25

Chapter 25
 

Shin was applying the aftershave to his face when he heard his phone beep. He walked over to his desk and picked it up.

Don’t bother coming today.

He frowned. Was Ji Won playing games again? Slowly, they’d somehow developed some kind of relationship. There were no labels or even any discussions about it but through her actions, she’d made it clear that she didn’t mind hanging around him. Which was all good and all but what exactly were they?

Who said I was coming? he texted back. That sounded flirtatious, right? Now that she’d given him a second chance, he didn’t want to mess things up by being pushy. But on the other hand, they’d spent a lot of time in the last month together and hadn’t even shared anything as much as a proper hug, talk less of a kiss. And the longer there was no form of physical intimacy between them, the closer he felt he was being pushed into the friend zone. And that was one thing he didn’t want.

Forget it then.

He sat on his bed and continued to text. What?

After five minutes of no response, he sent her another text. What should I forget?

Forget my first message. If you weren’t going to come anyway then forget it.

He shook his head. This woman always wanted to win and get the last word in, didn't she? He chuckled when he admitted to himself that he liked giving her the upper hand. Okay, I was going to come. What shouldn’t I forget?

This is going nowhere. Let’s end it here. I have to get ready for work. I’ll talk to you whenever.

Want to meet for lunch?

Sure.


***

“Mr. Lee canceled again?”

Ji Won nodded. The closer they got to the end, the more often Mr. Lee seemed to have family emergencies. She didn’t know what his issue was but there was still enough time to meet their deadline so she wasn’t worried yet. “Well, I guess I should be grateful that he at least gave me a warning this time so that I wouldn’t have to waste my time going to the library.”

“So you went straight to the office?”

She nodded. “Yep. Looks like they’ve just signed a new author and they want me to be his editor. They sent me his manuscript. I’ve read the first few chapters and it looks pretty interesting.”

The waitress interrupted them to get their drink orders. When she was gone, Shin said, “What genre?”

“Fantasy teen romance. They are hoping to get a series out of it.”

He frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. “I thought that market was already saturated.”

“It is. It’s about this girl who was raised by vampires and thinks she’s one but the truth is she’s been adopted and is merely human. So the first book is all about how she lives life as a vampire and has all this angst about not being able to be with the cute guy at school because he’s a mere mortal and all that stuff. It’s kind of funny,” she said, chuckling. “It can either be my big break or a complete dud.”

The chances of a new author's success in this genre were very low but he hoped the best for her. He smiled then raised his left eyebrow. “Your big break? I thought working with me was your big break.”

She made a face to say, “As if.”

“Speaking of which." He placed an envelope in front of her. “Here’s the final draft of my book. It’s been copy edited and is at the printers right now. The cover you chose didn’t make it though.”

“As expected. You just wasted my time.”

“And there’s nothing about you in it so don’t get too excited.”

She giggled. “Whatever. I’m hungry. Hand me the menu. What's today's special?”

***

Ji Won watched as he cut into his steak. Okay, so she shouldn’t spend her time thinking about this and she didn’t know the best way to broach the topic that had been on her mind for a few days. “Have you received any unexpected calls recently?”

“Like from whom?” he asked with his mouth full.

She shrugged and tried to look as casual as possible. “I don’t know, a blast from the past, perhaps?” The girl that she was almost sure was an important ex-girlfriend?

“Like who?”

“I don’t know. Someone you weren’t expecting to hear from? Or maybe someone you haven’t spoken to recently?”

Ji Won was giving him a piercing look like he should know who she was talking about without her having to mention her. He racked his brain and could only think of one person. “You mean my mother? I’m okay.” He laughed. “You don’t have to walk on eggshells to ask me about that woman. You’re funny. I haven’t spoken to her yet. Why would I? I use my grandfather as a liaison. Speaking of Harbuji," he began before going into a long story about his grandfather's will revision.

Ji Won tried to listen but all she could think of was that without getting an answer to the question, she was going to spend even more days worrying about something she didn't want to worry about.

***

“Have a nice day,” the hostess said as they walked towards the exit. Shin skipped ahead and opened the door for Ji Won.

“Thank you,” she said as she walked through.

Walking closely behind her, he tried to figure out the best time to take her hand. When she swung it behind her? Or should he just move next to her and grab it? He decided on the latter and just as he’d caught up to her and was about to reach for her hand, she folded her arms.

“So you’ve set a date for the meeting with your mother?”

He nodded while looking at her hand in disappointment. Why did she have to do that?

“When are you meeting?”

“We agreed on July 14th, didn’t we? I set it for 9:00pm,” he said in a monotone. He looked at her hand tucked away and wondered how ridiculous it would be to just grab it anyway.

“Isn’t that too late?” Ji Won noticed that he'd begun to act strangely again. And lately, he always acted strange when the subject of his mother was brought up. She wondered if she should just stop mentioning her.

He shrugged. “Is it? 9 o’clock is as good a time as any.” He was trying his best not to be obvious about studying her hands and calculating the best time to make his move. So he tried his best to face forward as he watched her from the corner of his eye.

“I guess so,” she said solemnly. She’d noticed how his eyes kept darting to and away from her and it was probably the first time she'd seen him being so weird. Her brows furrowed in pain– just how damaged had his mother's abandonment left him?

***

They both walked silently till they arrived at her car.

“Since I have most of July 14th free, do you want to attend your ex’s wedding?”

Ji Won spun her head around in shock. “Excuse me?”

“Let’s go to his wedding. What’s his name again? J—”

“Joon Young.”

“Let's go."

“Why? It’ll be weird.” Which jilted ex wanted to see their ex-fiance exchanging "I do's" with someone else?

“I’ll be with you so it won’t be weird.” He studied her face to gauge her reaction. Since he still didn't know what her feelings were, seeing her at the wedding might let him know if she was truly over her ex. And even if she wasn't, he wanted that jerk to see that she had moved on. He was still annoyed that after dumping her, he'd sent her an invitation to witness his wedding to another woman. Who did that?

“Whatever. I’ll just stay in.”

“Come on. I have time to kill so why don’t we go and make him jealous?”

She laughed. “He’s the one getting married. Why would he be jealous?”

Shin remained silent for a few moments before saying, “Do you still love him?”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Of course not.”

“So let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

“Aren’t you being a bit weird? Why are you insisting we go to his wedding? What are you thinking?”

“Nothing and stop thinking too much. If he sent you an invitation, it must be because he wants you there. And at least we can have somewhere to hang out before going to meet my mother. I just think it’ll be fun.”


***

“Hey Ji Won, long time,” a tall woman said as she ran to her and gave her a hug. “How have you been doing?”

Ji Won smiled when she saw the familiar face. Yoo Hee was one of the casualties of her break up with Joon Young. She hugged her back. “Where’s Jung Do?” They broke their embraced.

Yoo Hee made a face and hissed. “I guess we really haven’t been in touch for a while. We broke up. The divorce will soon be final.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“You did it the right way. Get out before you say "I do" because it only ends in heartache."

"Which is the perfect thing to say at a wedding," Shin chimed in.

Yoo Hee turned to him and gave him a very appreciative look over. “Ji Won, who would this person be?" After Ji Won made the introductions, she said, “I see your taste has improved.”

Ji Won laughed. “Come on now, don’t be mean." She looked over at Joon Young who was sitting next to his new wife. Even though he’d gained a few pounds, he still looked pretty good.

“So, Beautiful Man," Yoo Hee said, crooking her finger at Shin, gesturing for him to move closer. “What do you do?”

“I’m a writer.”

“Oh, a writer. A work romance? How sexy." She licked her lips and smiled.

Ji Won laughed at the craziness she was witnessing from her old friend. “Are you a little drunk or something?”

“Am I drunk? Who knows? But this man,” she said, moving so close to Shin she could smell his breath, “is very hot.”

Shin instinctively moved back. “Are you okay?” He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Ji Won but she just kept laughing.

“But tell me Shin ssi, where can I find a man like you? Do you have a twin? Is your father single? Do you have a brother? Or a cousin? Some hot friends? A sexy writer’s club I can attend?”

***

Ji Won couldn’t remember the last time she’d hugged so many people in one day. Since she’d been out of this social circle for a while, it felt like a reunion.

“Ji Won,” she heard someone yell from behind. “I can’t believe you came!”

She turned around to see her friend, Eun Jae, walking towards her with her hands outstretched.

Ji Won hugged her and said, “I was invited – why shouldn’t I come?”

After they separated, her friend gave her a knowing look. “You know why. So is he an even bigger di.ck than I thought? He sent you an invite?”

She shrugged. “I guess he did. No big deal. I’m glad I came cos I got to see so many people I haven’t seen in a while. Many of whom I’m glad to not have seen to be honest,” she said before they both laughed. “But it’s all good. I didn’t expect to see you here, though. You didn’t say anything about it when I saw you at the grocery store last week.”

“Yeah, like I was going to mention that your ex-fiancé was getting married. What do you take me for?” She hugged Ji Won again. “I’m so glad to see how well you’re taking it. You're really over it, aren't you? I'm so proud of you!"

Ji Won smiled and shrugged. "I feel nothing. I guess that means I don't care either way."

“Which is good since you’ve got some hot ass guy on your arm.” She winked at Ji Won then tilted her head towards Shin who was standing at the bar talking to Yoo Hee who was clearly flirting with him. “Spill! Who is he?”

“Just a friend.” Ji Won frowned at the scene she was watching in front of her. Yes, he was just a friend but Yoo Hee didn’t know that. She’d thought she was being funny when she flirted with him earlier but wasn’t she taking it a bit too far? So because she was getting divorced she wanted to steal someone else's man? She immediately remembered another reason she’d lost touch with her.

“Just a friend? Is that why you’re shooting daggers at Yoo Hee?” Eun Jae said laughing. “You might want to go and get your man if you don’t want her to steal him away.”

“Give me break. She can have him if she wants." She turned away and looked back at her friend. “Anyway, we didn’t finish our conversation the last time we spoke. You said you were going to give me all the gossip on your mother-in-law’s new boyfriend,” she said, trying to sound cheerful even though her mind was on what might be going on behind her. Who insisted someone be their date at a wedding then ditched them for a drunk flirt? Men really were stupid!

***

“You don’t mind if I steal her away, do you?”

“Be my guest," Eun Jae said before winking at Ji Won.

Shin nodded his thanks before taking Ji Won's hand and leading her to the dance floor. As he stood at the bar listening to Ji Won’s friend drone about this new landscaper she’d discovered, all he could think was that he’d finally get his chance to hold her. When he found a spot he liked on the dance floor, he spun her around with a flair.

Ji Won frowned. “You don’t have to put on a show for everyone.”

“Who’s putting on a show?”

She looked away with disinterest written all over her face. “I’m cool. If you want to dance with someone else, be my guest.”

He furrowed his brows questioningly. “What are you talking about? I didn’t come to this wedding to be with someone else, did I?”

She shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe you wanted to meet some women.”

“Huh? Which women?” he chuckled to hide his confusion and pulled her closer to him. He smiled at the fact that there was no resistance. “You’re the only one I want to be with right now.” Just as their bodies touched and he was about to wrap his arms around her, the music changed to a fast song. He groaned. The stars really weren’t aligned, were they? He was about to grumble when he recognized the song. “Hold up!” he said as his lips turned into a wide smile. “Do you recognize this song?”

Ji Won shook her head. “Of course not," she lied. "I'm not an old fart like you." They’d begun to play old school jams and the song they were playing had been really popular in the previous decade.

“If you don’t remember this song, you at least remember this dance step,” he said before doing The Running Man.

Ji Won laughed as she felt her spirits lift. “Stop it! This is embarrassing!” She kept laughing but he really didn’t look bad at all. In fact, he looked unexpectedly hot. Who knew an ajusshi could look hot doing The Running Man?

“Do you want me to teach you?” He grabbed her hand and pulled her next to him.

She snatched her hand away. “Who told you I have to learn?” She was now laughing even more because he was making one of those faces that people put on when they were being very serious about their dancing. “Stop it!”

“If you don’t want to do The Running Man, how about The Shuffle?”

“Oh gosh, The Running Man. I haven’t done it in ages,” Ji Won heard someone say from behind her. When she turned around, she noticed that others had begun to join them in doing their old school steps. She looked back at Shin who was now dancing so seriously one would think he was auditioning for Dancing With The Stars. Seeing how everyone else seemed to be having fun, she decided to join in.


***

“Aren’t you happy you came?” Shin asked as they approached the car. He was feeling good because he was now sure that Ji Won was over her ex. When they walked over to congratulate the new couple, he hadn't noticed the slightest hint of jealousy or pain from her. Plus he’d finally managed to take her hand as they walked out of the wedding hall and hadn’t let go. He’d expected her to pull away or at least have some kind of reaction but to his surprise, he’d gotten none. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.

“I had a good time,” she said tilting her head up to look at him. "But why did you suddenly turn into a dance instructor? It was so unlike you.”

“You seemed to be getting into some kind of mood so I thought it would be best to liven things up. Got a problem with that?”

She shook her head. He'd done that for her? She could feel herself blushing. She recognized the sudden warmth in her chest. She'd felt it with Joon Young, with her first love and even with fake drug addicted Pil Suh. It was something that she’d vowed never to feel again but here she was, once again, helpless to that feeling. And if felt okay. She looked at Shin and smiled. The sun was long gone so she hoped he couldn’t see the color in her cheeks.

When he smiled back at her, she knew the red color in her cheeks were deepening. Yup, she was in big trouble. Looking for something to say or do, she glanced her at watch. “It’s already 8:40. We should hurry up so we don’t keep your mom waiting.”

Shin winced then walked over to her side of the car and opened the door. He waited for her to get in then shut it. A few moments later, when he was in the driver’s seat, he said, “She’s not my mom.”

Ji Won was still smiling as she recalled the day’s events. “What?”

“The only mom I have is my grandmother.”

The expression on his face drained all the giddiness out of Ji Won. Having nothing else to say, she mouthed an O. They were back in the danger zone. Why did she have to open her big mouth?

He noticed the change in her expression and knew that he had to explain his feelings. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it but he needed to make things clear. “Her name was Shin Ae. Did I ever tell you that?”

Ji Won looked straight ahead and shook her head.

“When she passed, I wanted to always have a part of her so I became Shin. Plus it didn’t help that my real name sucks,” he ended with a chuckle.

Still not looking at him, she said, “Okay.”

“So don’t call that woman my mom,” he pleaded. “I know it sounds silly because she is the woman who gave birth to me but using the word ‘mom’ for her just doesn’t seem right. When I call her "mom" I know what I mean but when others do, it's different.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one with the problem.” He tried to smile but his cheeks refused to comply. “Ready to go?” he asked, turning the engine on.

She nodded as she felt her nerves kicking in. This drama with his mother had revealed a side of him she’d never been privy to. And she no longer knew what to expect from him.