“Selina…” she said.

Catching herself in her act Selina unwillingly let go of Jiro and turned around with swollen eyes. Mrs. Wu smiled back and Selina looked to the ground as if she’d done something wrong.

“Would you like some fresh air? You can go out back if you’d like,” Mrs. Wu said.

Without answering Selina walked away and Jiro watched as she disappeared around the corner. He then turned his gaze to Mrs. Wu who was already staring at him.

“Would you like some tea?” Mrs. Wu questioned.

Jiro found himself sitting at a small round table with her. Fragile cups with tea sat in front of them. They were so thin and he felt that if he gently touched it it would break into pieces.

“Selina’s going to be staying with us from now on,” Mrs. Wu said. “She is after all Chun’s girlfriend.”

She sounded as if she was saying something to make the words more memorable. Was it a warning?

“But Selina and Chun aren’t really dating,” Jiro said without thinking.

“Who says so?” Mrs. Wu asked. “If I say so then it is what it is.”

Jiro decided not to say anything more. He didn’t want to offend her.

“Like I said since Selina is Chun’s girlfriend I’m having a feeling Chun can finally settle down after a month,” she said.

A month? Chun was getting married and he didn’t know?

“Chun’s getting married?” asked Jiro. “He didn’t tell me so.”

“I was waiting to ask for permission from Selina’s grandfather,” Mrs. Wu said.

Jiro hoped that Selina’s grandfather would decline saying that she was too young.

“But sadly he passed away yesterday,” Mrs. Wu told.

Jiro’s heart sank strangely. What was going on with his strange thoughts?

“Selina’s too broken down right now to do anything so she’s going to stay with us in the meantime and after she settles down I’ll arrange everything else for their wedding,” Mrs. Wu told.

“Why are you telling me this?” Jiro asked.

Mrs. Wu paused before going on, “I figured since you and Chun have had a problem with Ella before I just don’t want to watch you guys go through it again. I’m clarifying Chun and Selina’s marriage. If you see any man at work go near her please help stand up for her.”

Jiro felt it was more of an excuse for him to stay away from Selina. He guessed Mrs. Wu didn’t want to see Chun go through what had happened before. It wasn’t that she really worried for him either.

After that short talk Mrs. Wu had excused herself to join Chun at his meeting. Jiro sat for a bit then got up deciding to leave then stopped. How could he leave Selina alone? She was in a fragile state of the mind right now. What would happen if she did something to herself? Jiro turned around and headed out back to find her sitting on a swing by the flowers. Figuring he should at least talk to her he stepped down from the stairs.

“Pretty aren’t they?” Jiro asked taking a seat next to Selina.

Selina didn’t turn to glance at him, but her hair had fallen forward covering part of her face. Jiro could however hear her quiet snuffles.

“I was thinking that you had ditched me yesterday for something else,” Jiro said as he turned to look at her. “If you were having troubles you could have talked to me.”

Selina felt more tears fall. She felt touched, but saddened at the same time with his words. She had completely forgotten about their meeting. Why did her grandpa have to leave at such an inconvenient time? She could have laughed instead of been crying. Selina gave out a loud cry, but stopped herself and covered . Jiro raised his hand to put it on her shoulder, but stopped recalling Mrs. Wu’s words of warning. Why at a moment when he wanted to comfort her so much that she was telling him those words?

“I wanted to come too…” Selina managed to say through her sobs, “I wanted to come too, but I forgot. I’m sorry…I forgot.”

Selina let her tears surge out of her and started crying loudly. Unable to just sit and watch Jiro reached forward and pressed her head against his chest. Selina clutched onto his shirt with her small fingers.

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

Stopping at the red light Jiro wondered whether he should go home or return to his office. Without thinking he’d gone back to the office. Going off routine Jiro went up the stairs and dragged himself lazily up the stairs. As he opened the door he was surprised to see his father sitting in his office going through his papers.

“Dad…” Jiro said.

“Where were you?” his father asked. “Slacking off again?”

Jiro kept quiet.

His father sighed as he got up from the chair, “I’m not going to yell at you today.”

Jiro kept his still eyes on the thin tall man that had lost so much weight due to overwork and stress.

“Then…why are you in my office?” Jiro questioned.

His father sighed again as he walked toward Jiro, “Your mother wants to see you. She’s caught another cold.”

“She’s sick again?” Jiro questioned.

His father nodded sadly, “The virus has already begun to spread through her organs…you should go visit her when you have the time.”

With that Mr. Wang left his office closing the door softly behind him. Jiro rubbed the back of his head in hopes of getting the stress of his shoulders, but he didn’t feel a bit better. His mother who he hated during the first years she had come to live with them. The one who had showered him with unexpected love and care that he had never received since young when it was just him and his father. She seemed so sad throughout those years. Jiro remembered hearing about a daughter she had lost, but had never paid much attention to that story. He could even clearly recall secretly watching his mother cry over an old faded picture. He had never directly looked at the picture to see what it was since he respected his mother’s privacy.

It had been almost a year and a half that she’d been sick and lying in the hospital. He’d only paid visits to her a few times and hadn’t gone back since. What a bad son he was. He wasn’t worthy of a mother. Maybe that girl…that lost daughter would be more worthy than him to have a mother. Jiro laughed sarcastically at himself because it was him who had stolen her mom.

There was a knock on the door and Jiro sat up in his chair.

“I knew you’d be here,” it was Ella. “Should we have dinner?”

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

After Jiro had left Selina had lugged herself back up the stairs and to that guest bedroom. Since Chun’s mother wasn’t around she thought of leaving, but the thoughts of leaving tired her so much she decided sleeping would be much better. As soon as her head hit the pillows she fell asleep quickly and awakened later when the door opened. She could make out the footsteps headed toward her and soon a hand was smoothing her hair back. Selina then opened her eyes and looked up at Chun who smiled back.

“Are you feeling better?” Chun questioned.

Selina looked away from his eyes and used her hands to push herself up into a sitting position.

“Where’s my grandpa?” Selina asked.

Chun didn’t reply at first then said, “I’ve already set everything for you. The funeral will begin once you’re ready.”

The word “funeral” hit Selina like a bomb. It felt as if a heavy rock had just dropped onto her. She could feel herself shake at first then the tears came and she felt so tired.

“He’s gone…” Selina mumbled.

After a bit Selina nodded slowly in acceptance.

Without looking at Chun she said, “Thank you.”

Chun put reassuring hands on her shoulders and gently pressed her against him.

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

Jiro found himself across from Ella as usual. It felt as if he was back to his usual daily routine eating with her then going home, but it was different now. Somehow it just felt different.

“I bet your day has been good?” Ella asked.

Jiro shrugged as he poked at his bowl of soup, “My mother’s sick again.”

“She’ll get better soon…won’t she? Shouldn’t you guys let her out to breathe some fresh air more often? She’s always cooped up in the hospital,” Ella said.

Jiro shrugged again, “She doesn’t want to come out. Anyway what was it you said that you wanted to know?”

“Oh…about that,” Ella began. “I don’t know…it just seemed strange to me. You know Chun and Selina’s attitude at the cottage. It was as if they didn’t know…”

“Didn’t know?” Jiro repeated.

Ella nodded, “Yea…didn’t know that you and Selina were dating. She had that clueless look on her face and Chun got all fired up. Is it something with Selina?”

Jiro didn’t respond yet because he was trying to think up of an excuse.

“He seems really close with Selina too,” Ella told.

“No!” Jiro suddenly found himself shouting.