Chapter 28: The Family Introduction

Ashma looked at him in surprise. How did the stranger who just told her his name know her? He had a playful smile on his face. She was not aware of her own fame.

"What do you mean 'you know'?" asked Ashma, surprised.

"Everyone knows who you are. Be happy you are not surrounded by paparazzi," stated Yong-Sun.

"No one in this hospital seems to know," pointed out Ashma.

"Well, that's true. Everyone related to the fashion, entertainment or textile industry knows you. And we all have a big fan of yours amongst us. She knows your life history." He was smiling from ear to ear.

"Please don't say Bong-Cha, please don't say Bong-Cha," she asked in a playfully annoyed tone.

"Bong-Cha!" he exclaimed, happily. "Well, to some extent Chin-Sun too." Ashma's Eyes widened with disbelief. "Tell no one but I think Jong-Woo Keunahppa is your fan too. He has too many suits from your label 'sundry'."

"Ha-ha." She laughed softly. It was nice to see her light mood after so much anger and crying and embarrassment. Her face was still swollen, her eyes were still red due to crying but her mood seemed to be lifted after talking to Baek-Hyeon. Ashma explained, "It is 'Saundarya' which means elegant beauty, not 'sundry'."

"Oh! Sorry for the wrong pronunciation," exclaimed Yong-Sun.

"It's fine." She smiled at him and then lowered her gaze.

There was a moment of silence. They both sat in silence waiting for Baek-Hyeon to return but there was no sign of him. No one came through the door for a long time. They both looked away and their eyes kept wandering all over the room. Ashma's eyes fell on her mother's monitor. The monitor was beeping in a continuous rhythm. Her chest was rising and falling in a regular fashion. She was in a deep sleep. Ashma was happy now that her mother was okay and was sleeping peacefully. It was not a heart attack but a panic attack. Ashma was relieved. She was glad that no one was dying, no one was severely ill and she could return to India soon. Also, her mother saw the person she came to see.

Yong-Sun glanced at Ashma but his eyes froze on her face. She was looking at her mother with loving eyes. All of sudden he wished for Ashma to look at him like that, with love, with adoration. He kept staring at her side profile. Her long straight hair, her big eyes, her long eyelashes, her pointed nose, her perfectly portioned lips, her beautiful jawline were making it hard to look away from her. He knew that if he didn't avert his eyes, his crush will start showing and it will to his embarrassment. But it was difficult to remove his eyes from her beautiful face.

Suddenly, Ashma asked without looking at him. It was clear that she was still thinking about the conversation they just had. She was still staring at her mother. "Um… What is the meaning of keunahppa?"

Her question brought him back from crush land. He cursed himself first and then composed himself. "Oh, it means uncle or father's brother," he explained.

"Oh. So, since when did you know Baek-Hyeon? The better question would be how do you know Baek-Hyeon? How long since you have been friends?" she questioned.

He took a deep breath and answered, "well, that's a very long story."

"We have nothing else to do." She gestured to the whole room and spoke.

"Well, that's true. So, the story goes like this. We always introduce our family in this way so pay attention. Harabuhji were three friends who lived together in a small village. They came together to Seoul for work but they decided to start their individual business. They stayed together in a small apartment but worked separately. They worked hard, time passed and with each other's love and support, they created separate empires. Ours are a few of the richest families in Korea. Then those three friends got married and had kids and then those kids had kids. We are those kids. We lived together, grew together and have been friends since childhood. All our grandparents are dead except Harabuhji." She was closely listening to the story.

Yong-Sun continued, "my father, Chin-Sun's father and your…" before he could complete his sentence, she stared at him with killer eyes. He cleared his throat and said, "I mean my father, Chin-Sun's father and Baek-Hyeon's father grew up together and were best of friends. Then as I told you we grew up together and now we are best of friends. Every generation has best friends among them. But Chin-Sun and Baek-Hyeon fell in love and are about to get married. This is for the first time that the friendship is about to change into something more beautiful. Two friends are about to become family." He completed his narration.

She squinted her eyes and asked, "that is so nice. So, how did the grandparents die?"

"Um… one of them had a heart attack, two had two different kinds of cancer and Baek-Hyeon's halmuhni, that is grandmother, died during childbirth," he explained.

"Oh. I am so sorry." She gave her condolences. Then something didn't sit right with her. She asked, "so, every man only had a son except Bong-Cha. Weird family tree, don't you think?"

"Ha-ha," he laughed. "No, I have an uncle who has been living in America since before I was born. He works for some 'travel channel' so he keeps travelling all around the world."

"So he visits?" asked Ashma with curiosity.

"Yes, he has visited a few times and then Chin-Sun has an aunt who is happily married with two kids, both girls but she also lives outside Korea. She lives in Australia and comes to Korea once a year during Chuseok. She will be arriving for the wedding."

"Nice, that's why you guys are fluent in English."

"That's right, but beware of her." He talked about the aunt.

"What? Why?" she asked, shocked.

"She is a matchmaker. She lives for marriage and weddings."

"What?" she laughed at his explanation.

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"Yes, that's true. Don't laugh. She always tries to set us up on a blind date. Once she took Bong-Cha and her daughters for a blind date when Bong-Cha was mere 19 years old."

"No!" she exclaimed. "And her daughters?"

"One was 20 and the other was 22."

"Oh no!"

"Yes, and she took both Baek-Hyeon and me almost 50 times."

"Ha-ha," she laughed out loud. "And yet no one said yes to both of you?"

"Hey!"

"Ha-ha." The whole room ringed with the sweet sound of her laughter. He smiled at her cute laugh. His heart started beating fast. The blood in his veins started racing with happiness. Her red nose was looking cuter while she was laughing.

"Now tell me about you?" he asked.

"Oh, I had a simple life, just my mother, my grandfather and me and my nanny, Madhu aunty. She has been working so long for us that she is part of our family now. I always wanted to become a fashion designer and with the love and encouragement of my mom and Mumma, your Eun-Kyung Aunty, I was able to become one. I work and spend my time with my family."

"I don't want to say 'I know', but I know."

"What? How? What do you do?" she asked.

"Promise, you won't shout," he said, cautiously

"Why would I shout?" she inquired. She looked at him with curiosity.

"Um… because…" he hesitated.

"Because?" she gestured him to complete his sentence.

"CozImdonerobogji." He said in a single breath.

"Sorry, what? Take a deep breath and then answer." She laughed at his fast words.

"Um… I said… because I am the owner of Bogji."

"What? Shut up!" she stood abruptly in disbelief. "It's your company that has been pestering me to work with you for the past one year?" she asked in astonishment.

"You are the most sorted fashion designer in the industry right now. Of course, everyone wants to work with you. We have been trying for a long time. But now you don't even pick up our phone," he first complimented her and then complained to her. He then took her hand, pulled her and forced her to sit back on the chair.

"Because I told your people many times that my calendar is completely booked, I don't have time yet they kept pestering me so I ordered everyone not to pick the phone from your company. If the caller id says Bogji, ignore it. Due to the number from Korea, the call of Bong-Cha went ignored for about a week," she explained.

"Well, that's humiliating."

"No, it's not. It's annoying. I informed them that if my calendar gets free I would give them a callback but they kept pestering and calling and pestering and calling."

"Sorry, they were just following Chin-Sun's and my order."

"What?" she again stood up from her chair.

"Why do you keep jumping from your chair? And as I told you, she is a big fan."

"As you said, who isn't my fan?"

"Oh, so humble."

She scoffed and smiled slightly.

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