Pay With Your Heart

"You look beautiful" In-Ha complimented with a smile when Eun-sun stopped in front of him 

looking elegant and beautiful in her floral sundress, with a belt tied around her waist.

"I thought we agreed weekend," She said in a slightly bored tone. 

"Really? Was it the one you canceled or the one you're yet to schedule?" He asked sarcastically. 

Eun-sun didn't know what to say to refute that. She had canceled on him, and to be honest she hadn't really thought much about rescheduling another day for the so-called outing. She wasn't the outdoor type, so she was more than reluctant about the idea.

She was the type who'd rather sleep on her bed all day if there was no work that is than go out talk more about doing it in the evening.

"At least you could have told me beforehand and not make a surprise visit, and invite she said pointing her chin to the tickets in his hand"

"Well sweetheart, this surprise visit is a good one, cause we're going to watch a 'blockbuster'" He winked at her. "Come on" He urged as he held the door for her. 

Eun-sun eyed him and reluctantly stepped into the car. In-Ha hurried over to his side of the car.

"What movie are we watching?" Eun-sun curiously asked. She wasn't interested in watching a romance movie, she hated those stuff and if that's what they were going to watch, she'd rather stick pins in her eyes and sleep with the pain than go soil her eyes with rubbish.

"It's a surprise, and it's definitely not romance," He told as if he could read her mind. "You've kicked my ass enough to let me know you might hate those types," In-Ha told her. He had been with a lot of girls and had studied their characters over the years to know that a lady like Eun-sun wouldn't be interested in mushy stuff.

Eun-sun's relaxed after she heard that, but then she said, "I like cartoons too" before turning her head to look ahead like she hadn't said that.

"No way!" In-Ha gasped in surprise. "That's unbelievable. Tell me the ones you've watched, I'm sure I've seen them all" He chirped. He didn't take her for one of those cartoon lovers. Well, as a grown-up man, he also loved cartoons.

Eun-sun had only been joking when she said that, but seeing the ecstatic look on his face like a child, she couldn't help but smile. He reminded him of her father, he was this ecstatic when he talked about cartoons and animations.

"Just shut up and drive," She said as she strapped in her seat belt. 

"Yes, boss" He replied and immediately turned on the ignition and drove off.

In-Ha hadn't driven more than five minutes when he cleared his throat to gain Eun-sun's attention. Wasn't that the typical way of always announcing one's presence?

Eun-sun turned to him with a quizzical gaze. Noticing the nervous look in his eyes, Eun-sun could tell he wanted to ask her something personal. She was gradually getting to know him.

"If you know you shouldn't ask it, then better don't," She said without looking at him. 

"How long has your father been missing?" In-Ha spurted out, making Eun-sun freeze. Of all questions, she wasn't expecting him to ask about her Father.

She slowly turned to look at him, and he also looked at her at the same time. His heart skipped when he saw the cold glint that had suddenly appeared in her eyes.

"Look I'm so–"

"Ten years" Eun-sun surprisingly replied. He heaved out the breath he had subconsciously been holding when he saw the cold look in her eyes.

"What happened?" He asked another question making Eun-sun gaze at him. She wasn't comfortable talking about herself or her family. There was a time when she did but that was when she still had 'family'.

Eun-sun thought about how he had been there with her at the hospital when the cops had called her on that day.

With a lowered voice she replied, "He left home" In-Ha snapped his neck towards her. He took note of the pain and longing in her eyes. If her father left home ten years ago, he wondered how young she must be then. He couldn't begin to imagine how much it must have affected her family and mostly her. 

"Did he leave on his own accord?" He asked. Yes, he had. But Eun-sun didn't know if she should tell him that. Telling him her father had abandoned his family because of the challenges they had been facing as a family was probably going to make him see him as an irresponsible man, just as the others had said back then.

"No" She lied. She never let anyone look that at her dad whether he was right or not.

For some weird reason, In-Ha felt like she had just lied. The confidence always lingering in her voice was absent when she replied to him, but he didn't dwell on it.

"I can help you look for him" In-Ha announced, prompting Eun-sun to look at him with widening eyes.

"Don't look so surprised. I just want to help. I have a friend who's a private investigator and he's very good at his job. I can ask him to find him" In-Ha told her.

"Thanks, but no"

"Why?" He thought she wanted to find him. Seeing the way she had been at the hospital, he had thought she had desperately wanted to see her father.

"I can find him on my own" She curtly replied. She wasn't looking forward to receiving help from someone else. One Lee Dan-Han was enough trouble in her life already, she didn't want to act an In-Ha to it.

She imagined the look on Dan-Han's face when he finds out that she was receiving help from his friend, especially when he was jealous of how close they were. 

Hold on, why was she even thinking about Dan-Han and his jealousy at the moment. This was about her and her principles. She doesn't like being indebted to people and although she might have bent the rule for Dan-Han or rather he had bent it himself, she didn't want to lose it altogether.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with my offer. I was just trying to help" In-Ha apologized when he noticed how the atmosphere had changed.

"I know" She sighed wearily. She wanted to say something else when her phone started ringing, making her heart skip. She had a feeling it was Dan-Han on the phone, it had made a habit of always calling her recently. But Eun-sun was shocked when she saw the caller's ID.

It was her mother.

'Why is she calling me?'

Eun-sun looked at the phone in a daze. She wasn't sure she was seeing the right thing. She blinked her eyes thrice to ensure she wasn't imagining things. Her brain wasn't playing a game on her something.

She kept staring at the phone till the call ended. Her actions made In-Ha to look at her but he refrained himself from saying anything. He looked up at Eun-sun when her phone started ringing again.

"You're not going to take that?" He inquisitively inquired. She was acting strange.

It was during the second ring that Eun-sun snapped back to her senses and believed it was really her mother calling.

She felt her heart skip and her hand eagerly reached for the answer button but it paused half way when the scene of their last encounter replayed in her head. Her heart clenched at that reminder.

'Wasn't she a cursed child? Why then was she calling her?'

Eun-sun suddenly had the urge to reject the call. It's been a month since that incident took place and she moved out of the house but her mother had not once called to apologize. She was human too, who had feelings. It does alot when the ones you love most are the ones who hurt you. she deserved an apology.

'She could be in danger. She could be sick' A small voice whispered into her ears and that made her heart skip. Realizing the beast which lived in their house and knowing what he was capable of, Eun-sun hastily picked the call. 

"Eun-sun?" Eun-sun heard her mother call from over the phone.

"Mom?" She called out in a small voice. She had actually called her name. 

"Hmm. Come over to the house. I have something to tell you. Hurry." She said before hanging up.

Eun-sun had heard her clearly. Her heart was beating fast, she didn't know if it was due to excitement or if it was a sense of foreboding, but the next minute she heard herself telling In-Ha. "Stop the car"

"Again?" He asked in surprise. Why was this happening again? He cried in his heart.

"Stop the damn car!" Eun-sun yelled completely startling him, as he instantaneously pulled over. Before he could mutter a word Eun-sun had dashed out of the car. He unbuckled his seat and stepped out to rush after her, but he was too late, because she had already flagged down a taxi and had crazily hopped into it.

"Shit" He cussed as he looked at the disappearing cab. He shouldn't have let her go. He should have insisted on taking her like the last time.

Unknowingly to In-Ha someone had seen the scene of Eun-sun hopping out of his car and hopping into a taxi. A sullen look was plastered on his face as he turned to his driver and said, "Drive".