The last few weeks have been like a Korean drama with ups and downs. I became very sick and argued with my brother. I got to know a completely different, new side of my father. Zhan proposed to me. And my father died.

My mother didn't come to the hospital to take care of the funeral. And she didn't come to the funeral either. Although we left her several messages. Instead, she sold the house and just disappeared.

Zhan hired someone to find her. The same private detective who is supposed to find out what secret my mother is keeping and what it might have to do with my grandfather.

But first let's start with the funeral, or rather what was after. Zhan and I went to my parents' house to confront my mother about why she didn't come to her husband's funeral. My brother and Cheng were supposed to come, but then they had to go to Cheng's parents' house because his mother wasn't feeling well.

Well, anyway, Zhan and I arrived at my parents' house and found a big sign in the front yard, "Sold." I didn't know what to thought of it at first and ran to the front door. However, there was another name there.

A man who just came asked us why we were on his property. Zhan said, "Excuse me. This is my friend's parents' house and we are looking for his mother. We are all confused. May I ask when you bought the house?"

The new homeowner nodded and said, "I bought the house last week. The owner wanted to get rid of it quickly, so I was able to buy it very cheaply for me and my family. We paid for it right away. The only condition she had when she sold us the house so cheaply was that we take care of disposing of the furniture. But from the looks of it, she left everything behind. Furniture, appliances, clothes, just her whole household."

"Mhhh I see. When are you planning to move in with your family?" Wanted Zhan to know.

"Well, actually we were planning to move in next weekend. But I'll never be done cleaning out the house by then. And then, after all, the walls have to be painted. An electrician has to come. I don't know how I'm going to do it in a week and a half."

"We'd like to offer our help. If you'll allow it, we'll come back on Saturday with a truck and clean out the house with a few helpers."

"Really? That would be great." Replied the homeowner. Zhan and he discussed a few more details, then he let us into the house so we could get an overview.

I collected all the photo albums I could find. We also found important documents. And then I stood in my old room. It looked the same as it did when I had to leave it. Even my school books and notebooks were still on the desk.

Zhan told me he would be right back and that I should look around in peace. 20 minutes later Zhan was back with a van and two helpers. Colleagues from his work. They cleaned out my room with me and put everything in the van.

Only when my entire room was cleared out did I ask Zhan, "What do we do with it now?"

"We'll take it to a storage facility first. I guess we should rent several storage rooms. In one storage room, we could put all the documents so we can go through them one by one. In the other storage rooms, I guess like 3 of them, we will put the furniture. What you don't want to keep, we can sell." Said Zhan.

And so we did. We also called my brother, who also wanted to clear out his room himself. And before Saturday, two rooms were empty in the house, my room and my brother's room.

On Saturday, with the help of Zhan's colleagues, a few of Zhan's friends, as well as my brother, Cheng, Seungyoun and Wooseok, we had emptied the house in less than four hours and even swept and mopped it. We spread everything out in the storage rooms. And as Zhan said, we packed all the documents, every little paper into a Separate storage room.

On Sunday we met the new owner of the house to give him his keys. He had been so excited to be able to move in on time with his family that I thanked us no idea how many times.

We started looking through the documents on Sunday. But we found nothing that could somehow point to the secret or the whereabouts of my mother. But, we found a copy of my father's will, from 5 years ago. We don't know where the original is. But we don't care, because he didn't leave anything to my brother or me. 

Then on Monday the private detective called and said that my mother was currently in Japan. He also said that she will probably come back to Beijing, because she has bought a small apartment here. However, he found it strange how she could finance the apartment. Because the money from the sale of the house was not enough for it. She was able to pay just half of it for the apartment.

Well, the private detective found out that my father had a life insurance. As soon as he died, my mother contacted the insurance company. I don't even know what to think about that.

Oh yes, Zhan bought me a new car so that I could be mobile again. We sold my car to a handyman and then took the money to buy my new car. We had my car ready to drive again, but it didn't take long for new problems to arise.

Now I have a great new car. A Jeep, to be exact. My salary what I get monthly, I can save. At first I was against it and wanted to give at least a part of my money to it. But Zhan said, "My cute prince, I appreciate that very much. But it is not necessary. Save your money and buy something nice with it now and then. Or buy something for the garden."

So I bought new plants for the garden. It's spring and time to plant flowers. I also saw a great pavilion, which would fit great in our garden. One more month of saving and then I can buy it. When I told Zhan about it, he was excited and happy.

On Tuesday I started to work again. And who is the first person who runs into me? Wei Yin! He now works as a helper in the pet shop next to our hardware store. And immediately he came up to me again and started talking to me about why I told him off to my boss and didn't give him a chance.

I stood up straight and looked him straight in the eye, "Because I don't like you. Because you didn't accept my no. Because you pretended to be the author Wei Ying. And because you don't seem to understand that I'm in a very happy relationship and have no interest in you at all. I love my Hubby and we are now engaged to be married soon. And I'll say it again, I have no interest in you whatsoever. And if you leave me alone, your new boss won't find out what a sleazy guy you are either."

"Alright Okay, I get it. But I swear you're wasting something. Because I have more to offer."

"I don't care about that at all. Because my Hubby gives me everything I need. He makes me wishfully happy and that in every situation in life."

"I'm also very good in bed, though, you understand."

"Mmm, I understand. Just know. My Hubby is great there, too. Like I said, he makes me wishfully happy. Even in bed. So no, I don't need you for that either."

"Well, you have to know for yourself. My offer stands, in case you change your mind."

"That's not going to happen. Find yourself another guy and just try honesty. Maybe you'll find someone who makes you wishfully happy." I replied and went to the hardware store.

On Wednesday, Zhan and I went to visit Yanli and her kids after work. I held her baby in my arms for what must have been an hour, and now I'm absolutely certain that I want to have a baby with Zhan someday, too. I am already looking forward to holding my own child in my arms someday.

After visiting Yanli, Zhan and I went to a restaurant and then to the cinema. We try to go to the cinema at least once a month now.

On Thursday, we went to the park and ate blueberry waffles. We also finally went to the observatory and it had been so great.

On Friday, the private detective came to see us and told us that he was finally on a hot lead. Apparently there was another man in my mother's life. She had been with him during high school and again during college. And according to the detective, the two had seen each other from time to time.

But whether this had anything to do with my mother's secret, he could not say. So it remains to find out what my mother is hiding. But somehow Zhan and I have a strange feeling about the other man. 

We used the weekend to finally give our house a new coat of paint. In the winter we could not do that. But now that spring is here, we could finally paint our house. It is now painted in a light beige and somehow looks like the house of rich people. Especially with our front yard where there is a nice manicured lawn and freshly planted flowers.

We also repaved the sidewalk from the street to our house and garage. The front entryway got a new front door and we tiled the entrance area.

And then on Monday came the next smash hit. I was already home when Zhan came and told me the private investigator was on his way here. We gave him access to our stored documents and apparently he found something.

The detective then came to us about half an hour later and put several papers in front of us. I looked at them and asked, "What does this mean?"

"Well, apparently your mother wasn't just simply in a relationship with this other man. The two of them were married. Or rather, still are!"

Zhan and I stared at the detective with wide eyes. "What?" We asked together.

"Well I found here a certificate of marriage between your mother and a Wang Henry. The man your mother was with. I then checked with the registry office to find out when the divorce took place and they told me there was never a divorce. I then researched further and found out that the marriage of your parents, was never officially registered. They couldn't have registered the marriage without your mother getting a divorce first."

"That means there is this other man who is officially her husband?" I asked, shocked.

"Yes. And I found out that Wang Henry is quite a rich and influential man. He lived alone, no children, nothing to indicate that he ever had another woman since your mother."

I really didn't know what else to say to that. My mother is married to another man. My parents' marriage was never registered. I have to deal with that first. I hope my mother will be back from Japan soon. It's time for her to answer some questions for us.

After the detective's visit, I called my brother and told him everything that Zhan and I learned. My brother was so shocked that he dropped his phone. I really heard it hit the ground. Tomorrow, we all want to meet and discuss what to do next. And, we want to talk about whether we should go see this Wang Henry to learn more about the relationship between him and our mother.