Unexpectedly Meeting You Again

three

The moment she dreaded the most finally came. The moment where she finally reached home. She hated going back home and seeing her father's mistress cooking lunch. Seeing the mistress knit her damn scarf in the living room.

Areum silently stepped into the house and arranged her shoes on a shelf. She saw her father and stepmother in the living room. As usual, the woman would continue knitting her scarf and the man would be busy reading the newspaper.

"I heard you got your exam results today, Areum," Mrs Jung said happily, "I'm sure the results are great."

Areum ignored her and immediately went into her bedroom. Mrs Jung bit her bottom lip awkwardly and lowered her head. Her husband exhaled heavily and slammed the newspaper on the coffee table.

"Honey! Please don't. I understand why Areum is behaving like that."

"It's been a year already and she's still rude to you. This has to stop," Mr Jung said sternly before knocking on his daughter's bedroom door.

"Jung Areum!" He called. The door opened, inviting him in. She stood aside to let him inside before closing the door.

"Until when are you going to be rude to your mother?" He asked. "Stepmother," Areum corrected before sitting on her bed.

She opened her textbook and continued studying. Mr Jung took a seat at the edge of the bed and contemplated whether he should talk about the relationship with her stepmother or not.

"I know you want me to get along with your mistress. It won't be that easy. Maybe I'll never get along with her," she said, her eyes were still fixed to the book.

"Why?" He asked with a soft tone. There was no point in arguing with her because she always win. He knew that.

Areum put her book down, "I still can't believe you cheated on mom with her. Your wife seems like a very nice person but she's not my mother. And where did my real mother go? Why did she suddenly vanish?"

"You know I can't answer that. I don't even know where she is right now. But your stepmother has been so nice and genuine to me. She makes me the happiest man now."

"What about my mom?" She asked. He was taken aback by the question. He needed to answer it properly so that he wouldn't hurt his daughter's feelings.

"I loved her. But Areum, feelings change. And your stepmother is trying her best to make you love her. Please at least treat her nicely. You don't have to like her."

She watched as her father left her room, contemplating what he said.

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The sun was gone, replaced by the bright moon in the sky. Heeseung slurped his instant noodles in front of the convenience store, savouring the salty taste on his tongue. He exhaled heavily to let out the heat since the noodles were still hot.

"What are you doing here?" Areum asked out of the blue as she stood behind him. He flinched in shock and looked at her with startled eyes. He held his chest to calm his shocked heart down.

"What kind of question is that? I'm eating," he gave her a death stare. He eyed her hands that were holding textbooks close to her chest.

"The exam already ended. Why are you still studying?" He frowned. "To beat you in the next exam," she said blankly before taking a seat in front of him.

"I didn't say you can sit with–"

She ignored him and took his drink before gulping it down in one go. She wiped her mouth and smirked, "Payback."

He scoffed, "Yah, pay me, you idiot," he said before sipping his noodle soup.

He noticed that she wasn't in the mood. Her lips didn't even curve into a small smile. Her head hung low and she kept fiddling with her fingers.

"Did something happen?" He asked, feeling concern creeping up inside him.

"I needed some time to escape from home. I can't stand being under the same roof with my dad's mistress," she breathed out.

"Well, at least she cares about you. I needed some time to escape from my dad," he told before slurping his noodles again.

"What happened?"

"You know how he is. He will always ask about my grades. And then, he'll either compliment me for beating you in exams or scold me for losing to you."

"It's too obvious that he doesn't like me," she let out an amused chuckle.

"Yah, give me the book. Tell me the part where you don't understand. I'll help you," he offered. She scoffed, "Seriously?"

"I'm being generous here. Don't make me take back my words," he frowned. She immediately scooted her chair next to him and showed him the topic that she didn't understand.