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and no, she did not show up here unannounced. eudora was nearly a three hour drive from urith and it only took a five minute phone call with the person who mattered most in this equation to allow her to come and visit.
this was the scariest decision she's made in a while. seeing park chinsun in the flesh and speaking to her after years of no contact? and on this day of all days.
the nerves pricked at her the entire ride there and the urge to turn around and go home was almost unbearable. not a minute went by that she didn't feel like making a uturn and making the ride of shame back.
she decided it was best to put her phone on do not disturb and leave it somewhere in the backseat so she wouldn't look at it. she knew there had to be almost a thousand notifications from every app imaginable, but she didn't want to think about that right now.
not when she was pulling up in front of a very beautiful townhouse that sat comfortably in a suburban area. the houses around here were homely and pretty, nice for big families and such.
she took a deep breath, parking her car next to the curb in front of the house. and the reality of it all hit her.
lee kinsley had just accused her of so much and she was about to make her way into park chinsuns house when there was a chance that she really believed everything kinsley had said about jing and chaebyeol.
chinsun was chaebyeol older sister, if you haven't figured that out yet. 31, and happily married to quite possibly the kindest man ever. it had always been a dream of hers to do her best to get out of the toxic life of money and false luxury her family raised her in, as odd as that sounds.
jing reached into the back seat, grabbing her phone and her purse. she didn't want to be here longer than she needed to be, she just needed chinsun to know the truth.
she didn't need chinsun to believe her, necessarily. she just needed to make sure she was hearing the truth, if she didn't already know it.
after walking up the driveway and ringing the ring doorbell that was situated to the right of the door, she waited for what felt like ages. realistically it was only about a minute, but it felt like so much more.
the door swung open, and she was met with chinsun standing there with a warm smile on her face. "you got here quicker than i expected you to." the woman chuckled, stepping aside to allow jing to walk through.
"i didn't exactly stop... like at all." jing laughed nervously, pausing to wait for chinsun to close the door so she could lead her wherever. she had never been to this house, nor did she feel comfortable enough to wander around by herself.
"oh, you must be hungry then. i'll heat up some soup, it's cold outside." chinsun hummed, leading the younger into the dinning area that was sort of connected to the living room.
"oh no you don't have to, i'm not all that hungry." she lied. she was hungry, but the nerves brought nausea and jing did not like to play games with nausea. she didn't want to inconvenience chinsun anymore than she already had, but with the way the older looked at her as they walked further into the kitchen she knew there was no way she'd get out of it.
"you can sit at the breakfast bar, it'll only take a second. we can talk as i heat it up." the woman instructed, pointing at the bar stools that sat at the breakfast bar in the middle of the kitchen. jing nodded, pulling herself up on one and setting her purse down in the chair next to her.
"i suppose you've seen the articles?" jing spoke up after a minute of silence went by, unable to postpone confrontation any longer. she knew chinsun could tell it was eating at her, but the woman was no doubt the type to allow people to speak on their emotions on their own accord. and for that, jing was thankful.
"i just want to apologize for anything that-" "i know it's not true jing. i would never believe someone like her over you." chinsun turned to look at her, a frown finding her lips. "i know better than anyone why my sister did what she did. it's disgusting she's using her name to bring you down." she shook her head disapprovingly, turning the stove on.
"kinsleys vile. she just has this... this victim complex. i expected to get her to crack at some point, but not like this." jing let her head fall, her eyes focused on her lap. "and i'm so sorry that she's doing all of this so randomly. bringing up past traumas for her own personal gain, it's awful." she fidgeted with her fingers, the overbearing of guilt finding her once again.
"jing." chinsun called out, her voice closer than it was before. it was when she looked up that king found the woman right next to her. "it's not your fault. no one blames you for any of this." the woman shook her head as she grabbed jings hands.
the lump that formed in her throat was aggressive and hard to keep down, but she refused to allow herself to cry in front of chinsun. "i also want to apologize on the random visit. i just... i wanted to talk to you about it in person." she cleared her throat, squeezing the woman's hands.
"that's alright, i'm taking it as the universes message to me that today is the best day to tell you." the woman smiled, pulling her hands back to turn the stove back off as the soup was well warmed up by now.
"tell me...?" jing furrowed her brows, tilting her head in question. as if on que, the door swung open and the sound of a child's laughter filled the house. and in ran a small girl with a gummy smile and pigtails that bounced as she bounced around chinsun.
this shocked jing for two main reasons. one being the last time she had checked, chinsun was not able to have children due to infertility. and two being that the girl was basically chaebyeol reincarnated.
"oh she's here already. hello jing." lee minhyuk, chinsuns husband, smiled and waved at her as he set down a few bags on the kitchen counter. "have you told her?" he asked the woman quietly. chinsun smiled as she bent down, picking the toddler up and bringing her to sit on the counter of the breakfast bar.
to say jing was at a loss for words was an understatement. she was confused and scared. because how could some random toddler look exactly like her best friend? how does this random child share almost all of her features with a dead girl?
"jing, meet bitna. bitna, this is auntie jing." chinsun spoke with a large smile, signaling from the toddler to jing. the small girl shyly smiled, waving at jing as she leaned back into the woman behind her. "bitna is chaebyeols daughter."
so many alrarms and bombs began going off in jings head. she sat there quiet. absolutely stunned. her mouth was left agape and honestly she was starting to worry the married couple.
and before she knew it, she was bawling her eyes out. "hi." she cooed through tears, holding her hand out to the toddler. "she's really chaebyeols? how did i not know?" she frowned, allowing bitna to hold her hand.
"she had her a few weeks before she passed. she hardly looked pregnant, it shocked me." chinsun chuckled as she poured a bowl of the soup she had made, sliding it to the side of jing. the girl would definitely have to postpone inhaling the soup as the small girl in front of her reached out for her to hold her. "she knows. she calls us aunt and uncle." minhyuk confirmed jings thoughts as she pulled bitna towards her and into her arms.
"you look just like your mom." jing sniffed, taking a deep breath so her sobs wouldn't scare the child. "so pretty." she muttered, pushing her hair out of her face.
and this is just what she needed. good news on a bad day.
