Who had the brilliant idea of opening a cafeteria for babies?
Who had the fucking idea of saying that this could work? Tsk! Always the marketing trying to steal money from stupid people!
Ugh! So dumb and so useless.
After agreeing to visit that place, Jisung and I left the car in the same spot we parked in and walked.
The cafeteria Jisung mentioned was indeed on the other side of the street.
The idea of opening a cafeteria for babies was that. Not more than what you can imagine.
It had so many places where your baby could play and roam around while you enjoyed a good cup of coffee and kept an eye on your small bundle.
Although it seemed there was nothing more special about it and the coffee and the food seemed the same as any other cafeteria, there was something no other place had. Or at least, something I never imagined.
What made this cafeteria special is that it had a menu for babies. That was a really cool thing, I must say. Especially for those who run out of time to cook and prepare the necessities of every baby.
The menu was indeed special and could match whatever need or allergy your baby could have. It had a lot of variety. It was amazing and considerable for all those parents that worry a lot for the health of their babies.
But knowing me, I wouldn't be buying anything for Su-jin here since I'm very strict with his diet and I prefer to prepare everything with my hands. In that way, I really know what my baby is eating.
I walked around the place, skimming everywhere and evaluating the concept.
There were a lot of couples and girls with their babies, taking pictures of them and with them.
It was a lovely sight, I must say. After all, I love taking pictures and I was dying to take some of Su-jin and Jisung in this place.
The more I looked around, the more the faces became unfamiliar.
There I realized I lost sight of Jisung.
I remembered that as soon as we arrived here he went away because everything called his attention.
"Wooooooow~~" Jisung kept saying. "Look at this~~ This is so cool~~"
He was so mesmerized by the place that I let him roam around. At first, I knew where he was because I could see him from afar, but now I cannot have a good sight of any of them.
"Good afternoon~~" a young lady called out and came to me, "Would you like to order?"
I smiled at her and shook my head, "Not yet. I'm waiting for someone," I said as I looked around to spot the one I came with.
The lady bowed at me and said she would be around in case I wanted anything.
I thanked and bowed to her and went away.
The cafeteria was big and had a lot of games and things that could obstruct the view, so I had to go past all of those to look for Jisung.
Fortunately, it was not hard to find him. At the end of the hall, I saw Jisung holding Su-jin and rocking him to sleep.
Something that called my attention is that Jisung was looking at one wall in particular. He seemed to be lost and his lips kept moving. I didn't know if he was singing or reading something while spacing out.
I wondered why he was looking in that direction, so I went there to have a look.
"Hey...what are you looking at?" I asked in a tone where he wouldn't get startled.
Jisung turned to look at me and smiled. He didn't seem surprised. "Nothing...just having a good look at this place...it's really nice..."
I hummed in approbation.
He walked to the other side and said, "Shall we order something? Did you see the menu?"
I looked at him and nodded, "Sure... I just took a glimpse..."
Before going back to where I came from I took a peek at the wall he was looking at.
My eyebrows arched at the sight, and my heart shrank in pain. Now it made sense why he got lost in thoughts.
"So, you were seeing this..."
On that wall, there was a type of commemoration. On the top of this same one, there was a plate where it was written the phrase 'Sunshines' of God'.
The wall was dedicated to all those unborn babies or babies that passed away at a very young age. There were post-its and small pictures of them that I supposed the parents left.
It was a very touching and heartbreaking thing. But given the events, I felt hurt for Jisung's situation.
I have no idea how he felt when he saw this for the first time. But I'm pretty sure it hurt like hell.
There I got to know that no matter how hurtful this is or how scared I am, I need to tell him about what I just figured out. He doesn't deserve to live in a lie. Jisung must know the truth about Su-jin.
I bowed politely at the wall and placed my hands together to show my respect and bid my goodbyes to all those souls who are no longer with us. After that, I went to Jisung.
Jisung was already setting a baby gear save for Su-jin, who was still sleeping, near our table. He seemed to have a lot of experience because he didn't need the help of anyone. I remember that when I first got a baby gear save for Su-jin I spent hours trying to set it because I didn't know how they worked, but here I see Jisung being an expert without even trying.
When he sat on one of the cute chairs he looked everywhere for me.
As soon as he spotted me, he waved at me.
"Hyunjin-ah... Do you want cheesecake?"
I chuckled from afar as I got near him.
"Isn't that dessert?" I asked as I sat at the table. "Shouldn't we eat something first before asking for dessert?"
"Tsk! Does the order matter?"
"Of course, it matters..." I said as I took one pamflet and passed him the menu I scanned when I arrived, "Here...take a look and choose food first, please..."
He playfully rolled his eyes and then proceeded to scan the menu on that colourful piece of paper.
Once he took his time to choose, I also did the same.
In the end, we ordered a pair of bagels with ham and cheese and for drink was iced Americano. The dessert he wanted we also ordered but we left it at the end.
After finally eating and getting satisfied, Jisung began speaking, "Hyunjin...can I ask you a few questions?"
"Sure..." I said as I sipped from my coffee. "Go ahead,"
He nodded, taking his time to elaborate his inquiries.
"What's your favourite food?"
"My favourite food?" I blinked repeatedly. I was not expecting a question like that.
"Hmmm....pizza?" I replied as I slanted my head and bit the upper part of the straw. I think no one has actually asked me something like that.
All the questions I have always received are based on the status of the Hwang family. No one has really minded taking the time to get to know me besides Jinsu and Chan hyung.
Jisung chuckled. I guess he was not expecting that answer, "I didn't know you were so basic..."
"Hey!" I said, nearly offended. "What's wrong with pizza?"
He waved with his hands.
"There's nothing wrong with pizza. I actually love it. It's just that you don't seem the kind of person that eats pizza..."
"Huh? Why not?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "just a random thought..."
"Ummm...okay..." I didn't know what that meant, but I didn't pay much attention to it. "What's yours?" So I jumped to the next question.
Jisung pointed to the table and raised both eyebrows.
"Cheesecake?" I asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," he said proudly.
I suppressed a chuckle. I was already expecting that.
"I'm not surprised at all, but I don't know why I thought you would say you like Ramen..."
He laughed as well, "why would you think that?"
"Because that's the only thing I saw you eat in Jeju..."
"Ohh...really?" He leaned back to the chair and crossed his arms, "did you perhaps see me eating ramen by any chance?"
"By any chance? Tsk! More than one time." I snorted, "I remember I saw you in a convenient store. You grabbed a boiled egg, sausages and two packages of ramen... You poured everything in a bowl and mixed it...and of course, you also had a slide of cheesecake... You seemed like a pro...I even got hungry after seeing that..."
I began blurting out a piece of memory of Jeju. A piece of memory he shouldn't know, and yet here I was saying it like any other thing.
When I realised what I was telling, I shut my mouth completely. I started malfunctioning. I didn't know how to get out of that situation so I suffocated myself in coffee in an attempt to act like a normal person.
"Oh..." I heard him gasp.
My cheeks flared up. For a moment I got so comfortable with him and I didn't notice.
He was observing me with blinking eyes and an unbelievable expression.
It certainly took him time to speak once again.
"So that means you were spying on me the whole time?"
I choked and almost spat all the coffee I had drunk. A few people looked in our direction with strange expressions.
I had to pat my chest a couple of times to be at ease and shot a few reassuring smiles to be able to respond.
"You are really my fan, huh?" he mocked playfully once again.
"I...it was just a coincidence..."
"Coincidence one time...yeah. More than one time...that's not coincidence anymore...right?"
My cheeks burned even more. I felt how my whole face completely became red.
Instead of negating the whole thing, I just remained quiet and avoided making eye contact.
Nothing came to my mind at that moment. I felt so embarrassed.
Jisung chuckled at this and then said, "Next question...you go..."
I lifted my head to look at him and saw a small smile on his face.
There was not a single trace of disgust on his expression and that made me relax.
I felt my shoulders lighter and I sighed in relief. I thought he would be saying something about my embarrassment, but he didn't mind.
Jisung was the type of person that doesn't get work up so easily and instead is an easy going person that wants to make you comfortable once he sees you having a hard time. I admired that about him because I could never.
I thought for a moment. There were a lot of things I was curious about Jisung, but I needed to be careful because any question could lead to Jinsu in the conversation and I didn't want to make us sad.
Suddenly something came to me. I was really curious about that thing.
Today I heard how his brother called him with a specific name, and I really wanted to know the meaning of that one.
"Earlier, I heard Changbin hyung using a name to address you... Why did your brother call you 'honeybun'?
Jisung averted his eyes in Su-jin's direction and placed a hand on his cheek, "Ohhh, that...ummm... It's a long story..."
"Can I listen to it?..."
He contemplated for a moment. It seemed as if he was thinking about something deep because on his face a small smile formed.
However, he slightly shook his head, "Maybe another time, Hyunjin..." He said as he took and stirred the ice cubes with the straw. "Why don't we talk about you instead from now on? I think you know more about me than I know about you, hahaha..."
I sulked a little bit. I really wanted to know the story of that sweet name.
Jisung looked at me and chuckled. "Hey...don't sulk. I'll tell you about it, but right now I don't want to speak much about me... I want to know more about you...may I?"
The way he asked it made me blush. There was no playfulness in his voice, but it still sounded so cute.
"Okay, okay... But you owe me a story..." I replied as I sipped from my drink. I wanted to hide how nervous he could make me. But by now, I knew he knew he had a certain effect on me. "Ask away..."
"Alright... So..." Jisung rested his right hand on his right cheek once again and asked, "Tell me everything about Choi Hyunjin..."
"Who- Ah!"
Shiiiiiit! I almost messed up!
I smiled awkwardly and nodded at this. I felt so dumb. I almost forgot that he didn't know I am 'Hwang Hyunjin'. For a moment I thought he was asking me for someone else. What an idiot I am.
He seemed to notice something was off, but didn't ask anything. He just stared at me, waiting for a reply.
"Ahhhh, Choi Hyunjin... Ummm... Where should I start?" I scratched the back of my head, "well, first of all... Hyunjin is a very handsome and tall guy. His looks are awesome and his skin is as tender as the one baby... He could easily be a model and..."
Jisung rolled his eyes and cringed at my explanation, "whoa...so humble..."
"Hahahahahaha, just kidding~..."
"Yeah...as if...hahahaha..."
He shook his head, but laughed at my dumb explanation.
I wanted to lift the mood a little bit so I could get rid of that awkwardness from a few minutes ago and I achieved it.
After laughing and making fun of myself I opened up to him. I told Jisung a little bit of my hobbies and the impact these ones have in my life.
How much I loved to take pictures and paint. I elaborated so much on this because it's the first time someone really asked me about it.
Jisung didn't seem to judge me like my mom does. He really stopped everything at his surroundings to focus on me and that made me want to speak more.
I even showed him a couple of pictures I had taken with my phone and got him mesmerised and giving me praise.
I had my camera in my car, so I offered to go for it and show him the pictures I have taken in Jeju, but he insisted on leaving that for another time. He was so comfortable in the cafeteria that he didn't want to move.
Since Su-jin woke up in the middle of the conversation I told him I would be taking pictures of them so he needed to act natural.
Once he heard this, his eyes illuminated. He seemed to want a picture with Su-jin so much.
So, without saying anything else I began with the photoshoot.
The pictures I took came out really well.
Jisung is so pretty and handsome at the same time. His facial features are just well proportioned and that charisma he has is overwhelming for me. Su-jin is the cutest baby that could exist, so he always comes out well in every picture.
"Look at this... This one came out really well..."
"Whoa...that's really cool," Jisung said with blinking eyes, "you have a good touch. Can you send me this one?"
I nodded with a smile, "sure. No problem..."
Jisung liked all the pictures so much so I sent him everything.
After the photoshoot, we spent two wonderful hours in the cafeteria talking and playing with Su-jin until we decided to leave that place.
This time it was me who took Su-jin and began walking.
The weather was nice so I drove us near the Han River and bought us an ice cream.
We spent some time there playing with Su-jin and taking pictures of us.
There was a moment where I got lost in my thoughts, and I became quiet just observing how Jisung was with Su-jin.
Jinsu's image came to my mind on more than one occasion, and that dream I had about them sent me shivers down my spine.
After a good while, Jisung took Su-jin in his arms and came to me.
He stood right in front of me and then said, "Hyunjin...I don't know if I am misunderstanding or not...but I think you want to tell me something...am I wrong?"
The reason why I got out today and decided to look for him was because I wanted to tell him about Su-jin, and my real last name.
It is not fair that I know that story and that I don't tell him.
Wouldn't I be just like my uncle, aunt and Jinsu's doctor if I keep the truth to myself?
I know that after telling Jisung all I know, maybe we won't be friends anymore.
And the little friendship we began today, would also die today.
Do I really want that? Of course not. It is a risk I need to take. After all, I am not doing this for me, nor for Su-jin...I am doing this for him and for Jinsu.
"Yes, you are right..." I said as doved my hands in my pockets and leaned to my car. "I have something to tell you..."
"What is it?" He stopped playing with Su-jin and came closer to me, holding my baby in his arms.
I looked to the sky for a moment and filled my lungs with air. After that I sighed and turned back to him.
"Su-jin...he...in reality..."
"Huh? What about Su-jin?"
It was so hard to say it, but I needed to be strong and not back away.
I looked into his eyes and finally said, "Su-jin it's not my son..."
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