CHAPTER FIVE
1619 Words
MADAM HAYES POV:
“You didn't call first.”
Madam Hayes said it from the doorway, but she was already smiling.
Sunhee didn't even bother apologizing.
“Since when do I call first?”
She swept into the sitting room in a long coat that looked expensive enough to pay someone's rent for a year.
Madam Hayes stared at it.
“Paris?”
“Obviously.”
“It's Tuesday.”
“And?”
“You're going to the market later.”
“I can look good at the market.”
“You're going to buy vegetables.”
“Vegetables deserve luxury too.”
Madam Hayes laughed despite herself.
Sunhee handed her coat to the housekeeper without even looking back.
“Oh, and Jae-won stopped at that little patisserie you like.”
She pointed at the box in the housekeeper's hands.
“Don't argue. I already paid.”
“I wasn't going to argue.”
“You were thinking about it.”
“I was thinking about asking why you keep spending money on pastries when you complain about your diet every week.”
Sunhee looked offended.
“I don't complain about my diet.”
“You complained about it yesterday.”
“I was having a difficult day.”
“You ate six pastries.”
“They were small.”
“They were not small.”
Sunhee ignored her and sat down.
The housekeeper returned with tea and placed it on the table before quietly leaving them alone.
Madam Hayes poured for both of them.
She always did.
It didn't matter how many people worked in the house. Tea was something she preferred to pour herself.
Sunhee picked up a pastry.
“So.”
Madam Hayes already knew that tone.
“How is he?”
She didn't have to ask who.
There had only been one person they talked about this much lately.
“Busy.”
“Mm.”
“Tired.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Working.”
Sunhee slowly lowered the pastry.
“Are you planning to give me his entire biography one word at a time?”
Madam Hayes smiled.
“You asked.”
“I asked how he was. You gave me three words that could describe a man trapped under a collapsed building.”
“He's fine.”
“That wasn't what I asked.”
Madam Hayes sighed.
Sunhee had always been like this.
She could turn a simple question into an investigation.
“I saw him at the Kwon wedding last month,” Sunhee continued. “That boy looked terrible.”
“He works hard.”
“He works himself into the ground.”
Madam Hayes didn't answer.
Sunhee's expression softened.
“All that money. That company. That responsibility. And he still lives like he's being punished for something.”
Madam Hayes wrapped both hands around her teacup.
“He's always been serious.”
“He wasn't always this serious.”
That was true.
Before his father died, Alexander had still known how to laugh.
Not often.
But enough.
Afterward, something had changed.
Madam Hayes looked down at her tea.
“He told me something the other night.”
Sunhee immediately sat up straighter.
“What?”
“There was an incident near his father's grave.”
Sunhee's smile disappeared.
“What happened?”
“Some men were causing trouble with a young woman.”
“And?”
“He stepped in.”
Sunhee blinked.
“Alexander?”
“Yes.”
“Alexander stepped into a fight?”
“He said he handled it.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Madam Hayes gave her a look.
Sunhee leaned forward.
“What happened to the woman?”
“I don't know.”
“You didn't ask?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“He didn't say much.”
Sunhee stared at her.
Then she smiled.
Madam Hayes noticed immediately.
“No.”
“I haven't said anything.”
“You're about to.”
“I was only going to say that—”
“No.”
Sunhee laughed.
“Let me finish!”
“I know that face.”
“What face?”
“That face you make when you're about to turn something completely ordinary into a marriage proposal.”
Sunhee placed a hand against her chest.
“Madam Hayes, I'm offended.”
“You're not offended.”
“No. I'm actually impressed that you know me so well.”
Madam Hayes shook her head.
“It was one incident.”
“One incident involving a woman.”
“A woman he helped.”
“A young woman.”
“Sunhee.”
“Fine, fine.”
Sunhee took another pastry.
For approximately five seconds, she behaved.
Then—
“Did he seem different?”
Madam Hayes paused.
She thought about it.
“Maybe.”
Sunhee's eyes lit up.
“Don't.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“You didn't have to.”
Madam Hayes sighed.
“He just seemed...”
She searched for the right word.
“Awake.”
Sunhee stopped chewing.
“Awake?”
“It's difficult to explain.”
Madam Hayes looked toward the window.
“He's been going through the motions for a long time. Work. Home. Work again. Dinner with me when I can convince him. That's his life.”
She looked back at her sister.
“But when he mentioned that woman, even briefly, there was something different in his expression.”
Sunhee smiled slowly.
Madam Hayes pointed at her.
“Don't.”
“I still haven't said anything.”
“Your face is saying plenty.”
Sunhee laughed.
“You're the one who brought her up.”
“I mentioned her because I was concerned.”
“Of course.”
“I was.”
“Of course.”
Madam Hayes narrowed her eyes.
Sunhee raised both hands.
“Fine. I'll stop.”
She lasted maybe ten seconds.
“Have you seen her?”
“No.”
“Does Alexander know her name?”
“I don't think so.”
“Does she know his?”
“I don't think so.”
Sunhee stared at her.
“So neither of them knows anything about the other?”
“Apparently.”
Sunhee leaned back.
“That makes it even better.”
“For what?”
Sunhee smiled.
“Nothing.”
Madam Hayes knew better than to ask.
She took a sip of tea.
“I just want him to be happy.”
Sunhee's expression softened.
“I know.”
“He's twenty-seven.”
“I know.”
“He should have more than board meetings and grief.”
Sunhee nodded.
“Then do something.”
Madam Hayes laughed.
“Like what?”
“Introduce him to someone.”
“He wouldn't agree.”
“Then don't tell him.”
Madam Hayes stared at her.
“Sunhee.”
“What?”
“You cannot secretly arrange my son's love life.”
“Why not?”
“Because that's insane.”
“I prefer proactive.”
“You prefer interfering.”
“Same thing.”
Madam Hayes laughed.
Sunhee reached for another pastry.
“I've got an idea.”
“I don't want to hear it.”
“You go to the market every Tuesday.”
“Yes.”
“You shop.”
“Yes.”
“You meet people.”
“Usually.”
“So who knows?”
Madam Hayes stared at her.
“Are you suggesting I go husband-hunting for my son between the tomatoes and the fish?”
“I said nothing about husbands.”
“You were thinking it.”
Sunhee smiled innocently.
“I was thinking about vegetables.”
“Of course you were.”
They both started laughing.
Eventually, Sunhee changed the subject to her neighbor's renovation.
Apparently, the woman had decided that drilling into a wall at seven in the morning was an appropriate way to begin the day.
Madam Hayes listened, laughed, and forgot about the whole conversation.
At least, she tried to.
---
After Sunhee left, the house became quiet again.
Madam Hayes stood by the window and watched her sister's car disappear down the driveway.
The housekeeper came in to clear the tea.
“Madam?”
“Yes?”
“Should I keep the pastries?”
Madam Hayes looked at the nearly empty box.
She frowned.
“Did she eat all of those?”
The housekeeper hesitated.
“Yes, Madam.”
Madam Hayes sighed.
“She'll complain about her diet tomorrow.”
The housekeeper smiled.
“Probably.”
Madam Hayes turned back toward the window.
Her sister's words came back to her.
You never know who you might meet.
It was ridiculous.
Alexander had mentioned a stranger once.
That was all.
There was no reason to imagine anything beyond that.
She was not going to go looking for some mysterious young woman just because her son had helped her one night.
Absolutely not.
She had more sense than that.
---
Tuesday morning came.
Madam Hayes stood in front of her wardrobe.
She picked out her usual market clothes.
Then changed.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Changed again.
She frowned.
“This is ridiculous.”
The housekeeper, standing nearby, wisely said nothing.
Madam Hayes picked up her handbag.
“I'm only going to the market.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Nothing unusual.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“I need vegetables.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Madam Hayes narrowed her eyes.
“You sound amused.”
“I wouldn't dare.”
She grabbed her keys.
She was going to the market.
For vegetables.
Nothing else.
Absolutely nothing.
And if she happened to meet someone interesting along the way...
Well.
That would simply be a coincidence.
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