She knew that wasn't true, and if she was avoiding him, it was most likely because of her. 'Did I come off too strongly', she wondered as she thought of a response to Jeremy's sentiments. The last thing she wanted was to create a rift between them, she contemplated confessing, but in the end, all she could say was, "Give her time. I don't think she's avoiding you. Remember her aunt is in town, so she might be giving her all her attention-",
"No aunt... I thought that might be it, but even when I joined them for supper, she never once looked at me. She literally couldn't wait to send me home.", Jeremy cut off his aunt, he knew that could not be it and he was even more confused because he clearly heard her say she loved him, was he perhaps mistaken? he wondered.
Jin Ae began to feel bad because this was suddenly happening when she was about to leave. She felt better knowing that someone like Linda had Jeremy's back but now she wasn't sure. She had to make things right, Jeremy's happiness came first.
Her expression suddenly became serious, and she cleared her throat, "How about you invite her to try out gala outfits with you... As a couple, you need to match after all...", she felt proud of her smart suggestion, but Jeremy's facial expression didn't change an inch.
He dropped his face and sighed heavily, "Already done that, she sent me the colors I need to get to match hers. She said she trusted my style. This feels exactly like what a contract marriage should feel like, and that's what we are. Aunt, at this rate, we might actually get a divorce in three years. "
Jim Ae paced around in her head, she needed to protect her nephew but not at the expense of ruining his relationship with Linda. She instantly pulled out her phone and typed,
"Forget about my request. I will find another way. Please forget our meeting ever happened and stop ignoring my nephew. He's blaming himself for something I caused and I can't let that happen..."
She sent expecting an immediate response but to her surprise, Linda didn't respond as fast as she anticipated, mostly because of the Karaoke bar Sharon dragged them to.
To say Linda was drunk would be an understatement, once she started drinking she couldn't stop.
"I want pancakes", she said suddenly shocking both her aunt and Sharon, they glanced at each other before turning to her,
"Okay, we will get some when we head home-",
Linda cut off her aunt, "You don't understand, I want Jeremy's pancakes... tomorrow morning. I want to wake up to Jeremy's pancakes.", she pouted
They both chuckled and quietly watched her rant, it was an unfamiliar sight to them. Their ice queen has become the same exact people she detests, the people who ask for their boyfriend when drunk.
"So... what you're saying is that you want to go to Jeremy's right now...", Sharon asked mischievously as she pulled her camera to capture the iconic moment.
Blind to her friend's plan, she confidently iterated, "I'm saying... I want Jeremy's pancake, no Jeremy in the pancake... Me don't want any. Jeremy... Pancake. Pancake... Jeremy."
She emphasized and instantly stood on her feet to drag them out of the bar. It was already late evening, and they both wondered if they would find him,
"Do you know where this place is?", Sello whispered to Sharon who nodded, weirdly enough, Linda was the only one who appeared drunk and Sello finally understood why her niece was constantly sighing,
"You know Sharon, I think Linda's foul mood and drinking today have something to do with these pancakes...", she winked and Sharon nodded in agreement.
"Are you guys coming or what?", Linda asked already heading towards the car.
As per her request, Sello drove to Jeremy's and Jin Ae was still sitting at the counter enjoying her nephew's presence. The mood seemed to be on a lighter note and they were now talking about his art. The bell went off forcing both their eyes to the person who ignored the closed sign.
"What the... Aunty Sello... What happened??", Jeremy asked as he rushed to help with the drunk woman who was hanging on their shoulder. As soon as Linda saw him, she let go of her supporters and screamed "Pancake", with her hands lifted to the sky almost causing her to fall, but Jeremy caught her in time.
"Pancake?", he looked at Sharon who simply smiled and nodded, "Jeremy's pancakes to be exact..", and Linda nodded in his arms.
"Well... He does make mean pancakes,", his aunt seconded causing everyone's attention to fall on her,
"Jin Ae?", Sello muttered in disbelief, "you are really Jeremy's aunt? The universe sure has jokes... ",
Sello said as she drew closer to her position.
"Uhm...I'm sorry, I don't really think we've met...", Jin Ae said genuinely confused, she only started hearing about this aunt these past few days, as far she was concerned, their paths had never crossed.
"Yeah, we have ... You probably don't remember though. But we did. Around the time my brother died. You came to the funeral in fact.", Sello said casually as she pulled a chair next to her.
Jin Ae began to feel uncomfortable, she was suddenly getting a strange feeling "Um...I think I need to leav-",
Sello gently grabbed her hand, "Oh... Please don't leave on our account, we are simply here to enjoy the famous pancakes... We need to know what our ice Princes were raving about. Do you mind Jeremy?", she turned to Jeremy who was still frozen on the door confused by the sudden weirdness from both the aunties.
Jeremy whisked a now sleeping Linda into his arms, bridal style, "No of course not, let me go lay her down first then, I will come and sort you out... Sharon, please follow me with her things.", Sharon nodded and followed behind as instructed
Sello smiled at the amount of care his eyes held for Linda, "He's really a genuine boy, despite his crazy evil family, and, well... You. He turned out to be a good man",
Jin Ae sighed, "Yeah.. He's nothing like us... He's more of my sister than me. And let me just say I had nothing to do with your brother's death nor Linda's mother's. I had-", she said with a concerned tone,
Sello interrupted, "But you knew it was going to happen. You knew about the plane crash..."
Jin Ae's eyes widened, "How did-".
"--I know?... It doesn't matter, but my question is, why didn't you stop it? You had the power to... Why didn't you do anything?"