Selina turned to him, “I feel uncomfortable…that’s all.”

“It’s ok,” Jiro said comfortingly.

“I’ve never been to a place like this before…” Selina confessed.

“Would you rather go somewhere?” asked Jiro.

Selina’s face brightened up, “Are you sure?”

Jiro nodded, “We can cancel our orders.”

An hour later Jiro found himself walking after Selina who was rushing ahead of him. She seemed like a little girl excited for some sort of entertainment ahead. It didn’t matter to him where she was taking him Jiro just wanted to get things off his mind and he figured Selina would be the right person who would be able to help him do so. It wasn’t as if he was using her or anything it was just that Selina had a typical kind of calming aura around her. He guessed it was just a kind of comfort during the time that he was feeling down.

Jiro began looking around wildly as he realized that he’d lost sight of her. Suddenly he felt someone push him forward roughly. He turned around to see Selina laughing and smiling at him.

“You scared me,” Jiro told.

“Lets go over there, they have the best noodles in the world!” Selina told pointing over to a busy night stand.

Jiro stared at the two large bowls of noodles that a person placed in front of them. He felt strange, but since Selina seemed fine with it he guessed it mustn’t be that bad. Selina handed him a pair of chopsticks.

“Try it. I guarantee you that you’ll keep coming back for more,” Selina promised.  

Jiro looked at her then grabbed the chopsticks with an, “Ok.”

As Jiro began to dig in Selina also began eating her own. At the end Jiro found himself ordering one more bowl to satisfy his hunger. Jiro paid and they walked through the crowd silently. Every now and then Jiro turned to look at Selina who held her hands behind her back. She really looked like someone who had no worries at all. Without realizing they’d already left his car way behind. Agreeing to walk back they found a park and sat down to rest down for a bit. They stared out at the empty playground ahead of them. The cold air flew around them dancing a silent tune. The leaves on the ground rustled.

“Where are your parents?” Jiro asked out of the blue.

Selina turned to look at him, “Huh?”

“It says you only live with your grandpa,” Jiro told, “on your form.”

“Oh…” Selina said turning back to the playground with a saddened smile, “I don’t usually talk about it, but I guess I can tell you.”

Jiro smiled at her as he turned to look at her go on.

“I never knew my father…my mother was taken away when I was 10,” Selina’s voice became almost quiet, “since then on I lived with my grandparents. My grandma passed away a while ago from a heart attack. That’s about it. Nothing interesting really.”

“I wasn’t going to make fun of you,” Jiro told, “my life is more messed up then yours.”

Selina felt surprised. A man like Jiro…messed up? Selina couldn’t believe it. He seemed overly organized and smart. How could he ever get into anything called messed up? And he was her boss.

“Chun is my cousin so we’ve known each other for life. We went everywhere together and it was as if we were blood brothers.” Jiro started. “We went to the same school and got into the same university, but things changed there.”

“How?” Selina asked wondering why Jiro was spilling this to her.

“Chun met this girl, they started dating, and soon all three of us hung out together all the time. Whenever she wasn’t with him she was with me and whenever she wasn’t with me she was with him. I didn’t realize it, but I’d already started developing feelings for her…feelings eventually I couldn’t control.” Jiro told. “It went on for three years…the three of us stuck like that. Chun found out somehow and broke it off with her. She’s never fancied me so she rejected me in the end. However we’re still around each other today.” Jiro turned to look at Selina. “I’m having a hard time right now and I can’t talk with Chun about it. You understand if I talk with you right?”

“It’s fine,” Selina replied feeling surprised that he would share something like that with her especially when she was just a new employee under him. “But why me?”

“You have this certain kind of feeling you give others,” Jiro began, “you remind me of my mom.”

*-*-*-*-*-*

Chun stared at his cell phone wondering if Selina would call again. He had to admit that he was really nervous when she had phoned him. He sighed and leaned back in his chair wondering if what Jiro had said was true. Normally he wouldn’t tell anyone straight out the story about his brother, but for some reason it just came out when he sat there with her last week. Did he like her? He didn’t feel right knowing that she would always be seeing Jiro everyday anyway. There would always be a possibility for them to build a relationship…but Jiro was still pursuing Ella wasn’t he? He wouldn’t pay attention to a girl such as Selina. Chun immediately found himself smiling. Then on the other hand they were together before he had interrupted them…what were they talking about?

*-*-*-*-*-*-

“Are you sure? I can walk you up to your apartment,” Jiro offered as Selina unbuckled her seat belt.

“It’s ok. It’s pretty safe around here. The neighbors are really protective of us,” Selina said.

“Ok then,” Jiro told. “I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”

“Yea. You too,” Selina bade farewell and got out of his car.

She smiled and waved as he drove off. She turned around satisfied with the day and hurried up to her apartment.

The next several days went by quite fast and each day felt like a miracle and a dream to Selina. Jiro took her out for lunch and he eventually stopped going out to dinner with Ella. She eventually stopped coming by and never called him or any of the sort. They were having a silent war that wrecked Jiro’s nerves. He felt lost and angry with her yet he didn’t know how to express his helplessness. He felt glad that Selina was able to keep him from his troubles. They would tell each other jokes and somehow they would always find a topic to talk about during their time together.   

It was the night before the evening in which Chun would go to Selina’s house for dinner. She’d been thinking a lot and hadn’t had the guts to call him again.

“Can I ask you a question regarding Chun?” Selina asked during lunch.

Jiro felt anger spike throughout his body. Recently he’d been staring at his cell phone hoping for a call from Ella, but his phone didn’t even ring. If Chun had never broke up with her in the first place they would never have been in this mess and he wouldn’t be going through so much anger and pain If Chun never broke up with Ella she would still be around him instead of avoiding him. If Chun still loved Ella why was he pushing her away?

Jiro gripped his pen making sure not to let an angered expression onto his face.

“Sure,” Jiro said.

Selina looked around as if uncomfortable then leaned toward Jiro and asked, “What are Chun’s favorite dishes?”

*-*-*-*-*-*-

Fish stew, steamed vegetables, fried rice, and fried chicken sat on the table. Selina took off her apron and draped it over a chair. She hadn’t cooked a big meal for a long time. Usually it’d be just a simple dinner such as noodles or chicken. She sighed satisfied with how things were and she hoped Chun would like it. Just as the thought came the door bell rang making her jump. She stood dumbfounded for a second and hurried toward the door.

Chun looked back at her shyly and smiled awkwardly. Selina held the door open to let him in. As he took off his shoes Chun glanced around at the walls and the small rooms.

“It’s not inconvenient is it?” asked Selina. “I mean compared to your house…”

“Oh no! It’s alright,” Chun quickly answered, “I don’t mind.”

Selina laughed nervously.

“So where’s your grandpa?” he questioned.

“He’s taking a nap right now. He hasn’t been feeling well lately, tonight’s the first night he’s been able to sleep well,” Selina told.

“Then is it ok for me to be here?” Chun questioned with a worried weary look on his face.

“It’s fine,” Selina told turning around heading toward the kitchen.

As Chun stepped in he seemed to make a face at the food.

Noticing his look Selina asked, “You don’t like it?”

Chun seemed to lean over the table as if to take a better look, “They’re Jiro’s favorites.”

Selina frowned, “They’re not your favorites?”

Chun shook his head, “Jiro loves these dishes I’m sure of it.”

Selina bit her lip knowing she was tricked again, but why?

“I’m sorry I can make something else…” Selina offered.

Chun took a seat first, “It doesn’t matter. Food is food. They’re not my favorites, but I can still eat.”

“Are you sure?” Selina questioned.

Chun nodded in approval, “It’s ok don’t worry about it.”

Selina took her seat across from Chun and not surprisingly they ate in silence. After finishing their meal Selina suggested that Chun go to the bathroom to go wash his hands because the fried chicken was a little too oily.

Chun made his way down the small hallway and stopped suddenly. She hadn’t told him which door led to the bathroom. Chun randomly opened the first door to find someone sleeping inside. Guessing it was Selina’s grandpa he quickly closed the door quietly and opened the second door. Inside he found a bed, a desk, a night stand, a lamp that was left on, and a picture. Curiously he made his way into the room guessing that it was Selina’s room. He walked over to the night stand and grabbed the picture frame. It was a portrait of a little girl and a middle aged woman.

“Chun?” Selina asked suddenly opening the door.

Chun quickly set the picture down and turned around alarmed.

“I just came in here by accident,” Chun covered up for himself.

Selina gave him a blank stare, but as she didn’t mind she pointed to the door behind her.

“The bathroom’s over there,” Selina told.

After washing his hands Chun made his way to Selina’s living room. She had a thick book in her lap.

“Have a seat,” Selina told.

Chun took one being aware of his distance from her. Selina opened the book and Chun realized it was a photo book.

“Since you shared your story of your brother with me I’ll share something with you,” Selina told.

Selina stared to flip through the pages and started to explain each one. Chun found it interesting that she grew up with her grandparents instead of her biological parents. In another five minutes they came across the picture Chun had been looking at in Selina’s room. Selina didn’t seem to talk about it so when she began to flip the page he stopped her.

“What about this one?” asked Chun. “It’s like the one in your room.”

“My room?” Selina repeated.

“Oh…uh…yea I was in there…I didn’t offend you or anything did I? I’m sorry if I did,” Chun quickly said.

Selina didn’t smile, “It’s alright. The woman in here is my mom.”

“Your mom?” Chun asked. “You never talked about her before.”