Chapter 20

First Kiss Guy

09:05PM, Gwangju

Sulli walked with Ji Young to the gate. Ji Young was talking about planning to open a new branch of her noodle house in the nearby city. Sulli was happy for Ji Young. Ji Young is able to give her family a good life.

Sulli stopped on her tracks. A familiar man was standing by the gate of the school.

“Isn’t that your husband?” asked Ji Young.

Sulli nodded.

Minho waved his hand. Sulli waved back.

“Isn’t it hard to be a wife of a celebrity?” asked Ji Young.

“I don’t know yet.” Said Sulli. “All this time, he wasn’t Minho the celebrity to me… he was Minho, my superman.”

Ji Young giggled.

“You’re making me giddy.” Said Ji Young. “Once I see Heechul Oppa, I’ll let him know you’re around.”

Sulli nodded. “Thank you, Ji Young.”

Ji Young and Sulli parted ways after Ji Young said her goodbye to Minho. Minho reached for Sulli’s hand as they walked back to Sulli’s Grandma’s home.

“How was it?” asked Minho.

“It was good. Fixing old wounds are good.” Said Sulli.

Minho nodded.

Sulli… is such a brave woman. She had so much courage to face her old fears and pain. She was able to let go of hatred in her heart. Minho could see Sulli’s beauty radiating from within.

“I married a beautiful woman.” said Minho.

“Huh?”

“Every day, you give me a reason to love you more.” Said Minho.

Minho tightened his hold on Sulli.

Sulli smiled.

“It wasn’t hard.” Said Sulli. “Because I have such a wonderful husband like you.”

Sulli kissed Minho’s cheek.

Minho smiled.

-----------------------

9:40PM, Gwangju

Minho felt nervous all of a sudden. Sulli and He will be sharing a room tonight. Will he be able to control himself? Minho tried to take deep breaths. He needs to clear his mind and stop getting too excited.

When Sulli was taking a long time to return to the room, he decided to look for Sulli inside the house.

He found Sulli talking with her Uncle. It seems they were in a serious conversation. Sulli’s Uncle was crying. Minho hid himself, he didn’t want to disturb them, it would be awkward to suddenly appear in front of them.

“I… have loved her, I tried to provide for all her needs.” Said Sulli’s Uncle.

“How did you try to give her all her needs?” asked Sulli.

“Huh? Umm… I…”

“What was your job Uncle? I was often curious how you were able to provide for their needs.” Said Sulli.

“I couldn’t get a job. I was busy taking care of your mother and grand mother.” Said Sulli’s Uncle.

“Grand Ma said you don’t take care of her. It was Aunt who did that. And my mom also said she didn’t need to be in the hospital too often. Grandma told me you’re treating me like a piggybank. Are you providing for your family through the money you get from me? You’re supposed to give that to my Mom.” Sulli’s voice is nonchalant; there was no tone of anger.

Sulli’s Uncle could not answer.

“There were nights when I needed to sleep on a carton inside a small warehouse inside the office because I got kicked out of the room I was renting.  I even had to take a loan from a loan shark and the goons hunted me every day. They would run after me, they were even able to catch me at one point and almost sold me to old men. As for food, there were more than one occasion where I had to live on free food in the office alone. I didn’t even have money to buy a piece of bread because you said Mom was in the hospital and I need to send money.” Said Sulli, as if she’s just narrating an old story.

Minho wanted to go out of hiding and grab Sulli’s Uncle and punch him hard. Sulli does not deserve to be extorted that way! He was a witness to her problem and situation. He knew Sulli wasn’t lying nor exaggerating.

“But you know what… I knew all along what you were doing to me yet I never stopped sending money.” Said Sulli. “Do you know why?

Sulli’s Uncle shook his head.

“It was because Aunt had been the best Aunt I could ever have. She takes care of everyone around her, she’s loving and caring. I didn’t want her and her children to starve. But you know what, when I learned she left you… I thought I’d be happy for her. But I am not. Because Aunt loved you for so long…she gave you so many chances to change Uncle, and I think she’s not happy that she had to leave you because she can bare it no more.” Said Sulli.

Sulli noticed her Uncle crying.

“I went to her earlier. Your son was sick. She wasn’t able to go to the school to clean.” Said Sulli. “Aunt said   if you can just stop drinking, if you can just find work… then things would be better.”

“It’s easy for you to say. You have a rich Dad.” Said Sulli’s Uncle.

“When the loan sharks were after me, I could’ve just drank day and night and stopped working and stopped sending money. I would have ended up like you but I didn’t.” said Sulli. “Because I had a purpose and that is to provide for my family. If your family is more important to you than anything else, you’d choose them over anything, you’d quit what you think would take them away from you.”

“You speak to me like you are some elder in the family.” Said the Uncle. “I’m still the Uncle here.”

Sulli’s Uncle stood up and left her.

Sulli closed her eyes as tears started falling. Why is it so hard to make her Uncle understand what her Aunt needs? Why is he being so stubborn?

Sulli felt someone touching her hand, it’s that familiar warmth. She slowly opened her eyes.

“I guess some things would really take time to get fixed.” Said Sulli.

“Some things are beyond us to fix.” Said Minho. “Some things are not within our control. In his case, it’s only your Uncle who can change himself. No amount of words from anyone would change him.”

Sulli sighed. Minho is right. Her Uncle’s only solution is to decide and act and those things would only come from himself.

“I am no superman.” Said Sulli.

“Being a superman doesn’t mean you can solve all the problems in the world, Sulli. It just means  you’re willing to help.” Said Minho

Sulli smiled and gave Minho a quick kiss on his lips.

“That’s why I love you.” Said Sulli. “You always make me feel better when I talk to you.”

Minho felt that warm melting feeling inside him. He would never exchange these kinds of moments for anything else, it’s too precious.

Sulli rested her head on Minho’s shoulder.

“Tomorrow, I might see someone I was hoping not to see anymore.” Said Sulli, yawning.

“Who is it?” asked Minho.

“He was a good friend.” Said Sulli. “Well actually… I’m not sure what to call him.”

“Why?” asked Minho.

“It’s a bit complicated.” Said Sulli.

Minho didn’t like the sound of that.

Sulli yawned again.

“I told him once that I don’t need a friend. Ji Young’s betrayal was still fresh to me. He told me he wasn’t intending to be my friend. He said he only enjoys being around me.” Said Sulli.

Now that definitely did not sound good.

“Who is this guy?” asked Minho.

“He was a student of the same college.” Said Sulli. “He was older by 2 to 3 years though.”

“So… did you and him go out?” asked Minho.

Sulli took a minute to answer. Did she fall asleep?

“He would invite me somewhere from time to time. At first I would always say no. But since he was persistent, I ended up saying yes at the end.” Said Sulli.

They even went on a date?

“Is he your ex?” asked Minho.

“Hmm… we never became girlfriend boyfriend.” Said Sulli.

What a relief. Minho can now breathe properly.

“Is it because you don’t like him?” asked Minho.

Please say yes.

“No… actually I liked him a lot.” Said Sulli. “I liked him but I was afraid of getting into a relationship. With what happened to my Mom and Dad, I was not sure I wanted to be in a romantic relationship.”

That made Minho’s chest tight.

“So… did he know you had feelings for him?” asked Minho.

“Yeah, I admitted my feeli