collateral damage 🔞 - COMPLETE

•thirty-five•

~~~~~Jeongguk

The silence is deafening after the Hyungs leave. Naeun Noona is very nervous, and I am trying not to pressure her. I stand from the bench and offer her my hand, earning a confused look. I don't say anything, or move, so she eventually puts her hand in mine. After I've pulled her up on her feet, I begin walking with her towards the park exit.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see... Come on."

I know that what we need to talk about is going to be hard on both of us, so we need privacy. I bought an apartment not far from the kids school just yesterday, and it'll be perfect for this. I got it to move Haerin and the kids into, and there's a room for Noona too, if she wants to stay.

Noona doesn't say anything, just takes everything in, when we enter the secure building and board the elevator. The car stops, and the door slides open to reveal the penthouse apartment with an open floorplan and floor to ceiling windows. The view of Seoul is amazing, and it's one of the reasons I decided to buy it. I leave Noona to explore while I head into the kitchen and grab a couple bottles of water.

There is a furnished living room, with couches I don't really care for, but I just wanted the space. I hope that Haerin will help me choose the final furnishings... I see Noona looking out the window, and I call to her. She turns and comes over to sit on the couch with me.

"I'd like you to tell me everything... I need to know, so that I can help... Will you do that Noona?"

She gulps, and fiddles her fingers, thinking hard about things.

"Jeongguk... I'm so sorry... I wish I could go back in time and change everything..."

"Me too Noona... But since we can't do that... Let's start with the truth no matter how painful. Alright?"

She looks into my eyes and I see her fear. She knows what I'm about to find out could destroy my life, that much is clear. I've swallowed the fact that Haerin told me she went to my mother when she knew she was pregnant. I've wanted to ask about it, but she hasn't been in the right frame of mind, so I had let it go. Not anymore...

"Alright... I'll tell you everything..."

When she starts speaking, I just listen and try to maintain my calm.

"When you and Jimin didn't come back after 3 days, Haerin was extremely sad. She continuously tried to text and call both of you. After a week, her parents announced that they had arranged a marriage for her. She absolutely refused, and her mother hit her. She'd never been slapped before, and it affected her greatly. She began to understand that her parents only saw her as a means to expand their business. She tried to call you again, but now your phone was telling her that the number was not in service, and even her texts became undeliverable..."

I see Naeun Noona's hands shaking at the memories she's reliving. She's always seen Haerin as a younger sister, and not just her employer's child. I chew on my cheek so that I don't let out any excuses... They are floating in my head, but that's all they are... I can't keep saying that I had no way to contact her... I could have called her instead of my family one time...

"Haerin went to Jimin's house the next day. She literally arrived as the moving truck pulled away... She told me that she sat on the porch for a long time trying to figure out if he had told her that they were moving. She blamed her inattention to their friendship to explain why she didn't know. She went to your parents house next, but noone was there. She gave up and went home for that day. Her parents were waiting for her, ready to drag her to a dinner with the man they wanted to arrange her to. She came back from that dinner and told me the man was 10 years older, and had spent the whole dinner trying to grope her under the table."