X : Second Date

Min-Jun stared at the clock anxiously he was both excited and nervous for the second date with Sun-Hee. He found it so incredible that they had been able to meet in the first place and the fact that they were going on their second date made him all giddy. Ji-Hoon had a field day with him while he was getting ready teasing him relentlessly for making a fuss about his outfit, hair and the restaurant they were going to. Hee-Chul on the other hand kept asking him about Sun-Hee and when he could meet her, he didn't have the heart to disappoint the little boy by insisting that it was way too soon to be introduced so he found different ways to manoeuvre around the topic whenever it came up. Though he was incredibly meticulous and thorough when he was CEO Lee Min-Jun, normal Min-Jun was having a difficult time containing his anxiousness, the situation felt very much outside of his control and he hated it. This was the first time in a while that he was excited at the prospect of a potential relationship and he couldn't help but to overthink every little thing. 

Sun-Hee hummed quietly as she picked out her outfit for her date with Min-Jun, she was left to do this by herself as Mina had to work late. She tried really hard not to freak out she thought she was doing a pretty good job until half her closet was on the floor and she had deemed that no outfit she had was acceptable for the date. A notification alert snapped her out of her frazzled state, she half tripped on her way to get her phone to see that it was a message from Min-Jun telling her about the restaurant and reservation details as they will be arriving separately to ensure no nosy shutterbugs are around to reveal them before they were even dating. She looked up the place he had mentioned to her to find that it's another restaurant with a view called Walking on the Cloud, she was touched that he went out of his way to find a really nice place that was pretty low key so that she would not have to worry about being spotted. Walking back to her closet with a bright smile and a renewed sense of direction she decided that she wanted to make an extra effort to look really good this evening .She hoped that this evening would kickstart a romantic relationship between her and Min-Jun , granted they have only been on one other date but they got along really well and while she's aware that talking via text message versus in person are two separate things she felt that this could be the something that she's been longing for.

"You look beautiful", was the first thing Sun-Hee heard as she sat down at the table they were directed to. "Thank you, so do you, I mean you look handsome", hearing him call her beautiful had caught her off guard and caused her to stammer. Granted she is an idol and is objectively considered pretty by South Korean beauty standards it is nice to be complimented by someone as handsome as Min-Jun. After some teasing from him asking her how beautiful he actually looked they continued small talk. "So did you tell Hee-Chul that I said thank you for calling my music pretty? Its genuinely the first time I heard that since most people think it's depressing or angsty so I was surprised". Min-Jun nodded in understanding as he definitely thought that the lyrics were quite sad even though he only listened to a handful of her music. "He was over the moon and kept bragging about it to my best friend Ji-Hoon who happens to be a huge fan of yours". She chuckled softly, "Was your friend surprised when he found out that we went on a date?"

"He hated it, he kept telling my dad that it should have been him instead", Min-Jun said this with a wide smile on his face really enjoying their light conversation it felt really easy to talk to Sun-Hee. "Can I ask a personal question? You can refuse if you don't feel comfortable sharing", "You probably want to know about my ex-wife and why she's no longer in the picture right?".Sun-Hee heard him sigh in defeat, maybe that question was too intrusive she knew that she may be crossing a line but she was genuinely curious, "You don't have to-"

"No, I don't mind telling you, I mean we are getting to know each other and this is something that I will eventually have to tell you" He took another deep sigh making Sun-Hee feel awful for bringing this up in the first place. "She was the first and only person that I had ever fallen in with, we had grown up In the same neighbourhood but were never close enough to be friends so my feelings had always been one-sided. We had a drunken evening together that resulted in Hee-Chul, she was devastated because her family forced us into marriage and I thought I could turn around the situation by loving her and and our son enough for the both of us. She was miserable and hated every moment of our time together asked for a divorce when Hee-Chul turned 2 and signed away all her rights and left Korea to marry the person she wanted to in the first place"

Min-Jun knew that this was not an easy thing to hear and didn't dare to look up at Sun-Hee he couldn't bear the pity that would be showing on her face, "Did you try your best when you were together?", completely taken aback by the question he looked up at Sun-Hee who had an unreadable expression on her face. "Of course I tried everything I could to make our marriage work", "Then you should have no regrets, don't get me wrong I realize that I am not in any position to provide my opinion but if you had tried everything as you had said and she was still unhappy then unfortunately ending the relationship was for the best. Im sure that this was not easy so I'm so grateful that you felt comfortable enough to share it with me. I know that we haven't known eachother for long but you didn't deserve to be treated the way that she treated you, obviously I don't know everything but I know that you are a good person so I hope that you heal the wounds that she's left on your heart eventually"

Min-Jun sat quietly for a moment taking in what was said to him it felt nice to hear someone other than his family and friends wish him well after knowing what has happened between him and Eunji. He was such a mess during and after his marriage that he just kept blindly holding on to the belief that he could have done better when he was genuinely doing everything he could to save their forced union, she had never felt a single ounce of love for him or their son abandoned them and never looked back but he knew that to her he will always remain the villain because he made the choice to love her when he knew she didn't he also made the choice to marry her when he could have convinced his much more lenient parents that it would end in a mess but he didn't he was foolish and selfish because he wanted her to be with him.

He had so many regrets about their marriage but he was grateful that it resulted in their son. "Thank you for saying that and for not looking at me with pity", "Is that usually the reaction that people give you when you share your past with them?" Min-Jun nodded "That or they speak in a really soft reassuring tone and become really apologetic about the situation its actually quite interesting". Sun-Hee understood this better than anyone because whenever she mentions the car accident that took her parents people act the same way, "I hate that too, when my parents passed all I got were those pitiful looks honestly I would have preferred a hug or a reassuring pat on the back instead of pity. But when you eventually look past the pitiful looks its just them trying to reach out in a loving way because they cannot begin to understand your situation but want to make you feel better by attempting to comfort you which is a nice thought right?".

"Im sorry to hear about your parents and I never thought about it in that way makes me feel better in a sense. May I ask what happened to your parents?". Sun-Hee always tried to speak about that day in hopes that the recurring dream would go away if she just shared the details instead of just holding all the details to herself so she didn't feel as traumatized about the accident as she did when she was younger so she took a deep breath ,"I don't mind telling you it's no secret anyway, we were in a car accident when I was 9 years old my dad died on impact and my mom died a few days after because she had too many critical injuries. Funny thing is I only had a few scratches and bruises no serious injuries or broken bones so I saw everything happening. I was pretty traumatized for quite some time after but I eventually got better through therapy".

Min-Jun couldn't make out what she was feeling but it didn't seem like sadness more like she had just accepted her situation so that she could move forward. "I'm glad that you were able to get through such a devastating loss though it's kind of a miracle that you are still here I mean it sounds like it was a pretty bad accident and all you had were some scratches and bruises that is amazing", "Thank you for saying that ". Sun-Hee always felt a huge amount of guilt whenever anyone stated that she was lucky to survive the crash, she knew that it was a miracle that she was relatively unharmed but it felt like a huge burden to live in this world without her parents. Min-Jun could tell that she didn't want to continue with this topic so he swiftly changed the subject to light dinner conversation. Sun-Hee picked up on the change of subject, it was definitely much appreciated so she just chuckled softly and indulged him when he asked her all sorts of questions about what it's like to be an idol.