chapter 3:the dinner that changed everything
1044 Words
The next evening arrived too quickly.
Kang Mirae stared at her phone screen again. Just five words from Jihan:
Dinner. Tomorrow. 8PM. No excuses.
She hadn’t replied. He wasn’t asking — he was commanding.
Hana watched her pace around their small living room. She said “You’re going, right?”
Mirae hugged her arms to her chest. “I don’t think I can face him.”
Hana gave her a long look. “Why? Because he’s rich? Because he’s famous?”
“No... because he was kind.” Mirae’s voice cracked. “And I wasn’t. I walked away with something that belonged to both of us.”
“You walked away with a child,” Hana said gently. “Not a secret weapon. Not a crime.”
Mirae blinked back tears. “It feels like one.”
Hana stood and squeezed her shoulder. “Then make it right. You’re braver than you think.”
Mirae didn’t answer.
Hana leaned back,with a spoon of ice cream in her mouth. “It’s one dinner. You can survive that.”
“Can I?”
“You’re the one keeping secrets. Be strong or tell the truth. Those are the only two options.”she said looking at the ice cream
Mirae looked at Minjun playing in the corner with his toy trucks. Her heart squeezed.
---
At 7:58PM, she stood in front of Jihan’s penthouse door.
The place was sleek, quiet, intimidating. When the elevator opened,she was nervous,she walked into a world of expensive furniture, low lighting, and polished silence. It smelled like roasted chicken and pine.
And there he was.
Lee Jihan. Sleeves rolled, apron on, plating food like a cooking show host. Calm. Controlled. Cold.
“You’re early,” he said, barely glancing at her.
“You’re cooking?” she replied, surprised.
“I do have hands.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And humility?”
He gave a faint smile but said nothing.
They sat at the long dining table. Mirae barely tasted the food, her nerves too loud.
Finally, he set his fork down and leaned back. “So. Are you ready to explain?”
“Explain what?”she said trying to look calm
He met her eyes. “You disappeared after that night. No name. No number. Just gone. Then three years later, you're styling me like nothing happened.”
“I didn’t plan this,” she said quietly.
“Don’t lie to me.”
She stiffened. “Why does it matter now?”
“Because I never stopped thinking about you,” he said, voice low. “That night... it wasn't a fling for me.”
Mirae swallowed hard. “It was complicated and you'll not understand.”
“So make me understand”
“She turned her face looking at the environment”
“In need answers”he said looking more cold
She pushed her plate aside and stood. “I shouldn’t have come.”
He rose too, blocking her path. “Tell me the truth.”
She looked up at him, jaw trembling. “He’s three.”
Jihan froze. “What?”
“My son. He’s three years old.”
Silence. Thick and painful.
She stared at the floor. “His name is Minjun.”
Jihan blinked, taking a step back. “He’s mine?”
“Yes.”
He looked like she’d knocked the air out of him. He turned away, hand gripping the back of a chair.
“You never thought I had the right to know?”
“I was scared,” she whispered. “You were a powerful CEO. I was just a student with no job, no plan, and suddenly... a baby.”
He didn’t respond.
“I wanted to tell you. I tried. I couldn’t.”
“Does he know about me?”
She shook her head. “He thinks his father is far away.”
He ran a hand through his hair, pacing.
“I need to see him.”
“No,” she said quickly. “Not yet. I... I need time. He needs time.”
He stared at her. “You kept him from me for years, and now you want time?”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I didn’t do it to hurt you.”
He paused. Then, quieter: “Then why does it feel like it?”
She turned away.
He took a breath, calming. “Okay.”
She looked back, surprised.
“One step at a time,” he said. “But I want to be in his life.”
Mirae nodded slowly.
Jihan walked closer, voice low. “We can’t erase what happened. But maybe... we can start again.”
She searched his eyes, uncertain. “Why do you even care?”
Jihan stared at her, his jaw tight.
“Because I didn’t imagine you. You were real. That night, your laugh, the way you looked at me... it meant something. And I never got closure.”
Mirae looked down. “I never thought I deserved to see you again.”
“Why not?”
“Because I lied,” she whispered. “By disappearing, I lied. I took away your choice.”
The air between them throbbed with silence.
“But why do you want to see him”Mirae said looking at her phone
“Because he’s my son. And because... I never forgot you, Mirae.”
---
Later that night,
After Mirae left, Jihan stood frozen in the center of his luxury kitchen. The silence was deafening.
A son. His son.
The word echoed in his mind. He walked over to the window, staring out at the city lights. Everything felt different now — heavier, more fragile.
He imagined a small boy with Mirae’s eyes, maybe his smile.
How could she have raised him alone? Did the boy cry at night? Did he ask about his father?
Jihan didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but one thing was certain:
He would not lose them again.
_ _ _
Mirae opened the door to her apartment. Minjun was asleep on the couch, crayons still in hand.
Hana looked up. “How did it go?”
Mirae whispered, “He knows.”
“And?”
“He wants to meet his son.”
- Writer
