Echoes of the Past [myungeun] ✔

19(epilogue)

Turning the knob, she shuffled inside her bedroom. Her steps were slow and careful as she was carrying another life in her belly for almost eight months. Sitting on the bed, she opened the top drawer of the bedside table – taking out a bracelet.

This bracelet – this bracelet was the cause of all the mishap happened 11 years ago – her father had died, her memories were loss, her lover had been shot – and all because of the key to a safe.

She went back to Seoul to open the safe after a few months of recovering from the hideous event that had happened to her – being kidnaped because of the key. The safe was inside the study room of his step-grandfather – her father's stepfather. She had come to the house a few times before her grandfather died because of a sickness.

Inside the safe contain letters – letters that were exchanged between her grandparents during their younger days. She was baffled and dumbfounded when she found it. Nevertheless, she decided to read them, probably she would know why these letters were kept inside a safe.

She took her times reading the letters and realized how precious those things are. Perhaps it was much more precious than gold and diamond itself.

She was about to take the next letter to read when she saw some shinny things. Taking it out, she realized it was a coin-sized-pure-gold. Noticing it was rather suspicious; she took all the letters out from the safe and found there was heaps of gold hidden under the letters.

The gold was worth millions! Now she knew the real reason why Shii had been insisted on getting the key. Realizing the money was too handful, she decided to just donate it. Besides, she didn't even know what to do with it anyway.

Putting back the bracelet inside the drawer, she took out a folded white paper that was neatly laid on the floor of the drawer. Her hands began to tremble.

Slowly, she opened it and for the nth time, her eyes began to scan the words.

Son Naeun,

I'm writing this letter for you to tell you the truth. Before I tell you anything, I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for lying to you, I'm sorry for not being honest with you, I'm sorry for not protecting you enough – I'm sorry for everything.

So, that night – the night of the accident, I knew about it. To be honest, I knew about it three days earlier. Probably you didn't know but I had been living with Shii for 15 years before I ran away to this island.

At first, I ignored it cause it was probably nothing but then, on that day when I was flipping a file named Son Hwijae, I just realized it was your father. I called Shii once I knew about it but he didn't pick it up. And that night, I knew he had already started the plan.

I had meant to stop it but I was too late. When I arrived at the scene, Shii had this satisfied grin on his face. It took me a lot of patience for me not to kill him right there and then. But I had given him a few punches before I went down to you.

Seeing you covered with blood broke my heart. I thought that I will loss you that night but then I felt your pulse was still there – slow but it was enough to give me hope. I called the ambulance at once and when they came, they said your father cannot be safe.

I'm sorry I cannot safe him. If only I came earlier, if only I had stopped Shii on time – but no, I was too late.

I was thankful that you were still alive though you were in a coma. I visited you once and my heart wrenched in pain seeing you unconscious. Then, after two weeks, you awake. I visited you again but then when I entered your room, your empty eyes were staring at me in confusion – like you didn't know me.