The warm embrace Minho received from his wife and children when he returned home made him feel slightly uneasy.
It was your typical 'father coming home after leaving for a month' kind of welcome. All three of his children had sprinted out the door to greet him, piling into his waiting arms. They pressed kisses to his cheeks and hugged the life out of him, telling their father the adventures that had taken place while he was gone. As Minho and his children walked back to the front door, Brenda stood in the doorway with a gleeful smile, her eyes watering.
Minho knew that Brenda loved him with all her heart, took care of him when he was sick, found a way to deal with his sassy attitude. But she still lacked his love. Every single kiss or display of affection was simply acting, nothing more. Minho pretended to love Brenda, for her sake, that of his children's, and especially his parents. She was clueless as to the events that had taken place over the month that Minho spent in Glade Grove, and Minho intended for it to stay that way.
When Minho was only a few feet from the door, Brenda flung herself at Minho, wrapping her arms around his neck and smashing her lips to his. It felt strange to Minho to kiss her again, he was so used to the feeling of Lynn's delicate pink lips and her mesmerizing amber eyes that he had forgotten what Brenda's kisses felt like.
Begrudgingly, Minho returned Brenda's love-filled kisses, separating after a mere five seconds. Brenda took his face in her hands, pressing their foreheads up against each other.
"I've missed you," She whispered, letting her auburn hair create a curtain around her face. Minho tucked Brenda's loose pieces of hair behind her ear, cupping her cheek with his hand.
As bad as it sounds, Minho wanted Lynn to be the one in his arms right now. He wanted Lynn to be the one that bares his children and kisses him passionately. He wants the girl with the long, flaxen hair and peculiar attitude to be the one that would greet him at the front door, not the woman who was entitled to be his wife because his parents thought it best. Minho wanted Lynn.
"Let's get inside," Brenda said, pulling on his hand to get him to come inside. "The sun is making me awfully hot."
Lynn would beg to differ, the day was splendid. The sun was shining and the trees were swaying in the lightest of summer breezes. The birds were chirping and the flowers were blooming, and the flowers were blue. The color of faith and wisdom, the color that Lynn admired so much.
'Stop thinking about her!' Minho thought, letting Brenda intertwine their fingers as they walked inside, shutting the door behind them.
But he couldn't stop thinking about her, Lynn was forever going to remain in Minho's mind. Her scent of roses still lingers on his clothes, that blue ribbon that she lost still in her pocket. He must return to Glade Grove in a month, before autumn comes. He must.
xxx
"Papa, did you meet Icelyn Newton?"
Minho's whole body tensed. He was tucking his eldest daughter, Clarissa, into bed, the covers drawn up to under her arms. She looked up at him with those large, puppy-like almond eyes of hers, practically begging him to answer her question.
"Yes, I did." Minho said, rising from the edge of the bed and dimming the lantern above Clarissa's night stand.
"What was she like?" Clarissa had removed her covers, sitting with her feet dangling over the side of the mattress, swinging her legs to and fro.
"She was...peculiar I guess you could say," Minho walked over to his daughter's bed, plucking her up from the edge and taking a seat in a nearby chair with Clarissa in his lap. "She preferred to be called Lynn instead of Icelyn or Ms. Newton, saying it was too formal for her liking."
"Too formal? What else, papa?"
"Well, she favors the color blue, unlike your mother-"
"Mama says that blue represents sadness and despair."
"To some, Clarissa. But to Lynn, blue represented wisdom, faith, and truth. As a matter of fact, the color of half of her dresses are blue."
"Really?!"
"Really," Minho smoothed back his daughter's unruly auburn hair, her tiny hands fiddling with the collar of Minho's shirt. "You don't know how long it took me just to get her to wear the color purple!"
"But purple is such a lovely color!" Clarissa exclaimed, her head tilting to the side in confusion.
"Lynn never liked to brag about her wealth and according to her the color meant wealth and royalty, it's a strange reason as to why she doesn't wear purple, but it's the way she does things." Minho said, recalling the day in the gardens that Lynn told him that, explaining as to why she doesn't wear some colors.
Clarissa rested her head on her father's shoulder, her eyelids growing heavy as she listened to the sound of his voice, listening intensely to this girl that Minho spoke so fondly about.
"What does she look like?"
Minho thought for a minute, how was he supposed to describe the love of his life to his child without making it sound like he was in love with her?
"She has long, beautiful flaxen-colored hair, tumbling in waves down to her waist. Lynn has these dark, hazel eyes that will turn amber in the sunlight or when she is gleeful or excited. Her laugh could be described as angel-like, it would make even my father smile just to hear it."
His daughter giggled sleepily, humming lightly as her eyes closed for the night.
After returning Clarissa back in her bed and pulling up the covers, Minho exited the room, the door clicking shut behind him softly. He padded down the hallway, the sound of the falling of his footsteps making a soft echoing sound against the carpeted walls. He headed towards his bedroom, finding the door slightly ajar. Upon pushing it open, he found Brenda already in bed, a book in her hands. She must've sensed his presence as soon as he entered the room, for she had reached over to the nightstand and marked her place in the book, closing it in her lap.
"You know I found something in your coat pocket today." Brenda said, looking down at the blankets and avoiding Minho's line of sight.
"What did you find?" Minho unbuttoned his shirt, shrugging his arms out of the sleeves and throwing his shirt onto a nearby chair. He got in bed beside Brenda, awaiting the answer to his question.
"I found this blue ribbon." A delicate turquoise ribbon was hanging from Brenda's hands, fluttering in the wind that was coming from the agape window.
Minho stiffened at the sight of the piece of fabric, the ribbon was Lynn's. It was the one that held her hair together that day he spotted her in the village. He had completely forgotten that he had tucked it away in his pocket.
"Whose is it, Minho?"
Oh God, Minho's dirty little secret could be revealed.
"It's Icelyn Newton's."
Brenda cringed at the mention of the girl's name, dropping the ribbon from her fingers. "Did you get a chance to meet her?"
Minho gulped down the bile that was rising in his throat, his hands getting clammy and sweaty. Guilt was making his heart pound, he was going to have to straight out lie to his wife about any questions that she had about the blonde beauty that Minho had a secret relationship with.
"Yes, I did. We spent the whole night of Newt's engagement party talking."
Brenda let out a long, slow sigh, biting her lips as if she was trying not to lose her patience talking about Lynn. "Is she the reason you stayed in Glade Grove for the rest of the month?"
"No, she isn't. Father asked me to stay so I could see if everything was running smoothly, since Newt and Lynn's father and mother passed away and we really haven't seen them in...years." Lies, all of it was a lie.
"You know I don't like you spending time away from me that long, Minho." Brenda's head snapped in his direction, eyes squinted and jaw clenched. "Especially when you could've been seeing that sick, twisted girl everyday."
"She's not sick and twisted Brenda!"
"Yes she is! That disease that she has takes over the mind and body! The words that came out of her mouth probably made no sense at all!"
"Brenda! How could you say such a-"
"Did you have an affair with her Minho?"
Silence filled the air, the tension between the two was thick, as if glass was about to shatter. Minho gulped down the words that were about to come out of his mouth, the truth.
"No," He grunted, the covers were balled up in his fists, his fingers tight. "I didn't, you know I would never do something like that Brenda." But he had. Minho cheated on his wife, kissed and loved another woman. Told Lynn that she was his one and only love, promised to return to Glade Grove in a month, for them to get married someday, have children of their own.
"Okay," Brenda's voice was in a raspy whisper, as if she was trying to hold back tears. "I just wanted to make sure."
The door to their bedroom creaked open, Clarissa appearing in the doorway. She rubbed her eyes the heel of her hand, the other resting on the door knob.
"Clarissa, what's wrong sweetie?" Minho inquired, pushing the covers off his body and coming to his daughter's aid. He kneeled down in front of Clarissa, his large hand covering her shoulder as he placed his hand their.
"I can't sleep," She mumbled, clutching her hand to her chest and her eyes slightly drowsy.
"Why don't you head back to your room and I'll be there in a minute, okay?" Minho suggested, a comforting smile spread across his face.
His daughter bobbed her head up and down, turning around and heading back off to her room. Minho rose to his feet and faced Brenda, the smile on his face vanishing. "I'm returning to Glade Grove in three weeks to attend Newt and Sonya's wedding," He said, "and I will leave sooner if you keep that attitude of yours up."
xxx