Read Online Second Chance by Ong Xiong - Free Book Online

happy to know
there are other giants.”
    “What about you?
Happy to know this giant?”
    Sue smiled
wearily at Jae. “Did you know that, at one point it was illegal in Minnesota to
launder men and women’s underwear together?” she asked in a conversational
tone. “I’m imagining a room filled with whiny little old women who had nothing
more to complain about than the improprieties of seeing men’s and women’s
underwear together—oh the horror!”
    “Suzy—”
    “Minnesota has
more than ten-thousand lakes. Did you know that?” she continued in the same
tone, continuing as if he never spoke. “Though with the amount of rainfall we
received this past summer, that number might have temporarily changed. The
Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis was—”
    He kissed her,
cutting her off. He hugged her and for a brief moment, she was distracted. But
just as quickly, she regained her composure and the wall she built around
herself was erected once more. “Stop, Suzy,” he whispered when their lips
parted. She quickly pushed away as if she’d been burned.
    They sat in
silence for a while. Unable to endure the silence and Jae’s scrutiny, she made
a move to get up but he grabbed her arm. “The last time we saw each other, you
said you had something to tell me, what was it?” Jae gently pulled her back
down.
    “I don’t
remember,” she lied, pulling her arm free. She refused to look at him. Instead
she kept her eyes on the Gibson.
    “Liar.”
    She shrugged,
trying her hardest to hide the hurt.
    “Whatever it was,
it doesn’t matter now.” To her horror, her voice trembled as she spoke. She
closed her eyes and counted to ten.
    “Tell me anyway,”
he coaxed.
    She opened her
eyes and gave a shaky sigh. Without looking at him or asking his permission,
she picked up the guitar and placed it in her lap. She strung the strings,
fighting the knot in her throat. Tears welled in her eyes again, threatening to
let loose. I look pathetic , she thought. She wasn’t paying attention to
what song she was playing, she just played. She needed distraction.
    She told herself
this was some twisted nightmare and if she concentrated hard enough, she would
wake up. She tried to think about the job waiting for her when she returned
home. She tried to think about Katie and the reason she was in New York. She
tried to think about Michael and her thoughts came back to Jae. Always back to
Jae.
    “Tell me,” he
persisted, bringing her out of her self-loathing.
    She stopped
playing the guitar and finally forced herself to look at him. She took a deep
breath before she began. “I was going to tell you my brother passed away. I
received the message that morning before our meeting.”
    “Is that why you
were crying when I saw you?” he asked, his voice quiet.
    “Yes,” she
whispered.
    “Is that why you
left Seoul early?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is that why you
didn’t come to the ward office?”
    “Yes… and no. I
called my family as soon as I received the message and my father was furious
that I was not at the dorms. One word led to another and the next thing I knew
it was past our meeting time. By the time I made it to the ward office, I
couldn’t find you. After that, you know the rest.”
    “Tell me anyway.”
    “Why?” Sue asked.
“It doesn’t make any difference anymore.”
    “Why did you
agree to marry me, Sue?”
    Sue could only
stare at him, too hurt to respond. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she quickly
wiped them away. This man, whom she had loved, whom she still loved, was asking
her why she married him. At that moment, she wanted to get away from him, far,
far away from him.
    “My reason was my
own. Good night, Mr. Park.” She returned the guitar to him. “I don’t know what
you are called these days so I presume Park is still appropriate,” she said
sadly as she got up. She didn’t care that her ankle hurt. She didn’t want to
continue talking about a past that was best forgotten, and most of all she
didn’t