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Chapter 59

My mother-in-law sat in the drawing room sofa holding JungHan with a smile on her face. “Oh, our little JungHan already grew so big. How big are you going to get tomorrow?”

Being only 6 months old, JungHan didn’t understand a word she was saying, but my mother-in-law continued to speak to him.

Sitting across from her, I could feel a warmth about her. My mother-in-law was just a regular grandmother in front of her grandson. Realizing that, it was much easier to approach her.

“I can’t go see our JungHan every day,” she said to herself in a disappointed tone

“If you are OK with it, I can send you JungHan’s picture every day,” I said.

“Will you?” Her eyes brightened at my suggestion.

JiHan interrupted in a flat voice. “You know you wouldn’t have seen a grandchild if it wasn’t for AhJung, right?”

My mother-in-law’s eyes narrowed as she glared at JiHan. “If you remind me of that one more time, it’ll be a hundred times.”

“I know. And, I know I have 902 more times I have to say it to reach a thousand,” he replied.

“Why are you keeping count to a thousand? Are you planning to repeat it a thousand times?” she asked.

“Of course. A thousand? You should hear it 10,000 times,” JiHan replied. “You have to be good to my AhJung.”

Quit it! I yelled silently feeling like I was sitting on a pincushion. I pinched JiHan to make him stop. He grabbed my hand and put it on his lap.

“I’m going to put wiretapping hardware on my wife, so don’t even think about scolding her,” he said.

What? Wiretap?

“Are you serious?” I asked in shock.

He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “No but we’ll pretend we will.”

I have to pretend I have it when I don’t?

I jumped in surprise and acted out. “What are you insane? Where did you put it? Where?” I made a scene searching through my pockets when I heard my mother-in-law’s voice.

“You can wiretap or do whatever you want. There won’t be anything to hold against me,” my mother-in-law said with sophistication.

“Oh, of course there’s nothing,” I said to JiHan. “After our marriage, you had made me feel so comfortable. When the two of us are together, she leaves me alone as if I’m not there. I may not get any compliments, but I don’t get any criticisms either.”

What I said was true. After the wedding, my mother-in-law had abandoned all her expectations for a proper daughter-in-law, so I had come and gone comfortably.

To make sure she didn’t feel cheated, I told JiHan the truth about the situation. “The best in laws are those that just let you roam about.”

I raised my thumbs to emphasize my point.

JiHan frowned as if displeased. “A person left to roam is one that has no protection.”

“What?”

“If it wasn’t for you, this family line would have ended,” he said “You should be thinking of getting praised by your in-laws, not content with being able to roam around freely.”

“A woman expecting to gain praise from the in-laws is one that gave up on marriage,” I replied. “There is no daughter-in-law that could be highly respected. Even if she is the best daughter-in-law ever, she is a stranger that came into the family. So, a daughter-in-law given free reign is the best option there is.”

JiHan turned to his mother and said, “Mother, you should show her that it is not true. You can do it, can’t you? Show her you are above the other mothers-in-law. You of all people can surely do it. Show your daughter-in-law how much you can praise and respect her.”

It sounded ridiculous to me, so how ridiculous would it sound to his mother?

His mother stared at him in disbelief. Instead, she moved her gaze to JungHan in her arms.

“JungHan, you better learn to do exactly what your father is doing right now,” she said. “That way, when you get married, you will do exactly the same thing to him, OK? You have to bother your parents to praise their daughter-in-law over and over again. OK?”

I suddenly had a flash of an older JungHan looking just like JiHan saying the same exact words. I could definitely understand how my mother-in-law was feeling.

“My AhJung is different from you, mother, from the get-go,” JiHan coldly said without understanding.

“What?”

“You want to control your son’s life the way you want, but my AhJung would never do that,” he said. “My son will never have to endure having his marriage canceled because of my AhJung. Since there’s no danger of that happening, JungHan will not have a reason to demand respect for his wife. If he did, he will be a horrible son. This situation’s cause is your fault. You have to accept that you are growing what you sow.”

JiHan crossed his arms, sure that there was nothing wrong with his reasoning. My mother-in-law looked at JiHan as if she was wondering how she had given birth to such a being.

She turned to me and said, “You should take my son and your son and go home and rest.”

“Excuse me?”

She handed JungHan to me. “If you stay longer, I may have to beat my son.”

I felt truthfulness behind her words, so I hurriedly took JungHan from her arms.

***

Having left my mother-in-law’s place earlier than expected, I sat fretting in the passenger’s seat with JungHan in my arms.

“Why did you have to go and demand respect when I don’t even need it?” I asked. “You only put me in a bad position.”

JiHan reached over and fastened my seat belt without a change in expression. As it clicked into place, he kissed me on the cheek. I liked it, but it was not a situation to express it.

Instead, I pouted and continued complaining. “Could you stop bothering your mother about it. She leaves me alone. If you don’t leave her alone, then what does that make me?”

“That makes you a precious daughter-in-law,” JiHan replied.

“You mean it makes me a presumptuous daughter-in-law,” I retorted. “It makes it look like I’m using my husband to make my mother-in-law’s life difficult. You made my life so difficult before dating me, is it your mother’s turn? You sure have a way of bugging people. You love it. You’re a bugging maniac.”

“I’m not doing it because I like it,” he said. “I’m doing it because it’s needed.”

“When you did it to me, you might have needed it to get rid of me from your brother, but why do you need to do it to your mother?” I asked. “I don’t need the respect.”

“The respect I’m talking about isn’t something that extravagant,” JiHan said as he started the car. “I just want her to tell you that you do well when you do. Being appreciative and giving compliments is all I ask. Even though you are in a drama, she didn’t say one good word to you.”

“Not saying anything is good enough,” I said. “I should be glad she’s not asking me what I’m doing instead of staying home and caring for the baby. I’m content with the way things are.”

“Well I don’t like it. I hate that you are treated like you are invisible and are not approved of by my mother. I’m going to make sure you will be taken care of and appreciated in the family,” JiHan determinedly said.

I was touched by his deep concern for me.

“Instead of invisible, let’s be a highlight,” he lightly added as he put on his own seatbelt.

I quickly intercepted and secured it for him. I wanted to do everything this person did for me to keep me happy.

***

I thought that however much my husband wanted to make me happy, the ability to change his mother would be a lost cause. His mother was no ordinary mother. Even though she gave us permission to get married, I knew she would never like me. I had accepted this reality but...

“Mother said she picked this up off the street on her way home and asked I give it to you.” JiKyung placed an envelope on the table with a flabbergasted look on his face.

“Your mother picked it up off the street?” I asked.

Thinking how ridiculous that sounded, JiHan entered the room as I opened the envelope. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” JiKyung said. “Our mother said she picked it up off the street...”

I froze after taking out the contents of the envelope.

“Why are you like that? What is it?” JiHan leaned over to look at the object in my hand upon seeing my surprised expression.

“It’s an airline ticket?” I was confused.

JiHan looked surprised and looked at JiKyung. “She picked this up off the ground?”

“Yea. She said she picked up two tickets to Bali off the street,” JiKyung said. “To top it off, she even made a reservation for the hotel for both of you to stay. You two can take a week off there. Our mother has volunteered to take care of JungHan during that time, so you two can have a fun time together without worrying.”

JiKyung’s answer was even more surprising. My eyes grew twice its size.

“She wants the two of us to go on vacation?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

“All of a sudden? Why is she doing this?” I asked, still in disbelief.

“It’s not all of a sudden,” JiKyung said. “It’s not easy for our mother to take a week off. She’s been rearranging her schedule for the past two months so she can fit it in. I’m assuming she’s been preparing this to coincide with you finishing up your drama.”

I couldn’t even have dreamed of something like this happening. I looked at JiHan unable to get my bearings straight. I found he had on the same expression I did.

***

The first day of our trip, I sat in a cafe fiddling with my phone as I waited to board the plane. I had called my mother-in-law, who was taking care of JungHan. Because the connection was bad, I had resorted to sending a text.

I wrote in how thankful I was and added a bunch of heart emojis to boot. I was just about to press send when two girls walking by stopped in front of me.

“Oh? That’s Na AhJung!”

I looked up hearing the voice and saw two college girls running toward me.

“Unni, can I get your signature?” one of the girls asked.

“Me?”

“Yes, you’re Na AhJung unni, aren’t you?” she asked.

“I am...” There’s someone who wants my signature? Why?

I had run into these situations a couple times after shooting the drama, but I was still not used to it.

“Here.” One of the two girls opened up her diary and pushed it in front of me.

I signed it still in a daze. After returning the diary back to the owner, JiHan returned holding two cups of coffee.

“Are they someone you know?” he asked looking at the two girls.

“No. They were just passing by and asked for my signature,” I answered blushing.

He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal and placed a straw into my drink.

The owner of the diary didn’t leave and asked, “Unni, who’s this? Is he famous too?”

“What? No. He’s my husband,” I said.

“Whoa...” The two girls goggled at JiHan as if this was a big deal.

One of the girls then turned back to me and asked, “Unni, could I have a picture?”

“A picture? With me?” I asked even more surprised than when they asked me for a signature.

She shook her head. “No, with your husband.”

I felt like someone hit me on the back of the head with a hammer. I slammed my hand onto the table standing up.

“No! You can’t! Never!” I yelled without realizing it.

The two girls stood standing with a surprised look on their face. Not only them, but the rest of the people around seemed to be staring at me.

Was I being too sensitive? Was my reaction too extreme?

Although I felt a tinge of regret, my feelings toward the issue did not change.

“My husband is not famous, he’s just a normal guy,” I said with my head down, slowly sitting back down.

JiHan got up from his seat and said in a sharp voice, “Even if I was famous, I can’t. I just don’t want to. Why would I take a picture with someone other than my wife?”

He hoisted the bag over his shoulder. Holding the two cups of coffee in both hands he said to me, “Let’s go. It’s almost time.”

***

As we finished boarding the plane, I grabbed JiHan’s hand and nervously asked, “Those people back there won’t put us up on the internet, right? Saying we were being rude for not taking a picture with them?”

“Was it rude to not take a picture with them?” he asked. “I’m my AhJung’s husband, not a star. Tell them to put it up if they want. Knowing full well I’m not famous yet asking for a picture, I’d love to see what the comments are about wanting to take a picture with someone else’s husband.”

“They can remove the pending circumstances and just put up negative comments,” I said.

“Then, I will sue them for defamation,” he said.

At his determined response, I calmed myself down. Yes, he would probably do that and then some. As I thought this, the phone in my pocket rang. I had gotten a message back from my mother-in-law.

[There’s no need to be thankful. You might be going as two people, but I hope you return as three.]

I froze at her response. It sounded like she was pressuring me for another grandchild. I looked up at JiHan with mixed emotions. He had seen the message and locked eyes with me.

“Do you agree with this statement?” JiHan asked.

Unlike before where we had to fight for whether we would or would not have children, this time his stubbornness was nowhere to be seen.

“No.” I shook my head. “Right now, JungHan is enough.”

Reminded of JungHan, my heart swelled. I smiled widely.

“Then we should be careful.” JiHan smiled as wide as I did. “If a lucky guy like me wants to make sure it doesn’t happen, then we should be two, maybe three times more careful.”

He held my hand as we shared the inside joke. I nodded back wrapping my hand in his.

Matching our intentions, we moved together toward the plane we needed to board. We walked one step in front of the other to our future.

(Wedding Impossible End)