Chapter 06: The Mother-in-Law
Although Yi Jung assured her that everything will be alright, Ga Eul couldn't help but feel otherwise. She bit her lip in anticipation as she waited inside their hotel room. Yi Jung had gone out for a while to meet with his mother. To be told, Yi Jung's mother didn't know about their marriage. Yi Jung didn't tell her about it simply because he thought it would be more convenient that way. Yi Jung confessed to her that his mother was an alcoholic, and that she had been in and out of the rehab due to her addiction to alcohol.
If she had been in the rehab, how come she was here right now? Ga Eul couldn't help but ask. Yi Jung has yet again kept some things away from her. Although she has every right to know everything about him since she was already his wife, Yi Jung still chose to keep her in the dark. She didn't like the fact that Yi Jung was still hiding some things from her… It made her feel as if he didn't trust her enough.
As if on cue, the door suddenly burst open and revealed So Yi Jung with a stern expression on his face. He slowly kneeled in front of Ga Eul who as seated at the foot of the bed. He smiled at her and held her hand, trying to assure her that everything will be alright. Although, the truth was, Yi Jung himself was unsure of how things would go between her and his mother. After all, it was the first time that his mother was going to meet Ga Eul.
"Gwenchana?" Yi Jung asked.
"I-I'm okay…" Ga Eul smiled a bit, trying to put on a brave front.
"Mother was asking about the recent rumors about me being engaged…" Yi Jung sounded careful. "And I told her those weren't true…" He added while looking intently at Ga Eul's face.
Ga Eul smiled. "Well, that's the safest answer, right?" She replied.
"…I told her it wasn't true… because I'm already married." Yi Jung confessed.
It was then that the smile on Ga Eul's face completely disappeared. She felt herself going into pure panic as she realized that she has to meet Yi Jung's mother on the spot. She suddenly stood up and fiddled with her hands restlessly. She wasn't ready to meet her yet! She was glad that Yi Jung was man enough to admit to his mother that he was already married but she just wasn't ready to meet her mother-in-law yet!
"B-But… What should I do? I'm… Yi Jung, I'm not ready…" Ga Eul looked up at Yi Jung helplessly. "What if she doesn't like me? What if… What do I tell her? How… How do I face her?" Her beautiful face was panic-stricken when Yi Jung suddenly grabbed her by her shoulders.
"Yah… Why are you nervous about?" Yi Jung asked with a smile on his face. "You're just meeting my mother… Don't be too nervous, arasso?"
"Easy for you to say…" She muttered.
"Hey, even if she won't like you, she couldn't do anything to you… You're my wife now. If she doesn't like you, that's going to be her problem, not yours, and definitely not mine." Yi Jung tried to appease her as he pulled her into a tight hug and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "Relax, Wife… My mother can be very intimidating… but she isn't a monster. Besides, I'm here…"
Ga Eul bit her lip but knew that she couldn't do anything but meet Yi Jung's mother, her mother-in-law. She heaved a deep breath before finally nodding to Yi Jung. Steadily, with his hand tightly holding hers, Yi Jung led Ga Eul out of their hotel room to meet his mother. Unknown to Ga Eul, Yi Jung was more worried for her. Aside from the fact that his mother might not like Ga Eul, he was worried that she would make a scene like she always did with his Father.
"Omeoni, I'd like you to meet my wife, Chu Ga Eul…" Yi Jung bowed down his mother to pay respect.
Yi Jung's mother didn't look like the alcoholic woman he described to Ga Eul. In fact, she looked the exact opposite of it. She was classy, formal and every inch an intimidating lady. Unlike most women her age, she kept her hair long and flowing. She almost resembled Goo Jun Pyo's mother as she looked at Ga Eul as if she was some piece of merchandise underneath her critical eyes.
"Annyeong hasaeyo… O-Omeoni…" Ga Eul stuttered as she stood nervously beside Yi Jung.
Yi Jung kept his arm around Ga Eul protectively, trying to shield her from whatever possible insults that his mother might throw at her. His mother was a bit of a drama queen, not to mention the fact that she loved putting salt into her words in order to insult people around her. She has become this way ever since his Father started his philandering ways. His mother became a very miserable woman.
"You married her?" Kim Young Ran, Yi Jung's mother asked after looking at Ga Eul from head to foot.
"Neh… She's my wife." Yi Jung confirmed confidently without batting an eyelash.
"Divorce her."
"Mwo? Yi Jung reacted quite harshly even before Ga Eul could react. "That's all you can say?"
"Haven't you seen me suffer enough with your Father?" Yi Jung's mother countered with icy cold voice. "Divorce her now that she still have some of her sanity left." She repeated with the same tone of voice. She sounded harsh and commanding, yet her voice indicated that she was speaking from direct experience.
"I'm not going to do that, Mother…" Yi Jung responded. "I'm not like Father. Whatever happens, I'm not going to divorce Ga Eul." Yi Jung stood firm while his hand held Ga Eul's hand tightly. He knew that his mother was going to say something along the lines of this. He just didn't expect that she would be so blunt as to command him to divorce his wife. They haven't even had their honeymoon yet!
Kim Young Ran, Yi Jung's mother, sighed. "I'm sure you still feel quite enamored by her right now since you just got married. Wait until a year later and by then, tell me if you still feel the same…" She still spoke icily before turning to Ga Eul. "And you… What did you feed my son? What sort of love spell did you use on him to lure him into marrying you? If you think marrying into the So household is a blessing, you're wrong. Believe me, I've been through hell and back…"
"With all due respect, Mother, my wife is not a witch." Yi Jung defended. "And if you've gone through hell and back, no one is to be blamed but yourself, Mother. You chose this…" Yi Jung spoke with equal tenacity as his mother. "Don't compare Ga Eul to yourself. She's not as pitiful as you are." Yi Jung spoke through gritted teeth. He didn't want to disrespect his mother in front of Ga Eul but the way she talked to his wife made him lose it.
"Don't you dare use that tone on me, So Yi Jung!" Kim Young Ran suddenly rose up and held her head up high.
"Then don't you dare insult my wife." Yi Jung said with finality.
"Fine then… Tell me, what is it about her that's different from all other girls you've toyed with until before you married her."
Yi Jung looked side-ways at his wife who was keeping her head low. A smile immediately found its way into his face as he lifted up their intertwined hands and kissed her knuckles in a very loving way. "I love her…" He turned to his mother. "That's the main difference with her and all the other girls… Oh, and just to let you know, Mother, I stopped playing with other girls four years before I married her. In those four years that I was in Sweden, I've been nothing but faithful to her."
Those statements coming from her son seemed to have momentarily caught Kim Young Ran off-guard. Somehow, a shocked expression registered on her face, however, she wasn't so eager to leave her son alone. "Fine…" She turned to Ga Eul. "Since you've married into the So household, it's time you know about our family… And of course, you must be trained how to be a woman of the So household. Pack your baggage tonight. You shall stay in my house for the time-being." She said with finality and turned her back from Yi Jung and Ga Eul without waiting for their response.
"MWO?!" Yi Jung reacted violently. "Omeoni! You can't do this!" He protested but Ga Eul held him back by his elbow.
"Yeobo…" Ga Eul finally spoke. "She didn't like me, huh?" She asked.
Yi Jung sighed. "She's always like that…"
"Anyhow… I think it's good that she wants us to stay with her for a while… I can get to know her and maybe, she'll be able to like me…" Ga Eul said hopefully.
It was then that Yi Jung's expression turned sour. "We haven't had our honeymoon yet…" He grumpily complained.
"Aigoo… I can't believe you're still thinking about that after all this time!" Ga Eul pinched both sides of Yi Jung's cheeks and kissed him on the nose.
Suddenly, Jun Pyo, Woo Bin, Jae Kyung and Jan Di all entered the room and began bombarding Yi Jung and Ga Eul with questions as to how everything went. Jan Di and Jae Kyung especially comforted Ga Eul for having a monster mother-in-law. They both cringed upon knowing how she asked Yi Jung to divorce Ga Eul upon first sight of her.
"Well, what do you expect? Our mothers are all alpha females…" Woo Bin shrugged his shoulders as he remembered his own mother.
"And that is why I've decided not to marry at all!" Jae Kyung declared. "I don't want to have to deal with a mother-in-law. If I were to marry, I'd rather choose a guy whose mother is already dead." She smiled triumphantly at her idea as if it was the best thing in the world.
"The question is, would he even agree to marry you?" Woo Bin replied with a tease.
"Yah! Why wouldn't anyone want to marry me? I'm Ha Jae Kyung!"
"Yah… We aren't even talking about you two here." Jun Pyo interrupted before turning to Yi Jung. "So, Yi Jung, what are you planning to do now?" He asked.
Yi Jung sighed. "Mother wants Ga Eul to stay with her for a while in order to train Ga Eul to be a woman of the So household, whatever that meant… And well, Ga Eul seemed to want to do that, too…" He turned to look at Ga Eul with a pained expression on his face. "I don't know why you even want to stay with that woman…" He said referring to his own mother.
"Yah… Don't talk about your own mother like that. I'm sure she only wants what's best for you. Besides, I want to prove to her that I'm fully capable of handling her son so she need not worry." She said with a confident and determined expression on her face. When Ga Eul sets her mind on something, Yi Jung was pretty sure she wouldn't just back out easily. She wasn't Chu Ga Eul for nothing, after all.
"Aish… Arasso… But if I see her giving you a hard time, I'm moving out of her house and I'm bringing you with me…" He stated without waiting for Ga Eul's reply. She was his wife and if he decides to bring her out of his mother's claws, she has to go with him no matter what.
"Moving out? Wait… I thought your Mother only wanted me to stay in her house for a while." Ga Eul clarified.
"What? And I'm supposed to leave you alone in there? No way. I'm coming with you." Yi Jung declared.
"I agree. Yi Jung should go with you just in case…" Woo Bin seconded.
"Ga Eul, hwaiting! Good luck! I'm sure you would be needing lots of it." Jan Di sympathetically looked at her friend. Of course, she could fully relate as to what Ga Eul was going through. Jun Pyo's mother wasn't exactly as welcoming when she and Jun Pyo were finally married. And, time and time again, Jun Pyo told her that the only way to appease his mother's cold treatment towards her is for them to have children already, as if it was the easiest thing to do in the world.
After the incident with Yi Jung's mother, all of them left the hotel and went back to their respective residences… Well, all of them except Woo Bin and Jae Kyung who were both left at the hotel to sort things out about what happened between them the previous night, and also to plan for their next action to help their friends.
"Mwo?! What do you mean you don't remember anything?! You nearly choked me to death!" Woo Bin guffawed.
"Ehh?" Jae Kyung asked in disbelief and began to laugh out loud. "How could I possibly do that to you? Me? Kill a kkangpae leader like you? Hahaha!" She continued to laugh.
"Yah… I'm not joking." Woo Bin said with a strained expression on his face as he massaged his temple. He hasn't gotten any sleep yet and Jae Kyung was still making fun of him. Honestly, if he doesn't get Jae Kyung out of his life, she will be the death of him.
"Anyways, we better leave." Jae Kyung suggested. "I still have to fly to Hong Kong to meet my Dad later. I'll think of something for our lovers along the way. I'll contact you if I think of something, arasso? I'll be back in Seoul tomorrow morning so we can talk then." She informed the dearly downcast Don Juan.
"Arasso…" Woo Bin groaned. Why can't Jun Pyo and Yi Jung simply bed their wives anyway? Honestly, what's so hard with getting your wife in bed and going it with her?! Woo Bin couldn't help but ask. If it weren't for his friends, he wouldn't have to put up with Jae Kyung's out-of-this-world ideas. And to think that even Ji Hoo ditched him with Monkey girl… 'What a really nice friend…' He thought sarcastically.
-oOo-
Yi Jung and Ga Eul were both inside their room. Ga Eul was currently packing her luggage while Yi Jung was trying his best to dissuade her from coming into his mother's house. Technically, it should be the house of Yi Jung's mother and father, however since his father decided to move into a condo unit by himself, the So mansion was left in the care of his mother alone. Halmoni was also living in her own house so Yi Jung's mother was alone most of the time.
"Yah… Chu Ga Eul, do you know that my mother is a horrible person?" Yi Jung said.
"Mwo? What kind of person would call their mother that?" Ga Euk reprimanded her husband. "Whatever you say, So Yi Jung, I'm going to stay with your mother so if you don't want to come with me, you don't have to. She only wanted me to stay with her anyways. She didn't include you so you can stay here."
"Aish… As if I'm going to go there alone. I don't want my wife to be bullied by her mother-in-law, of course." Yi Jung sat beside Ga Eul as she was sitting on their bed while packing her luggage. He lovingly placed his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. "And we haven't had our honeymoon yet…" He reminded.
"Aish… Yah! This is urgent business! I have to get your mother's approval first. I must!" Ga Eul stated with a determined expression on her face.
"You're my wife now… It doesn't matter if she approves of you or not. You're not married to her anyways, right? You're married to me. It's what I say and feel that matters, not hers." Yi Jung exasperatedly explained.
"Even so…" Ga Eul stubbornly replied. "She's your mother. It's only proper that I get her approval first. And I'm going to get it no matter what…" She declared.
"She'll approve of you eventually if we bear her cute grand children to play with…" Yi Jung didn't stop persuading Ga Eul not to come to the So mansion. He even went as far as planting seductive kisses along Ga Eul's neck to dissuade her. Apparently, Ga Eul was too hard-headed as she softly pushed her husband aside and stood up from the bed to escape his seductive persuasion.
"Ga Eul…" Yi Jung pleaded.
"I'm going to your mother's house." Ga Eul said with finality.
To Be Continued…
Date Written: April 28, 2010
Date Posted: April 28, 2010
