𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗘 ─ 𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗚𝗪𝗢𝗡

XXXVIII. Reunion

Everyone sat down at the couches in the large living room - all waiting for Jungwon to say something.

Some of them have only seen Jungwon now for the first time in 2 years - so they were eager to hear what he had to say.

Jungwon looked at Jake. He was nervous to speak - unsure if he was ready to speak or if anyone was ready to listen.

Jake replied with a simple nod. He knows that everyone in this room is capable of understanding one another.

Sure they might fight at first, but it is something that will pass - everything will work out in the end.

Jungwon took a deep breath in, ready to share his side of the story.

"I had to leave immediately. My father suffered from heart disease and I had to go back as soon as I could."

Lies. All lies.

He had no choice, if someone were to find out he has magic, everything will change.

Since they were harmed by magic - they'd automatically have a negative view of all magic.

No one would feel safe around him.

"I'm sorry that I didn't say anything before leaving. I know that was a mistake on my part."

"Why didn't you come back once everything was fine?" Ni-ki asked.

Others nodded their head - they wondered the same thing.

"My father and mother are both at an old age. I was the one who had to work so that our family can afford to keep living, plus I had to take care of them."

"If you were supposed to be taking care of them, then why did you leave Japan to study here 2 years ago?" Sunghoon asked a follow-up question.

Things were messy and hard to understand - that's the exact reason why Sunghoon asked for further explanation.

"There is a caretaker, but she obviously isn't supposed to be the only ones taking care of my parents."

Jungwon was handling the questions pretty well. Though his answers are all fake, he made it sound genuine.

"Mhmm, and how is your dad now? Is he feeling better?" Sunghoon asked.

"Oh also follow up question, so who's taking care of your parents now??" he added.

"Both of them are fine. My older brother is the one taking care of them now so that I can finish studying." Jungwon replied firmly.

"You have an older brother??? Where was he all this time?"
"So are you stuck back at grade 11 or..."
"What do you mean you 'had to work'? Like a part-time job?? Since you haven't graduated yet."

They bombarded him with questions. Though he could answer all of them, a certain friend tried to help him out.

"Hey! Let's all take it down a notch with the personal questions. Those are questions that he has no obligation to answer. The important thing is that he explained why he left." Heeseung calmly said.

As the oldest, he often needs to be the peacemaker of the group.

Seeing that Jungwon has already made it clear why he left, there shouldn't be any reason why he needs to explain further.