Let's Date || Kim Sunwoo

~ 30 ~

"Mom, I really, really like Sunwoo," Seolhee said as soon as they entered her room to talk. 

Her mom said nothing, just closing the door behind them and going to sit on the bed. She patted the space next to her. "Come, sit."  

Seolhee sat next to her. "I know we didn't like each other at first," she continued. "And we still argued a lot during our relationship, and I'm sure we'll continue to argue," she said. "But I really like him. Please, don't make us break up," she said softly, her eyes welling with tears. 

Her mother was silent for a long moment. "Tell me about your relationship. Honestly." 

"We started dating that day... with the garden..." she said, trailing off awkwardly. "But it was fake," she admitted. "We disliked each other at that time and didn't want to be siblings. So we thought we'd try to break you guys up. But... as we slowly became friends, and as we kept going on those fake dates, our feelings became real," she whispered, looking at her mother. "We're dating now. For real." 

Her mom nodded, taking in this information. "You guys are very young," she said after a moment. 

"Youth has nothing to do with it," Seolhee sighed. "It's not like I'm going to marry him tomorrow." 

Though, maybe someday. 

She decided to keep that thought to herself. 

"But are you sure of your feelings?" 

"Are you sure of yours?" Seolhee shot back. "I know you never liked Mr.Kim. You're marrying him for business. Why? Our business is doing just fine without him. We don't need him. We don't need Hyunjae's wealth either. So why are you doing all this? Why are you always working so hard when you don't need to? Why?" she asked, all her questions finally spilling out of her. 

"It's your father's company," her mom whispered. "I want it to do well. I want to make sure that it can do well, for a long, long time." 

When she looked at her mother, she was surprised to see a tear roll down her mom's cheek. 

"Mom?" she said softly, suddenly worried. 

"I'm sorry I haven't been a great mother to you lately," she said softly. "I miss him a lot too, you know. You're right, I don't want to marry Mr.Kim. But I also want to make this company into something he can be really happy and proud about." 

"Mom," Seolhee said, tears welling in her eyes. "Don't you know him better than that? Don't you think he would have wanted us to be happy, above all else? More than caring about the company, wouldn't he just want you to be happy?" 

Her mother looked at her, a small smile on her lips. "When did my daughter become so wise?" she whispered. 

Seolhee laughed, leaning her head on her mom's shoulder. "Perhaps this past year?" she suggested. "You have a lot of catching up to do."

"I know," her mother said softly. "This is an excuse, and a bad one... but working was my way of ignoring the pain. I thought if I just kept working, I'd be able to keep my mind off of the pain of his death." 

"I get that," Seolhee said, remembering how she'd done the same exact thing during the first few months of his death. 

"You should go downstairs and eat," her mom said after a moment. "I'll be right down, but first I have two phone calls to make." 

Seolhee looked up, hopeful. 

"One to Mr.Kim," her mother confirmed. "To call off my wedding. And the other to Hyunjae, to call off yours."