Ecdysiast || PJM 🔞

Chapter 35: Truth

Mr. Lee's eyes widened in surprise, his blood rushing all over his body and his heart feeling joy with the news. He started to cry in happiness, feeling that he's a step closer to finding his daughter and his son. "She's a great woman and she survived five years of working to support her and Dawon after their mother died."

Jiwon's father sadly smiled. "Jimin," Mr. Lee called his name sternly which made Jimin look him into his eyes. "I did get some informations from my investigator years ago but I didn't believe it. I don't think Jiwon would ever do that kind of job because you know, Iㅡ "

"You left them for a stripper?" Jimin asked, cutting the old man. Mr. Lee nodded his head slowy, ashamed of the information. "Anyways, the investigator that I hired told me that she was working at an illegal strip club. Was it true?"

Jimin sighed. "She hates you. At Jiree Noona's party, she was there. She was the girl that my parents were about to introduce to you but she ran and left." Jimin stopped for awhile to breathe, hesitating again whether to answer the question thrown to him or not.

"My question, Jimin. Is she?" Mr. Lee asked again. Jimin sighed and slowly nodded his head. "That's why she hates you even more. She hates you for abandoning them. You could've at least became a father to them and supported them financially for their studies and needs but you never did. She worked as a stripper to earn a huge amount of money to pay for their rent and many other things." Jimin held Mr. Lee's hand for assurance. "But she only strip danced. Nothing more. She's not a prostitute in that illegal club."

Mr. Lee once again cried because of the guilt and anger that he was feeling. He is a bad father. He allowed himself to let his children suffer and he feels like he really deserves the hate and anger that Jiwon feels. "I want to know how you met her. Please tell me more things about my daughter and my son."

"You miss them so much, don't you?" Jimin asked, feeling sympathetic to the old man.

Mr. Lee nods. "So much. I really wanted to see them and help them but my new wife wouldn't allow me. I suffered for years in her hand until one day, I caught her cheating on me. I filed an annulment after and when we were separated, I started finding my children again."

The young man nodded and he cleared his throat before starting to tell his and the old man's daughter's story. "I met Jiwon at college..." he started.

It took really long to talk that they decided to have a drink. Everytime Jimin shared a great story and information about his children, he couldn't help himself but to smile and imagine himself being back together with them again. "It's really hard to gain her trust." Jimin said.

"I did that to her. But Jimin," Mr. Lee tapped Jimin's shoulder. "Thank you very much for taking care of my daughter."

Jimin warmly smiled. "I love her so much and I'd really do everything for her but she left me." He bitterly laughed and drank his glass of whiskey. "I don't even have any idea where I can find her."

Mr. Lee nodded, his heart hurting to see the man who's madly in love with his daughter hurting. "Let's find her together, Son." Jimin's heart clenched in happiness. He looked up at the old man's eyes. "S-son?"

The old man nodded, smiling. "You are a great man, Jimin. Too bad she left you, but maybe she has a greater reason than leaving you for someone else. I'm very sure that she won't make the same mistake that I did."

"But Mr. Leeㅡ"

"You can call me Appa."

"Oh, uhm, Appa." Jimin brushed his hair back with his fingers. "You need to know this. Maybe, this will be a way for Jiwon to forgive you and for you to start anew."

"What is it?" Mr. Lee asked.

"Dawon has cancer in the blood. You can go to the hospital where his doctor is and ask anything from him."

"M-my son has cancer?" Mr. Lee's heart broke once again with the information. They just don't care if they see each other crying because of the connection that they feel towards each other. They just feel at ease; like a father and son relationship. "I need to save him, Jimin. I need to save my son. Let's find them as soon as possible."

***

"Are you really happy with him?" Dawon asked after Chanyeol dropped Jiwon by his room inside the hospital. He's back and he's going through his treatment again.

Jiwon eventually became happy with Chanyeol but it doesn't mean that she has forgotten her love for Jimin, her one and only love. She just realized that she has to keep going and become happy again but even if she's happy, there is still an empty space inside her heart that only Jimin can fill.

"I am," Jiwon answered softly.

Dawon already knows the situation after he forced Jiwon to confess to her the truth, seeing them acting so lovey dovey back then in Chanyeol's house but he just couldn't take the guilt anymore. He's feeling so much guilty and upset for being the one to take his sister's own happiness away from her because she needed to sacrifice for him.

"Do you love him?" He asked straight to the point. Jiwon wanted to get mad at her brother for being nosy but she couldn't, knowing that Dawon was only concerned. She sighed and held Dawon's hand. She sadly smiled. "I'll learn to love Chanyeol, Dawon."

"But you still love Jimin hyung. Noona, if I'm the only reason why you are with Chanyeol hyung because you want me to be cancer free then stop. You already sacrificed a lot for me and I just can't take seeing you trying to be with someone you don't love." He started crying. Jiwon bit her bottom lip as she started to cry, hurting to see Dawon blaming himself for her own suffering.

"Dawon, no. It's my fault for choosing to be with Chanyeol when I can be with Jimin. Yes, I still love your Jiminie hyung but let's just accept it that we can no longer be together. I'm already with Chanyeol. He's a great guy. I'll learn to love him eventually." She squeezed his hand for assurance.

Little did she know that Chanyeol was outside and he heard everything that she and Dawon talked about. He was only supposedly going to take his water bottle inside the room but instead, he learned about the true intention of Jiwon that's why she's with him. His heart shattered into million pieces knowing the fact that the woman who he thought was the one that can finally love him back wad actually in love with someone else and she's only with him to save Dawon.

"It was a lie all along?" Chanyeol whispered to himself before he carefully closes the door of Dawon's room. "She's only using me?" Chanyeol bitterly laughed. "Fuck, I thought she's different." He shook his head in disbelief. "I'm so stupid to think that people like her can ever love me." As Chanyeol entered his clinic, he angrily threw the first thing that his hand could reach which happened to be the container of his pens. His tears started to flow down his eyes.

He has been into several relationships that he thought that will work out. One of them was his high school love and his college love then he also had a relationship with a nurse and a female doctor but none of them ever worked out. He started going to the strip club to set his mind out of his broken heart and he met strippers and prostitutes there who only used him because of his money. He thought Jiwon will be the one to end his hopeless romance but he thought wrong because just like the others, Jiwon was only with him for money; to save Dawon's life. "Why can't anyone love me back for real?" He cried.

He wants to get mad at her but he can't. Maybe because he's just too nice that people are taking advantage of his kindness. But maybe he still has the chance to make Jiwon fall for him, after all, she said that she can eventually love him. Who knows, maybe that will happen soon.