The Insider Ghost Ship: She Said, He Said

CHAPTER 12: He Said: About Dealing with Their Current Situation

Ik Jun closed the door behind him as soon as the nanny left. U Ju was already in bed fast asleep half an hour ago. He was supposed to be waiting for him, but something came up at the hospital and he ran late.

He opened U Ju's bedroom door, and there he was, his entire universe, contained by a small bed. He rested his weight on the door frame, arms crossed, and stared at his peacefully sleeping son.

Mian for not giving you a good mother. I promise I'll make it up to you.

He closed the bedroom door and headed to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He would have to stay up for a while because he needed to go over some notes for a scheduled lecture the next day. But of course, he would rather do that in his office, in front of his computer, in between Free Cell sessions. He decided to cram tomorrow.

He opened the fridge to look for something to eat and found some ingredients enough to make a rough replica of an Egg Drop sandwich.

As he was eating alone, that rainy early morning breakfast of nurungji with Song Hwa once again came to mind. How he wished they could do it together, every single day, for the rest of their lives. But at the rate things were going between them, it seemed that he had to wait a little longer than he anticipated. He thought twenty years would be enough time for both of them to know each other well and be sure of their feelings for one another. That was why he was a bit confused about Song Hwa.

He could think of various reasons as to why she was reacting to his confession the way she did—from trivial (she could be expecting a flashier one), to personal (she was afraid of another commitment), to problematic (she was considering somebody else). Whatever her reason, he could only thoroughly understand if she would tell her and they talk about it.

And it was what he was planning to do on the weekend before the band practice. He would ask to meet up with her, talk about their situation and head to Seuk Hyung's house together (or not), depending on what the outcome of their conversation would be. He tensed at the last thought.

He grabbed his phone from the table and pressed one for the quick dial to her number but ended it before it even began ringing. He opted for a text message instead.

I need to talk to you about something. Can we meet up early on Friday before the band practice? Sent. No taking it back now.

Somehow, he knew what her answer would be. Perhaps it was because she took a while to reply, or it was because he was being pessimistic. Whatever, his hunch turned out to be right.

Mian. I have an appointment that day. But I'll be there for the band practice. See you then.

He drew a heavy sigh—of disappointment or relief, he was not certain. Possibly a combination of both. Then his phone alerted with another message. It was Jun Wan asking his permission to come over. He probably wanted to talk about 'life' by admitting about him and Ik Sun and what was going on between them. Apparently, it was not too deep in the night for him. He indulged him by saying yes as long as he brings food. Half an hour later, he was at his door with coffee and sandwiches from the nearby hospital convenient store.

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked Jun Wan as he twisted open the coffee bottle cap.

"Anda," he answered. "Can't I just come over and spend time with you?" He continued as he propped himself on the couch.

He looked at Jun Wan in wonderment, struggling with all his might to hold back a laugh. He was definitely lovesick. Who would not be, when you were in a long-distance relationship, were not able to say proper goodbyes to each other, and would not be together for at least three years?

"Ya, you can visit her anytime, you know?" He told Jun Wan. "I'm sure she's waiting for you to do that. She'd love it. Ik Sun is a sucker for men who travels great distances for her."  He said before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Ara. That's what I'm plan...." He paused midsentence upon realizing that he just mentioned Ik Sun's name. He slowly turned his head up to look at him.

"Go to her. Take her home if you can."

Jun Wan just kept staring at him in amazement, obviously wondering when and how did he find out about them.

"It's not important how or when did I find out. But you gave yourself away when you crack that egg on my head, neo gisaekki-ya."

"Aaah, jinjja!" He exclaimed in amazement, his hands disheveling his own hair in an expression of exasperation and disbelief.

"Gwaenchanha...Duaesseo...." He said with a smile of satisfaction as he took another sip of his coffee.

"You're enjoying this, while I'm racking my brains out on how to tell you something that I didn't know you already knew...."

Honestly, he was enjoying this. He laughed softly as he took another sip of his coffee. This was what he needed—something to take his mind away from Song Hwa even for just a short while. But the moment was short-lived because Jun Wan had to collect an early payback.

"Cham," he started to change the subject. "Seuk Hyung said we'll be doing You Are My Everything by Gummy this weekend."

His hand paused midway as he was about to take another sip of his coffee. He pursed his lips and thought that this weekend would be another torture that he would have to endure. It would be another confession-like performance.

Seuk Hyung is gonna pay for this....

"Guerigo," he continued. "Since Jeong Won chose the song, he wanted to be the one to sing it, or you two can split just like when we sang Confession Is Not Flashy. Whichever you prefer, he said he'll be okay with it."

Anda. He can sing it by himself.

"Mamdaero." He answered instead, turning his back on Jun Wan. "I'm going to bed. I need to be at the hospital by six. You can sleep in the guest room if you want."

He would have to do a rain check on that conversation with Song Hwa as soon as possible. If he could not get this out of his chest any time sooner, he would explode, or implode. Whatever.  At any rate, this was causing him some serious emotional damage. He might need to go to the ER if he does not address this properly immediately.