(sorry this took so long. I have been so busy I felt like I could die……..)

Somethings, we know by heart…

Gary and Hyun returned to their home. Home. Jihyo was done with preparing her breakfast. As she served out the dishes, they entered their house. Gary helped Hyun dust of the little snowflakes on his coat, and dusted off the snow off his boots. Jihyo doesn’t have to look up to see what he’s doing. She knows them by heart.

“Let’s see what we have for breakfast!” Gary said. Jihyo could tell that his cheeriness was forced, but she doesn’t expose him. Not knowing what to say, she doesn’t reply either.

A moment of awkward silences later, it was Hyun who spoke up again. “Looks delicious,” he said, trying his best to sound as cheery as Gary. “I’m hungry.”

The adults smiled at him, fully aware that he’s doing this for their sake. Their gazes somehow met and their eyes locked. They smiled, softly. Gary nodded, a gesture that everything is okay now. Jihyo nodded back in relief. They started eating. 

“Kwang Soo’s coming around lunch time,” Jihyo said. “We arranged to have lunch together.”

“Shall we go out for lunch?” Gary asked. Jihyo looked up for a moment, then glanced over to Hyun. Hyun nodded excitedly.

“Sure, I’ll text him.”

The tension was lightened after breakfast, but neither of them talked much. Jihyo went into the kitchen to do the dishes, and Gary followed suit. She opened to tell him that she could handle it, but she knew he just wanted to be close. So she let him be.

Stealing glances at her, Gary noted, “You read me well.”

Jihyo’s hand doesn’t stop washing, but she does turn to look at Gary, at first in confusion, but then she smiled. It dawned on her that he knew she knew he just wanted to be close.

“I should have known better,” he said again. “You’ve always read me well.”

Jihyo doesn’t reply. Gary continued, more to himself than to her, “It was me who didn’t know you well enough.”

Jihyo heard it though. Her heart ached, looking at him being so guilty over last night. She put her hands lightly over his. Although she doesn’t say anything, Gary knew. It’s okay, it meant.

At noon, the trio went out to a nearby mall for lunch. It was inconvenient, with so much snow around, but they made it anyway.

They waited outside the designated restaurant for Kwang Soo. He arrived soon after, along with his senior, Jae Suk.

Jihyo looked surprised to see the elder man there. It was always Kwang Soo who did the home visits. Jae Suk spoke up first. “Ah, I’m sorry for tagging along uninvited,” he said. “I just wanted to see how our Hyun-ie is doing.”

“No, it’s okay,” Jihyo said. She liked having Kwang Soo around, but sometimes he was a little too flighty and the nervousness seemed to rub off her. Jae Suk, on the other hand, was much more grounded. Somehow, she felt assured with him around.

Turning to Gary, she said, “This is Kwang Soo, the guy who’s responsible for the adoption papers. This is Jae Suk, his senior.”

“I’m Kang Gary,” Gary introduced himself, putting out his hand for a handshake.

“Good afternoon, Mr Kang,” Jae Suk greeted.

“Oh, no, just Gary will do!” Gary insisted politely.

Coming to a realisation, Kwang Soo made a small gasp.

“You’re Mr Kang!” he almost exclaimed. “The… her…. ex…”

Before he could finish his words, Jae Suk jabbed him in his sides, frowning