Chapter 103 - Love?

Mirae was still sleeping when Jiwon got out of the bathroom. He quietly put on his clothes as his wife kept on snoozing. She was now almost in her fourth month and her body was gradually changing. Her hormones were affecting her as she faced frequent mood swings. 

Last night, she was crying because she put a colorful sock in with the white clothes in the washing machine. It resulted in the color spreading to all the clothes. It took Jiwon an hour to calm her down. After a while, she suddenly demanded for beef short ribs. When Jiwon prepared short ribs, she changed her mind and asked for chicken soup instead. And at night, she became particularly wild in bed, as her hormones became uncontrollable.

Jiwon sighed, watching his wife sleep. She was exhausted from their nighttime tryst. Her arms and legs were strewn all over the bed as she slept without a care in the world. 

Jiwon pulled the blanket above her, gently tucking her into a comfortable position. Stroking her stomach, he said out loud, "Don't make mommy do anything wild today."

"Spicy rice cakes…" Mirae mumbled in her sleep. "Bibimbap...Bulgoggi…"

A wide smile etched on her face as she dreamt of food. Jiwon sighed. I married a glutton, he thought helplessly. 

He quietly got up and exited the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind him. Stepping outside, he scanned around the area.

Ever since the day at the clinic, Jiwon had an inkling that someone was following them. He felt it quite a lot that they were being tailed. It did not take him many guesses to figure out who might be behind it. After the failed assault on Soowon, Jiwon had laid low. But there was no doubt that Soowon had informed Ziko about the attack on him. Even though Jiwon was disguised, he did not underestimate Ziko. The latter may have recognized him through CCTV footage of the hotel.

So Jiwon contacted Secretary Lee who in turn informed the late Jung Taewon's men to keep an eye on Mirae. She did not know, of course. They could not explain the situation to her without revealing the truth about her parents. 

Jiwon noticed one of Jung Taewon's men sitting at a coffee shop next to the apartment, pretending to sip a drink. He glanced at Jiwon and they shared a look of understanding. Jiwon then continued on his way. 

Even if both he and Mirae had decided not to inherit their fortune, Jiwon had still sent a secret request to Secretary Lee to arrange for Mirae's protection. From all these years, the Cartel was still not to be taken lightly. 

….

Mirae woke up only to find that Jiwon was already gone. It was almost ten thirty in the morning and she was still sleepy. But her tummy was growling loudly.

"You are a foodie, just like me," she sighed, caressing her stomach. Her appetite had grown ten folds from before. She already used to eat like no tomorrow but now with the baby, her stomach became a bottomless pit. 

Painfully dragging herself off the bed, Mirae shuffled towards the bathroom to get fresh. After sprinkling some cool water on her face, she made her way towards the kitchen. Jiwon had already left breakfast for her on the table. He had made chicken soup with brown rice, mixed vegetables and boiled eggs. Freshly made carrot juice was poured in a jar next to it. 

"For a self proclaimed person with no feelings, he sure knows how to care for others," she giggled. Even though she had doubts about his feelings towards her, she knows that deep down in his heart, he held a soft corner for her. Despite their not so luxurious living conditions, Jiwon truly tried to be attentive towards her. Recently, he was becoming more open in his display of affection.

Is it because of the baby? She wondered. The thought saddened her a little. She wanted him to truly love her and not because she was the mother of his child. 

"Live with it, Mirae," she sighed. Yet, her heart felt heavy. Taking out her phone, she stared at the picture on it. It was a picture they had clicked outside the courthouse where they got married. It was one of their rare photos together since Jiwon hated taking pictures.

"My hubby is really handsome," she mumbled. Even if the circumstances of their marriage was unusual, she had grown to love him with her whole heart. But his aloofness bothered her. Does he feel the same about me? She wondered.

"Jiwon…" she said softly. "Is it… okay for me to fall in love with you?"

As much as she tried, she could not find the answer in her heart.

….

Jiwon was at the Imperial Hotel's music room. He was busy writing the lyrics of a song when one of the senior musicians, Mr. Shun, came over to sit beside him.

"Hello, Mr. Shin," Jiwon greeted the older man. Mr. Shin was in his forties and a very jolly person. He had been very friendly towards Jiwon and even chatted with the young man quite a lot.

"Hello, Jiwon," he greeted back. "Busy with a song?"

"Yes, Mr. Shin," Jiwon replied. "I am almost done with it."

"How is your wife?" Mr. Shin queried. "Is her health alright?"

"Better than before," Jiwon said. "Initial month was hard since it's her first pregnancy. But now, she had adjusted to the routine. The morning sickness has subsided a lot."

"When is her delivery?"

"Sometime during December," Jiwon informed. 

"She will need your support a lot," Mr. Shin said wisely. "She's going through an important phase that too at such a young age. It's a good thing you love her a lot. Most pregnant girls of her age rarely get the support the way you're providing your wife."

"Love?" Jiwon asked, startled. "I don't know about that."

"What do you mean?" Mr. Shin frowned. 

"You see...the situation leading to our marriage was unusual," Jiwon said in a small tone. "My grandfather gave us a choice. She accepted it because she wanted to repay my grandfather for his help. I accepted it because she is someone I have to protect at all costs. It was a marriage of convenience."

Mr. Shin studied Jiwon. He had seen the newly wed couple together once when Jiwon had brought his wife to an event arranged for the employees and their families at the hotel. He had seen how Jiwon was taking care of each and every need of his wife even before she even uttered a word. 

"Was?" Mr. Shin questioned. "You said it was a marriage of convenience. What is it now?"

Jiwon looked at him in surprise. Mr. Shin gave him a friendly smile.

"Jiwon," he patted his arm. "I have seen many couples proclaiming their love openly. I have seen many of them break up as well. But in your case, I did not think for a second that your marriage was due to circumstances. Your eyes were on your wife the whole time at the party. Even when you were chatting with others, your turned back every now and then to where she was sitting. You were more concerned about what she was doing than the person standing next to you. Your eyes had the look of a little puppy searching for its master and only lit up when she was standing beside you. It looked as if you would lay down your life for her."

"I-I…" Jiwon stammered. He did not know how to react to that.

Mr. Shin inwardly shook his head. It seems as if Jiwon did not realize his own feelings towards his wife.

"Jiwon," the older man said. "You're in love with your wife."

….

Mirae was checking her emails. She had taken up three projects . One required her to make an anti-virus software for an IT firm. The second job was to prepare a ticket database for an airline while the third one was a web designing task. The pay for all three was not much but she knew that the extra income can relieve Jiwon's stress a little. 

Pulling up her sleeves, she put on her headphones and began to work on the first task. It was the trickiest one and it needed to be completely foolproof. It would take her a few days to finish it but she had plenty of time in hand. Pausing every half an hour to talk short walks, she began to produce a complex set of codes to test her designed software against all the known malwares and viruses.

Mirae was so engrossed in her work, that she lost track of time. Finally, she looked up to see that it was already past 7 PM. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"It's been eight hours?" she blinked. She did not even eat lunch! Jiwon will give her an earful when he arrives home!

Hurriedly heating up the rice and kimchi, she hastily stuffed the food in her mouth. As she gobbled on the food, her phone rang up. She picked it up.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Hello!" came a female voice from the other end. "Am I talking to Miss Jung Mirae?"

"Yes, I'm Jung Mirae," Mirae replied. "Who is this?"

"I am calling from Instant Insurance Limited," the woman said. "My name is Chang Yuna, the customer relationship officer."

"I don't want insurance," Mirae said shortly.

"Ma'am I'm not selling you insurance," Chang Yuna said. "It's about a life insurance policy your father took out on himself. You were named as the beneficiary."

Mirae sat up straight. Her father's life insurance policy?

"His will stated that once you turn twenty one," Chang Yuna continued. "You would receive the insurance money if he passes away unduly due to natural causes or an accident."

"Y-yes?" Mirae said, unsure of what to do. "I'm going to turn twenty one in a few months. Can I ask you to donate the money to some charity instead? Me and my husband had decided not to use our parents' money."

"I'm afraid ma'am, our company will be unable to heed to that request," Chang Yuna replied. "His life insurance said that in the event of his death due to natural causes or accidents, then we will hand the money over to you. However, his death was due to unnatural causes and hence, it violates our policy. We cannot provide the money to the beneficiary. In this case, you are the beneficiary."

Mirae frowned. "My dad's insurance policy covered death by accident!" she argued. "It should be covered."

"I'm afraid ma'am that is not true," Chang Yuna revealed. "Our investigation and the post mortem report of your father clearly stated that his death was due to an external blow from a heavy object after his car had crashed. In other words, he was hit on the head after the accident by a metallic object which caused his death. The postmortem report concluded that it was a murder."