A Moment’s Madness – (An Heirs Fanfiction) Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: You Only Live Once

The pair went to a discreet corner booth of the lobby bar. The place was mostly deserted at that time of the night since it was in between the post-working drinkers and the clubbers.

“What would you like to drink?” Young-do asked when they had settled themselves. She shrugged.

“Whatever you bring is fine.”

Young-do slipped through the saloon doors into the kitchen. Walking past the familiar stainless steel work stations, he got to the wine cellar’s locked door. He made short work of the cypher lock, having memorized the wine steward’s code previously. Selecting several Spode china bottles, he tucked them carefully under his arms and snagged two old-fashion glasses from the drying rack. That way he could stay under the radar of the bar staff. He wasn’t sure what to do with this opportunity but he wanted few prying eyes to interfere.

The older woman was just finishing a phone call, still draped in her elegant brown fur. He set the bottles down, pulled the glasses out of pockets of his bomber jacket, and sat down just past the curve of the banquette. Their feet were almost touching, even though there was space in between their bodies.

He leaned towards the table and decanted the whisky, pouring it into both glasses before handing one to Tan’s mother. She smiled her thanks and quickly downed half her drink before staring into the glass, a slight frown on her face.

During this moment of silent awkwardness, he decided to try and start the conversation despite his rusty communication skills. Well, any communication other than intimidation. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing came to his mind.

After a moment, Ki-ae looked up, the frown gone. “Thank you for this. It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to relax like this, what with…everything.” Unexpectedly, tears pooled in her eyes, and with a jolt Young-do realized he wasn’t the only person weighed down with the emotional debris of recent events. He refilled her now-empty glass and moved a little closer to her. His thirst for revenge had taken a tiny step back to his curiosity.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he blurted out, then froze as those shiny sable eyes looked into his. He could see depths of misery that almost matched his own, something he had never seen before in an adult. His mind flashed a stunning thought: maybe there were adults out there just as helpless to the actions of others as younger people. This woman, perhaps, had less power in her household than he did in his own. Young-do felt a flash of something: empathy? Fellow feeling? He wasn’t sure, but he felt a softening inside.

Ki-ae had finally shrugged the fur off and leaned back against the black leather of the circular couch; her tight-strung nerves relaxing as the enervating effects of the whisky spread out from her center. God, it felt like ages since she had sat on a luxurious couch with a glass of single malt. It was a tempting impulsion to unload her troubles on the young man beside her, but what did she really know about him?

She knew his father’s reputation as a cold man, rumored to be as harsh and cruel in his personal relationships as his business dealings. There was a recent announcement of an engagement to the once-married daughter of another conglomerate. She looked at Young-do as she absentmindedly polished off her glass. For all his tender years, he sat confidently and tall, sipping his own drink. Although he tended to lankiness, there was no doubt he was a man in every sense of the word. Indeed, in spite the lack of conversation, she felt this was someone who had matured beyond his years.

Under the coat, she was fashionably dressed in a red button-down blouse with a clunky necklace of nugget-shaped gold beads. Young-do smiled as he refilled her glass for the third time with amber liquid.

“You’ve known my son since before he went to the States,” she began, her voice barely slurred from the previous alcohol; “but I’m surprised you recognized me out in the street, especially given my circumstances. Yes, I would like to talk about it, but I can’t. I don’t really know you, and I don’t want Tan knowing.”

Young-do smirked inside. “Eomma, I promise not to tell your son anything.”

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