24

Chapter 24.

Ji Won and Shin exchanged text messages daily for over a week. Ji Won didn’t even know how she fell into the pattern of meeting him before her 10 o’clock appointment on the days she was the library and then texting him from time to time throughout the rest of the day. And on the days she wasn’t at the library, he would still text her in the morning.

They’d start off talking about how their day was going till they began having full blown conversations on a full range of topics. Even though Ji Won told herself that she was just killing time, she didn’t mind listening to him speak about the finishing touches on his book or his theories about life on other planets.

By that time, it was clear that their meetings at the library were not coincidental but somehow, Ji Won was okay it. In fact, it had reached the point that she’d mentioned her impending appointments just to keep him informed.

Ji Won went through the messages on her outbox and found it.

So, I’ll be meeting Mr. Lee tomorrow. We’ve only got a few more chapters left to work on and I just can’t wait for it to be over.

She looked at her watch and read the most important part of the message again.

So, I’ll be meeting Mr. Lee tomorrow.

Okay, so she’d plainly stated in bold letters that she’d be at the library so why wasn’t he there? Their routine had been for her to walk to her table at her usual time and find him sitting a few feet away with breakfast in his hands. She’d make a big show of not wanting him to be there but they’d step out and sit on a bench eating bagels and drinking coffee. So how come it was 9:47am and he still hadn’t shown up?

What was that about? Was it some kind of game he was playing? Did he suddenly find something better to do?

She looked at her phone.

“Should I text him?” she asked herself then sighed in resignation. If she texted him, what would she say? Hey, I was just wondering why your dumb ass hasn’t shown up for our unofficial dates?

Dates? Oh Lord. Did she just call them dates? What was wrong with her?

***

Shin looked at his watch – it was 8:55. Even though he was running a little late, he still had enough time to get their breakfast before getting to the library.

What could he say? He’d enjoyed the last few days quite a bit. Ji Won was back to her old self – a spunkier version of who’d she’d been in Aruba and even though he didn’t want to hope, he couldn’t help himself. He still tried to ask her out formally but she always refused but from what he could see, she didn’t mind hanging out with him – which was great Even though she was still somewhat antagonistic towards him, he could see that she’d softened up quite a bit and he was enjoying it.

He was reaching for his glass to take one last swig of water when his phone rang. He looked at the caller id and just as he expected, it was his grandfather.

“Haraboji, I’m on my way out,” he said the moment he took the call.

“You’re not coming home anytime soon, are you?”

“I already told you that I can’t make it. You really should just say whatever it is you want to tell me.”

Shin had already begun to get impatient. His grandfather was practically stalking him on the phone and each time, instead of just telling him whatever was so important, he would ask him to make the long drive home.

He heard his grandfather sigh at the other end of the line.

“Son, are you sitting down?”

“Sure,” he lied. He picked up his glass and walked over to the sink to empty out its contents.

After a long pause, he simply said, “It’s your mother.”

The last word stopped him in his tracks. Shin suddenly felt all his energy dissipate from his body that he had to lean against the wall to keep from falling.

“My mother?” he whispered.

***

“You know Shin, don’t you?”

Ji Won turned around to see a petite woman smiling at her.

She had just ended her meeting with Mr. Lee and was in line to get a cup of coffee before heading back to the office. Normally, that was the beginning of a relaxing few hours but the thing was, she still hadn’t heard from Shin and was somewhat worried.

“Do I know you?” she asked the strikingly pretty woman.

“You don’t remember me? You were with Shin…?”

Ji Won shook her head. She still couldn’t recall meaning this woman.

“We met at the museum. At the Schmidt opening,” she offered. “They’d just released the Berlin painting,” she began, going into great detail about the piece. “Wasn’t it amazing?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know much about art but I’m sure it was great.” Ji Won smiled at the lady but there was something about her that she instantly disliked.

“Oh, interesting. I guess Shin’s taste has changed.”

Ji Won ignored the implication of that statement and decided to end the conversation. She turned back around, hoping the woman would take the hint but she just absolutely refused and inquired after Shin..

She shrugged/. “He’s fine, I guess.”

“Oh, you broke up?”

Ji Won turned around again. “We were never in a relationship. I was his editor.”

The woman mouthed an “O” and nodded. “I see. Interesting. Okay, so do you know if he’s seeing anyone now?”

Ji Won shrugged again. How the hell was she supposed to know and what was this woman’s deal. “ I have no idea.”

The woman smiled to herself. “Very interesting. Perhaps I should give him a call and catch up on old times,” she muttered right before Ji Won turned around to place her order.

As Ji Won watched her coffee being made, she couldn’t help but wish that Shin had changed his number.


***

Ji Won opened the door and saw Shin at other side, holding a bottle of wine.

“Thirsty?” he asked, holding up the bottle.

“Not particularly,” she replied even though she stepped aside to let him in. She discreetly looked him over and everything seemed to be in working order. He didn’t have any fresh wounds or look like he’d been abducted by aliens. So where had he been?

He walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch. “Did you miss me this morning?”

“No. It was great to finally have the morning to myself.”

He set the bottle on the table. “I didn’t know what to get but I know you like red wine. It took me about two hours to choose it. It’s quite exquisite. It’s from Bordeaux and even if you don’t want to drink it now, you can save it for a special occasion.”

“I see.”

“I’m just saying that it’s a great bottle of wine and if you want to impress someone, someone like me, for example, you can whip it out.” He made an exaggerated show of looking at the bottle. “Look at how impressed I am.”

She frowned at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

He looked at her and smiled. “Excuse me?” The truth was his mind was still very much preoccupied by the call he’d had that morning and he’d planned on just staying home all day till he had the sudden urge to be with her. That was when he picked out the first bottle of wine he found in his cellar and drove over to her place. He needed someone to talk to and for some reason, felt it must be her.

Ji Won sat across from him and folded her arms. “You should always be the way you are when you write to me. In those simple texts or the notes you attached to your manuscript – that person is much more personable than the one you sometimes present in person.”

“How so?”

“Stripped down. Honest. No false airs. Confident. No fake ass stories.”

“I’m an author, I tell stories.” He frowned. This wasn’t what he came over for.

“Then save them for your books.”

He sat up and looked her straight in the eye. “What if I have one more story to tell?”

She smirked and rolled her eyes. “Did you hear what I just said? I said save them for your books.”

“So you don’t want to hear it?”

There was something in his tone that made her snap to attention. Something that she hadn’t heard in the past few days. Was something wrong? “What do you want to tell me?” she asked softly.

He put on a clearly fake smile and looked directly into her eyes. “So once upon a time, there was this man who got a call from his grandfather. Apparently, the woman who’d given birth to him and abandoned him without a word for twenty years would like to meet him. He doesn’t know why but other than needing a bone marrow transplant or perhaps a kidney, he can’t for the life of him figure out why she would want to meet someone she obviously loathed. So he obviously told her to fu.ck herself. So what do you think of this story? Should I save it for my book?” He’d tried to keep his voice steady but had failed miserably.

“Your mother would like to meet you?” she whispered. She felt a knot form in her tummy. His mother was back?

“’Mother’ seems like a strong word to you, don’t you think? Egg donor? Human vessel sounds more appropriate.”

She looked at him struggling to act indifferent and all she could see was that lonely little boy who’d spend his childhood with his grandmother. “Are you going to meet her?”

He smirked. “Would you?”

She took a deep breath in. “I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s like to feel like you do.”

He nodded. “Exactly.” He wanted to yell at someone. How dare she contact him now, after all those years?

“But….”

“But…?”

“But why not just find out what she wants?” Ji Won felt so bad looking at him – he was clearly upset.

“I don’t care about what she wants. She’s never cared about me. Why should I care now after twenty years?”

“But is it really about caring? When I read your chapters about her, I could tell that there was so much unfinished business about her… that you had so many unanswered questions. Instead of making assumptions, why not meet her? Maybe you can finally get those answers.”

He scowled. “Like she won’t lie. She’s not going to tell me she abandoned me because I was the biggest mistake of her life.”

Ji Won felt the sting from his last statement. “Yes, she’s going to lie. So maybe you can think of it as an opportunity to get everything you want off your chest.”

He barely moved as he sat quietly for a few moments.

Not knowing what to do, Ji Won picked up the bottle of wine and headed for the kitchen.

“So do you want something else to do on July 14th?” he yelled a few minutes later from the living room.

She walked back in and began to arrange the magazines on the rack. “July 14th…? Something else?” She thought about it for a moment. “Oh, you saw the invitation?” The wedding invitation she’d left near her phone.

“It said Joon Young. That’s your ex’s name, isn’t it?” A name he couldn’t forget.

“Yes, it said Joon Young.” And seeing that name on a wedding invitation hadn’t bothered her at all. She deduced that she really must be over it all.

“And he invited you to his wedding? What a jerk.” He wasn’t a violent person but if he ran into that man, he would be sure to break his nose.

She laughed. “Men are jerks.”

“So are women as exemplified by the woman who carried me for nine months.”

Ji Won stopped what she was doing and studied his face. ”I didn’t know you were this mad at her.”

He looked away, suddenly feeling shy. “Me neither. It was somehow easier to forget that she existed or think that she forgot that I existed. This mess means that she’s been very well aware of my existence the whole time.”

After a few moments of silence, Ji Won said, “I wonder how many times a person can use the word “exist” in a sentence.” She wanted to lighten the mood a bit.

“Is this the best time to make a joke?”

“I’m sorry.”

He laughed. “I was only teasing. So what say you? Will you join me on July 14th to meet that person?”

She thought about it. “Why should I come?”

“You’re the one who talked me into it. So for moral support.”

“Moral support? I guess I can’t say no, huh?”

“I guess you can’t.” Satisfied, he decided to change the topic. “So what’s for dinner?”

Looking at him as he struggled to maintain a nonchalant attitude, she just couldn’t shake off the image of that little boy being left at a stranger’s house. And that made her want to take care of him. She decided not to say anything sarcastic. “Take out? Let me go and get the menus. Which would you prefer? Turkish or Italian?”