Joon-won woke up early the next day like always and decided to go for a jog and leave the gym for the day. As he changed into his exercise attire in his room, he noticed Min-Seok also wake up. Min-Seok looked at Joon-won and whispered.
“Where are you going Joon-won?”
“No where. I’m going for a jog to the nearby park, get some exercise done before you guys wake up.”
Hearing him, Min-Seok got out of bed and Joon-won hurriedly said, “Why are you getting up? Go back to bed, I’ll come back quickly.”
Min-Seok shook his head and said, “No, I also want to come with you. It’s been a while since we spent some alone time. Now, let’s go before we wake up, Yun-hee. That girl needs some sleep before she goes to her dorms soon.”
Joon-won just nodded and both of them were outside in a few minutes as they slowly walked towards the park. He didn’t jog as Min-Seok who doesn’t exercise regularly wouldn’t be able to keep up with him if he did and so he just didn’t want to stress the man’s old body.
Min-Seok looked around and asked him, “Do you come out for jogs everyday even now? I remember you saying about the jogs at the start of your holidays.”
Joon-won nodded and replied, “I do still go for the jogs. I didn’t go for the last 2 weeks because of the shooting. I would generally jog to the gym I have a subscription in and do some workout with the trainers there. You should also do some walking when you have time. You know for at least 30 mins a day. It’s good for your body and health.”
Min-Seok had a desk job and so he wouldn’t get much exercise to keep himself healthy. The man should be more conscious of what he eats and should do more exercise as he gets older to be healthy.
Min-Seok nodded as he looked at Joon-won before replying, “Well that is true. I should do.more exercises. I can feel a few pains on my back and knees the past few days. But it looks like you really are maintaining your body well. You really were too skinny when you got here. Now your body has a proper shape to get a few girls at least.”
Joon-won laughed as he heard Min-Seok talk about him getting girls. He felt a little weird when he heard him too. It was the first time he had someone to talk about small things such as his love life like this. He didn’t have much time for love in his previous life and by the time he realised, he already had a fiance.
Shaking his head he replied, “Maintaining my body has nothing to do with getting girls. Every person has another person for them in this world. It’s just a matter of finding that person and hanging onto them no matter what happens. Anyway you should check those knees and that back of yours if it’s painful. Dad, are you listening?”
He stocked in the middle as he noticed Min-Seok was not even walking next to him anymore. He turned around to see Min-Seok just staring into the distance with a blank face as if he was deep in his thoughts and so he just had to ask.
But it seemed like his words didn’t reach the man as he just continued to stare into the distance in his own thoughts. Joon-won looked in the direction he was looking but there was no one there and so he walked towards Min-Seok. It was the first time he saw Min-Seok so occupied in his thoughts. The man generally only had his children in his mind and so this was new.
Walking up to him, he shook Min-Seok and asked again, “Dad, what are you thinking about? Are you fine? Do you want some rest?”
Min-Seok finally snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at Joon-won and said, “Nothing. Nothing is wrong, Joon-won. I’m not tired. Let’s continue.” As he walked further. Joon-won looked at the man’s back for a second before catching up to him.
“Is anything wrong dad? You never go that deep into your thoughts?”
Min-Seok just shook his head and said, “It’s nothing. I was just thinking about your mom. Nothing really important.”
His words shook Joon-won a little. Since entering into the new body and starting to learn more about the original Joon-won, he never found anything related to his mother. Even in the memories he had, it was only Min-Seok raising him since young and there was no one else in the house except the 3 of them. So he just assumed she died and never thought about her again.
“Mom? Why are you thinking about her now? I’m sure she is happy wherever she is right now.” He said cautiously without thinking much. He only wanted to ease Min-Seok a little.
Min-Seok looked at Joon-won with a small smile and said, “Yes, what you said is probably true. She must be happy wherever she is right now. I am sure she is.” And just continued to walk. He didn’t seem to want to continue talking about that matter and Joon-won also threw that topic out of the window.
After a while they reached the park and both of them went inside. Min-Seok seemed to be a little tired as he took a seat on one of the benches. Joon-won handed him a water bottle before he started doing a few exercises.
Min-Seok placed the water bottle aside after drinking a few sips and said while looking around, “Joon-won, promise one thing.”
Joon-won stopped his exercises and looked at Min-Seok who was just looking at the park before asking, “What is it, dad?”
“I am happy that your career is starting off after all the hard work you did. I noticed your passion for this and had no problems with supporting you. I want you to promise that you will stay true to yourself. Do not let this journey change you. Stay true to your beliefs and morals. If anything happens I’ll be behind you to support you. Ok?” And looked at Joon-won at the end.
Joon-won looked him in the eye and could see this is the most serious he has ever seen the man and that involved even the memories of the old Joon-won. Min-Seok was never the serious type and also just supported his children without any strings attached. It seemed like he had a much deeper reason to ask a promise and a reason he seemed to not want to tell him.
Joon-won didn’t force out the secret and just nodded before replying, “Sure, I won’t go astray. You have my word.” And for him his word was above everything.
Min-Seok seemed to be really satisfied with that answer as he happily nodded before standing up and saying, “Alright then, shall we go back now? I’m sure Yun-hee would also get up now. She’ll freak out if both of us aren’t there. So come let’s go.”
Joon-won just nodded as both of them slowly made their way back once again. As they got closer Min-Seok once again said something strange.
“I originally didn’t want to send our baby angel to this big town. I hoped she would get less marks even though I know that was impossible with how she is the smartest in our family. I hoped she would get less marks so she could stay at home, safely. The only reason I agreed is because of two things. One her eagerness. She was so eager to get out into the world, leave home and live freely. I couldn’t stop that. But more than that it’s because her University is in this city where you are also there and after seeing how responsible you are slowly becoming the past few months, my heart eased a lot into the situation. Joon-won please carefully look after the Kim family’s only princess.”
Hearing his words Joon-won was once again taken back. The number of times he became surprised in this short walk was very surprising to him. Min-Seok was completely out of the general character he seemed like for most of the time. But he knew why he spoke those words. It was almost an undeniable fact that fathers love their daughters way more than their sons. He was the same too. So he could see how worried the man was about sending Yun-hee to the big city filled with all kinds of people for the first time.
So he slowly nodded with a very serious face, “Don’t worry dad. I would make sure nothing would happen to her. I’ll do everything in my strength to make sure she is happy here and that your trust in me isn’t misplaced.” Min-Seok nodded with a small smile as he seemed to like the answer before continuing towards the apartment
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