Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 70

Chapter 70


Chapter 70



‘Why couldn’t I turn them down?’


After Jiyoon finished reading a picture book, s.h.i.+nhae had gone into her room to pick another . In the meanwhile, Jiyoon pondered over her thoughts .


Even if she couldn’t turn down s.h.i.+nhae’s doe-like eyes and Sungyoon’s desperate expression, she really had stepped over the line by following them home . She was a single woman of marriageable age, and yet, she was having dinner with a divorcee and his daughter . It was something people might gossip about . If the person who had asked her was anyone else, she would have been firm in her refusal .


Despite all of these facts, Jiyoon was currently inside Sungyoon’s house .


‘Why?’


She once again asked the question .


No, she already kinda knew the answer .


She discreetly looked towards Sungyoon, who was cooking . He was using a wooden spatula to stir meat in the fry pan . However, a burnt smell was emanating from the meat, so something must have gone wrong .


When he took care of s.h.i.+nhae, he had a relaxed expression on his face . When he was away from s.h.i.+nhae, the expression would go blank, and he would turn into a gloomy person . That kind of a person was sweating bullets while cooking a dish . He looked as if he was fighting a life or death battle . A laughter naturally escaped her mouth, and at the same time, she felt her heartbeat speed up a little bit .


‘Is this for real?’


Even if she didn’t have any experience in love, she had seen enough examples around her . She knew over 10 couples in college . It was enough for Jiyoon to be able to identify her own feelings .


‘He is much older than me, and he is a divorcee with a child . Am I ok with that?’


She had already thought about this earlier in the orphanage . These two factors weren’t a negative . At the very least, they weren’t a negative to Jiyoon .


Of course, this wasn’t a love that might appear in a romance novel . It wasn’t a pa.s.sionate love that she would give up her life for . She had merely found someone that she was interested in . However, this was a first for Jiyoon, so it was enough to fl.u.s.ter her .


Jiyoon once again looked towards Sungyoon .


‘We are like a married couple . ’


The husband was cooking, and the wife was entertaining the child by reading a book . It really was an ideal picture of a family . Soon, Jiyoon’s face turned red .


‘Jeez! What the h.e.l.l am I thinking about!’


Her cheeks turned hot . Her eyes remained restless as she fanned herself .


‘Huh?’


At that moment, Jiyoon’s eyes picked up something, and her eyebrows shot upwards .


‘Women’s clothes?’


There was a hanger located at the corner of a room, and the cloth hanging there clearly belonged to a women . It wasn’t a jacket or normal everyday wear . It was a gown that one wore to sleep . Jiyoon was surprised, and a strong sense of displeasure ambushed her .


“Unni, this is the next one!”


At that moment, s.h.i.+nhae brought back another picture book .


“Unni?”


When Jiyoon didn’t respond, s.h.i.+nhae shook her shoulder, and she called out to her unni once again .


“Uh! Hmm?”



“Please read this to me . ”


Jiyoon finally registered the presence of the picture book which was being held up towards her .


“Ah! Yes! I’ll read it to you . ”


Jiyoon took the book . s.h.i.+nhae once again sat atop her legs, so she could be hugged by her unni .


Jiyoon placed the book in front of s.h.i.+nhae and opened it . As expected, it was a children"s book with large pictures . She flipped past the cover and the table of content . She opened the page where the story began .


However, she couldn’t concentrate . Her eyes kept drifting towards the hanger with the women’s clothing hanging on it .


‘Is he dating someone?’


It was a possibility . Even if he was an old divorcee with a child, there was one big factor that could wipe out all the negatives . He was a Connector . Moreover, it was well known that Connectors practiced polgamy .


Normally, Sungyoon looked disinterested in women . It would shock Jiyoon if he was truly going out with a woman .


However, she shook her head from side to side .


‘No . There might be another explanation . ’


If felt like she was becoming one of those women that couldn’t accept things at face value . Despite knowing this, Jiyoon decided to take on this situation head on .


Of course, she wasn’t bold enough to ask the question to Sungyoon .


“Hey, s.h.i.+nhae . ”


Jiyoon had finished reading the book, and before the little girl could leave to get another book, Jiyoon carefully threw out a question towards her .


“Whose cloth is that?”


Jiyoon tried to sound nonchalant, without expressing any emotion, as if she was only asking because it had caught her eyes . She almost spoke with a higher pitch, desperately pressing down on her voice .


“Huh?”


s.h.i.+nhae looked towards the clothes .


“Ah! That’s Jimin unni’s clothes . ”


‘Jimin unni?’


She was sure she had overheard that name before .


“What kind of person is that unni?”


“Mmm! She is the president of dad’s company . Also, she stays with me when dad is gone . ”


s.h.i.+nhae gave a vague answer, a simplistic answer typical of a child . But the answer complicated the thoughts inside Jiyoon’s head .


‘President? Is she the president of a Connector Company?’


If so, there was a good chance that she didn’t have any romantic relations.h.i.+p with Sungyoon . However, one part bothered her . s.h.i.+nhae had said that the woman stayed with her .


‘Does she live here when s.h.i.+nhae’s father goes to the moon?’


It was odd for a president to show so much interest in an employee’s affairs . Moreover, s.h.i.+nhae had called her unni . It meant that the president wasn’t that old . She wanted to ask more questions, but it worried her that her behavior may look too odd . That was why she had s.h.i.+ed away from directly pursuing that topic . She wondered how she should approach this topic so that s.h.i.+nhae would not think of it as being weird . Suddenly, she remembered Sungyoon’s earlier words .


That woman was trash . . .


She was sure Sungyoon had used this phrase to describe his ex-wife .


“Mmm! Hey, s.h.i.+nhae!”


Jiyoon didn’t put much thought into it, as she asked the question to the little girl .


“What kind of person is your mother?”


s.h.i.+nhae’s mother was someone that had married the man Jiyoon was interested in . Of course, she was curious about such a woman . However, it was also true that she was being rash and careless in asking this question .


Tap!


The wooden spatula hit the frypan . Sungyoon, who had been stir-frying dried anchovies, came to a halt . However, Jiyoon didn’t notice this, as she was focused on s.h.i.+nhae .


Until now, s.h.i.+nhae had been energetic and happy . Suddenly, her expression turned very sad . It became like the first time when Jiyoon had seen her in the orphanage .


“S . . . s.h.i.+nhae?”


Jiyoon sensed something was very wrong with s.h.i.+nhae .


“I . . . I don’t have a mom . ”


s.h.i.+nhae mumbled her words in a small voice .


“That person isn’t my mom . ”


It was shocking to hear such words from a 5 year old child . She knew the situation had become very serious . Jiyoon became restless . She didn’t know what to do .


“s.h.i.+nhae!”


Sungyoon’s kind voice could be heard from the kitchen .


“Let’s eat . Please place the dishes and utensils on the table . ”


“Yes!”


s.h.i.+nhae shot up from Jiyoon’s knees and ran towards the kitchen . It looked like she was running away from something she didn’t want to see .


As if he was switching places with his daugther, Sungyoon exited the kitchen . He started unfolding a new table . The dining table in the living room could seat only two people . This was why they needed another table if they wanted to eat dinner with Jiyoon .


“I . . . I’ll help too . ”


Jiyoon quickly got up . Sungyooon didn’t turn down her offer . While Jiyoon was busy setting up the table, Sungyoon brought a dish towel out from the kitchen and wiped the top of the table .


“Please do not talk about her mom in front of s.h.i.+nhae . ”


Jiyoon, who had been looking for more tasks to do, heard a sound that struck her like a thunderclap .


“Y . . . you heard that?”


“Yes . Connectors have great hearing . ”


Her face turned pale .


“I’m sorry!”


Jiyoon bowed her head deeply towards Sungyoon .


“As I’ve said before, my ex-wife is human trash . Of course, she didn’t treat her child well . It created a big wound within s.h.i.+nhae . ”


“I’m so sorry! I should’ve given it more thought!”


Sungyoon let out a sigh .


“It’s fine . You didn"t know about it . However, please do not speak about s.h.i.+nhae’s mom from now on . ”


“I’ll bear that in mind . ”


If he had presented her with a contract at that time, she wouldn"t have hesitated to sign it . Jiyoon nodded to show his approval .


“Also, Ms . Jimin is the president of my company, and she personally adores s.h.i.+nhae . So when I’m absent, she takes care of her . She acts as s.h.i.+nhae’s guardian when I’m gone . Also, she had gone back to her own house when I returned to earth and forgot to take that item with her . When I called her about it, she told me to keep it here, since she’ll be back when I return to the moon . ”


‘He heard that too . ’


If Jiyoon could crawl into a mouse hole, she would hide in it right now . She wanted to stick her head in haystack like a dumb chicken . She didn"t care if it looked foolish . She wanted to do it .


“I . . . I’m really sorry . ”


“No, it is nothing . You were curious . Ms . Jimin lives under this roof sometimes to take care of s.h.i.+nhae . ”


Sungyoon was unperturbed as he told Jiyoon that everything was fine . However, Jiyoon was still anxious .


“What’s wrong, unni?”


The little girl had brought the small dishes and utensils . When she saw the anxious look on her unni, she became puzzled .


Jiyoon was embarra.s.sed . She didn’t know what to do with herself, so Sungyoon helped her .


“Unni just wants to help s.h.i.+nhae . ”


“Really?”


s.h.i.+nhae put the dishes and utensils on top of the desk, and she grabbed Jiyoon’s hand .


“Then unni can scoop the rice . ”


s.h.i.+nhae pointed towards the kitchen . To be precise, she pointed towards the pressure cooker .


“O . . . ok . ”


Jiyoon was pulled along by the small hand as she walked towards the kitchen .


The rice had just finished cooking, and white steam rose from within the rice cooker . She carefully scooped rice into the rice bowls, while s.h.i.+nhae filled the cups with water and placed them atop the table . Sungyoon brought out the side dishes .


Soon, the dinner was placed on the table .


There was the white rice alongside the sweet & sour pork . He had made the stir-fried salty anchovies and the spicy bean sprout side dishes . Then there was the savory bean sprout soup . Of course, he also had kimchi and beans cooked in soy sauce .


There was nothing missing on this dinner table .


“Thank you for the food!”


s.h.i.+nhae yelled out loud and started digging into the food . She looked like a hamster as she stuffed rice into each cheek . Then, she used her training chopsticks to pick up side dishes . Sungyoon looked pleased as he watched .


Jiyoon also picked up her spoon . Sungyoon’s cooking looked ok, and she carefully put a spoonful of food in her mouth .


The taste was average . He had made some mistakes in making the sweet & sour pork . Some parts had been burnt . It wasn’t inedible, but it wasn’t delicious either . If she had to make an a.s.sessment, she would describe it as the cooking of a man that had just started cooking . That was Sungyoon’s level .


Jiyoon’s opinion ended there . Since she didn’t want Sungyoon and s.h.i.+nhae to notice, she didn’t try to make any further a.s.sessment .


The dinner quickly ended . s.h.i.+nhae was the last one to finish . She patted her stomach as she laid down on the floor . The sadness from before was gone, and she laughed while playing with Sungyoon on the floor .


After humoring s.h.i.+nhae’s playfulness for a while, Sungyoon stood up to clear the table .


“Ah! I’ll do it . ”


Since she was treated to dinner, she wanted to wash the dishes . Jiyoon stood up . However, Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .


“It isn"t something I should let a guest do . ”


“Still, I would like to work a bit to pay back for your hospitality . ”


She really wanted to help, because she had caused a lot of trouble that day . Sungyoon stared at her for a brief moment .


“Let’s do it together . You said you had questions for me?”


Sungyoon turned to look at s.h.i.+nhae .


“Unni and I have to clean up . Do you mind playing by yourself for a short time?”


“May I go watch TV?”


s.h.i.+nhae abruptly stood up . Sungyoon looked a bit disagreeable as he looked at the clock . He had placed a restriction . s.h.i.+nhae wasn’t supposed to watch TV this late in the day . However, Sungyoon nodded this time .


“This is an exception only for today . ”


“Waaa!”


s.h.i.+nhae was happy . She raised both hands into the air and crawled across the floor to pick up the remote on the floor . Soon, the screen turned on, and a children’s cartoon appeared on screen . The girl was caught up in watching the TV show .


The two adults started to clean up . They put the leftover side dishes in the refrigerator and the empty dishes in the sink . After wiping the table clean with a dishrag, Sungyoon put the table away . Then, the two of them stood side by side as they did the dishes .


“I really want to apologize once again . ”


She still felt sorry, so as soon as Jiyoon stood next to Sungyoon she apologized once again .


“It’s fine . Do as you are doing right now . Please keep a good relations.h.i.+p with s.h.i.+nhae . That’s all I ask . ”


“Thank you very much . ”


Sungyoon really wasn’t showing any signs of displeasure towards her, so she relaxed .


Of course, it wasn’t as if Sungyoon wasn’t angry . If he hadn"t owed a lot to her, he wouldn’t have dismissed this issue so easily .


“Didn’t you say you had questions you wanted to ask me?”


“Ah! I do . ”


Jiyoon was barely able to regain her complexion, and she slowly started to ask questions that she had wanted to ask him .


After they were done with dishes, Sungyoon brewed some coffee . They took their conversation over to the dining table . They conversation continued for a while .

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