Pay With Your Heart

Hei-Ran still could not shake off the awkward feeling she had. All she wanted was for the so called lunch to come to an end, but from the look of things it wasn't going to happen soon.

Her mother kept looking at them, most especially her, even when she's been avoiding her gaze she could still feel her stare.

"Honey here" Jinhai spoke as he placed a well peeled shrimp on Hei-Ran's plate, making Hei-Ran choke on the water she was about to gulp down.

'Honey?'

Jinhai and Mrs Su panicked when she went into a coughing fit.

"Are you okay?" Her mother who was sitting opposite her asked with concern.

"Take it easy" Jinhai said while gently patting her back. Hei-Ran's cough worsened with Jinhai's hand patting her back.

'What was this guy doing? Trying to kill her? Where did the Honey thingy start? Is he mad?' Hei-Ran thought to herself.

"Is okay, Thanks" Hei-Ran said as she slightly arched her back forward to signal Jinhai to stop patting her, when she regained herself. 

"Are you sure?" Jinhai asked.

"Yes thanks. Let's finish up and leave for our meeting" She said emphasizing on the word 'Meeting'.

Jinhai looked at her and nodded in agreement. Mrs Su smiled to herself when she observed how attentive Jinhai was to her daughter. This was good.

No matter how she wanted her daughter to get married, she didn't want her to get involved with the wrong partner.

Jinhai was a good choice.

Soon they finished lunch, more like Hei-Ran made them abandon it. The uneasiness in her heart kept increasing, and the guilt of lying to her mother was eating her up.

"It was nice meeting you mother" Jinhai said as they walked to the door.

"Oh my dear it was nice meeting you too. You should come visiting more. I'll make your favorite dishes" Mrs Su said gleefully.

"Yes mother" Jinhai nodded.

Mrs Su turned to look at Hei-Ran who was walking behind them. She pulled her closer to herself, and whispered into her ears.

"You better visit me later on, we have alot to talk about. This is your first relationship after a long time, not that we can call that one a relationship, so don't ruin this one" She warned. 

"Hmmm" Hei-Ran nodded. She hated being reminded of the scumbag that duped her of her money. That was years ago, but her mother still hasn't forgotten about it.

"Ha, I'm sure the others will be happy to know you finally have a man. Most especially your aunt" Mr Su chirped excitedly, making Hei-Ran scrunch her brows.

"Mother you can't tell anyone about this" Hei-Ran hurriedly said.

"Why?" Mrs Su frowned.

"Because....because" Hei-Ran stuttered when she couldn't come up with something to say. She couldn't spill out the truth right now. Her mother looked very happy that she has found a 'fake boyfriend', so she couldn't spoil her mood now right?

But what scared her the most was the fact that her mom was having plans of telling others about this fake relationship with her boss. That was going to be the death of her.

Her heart thumped when she thought about her aunts and her cousins finding out about this, especially that nosy aunt of hers. She was probably going to die, because the probability of them hounding her to make another appearance with her boyfriend was super high.

'Lord!!' She cried in her mind.

"Mom you can't..."

"Honey you'll be late for your meeting. Don't keep him waiting" Mother Su said pointing towards Jinhai who was waiting by the door.

"But mom—" Hei-Ran wanted to beg her not to go about telling her family about her having a boyfriend.

"Don't worry honey, I'm not going to tell anyone. Don't miss your meeting." Mrs Su said as she gently pushed Hei-Ran to the door.

"You guys can go now" She smiled at them.

"Take care of yourself" Hei-Ran said as she hugged her mother.

"You too honey. And you guys should take care of each other"

"Sure, we will" Jinhai said, grabbing Hei-Ran's hand, as they walked away, while Mrs Su waved at them. But Hei-Ran was about to snatch her hand from Jinhai's grip.

Jinhai held the door for Hei-Ran, and rounded the car to his side and zoomed off.

"That went well" Jinhai said as they drove off.

"Thank you Mr Song, for helping me get past today. I promise to repay your kindness" Hei-Ran bowed briefly as she rendered her appreciation. Although she still didn't like the whole fake boyfriend stunt which they pulled on her mother, she was also grateful he had helped her. Her mother would have given her a hard time had she not showed up today.

"And how are you going to repay me?" Jinhai asked. He liked the idea of Hei-Ran being indebted to him.

"Ermm" Hei-Ran paused to think about it. "Whenever you need my help I'll render it, no questions asked" Hei-Ran said thoughtfully.

Jinhai turned to look at her, he was satisfied with this. He was going use this once in a lifetime opportunity well.

"I'll hold on to that" He stated.

They continued their drive in silence. It was minutes later that Hei-Ran noticed that the route wasn't a familiar one. 'Where were they heading to?'

"Mr Song where are we going?" She asked in confusion.

"Home"

"Huh?" Hei-Ran blinked in confusion.

"I'm going home and you can get a taxi from there" He replied nonchalantly, his gaze focused on the road.

"Home?"

'Why were they going home? Didn't he ask her to accompany him somewhere before her mother's call came in earlier? Was he cancelling that? Does home mean his house? And even if it was, why was he taking her along with him? He could drop her by the nearest bus stop so she could get a taxi, so what was wrong with him now?'

"Yes Ms Hei-Ran" He turned to see her confused look. "I'm driving home and I don't want to stop till I get there because I'm too full and tired. So just get a taxi from there" He said, not minding that his reason was as dumb as shit.

"But Mr Song–"

"Ms Hei-Ran, just take a taxi there" He said in an authoritative tone, which made Hei-Ran clamp her mouth shut, even though she wanted to retort.

This was her psycho-maniac boss –if that word even existed – he always get what he wants, so there was no need arguing with him. She looked out the window all through the remaining drive.

The moment Jinhai parked the car in front of his house, Hei-Ran quickly bowed to him. "I'll be on my way sir. Thanks again" She said before hopping out of the car. All she wanted was to go home and talk things out with Eun-Sun then have a good rest to unwind from all the day's stress. And most importantly get away from her crazy boss.

Jinhai wasn't able to say anything, before Hei-Ran literally ran out of his car. 'Was she that eager to go home?' He asked himself.

He watched her from the side view mirror as she hurried away, while trying to flag down a cab. He kept looking at her till she hopped into one.

His lips twitched when he thought about how close he has been with Hei-Ran today. He lifted his hand up which he had used to hold hers and his smile broadened.

This fake relationship thing, he was going to turn it into a real one.

....

Hei-Ran's And Eun-Sun's Place.

Hei-Ran was shocked when she walked into her apartment. She wasn't sure she had walked into the right apartment. Her eyes were fixed on the feast placed on the dining table.

'Who did this?' She asked herself as she looked around.

'Did Eun-Sun do this?' She shook her head in denial. There was no way Eun-Sun was capable of this. What was going on?

Her heart skipped a beat when Eun-Sun walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of rice, and an apron tied around her waist.

She was seeing things right? Eun-Sun cooked?

"You cooked all this?" Hei-Ran asked in surprise and disbelief, her eyes trailing across the delicacies on the table.

"Hmmm" Eun-Sun nodded with a small smile.

"And they're all..."

"My favorites" Hei-Ran completed her sentence. She turned to look at Eun-Sun, with a confusion expression on her face.

"Wh..why?"

"Because I want to apologize to you and...and I want to say you're right for what you said to me today" Eun-Sun said.

Hei-Ran walked closer to her.

"Oh come on Eun-Sun, I'm supposed to apologize to you. I really shouldn't have said those things to you, knowing how hard things has been for you all this years. I'm sorry" Hei-Ran apologized as she held her hand.

"I'm not angry over what you said, okay I was a while earlier, but then I talked to someone and I thought things through and I reealized you were right. I have indeed lost myself over the years...and now I want to try my best and do better and not let all my troubles affect me so deeply, because it affects you and others who still care for me. And that's why I cooked to say sorry for how I've been acting these past years. I promise to make our friendship better" Eun-Sun said.

"Awwnn..." Hei-Ran was speechless. She couldn't believe this was her baby girl, and she was actually giving a lengthy and emotional speech. Hei-Ran happily pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so happy Eun-Sun. I'm so happy I'm getting my best friend back" Hei-Ran said, her eyes slowly turning red.

"He-i-Ran, you're squee-zing me" Eun-Sun mumbled out.

"Oh sorry" Hei-Ran quickly let go. "I'm just excited" she cheered.

"I know. Let's eat" Eun-Sun pointed to the food.

Hei-Ran rubbed her hands together, before sliding into a seat. She took a spoon full of food and cried out in joy, with her eyes closed.

"I've almost forgotten you're such a great cook. I was almost getting cocky about my cooking when you keep asking for my food. Henceforth please cook all the food okay?" Hei-Ran said. She was going to enjoy eating this. Thankfully she wasn't able to eat much at her mother's place, thanks to her being nervous.

"I'll try" Eun-Sun smiled when Hei-Ran started waffling down the food. 

Hopefully this decision would bring a lot good change to her life. She wasn't sure, but henceforth she was going to do her best to stay happy, not just for herself but for the people who cared about her.