Pay With Your Heart

Eun-Sun was surprised to find the other side of the bed empty when she woke up. Waking up to the warmth of Dan-Han and his strong hand wrapped against her waist while he pressed her against his chest was slowly becoming a habit. It felt strange waking up to a cold bed.

Where did he go? She hissed as she rolled out of bed. He was a workaholic who didn't know when to stop. She guessed he must have gone to the fields as tomorrow would be their last day at the province. But that would be after their date. She wasn't feeling ecstatic about it anymore.

The current problems of her life were energy-draining, and she couldn't just shake them off.

Not sure of what to do, she decided to check up on Mrs Lee as she looked rather pale last night. Her words still troubled her. She must insist that she skip going to the fields and rest in her room all day. They were almost done with the activities scheduled for that province.

Eun-Sun had just arrived at Mrs Lee's door when she heard Father Lee's angry voice thundering across the room like an enraged man.

What/who had put him in such a mood so early this morning? She pondered, but her question was soon clarified when she heard him holler even louder, his voice filling the hallway.

"That girl is not good for you! She's nothing but a bedclimber, and I forbid you from having this relationship." He roared.

"Honey, please, can you stop." Mrs Lee pleaded. "There must be some explanation for what you saw. Eun-Sun isn't such a girl. She's-"

"A criminal's daughter who is clinging onto my son while she's messing around with his friend. She's an opportunist!" He interjected her, making Mrs Lee hiss deflatedly.

Eun-Sun was bewildered as she stood thunderstruck by the door. What was all this about? Did father Lee see what had happened between her and In-Ha last night? Her eyes widened at that realization as her breath froze and her legs suddenly felt wobbly.

Was Dan-Han in there right now? Then why didn't she hear his voice? And as if he had heard her thoughts from across the door, he finally spoke up.

"Father, I'd appreciate it if you stop using such words to address her. There's a clear explanation for what you saw last night, and that's why I have come to explain it to you. But if you still don't want to see reason, then I'll let you be, but please don't use such words in front of Eun-sun. I beg of you." He warned, but that angered his father even more as he gritted his teeth.

Eun-Sun felt her heart constrict tightly as she stood fixated at the door listening to all that was being said about her. She knew she shouldn't be listening but blame her damn feet that were unresponsive. She felt her eyes sting with tears, and she was about to walk away when she heard Father Lee scoff, "There can not be any explanation for her behaving like the whore she is! Even her mother tends to be one."

"That's enough!" Dan-Han roared.

Eun-Sun froze on her heels when she heard his last words. She felt like she had been hit by a lightning bolt, after which cold water was poured on her. A whore?! That word kept resounding in her head like a gong.

Without much consideration, she found herself flinging the door open, revealing herself to the pairs of eyes which stared at her with shock.

"Eun-Sun" Dan-Han was shocked to see her there, but the look in her eyes clamped his mouth shut as he realized she must have heard them argue. He bit his lips as he glared at his father.

Eun-Sun's eyes travelled from Mrs Lee to Dan-Han until it settled on Mr Lee, who gave her a condescending look.

"What are you doing here? How dare you come in here?" He seethed, but Eun-sun didn't bother to answer his question as she stared him down from head to toe with an unmistakable look of anger and disappointment.

She took two steps into the room, her fierce gaze not drifting from the man. "If you don't want to believe whatever was being said to you, I don't care. If you want to make being with your son so difficult, I still don't care. I really do not care if you want to keep looking down on me because of my background. But I begin to care when you rain such demeaning insults on me. And I care when you dare insult, my mother!" She hissed at him.

"You don't want me for your son, I understand, but you have no right to say such things about me or my mother. I respect you even when you've done nothing to deserve it. But I'd have you know that respect is earned, and it should be reciprocal. But if you refuse to act appropriately, then you don't deserve it all! So right at this moment, I'm telling you I'm done! I'm done having you look down on me. I'm done having you disrespect me, and I'm done trying so hard to have you accept me because it's obvious you sure as hell don't deserve it!" She miffed, leaving Father Lee in shock, who stared at her in shocked surprise. She didn't know why she was reacting this way, but she felt she had to. She has had enough of his attitude. She had received a lot of insults from people, but she would not condone any form of abuse to her mother.

Song-Hee might be bad on so many levels, and she might not be her mother, but she had raised her for twenty-five years. She might not have been great, but she called her mother for twenty-five years, and for that reason, no one was allowed to insult her this way. She might be many things, but she was not a prostitute! And shouldn't be disrespected in such a manner.

A short disparaging laugh rumbled out of Mr Lee's chest before glaring hardly at her, "Did you see how ill-mannered she is?" He turned to his wife. "Can you see the kind of crass w-"

"That's enough!" Mrs Lee roared with all her strength, causing an air of silence to reign in the room. She looked at her husband with angry eyes as she wondered when and how he had become like this.

They both looked at each other with contempt when she suddenly wobbled and stumbled backwards, putting everyone in shock, especially Dan-Han, who was quick enough to grab her and prevent her from completely falling to the ground.

"Honey!" Father Lee panickly called out as he rushed to her side, but before he could touch her Dan-Han held his hand a bay, fiery daggers shooting through his eyes.

"Don't touch her."

"Bl...ood", Father Lee stuttered when he saw the red fluid slipping out of his wife's nose. Dan-Han glanced down at her and he was shocked to find his mother bleeding from her nostrils.

What was going on?