A Wistful Walk
Min-Ju went to JinHai's office to ask him something
BiYu went to her office not wanting to interfere with their very complicated relationship
Min-Ju leans on one of the sides of the door frame waiting for him to notice her
He notices her instantly and he grins at the sight of her, making her smile as well. She was interested in him working. She hasn't taken a case in a year and she was desperate for work
She walks and sits down in the chair in front of his desk. "Are you getting sued? I'll be happy to represent you free of charge'' He said with a sly smile
Making the sides of her lips curl up "You know very well I can defend myself"
"Well, You may be rusty. I heard you haven't taken a case in more than a year" He said to tease her
"Rusty? ME? No'' she said grabbing his file off of his desk. Skimming through it. Missing the work that was part of her life
"What do you think?" He asked wondering what she thinks
"He's guilty" She sternly said "That not what a defense attorney wants to hear"
She smiles at him making him smile too "What brings you here?" he asked
"I want to take you out to lunch" JinHai raises an eyebrow before accepting
"But I still have some work to do and it's still early let's go in an hour" Min-Ju accepts and moves to the couch and laying her head on one of the arms
She quickly fell asleep as she spent all night watching the old VHS tapes
JinHai saw her and covered her body with his coat
He looked at her seeing that she has gotten older but she still looks the same. Then Min-Ju suddenly wakes up. Their faces close enough to kiss. "What are you doing?" She asked, still in a haze. "You still look beautiful after all these years" Min-Ju sits up and pushes him as almost everybody was staring at his office
"You... tell me when you're done" she said before going back to laying on the couch. He let her sleep until she woke up. But she was a light sleeper so she woke up when JinHai's secretary walked in. She gave him some work giving Min-Ju a look as she gets up from the couch
"You're awake? I was gonna let you sleep some more."
"What time is it?" She asked hazily
"1:30" looking at his watch. She wakes up and asks " Do you want to go out now?"
"Yeah sure let's go. I have a place" He said softly and quietly
He drives her to a restaurant by the seaside knowing she always liked the ocean
"Why are we here?" she asked looking around the glass interior
"I know a friend that owns several of these restaurants," he said looking through the menu and when the waiter came to take their order. JinHai ordered for her knowing what she likes
"How do you know I wanted that"
"Didn't you like Congee with preserves eggs"
"I do... I just didn't think you knew after a long time"
"I haven't forgotten anything" Min-Ju felt sorry after hearing about it
"Let's way" as the food comes fresh out of the kitchen
It was like the old times but this was different. They weren't talking like they used to. They were silent and the air felt awkward
"How's your girlfriend? She asked breaking the eerie silence
"She's fine. She was just worried about me yesterday."
"Good" she said trying to end this conversation because she was uncomfortable
"How's your husband?" He asked in retaliation
"He's fine. He just works a lot" she said playing with her ring. He saw her playing with the ring and he didn't like it. He felt a sense of jealousy
When they were done with lunch Min-Ju walked near the side of the sea with JinHai beside her
"You have a different style now. Not like when I first saw you after 10 years"
"Well, I learned to speak up for my own beliefs. My son likes my new style too"
"How's your son?" He asked cautiously
"He's fine. Braver than I am" she said stopping at the edge of the sea bank. Watching a ship full of passengers depart the dock. Min-Ju hesitated to tell him but she has to now she's leaving soon
"I'm leaving next week" she said
"What? I thought you were staying. That you were moving back here."
"It's just a vacation home for us. Yong-Sun still has school"
"He's a clever boy isn't he"
"Yeah. He is. He gets it from you" JinHai looks at her. Thinking 'did she just tell him Yong-Sun was his son?'
"I know" he responded
"You know?" Surprised that he knew
"I knew since the drive home on the night of the wedding. He's 9 and you left in September and he was born in June. So it couldn't be your husband's because the timing didn't work. So I knew it was mine. Also, he looks like me when I was his age. I'm not blind"
"Why didn't you tell me?" she said horrified that he kept that a secret and knew for 3 weeks without asking her
"I wanted you to tell me. I knew you weren't ready to say anything. So I didn't push you to tell me. So I never asked"
"You kind of asked when you got drunk and climbed onto my bed. But I didn't think too much of it" She said jokily trying to calm her nerves as he chuckled at that comment but then it got quiet "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," he said plain and simply. "I want to get to know him. After all he is my son." he said with a genuine voice before continuing, "What about your husband? Does he know?"
She nods "He does know. But he doesn't know who the father is. But he is too busy to find out. I had to beg him not to send an army of bodyguards to help me here in Beijing. He is just overprotective," she said for the first time in a long time that she has told anybody this. "You can see him and get to know him. I won't stop you from that"
"I will. Are you happy with him?" He asked making eye contact with her
"Happy. You could say that." She pauses before continuing "Happy as in when a stranger sees me and my family. They see the perfect image of a family. Successful parents, a smart child, and a sense of joyfulness. But they see a fantasy but I live in reality and it's much more complicated than that."
"Would your life be different if you would have stayed?"
"No, because I was never going to stay here. In this city of beautiful and rich history, it isn't for me. I thought about it many times thinking what my life would have been like if I stayed but I knew I was never going to stay here... too much hate here"
"Oh" He knew what she was talking about. She hasn't spoken to her parents in years and JinHai here. There was no question on why she never came back
"Are you going to come back" he asked looking in her eyes for the answer he wanted to hear
"I don't know. Depends on..." she pauses and tries to find the right words "Everything" That was the only word that came to her mind. JinHai was stunned and confused at what she meant but she turned and asked him
"How will you do this? Doesn't LiQiu get suspicious of us." Min-Ju asks knowingly changing the subject. JinHai hesitates for a second before carefully answering
"What we didn't do anything wrong. Did we Mrs. Li?" He asked in a husky voice making Min-Ju jump. He wanted to make her uncomfortable so they wouldn't have another argument but what she did next made him uncomfortable instead. They did a lot of things wrong and cheating was only the start of it.
Min-Ju without thinking kissed him. "Let's go. You have to get back to work" waking back to the car leaving JinHai wondering what the fuck just happened?
"Wait! I don't have to go back to work that soon," He said hurriedly trying to catch up with her. "I want to meet my son"