The week went by so fast. Yujin and Jinwoo's relationship had not completely improved since the incident that afternoon. Jinwoo was still cold and always tried to avoid the topic of conversation around babies. Meanwhile, Yujin chose to raise the fetus herself. Struggling alone with all the bad feelings that sometimes overtake her because she is suffering from morning sickness. Even a few days ago Yujin also went to the obstetrician herself because she was not strong with the symptoms of morning sickness she was experiencing.
"Son, how come you came?"
Mr. Im Jaehyuk frowned in surprise when one night Jinwoo came to his office with a wrinkled face clearly etched on his face. With very stiff steps, Jinwoo walked over to his father and bowed slightly in front of the father-in-law before deciding to sit in front of his father-in-law's desk.
"Good night father," said Jinwoo stiffly.
Mr. Im nods his head slightly and tries to guess what is going on with his son-in-law. It was unusual for Lee Jinwoo to come to see him because so far they weren't very compatible. In the past maybe he could still make small talk with Jinwoo because the man had been assigned several times to escort him or to escort his daughter. But now, it felt very strange to have small talk with Jinwoo after the man changed his status to his son-in-law.
"You look disheveled, what's wrong? Did you come with Yujin?"
"No, just myself. Yujin is at home, doing her homework which has been getting her attention lately."
"Is she okay with that? I was so worried about her health."
Jinwoo observed every change of expression that his father-in-law showed.
Is that how a father feels for his daughter? Am I going to be like that too?
Jinwoo kept imagining with his own thoughts until Mr. Im cleared his throat and brought his consciousness back to reality.
"Yujin is currently pregnant." Jinwoo told his father-in-law.
Mister Im doesn't seem surprised. Seeing that, Jinwoo immediately assumed that he was the last person to know the news about Yujin's pregnancy.
"Yujin must have told you."
"Yes. She told me yesterday."
Jinwoo looked surprised. Turns out she wasn't the last person Yujin told about her pregnancy. And how evil he is because so far he has not given any response regarding the happy news.
"Last night she called me in a cheerful voice that sounded very happy. But after seeing your performance today, I don't think you're as happy as Yujin. What is wrong? Isn't that also your son."
Getting a question like that made Jinwoo confused and couldn't answer anything. If he used to always appear confident leading all his men on the battlefield, now he actually felt like a coward who had lost all his confidence.
"I just don't know what to do. I had forgotten what it was like to feel love between parents and children. Even though I get the love of my adoptive parents, I still can't feel it. As for the love given to me by my parents, I have forgotten how it feels. Did Yujin ever say that I am a sociopath?"
Mr. Im wrinkled his forehead and looked clueless. So far, Yujin has never told anything about Jinwoo. Whatever Yujin told him always contained good things that Jinwoo often did. Regarding sociopath, Yujin never said it. If Jinwoo was really a sociopath, he would definitely not agree to his best friend's request to marry Yujin to Jinwoo instead of Minwoo.
"I am a sociopath and a cold-blooded killer. Since childhood I have a psychological disorder because I had received bad treatment from my uncle. After he brutally murdered my parents and took all of my father's property, he threw me into an orphanage that was as bad as prison.
"In the orphanage, every child is employed by the owner of the orphanage to support his life which likes to spend a lot of time. Unable to stand all the suffering I was going through, I started to run away from it to other things. I often fight with my friends who find trouble with me and torture them. Every pain they show always makes me feel satisfied and happy."
Jinwoo had been determined to make a confession in front of his father-in-law. He will tell his father everything. And he had absolutely no need to regret his decision tonight.
"From then on I started to like the black world of killing. And to prevent things that are not desirable, I try hard so that I can be accepted as a member of the military because I can channel my ambition to kill by catching criminals who have harmed the country. But sometimes that desire arises when I don't have something I can use to vent my desire. If the desire is already welling up in my chest, I must immediately satisfy it by injuring someone and seeing that person's blood dripping down in front of me. One of the people who had been the victim of my ferocity was Yujin. I..."
Jinwoo stopped his story for a moment and glanced at his father-in-law's knuckles which were starting to turn white from clenching his fists too tightly. He then smiled bitterly and resumed his story. Sooner or later he will have to tell Mr. Im this because he doesn't want to live behind a mask anymore. He wants everyone to accept him as he is, like Yujin who can always accept his dark side.
"I used to torture her. Slashed her face with a knife and strangled her until he almost died. But..."
"GOD DAMN IT! If I had known what your real attitude was, I would never have allowed Yujin to marry a monster like you!" cursed Mr. Im angry.
Jinwoo again just smiled faintly and resumed his story casually. Now he begins to enjoy all his confessions. He liked the relief effect that was starting to run through his heart at this time.
"But no matter how much I hurt her, Yujin still insisted on sticking with me. Even when I gave her the opportunity to end all this marriage, she tearfully embraced me and swore that she would keep the sacred promise we had made before God. Your daughter... really woke me up, father. Yujin has awakened me from all the stupidity that has surrounded me.
"I've always thought that my life was worthless. In fact I never cared if I would die while on a mission because I never expected much in my life. But Yujin made me realize that my life is very precious. And she was the first woman who gave me a very sincere love. Now please father curse me to your heart's content, I will not fight back. But first I want to apologize because I'm not a good son-in-law like you hoped all this time."
Mister Im looks lost for words to curse Jinwoo. All the anger that had been bubbling up in his chest disappeared just like that when he imagined Yujin's face, which would surely be sad if she hurt her beloved husband. After all, everything has passed. Expressing all his anger and disappointment at this time was not a wise move. Moreover, Yujin is currently pregnant with the child of the monster man in front of him. It was really too late to teach Lee Jinwoo a lesson. But one thing that makes him proud of his son-in-law is, he dares to reveal all his ugliness without the slightest fear.
"So what do you want right now?"
That was the only sentence he managed to get out for Jinwoo. The rest he didn't know what to say.
"I want to know how you feel after knowing that your daughter was hurt. I'm going to be a father soon, and I don't know how to position myself as a good father." Jinwoo sighed in frustration.
Mr. Im smiles widely seeing his son-in-law who seems to be in a dilemma because he will soon become a father. It was only natural that it happened to Jinwoo. But it really would be terrible if he didn't have anyone to share his grievances with.
"You want to know how to be a good father? You've come to the right person, son." said the mysterious Mr. Im who was immediately greeted by Jinwoo with a half smile that looked charming.
Starting tonight he would be learning from his father-in-law how to be a good parent because all the books he had studied this week were completely useless. He was even more confused by the strange ways suggested by the author which he thought did not suit him. And in the end, going to his father-in-law became his last choice because he was too frantic with all the specters of being a father. For him preparation to become a father is a thousand times more difficult than having to stand at the forefront of a war.
-00-
"How are you?"
Jinwoo stroked the top of Yujin's head gently when Yujin just came out of the toilet after feeling nauseous from her morning sickness. Jinwoo attentively handed Yujin a glass of water and gave Yujin medicine from the doctor that Yujin had to take to reduce her attacks of morning sickness.
"Not better than yesterday." Yujin replied curtly.
The woman still looks annoyed at Jinwoo who can't be the ideal husband she often sees in the hospital when she is checking her womb. Seeing the young mothers who came to the hospital accompanied by their husbands made Yujin jealous and could only bite her fingers like a fool.
"Do we need to go to the hospital to check on him?"
"The doctor said it's okay. After taking the medicine and resting I will be fine."
Yujin walked away leaving Jinwoo to get out of their room. But her steps were immediately restrained by Jinwoo until she had to look back at Jinwoo's shady eyes which always managed to make her melt.
"Today mom invited us to have dinner at home because Minwoo just came back from Canada."
"Really? Why so sudden?" said Yujin sneered.
It was unusual for Jinwoo to take her out to meet his family. Moreover, Minwoo was there. Since they got married, she had never met Minwoo. Even though according to the actual news Minwoo had returned to Korea several times. But it seemed that Jinwoo had deliberately kept her away from Minwoo because the man had once done something disgusting to make their marriage annulled. Besides that, Jinwoo also never wanted to take her to visit his adoptive parents' house. All this time she had always gone alone without ever being accompanied by Jinwoo because the man always had a thousand and one reasons to reject it.
"We will stay there tonight. After all they are also my family, it's only right that I get closer to them."
"Geez."
Yujin suddenly squealed loudly while pressed her palms around Jinwoo's face. The woman seemed to control Jinwoo's body temperature by comparing her normal body temperature with the man's.
"Is the other side of you emerging general? Today you look strange, but your body temperature is normal." Yujin said with an annoying innocent style.
Jinwoo removed Yujin's hands from his face and then snorted angrily because of his wife attitude which actually looked annoying when he was trying to change.
"Don't you like seeing me close to my family?"
"Of course I like it." Yujin answered quickly. She immediately cupped Jinwoo's flat face with her soft palms, then gave a brief kiss on the man's lips.
"Do not be angry. You look ugly." Yujin teased.
"Don't tease me, you look weird." Jinwoo replied. Yujin immediately showed a sullen face while stomping her feet in annoyance.
"Shhh... I don't like having a sulky spoiled wife."
Jinwoo stopped Yujin's childish action by holding Yujin's waist and bringing Yujin's body close to him.
Hearing this made Yujin remember the incident a few months ago when Jinwoo still liked to treat her like a junior soldier at headquarters. Fortunately now Jinwoo's bad habit has disappeared. Jinwoo never told her to train hard like he used to. Only occasionally invites her to exercise with or accompany him to practice in the man's weapons room downstairs.
"Yujin… actually I'm very happy with the news of your pregnancy. In fact I was so very happy that it made me worried and confused. So far I have always lived with a psychic disorder that made me different, I was afraid that I would hurt our child. But honestly I'm really happy. I want to continue to protect you and our future child. So I'm trying hard so I can be a decent father to our child." A heavy sigh escaped from Jinwoo's mouth because he was about to say something that could make Yujin make fun of him all day long.
"I read various books and various articles on the internet. But it really didn't give me a way out. I just got more annoyed because it turned out to be really bad. None of their tips matched me.
"Finally I came to the last person who could provide a solution to my problem. I went to your father and told him all my bad sides. I admit to hurting you and nearly killing you several times. I want to know how your father behaves when he sees his daughter being hurt so that one day I can be a good father like your father. But your father didn't do anything to me. Your father forgave me and taught me many things about how to be a good father."
"Oops..."
Yujin started to look teary while covering her mouth in disbelief. All this time he had always been suspicious of Jinwoo and thought Jinwoo didn't want the baby she was carrying. She thought Jinwoo would never accept the fetus and live like Lee Jinwoo who was tough and stiff. But... what she heard now from Jinwoo had proved all her preconceptions wrong. She had misjudged Jinwoo until now she was really sorry
"I'm sorry oppa, I've been wrong about you."
"Ssshhh.. don't cry, I don't like seeing your tears. After this we will tell everyone about the news of your pregnancy. This time I want all Korean people to be happy for our happiness. Yujin, maybe it's a little late, but thank you for everything you've given me. Even my life will not be enough to repay all the sincerity you have given me."
"Don't ever feel indebted to me because you really deserve it oppa."
Jinwoo kissed Yujin's lips gently and tasted every sweetness that Yujin emitted from every inch of her body. With Yujin now he will start everything from scratch. Slowly he will erase all his bad memories in the past and replace them with new memories that he will create with Yujin. And of course also with their children in the future.