Unexpectedly Meeting You Again

eighteen

"Why did you even let her punch you? The blood won't stop coming out," Edlyn said as she cleaned Heeseung's bleeding nose with a cotton ball.

Jake who was leaning against the wall watching them, sighed, "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"No," Heeseung answered and looked away. The door to his office slammed open, revealing Jiah who barged in. The little kid gave him a tight hug, "Uncle! I got first place in class!"

"That's wonderful!" He picked her up and let her sit on his lap. Sunghoon who just walked in with a backpack in his hand sighed, "Jiah, come. You haven't had dinner yet."

"But I want to have dinner with mom!"

"Sorry, honey. I have a meeting after this. Your dad also can't join you. You should have dinner with Uncle Sunghoon today," Edlyn tried persuading her.

Jiah gave in and scurried towards Sunghoon to hold his hand. Jake gave his daughter a peck on her forehead before waving at her goodbye.

Heeseung stood up and averted his gaze to the scarf on the coat stand. The scarf where Areum almost touched. He walked towards it and sighed.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Jake asked as he buried his hands into the pockets of his doctor coat.

"Nothing," he said, taking the scarf off the coat stand. He threw it into the dustbin before leaving his office. Edlyn glanced at her husband, feeling confused.

She approached the dustbin and picked the scarf up, "I noticed he had kept this for years already. Why did he suddenly throw it away?"

"It's still nice tho," Jake said as he examined the scarf. She sighed and opened one of his drawers before folding it nicely, "I'll just put it here. I'm sure something happened before involving this scarf."

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"Thank you for the fried chickens," Minhyuk said shyly as he avoided eye contact. Ni-ki scoffed in disbelief as he wiped his hand with a tissue. Areum was staring out of the window, seeing the cars driving on the road.

"Areum, I'm going to the toilet for a while," the male detective said before leaving the room. She took out her gun and put it on the table near the tv. She sat next to the bed and narrowed her eyes.

She examined the boy's facial features carefully. Minhyuk looked at her, "What's wrong with you?"

"You do look like mother," she muttered. He gave her a death stare, "It's my mother. I am the only one who can call her that."

"I know. She loves you more than me. No wonder why she left and never came back," she said and closed her eyes.

The room went silent for a few minutes until he broke the silence, "Do you hate mom?"

She frowned as she looked at him before fixing her posture. She thought about the question for a while, too many answers were floating in her mind.

"I do."

"Don't you have any sweet memories with her?" He asked again.

She couldn't remember anymore all the sweet memories she had with her mother. She was sure there were some but it had been too long that she had forgotten them.

"Should I feel ashamed if I say I can't remember any?"

Minhyuk gave her a soft smile, "I understand. Come to think of it again, she left you to be with my dad. You had every right to be mad."

"I'm not blaming you. So you don't have to be worried. You're not even born that time when she left me."

He thought about it for a while and furrowed his eyebrows, "How old are you?"

"32."

His eyes widened, "Seriously? Oh my, we have a 15 year age gap."

She chuckled in amusement before smacking his face with a pillow, "Get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow."

He obeyed and laid down, staring at the ceiling before closing his eyes.

For those who haven't read the first and second books yet, Edlyn is Jake's wife. Jiah is their child. And for Director Kang, she is Kang Daera who married Jay, Edlyn's brother.