Chapter 12 - Blessing in Daegu

                                    

                                          
Author's Note:
                          
Dear readers, I can't thank you enough for the encouraging comments and the votes. 
                          
Much apologies as this chapter is a bit long, but I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
                          
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They arrived at their hotel suite by mid-morning of Saturday, having started the 3-hour drive from his Gangnam apartment after an early breakfast. The Daegu Colorful Dalgubul Lantern Festival already started and the city was adorned with decorations everywhere. Lanterns in a variety of colours and sizes were proudly displayed in shop windows as shoppers scurried about to get their own lanterns that would carry their hopes and wishes for peace and happiness up to the skies.

                          
Son Ye Jin had been mostly quiet during the trip as a million thoughts crossed her mind, coupled with a ton of worry. Hyun Bin sensed the tense atmosphere in the SUV and tried his best to appease her, but nothing seemed to have worked. The downcast weather didn't help either. All he could do was to hold her hand, well aware of her idiosyncrasies, that in such situations it was best to give her some quiet time to space out to relax or to mull things over by herself. 
                          
Both stars had just completed a hectic two weeks of filming some of the South Korea scenes, part of the revised filming schedule's 4-week timeframe to prioritize Son Ye Jin's scenes where she was to dress in tighter clothing, including designer business wear, while the baby bulge was not yet too noticeable. 
                          
Most of the scenes were relatively short ones, including filming locations at the Subway branch in Gangdong-du, where Yoon Se-ri had lunch with her team in Episode 12, some of the Seri's Choice office and showroom scenes in the DDMC building near Dongnimmum station, and the Binhaewon Chinese Restaurant in Jangmi-dong where Yoon Se-ri met up with the gangsters in Episode 12. 
                          
The remaining two weeks were devoted to filming Episode 11's first time meet-up between Captain Ri and Yoon Se-ri in Seoul, their subsequent scene in an Angels R Us Coffee shop, at the Suwon branch along Gwongwang-ru, and the remaining scenes in Yoon Se-ri's Seoul apartment. 
                          
Beyond this 4-week period, the next two months were earmarked for out-of-city location filming, including those in Jungangtap Park in Chungju (about a 1.5 hour drive from Seoul) where Captain Ri and Yoon Se-ri were to meet up with Company 5 for the first time in the south, at the Commodore Hotel in Busan (a 4-hour drive) for the passport photo scenes and the chicken and beer scene, on the Pocheon Hantan Riven Sky Bridge in Busan (a 40-minute drive) for Episode 13, and at the Byeolmaro Observatory in Yeongwol, Gangwon-do (a 2-hour drive) where Yoon Se-ri was to take off on her paraglider in Episode 1. 
                          
Typically, before an engagement is announced the two families are expected to meet each other, and prior to that the couple usually met each set of parents separately. As this wasn't the case in their situation, she thought that the approach should be planned and implemented with care.  She concluded that the best time to meet with his and her parents was as early as possible within the 4-week period when they were filming in Seoul, because the out-of-city filming schedule would be brutally hectic and she also didn't want to meet up with both sets of parents when her baby bump was already noticeable.  They had to adeptly "divide and conquer", she thought. 
                          
It was the easiest option from a logistics perspective as well, especially since Hyun Bin's parents live in Seoul and they could squeeze in a visit easily. However, her parents lived in Daegu and making the long drive might be a huge challenge once the out-of-town location filming schedule kicked in and both would be very busy.
                          
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Hyun Bin called the reception desk to get confirmation for the restaurant private dining room reservation his manager had arranged for dinner that evening.