DUAL

//33

After they had done eating and Chaeyoung was done with helping him washing the dirty plates and cups, Jungkook's grandfather sat back on the chair. She was about to excuse herself to Jungkook's room when he told her to sit back at the chair she had sat on earlier. Feeling nervous, she quietly sat as she chewed on her lower lip, sensing that the older man had something to talk about.

"My wife made that dress, as a gift for our daughter-in-law," he said before glancing at Jungkook's door. "Jungkook's mother."

Chaeyoung's eyes went wide for a second, looking down at the dress that perfectly fit her figure.

"You can have the dress," the old man told her. "Keep it. You don't have to return it."

"But -"

"When my wife made that dress," the old man cut her off gently, "she told me that she wanted that dress to be inherited. She wished to give it to Jungkook's mother. And she wished that Jungkook's mother would give it to Jungkook's wife."

Her cheeks rose in temperature as soon as she heard the last words the old man said, her eyes immediately looked down at her own fingers fidgeting on her lap. "But I am – I'm just -" she stammered.

"If my wife and daughter-in-law are still alive, they would definitely be happy to give it to you," he briefly smiled at her. "After all, you are special to him."

Chaeyoung smiled shyly, nervously nibbling the inside part of her bottom lip as she went back into staring her fingers.

"My wife loved our daughter-in-law very dearly," he displayed a smile that was obviously sad. "She prepared the dress in secret at dawn every single day, because if she was to do it on any other time in a day, the secret wouldn't have lasted as a secret," he chuckled, and Chaeyoung couldn't help her own small smile forming at the way the old man slowly making himself comfortable around her, telling her stories of his personal life, stories of the people that he loved, memories that he held dearly.

"But on the day that she planned to give her the dress, that was the day... of my son's betrayal," he said in a low voice. The anger and sorrow in his voice were balanced. He shut his eyes tight, and Chaeyoung felt a surge of pain in her heart as she watched the old man trying to suppress a painful memory.

He let out a long, heavy sigh after he opened his eyes. Chaeyoung could see that in his head, the memories were all being revived.

"My son was never satisfied with our request to unite him with the woman of our choice. A very amazing woman, our daughter-in-law, Jungkook's mother. He loves another woman, though. And because of love, he did things he shouldn't. Because his love toward the woman was stronger than his love and respect for his family..." he swallowed.

Chaeyoung's brows furrowed as she observed how his fists had tightened on the table. "Because his love for her was stronger than his love for his people..."

Chaeyoung watched as the old man's eyes shook as he said, "My son helped her escape." His teeth gritted when he said the word 'son'. "The woman whom my son is in love with is a Dual."

Chaeyoung's eyes widened, feeling her legs shudder all of a sudden.

"I was on a duty during the attack. I came home to this house reeked of nothing but blood and death," his breath came out shakily as he turned his head toward the door, as though recalling the incident. "I stood there, watching my grandson crying beside his mother's dead body." He turned to his right. "And my wife's lifeless body just right here. Both had Red Dahlia placed on their bodies."

The old man's eyes began to glisten with tears as he stared past her shoulder, toward the room where Jungkook lied motionless.

"I will never forgive him for what he did to his own family," he said, voice becoming wobbly. "Because of that Dual, he was even willing to get rid of those who got in his way," he paused, his breath shaky when he exhaled. "Including his own mother and wife. It was disheartening that everything was witnessed by his own son. Jungkook was a mere child."