Remember Me

Chapter 31

Jimin
_________________

I couldn't help but feel a certain warmth when I looked at the six guys in front of me. Zara had left just a minute ago, leaving us all a little more open with how emotional the moment felt.
"So," I laughed, "you're my best friends."

Yoongi put a hand on mine and asked, "Do you remember more now? Are you improving?"
I nodded slightly, "I don't really know... it's a little hazy, and I feel sick if I try too hard to remember some things. But I feel like I attach emotions and feelings to certain things and people."
He nodded, and I put my hands on the sides of my head to temper the little headache that had sprung up earlier.

"Before anything else, and before I feel worse, I needed to ask you guys something. It's about Zara."

"Did she say something...?" Taehyung sat up immediately.
I threw a sidelong glance at him. "I wanna know why you immediately think that. Why do you guys distrust her?"

"It's just that... we'd literally never heard of your relationship to her. We wanted to make sure she wasn't lying about it to take advantage of you." Hoseok explained.
"No, no. My mom listed out our engagement during therapy; there's photos... heck, I've known it'd happen since I was 14. That can't be the only reason. Why does the press know who she is? What's with her bad reputation?"

Namjoon sighed, "It's a little complicated. I don't remember everything about the scandal, just that it had happened four years ago."
Taehyung piped up, "She used her money and power to sentence a man to a very harsh prison sentence and drive him bankrupt. People say he might not have even been guilty, or that it was an accident. It was a scandal because she's the heir to a company as large as Sando, and used her connections to be at the forefront of it instead of her dad."

I bit the inside of my lip, trying to process what he was saying and reconcile it with what I knew of her.
"She was 18... Why...? Who was the man?"
"Oh, that's right. The man was an employee of her father's too. Her gardener, maybe?" Jungkook mentioned hesitantly.
"No, no, it was a low level office worker, I think." Hoseok corrected.

Yoongi tsk'd and held up a hand. "I just looked it up. It was a warehouse worker. He had... a wife and two babies kids as well."
Namjoon and Hoseok sighed pitifully, shaking their heads. I stood up in anger.
"You're assuming a lot. There's no way my Zara would do something like that for no reason."

Taehyung stared at me. "Well, maybe you don't know your Zara as well as you think you do."
I stood my ground, "You're wrong. I doubt there's anyone who knows her like I do. These five years have changed nothing."

"Right. That's why you never talked about her or met her."

I felt stunned and unable to retort.

"Listen. She's probably not the person she was five years ago. I honestly don't even blame her for whatever happened four years ago. But she's been through a lot... that changes a person." Namjoon said, but I simply glared at him.
"Why... did she... do it." I said slowly through gritted teeth.

"He was driving drunk and hit and killed her mother." Yoongi responded, still scrolling through his phone for articles.

I paused in shock. "Wait, what? But... aunty died of her sickness. That's what Zara said..."

Jin finally spoke softly, "Are you sure she said that? We heard Mrs. Sando was sick, but she died an unrelated death. Zara fought the trial. Alone. It was very long too."
I froze for a good moment and felt bile rise to my throat, but held onto Jungkook's shoulder to keep my balance and calm my heart down. Aunty... Zara...

I let out a dry little laugh as Jungkook slowly sat me down. "I see... now it makes sense. It's a cruel world we live in. Everyone is mad at Zara for seeking justice for her own mother's death."

The room fell silent, which was only broken by Taehyung's slow voice, "Revenge is dirty. She was bashed on the news for using her position to exploit a poor man."
Jin jumped in with a sigh, "A poor man who killed her mother, Taehyung."
"It was an accident. He didn't have lawyers or money to defend himself. Who's to say he did it?"
I couldn't take anymore. I stepped forward in a rush and grabbed Taehyung to pull him up by the collar.

"You don't know Zara. She's the most level-headed person I know. All she wanted was justice. Is she not allowed to fight for him to getwhat he deserves?"
Taehyung stared me in the eye. I could see that he himself didn't believe everything he'd said to me; he seemed to be quietly calculating as he was provoking me. In my frustration I let go of his collar and pushed him back on the chair he was in, just as the others started getting up to separate us.

"Did I not support her during this? When did this happen? How was she doing?" I asked, feeling miserable.
Jin answered, "This was a long set of trials four years ago. I don't know how she was doing, but it couldn't have been great. She was under a lot of media scrutiny, and her case sparked a lot of silly debate. I'm sure most of her circles were on her side though. I know my family had nothing but sympathy. That's why she's doing so well at Sando Corp. But..." Jin glanced at Taehyung. "The general public didn't necessarily agree. I assumed... that's why you never brought her up in your first year of college. It must have been hard to associate with someone going through such a scandal at the time."

I burned red in shame as he spoke, and wanted to slap myself for not knowing what had happened.

I'd looked myself up over the last few weeks to know my own reputation plenty, but I'd never thought to look up Zara. As Jin continued, I could feel hazy images pop into my head, until a vague memory of me comforting Zara popped up. I could see her eyes were red but dry, and the distinct thought appeared, 'She refuses to cry.'

Zara was always stronger than me.