Bubble

37. Choice

By the time they made it back to the house, it was late. There was only one light on in an upstairs window, I.N recognizing the window as his stepfather's study. Walking up the steps with Felix and Bang Chan in tow, I.N reached out to ring the doorbell. Chris stood alongside Bang Chan, looking at him the house before him in sadness. It was a sadness that Bang Chan recognized himself as he too had experienced it. It was sadness that came with the desire to return home knowing that — even if you could — it would never be the same.

Bong Baek opened the door, shock on his face at seeing the three of them standing on the steps.

"What brings you all back at this late of an hour? Are your friends okay?"

"They are fine, thank you," said I.N. "We were wondering in my stepfather is still up."

As if knowing that he had been summoned, Mr. Chan suddenly materialized at the top of the stairs. They entered and Bong Baek shut the door behind them, Mr. Chan remaining at the top of the staircase the entire time.

"Why don't you three come up to my office?" suggested Mr. Chan as I.N nodded, walking upstairs with the others in tow.

Stepping into the office took Chris back, remembering the times he had been in there trying to convince his father that the weight of the world wasn't on his shoulders. The confrontation that was about to happen left a bitter taste in his mouth, realizing that his father's desperation to keep him safe would mean something completely different if what he thought was true actually was.

"I have something I need to ask you, sir," said Bang Chan, watching as Mr. Chan sunk into the chair behind his desk, ushering to them to get comfortable as well.

"Ask away," he said, his brows furrowing as he watched them all take a seat on various seats in his office. "Is it another question about Chris?"

"Yes," said Bang Chan as he waited a beat before asking, "How long have you known that Chris wasn't your biological son?"

- - -

Twenty-Eight Years Ago

With an umbrella hefted above his head in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other, Mr. Chan stood in the rain and looked up at the face of the semi-lit apartment before him. Hidden within the bowels of one of the rooms of the apartment was the woman who had enchanted him from across the street for the last month or so to the point she won his heart.

The first time Mr. Chan had laid eyes on Sari, he had been walking out of his office building and saw her struggling to open the door of the apartment across the street with a box in her hands. Even though there were people passing by her on the sidewalk, they all seemed to be minding their own business and not paying her any attention. It was almost as if she was invisible to them. Everyone seemed to be self-absorbed in their own bubble to the point where they couldn't notice that she was struggling. That was, except for him.

After having crossed the street, he had helped her into the apartment building, switching his briefcase for the box in her hands as he got to small talking with her about her move to the area. The apartment that she lived in was sparsely furnished when he had entered it with her box, but he made sure to change that over the next few days by buying her some furniture. Sari had argued that she didn't need it and couldn't afford it, and his response had been to ask for her friendship as payment. Never in the history of ever had he been this enchanted by someone, and he wasn't about to let this beautiful flower of a woman live in the shadows.

He had finally gotten the courage to ask Sari out after having known her for a month and was supposed to be on his first date with her tonight when she had called him to cancel their plans because she wasn't feeling well.