6 You Think

Quickly finishing his shower and ridding himself of the accumulated bed sweats of nearly three months, Min-soo dressed in a plain white-tee and sweat pants went to find his Mother. Even though they were extremely casual wear, they were not cheap, much to Min-soo's chagrin.

Min-soo knocked on the door of his Mother's study and was met with a warm reply.

"Come in, Min-soo."

Opening the door, Min-soo saw his Mother sat behind a mahogany desk, on one side was piled with what appeared to be medical books and the other was placed a tray with two cups and a teapot.

His Mother stood up and walked over towards him, she had her arms open and hugged him immediately.

"Oh, son, I was so worried. Look at you, you're so much skinnier. You have to eat more tonight. Don't worry, your Father is not really angry. Maybe disappointed, but I have already calmed him down these past three months. Come, have a seat." His Mother grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a sofa by the side of the room.

She then carried the tray over and poured them both a cup of tea.

"It is Tie Guan Yin tea your Uncle brought back from China two weeks ago. Have some, it will be good for your recovery." She smiled and sipped from her cup.

Min-soo picked up the cup under his Mother's earnest gaze and took a sip. He had never been a big fan of oolong tea or tea in general, but for some reason or another, he actually quite liked the taste of the tea.

"It's good." He complimented and his Mother smiled before giggling in response.

"Oh, son, every time you drink the tea that I brew, you always give me the exact same response, I am not sure whether you are genuinely complementing the tea or are afraid to hurt my feelings."

"No, no, Mother it really is good." He said as he took another long mouthful of the tea.

This only set her off more, as she began to laugh, "Ahh… still as silly as ever, you are, it is good to see you are still the same. Well, as I was saying, you need not fear your Father too much. He was angry at first and wanted to give you a good thrashing, but upon seeing you essentially lifeless along with Seo-yeon he became rather melancholic. More so, after one month, then two months and three months passed. We all had more or less lost hope. We all know just how unlikely it is for a coma patient to suddenly awaken after the first month."

Min-soo saw the deep sadness in his Mother's eyes and moved over and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry Mother. It's all my fault." He admitted.

"No, it's not your fault. Seo-yeon would have found her way there with or without you and we all know that. However, that Kang Dong-hyun though. We are not through with him yet." His Mother muttered angrily.

Min-soo was stunned, it was the first time he had seen his usually calm Mother reacting so strongly to another person. He started to feel a little bad for this Dong-hyun guy, even though he wanted to tear him a new one. His Mother was one of those typical tiger mums that loved their kids more than anything else in the world.

His Mother then turned to face Min-soo and held his face in her hands. "Min-soo, the family needs you. The only thing I ask of you is to take more care, be more aware of your surroundings. Your Grandfather and Father are not getting any younger, you are the hope for the family. Although the family looks stable on the surface, under the water many currents run deep. The Lee family was not built in a day, but it only takes a day to end it all. I hope you will stop playing around so much outside and listen more to your Father and Grandfather. Please?"

It was the first time Min-soo had ever heard such an earnest request from his Mother, even though the actions of the previous Min-soo was not his, ultimately bearing this face and name, it made no difference. To the rest of the world he was Lee Min-soo, always had been and always will be.

Grabbing his Mother's hands and looking into her eyes, Min-soo made his promise. "Mother, I am sorry for my past actions. But I will do all I can to make it up to you, to the family and most importantly to Seo-yeon."

His Mother smiled and nodded in response, satisfied with his actions. "These are the words of a man and a man's word should not be broken lightly. Yes, son?"

"Yes, Mother." He responded solemnly.

"Okay, enough chatting, we should head down for dinner. You need to eat more, you're just a sack of skin and bones, how am I going to find you a beautiful wife with you looking like that." She teased.

Min-soo merely nodded and smiled in embarrassment before following her down to the dining room. Whenever his Mother started mentioning finding him a wife, the best response was always to smile and nod, any further engagement would lead to a rabbit hole of headaches for him.

Seated at the head of the table was none other than his Father. It appeared during the time he had showered and spent with his Mother, his Father had returned from the company. The table was as usual far too large for the three of them.

Built to seat twenty people, only one end of the table was in use. His Father was reading the daily newspaper and raised his eyebrow upon seeing him walk in hand-in-hand with his Mother. He then folded and put away the newspaper and gave him a once over before harrumphing.

His Mother having expected this response walked over and gave him a shoulder massage.

"Dear, don't be so hard on Min-soo, he just awoke from a three-month coma, he is still recovering. Look, he is all skin and bones, if the others see us, they would suspect we were intentionally starving him. Come on, let's eat."

Seeing his Father melt in the hands of his Mother and no longer looking as irritable as earlier, Min-soo made his way over to the seat beside his Father and greeted him.

"Father." Before taking his seat. This elicited an eye brow raise.

"Hah, so that is all you have to say to me after three months and the shitstorm you raised?"

"Honey." His Mother interjected sternly with a warning.

"Erhh… well it is good to see you awake, son. But don't think I have forgiven you. Seo-yeon is still not well." At the mention of his younger sister, he winced while both of his parents expressed a sad look.

However, they were brought back from their melancholy by the appearance of Butler Han.

"Madam, Master, Young Master, dinner is ready, would you like it served now?"

His Mother took her seat and assented.

"Very well, bring out the food. Dear, we can talk more after the meal."

His Father nodded before giving Min-soo another glance and then turning back to the empty plate before him. His thoughts hidden behind his impassive face.

Min-soo had not expected that their dinner would be Chinese-styled. It appeared his Mother had made sure to welcome him home with his favourite dishes. It appeared both he and Min-soo shared similar tastes when it came to food. He too had enjoyed Chinese cuisine as Alistair.

Steamed fish, pork belly, a few vegetable dishes, roast duck and Hainan chicken, they were amongst some of the favourites of Min-soo's. His parents seeing Min-soo's eyes widen and a look of hunger in his eyes merely smiled at each other before digging in.

Min-soo seeing both of his parents already starting to eat, did not hold himself back. Before he knew it, he had eaten too much. He was stuffed. Sitting in his seat with his legs splayed and his hand rubbing his belly, Min-soo was the spitting image of a glutton.

His Mother chided him, "I said you needed to eat more, but you don't have to eat so much so quickly. Your Father and I have barely started on our second bowl and you've already cleared nearly half the table." She grumbled.

Min-soo was too full to speak and merely grunted in response. This only elicited a delighted laugh from his Mother. Min-soo felt glad that he had parents in this life.

Even though he had been fifteen when his parents passed away in his previous life, the eight long years spent taking care of Erika had sapped away those happy memories as a whole family long ago.

He had moved on and had been too scared to pick away at those scabs.

However, things were different in this life. He had a loving Mother and a caring Father despite his tough exterior. He had a family that was more than just a sister. Not that he was saying Erika was not his family. But sometimes he had wanted more, he wanted to feel loved by a Mother or Father again.

He had hidden those feelings deeply as he knew that if he felt them so keenly than he could easily guess how his sister had felt. So, he had tried to take up those roles when it came to caring for Erika. But giving was not the same as receiving.

Having finally finished their meal, his Father once again turned towards Min-soo. "I am sure your Mother has already said this, but son, you need to get your shit together. You're twenty-two already, when I was your age I was already married to your Mother and she was what, six months pregnant? So, you're already having it easy that you get to spend your days however you want. But that ended three months ago, okay? It's time for you to play your part for this family. Go and see you Grandfather tomorrow, he has a task for you."

Having said his piece, his Father got up and left the dining room, his Mother gave him a reassuring smile before she too followed after him.

Min-soo stayed at the table for a few more minutes, digesting both his food and what his Father had said. What his Father had said was nothing but the truth.

In fact, even his Grandfather at the age of twenty-two had been married and his Grandmother had been about to give birth to his Father. The three of them were separated by twenty-two years or twenty-one going by Western calendars. He was twenty-two, his Father forty-four and his Grandfather sixty-six.

Filled with thoughts about the future and how his plans could be fit in, he left the dining room in a daze, heading to his room instinctively.

Lying on the unfamiliar but comfortable bed, he soon drifted to sleep.