When Yul reached home by the night, he was welcomed by the scene of Liya and Inu playing in the living room. Yul said unknowingly on seeing them, "I'm home…" He was surprised by his own words. And that's how much he was moved by the warmth of a home, were your loved ones wait for your return.
"Dad is back…" Inu replied on hearing Yul.
Liya stood up on seeing Yul and went to the kitchen saying, "I will set the dinner."
Yul was disappointed a bit as Liya didn't even smile at him even for a formality. But still he was happy because she did wait for him without having dinner.
"Was Inu bored in the house?" Yul asked Inu who continued to play with his toys.
"No, we went to see the forest…" Inu replied honestly.
"Forest?" As far as Yul knew, there was no forest nearby the house. So where did they went? Yul thought for some time and then asked, "You mean the orchard at the back?"
"What is an orchard?" Inu asked with curious eyes. It was the first time he heard such a word.
"Hmm… An orchard is the place where you grow fruits, like a vegetable garden…" Yul replied in simple words.
"So that forest will give us fruits?" Inu was still doubtful and asked in his most serious tone.
"Yes, it will…" Yul said with a light laugh.
By this time Liya had already started to set the table. Knowing that he should hurry now, he quickly said to Inu, "Let's go and pluck the fruits together in the next season… shall we?"
"Okay…" Inu replied happily and started imagining about the kinds of fruits he knew.
After Yul came after freshening up, they all sat together for the first time and had dinner. But it was very silent except for the munching sound from Inu. Although they had many things to talk to each other, no one said a word.
Yul walked around the corridor for some time after the dinner and then decided to talk to Liya in the kitchen. She was still finishing up her works in the kitchen, when Yul entered.
Yul almost went near her, but then stopped a few steps away not to cross her boundary. He called her in a very sweet sound unlike the usual emotionless tone, "Liya…"
"Hmm?" Liya also replied in same tune as him without thinking. They had only talked formally until now and for the first time their interaction was sweeter. She realized her mistake only when she turned in an instinct and saw Yul's face. She turned the same way back and continued what she was doing as if nothing happened.
Yul also acted as if there was nothing wrong and continued, "I have made an appointment with a paediatrician tomorrow."
Liya turned on hearing that and said, "Where should we come then?"
"Get ready by three… I will come and get you…"
"Okay…"
Yul waited there itself expecting Liya to ask something further. But she had no intention to continue the conversation. Dejectedly he decided to return.
As he was walking back, Liya called from behind, "I needed to buy something…" She didn't say anything more, like what, from where or when. So naturally Yul thought it would be some grocery and replied, "You can call Devin and ask him to get it."
But that wasn't the point Liya was aiming at. She actually needed money to buy something. But she found it hard to ask and she didn't want to bother Devin either.
"No… It's fine. I can get it myself." Liya rejected the offer.
"Then, there is a supermarket if you go right down this road. You can get almost everything there." Yul informed totally oblivious about what Liya was thinking.
"Okay…" Liya replied and ended the conversation. Seeing no more moves from her, Yul went back to his room. Liya couldn't bring herself to ask for money. Though they were married and everything, she was just playing her part for the time, and that made her impossible to talk about finances.
Liya finally decided to use some from her savings for the time being and kept the issue for later.
The next morning, the family of three had breakfast together and Yul wanted this to become a routine. Eating food together, discussing things over the dining table, and waiting for each other to come home, Yul was looking forward to everything that a normal family would do.
After Yul went out, Liya locked the door securely and came back to do her chores. But on the dining table she saw a note and a card left by Yul. She read the note, 'I apologize for not realizing earlier. Use it for the expenses.' Liya looked at the card with Yul's name and then at the password at the note's bottom. She didn't know how to react. Unexpectedly Yul cared about everything even though she didn't say it and he was making an impression on her.
Liya had planned to go out in the afternoon and return by the time Yul would come to pick them up. But as soon as they stepped foot outside, it started to pour heavily. Until a moment before there wasn't any sign for rain, but now it was raining cats and dogs. Liya and Inu looked at each other in displeasure and sat at the patio itself looking at the rain.
There was nothing they could do now, except to wait for the rain to subside. Unfortunately it was only getting heavier. Inu wanted to get into the rain to play but Liya pulled him back forcibly and kept him inside. Without any choice he went inside and picked up pebbles from the house plants' pots and started throwing it one by one into the puddles formed.
Liya watched what Inu was doing and was internally content about the decision she made to marry Yul. It was already over a week after she had returned to Poonj and everything was going smoothly. There were no sighting of the men who chased her and she was finally getting relaxed and feeling safe.
Just then two black cars stopped in front of their gate and men dressed in suits got down from it. Since there was some distance to the road from the patio and the rain was heavy, Liya couldn't identify the men.
She had just thought about danger and it seemed it had arrived in the next moment. Liya stood up in a hurry and grabbed Inu's hand in afraid. The men were there for them and had already opened the gate. Liya got frightened and got ready to run inside the house.