18.
Little by Little - because you stay -
JUNG.yonghwa
"I'm home," I take off my shoes and take off my jacket. I walk to the kitchen to grab my favorite apple juice and perhaps something to eat. "Oh, Eunji."
My younger sister is sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees close to her chest. She looks up, giving me a strange look as if I just did something bad to her.
"What is it?" I laugh and open the refrigerator. "Did you have dinner already? Ah, I'm so hungry. I'll cook ramen. Do you want some, Eunji?"
No answer.
I straighten my body and glance at her. She just looks at me, still pursing her lips. I close the refrigerator and walks away from the kitchen, "What's wrong?"
Eunji drops her gaze, shifting her head slightly, "Oppa... I... Can I..."
She stops and I raise my eyebrow in curiosity. I take a seat next to her and ask, "What? Is it about boys? My sister is falling in love!"
"No, I am not!" Eunji pouts, letting go of her knees. She blows her bangs and crosses her arms, "Oppa, you're such a tease!"
"Just kidding," I mess her hair. "What is it then? It's unusual for you to give me a serious expression like this."
I wonder if it's about the upcoming festival. I just returned after having a random conversation with Aerin, just like usual. Tonight is not a really good one for me though.
I still haven't managed to tell Aerin about the secret I've been holding inside ever since I knew the truth from her.
"Jung Aerin...," Eunji murmurs the name in my mind. She clenches her fists and blurts out a surprising question, "Are you two together?"
"Eh?" I blink in confusion. This is the first time Eunji brought up about Aerin's relationship with me. "Why did you ask this all of a sudden? Who told you that anyway?"
She shakes her head quickly and retorts, "I... I'm sorry, Oppa, but I... I saw you two and... I never knew that you..."
It feels like an invisible person just slapped me right on face. Did she see Aerin and I at the cooking practice room? Does she think that we...
"Eunji ya," I pat her head twice, smiling gently towards her. "There are things that you better don't know. At least not yet. This is one of them."
My sister frowns in disbelief, "Eh? Why? I'm surprised but it's not that I don't support you with her but it's more like because I-"
"You're rambling," I flick her forehead lightly and laugh. I stand up and heave a sigh, "We're not a couple, if that's what you have in mind. You can rest assure, Eunji."
We're not couple. Not yet. Not ever.
Especially if Aerin finds out about everything.
❖❖❖❖❖
Three weeks had passed since the first time I tried to talk with Aerin, the girl who caught the attention of the whole university due to the incident which took place at a public bank.
Despite the fact that the unknown man was still alive with hidden identity to avoid public controversy, looked like people still didn't take it easy against Aerin.
Quite the opposite, I enjoyed having conversations with her. I got to know her better every time I met her and she didn't look annoyed with my attempt to know her more and more.
At first, I admitted that it was nothing but curiosity. She was one of my students and she sometimes skipped my class so I wanted to know what she was doing out of my class.
If she was not at the backyard, she would be somewhere else, a place where she didn't need to worry of being the target of people's nasty look at her.
Just like today.
She skipped my class again and I found her at the small art gallery near from the campus. An old woman took care of it and she didn't really pay attention of who's coming there.
Probably that's why Aerin chose to come here; because no one would worry about her presence or kept looking at her as if she was carrying deadly virus all the time.
"It's a beautiful painting," she muttered once she realized my presence. She was looking at a painting of sunset at beach. "Do you like beach, Jung Songsaenim?"
"I like it when I come there with my family," I walked to her side, tucking my hands in pockets. "How about you, Aerin?"
She smiled softly and looked at me, "I never went there with my family but I would be happy to go there with my Unnie. Ah, but I think it's impossible for now."
I knew what she was trying to say. I didn't know when it started but both of us shared about almost everything towards each other. It flew naturally between us as if we knew each other for a long time.
She knew that my mother had divorced with my father, that I only lived with my sister, that I used to have a relationship with Park Kahi, that I actually loved to sing and play music.
As the return I also knew about her family background, the reason why she lived alone in an apartment because her stepsister hated her so much, and about how innocent she was.
Aerin never showed a sign of hatred towards people who kept judging her in purpose. In fact she said that she would not blame them. She shrugged it with just a smile.
If there was one thing I never talked with her, it was about the incident that made her through these harsh moments.
"Beach...," Aerin murmured. Her lips stayed as a curve, "He said that he really wanted to go to a beach with his children too."
"He?" I tilted my head slightly. "Who is it that you're talking about, Aerin?"
"The person I stabbed at the public bank," she answered calmly as if I just asked her what she was doing. "He was a really caring father."
Now this conversation sounded really interesting. I didn't think she would bring up this topic as our random conversation, "Ah, a man in his fifties, I heard."
Aerin nodded and returned her gaze to the painting, "Unfortunately I couldn't talk to him more but at least he told me his name."
"What's his name?" I tried to follow the flow. My biggest question was actually why she stabbed that man so I was going to turn the question slowly but sure.
Aerin put her index finger under her chin and looked up, "Jung... Jung Donghwa."
My eyes widened in shock and my voice just disappeared to nowhere once I heard the name.
It's impossible.
Jung Donghwa.
My father?
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