Chapter 30 - Whatever It Takes

Whatever you want, whatever you need
Whatever it takes, I'll do anything
If I have to crawl, get down on my knees
Whatever it takes, I'll do anything

LEE DONGHAE

"Appa! Can we buy ice cream?" Aiden asked when he saw the ice cream van. 

I felt happy hearing him call me 'appa' and I smiled at him. We headed towards the van. We bought two ice cream. Aiden wanted chocolate flavor so I granted his wish. He started licking the ice cream and stained his cheek. I wiped it off and he chuckled.

How cute can this kid be? 

After finishing the ice cream, we headed towards the grocery store as we volunteered to cook for dinner. Aiden looked at the list of ingredients that we had to buy and read them out loud. I laughed at the way he read the English words beside the Hangul terms.

He reads them better than me!

Aiden pointed at the signs of the goods that matched those on the list. I let him guide the way and we chose the ingredients together until we finally got all that we needed. We paid for the things that we bought and went out of the store. As we reached the parking area, I was shocked to see Eunseo.

"Hi Donghae," she greeted. Aiden bowed as he saw her. 

"Hello Eunseo-ssi," I smiled.

She went closer to Aiden and knelt in front of him.

"Hi Aiden, I'm Eunseo noona," she greeted my son.

"Hello noona," Aiden said.

She smiled and give him a present. I wondered why she was doing such to him. Aiden looked at me when Eunseo handed her gift. I smiled, giving him permission to take it. He opened the present and saw a toy car. Eunseo stood up and smiled at me.

"It seems he liked it," she told me.

"Yeah, but I'm wonder why you gave him such."

"I just want to be in good terms with your son."

Son? How did she know about it?

"How did you know?"

She just smiled at me and left.

"I'll see you around! Bye Aiden!" she said as she walked away.

Aiden and I went back to the Althea's dorm. She was out for she had to work in the hospital so I had to spend the whole day with Aiden which I've always wanted. We did all the house chores together, including cleaning the dorm, preparing food for both of us and washing the dishes. We also played some computer games and watched cartoon shows. 

In the afternoon, I told Aiden to get a nap.


"Appa, I want to sleep beside you."


I lay beside him and hummed a lullaby. He wrapped his arms around me and started to sleep. In a few minutes, he dozed of. I kept looking at his peaceful sleeping face.

Such a blissful moment it was.

^__^

SON EUNSEO

I admit. Aiden really does resemble Donghae. He really indeed is his son.


I was a little denial at first, but after that closer look at the child, I realized the truth. Aiden has the same innocent look on his face and cute puppy eyes. He is little Donghae.


I was deep in my thoughts when my manager called me. It was time for my interview for a magazine. I headed to the area and met the reporter. She gave me a quick over view on the questions that she would ask. After about 10 minutes, the interview started. 


In the beginning, I was asked on my career, especially on my successful film, which made me win a best actress award. I shared about my thoughts on winning and how thankful I am to the people who supported the project. I also shared how I prepared for the project and all the training I endured for the role I had to play.


"Eunseo-ssi, let's talk about a little on your personal life. Do you consider yourself to be happy as of the moment?" 


"Hmm... I could say that I've achieved my dream and I am very happy about it."


"Your dream?"


"Yes. It has been my dream to win a best actress award. I guess it's also the dream of most actors and actresses."


"So, you're truly happy now that you've achieved it."


"Yes, I am happy but then I realized that I am not really completely happy."


"What do you mean?"


"I believe that what could really make me complete is not the awards or the success in career, but having a happy family life."


"I see."


"Yes. So now, I am trying my best to achieve such happiness."


After the interview, I received a call from SM Entertainment head Lee Soo Man. I scheduled a meeting with him. Even if he's not the CEO, I knew he still has the power in the company. I went directly to the SM building and to Mr. Lee's office.


"Hello, Miss Son," he greeted as I entered the room.


"Hello, Mr. Lee. Thank you for your time," I said.


"It's actually my pleasure to meet you. So, why did you ask for a meeting?"


"Actually, I believe you've known about Donghae's situation."


"Yes, I've known about it. What about it?"


"I'm sure you know how this could affect the group, right?"


"Yes, I've been thinking about that. Is this the reason you specially asked for this meeting, Miss Son?"


"Yes. I want to offer a way to solve all the negative issues spreading in the internet."


"What do you mean?"


"Dating is better than having a son out of wedlock, right?"


Mr. Lee kept listening.


"If Donghae would announce that he's dating someone and deny his son, fans and the antis would stop saying negative things on him."

"Hmm..."


"To achieve that plan, Aiden and his mom should leave Donghae and not see him again. Then, someone needs to pretend to be his girlfriend and deny all the rumors about him having a child out of wedlock."


"That's not a bad idea, however, I'm pretty sure that Donghae would not agree to this plan."


"Well, he has to choose between his career, which he put up for most of his lifetime, or his family. I believe he is not the type who abandons his group too."


"You're pretty confident that this plan would work," he said.


I just smiled at him.


"Don't worry, I'll talk to Donghae tomorrow."


"Thank you for your consideration Mr. Lee."


"Wait, why are you doing this?"


"Well, Donghae is an important person for me and I don't want his to end his career just because of this."


Mr. Lee looked straight into my eyes, as if reading my thoughts. He gave me his I-know-what-you're-thinking look and just smiled. I bid farewell to him and left.


This is for Donghae...