Worlds Apart - Taekook - Book 2

Chapter 210 - You Are Not Alone

"I don't know what you want me to say?" Han-Shik says.

"Why are you persisting on being so obstructive, Han-Shik? I think I am being left with no choice but to speak to Ryan about you because all of this power appears to have gone straight to your head recently." Nuri scolds.

"I am asking you what you want me to say to my brother? I wouldn't be calling him if you weren't telling me to call him so I would like to know what to say?" He responds in frustration.

Han-Shik hoped his mother had forgotten or changed her plan when he nearly got through the whole day without hearing from her but as he was leaving to meet Emi, her arrival said otherwise. He'd worked all day Thursday to distract himself from thinking about the wedding too much and stayed late at the office yesterday, too. It might be Saturday but he'd left at the crack of dawn and found a coffee shop where he could sit in peace before the gym opened. They were two places he couldn't be tracked even if he couldn't guarantee that there wasn't a tracking device on his phone. It was ludicrous to have to consider it but he couldn't rule anything out. Life was easier when he lived in ignorance, when he didn't know that his mother was the manipulative woman that she was and when all the lies didn't matter because he didn't know about them. There was a big part of him that was happier before Jungkook was seen in Vogue and before Ryan's company won the development contract. Okay, so maybe he wasn't 100% happy but it was a happiness he had control of and nothing about his life now felt within his control.

Nuri stands with her hands crossed over her chest, "That tone is not going to win you any favours, Han-Shik. What is wrong with you?"

"Can you try to see things from my point of view, Eomma? My little brother got married on Thursday and my older brother was invited. Where was I? I was here, at work."

"Do you not think that I feel the same way? You forget that you are talking about my sons!" Nuri pulls a fabric napkin from her bag and holds it over her nose.

"Why do you have to involve me or why do you want to talk to them if it hurts so much?"

Nuri sniffles into the napkin, "Because I have hope that they will come around and that one day I will have all three of my boys together again, all sitting around the same table enjoying a meal together. You know they've concocted this story against me... you know that Jara has wanted your brother to herself for years... she has always been envious of how close we were. Jungkook has a sugar daddy pulling his strings and you know how sensitive he is..."

"That doesn't explain why you need me."

"Your brothers have had their minds poisoned, Han-Shik, they will not speak to me. They blame me for everything because they are unable to take accountability for their part in everything, especially Kyong who was just as much a part of the development, if not more so, than I was. But that is okay, they can blame me but I want them to know that I still care and I still love them because they are my boys... it hurts. I gave you all the best life... I left an abusive marriage with a man who was ditching you all for a whore and new baby and yet somehow, I am the bad person!" She dabs her eyes and blows her nose, turning her back to her son.

Han-Shik hadn't intended to upset her and guilt sets in quickly. His brain confuses easily and he never knows what to think. "I'm sorry, Eomma... I'll call Kyong... what do you want to know?" He says with a softened tone.

"No... don't call him... I'll have to read about my son's wedding online... I don't want to cause you pain."

"Eomma, please... let me call him... just tell me what you would like me to say?"

"Are... are you sure? I'm not having you blame me... I couldn't take that, Han-Shik."

"I won't blame you. What should I say?"