Chapter 7
While the little boy ran about the whole room in his white s.h.i.+rt and light blue underwear, the two old men were at their wit's end trying to groom the child. He was to be at school in an hour, and he was nowhere near ready. Simon Hunter was ready to break into an outrage, whereas Mr. Park felt like he had gone back twenty years, to a time when Jimmy was a rowdy little boy. The butler sighed in exasperation.
The usually docile, sweet Benji Hunter was ready to turn the world upside down.
"Tell me what happened to mommy, grandpa!" Benji was demanding, as he expertly jumped from the top of the table and slithered under the bed with rapid speed, "I won't go till you tell me the truth!"
Mr. Park had been surprised when Ben had first referred to the Chairman as 'grandpa'. But now, he was past that point. He admitted in his heart that he was slightly jealous, but what astounded him more was the Miylike characteristics in the child. They had surfaced in him for the first time.
Mr. Park had come back to the room to check in on Ben. After he had heard Miya's account of his condition, he was worried for the child. To his shock though, the Chairman had already been there, staring at the sleeping boy. Simon seemed to have dismissed Chenric as well – in that moment however, Simon Hunter had a rather helpless expression on his face too.
The Chairman, of course, had come out of his natural and increasing fascination for the kid, and after the great time they'd had together at the amus.e.m.e.nt park, he wanted to console the child for what had happened to Miya. Of course, he was amazed by Jimmy's reaction to Ben too. The boy had run to Jim for comfort, and Junior Hunter had handled the situation with a grace Simon didn't expect even from himself. In fact, he was sure he was incapable of it.
That moment of watching Jim with Benji had put the old man into thought, and he had come to see the boy first thing in the morning after checking on Miya. What he had not expected was for the kid to turn out to be a nightmare, displaying obvious and somewhat more intense characters of his mommy.
Simon hadn't been too sure on how to wake up the boy when Park had walked into the room. Senior Hunter had fixed his face into looking blank, but in his heart, he had instantly been relieved. Park could handle kids. He would know how to wake up Ben.
Park had greeted the Chairman with a placid smile, and as the two had eyed each other dismissively, the little guy had woken up by himself.
And his first question had sent the two older men into panic.
"Tell me who hurt my mommy, grandpa!" Ben had suddenly sprung up from the bed, "Good morning uncle Park! Tell me who it was!"
One look at the boy's face confirmed Miya's conclusion for Park – it looked like Ben had cried a lot. His eyes were swollen, and his cheeks were red and puffy. His phone fell off his chest when he stood up on the bed.
"Grandpa!" the boy had said, "How is my mommy? Is she awake? I want to see her! Where is Jimmy? Is he with mommy? Who hurt her? Tell me grandpa, uncle Park!"
Simon Hunter had been dumbfounded by that plethora of questions. Meanwhile Park had explained carefully, "Your mommy was awake a few minutes before, Ben. She came to visit you, and –"
"Then why did you not wake me up? Mommy!"
That put the child into action and he jumped off the soft bed and onto the floor, rus.h.i.+ng to the door. Park had to drag the boy behind by his torso.
"She's asleep, dear one," the old man cooed, "Let
"No!" Ben pumped his fists now, freeing himself of Park's easy hold, "I want to see mommy!"
Not knowing how to react, and used to being the disciplinarian he was, Simon Hunter had stepped up, towered over the child, and said sternly, "Only when you get dressed and go to school."
The Chairman's steel eyes had brought Ben close to tears again, but the boy was way more defiant than the old Hunter had calculated. Staring back indignantly, as if he were looking at a traitor, Ben clenched his fists with all his might and shot back, "No!"
Simon Hunter was stunned into silence after that. Meanwhile Park used up all his stockpile of moves and coaxes but could not get the child to have a bath. He was half afraid that Miya would be up and trampling the house by now, swearing again.
Ben didn't budge and even though he reluctantly wore his school s.h.i.+rt when Park told him mommy would be sad if he didn't, the boy soon caught on. He refused to dress up further and made two demands – 'make me see mommy' and 'tell who did this to my mommy'. They told him she was asleep, which simply put the child into hysteria and he shot a thousand questions back as to why she wasn't awake yet. He even cried out loud.
Simon Hunter soon remembered why he hadn't bothered with Jimmy beyond training him while he was a child. Simon still couldn't deal with brats. Even Miya had been slightly annoying to him when he had met her as a kid. There were times the Chairman couldn't deal with his own little girl too.
Shrugging, as he fisted his hands inside his pockets, the Chairman made a determined face. Steeling his heart, ready to tackle the situation, he decided he was going to deal with Miya's brat… kid. While Park was looking exasperatedly beneath the bed as Ben lay in the furthest corner, Simon crouched and peered under the bed too.
Two sea blue eyes stared back indignantly at them both.
Simon prayed for patience. Park prayed for amity.
"Ben," Park said again, "Come out, dear. You can take a look at mommy and then we'll head to school. She's resting right now."
"Then I'll wait! I don't want to go! Who hurt my mommy?"
Simon frowned gravely, "You have your first test today. You have to go."
"No! Grandpa, I –"
"Ben, no argument. Come here, now!"
It was the boy's queue to slither out from the other side of the bed. Next, he climbed up the window sill. The act alone stilled the old men's hearts, while they both noted how much the child copied his mother.
"Why won't you tell me what happened to mommy, grandpa?" Ben was accusing now. He looked like an angry ball of fluff, as he held onto the nearby curtain and dangled from the sill with one leg, "You said we should never lie!"
Simon huffed.
"Isn't it obvious boy?" he retorted himself, "I'm not telling you because you're not old enough to understand. Is that so hard to get?!"
Beside him, Park almost hit his head. Ben frowned at the old Hunter's response, as the butler said to the Chairman through gritted teeth, "Sir, I'll take it from here. Don't trouble yourself."
Simon's eyes shot up at that. He understood that Park was dismissing him. It ticked him off.
"I can handle a child," the Chairman seethed back, "What do you mean I should go?"
"I didn't say you should go, sir."
"But you meant it."
"That's just your a.s.sumption, Chairman."
"But I know you meant it. I've known you for thirty years and more. You think I'm incapable of settling a dispute with a child?"
"We wouldn't be having this conversation if you weren't."
It was almost as if Park had taken the bait. The Chairman, who was looking for an outlet for his rage, boiled over from the butler's response. He controlled his temper when he said, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Park didn't back off. He wasn't the one who had started it. And he knew the Chairman too well to think he could escape the scenario now.
"I think you know what I mean."
"Are you referring to my - my little girl?"
Park noticed the stern, silent storm of emotions in the Chairman's eyes for a split second when he mentioned the lost child. He himself felt his heart ache. Swallowing, he said to the Senior Hunter, "We don't have to do this."
"It's long overdue. Say it!"
"Fine! Here's what I think, sir. The situation with you and Jimmy, and the situation with you and your daughter, and your circ.u.mstances with the lady boss – I think you could have handled it better. I've been looking into Miya's history again, you must know of course! And guess who I found there? The lady boss! I know you must know this too, that Miya is involved someway with your wife. You know what I think sir? That we're all standing back to fifteen years ago. Where you're still defending your wife while we try to figure out why. My only question now is this – why are you in Miya's favour? Is it because you're defending the lady boss again, or is it because you knew Miya as a child? I plead with you, tell me it's the latter, sir."
The Chairman was stunned.
He knew Park had a hunch about Miya and Eshni being involved, but he didn't think he was sure. Also… Park remembered that Simon had met Miya as a child! The Chairman looked back at the butler, at the fuming, silent, raging query in his eyes. And he swore to himself.
"You know I can't lie to your face," he admitted silently, "You mean more to me than you a.s.sume, Byeong."
Park's expression turned filthy. He bit his lower lip, looking at Simon Hunter in disbelief.
"I can't believe you," he hissed.
Then with a quick turn of his heels, the old man walked towards Ben and wordlessly pulled him off the sill. Ben complied, frightened of the sudden tension in the air. With that, the butler walked away.
He couldn't accept it. Fifteen years it had taken, for him and the Chairman to talk a little on a personal level again. And yet, it turned out to be another major disappointment.
Back in the room, Simon looked at the butler's back as he walked out. He clenched his fists, cursing out loud. He wanted to believe with all his heart, but Park's manner disoriented him a little.
Forcing his heart to stop beating so loud, Simon pressed his lips. His eyes turned colder by the minute, and finally he calmed down.
No – he wasn't making a mistake.
They wouldn't understand. But he wasn't going to be the one responsible. Not after all these years.
Not when he was this close to seeing Eshni again.
He breathed.