Contract Relationship | Jeon Jungkook

▪ TWELVE

Then, there was a long silence.

"He was murdered during a burglary."

Silence again...

"At my house..."

Jungkook was shocked.

"Not at the house I live in, I mean," she said as the last remark had her voice slowly decreasing. She felt like she could read his mind. She was remarking his thoughts, just in case he thought the tragedy happened in the house she currently lived in.

"We're fine. We just came back from shopping that day. I even remember appa bought eomma a necklace in celebration for their 22nd anniversary. And as usual, after coming back from shopping, we talked like how other happy family does. My brother and I had a childish fight, appa laughed and eomma just tried to stop us. Until..." She halted. A flashback of the tragedy played in her mind, and Jungkook got more interested to know.

"... three masked men barged into our house." Nahee heaved a sigh, relieving the urge to sob.

She added, "the burglars were after my mother's necklace. They snatched it from my mother and my father just couldn't let it go. He bought it for her for their anniversary." She sniffed at the end of her words. She continued, "my father then got shot. Accurately at his heart."

"Appa!"

The voice of her and her brother shouted for their father, and the scenario of their father collapsed on the ground played in her mind.

Her sobbings ended up becoming more visible.

"Nahee," Jungkook got up as he said out her name, and then crouching in front of her. He took her hands and softly caressing them to comfort her. It was not like he could hug her while she was sitting on the swing.

Jungkook sighed. "You can stop," he said, half whispering.

She wanted to share the nightmare in the past, but she did not expect that things would end up like this. Maybe she had one step mistake which led her re-imaging the nightmare.

The image of one of the burglar pointed his gun at her father. The image of the burglar pulled the trigger, a loud bang produced after a bullet left the gun's muzzle, voice of her brother and her calling for their father. The image of her father collapsed on the floor as the burglars ran away with the necklace, dreadful image of blood dirtying Mr Kim's shirt, her brother tremblingly held his phone to call an ambulance and her mother and she cried as they told Mr Kim to stay awake.

Wiping her tears as they made eye contact, he smiled softly at her.

"You've done well," he said. "You'd help your mother to move on. You must've gone through a very hard time and you should be glad that you still have your brother and your mother."

She calmed down and tried to speak. "Thanks, Jungkook."

Her words made Jungkook's eyebrows frowned and asked, "for?"

"For listening to my worries. I've been keeping it for so long and it's been bothering me."

Jungkook let out a soft breath as he curved his lips a little, showing his sympathetic look to her. It was nice to have someone thanking you for listening to their worries, however, seeing how Nahee bravely told his past to him, he thought he should tell her too.

"Want to know mine?" He asked.

"If your story is sadder than mine, you better not. Unless you're like me, your side of the story has been bothering you."