A/N: Sorry for going on long hiatus, there's been a lot of struggling to continue this story. Hope this one will be good enough :) nonetheless, enjoy! And happy chinese new year!

Getting Closer

Chapter 28

It was the same park he went to on the first Saturday he was back to Korea more than a year ago. The same maple tree was standing tall right at the corner of the park, shading a wooden park bench beneath it where he used to chill on. Across of it was a pond with ripples on its surface, while the geese were scavenging around for bread thrown by people visiting the park.

Other than that moment when he saw Jessica for the first time in Korea, Taeng had been regularly going there every Sunday morning. At first, it was in hope to see Jessica again sometimes –although sadly it never happened, but lately, it was all about his health. He found the park was a great place to go jogging. It had jogging track and with all the trees around it, the fresh air was really good for his breath.

After several laps he decided to end his running. He took a couple gulp of water before opening a bag of bread he just bought from the stall and walked to the group of geese near the pond. He threw them some chunks and watched the adorable birds scattered around for the bread. He chunked some more bread and threw it to the baby goose outside the bread consuming circle.

The view brought a smile to him, not only because it was an adorable scene, but also it reminded him of Jessica. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe it. That the woman he saw at this park who captivated his heart was now his wife. And not the wife above the paper only, but the wife who shared a loving and warm relationship with him.

It had been blissful time for Taeng these past weeks. After their first kiss, Jessica had become much more warm and caring, just like what he expected of her. She also had been more relax around him, especially when he initiated a physical contact, like caressing, hugging, or kissing.

Although their relationship went really well so far, Taeng didn’t want to rush things. He usually only gave a peck, or gentle kiss to Jessica. He understood that they started everything from the scratch and he would want her to be ready first if they would take the next step.

Nonetheless, he was happy to have Jessica and it was already enough for him.

He decided to enjoy the time with the geese a little more and continued throwing some more chunks to them. As he distributed the last of the crusts and crunched up the bag, he was surprised by a voice of someone next to him.

“You like geese?”

Taeng turned his head and was welcomed by a sight of a red-haired woman admiring the fluffy mob. “Tiffany?”

The woman nodded. “Yes, it’s me,” answered her as she faced him and showed her eye smile. “So, you like geese?”

He blinked. “Huh?”

“You looked so captivated by them,” answered her lightly.

“Well, yeah. Aren’t they adorable?”

“They are. Yet it is more adorable to see a CEO of Jeguk Corp. playing with birds on Sunday morning,” Tiffany chuckled.

“A man can have his own happy thing, you know,” Taeng countered with same chuckle.

“I know,” Tiffany laughed. “It’s a nice thing honestly.”

“Thanks,” Taeng smiled. “So, what are you doing here? Do you come here to watch the birds waddle?” He joked and showed his playful smile. He noticed the woman was in her pink T-shirt and a black sweatpants, but there was a book within her folded arms. There was no way somebody would go jogging with a book on their hand.

It made Tiffany laughed. “No. I’m here to find inspiration,” she showed the book she brought. “The project for the children need constant new ideas. What about you?”

“I go for a jogging.”

“Oh right. That explains the running jacket and short,” she chuckled.

“Yeah,” he chuckled back. “I like go jogging here in the morning. It’s always packed in this park in the afternoon, so running in the morning is the only time I have the path to myself.” They both turned to watch two old guys smack each other upside the head while arguing over something. Taeng laughed. “Well, mostly to myself.”

“Me too! I found it easier to be inspired here. Especially in the morning. The fresh air helps clear my mind.” Tiffany answered rather too enthusiastic.

“Yeah, the fresh air really helps. Actually I’m not a fan of sport and stuff, but since my doctor recommended me to go have some aerobic and this park really has a fresh air, I decided to go down for a jog here every weekend.”

“Doctor? Are you sick or something?” Her forehead frowned in an instant.

“No, I’m alright now. But I used to have a heart problem when I was young.”

“Heart problem?” She sounded surprised by the information and the frown on her forehead creased even more.

“Yeah, something like that.” Taeng was confused seeing the expression on Tiffany’s face right there. It looked like she was thinking really hard. “But it’s not a big problem, really. I’m fine now,” he added, not wanting to make his past a big deal.

“Hemm,” Tiffany looked at Taeyeon for a while, “Are you sure you are okay now?” The concern look hadn’t left her face.

Taeng nodded. “As healthy as I can be. Don’t worry,” he gave an assuring smile.

“Okay then if you say so.” Her face had gone more relax. “How is Sica? Does she come too?”

“She is okay. And no, she doesn’t come. She loves her bed too much to leave it so early only for a jogging.” Taeng let out a chuckle.

“Ah, right.” Tiffany chuckled too. “Alright then. It’s nice to meet you here, Taeng. Maybe we can watch the geese waddle again next time,” she chuckled.

“Some other time,” he nodded and smiled.

“Okay then. I have to go now. Gotta color my hair to black.”

“Alright,” he paused for awhile before continuing, “Anyway, I actually think your red hair suits you. You look gorgeous.” He hadn’t meant to say the last sentence though, it just sort of slipped out. It was sincere and he didn’t mean anything except complimenting, but it felt wrong somehow. Yet, he had to admit that Tiffany looked amazing with her red hair and he thought it would still be much more gorgeous rather than if she changed her hair to black. He always had a soft spot to the red-haired.

Before he could do anything about the compliment, he could see, although it was subtle, Tiffany blushed for a couple second before regaining her composure back and shooting her best smile. “Bye, Taeng.”

Taeng slowly smiled back and bid his goodbye. “Bye, Tiffany.”

***

After taking a fresh shower, Taeng went to the kitchen to grab some water, but to his surprise there was an unusual scene happened right there. Jessica was there, wearing a red apron with white polkadot patterns, facing the stove. Her hands were busy although there were some flour on it.

Jessica noticed his presence and looked at him. “Hey.” She chirped happily.

“Hey,” he took a bottle from the fridge and drank some gulp.

“Back already?” she said while continuing her cooking.

Putting down the bottle, he walked approaching his wife. “Yes. I miss you already,” he circled his arms around her body and put down his head on her shoulder.

The gesture was kind of surprising Jessica a little bit, but she quickly adjusted to it. She let out a warm chuckle. “Don’t know you’re such a baby.”

The brunette found this side of Taeng was adorable though. Aside from his gentle, caring and sweet personality, Jessica got to witness his playful-self more often after spending more time with him. The 27-year old man could turn into an instant dork whenever he spent times with his close ones that never failed to bring laughter. It amazed her how could a dork and a gentleman was packed into one tiny body of Kim Taeng. The man dazed her even more with his baby side. Although the man was born with a very unfair to humanity baby face which was undoubtedly cute, but his baby side made him even