As Ga Eul stormed out the house, Yi Jung threw his teacup against the wall. With a loud crack it disintegrated in to a thousand little pieces that landed on the floor messily.
He didn't have time for her.
She deserved someone who had time to love her, time to take her out to dinner, help with the housework, kiss her, and tell her how amazingly beautiful she was. He no longer had time to give her everything she needed.
Since he had taken over the entire responsibility for his family's business, he had become aware of one thing. And that was that his company was in a lot of debt. A few bad business deals, some bad investments and an embezzling employee had all taken it's toll on the company. Every single penny he had from his pottery had had to be poured in to the business to keep it afloat.
His personal bank account had just 1940 won left in it ($1.94). And that terrified him. There hadn't ever been a moment in his life where he had worried about money. It was always just something he had. He hadn't been able to sleep at night. He was angry, stressed and scared; and he had taken that all out on his loyal wife.
He sat frozen at the kitchen table. The house was too quiet. Yi Jung let out an loud scream, and standing up he flipped the table. It landed on the wooden kitchen floor with an ear-splitting bang. He slowly looked down at the wreckage of the flipped table. He hadn't realised the tea set had still been on the table. It was now lying in pieces on the floor. The light blue cup, the purple cup and the light green cup were all included in the casualties.
The light blue cup and the purple cup had been his and Ga Eul's. The light green was Sang Min's. And now they where all broken.
Yi Jung kicked the fallen table. With nothing else to do, he walked over to his alcohol cabinet, and decided to drink away his worries.
Over at the hospital; the mood was much calmer, but not much happier.
'You should sleep, you have work in the morning.' Jan Di told her husband. Jun Pyo shook his head.
'I'm not going to work tomorrow.' Jun Pyo replied stonily. Jan Di sighed. She was grateful that her parents had come and picked up Jae Sun and Jae Hwa. They didn't need to see their father like this. And she wasn't sure she could keep her brave face on much longer.
'Can you get some one to cover for you?' Jan Di asked. Jun Pyo nodded.
'They can survive with out me for a few days.' He replied. Jan Di nodded slowly, returning her gaze to her sick child unconscious in the bed in front of them. They didn't know how long it was going to be until her transplant. It could be a day, a week, or it could be a month.
Jan Di moved her head towards Jun Pyo, and rested on his shoulder. His arm went around her waist, and pulled her on to his lap. He tightly wrapped his arms around her, and rested his chin on her shoulder.
'I should of noticed something sooner.' Jun Pyo said quietly. Jan Di shook her head.
'I'm the doctor. I'm the one who should of noticed something.' She responded. Jun Pyo tightened his grip on his wife.
'Don't think that way.' Jun Pyo responded. Jan Di sighed.
'Then you shouldn't think that way either.' Jan Di replied. They both went quiet for a second. 'Seeing Ji Hoo was a shock.'
'That rascal shouldn't of just turned up like that. He has the worst timing. And the little girl...Sin Joo, what was that about? Who just adopts a child with out telling anyone?' Jun Pyo said in an annoyed tone. Jan Di shrugged.
'Maybe it will be good for him to have some one to love; that'll love him back unconditionally.' Jan Di spoke.
'But we love that rascal, and he abandoned us for the past three years.' Jun Pyo snapped. 'He didn't even know which child was who! And Yi Jung, that bastard didn't even show up.'
'Yi Jung... he's not the person he used to be. I don't know what happened.' Jan Di commented. She paused for a second. 'Do you think Ga Eul is okay? She seemed upset today.'
'You have enough issues to worry about without worrying about Ga Eul too.' Jun Pyo pointed out. Jan Di shook her head.
'But she's my best friend. A friend in need is a friend indeed.'
'Call her in the morning then; there's nothing you can do now.' Jun Pyo said. Jan Di let out a small laugh.
'Yah! When did you get a brain, Goo Jun Pyo?' She asked.
'Yah!' Jun Pyo replied loudly. He flicked one of Jan Di's arms. 'I'm a genius. I don't know what you're on about.'
'You keep believing that.' Jan Di laughed.
'Rascal.' Jun Pyo muttered under his breath. Jan Di laughed quietly. They could always count on each other.
The next morning the Song house was not the quiet sad place you might of thought it would have been. In fact, it was a hive of activity.
Chu Ga Eul, was not a woman who liked extended periods of woeful crying. She preferred to stuff her feelings down, and try to be as cheerful as possible.
She hadn't been able to sleep all night, so she had decided to spend the night baking. There were cakes, cookies, brownies, meringues and much more. Every counter of the Song's kitchen was filled with delicious treats. She had had to go shopping for more ingredients twice during the night, and her face and clothes had gotten covered with a thick coating of flour. So she had gone to change quickly before any one woke up. She went upstairs, and opened her suitcase, and pulled out a red dress that ended mid thigh, and a large fluffy white cardigan. She coiled her hair in to a high bun and fastened it with a red bow. She gave herself a small smile in the mirror.
'You can do this Chu Ga Eul. You lived before him, and you can live after him.' She told herself, before walking out of the bathroom in to the bedroom she had been told she could stay in. It was a nice room; but it felt slightly cold. Woo Bin and Jae Kyung were both the type of people who preferred having a cool chic house that a warm cosy one. Ga Eul liked a cosy home. Her heart ached as she thought of Yi Jung's house that she had worked so hard to make in to a warm, loving environment for herself and for Sang Min to grow up in.
She shook her head, trying to push the horrid thoughts to the back of her mind. She walked out of the bedroom, and along the corridor in to Min Ki's room. As she walked in, she found that both of the boys had already woken up. They were playing with a train set Min Ki had in his room. Ga Eul smiled at the sight.
'Sweetie, you woke up?' She asked. Both boys looked up at her.
'Mummy!' Sang Min smiled, standing up and hugging her tightly. Min Ki stood up too, and joined in the hug.
'Auntie, why are you and Sang Min here?' He asked. Ga Eul laughed awkwardly.
'Um... we came to stay at your house for a bit.' Ga Eul said. Sang Min's eyes widened.
'Why Mummy?' He asked. Ga Eul bit her lip.
'Because, Sweetie, Daddy's very very very busy so we've come here so we're not lonely.'
'But won't Daddy get lonely?' Sang Min asked innocently.
'If he gets lonely then he can come see us here.' Ga Eul replied simply. Sang Min paused for a second, and seemed to be thinking. He then nodded simply.
'Okay, Mummy, but did you bring my paint things?' He asked. Ga Eul nodded.
'Of course I brought them, why do you want to paint?' She asked. Sang Min nodded.
'You look very pretty today, I'd like to paint you, Mummy.' He said. Ga Eul smiled widely.
'Well aren't you the charmer?' She laughed. 'Come on boys, I made lots of yummy things for your breakfast, shall we go and eat?'
Both boys nodded enthusiastically. The three of them quickly went down stairs together and the boys sat down happily at the table, while Ga Eul piled plates high with cake and other yummy things. Both of them looked like all their Christmases had come at once.
'Auntie Ga Eul, can we really eat all this?' Min Ki asked staring at the food. Ga Eul nodded, and smiled at her small nephew.
'Of course. There's more if you want it too.'
'Can we take some to Jin Ae?' Min Ki asked. Ga Eul's face dropped.
'Sweetie, she'll still be asleep today... how about if I teach you how to make a cake, and then when she's better you can make her a cake? Okay?'
'Okay, Auntie.' Min Ki said, shovelling cake in to his mouth. The sound of steps came from the stairwell, and Woo Bin walked in to the kitchen in his pyjamas, looking bleary eyed and tired. He froze in the doorway of the kitchen.
'Did you make all of this cake?' He asked staring around. Ga Eul nodded nervously. Woo Bin chuckled to himself.
'Cool.' He said helping him self to an entire plate of cookies. Jae Kyung quickly walked in to the kitchen from behind him. Her hair was utterly messed up, and her eyes were squinting. She looked at the plate of cookies, and grabbed it out of Woo Bin's hand, sitting down with a loud thump she began to messily eat the cookies. Woo Bin shook his head, and grabbed an entire cake and a spoon from the kitchen draw and sat down, digging in to it.
Ga Eul laughed. Inside her heart was breaking, but she had to keep her smile on on the outside For Sang Min, and everyone else around her.
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