#and once more | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gwynne-fics · 9 years ago

Note

Quiet Reconnection, Young do & Min jae, 17

boy

Young-Do came home from work and Rachel immediately took his briefcase from him and dropped it on the couch. She pointed to their balcony garden with extreme irritation.

“Go talk to Min-Jae. He’s in a mood. Fix it.”

He blinked and glanced through the sliding glass door to see his son pacing in the garden. “Is it about last night?”

“Probably. Eun-Chae missed school today.”

Young-Do sighed and ran his hand over his mouth. “Did he figure out you were testing her?”

“He can’t have an invisible wife–”

“He is sixteen. He’s not thinking about marriage or what it means for him to get married. He’s just a boy who wants to spend time with his friend without torturing her.”

Rachel scowled at him. “He likes her more than that. She likes him more than that. I overheard her asking him to model for her. Whenever he wears soft fabrics, she’s always touching him and he’s noticed that. They are one kiss away from taking each other’s clothes off. You and I look at each other like that. Hyo-Shin and Eun-Sang look at each other like that. Our children should not be thinking about making love to each other yet. They are still children.”

He didn’t understand how Rachel could remain so hopefully delusional about what was going on with Min-Jae and Eun-Chae. Not after all this time.

“It’s going to happen when it happens, Rachel. You can’t stop it through shear force of will. We’ve given them as many tools as we can to help them make smart decisions. You’ve got to stop caring what people are going to say about Eun-Chae if she becomes your daughter-in-law. You know the only time Min-Jae gets into fights is when people bully her.”

Rachel plucked at the back of the couch and wrinkled her nose. “I like Eun-Chae,” she muttered. “I think she’s a lovely girl. He isn’t going to be able to stop people from being cruel to her once it gets out that they’re dating. He’s an heir, Young-Do. It’s time he started thinking like one.” She pointed at the balcony again. “He listens to you more than he listens to me. Get him out of this tantrum and bring him inside for dinner.”

He had no idea what to say to Min-Jae, probably because he understood why he was upset about last night’s fashion show. Min-Jae helped pick the dress they loaned Eun-Chae. He worked hard to make it quiet for her and felt bad that it was still too loud.

It bothered him that Rachel and Min-Jae fought about this at all. He didn’t like playing mediator. Young-Do took a deep breath and went outside to fetch his son. Min-Jae stopped pacing when Young-Do opened the door. He looked mildly worried.

“I didn’t yell at Omma,” he said quickly.

“That’s good. Come inside and wash up for dinner. It’s almost ready.” Min-Jae frowned and shoved his hands in his pockets. Young-Do was familiar with the frustration inside that movement. Min-Jae probably learned it from him. Young-Do scratched at his eyebrows and closed the door behind him. “What’s wrong?”

“Eun-Chae thinks I’m not allowed to like her. She likes me back, Appa. She doesn’t want me to date other girls. She just…thinks best friends is enough because…because of Omma. She knows Omma doesn’t like her.”

“That’s not true. Your mother likes Eun-Chae and thinks she’s lovely. She just said so.”

“That can’t be true.” Min-Jae looked down at his feet. “Eun-Chae doesn’t notice what other people think about her. She didn’t even notice when another boy tried to give her a present but she knows Omma hates her. Eun-Chae isn’t stupid, Appa. She’s sensitive. Omma–”

“Your mother is worried what might happen to her if people know you’re dating her. She wants to protect her from the gossip and cruel things people might say about a girl who is neuroatypical. They aren’t going to take the time to see Eun-Chae the way we do.”

“Eun-Chae isn’t anyone’s business!”

“Then give up liking her right now. You are the heir to RS International. They will make her their business. Should I pull up the articles from when your mother dated her father? From when she broke their engagement? Or how about the awful things they wrote about us?”

“Eun-Chae is stronger than you’re giving her credit for.” He actually took two steps closer to Young-Do. It was an interesting set of judo posturing and Young-Do immediately dropped his shoulders and stepped back. He had no intention of physically fighting his son over this. Young-Do refused to be his father. “She’s not going to read articles like that.”

“Eun-Chae’s strength isn’t in question here. The point is, she shouldn’t have to deal with the netizens. Min-Jae, you’re going to end up reading what they say and it’s going to hurt. I love your mother more than anyone I’ve ever loved. I hated it when people refused to look at her kindly or fairly. I hated listening to all the things they said about her.” Some of them were from his own mother. He sighed and ran his hand over his mouth. “Lee Eun-Chae is allowed to reject you because of all of this.”

“She didn’t,” Min-Jae snapped. He looked ready to start crying. “Eun-Chae rejected me because of Omma. She knew last night was a test. It wasn’t a fair test, Appa, but she still passed. I saw the pictures. She worked hard to look up and smile even though it doesn’t come naturally to her. Omma is wrong about her being a bad fit for me. I love her. That’s never going to change.”

Young-Do’s throat closed up and he had to look away as tears clouded his eyes. How many years had it been since he shouted those words at both Rachel’s mother and his own? Lee Esther wasn’t kind when he went to her for approval to marry Rachel. He closed the distance between him and Min-Jae so he could wrap his boy up in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry.” Min-Jae was in the middle of a growth spurt and barely fit under his chin. When had his son gotten so big? He still remembered when he fit in the crook of his arm and was constantly whining for Rachel. “I’m sorry, Min-Jae. No one is saying you can’t love her. I trust that you will protect her. I promise, your mother and I won’t interfere anymore. No more tests.”

“You can’t promise that for Omma.” His voice was muffled by Young-Do’s shoulder. He returned the hug tightly, and for that, Young-Do was grateful. “Omma does what she wants.”

“She does,” Young-Do agreed. “She’s worried you two will start…having sex before you’re ready.”

“Appa!” It was full of pure mortification. “We haven’t even kissed! Eun-Chae hasn’t said yes to me yet.”

“Kissing is fine. You don’t have to rush anything. You have plenty of time to figure that out. We’ll approve. That I can promise.” He kissed the top of Min-Jae’s head and hugged him tighter. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Rachel knocked on the glass and interrupted. She waved them inside.

“I hope Omma makes So-Young’s…first love…miserable. It’s only fair.” Young-Do snorted at Min-Jae’s oddly worded joke but brought him inside. He went to go wash his hands in the kitchen sink. Rachel followed him and leaned against the counter.

“Is everything okay now?”

“No more tests for Eun-Chae. He confessed and she rejected him even though she likes him back and cited you as her reason that being best friends was enough. I promised to let them figure it out together. I’ll make sure he has condoms.”

Rachel sighed and wrinkled her nose. “Tell him to practice. No accidents because he didn’t get it on right. Do you think we should limit the time they’re alone together in his room?”

“I don’t think that matters until Eun-Chae changes her mind about you not wanting her as Min-Jae’s girlfriend.” He wiped his hands on a towel and looked at her frankly. He loved his wife. He thought she was an excellent mother. But, she was not subtle when it came to her son. “I mean it, Rachel. No more tests. Just let them be.”

“Like you aren’t going to be a nightmare when So-Young starts liking boys.” Rachel rolled her eyes before leaning up and kiss him. Young-Do wrinkled his nose at the mention of boys around his precious daughter.

“That’s why I taught her how to throw them away from her.”

“You taught her judo because she was jealous of Min-Jae and wanted to play with you two. You’re glad she likes it because men are absolutely going to take advantage of how small she is. You’re glad she’s good at it because being your heir is going to be the hardest thing she’s ever done. When do you want to tell her? She deserves to know you’ve picked her.”

“Soon.” He bent down and kissed his wife. Young-Do pulled Rachel up against him and wondered how hard it would be to convince her to go up to their bedroom after dinner. He didn’t think she’d protest with the way she kissed him back. He checked to make sure. “Any deadlines tonight?”

“No. You?” Rachel scraped her teeth over his neck and he grunted as he ran his hands up and down her back.

“None. Let’s turn off our phones so no one can interrupt. Not even the kids.” She gave a throaty laugh at his suggestion as she pulled back. Young-Do felt…good…that after nearly eighteen years of marriage, he could still turn his wife on enough to encourage making love. They never had the problems other married couples did when it came to sex in their older age. He liked that they hadn’t lost their spark and from the way Rachel looked up at him, she liked it, too.

“Call,” she teased and then nodded at the tray of side dishes he was expected to take to the table. He lifted it up as Rachel called So-Young down to dinner. Min-Jae poured water in the glasses and looked faintly nervous when Rachel touched his shoulder. “Better now?”

He wrinkled his nose. “Eun-Chae is ignoring my texts.”

“Give her some space. Getting a love confession from your best friend can be overwhelming. It changes things you didn’t know can change. You’ll see her soon enough tomorrow.” Rachel rubbed his back and then sat down in her chair.

Young-Do sat down opposite her and smiled at his family. Yes, this was happiness. It was worth everything they’d gone through to have this.

#quiet reconnection #trying to parent #but i wanted to show their relationship in the future #that he has tried his best to be a father his son will talk to honestly #and once more #i got a little carried away #mikanyuzu26

10 notes · View notes