Memories of The Rain

Stand By Your Man

"Miss Yoon Jin Ah!"

A lean man in black suit bows to me at the hospital drop off lobby. Nervously I bow back and ask, "Secretary Seo?"

"I am," he manages to smile. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Miss Yoon. Mister Yoo has been waiting for you. He's conscious now."

I'm nervous, worried, and tired from jetlag. But the first thing I want to do is meet him. From the airport, I went straight to the hospital. I even still have my suitcase with me. He takes it from my hand, "Ma'am, kindly meet Mr. Yoo, if you don't mind, I'll take care of this. Where do you want me to drop this?"

"I haven't booked any room. Can I just take it with me to his room?"

"Sure. I'll look for some options for you to stay tonight."

We enter the elevator and I ask him, "What happened to him?"

"I don't know how to explain it to you, Ma'am. But he needs you."

"How should I prepare myself? What would I face there? Secretary Seo, I'm so worried but I'm also tired. Save yourself from another trouble of me passing out from shock when I see him. You don't want another problem here, do you?"

"Ok. He's limping, still recovering from the wound he got from the battle. He also-"

"What? Battle? What was he doing in Barcelona?"

"He got it in Granada. He played a game, Ma'am. Augmented Reality game, and he fought against some enemies. Unfortunately, Mister Yoo-well, let's say, he made the wrong move and now he needs a stick to ease when he walks."

"What move did he make?"

"He fell from the 6th floor, at the hostel where he was staying."

"Oh my God! Do you mean by Hostel Bonita where he supposes to meet the game creator? But...but he wouldn't need sedation for that! I mean, that's bad, but he's a strong man. You mentioned sedation, and this is a general hospital, not a psychiatric one."

"He's here for surgery, fracture on his leg, and he ruptured his intestines. But the sedation was aimed for something else. He keeps hallucinating the enemies he met in the game, Ma'am. It scared the hell out of him and he got into some troubles at Granada because of this. These enemies were after his life, just like how games work, but he believes that they can actually kill him. He reacted immediately whenever he saw them, and well, I think you can get the picture on how awkward things for us when it happened in front of the public."

"Then how did you manage to fly here?"

"Private jet, and we had a doctor sedated him."

"Oh, boy. What am I supposed to do? Did his doctor here suggest something?"

"To keep him around the people he trusts."

"So far, aside from you, who has come?"

"He only asked for you. But we had an uninvited visitor, she's not here now, but let's say if she shows up when I'm not around, you know."

"I don't know. She? His wife?"

"Yes."

"What is she doing? Oh, I'm sorry. She has the right to do anything to him. I'm the mistress."

"He hates it when you say that, Ma'am. She's trying to extort his money. She's dating someone else, that's another reason why she filed for divorce in the first place. It's a loveless marriage. Not that they were lovers before married."

"Why did they get married, if I may know?"

"He was provoked that his best friend Cha Hyung Seok who was after her before, decided to marry Mr. Yoo's ex, the first wife. It's a big blow pride for him and though he didn't admit it, he wanted to show them that he's doing fine. But he was never until he told me to handle media blowback about you. In my personal opinion, you're an important person, a significant one. Mr. Yoo doesn't just simply do things for others. I hope I don't cross any line here."