Heartstrings

65. My Penguin

Dae's POV

Tony wanted me to be his girlfriend and start over. It was too much for me. I came to support Mike for his interview and as a thank you, I asked Tony to come with me as a friend. I wasn't ready to date. I was focused on my son and trying to find out who Brian was. 

Knowing that he's the last on my list, Todd and I decided to go after him alone. My brothers had to lay low for several months so that they wouldn't face any suspicions when it came to the police. Lee was already on the case to find out who killed Seo and I had a feeling that he wasn't worried about Meghan's case. 

Excited about the interview, Mike had no idea where I've been this entire time. I felt bad but, it was for the better. Slim was fine with the interview since Mike wasn't aware that I'm living with Tony. Cameras were everywhere and Lee wanted me to remain at the hotel during the interview that was across town. 

"I promised Jin to look after you Dae. It's not safe." Lee stated.

"Please understand that it's for your safety." Tony added

"Didn't you want to go out?" I looked up at Tony

"I did but, it's not worth risking your safety."

It took a minute to understand that it was a risk to be here. I was looking forward to a night out instead of staying in the house most of the time. It felt like I was in prison but, I had to think about Ye-Jun and his future. Taking my hand, Tony and I walked back to the car to go back to the hotel. 

"Dae, we can watch Mike on TV."

"I know. It's just that I know he's taking it hard after Jin was killed and now he thinks that I disappeared. I just wanted him to know that I'm safe."

"Don't worry penguin, you can always have Lee send him a message right?"

Without a reply, I sat in the drivers seat looking out the window.  Crossing the bridge, the breeze from the water made me shiver.

"You cold?"

"A little."

Rubbing his hand on my thigh he smiled while looking at the road.

"What's up?"

"Huh?"

"You're smiling so, I know somethings up."

Changing the subject, he turns on the radio and turns the station. Listening to the song that played on the radio was familiar. Once I heard Tony sing, I knew it was the song that he wrote for me when we were in school. Although I couldn't sing, I chimed in. We didn't care that people were looking at us, we knew that this was our special song when he made his promise to me. It was like old times when we were together. So many memories of special moments like this really made a difference. I was actually feeling much better.

Taking a moment to stop and buy some food, Tony paid using his black card. Insisting that he will always take care of me it didn't feel right. Tonight, I have to tell him that Ye-Jun is my priority and we can't be together. It wasn't right for me to continue living with him. The longer I stay, the harder it would be for me to leave. 

Helping me out the car, we carried our food to the room and took our shoes off at the door. The aroma was making me hungry and he knew it. Taking the bags in the kitchen, I took out some paper plates and chopsticks.

"C'mon Dae, I'm hungry."

"Just a minute."

"What are you doing in there?"

"Pouring you some milk."

Without responding, we both knew why I was pouring milk. He sat at the table and I walked to my seat across from him. Placing a paper plate on the table, he started to pluck out the egg while I fixed his plate.