JENNIE POV
"Hello, I'm Lisa Manoban," he said, making me laugh. But I also stood up and took his hand.
"Hi, I'm Kim Jennie. Nice to meet you," I said, and we laughed. I hit his arm, and we sat back down.
"I've always wanted to do it," Lisa said after our laughter died down. Then he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Jennie. It's not that I didn't want to tell you. Actually, I've always wanted to tell you. But... I..." he took a deep breath and then continued. "I'll tell you from the beginning."
I nodded and prepared to listen patiently.
"I don't know if you know the name of Manoban or not," he started.
"I know. I heard it on the news 2 years ago when you guys finally made your first investment here," I said. He nodded then continued.
"That's right, 2 years ago, Manoban Group openly entered Korea. We built the first Manoban Group building in Seoul. I've seen the news when some media even mentioned the unknown existence of the last 2 generations of Manoban," he said, and this time I nodded.
"It is true that we hid from the media. We avoided, closed ourselves because we didn't want them to know where we were. We didn't want to be exposed. At first, it was difficult. But because our family is quite influential, we can do it quite easily," he said. I know the meaning of 'influential' enough. He said it too humbly. Of course, covering yourself from the media for people like the Manoban family, who are very influential and powerful, was not a difficult matter.
"It all started after what happened when I was a kid," he said. He didn't look at me but looked in front of him, and his gaze felt far away. Like digging back his memory.
"You've been told by Rosie about the situation when I was born, right?" He asked but didn't turn to me. He also didn't wait for my answer because before telling me, Rosie had asked his permission.
"I was born perfectly intersex. With 2 genitals that function normally. A rare case in the world. My family loves me very much, and they respect me. So they let me decide whether I wanted to keep both, or I chose one. Whatever my choice, they will accept it. Of course, they have to wait for me at an age that was quite understanding. Then, when I started school, they didn't want my condition to be known by many people, especially my schoolmates, because they didn't want me to be treated differently, seen as a strange kid. Only a few teachers know, and they were asked to keep my condition a secret. But one of the teachers leaked it and made it spread among the children. After knowing, they bullied me. They started to see me differently, like other creatures from another world. They look at me in disgust. Until I fought them and came home injured. My parents were angry and sued the teacher. And to make sure things like this don't happen again, they bought my school. The news about this spread and they knew I was a Manoban.
Actually, at that time we didn't hide, it's just that my parents wanted me to live a normal life so we keep low profile as much as we could. They know how people will behave when they know you are a Manoban. And once again, they were right. The kids who bullied me didn't dare to touch me. My friends who had only stared at me and didn't help me when I was being bullied suddenly turned into my heroes. Trying to protect and defend me. Those who used to look at me with disgust or even who didn't want to be friends with me suddenly became very friendly and kind. They are all sycophants. They all just look at me because I'm a Manoban. Only 1 kid treats me a little differently. He wasn't like the others and seemed genuinely eager to be friends with me. He sometimes gets angry, sometimes does things that other people din't dare to do to me. I thought at that time, maybe I could really feel what a friend is from him. So slowly, I started opening up. Until the age of 5th," he took a deep breath and exhaled. I can't read his expression from the side.
"I was friends with him for several months. Until one day, I know his mission. Maybe he actually didn't know and didn't intend to because he was just a child at that time. But been teach how to approach me. And what was certain is because of him, because of his father, that happened." he sighed again.
"At that time, I played with him, as usual, I was with Nanny Urassaya. We played in the park with some of the bodyguards guarding. But suddenly, a group of people attacked our bodyguards and kidnapped me along with Nanny Ur. I was taken to a dark place. Nanny Ur tried to protect me. She hugged me all the time. I know they were asking my family for ransom. I didn't know how many days I was kept there. They said they would let us go as soon as they received the money. But they didn't. They even moved me and Nanny Ur to another place. That's when I saw him again. A friend who plays with me in the park. My friend who I was worried about in that dark place. I always ask Nanny Ur how he is because I thought he was injured that time. And Nanny Ur always comforted me by saying he was fine. And it was true. He was fine, sitting and eating with his father, who is one of my captors. The second time they asked for money from my family, it didn't go smoothly because they didn't keep their promises after the first time. Then they started hurting me. They slapped and hit me as much as necessary. The most important thing was I look hurt and send threats with a photo of my condition to my family." I reach Lisa's hand and held it. He squeezed my hand slowly but did not look at me. He seemed lost in his memory.
"Nanny Ur was also hit once or twice while trying to protect me. See the picture they sent. My family gave up and immediately gave them a ransom in the hope that they would release me. But then again, they were greedy people. They didn't let me go and move me once again to another place. An equally dark place and equally disgusting food. I didn't remember what was given to us. It tasted like dog food. Again they asked for a ransom and beat me up. They even beat Nanny Ur even more because she tried to protect me. Then that day came. The place where I was being held has been tracked, and they were surrounded. They panicked and started dragging me. They tried to make me a shield or negotiation material. But Nanny Ur did not let me go from her hand. She and the kidnapper fighting over me. Until the boy's father came in and saw that. He pulled nanny Ur away from me and beat her up. I watched him beat her until she lay helpless. Just then, a group of people suddenly broke in, and someone shot the kidnappers before they could react. They fell near me with blood flowing from their heads. That person ran to see my condition for a while, then after someone else caught up with him inside, he ran to Nanny Ur and checked her. That day I was saved. But on that very day, Nanny Urassaya died trying to protect me. That day Mr Yang lost his loved ones. It was he who broke in and shot the kidnappers. It was he who ran and found his loved one dead. Nanny Ur, Mr Yang's loved ones, died because of me, Jennie. Because she tried to protect me. At the time I was kidnapped, it was also the day my grandmother died. She's already weak, but what happened to me made her give up." He squeezed my hand and finally looked at me. His gaze looked sad but then widened after seeing me crying.
"Jennie? Why are you crying? Don't cry," he said, wiping my tears. Once again, I hugged him. This time I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck. He may certainly be a Manoban. His family may indeed be able to afford anything they want. From the outside, people would say how lucky he was to be born into the Manoban family. People may envy everything they have. But behind it all, he experienced something terrible. Something even more terrible than what I experienced. He was still a child when he went through it all. He was too young. I learned more and more why he shut everyone out and didn't accept people easily. He was too hurt. The wound was too deep. I'm really grateful for Jisoo and Rosie. Thankful they were present in Lisa's life. Now that I've also in his life, I will make him happy.
"Jennie..." again he rubbed my back. "Shhhh... Jen..." it's not me who needs to be calmed down. I pulled myself from his embrace but didn't take my hand off his neck.
"It's not your fault Lisa. You didn't want that to happen either," I told him.
"Yeah, I know. My therapist said it too. Even Mr Yang told me. But I... I wish she'd let them hit me. They won't kill me. She should know that. They just need to hurt me to threaten my parents. If only she'd let me just get hit -"
I cut him off by kissing him, and of course, it worked. He was surprised at first but then relaxed and kissed me back. I shifted closer to him and put my hand around his neck. He put his hand on my waist.
We are in such a position, enjoying this gentle kiss for a few minutes. Then slowly, we pulled away from each other, out of breath. I put my forehead on his forehead.
"I'm sure she didn't regret protecting you. Maybe she will regret it if she couldn't protect you. It is not your fault, because you too are a victim. As you said to Rosie. As you told me about Jisung's death." I pulled away while still keeping my hand on his shoulder so I could gaze at him gently. His sad eyes slowly lit up. And he smiled.
"Thank you, Jennie," he said, then his eyes looked at my lips, and I also stared at his red lips. Then again, we looked at each other. As if understanding what each other was thinking, we inclined our heads again and met in the middle.
Our lips knit together again, but this time I kissed him gently and sincerely. I want him to feel it. I want him to feel I love him. I kissed him pure, and when I pulled myself up, I could tell he closed his eyes and felt my feelings. He smiled gently and lovingly at me.
"I Love you, Lisa," I said in a whisper.
"I Love you, Jennie," he replied, then inclined his head and put our lips back together. I closed my eyes and accepted his kiss. He did the same to me. The kiss was very gentle and sincere. Then his lips began to move, and again we felt each other in the corners of our mouths, enjoying every touch of our tongues. He pulled me closer to him until I sat on his lap, straddling him. We enjoyed our time. Enjoying our kisses that are not rushed.
"Jennie -"
My eyes widened, and we immediately withdrew. I quickly got down from his lap as he stood like he was sitting on a thorn, making me almost fall, but he hugged me tightly until my feet safely touched the floor. After making sure I was standing properly, he let go of me, and we immediately straightened our clothes nervously.
"Mo... mom?"