Despite having stayed in the hospital for a week, garnering enough rest to last her a lifetime, Su-Jin still ended up going to bed early.
The entire day felt too long and tiring. The ride back home especially wore her out, not to mention having to pay attention so her brother won't say anything too strange to Ji-Su and cause the man to misunderstand.
Once she was gone from the living room, the place succumbed into a comfortable silence.
Mi-Suk sat on the floor with her back pressed against the couch. She was working on a sketch for the 'Fun time farming with family' concept.
She had agreed with Ji-Won to start work on Monday, so she wanted to get a feel for the project as soon as possible. Hence, she decided to try and draw several sketches with different styles and discuss them with Ji-Won and the rest of the Marketing Department on Monday.
After his sister left, Min-Jun leaned back and stretched his legs onto the sofa. He picked up a book from the table and began reading. Occasionally, his eyes would pause and shift towards Mi-Suk.
From where he sat, Min-Jun could easily see above her shoulder.
The young woman's slender fingers were gracefully guiding the pencil across the paper. Under their meticulous movement, the sketch soon came to life, exposing a family of three joyfully picking up fruits and vegetables. Both the parents and the child were smiling brightly, revealing a happiness that was unadulterated by any kind of darkness. Their raw carefreeness was clear and vibrant just like the cloudless sky during summer.
The sight of such a simple, almost innocent portrayal of familial felicity brought a small, tender smile on Min-Jun's lips.
With his heart full of sweetness, he stopped looking at the drawing and instead settled his eyes back on the book. Despite appearing calm and unbothered, a soft smile would still tug at his lips from time to time.
At one point, Mi-Suk unexpectedly turned her head and caught Min-Jun in such a tender moment.
Considering his usual appearance and cold demeanor, that small glimmer of emotion was too unexpected. It caused Mi-Suk to become speechless.
'Hmmm, what's this? So this expressionless guy knows how to smile like that? This is too strange. I must tease him for it…'
Just then, Mi-Suk caught a glimpse of the book's title and she was even more startled.
'Who killed the woman next door?' Mi-Suk recited the title in her head.
Her expression suddenly became complicated, as she quietly continued to stare at Min-Jun.
'What the hell?! Reading a murder mystery book and smiling like that… Park Min-Jun, are you really turning into a psychopath, planning to kill people?'
By chance, Min-Jun chose that exact moment to let out a low chuckle.
Feeling her scalp tingling with apprehension, Mi-Suk shot Min-Jun an especially appalled look.
'Look at you! You're even giggling to yourself now, like your happily devising murder plans. Stop it, Park Min-Jun, you are not allowed to become a criminal!'
Min-Jun brought a hand to his lips, covering the lower half of his face, but when he happened to notice Mi-Suk staring at him, his fingers froze. He blinked and the two looked at each other for a short moment.
Eventually, Min-Jun moved his hand away, exposing his mouth. His lips were now set into straight lines. There was no trace of amusement on his expression, as though what Mi-Suk had just seen was all an illusion.
Mi-Suk dazedly watched as those lips moved.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you looking at me like that?" Min-Jun asked evenly.
The young man's voice pulled Mi-Suk out of her daze. She blinked a few times, gradually recovering from her wild theories.
"If you're tired, go rest. You have enough time to finish those drawings later." Min-Jun continued to speak to her in the same cool manner.
Now that he was back to normal, Mi-Suk slowly transformed to her usual chirpy self. With gleaming eyes, she leaned forward and began interrogating him.
"So, what do you think?"
"About what?"
"Oh, you know what I mean. Ji-Su, the young man who brought me and Su-Jin home. What is your opinion of him?" she paused, lowering her voice to a whisper-shout level. "Do you think there might be destiny between them? I heard they met more than three times until now."
Min-Jun remained quiet. He only raised his eyes a little to give Mi-Suk a blank stare.
After two seconds of eye contact, he wordlessly lowered his gaze back to the book and continued to ignore the young woman's enthusiastic probing.
Just when Mi-Suk thought he wouldn't say anything else, Min-Jun opened his mouth and spoke in a flat tone.
"I don't know about that, but he's certainly less dense than that director of hers."
"Mh, that's for sure." Mi-Suk giggled. Then, glancing sideways at Min-Jun she tapped the pencil against the table. "You know…" she began slowly. "Director Kang isn't all that bad."
"So, after meeting the guy once you already know his character well?" he asked, not even raising his eyes to look at her.
Min-Jun's words were half mocking and half serious. Yet, taking his usual disposition into account, Mi-Suk only decided to notice the first part.
"It's not that I know him well, silly." she huffed, leaning backwards into the sofa. "It's just that… I got this feeling from him. That he is more than what he shows. He might seem cold and unfeeling, but I don't think he is really like that at all. When we talked about the project, there was a certain gleam in his eyes, like he was really passionate about his work and wanted everything to turn out perfect."
"That's not saying anything about his character, Mi-Suk. Even criminals can be passionate about doing bad deeds."
At this Mi-Suk froze, remnants from her earlier silly thoughts flashed through her mind. But compared to earlier, this time she burst into laughter.
"You don't really believe that guy is a criminal, do you?"
Min-Jun shook his head silently.
"Then why are you so quick to lump him in the 'bad guy' category?" Mi-Suk asked between giggles.
"I just don't like indecisive people." Min-Jun replied curtly.
The young woman's laughter suddenly died on her lips.
In truth, she hadn't really expected him to answer her question. Or if he did, she thought it might be another mocking remark. After all, Min-Jun rarely took her inquiries seriously. Therefore, it's no wonder she was currently shocked by his words.
Yet, what surprised her the most wasn't the reply itself, but rather the tone he used.
Why did it sound as though he was indirectly accusing her of something?
For some odd reason, Mi-Suk suddenly felt guilty, like she had forgotten something. An uneasy sensation soon settled in the pit of her stomach.
However, no matter how hard she tried to think about it, there was no satisfying reason behind this discomforting feeling.
After being rendered silent so brusquely, Mi-Suk didn't know how to continue the conversation.. Consequently, she remained quiet for the entire time they stayed in the living room.