Pay With Your Heart

Finally feeling comfortable in a blue jean and black turtled neck shirt, Eun-sun felt exhausted after being dragged around the mall all day. But as tired as she was, she felt happy. She hadn't had this much fun in a while. Ni-Na was fun to hang out with. They had lunch together, seen a movie and were currently set out for more shopping even though she felt like they've bought more than enough.

"Let's have some ice-cream before our next round." Ni-Na chirped and pulled Eun-sun towards an ice-cream shop before she could even answer. Eun-sun Wondered how she still had so much energy in her.

Eun-sun made her order for butter scotch ice-cream and took her seat by the corner as she waited for Ni-Na who couldn't make up her mind on which flavour she wanted. She sighed and shook her head as she watched her.

She was surprised to know Ni-Na was twenty, and soon to be twenty-one in a few weeks, but the girl was keen on claiming twenty-one. How funny! She had once been like that too. Being around Ni-Na felt like having a younger sister, but this one seemed to be more knowledgeable and exposed than her, and that made her like her more.

Eun-sun smiled and her heart skipped when her phone started to ring. It was Dan-Han calling.

"Hello,"

"You seem to be happy." Dan-Han's voice was hinted with a smile.

"I am." She smilingly replied. She was happy and she hasn't felt this way in forever. These past weeks has been hell for her, but today she was having so much fun, and having Dan-Han was the greatest source of her joy.

"That's good." He said.

Few seconds of silence reigned between them.

"Babe, I'm sorry for not coming back as agreed. I think I'm being punished with so much work, but I'd rather be home with you." He sounded like he had been gravely wronged and Eun-sun couldn't hold back her laughter. She could imagine the grumpy look on his face right now.

Was he really complaining right now? She couldn't believe it.

The man was a workaholic, that was a known fact and she would had felt bad had he slacked off on work because of her.

She chuckled lightly. "It's okay. I'll wait for you."

"At my place." He told her. Eun-sun smiled and nodded.

"Yes, at your place." She resounded. She wasn't going to leave without seeing him anyway.

"I have a meeting after work so I might be a bit late, so just lay around and do nothing. Alex will make dinner when he returns, okay?."

"Okay." She nodded. He was really spoiling her.

"Dan-Han?"

"Hmm?"

"Mmm...why is Ni-Na buying me so much clothes?" She asked. Her eyes flew to the bags lying by her side and her heart skipped as she remembered the outrageous price they cost.

"You don't want them?" He replied by asking a question of his own.

Eun-sun didn't know what to say. Of course she liked them, they were such beautiful clothes, but she still wasn't used to this. And the exorbitant price was making her heart pound so heavily.

Noticing her struggle to reply, Dan-Han said, "You deserve everything and more. There's no one I'd rather spend all I have on than you." He said emphasizing on the 'all'.

Eun-sun felt her heart swell at his word. Was he flirting with her now?

"But they are so expensive." She complained.

"And you're priceless to me, Ms Eun-sun. So buy the mall if you can, this man of yours can afford it and I won't complain."

Eun-sun was speechless. But still she wasn't ready to accept all this spending. It was a lot of money!

"I have a meeting. I'll see you later." He said and hung up before she could say anything else.

Dan-Han was more than certain his girlfriend would never be like other girls. She was weird, but he liked weird.

"Did my brother call you?" Ni-Na asked when she joined her at the table.

"How did you know?" Eun-sun asked in surprise.

"Your cheeks, they're red. And I know only a man can do that, and fortunately that man is my brother." She smiled making Eun-sun lower her head to hide her face. This girl!

Ni-Na couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. "Sister In-law, you're so cute."

'Cute?' Eun-sun gazed at her with a confused frown. How was she cute now? But that wasn't the most important thing.

"Ermm, Ni-Na can stop calling me sister in-law. It sounds strange. Just call me by my name."

Ni-Na who was about scooping some ice-cream inside her mouth paused and cocked a brow at her, "Strange?" She asked, while Eun-sun nodded making Ni-Na frown.

"You'll marry my brother, right?" She asked in an anxious tone. With the way she narrowed her eyes, someone would think she was asking a life and death question.

Marry Dan-Han?

Eun-sun wouldn't lie she hadn't fantasied about that. As a matter of fact, she had imagined it alot. A life with Dan-Han as his partner, even though he sometimes scares her with his cold and inscrutable mood, was something she wanted. She could see herself being with him as his life partner, bearing little son's that were a replica of him. That cold yet breathtaking face of his, she wanted her sons to have that. But...they haven't talked about that before, so she couldn't get ahead of herself. She would just enjoy this phase of their relationship for now.

Eun-sun put some ice-cream in her mouth and shrugged. "It's up to him, but i'm okay with this for now."

"Okay? Up to him?" Ni-Na looked at her incredulously. She hissed and shook her head.

"You can't leave such a thing to him. What if he takes forever?" She asked like she couldn't believe Eun-sun would say something like that.

Forever? Eun-sun pondered.

Ni-Na let out an helpless sigh when she saw the contemplative look on her face. This sister in-law of hers must be very naive.

"Have you heard of the pro girl's code?" She asked while Eun-sun shook her head.

Pro girl's code?

"What's that?" She curiously inquired.

"It's a girl code thingy that helps us queens take charge and actively participate in relationships. I'll share a few codes okay?"

"So code number 1 says, never be caught unfresh. Be found pretty, stay pretty, live pretty and die pretty. This means don't be overly relaxed with the man you're dating even when he loves you, especially someone like my brother who's the most eligible bachelor out there and girls are willing to do anything to get him. So you must always up your game. Hair, look, clothes must always be aimed to maintain his attention on you and keep him wanting more of you, even when you're married. Even though a man that will be kept is the one that wants to be kept, you must also do your quarter. Keep him attracted."

"Code two..." She raised up two fingers to Eun-sun and continued.

"Don't just be a taker, also be a giver. Relationships are two sided. It's a give and take thing. You might not be bouyant, but you can give your moral support, care and advice. Just give something. But gifts are also necessary. Veryyy necessary. Men are babies, so pamper them and they'll pamper you in return."

"Code three: Always be bold and have some balls. Don't always wait for him to make the move. Any kind of move." She said in a tone that made Eun-sun think her words had more than one meaning. But she continued. "If you like him, ask him out. You want sex, give him a hint. If he's too dumb, intiate it. But in your case, if you want to marry him, propose to him."

"Propose to him?" Eun-sun widened her eyes in surprise. Could she propose to Dan-Han? Wasn't it supposed to be the othe way round?

Ni-Na nodded to her question. "Don't wait for too long, else someone will do it for you. Believe me, men likes it when their girls takes intiative, and I'm sure my brother is one of those men." She confidently told her.

Eun-sun looked at Ni-Na in shock and disbelief. She felt embarrassed hearing some of the things Ni-Na had said. But she realized, Hei-Ran was also like this when they were younger. She was the exposed one between them. Herself and Ji-Sang had been very clueless about stuff like this. Thinking about Ji-Sang, it has been ages. She'll remember Hei-Ran so could call him together.

She looked at the girl with a complicated gaze, when a thought came through her mind.

As if Ni-Na could guess what's going on in her mind, she sighed and said. "No, I don't have a boyfriend even if i want to".

Eun-sun took note of the word, 'want to'.

"So what's stopping you, and how do you know stuff like this?"

"Firstly, we queens, we learn alot these days, so I'm simply gathering information for my future relationship." She winked and smiled. "And as for what's stopping me, ask that boyfriend of yours." She hissed.

"Dan-Han?"

"Yes! He's on my case. He wants me to graduate first and with a Cgpa of 5.0. Not everyone is like him!" She hissed even more loudly as she made a cute angry face.

Eun-sun couldn't help but laugh. Who's the cute one now?

"Let me guess you have some you like?" She asked. It was obvious she does, hence the frustration.

Ni-Na looked at her skeptically as if trying to determine if she should tell her.

"You won't tell brother, okay?" She said making Eun-sun nod.

Her eyes gleamed as she nodded. "I do. I have someone I like very much, but I can't be with him." She sighed, her eyes losing the shine in them.

"Why? Because of Dan-Han?"

"Not just that. First, he's older than me, and he isn't ready for commitment, and secondly Dan-Han would kill him if he as much as looks my way." Now her eyes were no longer as they used to be. They were really sad and dull now.

Eun-sun didn't know what to say to comfort her. She looked really affected by this. She held her hand and gently smiled.

"When the right time comes, you'll meet the best man who'll love you irrevocably and Dan-Han can't stop you." Eun-sun told her, making her nod.

Ni-Na was just about to say something when her phone suddenly rang. She frowned when she saw it was her mother.

"Why are you calling me now? I don't want to go with you to any party." She grumbled into the phone the moment she picked up.

"Who's asking you to go anywhere?"

"Then why are you calling now?"

"Dan-Han said you're with Eun-sun. Bring her here when you're done. There's something I have to give her."

"Something like what?" She inquired but her mother had already dropped the call.

She placed her phone on the table and looked at Eun-sun. "My mother wants to see you?"

"Hmm?" Why?

"Why?" She asked in a curious and worried tone.

"I don't know." Ni-Na shrugged. "Don't worry she isn't like uncle. She actually likes you.." She assured her when she saw the worried look in her eyes, but Eun-sun wasn't comforted. She wondered what this invite was all about?