Pay With Your Heart

Chapter 443: Twist.

Dan-Han enthusiastically and obediently followed Eun-sun to every shop she pulled him to. She seemed too happy to spend the money she didn’t have, and he seemed even more than happy to help her spend it because she was doing it for him.

“Let’s buy you a suit!” She chirped as she pulled him towards the direction of a clothing store.

The sales staff greeted them when they walked in, and Eun-sun requested they bring the cobalt blue suit on the mannequin. Dan-Han frowned when he saw the suit being brought over, and Eun-sun observed the look on his face.

“You don’t like it?” She asked, and he readily shook his head.

“The color is-”

“Perfect.” Eun-sun cut in. “All your suits are black and gray. They make you look grim.” She told him, making Dan-Han glare at her.

“You fell in love with me in them, didn’t you?”

.....

“Point of correction, President Lee. You ordered me to be in love with you. I never had a choice in it, the same way you don’t have one now.” She received the suit from the girl attending to them and pulled Dan-Han towards the changing room before shoving it in his hand.

“Go on, try it.” She said to him. Dan-Han was about to protest, but the glare from her eyes kept him, mum. He wickedly eyed her before doing as she had instructed.

Eun-sun dreamily smiled as she waited for him. She looked at her account balance again to be certain she could afford it.

She asked for the price of the suit, and her smile broadened when she discovered she could afford it. It wasn’t like the branded clothes Dan-Han always wore, but it was also expensive; it split her entire savings in half. Still, she was willing to spend it on him.

She looked around for a good pair of shoes and a tie while she waited for him.

The moment Dan-Han stepped out of the changing room, Eun-sun jaw slacked, same as the girls around the shop who gasped at his sight.

Dan-Han smiled when he saw her stunned expression. He had been uncomfortable wearing it, but if this were the reaction he got, then he’d do it again.

“How do I look?” Dan-Han smilingly asked, his voice snapping Eun-sun out of her stupified state.

She blinked a few times as she walked closer and gawked at him. “You look... beautiful.” She muttered, and Dan-Han chuckled.

“I’ll take that.” He turned towards the mirror and observed himself one more time. He caught sight of the tie and shoe in her hand and turned to her.

“Are you buying that too?” He asked, bringing Eun-sun’s attention to the shoe she had picked for him.

“Yes. You should try it.” She smiled and hurriedly stretched it out to him, but Dan-Han didn’t immediately receive them.

After a few moments of hesitation, he accepted them and tried them on.

Eun-sun clasped her hand as her eyes dazzled with awe. “You make me want to frame you and keep you by my bed.” She said with a dreamy tone, but the moment she did, she regretted it because that mischievous smile crossed his lips again.

“Why by your bed when you can have me on your bed every day, doing everything you like me doing.” He mischievously winked.

Eun-sun’s face burnt red as she peeked around them just in case someone had heard him. But thankfully, no one was within earshot.

“Lee Dan-Han, I don’t know what to do with you.” She wearily sighed. “You are getting out of hand lately.”

“Me?” Dan-han bellowed out in laughter.

Eun-sun didn’t know if buying something for Dan-Han was what made her happy or if it was simply the fact that they were out together that made her heart swell with joy.

“Thank you for buying me all this.” Dan-Han lifted the bags.

“You like them?” She asked with a smile, and Dan-Han happily nodded.

“I love them. I’ll wear them with pride.” He said.

Eun-sum looked at the few shopping bags with pride and happiness in her heart as they headed for the elevator.

“Where else are we going to?” Eun-sun asked with much enthusiasm.

Dan-Han looked at the time. It was almost two pm. “Let’s go have lunch.” He told her, and Eun-sun readily nodded. Food was always the best way to end any outing.

They made their way to the car, and Dan-Han started for the restaurant, which was to serve a dual purpose. Lunch and a meeting.

Tempted to rile Mr. Kim up, he thought about arriving late, but he wasn’t one to do such.

“Remember that person you asked about?” Dan-Han suddenly asked, gaining Eun-sun’s attention.

She raised a brow at him. “What person?” She confusedly asked.

“The person who took you.” He replied, and Eun-sun tossed all her attention at him. “We’re going to see him.” He said as he turned just at the right time to see Eun-sun’s astonished face.

They were?

“We are?” She questioned.

“Yes,” Dan-Han nodded, and Eun-sun worriedly frowned.

“But why? Isn’t that person going to recognize me?” With the resemblance she shared with her biological mother, she doubted someone like that would fail to recognize her.

“Of course, he will.” Dan-Han was sure Yong-Gun would. And for the first time, he’ll regret the ‘mistake’ he made years ago, which was keeping Eun-sun alive.

Eun-sun took note of the ‘he’. So it was a man, she mused.

“But if he’s going to recognize me, why are we meeting him? Shouldn’t we avoid such a person? Someone that can rip a child from its family seems dangerous to me. And what if he wants to harm me now?”

“Of course, he’d want to. But if Uncle Ki-Jun had gone for a DNA test, he’d be his target, as harming you would do nothing to save his plans.”

Save his plan. Eun-sun was confused about what he was talking about.

“Dan-Han, can you be more clear about what you’re talking about?” She seriously demanded. She didn’t understand him at all. And hearing she or her biological father could be in harm’s way made her nervous and scared.

Dan-Han briefly glanced at her before returning his attention to the road.

“So the person who took you from your parents is your uncle, Kim Yong-Gun, and that’s the person we’re going to meet.” He informed her, and if not for the shock of the information, Eun-sun would have commended Dan-Han for his unique way of dropping earth-shattering news.

“My uncle?” She asked in shock and surprise. She wasn’t sure she had heard him well.

But Dan-Han nodded as if to assure her she had him correctly.

“Why?” She dumbfoundedly asked, still unable to get over the shock effect of the news. She looked outside when Dan-Han suddenly pulled over, and she realized they had arrived at their destination.

He turned off the ignition and turned to her. “He took you to have the Kim fortune passed to his child, whom I believe is Mi-Cha.” He told her, dropping another piece of information that made her eyes widen with shock.

If Eun-sun was shocked before now, she was beyond astonished. She remembered Mi-Cha as the girl she had seen just yesterday. She was what?

Didn’t he tell her Mi-Cha was adopted? How was she now her uncle’s child?

“I thought you said she was adopted?” Eun-Sun was certain that was what he had said.

“Yes, that’s what I said, and it is true,” Dan-Han affirmed.

Eun-Sun didn’t understand what was going on at all. It seemed there was some huge twist going on, and she was trying her best to understand it.

Seeing how puzzled she was, Dan-Han sighed. He reached for her and brushed his hand along her face before tilting her chin up so she could look at him.

“I’m going to tell you everything once we get home. But for now, I want you to know the moment we walk through that door together and he sees us, a lot of things are going to change. And even though that’s what I want, I hate to know that it’s going to put you in harm’s way, and despite how I’d love not to get you involved in this and just swiftly handle it, I know I can’t do that.

“Firstly, because I know you won’t let me have my peace till you’re fully in the know. Secondly, I want to force his hand, but to do this, I want you to promise me that you’re going to do everything I say from henceforth. You must listen to all I tell you because that’s the only way I can keep you safe in all this. So will you?”

Eun-sun dazedly stared at him even though she had listened to all he had said.

“Eun-sun, are you listening?” he asked, and Eun-sun slowly nodded.

“I promise.”

“Good.” Dan-Han nodded. “So the first thing I want you to do is to refrain from touching anything in there. I know I promised you lunch, but I’m sorry we can’t have it here. After this, we’ll eat somewhere better, but till then don’t touch anything. The moment he sees you, he will try to goad you but don’t take anything. Even if his phone falls to the ground, do not pick it up.”

Eun-sun wanted to ask why, but she believed she already had the answer.

“He’s going to want to confirm if you’re indeed the child he took years ago, but if he confirms it before Uncle Ki-Jun does, things will get out of hand. I might be able to protect you, but I’d not be able to keep your father safe.”