The Angry Bird
The Angry Bird
"Nah, they are doing just fine without putting out the power," responded Anton. "See for yourself."
Anton showed the surveillance of the Iseul and Yeona chatting while eating their sandwiches.
"They are already talking. We don't need to put them in a situation where they can talk more," said Anton.
Satisfied with the outcome of their plan, Anton and Yanmei went to their kids to give them their usual bedtime stories.
Geun was already asleep, and it was only the two little girls that were still awake, waiting for their parents to join them.
"Daddy! Daddy will tell a story!" Yelled Chan-Mi.
"Yey! Daddy!" Echoed Nari.
Nari was jumping up and down on her bed, opposite to Chan-Mi's. They were always excited when Anton had free time to tuck them to sleep.
Their caregiver excused herself to give the couple their private family cuddling for the night. Yanmei selected from many of their bedtime stories and gave it to Anton.
Receiving the Cinderella book, Anton sighed. He could not grasp the sanity of these Disney stories, especially ones with fairies, but the girls loved it.
He sat next to Chan-Mi. Nari sat together with her sister, and Yanmei took the opposite end of Chan-Mi's bed.
When Anton opened the book, he gulped before starting to read, "Once upon there was a kind girl named, Cinderella. All the animals loved her, especially two mice named Gus and Jaq. They'd do anything for the girl they called Cinderelly."
"Daddy! I want a pet mice!" Said Chan-Mi.
"No."
"Me a cat!" Nari eagerly said.
"No." Anton put a hand on Nari's head and said, "Especially you, Nari. You are not allowed to have pets. Not now."
It was because Nari's lung continued to be too reactive to an allergen or infection that the couple concluded it was not safe for her to have any pets. In fact, they were very strict about having the girl's room cleaned on a daily basis.
The children's bedsheets and pillow casings were dust mite proofed. Nari was not allowed to have any stuffed toys either.
Nari also remained to have maintenance medicine; a daily dose of bronchi dilator to allow her breath properly, especially when she was running around, playing.
When Yanmei saw the sad expression of Nari. She let her rest on her lap and said, "Baby. It's not because we don't want you to have pets. Nari's lungs still need to be strong."
It was this kind of conversation that made Yanmei relive the pain of what her daughter had gone through. While the worst was over, they were technically experiencing the after-effect of her lungs getting damaged from ventilation and pneumonia at an early age.
Yanmei pecked on Nari's cheeks multiple times and said, "When you are bigger and your lungs are stronger. You can get a pet... Maybe."
"You understand, baby? When Nari is big and strong!" Repeated Yanmei.
"Big and Strong!" Nari echoed.
"You need to eat a lot!" Instructed Chan-Mi to her sister.
Unlike Chan-Mi, Nari was not an eater. Neither does she get jealous of Chan-Mi's food at the dining table when they eat together.
Seeing that Nari was already settled, Anton continued with the story. On the very last page, he read, "Filled with joy, Prince Charming and Cinderella lived happily ever after. The end."
"It's my favorite book," said Nari, putting her small hands together against her cheeks.
"Me too! I want to meet my prince charming!" Chan-Mi exclaimed.
Chan-Mi's reason for liking the book made Anton sneer. He said, "Okay. When you are thirty, you can meet your prince charming after going through several interviews and tests from me."
Anton's announcement made Yanmei chuckle. Of course, their future son-in-law will go through the most difficult test from her husband. She thought, 'Thank goodness their little girls were still young.'
The couple tucked Nari and Chan-Mi to their individual beds before checking on Geun in the next room.
He was already sound asleep inside his crib.
Yanmei wanted to co-sleep with Guen that night, but Anton had meetings left and right the next day. There was a need for him to have a proper rest.
While the couple was getting ready to sleep back at JKW Investments, Yeona was finally done with her work. She stepped outside the office building and asked the security to get her a cab.
"Miss Yeona, Sir Iseul said he would take you home," said one of the guards, pointing to the direction of the company car parked at the driveway.
Yet again, Yeona was caught by surprise. Earlier, Iseul and her were talking normally as they used to do back in the day. It was only about a year that Iseul's approach towards her changed. Now, Iseul was offering to take her home.
She saw Iseul get out of the car and call for her, "Get in the car, Yeona. It's very late. I'm safer than any cab driver out there."
Looking at the nearly deserted street, she pouted her lips before turning to Iseul. She sighed and said, "Fine."
As they were on the road, Yeona thought to break the ice. I was something she had always meant to ask him over the past few months. She said, "Why did you change?"
"Huh?" Iseul asked while turning the car to the left. "What do you mean?"
"You used to treat me nicely before. Then you suddenly changed, getting grumpy at me for trivial reasons," said Yeona. "You became so strict and annoying."
"I don't know what you are talking about," Iseul answered.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Protested Yeona. "When was the last time you smiled at me? Or greeted me normally with a simple good morning? I can't even remember... Admit it. You changed."
Yeona pointed out other circumstances, referring to how Iseul purposely angered her. She did not even notice or realized that Iseul never asked for the direction of her apartment.
When he pulled over in front of her apartment building, Yeona said, "How - how did you know where I live?"
"You told me once," said Iseul.
"Oh. I did?" She turned to her apartment before directing her gaze back to Iseul. She said, "Well, thank you. I hope you go back to the way you used to be Iseul. We don't need to be friends - we should at least be professional with each other - respect each other."
"The bushy-browed guy with bird lips." He nodded while glancing at her. Seeing her shock expression, he added, "Yeah, the red angry bird. That's me."
"That was what you called me in front of your friends, saying you would never be caught dating someone who looks like an angry bird."
Yeona felt a lump in her throat. Her forehead suddenly steamed, and she had trouble breathing. She now fully understood what changed in Iseul and why he treated her indifferently.
Her lips had difficulty expressing an apology, but after seconds of trying, she said, "I did not really mean to say that - "
"Of course you did. I am only part of security after all. Who would want to date someone like me, right?" Iseul said back Yeona's words, the ones that she expressed a year ago.
It was because Iseul overheard Yeona and her other female office friends talk about him, and Yeona's harsh denial of being enticed by him hurt his ego so badly that he started treating her frigidly.