11 Warm Welcome

Haeun entered the house nervously, tightening her grip on Minjoon's hand as they walk to the living room. She was not only nervous but anxious as well. Seeing the reaction of the girl earlier, she really doesn't know what to expect from the rest of Minjoon's family members. Will they react the same or will they react differently?

As she was getting more nervous with each step they took, she didn't realize that Minjung was eagerly jumping behind her, trailing her every move. She couldn't wait to give her sister in law a big hug and she felt it wouldn't be appropriate to do so before Haeun was officially introduced to the family. So when they reach the living room, she immediately called out to them.

"Mom, Dad, Sister! Look! Sister in law is finally here!! Don't they look so cute together?! So when are we holding the wedding ceremony?! Tomorrow? The day after? Next week?! I really can't wait!! I want a nephew next, so quickly get married okay?"

Minjung was still jumping around giddily, not containing even an inch of her excitement. Though her family was quite used to it, it was making Haeun dizzy seeing her jumping around like that. And Minjoon was quick to notice it when he realizes her discomfort, immediately making Minjung stop her jumping.

Haeun's expression wasn't that obvious since she was smiling lightly but if they were observant, they would have realized that she was having a headache from all that jumping Minjung was doing. She wasn't hating it at all, she just not used to see someone getting so excited and pumped up from meeting her for the first time.

She wasn't a celebrity or someone famous. If anything, she was the one that was supposed to be excited and full of energy like Minjung. She was now in front of one of the few very rich family in Korea and is even being introduced as their in law. Where was she going to get such an honor like that the next time? Never! Cause this will be her once in a lifetime opportunity.

"My goodness, you're finally here, my dear.. How long have we been waiting to see you? It's great to finally meet you like this. I can't wait to get to know you more.. You look lovely and sweet, just like how Minjoon had described you to be."

Mrs. Kim made the first move and approach her, trying to break the ice between them. She guides Haeun towards an empty spot on the sofa, where Minjee is on her left and she is on her right. Haeun sits awkwardly between them as she looks at Minjoon, asking for help on what to do. He chuckles softly before he cleared his throat.

"You guys can go ahead and chat first. I want to check up on Hyomin, to see how she's doing. Will come back and join you guys in a minute, so have fun alright? Oh! And Minjung! You better behave yourself or I'll kick you out. You hear me?"

He made a gesture that he had his eyes on her as he left to the direction of his room. He immediately burst out laughing right after closing the door of his private bathroom. Minjoon had seen the look on Haeun's face when he ditched her alone with his family and it was absolutely hilarious.

If he hadn't change the topic and looked at Minjung, he probably couldn't have held in his laughter. He knows Haeun was going to kill him for that but he had to. His family wants to get to know her more and if he was around, he was sure she will make him talk for her. Plus, he loves the reaction she makes when he teases her. It's cute and adorable, making Minjoon can't stop wanting to tease her every second of the day.

While Minjoon was busy laughing away, Haeun was frozen stiff on her seat. She still can't believe Minjoon left her when she needed him the most. She was really in a pinch because she doesn't know how not to stay nervous when she has four pairs of eyes looking straight at her. What was she going to do now? She obviously doesn't have it in her to make the first move, or does she?

"So, have you gotten better yet? You must have hit your head hard for it needed to be stitched up. I've specially made some herbal tea for you so that you can get well faster. Whenever you feel like drinking some, you can just ask Mrs. Park or any of the maid to heat it up for you okay?"

"Oh, and you should get more rest since you've just given birth to Hyomin. Your body needs all the rest it can get, so for this few weeks, you shouldn't do anything and rest up. What was Minjoon thinking, asking you to shop for all those stuff alone? You wouldn't have gotten hurt like this if he had used his brain a little bit.."

Mrs. Kim had a disapproving look on her face as she shook her head in disappointment. She couldn't believe how stupid her only son was that such an incident could happen to Haeun. She had waited a long time to see her daughter in law and if something worst were to happen to her, she wouldn't think twice of putting all the blame to Minjoon.

It was already almost impossible for her to get a grandchild from her only son and now that such an opportunity has arrived, there was no way she would let anything happen to her precious daughter in law. Haeun is the only person able to get inside Minjoon's heart and without her, she could already see how bleak his life was going to be.

"Mother, you're being too obvious about being biased here. Though I can't deny that what you said was kinda true. Minjoon is totally to be blamed about the incident and he should make up for it. I suggest two weeks dismissal from work? I'm sure Father will be fine with it, right?" Minjee had suddenly spoken up from beside Haeun, making her flinch in surprise.

She didn't expect her to make such a comment. From the way she speaks, it was obvious she was the oldest and the wisest among the siblings. At least now she knows who to find if she has some problem in the future. Most probably if that ever happens, it will be because of Minjoon. Either she's about to lose it and kill him or she's finally had gathered enough courage and want to get equal with him.

"It's obviously not a problem for me. I've been running the company for years, so two weeks without him is nothing. I can even make it a month if you guys want. But isn't that too much for him? You know how he gets when he can't do any work. I don't want to see him lock himself inside the gym for a month." Haeun changes her focus from Minjee to Mr. Kim as he talks.

He then cleared his throat as he took a sip from his hot earl grey tea. He looks grumpy and cold but unexpectedly, his voice didn't sound anything like it. He has a low voice but you can hear the hint of warmth in it. It sounded kinda similar to her father's and it somehow made her miss him.

After she decided to marry her husband two years ago, her family disowned her and wanted to have nothing to do with her. And since then, they had never made contact with each other. Haeun misses them a lot that there are times where she calls them from the telephone booth, just to hear their voices. She knows they would hang up if they knew it was her, so she just kept quiet the entire time till they put down the phone.

Haeun was momentarily lost in her own thoughts, not realizing that her face had slowly turned glum. Minjung was the first to notice, alerting the rest of her family members that something was wrong with Haeun. They assume it would be nothing much but when tears started gliding down her cheeks slowly, they began to panic. They didn't know what they had done or what to do, but one thing for sure, Minjoon should know a thing or two about it.