After the divorce was filed, I moved in with my cousin and his wife, Xiaoyu. They were really inviting and they helped me start all over. I got a career as a professional chef and I owned my own restaurant. I haven't heard from Hwoarang for quite a while. Four years have passed. He missed everything. He missed his baptism, he missed his birthdays, and he missed his first day of school. I have heard that he was dating a model. But there's nothing I could do about it. He had made his decision and there's nothing, with all my power, I could do about it. He decided to leave me and his son, so that's how it is.
"Mom!" Hyo cries to me one afternoon.
He was attending a preschool academy. He was the best looking four year old in that preschool. All the girls had secret crushes on him and he knew it. He just ignored them. I taught him how to be a gentleman and that he should always treat every girl with manners and kindness.
"What?" I ask him as I was vacuuming his room.
He insisted that I should clean his room. He told me that he didn't feel comfortable that the maids were cleaning his room. He thought that the maids weren't doing a well enough job and he said that the only person that could clean it well enough was me. He reminded me of his father. He was a clean freak. And he was also so picky.
"Some boys at school told me today that I had no father!" he whined to me.
"Well just tell those little boys that you're too good to have a father," I told him with a smile.
I felt really sorry for him. He was being teased for not having a father. Damn Hwoarang. He decided to not trust me.
"Mom, isn't it going to be the 'bring your child to work' day?" he asks me after he got over the fact that boys were bullying him.
"Yeah, it's tomorrow," I tell him.
"I'm going right?" he asks me.
"Yeah, you're going to see my restaurant," I told him.
The next day was a Saturday. He had no school and he was all mines for the day.
"Come on, we need to go!" I tell him.
"Yeah, mom, I'm coming!" he tells me.
He was wearing a suit and tie when he came out of the mansion.
"Who told you to wear it?" I ask him with a smile.
"Uncle Jin; he told me that I need to look sharp for the day," he said with a smile.
I just smile. We then drive for about twenty minutes until we reach the restaurant. It was around noon.
"So this is my work," I tell him, "I could cook all the things on the menu, I make up the menu, and sometimes, when the customer wants to talk to the chef, I come out to talk to them."
"So, that's all?" he asks me.
"That's all? That's a lot for me!" I tell him laughing.
Hyo was then playing with his Nintendo DS while I was cooking a flambé for a couple's desert.
"Ma'am, a customer would like to talk to you!" one of the cooks say to me.
"Okay, I'll be right out, but where is he or she?" I ask.
"They're in the private room," he tells me.
The private room is the most expensive spot in the restaurant. It provides privacy and comfort. I walk there slowly and I open the door. Oh no. This can't be happening. This is what I have been avoiding for the past four years. This is the confrontation I had been avoiding the most in my sweet dear life. It was him.
"Asuka?" he asks me confused.
He has the American model by his side. I had to admit, she was drop down gorgeous. She was just little snobby looking. She looked at me up and down and then rolled her eyes slowly.
"Yes, sir, ma'am, did you two want to talk to me?" I say pretending ignoring him.
"Well, I would like to give you kudos on the flambé; it was the best tasting flambé I had ever eaten," the American model told me, "Uhm, excuse me for a while, I need to use the ladies' room. Where is it chef?"
"It's the fifth door on the hallway on the other side of the restaurant," I inform her.
After she left, I bowed to Hwoarang quickly and headed toward the direction of the exit.
"Wait!" he ordered.
"Why should I?" I ask him harshly.
"I'm a customer here, and besides, I want to see how your life turned out," he said with a mischievous smile.
"Well, I'm doing great without you," I told him.
"So, I could tell that you had your baby boy? He must be, what, four or five years old already?" he asks me.
"Yes," I tell him.
"So what? Did that bastard leave you? You know the man you cheated on with?" he asks.
"I never saw him after the night," I told him.
"Yeah, that's because you're an easy target," he tells me as he sips his wine.
I couldn't take it anymore. I had been holding it all in for four long years. He still thought I was a whore. He thought I was unfaithful. I couldn't take everything. I had held it all too long. Without me controlling my actions, I start to cry. I cried like I never cried before. He looks at me carelessly. He doesn't care if I cry. I was about to leave the room until I see my son run into the room.
"Hyo, what are you doing here?!" I ask him.
"Hyo?" Hwoarang asked puzzled.
"Mommy, I heard you cry! Did this man make you cry?" he asks me.
I look at Hwoarang. He saw Hyo's red hair. No, I can't let this happen. He's going to know that it's his son.
"Is he my son?" he asks loudly.
"NO!" I shout as I carry Hyo and exit the room.
"He's my son! He looks like me!" he protests.
"Well, if he was, there's no difference. He's mine. He's in my custody. You can't take him away from me," I tell him.
"Why did you lie to me?" he asks me.
"Because, you wouldn't even trust me," I tell him.
"And how would you know?" he asks me.
"Because, to you, I'm an unfaithful, slutty woman!" I scream at him, "and there's nothing you could do about it; you're never going to be a part of my son's life. You decided not to trust me," I told him.
"Well, he could be my son, but it doesn't change the fact that you cheated on me," he tells me.
"I can't believe you. Do you still think that little theory of yours is correct? You should get your facts straight," I tell him.