"Huh...we got fresh new faces here." Radka said as she settled into the living room.
"Umm...where's Nikolai?* Rushil asked, he mouthed a 'thank-you' to Soo-min As she offered him hot tea and cookies.
"He's taking a nap." Jin spoke-up finally.
By now, almost everyone was gathered again in the living room, it was already late in the day at this point.
"Maybe I should get going..." Nam-gil Said, "I suppose that's a good idea." Ha-Join replied smiling gently but Radka was quick to say "It's my first time meeting you both, Neither of you seem the least bit curious to get to know us I mean, aren't you Jin's dad?" she asked.
"Radka let's not pick fights." Rushil spoke sort of scolding his wife but Radka was having none of it, "Ru-Ru... Don't you want to have a talk with the father of your son's boyfriend? I sure do."
But Jin too, was having none of it, "Madam Dubinsky... I appreciate if you try to keep it civil, you haven't even explained what you're doing here, I thought you made it clear to Niko and me that we're no longer your concern?" he questioned.
Hearing his words, Radka looked away. She knew he was right and hated it so Rushil stepped-in again to say something," Listen Jin... Trust me when I say that, We're not here for trouble OK? Radka has something to say to Nikolai, though since he's asleep I guess we can talk to you instead, is it's alright we take this somewhere private?"
But Jin held his ground,"Unfortunately no, if it's important and meant for Niko then he should it hear it from you firsthand." he replied.
Sighing, "You're not wrong...but..." Rushil hesitated, "This is a big mistake!" Radka bursted.
"I will appreciate if you can keep it civil like Jin asked, Radka." Soo-min said, "Oh yeah?! You're one to talk Soo-min!" Radka retorted.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Soo-min almost shouted.
"Ugh... This day is too long and horrible!" Cyrus spoke-up, "You know what, I'm gonna go check on Ha-yoon again." he added and stood-up but before he left the room, "Check on Seong-min and Niko for me ok?" Jin asked nicely and Cyrus nodded at him then left quickly.
Suddenly, Ha-joon said "Whatever is going on with you two, I think you should take this opportunity and sort it out." he said pointing at Soo-min and Radka, "As for me And Nam-Nam, we'll go find somewhere to stay for the night, we couldn't find anywhere nice to book earlier but I guess anything will do for a while at this point.
We'll meet up again tomorrow and talk more..." he added as he got-up alongside Nam-gil, it was obvious he was still worried about his sister, but what more could he do when Ha-yoon has locked herself in her room refusing to talk to anyone.
"Alright...take care of yourselves." Jin replied.
Just then, Cyrus returned with Seong-min, "I think Ha-yoon might be asleep, it's quiet in her room...Oh Nikolai is deep asleep too, he's very tired apparently." he spoke-up disappointing Ha-joon further.
Noticing that her dad and his bodyguard are leaving, "You guys are going now?..." Seong-min asked.
"Don't worry princess, Your dad and Joon-Ah are just going to find a hotel to stay in for now." Soo-min replied, "Maybe you guys can stay with us?" Seong-min suggested.
"We can't stay without Ha-yoon's permission." Nam-gil replied.
"Umm this town doesn't have good hospitality services you know." Rushil said suddenly.
"Yeah we know...but beggers can't be choosers." Nam-gil replied.
"Radka, do something nice please!" Rushil said poking his wife who in a defeated tone sighed and said, "Ugh fine... You guys are welcome in our home...if you want, or we can show you a nice apartment to stay in for a while, it's...better than a cheap hotel." she said.
Surprised by the offer, both Soo-min and Jin glances at each other, while Cyrus and Seong-min stood silently watching.
"That's awfully generous of you but we'd rather have our privacy." Ha-joon said but to his surprise, "Alright, if you want to have us stay with you for a short while, I can't say no to that. Thank you for your offer." Nam-gil said bowing respectfully.
"Hyung... Why did you agree?" Ha-joon asked, "I think it's good to do something different...For a change." he simply replied.
"That's perfect! I suppose we can postpone talking to Nikolai until tomorrow then." Rushil said happy but Jin and Soo-min were still skeptical.
"But Rushil?" Radka wanted to oppose.
"Rad Baby please, tomorrow we'll do everything you want. For now be nice."
"Ugh fine...Jin tomorrow we'll come see you and Nikolai at his place, tell him... I want to...fix whatever happened earlier."
Sighing as well, Jin's gaze softened "Ok madam...I'll tell him, you should probably go now." he replied.
Reluctantly, Radka and Rushil decided to leave but not before they gave Soo-min a strange look, "Hey, Soo-min." Rushil asked.
"Yes dearie?"
"Is it ok for you tomorrow to drop by our house as early as you can? I'd like to talk to you about something." he asked.
"Oh? Sure...i guess." confused Soo-min could only nod and watch as Rushil gave her a thankful smile again and left with Radka.
"Take care of yourself Min-min." Ha-joon said patting Seong-min's head, "You too... Both." the young girl replied while eying her dad.
"I suppose I should get going too, my dad must be lonely..." Cyrus spoke-up, "Oh yeah poor Joe... I still can't believe he's sick... Maybe I can visit him tomorrow. I should ask Niko for his opinion on that once he's awake." Jin said feeling a bit sad.
"That'll cheer him up! Besides maybe you'll have better chances of getting him to consider treatment..." Cyrus replied.
"I understand your situation Cyrus but Joe is a grown man, if that's his decision I think we should respect it...and I think we should apply the same logic to Ha-yoon's regardless of how we feel." Seong-min said.
"Hey leave the conversation till tomorrow OK, I think everyone here can benefit from a break." Soo-min said gently.
Eventually, Radka drove off with Ha-joon right behind them, "I'll go now, Take care you guys. I should be lucky to catch the last transportation to the hospital if I go now." Cyrus said hurrying outside.
As soon as the door was closed again, "Goodness what a day! I'll go make us some early dinner...perhaps you and Nikolai could spend the night here, I doubt Ha-yoon would mind...though I should check on the poor girl again, I still can't wrap my head around what's going on with her." Soo-min said sighing.
"Seong-min." Jin suddenly said,
"Yeah oppa?"
"Is it ok if you go to your room, I need to talk with Soo-min alone, promise me you won't eavesdrop, this is a serious grown-up talk."
Feeling the sudden tension, "Princess, please do as your brother says." Soo-min ordered her daughter gently but firm enough.
Seong-min was weirded out by the sudden request but she understood that she better go with it for now.
"Jeez you guys are being mean again! Fine, I'll go to my room, I have some shows to watch anyways." she said stomping away to her room where Nikolai was still asleep in her bed.
Once gone, Jin turned his attention to Soo-min, "I know who you really are, You're 'Boss lady's sister', the woman who's truly after Nikolai's life."
"I figured... Like mother like son... I guess." she replied, "So where does that leave us Jin?"
"With you telling me everything I need to know."
"It's complicated..."
"Then dumb it for me Soo-min, I know you're scared of Radka... But you have to talk."
"I wish just talking could solve this problem but it probably won't..."
"Soo-min just how big of a trouble are you in?"
Sighing, "Jin...i could lose my life in this...maybe years ago that would've been fine but... Now I have Seong-min to worry about." Soo-min said.
Shocked, "So... Is everything true... Were you really... An assassin?" Jin asked.
"Jin... I..."
"You're scared of Radka... Isn't it. Where's your sister, you know Radka is only after her."
"So does that mean Radka knows it's my sister who's after Nikolai?"
"Yeah Rushil asked you to come by possibly because he and Radka want to interrogate you however ... I'm still in disbelief about the whole you're an assassin thing but I'd like to believe that you're on our side Soo-min."
"I am! trust me! I don't want Niko hurt in any way but I can't just give out my sister.
Jin please Do me a favor...my stay here is only temporary, but I can take care of my sister, she won't be able to hurt anyone anymore as long as you help me cover her involvement in front of Radka."
" I'm sorry Soo-min but I can't do that! I don't understand...Why are you protecting your sister anyways! ...She tried to hurt you multiple times I hear!" Jin questioned.
"i just...Well..." Soo-min lowered her eyes, "My sister wasn't always this vindictive...It's just that she fell in love with the wrong guy who corrupted her even further, and with both her man and only child eventually dead, she lost sense of who she was...The business used to be her husband's but he was assassinated so she took over."
"And how come things went that way?" Jin asked.
"So-hee and I were raised by a secret organization to be assassins. Our job was to kill very bad people, we're talking scum of the earth.
that was until she met her husband who was the head of an esteemed drug trafficking ring and that's when my sister just met her match, Betraying our organization to be with him.
Soon I was tasked with killing her and her husband but I couldn't do it and allowed her to escape. The organization deemed me an incompetent assassin, I was basically forced to resign.
they only kept me alive to train new killers and as long as I swore to never kill again, never work any illegal job, and to keep all what I know a secret, I'm safe." Soo-min explained.
"Wouldn't it havd been easier for them to just kill you instead?!"
"Once you reach a certain Rank in the organization...killing you could cause a lot of problems instead of solving them... Let's say my skills are very valuable for them as well."
"Does that mean you can't at all be involved in any criminal activity unless the organization allows you?" Jin asked.
"Yes, The organization has eyes and ears everywhere in Korea, but here in the USA, the scope of their power is less than that back home which gives me a room to breathe...still, if they find out that I'm involved with anything remotely shady in any was shape or form, I could be in serious trouble...
And I'm worried that's gonna put Seong-min in danger again...that's why I did my best to cover-up Seong-min's kidnapping and why I don't want my sister to wind-up dead especially around me, the last thing I need is a bunch of assassins after me for breaking my retirement rules." she said worriedly.
"So that's what going on...I understand now... I don't want Seong-min to be in danger too, but these informations need to get to Radka. She's the only one who can offer you protection and help us keep Nikolai and Seong-min safe." Jin replied.
"I know but... Radka will kill my sister and I...can't allow that...My sister is only doing this because Radka killed her son few years ago.
although it was accidental, since Radka only wanted to kill my sister, it just so happened that her son got caught in the crossfire instead...If anything, Radka is at fault here."