Minho stood frozen, the world tilting on its axis. "What?" The word was a mere breath, a wisp of sound lost in the sudden, sharp reality of the moment. His gaze remained locked on the woman, her presence a stark intrusion into the carefully constructed order of his day. She, in turn, had already regained her composure, arms crossed, a shield against the unexpected.
"Now it's your turn." she stated, her voice crisp, each syllable a calculated challenge. "Who are you, and why didn't Seo-Jun tell me you'd be here?"
A familiar wave of annoyance washed over Minho, a predictable tide in the sea of his new life with Seo-Jun. He rolled his eyes, the gesture a subtle rebellion against the inevitable. "Of course. I am not even surprised at this point." he thought, the words a silent echo in his mind, "He wouldn't tell anyone anything."
With a sigh that carried the weight of countless unspoken frustrations, Minho bent to retrieve the fallen knife, its polished surface reflecting the harsh light. He straightened, the weapon now a silent extension of his will, and offered a curt reply, his voice a low rumble. "I am a servant. I work here."
The woman's eyebrows arched, a flicker of suspicion in her eyes. "Servant?" she echoed, the word a question, a hesitant probe.
A smirk played on her lips, a fleeting mask of false amiability. She raised her voice, the change in tone jarring. "Oh, I am terribly sorry for the intrusion! How foolish of me! I am Lily, Seo-Jun's younger sister!" With the words, a radiant smile bloomed on her face, and she extended a hand, offering a gesture of greeting, of welcome.
But Minho remained still, his mind a battlefield of conflicting thoughts. "Sister?!" The concept was a foreign element, a missing piece in the intricate puzzle of Seo-Jun's life. It wasn't documented in the information files Jin had provided. "Perhaps he's trying to hide her..."
Lily, her smile faltering, waved a hand in front of Minho's unmoving one. "Hellooo?" she called, her voice laced with confusion, a gentle attempt to draw him back from the depths of his thoughts and into the present. He jolted, as if roused from a dream, and with a swift, practiced motion, grasped her hand, a formal bow following in its wake. "I am sorry. My name is Park Minho." he intoned, the words a carefully constructed apology and introduction.
Lily, caught off guard by the sudden display of respect, responded with a delicate giggle. "Oh, I forgot that you have to bow to strangers here." She mirrored his gesture, a graceful acknowledgment of the unspoken rules of their shared space.
The simple act of bowing, however, ignited a whirlwind of thoughts in Minho's mind. "Here? Does she live abroad? She is definitely Korean... Although she has some foreign features, like the hair. She has the same hair as Seo-Jun, only her eyes are different. Given the fact that Seo-Jun was raised in the UK, she may have been born there. Maybe she really is a mix like Seo-Jun." Driven by curiosity, he posed the question that had taken root in his thoughts. "Do you live abroad?"
A warm smile bloomed on Lily's face as she confirmed his suspicions. "Yep, I have been living in the UK for as long as I can remember." Her giggle, a melodic punctuation, followed her words.
The wheels in Minho's mind continued to spin, drawing a new, improbable connection. "Maybe she is his half-sister." He tested the waters, "You know Korean pretty well."
Lily's smirk was a badge of pride. "Of course! In our house we talk only in Korean, and I live with a friend of mine who is Korean, so I talk to her only in Korean."
Unable to resist the pull of his own assumptions, Minho ventured further, "Are you Seo-Jun's half-sister?" Lily's expression crumpled in confusion, a frown marring her features. "What?! No! I am his blood blood sister."
Minho, the lines of his face etched with a sudden realisation, seemed to shrink under the weight of his own curiosity. The questions, once bubbling forth with a natural ease, now felt like an imposition. "Oh, I see. I am sorry for asking so many questions." he murmured, his voice barely a whisper, as he dipped his head in a second, almost involuntary bow. It was a gesture born of respect, perhaps, but also of a deep-seated need to make amends.
Lily, sensing his discomfort, rushed to dispel it. Her voice, light and airy, cut through the heavy atmosphere. "No, no! Don't be sorry! I know what it's like to be curious." A giggle escaped her, a sound that seemed to chase away some of the shadows that had gathered.
Minho straightened, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly. "Thank you for understanding, miss." he replied, the formality of his words a stark contrast to Lily's easygoing nature. The word "miss" hung in the air, a small, almost imperceptible knot of confusion forming on Lily's brow. "Miss?" she echoed, the word a question, a plea for clarification. But Minho, seemingly oblivious to her bewilderment, cut through her words. "Please come in. Seo-Jun will be home late today." With a decisive turn, he moved toward the kitchen, his movements purposeful, his focus elsewhere. Lily, still a little disoriented by the situation, followed him, her footsteps a hesitant echo to his.
Inside, the kitchen was bathed in the soft, diffused light of the late morning. The scent of unseen spices lingered in the air. "Hey, you don't have to call me 'miss'." Lily said, her voice a soft rumble as she watched Minho moving with a practiced efficiency. He didn't look at her, his attention focused on the task at hand. "How old are you?" She asked, the question seemingly an afterthought. "24." he answered, without turning.
A smile bloomed on Lily's face, a genuine, unforced expression. "I am 24 as well. See, you don't have to be so formal with me."
A flicker of something unreadable – curiosity, perhaps, or maybe a touch of confusion – crossed Minho's features. He glanced at her, a brief, assessing look before turning back to his task. Lily, feeling a little more at ease, settled at the dining table, her gaze following his movements. He was a study in quiet concentration, his every action precise and deliberate. He placed a plate of food on the table, then sat down to eat. Lily, her curiosity piqued, couldn't help but watch him. He noticed her gaze and looked up. "Do you want something to eat?" he asked. "No, I already had breakfast, don't worry." she assured him quickly. He nodded, then returned his attention to his meal, the silence between them settling once more, but this time, it felt different, less heavy.
After what felt like an eternity, Lily, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, broke the quiet. "So... For how long have you been working here?" she asked, her voice soft, almost hesitant. Minho, without lifting his gaze from his plate, responded quickly, his voice a low murmur. "Less than a month." Lily pressed on, her questions flowing like a gentle stream, probing at the hidden depths. "And... do you work with him in the mafia as well?"
The fork in Minho's hand stilled. He slowly lowered it, the clink of metal against ceramic echoing in the sudden stillness. His head snapped up, his eyes wide with a flicker of shock as they met hers. "You know he is working in a mafia gang?" he asked, his voice laced with disbelief.
Lily straightened in her chair, a subtle shift in her posture that spoke volumes. "Of course! He is my brother, I know everything about him." A sly smile played on her lips as she thought to herself, the words unspoken, yet palpable in the air, "Even the part concerning his sex life."
A different set of thoughts swirled in Minho's mind. "Interesting. She knows about Bloodline, which means Seo-Jun doesn't want her not to know about this. Maybe he doesn't have to hide her from someone like I thought..."
Minho, his voice flat, almost devoid of emotion, broke the silence. "I don't work with him there."
A beat of silence followed, thick with unspoken truths and unspoken judgments. Then, Lily spoke, her voice laced with a quiet anger, a frustration that had clearly simmered for years. "I see. And good for you! I have been trying to change his mind to stop walking around begging to be killed by other mafias for years. But he never listens." She rolled her eyes, the gesture a clear expression of her exasperation.
Her words, raw and honest, drew Minho's gaze. He looked at her directly, a new awareness dawning in his eyes. A thought, unbidden, crossed his mind: "She... is so different from him. Her personality is the opposite of his." A slight smile, almost imperceptible, played on his lips.
Lily, catching his gaze, flinched, a sudden flush creeping up her neck. She instinctively covered her chest with her hands, her voice rising in a shout, "Hey, hey, hey! Don't look at me like that, or I will tell my brother about it!"
The words left Minho slightly stunned, and a subtle shift rippled through him. A slight flinch, a widening of his eyes, followed by a soft giggle. "Don't worry, I'm not attracted to women. I don't think of you in that way." he said, his voice a touch too loud to convince her. His gaze immediately returned to the intricate patterns of his plate. Lily's expression was a study in revelation. A slow dawning, a flicker of surprise, and then the quiet triumph of "I KNEW IT!" painted across her features. She leaned in, her voice a conspiratorial whisper, "So you and S—" The sentence was cut short by a dramatic intrusion. The living room door slammed open with a resounding crack, and Seo-Jun burst in, his face etched with a mixture of urgency and worry. "Lily?! Are you here?!" His voice was a frantic shout, his eyes darting around the room. Lily's face instantly transformed, a radiant smile blooming across her features. With a joyous cry of "JUN!" she launched herself from her chair, covering the distance between them in a heartbeat. A tight embrace followed, a haven of comfort and joy. Minho remained rooted to his spot, a tableau of confusion and disbelief. His fork, halfway to his mouth, froze. His eyes darted between the embracing figures, his mind struggling to process the situation in front of him.