"May I have this dance?" I asked Ji Eun's mom offering her my hand when I saw her with my dad. She smiled at me and accepted my hand gladly. I gave my dad a slight bow before leaving with Ms. Lee Min-a and joining the few people dancing slowly to the soft rhythm of classical music.
She placed her hand on my shoulder and held my other hand tightly while I carefully place my other hand on her waist.
"Congratulations on your engagement," I said sincerely as we started dancing.
"Thank you. This means a lot to me," she answered smiling warmly at me.
"And I'm sorry for the way I treated you the first time I met you." I apologized even though I feel like it's already late for my apology.
"It's okay. I understand how you feel that day." She said smiling. "Your dad told me about your close relationship with your mom. You must've hated me a lot" She said softly. I forced a smile. I still feel bad for disrespecting her. She's so nice and she doesn't deserve the way I treated her before. "No, I don't hate you. I just felt shocked. I'm sincerely sorry." I said gently still feeling guilty.
"It's okay. It's all in the past. Just please be good to your stepsister. My princess, she might look tough and unbothered but she's a fragile and delicate girl. You must protect her." She said with a smile and something seems to shutter inside of me.
---
I've been drinking wine since my conversation with Ms. Lee. The way she asked me to protect Ji Eun keeps ringing in my head. How am I supposed to protect her when I can't even protect her from myself?
"Waaah JK, look how much you've grown since I last saw you." My uncle Hyeol emerges beside me interrupting my train of thoughts.
"Uncle!" I exclaimed, hugging him tightly. "It's been a while uncle," I added as pull away from his embrace.
"I know. How about we go fishing tomorrow? Your dad and his friends will go fishing after breakfast tomorrow. Remember the lake near my house?" He asked. How could I forget, I was just there with someone yesterday.
"How could I forget. It was a very memorable place for me. Fireflies gather there at night." I replied.
"Right right you remembered." My uncle laughed as he sips from his beer.
My uncle and I were talking about random things for over 30 minutes when my eyes suddenly caught Ji Eun. She's with my friends. I've been looking for her since this morning but she seems to be avoiding me so I never really tried to approach her intently because I don't want her to feel uncomfortable. I excused myself to uncle Hyeol and finishes my wine quickly. I left my wine glass on the table and headed to where they are. At least now, I have an excuse to approach her because she's with my friends.
"JK, I've been looking for you man. The guys are over there, I'm just gonna grab some beer." Jae suddenly appeared in front of me. "Oh okay," I answered and walks toward the guys.
"JK." The guys called out in unison as soon as they saw me.
"What a surprise bro," I exclaimed and hugged Taehyung briefly. It's been a long time since I last saw him.
"Jae was looking for you," Taehyung says.
"I met him on my way here. He went to get some beer." I said. My eyes couldn't help but look at Ji Eun. God, she looks amazing. She's not lying when she said she also looks good at everything. Red is her color.
"Where are you going?" Yoongi asked when she suddenly turned to leave. She's really avoiding me.
"I felt tired. I'm going back to my room. Call me if you need anything." She said and went away just like that, completely ignoring me. Why is she telling Yoongi to call her? Do they know each other personally? Are they close? I suddenly felt upset.
