Diamond nation

29. Piece by piece

A/N: I noticed that a lot of you had this question about why Alison and Jungkook couldn't tell Chaerin about what happened. While the latter chapters will talk about it, I wanted to just drop a little explanation/spoiler for it.

I think it is essential to put yourself in both their shoes and understand what they are going through to make sense of their decision. For Jungkook he knows how stubborn Chaerin is and that she would never leave him if she knew he was being forced so the only way he can keep her away from his father's anger is by making her hate him so she herself wouldn't want to come back. Sometimes love can be letting go for the sake of the other person.

For Alison, she is looking out for her child more than her best friend. No matter how good friends they are, at the end of the day everyone is a little selfish. Do you think Chaerin would have voluntarily let Alison take Jungkook away? Sometimes you have to draw the line on how much you can sacrifice for other's sake and even though Chaerin has largely been a very nice and kind hearted person, she isn't a saint. She would not have allowed this marriage. None of their actions make them the villain. It's just human behavior and how different people deal differently with difficult choices in life.

The mood was grim. The scent of burning incense filled the room as faint smoke clouded the air against the light. In the side of the room, Chaerin sat as she rested her head against the wall. A black Hanbok dawned her body along with a white band wrapped around her arm. There were bandages all over her face for the injuries she sustained due to the fall. For the past 48 hours she hadn't slept or eaten and all energy seemed to have been drained from her body.

Her face depicted no emotions. The grief was so bad that it left her devoid of the ability to express the pain. She blankly stared at the picture of her parents that settled there. It seemed like she was in some parallel reality where all this couldn't happen. Her mind had deluded her into thinking it was a bad dream and when she woke up, it would all be gone.

Beside her sat Jimin who held her hand tightly, unable to let go of Chaerin in this moment. The man too drained his eyes out to the point he couldn't cry anymore. This did not feel real at all. His heart broke for his sister who had experienced three of the worst losses of her life. The loss of family, friendship and love.

Across them sat Jennie, the toughest of the lot. At least she had enough mental will and strength to compose herself to address and bow to the visitors who came. She stepped in place of Chaerin, being the older cousin who always looked out for her sister. Their parents who were Chaerin's mom's siblings handled the rest of the ceremony, each one of them broken with the death of their sister and brother-in-law but put on their bravest faces as the elders of the household.

"Chae", Jimin called out to the younger, stroking her hand. "You have been up all night. Take some rest. Do you want to eat?"

"I am fine", came the reply even though she did not bother to look at him.

"Chae", he called again. "We are here, just for a bit, go to sleep"

"Leave me alone Jimin, I said I am fine", she replied but it came out more like a mumble. The latter not wanting to stress her out, thought it was best to not say anything again. He pulled her towards himself, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder as he stroked her head. As he did this, he saw a familiar face walk in.

Taehyung stood there, dressed in a black suit as he came to pay his respects. His eyes fell on Chaerin and Jimin who were sitting there in silence. His heart broke as he looked at the woman there, seemingly exhausted and numb with pain as she clung to her brother for support. He could feel his eyes tear up seeing her like this. Like a mortal body that had lost its will to live.