Imperfect Triangle

Chapter 7

"I have my reason. Okay?"

His lips are still curling up but I reckon it's a fake smile.

"You're not going to tell me, isn't it?" I try my best not to let anger overwhelms my voice.

"Maybe some other time," he answers and tugs a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

I watch him lits one up, then I drop my gaze to my shoes.

"Where do you live now?"

"I'm staying with some friend," he mutters, scatching his nose with the side of his thumb.

"A lady friend?"

"Why would you care?"

"I care because I know better what a disaster it would be if you knock someone up."

I meant it as a joke, but it comes out harsh and clipped.

"What the f-" he jeers in disbelief.

"When did you get a license?" I interject, eager to switch the subject.

"Right after I turned 18. You was at school so you didn't know. I thought it would come in handy someday and I was right about that."

"But why did Toshio hire someone with no experience at all?"

"Ask him yourself," he grumbles, drawing heavily on his cigarette. "Are we done yet?"

"Sure." Sulking, I walk past him towards the car, my shoulder knocks him out of my way.

"Such a hypocrite."

I swivel around as I heard him groan. "What did you say?"

"I said you're a hypocrite. You enjoy playing mother, worrying everyone like a plaster saint."

"T-t-that's what you think of me?" I don't know why I stammer. Crossing my arm, I cock my head and grit my teeth.

"Yeah. And men hate that. Bear in mind, keep your nagging away from your precious boyfriend," he mocks me as he taps his temple with a finger and puffs out a cloud of smoke at my face.

"You're an asshole." I smack the cigarette off his fingers and trod on it.

"What? You do need to work on that. Maybe work on other aspects too. Man like my boss don't fall from trees. To be honest, I don't think you can keep him. One-month time I'll give."

I swat his shoulder even harder this time. Right after I spin away from him, he pulls me close with an arm draped around my shoulder from behind.

"I care so much about you. Like you claim you care about me," he whispers, his breath tickles my earlobe. "We are family. Nothing can change that."

I squirm and reply coldly, "I know that. Now take me home."

▲▼▲

I slide two thousand-dollar bills across the table while Grandma Ying is steeping herself a pot of Chinese black tea. It's not a lot of money, but we never have that much cash lying around.

"These are from Jin," I announce proudly, claiming my reward from Grandma.

Her eyes widen in astonishment.

"I'm not lying. I met him today."

She picks up the bills so delicately as if they would crumble into dust in her hands.

"How is he?" Her voice shivers.

"He's fine. Dashing, in fact. He is a chauffeur now. The man I met the other night is his boss."

"You've found him," she sighs, raising her palm to her chest. "Did he say if he's coming back?"

"He said he won't live with us because it's far away from where he works, but he will visit you twice a week."

"Really?"

"He promised. And I have his current number." I wave my phone at her.

"Oh, Xue. Thank you so much." She gives me an embrace, so tight that I cannot breathe. I rub her shoulder with one hand, feeling the soft wool of her sweater. We haven't hugged for, wow, four to five years I believe. Tears rim my eyes.

And once the crying starts, it's hard to stop. I let myself weep in the shower so Grandma doesn't hear me. The water splashes on my face, washing my tears away. My hands press against the wall for support or I may collapse.

I keep recalling my conversation with Jin, again and again. It was nothing special, really. We've bickered like that since we were kids. Maybe he was right. No matter I like it or not, we have become family. What we share is not love. If it is, it must be a distorted one.

There was a time that we were in fact close. Too close that we scared that Grandma might have caught us. If only I had a little more courage to place my lips on his. I had my chance but I tossed it like trash. I have to shut every memory out because it makes me cry even harder. A kiss. All it takes is just a kiss. It works for a frog; it works for snow white; it could have worked for us too.

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A/N:

It's another short chapter and I believe it is full of errors. I'm having serious writers block. I have Jin planned in my head for so long but when I wrote about him, everything just slipped away.

Up to this point, can you guess what's in Jin's mind? I thought I know exactly how he feels but now I don't... He's a mystery to me now :'(

bythec (9/4/2015 12:00)