eun-sun's gaze was also fixed on the woman.

"Pardon me, dear. Meet my friend, Soomin. Soomin, meet my daughter-in-law."

"Good afternoon, ma," Eun-sun bowed to her, but the woman stood fixated, her gaze still awkwardly fixed on Eun-sun.

A sad smile graced Mrs Lee's face when she saw the way Soomin was staring at Eun-sun. She could imagine what was going through the woman's mind.

Had her daughter been here, she would be within the same age gap as Eun-sun. She couldn't even begin to imagine what the woman was going through at the moment. This was why she had offered to bring her along on this trip. Over the years, Soomin was too withdrawn. She barely talked or smiled at anyone. She would gaze at nothing in particular for hours, and the sadness in her eyes was a constant figure, except now that she was staring at Eun-sun. It was quite different.

Mrs Lee turned to Eun-sun and said, "Please can you take her to the lodge and keep her company for the time being, at least till we set up? I'll be back soon." She said with an apologetic smile.

"Lodge?" She didn't know where that was.

"Mother, I don't know where the lodge is."

"Don't worry. The driver will take you."

Eun-Sun turned to look at the woman. Keep her company?

Eun-Sun didn't know if she could do that. But she couldn't bear to say no, so she nodded.

"Thank you." Mrs Lee said appreciatively before walking away.

Eun-Sun turned to look at Dan-Han, who shrugged his shoulder. 

She took a deep breath as she approached the woman.

"Aunty, let's go," Eun-Sun said, while the woman nodded.

Helping her into the car, Eun-sun sat with her at the back while Dan-Han took the passenger's seat. All the while, the woman still couldn't take her eyes off Eun-sun, which made her uncomfortable.

Not being able to handle it anymore, Eun-sun asked, "Auntie have we met before?" No one could blame for questioning. The woman's gaze has been on her for hours.

But her question only made the woman do something more than just staring. Eun-Sun narrowed her brows when the woman slightly leaned towards her. Her gaze was intently boring into her.

"You have his eyes.." She said.