Ch.58Chapter 58. The Hearing (1)

In the dusky evening, I returned home to find all the lights on—a slightly unfamiliar sight. Just a few months ago, I couldn’t have imagined this.

“Ah, you’re back?”

Before I could even grab the doorknob, the door creaked open, and Juliane greeted me with a bright face. She was wearing an apron, which made me wonder if possibly…

“Juliane.”

“No, no, no! I just wore this because I was doing dishes and didn’t want water splashing on me! I didn’t cook anything! Really!”

“…”

My suspicious look prompted her immediate defense. Well, if she had actually cooked something, Cuss would have come running to me in tears by now. She seemed to be telling the truth.

“I just fed her instant food. Really. Please believe me.”

“Yes, yes. I believe you.”

I stepped inside. Strangely, Cuss wasn’t in the living room. Usually at this hour, she’d be glued to the TV.

“Where’s Cuss?”

“She’s on the phone with her friend.”

“I see.”

I gently pushed open her bedroom door. There she was, lying on the bed, laughing about something while holding the phone. Was it Alice? I wonder if that’s who she was talking to. I quietly closed the door without letting her notice me.

I heard clattering sounds from the kitchen. Juliane was standing at the sink. She must have come out while doing the dishes. She had her hair tied back, unusually, revealing her smooth nape.

“Hmm? Jinsoo?”

She flinched when I approached from behind.

Oh shit. I can’t take this.

“W-wait. Not now…”

“Juliane.”

“Yes…?”

“Who does dishes like this?”

“What?”

Look at this. She just soaks the dishes in water, wipes off the moisture, and puts them straight in the cabinet? Is she crazy? Is she trying to assassinate Cuss and me with smallpox or something?

“You’re just washing with water? Seriously?”

“This water has detergent in it…”

“Even so, shouldn’t you scrub them with a sponge after applying detergent?”

“What? But then too much detergent would stick to the dishes.”

“That’s the point.”

“No, it’s not. Then there would be too much detergent left on the dishes afterward.”

Look at her? She’s actually being defiant about this. I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

“I may not be good at cooking, but I learned the proper way to wash dishes!”

“Ha. Proper way? Don’t even think about doing dishes in my house again. I can’t stand watching this.”

“Fine! Geez, really.”

Apparently upset, Juliane immediately took off her rubber gloves. What are you going to do if you’re angry, huh?

By the way, I should thoroughly search the house again today. See if there are any bugs planted.

“Where are you going?”

“To get my bag! A woman who can’t cook or do dishes properly is leaving now!”

She seemed genuinely upset. Juliane stormed into the bedroom, and I immediately put on the rubber gloves. Dishes should be scrubbed thoroughly. Where on earth did she learn such habits?

There weren’t many dishes, so I finished quickly. As I was taking off the gloves, Juliane came striding out with her bag.

“What? Why are you looking at me?”

“Nothing. Just seeing you off.”

Even her angry face is pretty. This must be why they say you should date pretty women. Just looking at her face melts away the anger.

“I’m just going to leave.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“…”

After putting on her shoes, Juliane turned around and glared at me. In her heels, she was almost my height.

“I said I’m leaving.”

“And I said go ahead.”

“Oh, really.”

“…?”

She clicked her tongue, then turned back from the door and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, bringing her face close to mine. I could have easily avoided it, but I didn’t.

“Mmm…”

Juliane’s lips gently covered mine and began to suck.

“Phew… You’re so clueless… You’re supposed to stop me.”

“I thought it might be good for us to keep some distance and cool our heads.”

“I don’t need to cool down. Just being like this makes me feel better… Ah…”

This time I kissed her first. Our tongues intertwined, exchanging saliva. Oh shit. I really can’t hold back.

“Ahh… No. Not today. I have to go to a dinner appointment.”

“Is it important? Can’t you cancel?”

“No… It’s dinner with my parents… Mmh? They recently came to LA… Ah.”

“I see.”

Well, there was nothing I could do. We couldn’t skip a dinner with parents to go to a motel.

“One last time… Mmm…”

As she was about to pull away, Juliane, with flushed cheeks, pressed her lips against mine again. Explicit sounds hit my ears, constantly stimulating my little guy down there. Do we really have to end it like this?

I barely managed to hold back yesterday, but today it was really difficult. I had to resist the urge to push Juliane down and ravish her.

“Oh.”

“…?!”

At that moment, we heard a single exclamation from the living room. We hurriedly separated and looked back. Cuss was standing there with her mouth open, staring at us. This little one, already into voyeurism…

“Jinsoo. Did you kiss Juliane…?”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s right. Juliane is leaving now. Say goodbye.”

“I’ll be going, Cuss. See you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Bye, Juliane.”

Awkwardly waving her hand, Juliane left the house as if escaping. After the door closed with a thud, only Cuss and I remained in the quiet house. I felt a bit resentful toward Cuss, who was looking up at me with an innocent face. But I wasn’t too upset since we couldn’t have gone all the way anyway because of Juliane’s dinner appointment.

“Sigh.”

Cuss looked confused. She probably wondered why we were suddenly kissing when it seemed like we were arguing. I roughly tousled Cuss’s hair.

“So, are you done with your call?”

“Yeah. I was talking to Alice.”

“What did you talk about?”

“What we ate today.”

“What did you eat?”

“Something called fried rice?”

“Was it good?”

“Yeah.”

Right. It must have been good. It’s already fully cooked, just needs to be heated in the microwave. Maybe I should make her kimchi fried rice sometime. With such thoughts, I made a tremendous effort to calm my little guy down.

***

“Ah, here…”

Looking up at the building, Juliane let out a sigh. The path seemed familiar. It was the restaurant she had visited with Jinsoo before—the one where she couldn’t even touch the food.

“Ahem. Hmm.”

She cleared her throat while riding the elevator. She was worried her voice might sound strange after the kissing earlier… She also double-checked her lipstick just in case. Everything seemed fine. Her parents wouldn’t notice anything.

Ding…

Juliane entered the restaurant elegantly, her heels clicking. She could feel eyes turning toward her each time her black dress fluttered. Soon she spotted her parents. Ah, of all places… it was the same table where she had sat with Jinsoo.

“I’m here, Mother. Father.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen your face.”

“Sit down first.”

Though she had been nervous before meeting them, seeing their faces made her happy. Like any family gathering, the atmosphere quickly became warm and pleasant, making Juliane feel at ease.

“Shall we order wine too?”

“Yes, we should.”

“What should we get? Let’s see here…”

“So I hear you’re dating someone?”

“…”

Juliane, who had been looking at the menu, suddenly felt her breath catch. Her throat felt parched. She quickly gulped down a glass of water, wiped her mouth, and stared at her father. His gentle face was looking back at her.

“I hear it’s quite serious?”

“Mom is curious too. Tell us a bit about what kind of man he is.”

They said this was to celebrate her father’s election as a congressman. But it turned out to be a hearing—a hearing to investigate the allegations about Juliane Stadtfeld’s boyfriend.

“I just said that in the heat of the moment…”

She needed to be evasive for now. Even if her father was a congressman, he couldn’t access confidential information within the Department of Justice. So he probably didn’t know that she was on a mission to approach Jinsoo and extract information. If she just kept her mouth shut, he wouldn’t be able to find out anything.

“Going with silence? Well, there are ways around that.”

“Go ahead and try. I won’t say anything. I absolutely won’t tell you.”

When she was younger, she often fell for her father’s leading questions, but she had grown up now. She was confident she wouldn’t easily spill information. He probably planned to gradually ease the atmosphere throughout dinner and create a scene where she would naturally confess. But that wasn’t going to happen.

“Do you know a child named Cuss Kim?”

“Pffft!”

At the sudden mention of that name, Juliane almost spat out the water she was drinking. How did he know that name…?

“I heard you declared you would become that child’s mother? What was the name of Cuss’s adoptive father? Let me see. Jinsoo Kim? He’s Korean?”

“…”

She was caught. Completely exposed. There was no need to dig through Department of Justice data. It was just a rumor circulating that anyone could hear. Juliane hung her head in defeat.

“Well? Are you still going to pretend you don’t know him?”

“…Yes. That’s him.”

Somehow, a paper with Jinsoo’s photo and personal information had appeared on the table. There was no point in denying it further. Her father already knew everything.

“Oh my. He looks a bit scary. So, would you like to tell me what attracted you to a 30-something ex-convict who kidnapped a young girl and is raising her?”

Juliane’s hands, resting on her knees, trembled. The hearing had officially begun.