Chapter 44

With a young and wounded heart, Baek Geum pulled Song Seok-jae away, preparing to seek a little comfort in Hongdae.

The nightclubs in Hongdae were not yet open, but several popular ones already had long lines in front of them, with many mature and attractive women standing in these queues. Although Song Seok-jae liked this scene, he was a reserved and introverted person. Baek Geum, on the other hand, was different. In the dance floor, he would boldly reach out to any beautiful woman who approached him. If he was caught, Baek Geum would exclaim, "Kawaii yo!" If the woman's male companion noticed and started an argument, he would shout, "Baka yaro!" In short, whenever he did "good deeds," he would always leave his name, which was always five characters long: Baek Mo Sam Rong. This name meant that he touched whoever he wanted, and even if he touched them, it was all for nothing. The reason it was "Sam Rong" (third son) was because heaven was the eldest, earth was the second, and he was the third.

While Baek Geum was wearing his flashy nightclub outfit and waiting in line in Hongdae, Li Jingming was taking a walk along the Han River. He had been working hard and using his brain over the past two days, and now he finally had a chance to rest. He planned to relieve his stress by taking a walk. If you asked Koreans where the best place to take a walk was, eight out of ten would say Han River Park or the Han River Bridge, while the other two would say Gyeongbokgung Palace. Gyeongbokgung Palace was a place of sorrow for the Lee family, so Li Jingming would not go there. At 5:40 PM, just before dusk, Li Jingming was walking on the auxiliary road of the Han River Bridge.

Li Jingming walked alone, savoring the beauty of loneliness. However, when he saw a sign, his mood was immediately ruined, and all the loneliness and beauty were dispelled by a burst of laughter.

"Please Stop" was what the sign said. After the Han River Bridge's lanes were renovated in the 1980s, it became not only a popular place for citizens to take walks but also a favorite spot for suicides. In Korea, the Han River Bridge was similar to the White Cliffs in Britain, so this sign was meant to warn those who were planning to commit suicide. Li Jingming shouldn't have laughed, as the sign had a profound meaning of caring for life. However, he thought of his fellow disciples at Wudang and imagined a sage with a transcendent demeanor, extending his right hand in a classic Er Kang gesture: "Daoist friend, please stop!" This made him laugh, and he laughed exaggeratedly.

There were still quite a few people on the Han River Bridge on weekends, so everyone looked at Li Jingming, who was laughing in a somewhat neurotic way, wondering if he was about to jump and whether they should stop him or just watch. Li Jingming noticed the expectant gazes of the people around him and finally stopped laughing and ran away, not thinking about what the people were expecting.

When he reached a less crowded section of the auxiliary road, Li Jingming decided to continue his lonely and beautiful walk. Standing by the railing, Li Jingming felt a bit of a pity that the auxiliary road was separate from the main road and that parking was not allowed on the bridge. Therefore, it was impossible to park his car and create a romantic scene on the Han River Bridge. Otherwise, his Aston Martin would have been more useful than any other prop.

After a moment of emotional preparation, Li Jingming took out his best melancholic instrument from his pocket. He always kept this instrument in his car for emergencies, and today was the perfect time to use it. If you asked what instrument could attract women, the answers would vary—piano, violin, guitar, saxophone, trumpet—but when it came to the instrument that best conveyed a melancholic aura, countless romantic heroes had concluded that it was the harmonica.

Literary and cinematic works had already established the harmonica's role. A retired officer who had been emotionally scarred by war would have a harmonica, and whenever he thought of his fallen comrades, he would play it, and the heroine would offer comfort. A kind-hearted son of a mafia boss would have a harmonica, and whenever he struggled with his desire to be a good person, he would play it, and the heroine would offer comfort. An invincible master who was lonely and unmatched would have a harmonica, and whenever he felt lonely at night, he would play it, and the heroine would offer comfort. In short, the harmonica was a true magical instrument.

Li Jingming owned a Seydel Renaissance chromatic harmonica, made in Germany. When he bought it, the seller told him that it was left by his grandfather, a German SS officer, so it cost him $16,000. Of course, he kept this harmonica in its box for display purposes, as it had been so many years and its accuracy was questionable, and maintenance was a headache. The one he took out was a Hohner Marine Band 10-hole harmonica, the Golden Melody Blues, or GM for short.

"Spokky Dokey," a masterpiece by Yoko Kanno, had inspired half of the people who learned to play the blues harmonica after the new millennium, and Li Jingming was one of them. Leaning against the railing of the Han River Bridge, Li Jingming squinted in the sunset and played this song, which was bluer than blue, into the gentle river breeze. "Cowboy Bebop" was a story about a man living in the past, and this song was the man's inner thoughts. Li Jingming himself was also a man living in the past, and his seemingly nonsensical actions were rooted in his emotions.

Would the same feelings remain if they met again?

"Jung Tae-yeon, you can do it, you're the best!" Just as Li Jingming was reminiscing and picking up the shells of his memories, a loud and unrestrained voice rang out nearby, making him jump and almost drop his harmonica into the Han River.

Li Jingming turned his head and saw the short girl he had chased with Jessica that night. This time, he had caught her, and she had even provoked him last time.

"Hey, kid, it's you again!" Li Jingming walked towards her, but halfway through, he realized something was wrong. He had mistaken her for someone else. She looked similar, but this one was called Jung Tae-yeon, while the one from last time was called Kim Ji-sook. Maybe he should find a fortune teller to change his luck, as he kept mistaking people recently.

"Kid, don't run." Li Jingming pretended to chase her, passing by Jung Tae-yeon and pointing to a completely blurry figure in the distance, saying, "You ran fast."

Jung Tae-yeon was speechless. What a strong mental fortitude, what a poor acting skill. She had stood there for two minutes, shouting to relieve her stress, and this guy had put on a show of chasing an invisible person. Was he an escaped patient from a mental health center?

Li Jingming ignored Jung Tae-yeon's strange gaze and was about to leave, but he suddenly realized something. The person who had shouted earlier was indeed called Jung Tae-yeon. That night, Jessica had chased Kim Ji-sook, mistaking her for Jung Tae-yeon. The Jung Tae-yeon in front of him did look a bit like Kim Ji-sook, especially in profile. So Li Jingming was sure that this was the "main culprit" who had made Jessica feel upset and wronged.

"Are you the kid called Jung Tae-yeon?" Li Jingming suddenly decided to stand up for Jessica, though he wasn't sure why.

"Kid?" Jung Tae-yeon looked at the handsome but somewhat dim-witted guy in front of her. She didn't even know him, and he was already calling her a kid, and the word "kid" was a very sensitive term for her.

"Of course, if you're not a kid, who is?" Li Jingming scanned Jung Tae-yeon's entire body with his eyes, took a step forward, and looked down at the top of her head.

Jung Tae-yeon's mood couldn't be described as just annoyed. It was a rare weekend, and she had come to the Han River Bridge to shout and relieve her stress, but now she had encountered this bizarre person, and her stress hadn't decreased; instead, her blood pressure had risen. She pouted and made a cute face, "You're only in high school, right? You should call me senior. I'm in my third year." Actually, Jung Tae-yeon had just finished her second year and hadn't started her third year yet.

Li Jingming looked at the cute and innocent-looking Jung Tae-yeon, "Oh, a senior in third year, I already have a master's degree. Besides, you're lying, right? Do you even look in the mirror? Someone who looks like you can't be in third year." Jung Tae-yeon's childlike face was no less youthful than Li Jingming's, and she looked like a child.

"I am in third year." Jung Tae-yeon said angrily, wondering why this guy was so unreasonable.

"Then you must have a problem, like middle school syndrome." Li Jingming concluded, and to stand up for Jessica, he started to use his sharp tongue, "Only someone with middle school syndrome could always look like a middle schooler, especially in height."

"Height doesn't matter to girls. I don't care, and there are plenty of people shorter than me." Jung Tae-yeon pretended not to care, but she had no idea what to do with this guy who was over 1.8 meters tall, so she resorted to the ostrich method.

"There are people shorter than you, but Jessica is taller than you." Li Jingming looked at the indifferent Jung Tae-yeon with amusement.

"Jessica?" Jung Tae-yeon looked at the man in front of her, "What's your relationship with her? Did she ask you to find me?"

Uh, he had slipped. Li Jingming touched his nose, "Jessica and I are friends. I came here to take a walk today, and we met by chance. I heard the name you shouted and came to check, and it turned out to be you."

"What did Jessica say about me?" Jung Tae-yeon thought that Jessica probably wouldn't say anything good about her.

"She said you bullied her." Li Jingming summarized what Jessica had said that night into six words.

"Only I could bully her? I'm no match for her. Everyone is on her side." Jung Tae-yeon said a bit sadly. In the past few days, she had felt the attitudes of the others, so she had been wandering alone, even without calling Tiffany. "Do you think I wanted to be the leader?"

"I didn't hear that version." Li Jingming scratched his head, women, oh women.

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**End of Chapter**