Chapter 173 - Penance

Ryu sighed and rubbed his aching stomach.Neil must be really angry for having punched him so hard!Thank heavens he had not eaten anything yet!Looking at the untoched breakfast on the table,Ryu felt another pang of guilt.It seemed his mistakes were going to pile up!Deciding to apologize first,Ryu made his way to their room only to find it empty.Deciding to look for her in Ru's room,Ryu made his way there but the door was locked.After unsuccessfully trying to open the door,Ryu was about to give up when the door opened from inside.A half dressed Ru with his wet hair rushed out of the room and straight into his arms!"Father!You have to save me from mother!She is trying to make me wear those cartoon t shirts!I am a big boy now!I cannot wear those to school!You have to save me.A dripping wet Alicia came out of the room and ignoring him latched onto Ru."Just yesterday you were a small boy and now you are big!Ru Long!Wait till I get my hands on you...I will tickle you until you surrender."

Ru shreiked in happiness and buried his face in his father's neck..Alicia saw this vision and stopped while her face was devoid of any emotion.Wanting to appease her,he quickly whispered something in Ru's ears which convinced him and he agreed to wear the clothes his mother had chosen for him.As Ryu passed the little boy,their hands brushed and eyes met.He felt sparks erupt at where they had touched but he also saw the hesitancy in her eyes and the hurt before she turned away. 

He had screwed up big!In a day this woman had turned him inside out.No wonder everyone assumed that he had been in love.Even last night,the way she looked at him and the way she behaved he had thought her to be so besotted with him that he could get away with anything.But this morning had cleared all of his misconceptions or rather washed them away.Sighing,he turned back to go to the bedroom and changed his wet clothes.

He needed to apologize well for his mistakes.He had not entered a kitchen in the last one month as he had been worried about forgetting things.But today once inside he instinctively knew what to make and where to find the ingredients.He felt thankful that he had not forgotten the basic skills!Only knowing that he needed to apologize and do it well,Ryu mixed the ingredients well without even thinking about what he was making.Within a few minutes,the sizzling sound could be heard and the sweet aroma of pancakes spread around the house.

Ryu set the table with plates and various fruits and a big stack of pancakes.The always hungry made an appearence but seeing his brother almost made a u-turn when the smell of pancakes beckoned him.Before he could go inside,a little boy whipped past him and sat on the chair looking expectantly at his father.Like his mother and uncle,Ru also had a sweet tooth and taking into consideration that it had been ages since he had eaten his father's cooking,Ru was ready to gobble up the pancakes.Neil also quietly took his seat and waited for the pancakes.The pancakes far outweighed the anger.Ryu said a quiet sorry to Neil and kept the pancakes in front of him alongwith a jar of peanut butter.For his son,he kept the fruits and chocolate sauce and waited for Alicia to come down.

Alicia was the last one to come down.She was dressed to go to her university and giving a goodbye kiss to Ru and a curt bye to Neil all the while ignoring Ryu.She glanced at the half eaten pancakes and felt her mouth water.It had been so long she had eaten her husband's cooking!But she firmed her heart and marched towards the door.

Once in the garage,she opened her car and was assaulted by the sweet fragrance of pancakes.Shocked,she peeked inside the car and sitting there was a plate of stack of pancakes covered with a silver foil.Sitting inside,she opened the foil cover and smiled happily.A big smiley face made with her favorite toffee sauce and heart shaped strawberries for eyes was staring back at her.On the side was a sticky note that said,"Please do not go hungry!And I am sorry for last night and this morning.Please accept these as my sincere apology."

She smiled and cried at the same time.her hubby may have changed but he was also still the same sweet guy!She ate the best pancakes of her life with tears of happiness in her eyes.

Taking out her cell phone,Alicia typed out a message to Ryu,"Using my favorites is unfair tactics but I have accepted your apology however do not think you will be let off so easily.You will have to accept a punishment also!"In the end she typed out a few kiss blowing emojis and happily went to the university to attend her classes!

Inside the kitchen,Ryu read the message and smiled at the emojis that she had sent to him in the end of the message.Only after reading the message he realized another thing,like Ru and Neil's preferances he seemed to know his wife's preferences as well.Warming the toast and eggs that Alicia had made this morning,Ryu also had a satisfying breakfast.