It was around 8:05 p.m. Uncle Hung was standing outside, smoking a cigarette while gazing up at the bright white stars.
Hearing someone approach him from his right, he lowered his gaze with a faintly disappointed look. But when he noticed it was me, his face brightened.
"Ah! Hello, Hoshino. Did you need something?"
I calmly shook my head. "Not really. I just wanted to ask you a few things, if that was okay."
Uncle Hung let out a small, obnoxious giggle. "Hihihi. What did you wanna ask?"
Just as I was about to ask, however, he cut me off.
"Actually—hold that thought. Gimme a bit."
Uncle Hung suddenly stuffed his hands in his pockets and rummaged around. I was somewhat confused, but before I could even ask, the rummaging stopped.
He pulled his hands back out and extended his palm to me. On it was a box of cigarettes.
I stared at it blankly, unsure of what to even say. "Uhhh, why are you giving me this?"
Uncle Hung creased his brow, as if he were utterly taken aback by what I'd just asked.
"Excuse me? Do you seriously not know?" He leaned in and playfully jabbed me on the elbow. "C'monnnn. I know kids your age do this stuff all the time. I was your age at one point too, so I'd know."
It was quite the awkward—but funny—situation to be in. A part of me didn't want him to think I was a scaredy-cat, but at the same time, I didn't want to ruin my lungs. I was willing to do a lot of things—smoking wasn't one of them.
"Sorry, but I think I'll have to pass…" I replied flatly. "My parents would kill me if they knew I did this."
Uncle Hung let out a loud, amused snort. "Hah! Who? Your Dad? I don't know about your Mom, but when your Dad was little, he did this stuff all the time! He won't care. Trust me."
Huh. Well, that's new.
I knew Dad used to smoke, but I didn't know it started when he was my age. Actually, now that I thought about it, I could barely even picture him as a kid at all. I knew he had to have grown up at some point—it wasn't like he was born as my Dad. But still, the thought of him growing up just like I did was… strange, to say the least. So hearing stories about his childhood like this was kind of surreal.
Uncle Hung shook a single cigarette out of the box and held it out to me. "So, do you want to try it? If it makes you feel better, Julie also did it for her first time when she was fourteen."
…Just what the hell is wrong with my family?
"Sorry," I said, politely pushing the cigarette back into the box. "But I don't smoke. I don't want to ruin my lungs. I won't be able to play sports as well if I do."
It wasn't like I was as athletic as Yu, but I was still over average, I'd say—and I took pride in that.
Uncle Hung let out a slightly disappointed sigh. "Oh well, your loss."
He put the box back into his pocket and went back to smoking. He took a deep inhale, held it for a moment, then blew out a thick cloud of smoke. The wind carried the smoke into my face, filling my nose with the stench of tobacco. A lot of people hated the scent of cigarettes, but to me, it was oddly comforting.
"So, what did you want to ask me?" he asked, steering the conversation back on track.
"Oh, right. I wanted to ask what happened to Han Roi's face."
Han Roi had already given me his answer, but I just wanted to confirm something.
Uncle paused for a moment, trying to recall the reason.
"Hmmmm. I think… it was because he went drinking one night and got into a fight with some random lady."
"Huh. Good to know," I answered as naturally as I could, but things were different in my head.
Then that settles it.
Han Roi was lying. And he would only have one reason to do that—to hide something. What would he want to hide? Well, obviously, the true reason he got beaten. Which meant that he'd done something to Mei—or at the very least, something bad enough that he didn't want anyone knowing about it.
With that, I'd gotten everything I needed to know. Which meant that it was time for me to leave.
I began to turn around, ready to make my exit before things could get awkward.
"Well, I'll be–"
But before I could even finish, Uncle cut me off.
"Let me let you in on a little secret, Hoshino."
I stopped. The way Uncle spoke to me just now was a little different. His voice didn't have the same peppiness it always had. In fact… it almost reminded me of the way my own Father used to talk when he was mad.
I slowly turned around, meeting Uncle's gaze once again. Unlike my Father, however, there was no anger in his eyes. Instead, they were filled with some incredibly heavy emotion that I couldn't even describe—let alone understand. The only thing I knew was that after seeing it for that one moment, I subconsciously broke eye contact with him, my gaze drifting to the side of his head.
Uncle stepped closer to me, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Do you promise not to tell a single coworker? I think it'd be bad if word got out that I thought this."
I gave him a single nod. Seeing it, his lips curved up into a smile—which made me look even further to the side.
"To be honest, I always thought Han was a little creepy."
I couldn't help but be just a little taken aback.
…What?
Why would he say that? And what does this mean?
My Uncle was many things, but being judgmental wasn't one of them. If anything, he was probably one of the more accommodating people I'd met—especially for someone who was in my family. So for him to say something like that about someone meant he was serious.
Uncle followed up with a question. "You know my Daughter, right?"
The question seemed to have come out of nowhere, but I knew my Uncle wouldn't have brought it up for no reason. So I answered quickly.
"What about her?"
By the time I asked, Uncle's cigarette had nearly burnt out. He took the cigarette butt out of his mouth and tossed it aside, stomping out the ember. He didn't take out another one. He just continued speaking.
"Han has never done anything wrong at work. The way you saw him act today, that's how he always is. But, as the Dad of a young girl, I can't help but get this feeling… that I should keep her away from him."
Uncle let out a small chuckle. "But who knows? Maybe I'm just overthinking and being overprotective of my Daughter. Man, now I know how your Dad feels!"
But even as he laughed, it didn't carry the same freedom it always did.
I normally didn't believe in that "Fatherly instinct" stuff. But hearing it from him, I was suddenly reminded of something. The way I'd initially felt when I first met Han Roi. The feeling that something was fundamentally wrong. That, along with the previous deductions I'd made, led me to one final answer.
…This guy is definitely the reason Mei was crying.
Uncle slowly brought his hand up and lightly pressed it against my shoulder.
"Hoshino, promise me one thing. Throughout your stay here, you have to stay away from him. You might have to work with him at times, but never get close to him—and never let yourself be alone with him. Do you understand?"
His grip tightened as he asked—but not because he put more strength into it. It tightened… because his hand was shaking.
Seeing him react like that, all I could do was nod.
"Sure. I'll stay away from him."
Uncle let out a small breath. "Good."
With the conversation finally over, he dug into his pocket once more and pulled out another cigarette. By the time it was lit and in his mouth, he was smiling all giddily again, as if nothing had happened.
I, on the other hand, remained quiet as I stood next to him. My mind, however, was anything but. Countless thoughts, countless words, and countless feelings all jumbled together, overlapping to form one single mass.
How disgusting…
Right now, I would have loved nothing more than to make him pay somehow.
I knew it was just an urge based on pure emotion, but that didn't make it any easier to suppress.
If I had to bet on it, I could probably beat him in a fight. And it wouldn't just be for Mei—it'd also be for Auntie Yae. I could only imagine how she could have stumbled upon what happened, much less how she could have felt.
But I knew that it wouldn't solve anything. I couldn't just walk in there and start beating him up. That would get me into serious legal repercussions. And while I didn't really mind that part, I didn't want Lily to be the sister of a criminal. Furthermore, if I were to take action, Mei would know I'd figured it all out.
She wasn't stupid. If word got out that I beat her Uncle out of nowhere, it was the most obvious conclusion. In fact, she probably already knew we were working at the same company. But since she never said anything or brought it up, it could only mean that she never wanted me to know. Not that I could blame her—I wouldn't want anyone to know, either.
Which then begged the question…
Just what was I supposed to do now?
Before I could think too hard about it, a car pulled up in front of me.
The driver's seat window slowly rolled down, revealing a wide, childish smile.
"Hey, Son! How was work today?"
Of course, it couldn't have been anyone else but Dad.