Pay With Your Heart

Eun-Sun was still at a loss as she walked away the residence after the close of work. She was feeling so swarmed and depressed that she desperately needed a walk. Going home wasn't going to make feel better, and right now she was truly missing her father. A walk in the park would do her some good, so she thought.

Due to the plethora of thoughts blaring through her mind, she had completely forgotten today was supposed to be her father's birthday, it was only after she close from work that she remembered. Her life has been so messed up lately that she barely had any form of sleep, as a matter of fact, her life has been messed up since her father walked out on them. How did she move from being an happy and vibrant child to this person she was right now.

She hasn't had a break since her father left ten years ago. Since he left things hasn't been easy on her. She hasn't bought herself a good pair of shoe, a nice outfit, or even had a three square meal since he left, because she had to take up the responsibility of catering for the family.

For ten years all she has known and done was to work to provide for her mother and try her best to keep her mother happy, but even that, her mother hasn't made that easy.

Things were already unbearable, she was yet to complete the mortgage payment, settle the mobs at the gambling house which her mother had borrowed from and now she was miraculously indebted to another $200,000. How the hell was she going to live through this?

She was barely living by as it was.

Shouldn't the heavens show her a little bit of kindness? All she desired was for all this to go away, for her father to come home, and for her mother to love her, cook for her, get a deserving job. Were this things so hard to ask? Was she being too greedy?

She didn't ask for a luxurious life or something like that. So why were things this difficult.

Eun-Sun lowered herself on a swing as she reminiced on her happy childhood. Those when her father had brought to the park and would fight over her mother's delicacies, those were the best days of her life. She had thought things will stay that way, that she always be that happy. But how could she have known that the heavens had other plans for her.

~~~Flash Back~~~~

~~

"Daddy I'll always be your princess right?" the 5 year old Eun-Sun asked her father as they walked around the park with a popsicle in her hand.

"Of course you'll always and forever be my only princess"

"And you'll always be mine and mother's big prince" She said cheerly making her father laugh as he picked her up in his arms.

"Daddy why do you always bring me to the park on your birthday?" She asked in her baby voice.

"Because Eun-Sun is the best gift I can have on my birthday, so I've to flaunt her around. Hope she doesn't mind?" He asked with his brows raised.

"No she doesn't mind. I'll always take you to the park too on my birthday day okay" She replied as she threw her hand around his neck.

"Mummy won't be jealous right? We should've brought mother too" She said with a sad pout.

"If we bring your mother, who will make all the delicious food you'd like to eat when we go back"

"Mother does love me the most" She said excitedly at the thought of her mother's food.

"So I don't love you anymore?" He asked teasingly.

"Father, you don't have to be jealous, because it's not a matter of who loves me the most, but who I love the most" She replied with a serious face, which made her father look at her with surprise.

"So you're saying you love me the most?"

"I can't say that because mother will be sad. But I do love you both the most" She said as she tightened her grip around his neck. He couldn't believe his 5 year old daughter just played tai chi with her words.

~~~End of flashback ~~~~~

Her father left without a trace, and they had reported it to the police, but they came to the conclusion that he ran away and had abandoned them. It was common in society for some men to have other families elsewhere and would someday disppear to be with them. Eun-Sun had never thought her father would be one of them.

She had not given up hope on looking for her father. She just have to get the right job and earn a good salary so she can hire a private investigator. She was sure she would find him.

Eun-Sun did not know how long she had sat alone at the park. Her ringing phone snapped her out of her reverie. She lazily searched for her phone in her bag. Her eyes widen in surprise when she saw who was callling. She hurriedly picked the call.

"Mom?" She said with excitement as she soon as she answered the call. This was the first time she was receiving a call from her.

"Hello, is this Ms Eun-Sun?" a voice asked over the phone and it was not her mother's voice. She pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the number again, it definitely was her mom's.

"Yes"

"Your mother has been brought to the hospital, please come over" The lady informed her. Eun-Sun felt cold chill run down her spine, her heart began to race and cold sweat broke all over her body.

"What happened to my mother? What hospital is she?" She asked nervously.

"You don't have to panic, your mother is fine. You just have to come to the City hospital" The lady replied.

"Alright I'll be right there" Eun-Sun said panicky as she hurried out of the park and flagged down a taxi.

And there comes another trouble.