CHAPTER 8: Sorry

Daniel pulled on the gas grip, making the motorbike he rode the fastest amongst the other vehicles on the streets of Seoul. That morning, there was something troubling his mind. He was still thinking aout the fresh chrysanthemums stored in front of his father’s ash compartment. Who put it there? He wanted to stop thinking about it, but still it kept coming to his mind. Therefore, he can only hope on the wind to take the thought away from his mind.

Daniel slowed the pace of the motorbike near Dongho’s place. He must return Tiger to the owner who is quite fussy if his favorite motor is blistered. But from a distance, Daniel was able to see the owner of Tiger spending his time chatting with a girl in front of his garage.

Daniel passed them and brought Tiger directly into the garage. After parking Tiger and opening his helmet, he walked over to the two persons.

"What are you doing here so early this morning, Giae?" Daniel asked the girl directly.

Not until the girl answered Daniel's question, Dongho had already represented her. "Of course looking for you, Niel."

Daniel frowned before replying, "If she's looking for me, she should go to a restaurant instead of here, Hyung .."

Daniel's reply made Dongho thinking for a moment, before he nodded and said, "Umm, you’re right.."

Dongho's innocent respond made Giae slightly smiling. The girl is one of the people who know Dongho quite well. For her, Dongho isn’t a tiger with a steep fangs as many people see, but bear with soft feathers that are funny enough to be her doll.

"Can’t I stop by here before having breakfast at the restaurant?" asked Giae while acting angry. "I should just go straight to college .."

Daniel came over and ruffled her hair slowly. "Don’t be mad, cutie pie.. Let's go to the restaurant and ask Jisung hyung to make breakfast." said Daniel to that long caramel brown haired girl, who then rewarded him with a nod.

"Come on hyung, you come too, this breakfast is free because I've been allowed to borrow your Tiger." Daniel said invited Dongho.

But Dongho shook his head. "I'll have to feed my fish first." Dongho replied while presenting his smile eyes.

Daniel and Giae laughed at it. The man in front of them does have a contradictory look and character.

Leaving Dongho's shop, Daniel is now walking with Giae to the restaurant. Her name is Song Giae, Daniel and Jaehwan's classmates in high school. Daniel is pretty close to Giae, until he can talk with her the things that normally cannot be talked about with others.

"Giae ya, did you visit your sister's ashes this morning?"

Giae was surprised by Daniel’s question. "I visited her last week. Why?”

Giae's answer made Daniel taking a deep breath. "I thought while visiting your sister ashes, you stopped by my dad's ashes." He paused, before adding, "There’s someone who put a chrysanthemum in front of my dad compartment."

"Hah? Could it be your brother??" Giae replied eagerly.

Yes. Giae is one of the few people who know Daniel's past. Daniel is the person who’s not easy to tell people about his past, but the girl accidentally found Daniel's father's ash compartment.

Giae, who was in high school, was often distracted by Jaehwan, who wanted to show her that little Jaehwan is more handsome than litte Daniel, making Giae memorized the childhood faces of Jaehwan and Daniel who were standing next to each other in the photo. The memory brought her to Daniel's past. She accidentally saw a photo of a little Daniel-like boy with a family, tucked in a compartment near her sister's ash compartment. She told Daniel about it, and Daniel responded by immediately asking Giae to take him to look at the compartment. And it turns out right, the boy is a little Daniel, and the owner of the ashes is his father. From there, Daniel began to tell his past to Giae.

"There's no way it's him." Daniel replied coldly.

"Hish, why not? Who knows, your brother is now back from America." Giae replied assuredly.

"Don’t give me false hope, Giae ya.. Why is he suddenly coming now? Remember, for fourteen years he has never come back." Replied Daniel pessimistic.

Giae heaved a sigh. "Well, if it’s not him then who? Your mom?"

"I told you, don’t call her my mom!" Rebuke Daniel with an angry look, before his face softened and said, "I don’t think it’s her.. I'm sure she didn’t want to use her precious time to visit dad."

"That means it's your hyu--". Giae haven’t finished responding to Daniel's sentence, when she heard the voice of a man which she very memorized.

"Ommo! Ommo! Ommo! There is an angel falling from heaven this morning!" Jaehwan greeted Giae with enthusiasm.

But the girl just rolled her eyes. She still wanted to talk seriously with Daniel, but the presence of this comedian friend was disrupting everything. Daniel took the opportunity to avoid a conversation about Seongwoo by going into the kitchen,