[BAMBAM]
After our late dinner, I heard a loud banging noise upstairs. It could be Lisa's room and it got everyone's attention in the dining area.
"Wh-what was that?" Nancy asked.
Everyone stood up from their seats, except Nancy who's still bewildered.
"Bam, can you please check Lisa in her room?" Lisa's mom pleaded.
I nod and rushed upstairs.
Lung, Aunt, and Nancy followed me right after.
I bust into Lisa's room and saw her lying on the floor, looking pale, and weak. She's clasping something in her hand.
"Lisa!"
She's lying on the floor unconsciously. I carried her and rushed outside.
"Prepare the van! We need to get her to the hospital!" I yelled.
I'm getting an adrenaline rush and didn't even mind the weight I'm carrying. Lisa's parents are in a complete panic right now while Lung (uncle) is calling someone on the phone. We head into the van and I'm still carrying Lisa in my arms which are getting sore now but I have to endure it for my best friend.
Upon our arrival at the hospital, there's already a medical team waiting outside the emergency entrance. Good thing, Lung has already contacted the hospital and prepared the team. Nothing is impossible with Lung.
I placed Lisa on the gurney and the medical team rushed her to the emergency room.
"Just wait here. We will give you an update." One nurse signaled us to stop and she went inside the E.R together with her team and closed the door.
We waited for an hour already outside the E.R and still, there's no update.
Nancy caressed my back and pat it multiple times. "She's going to be okay."
Lung (Uncle) is comforting Pa (Aunt) right now who is crying.
"We can't lose her again." Aunt sobbed in Uncle's chest.
"Shhh. We won't. We won't. Our baby girl is strong." Uncle said to Aunt to lessen her fear about Lisa.
"Bam?" Nancy said softly.
She reached for something in her purse and handed it to me.
It's Lisa's phone.
"It has been buzzing while we were on the way here and I didn't bother to answer it, I don't want to invade her privacy." She said.
I took the phone from Nancy's hand and checked it.
It has 23 missed calls from a caller named Nini Mandu. The phone is locked but it turns out she didn't turn off the notifications or put it on do not disturb mode.
There are texts as well from the same person but I don't know what it is. It's in Hangul (Korean language).
Lisa is so smart to speak, read, and know different languages.
I showed it to Nancy because she's half-Korean and knows the language well but she doesn't want to look.
I forced her to.
She didn't have a choice and read it aloud for me.
"From Nini Mandu: Lili, I need you. Please answer the phone. The second text is: why are you not answering? The third text is: I'm sorry for disturbing your family time. Bam, can we stop here? It's Lisa's phone which we shouldn't invade." Nancy suggested.
She's right.
Nini Mandu. I guess that's Lisa's roommate. If I'm not mistaken.
There are still a lot more but Nancy is right. We should stop reading it.
"You're right but I need to tell her friends at least," I told Nancy and just right at the moment the E.R door opened.
Every one of us approached directly at the two people in their scrubs.
"Doc, how's my daughter?" Uncle asked. "Is she going to be okay?"
"Mr. Manobal, can I talk to you in private?" Said by the man whom uncle called 'doctor'.
Uncle nodded and the doctor instructed the nurse in the blue scrubs. "Tell them the updates,"
The nurse nodded.
The doctor guided my uncle and went inside a room.
I should not be bothered about them but I'm getting suspicious.
"The good news is that she will be fine. There's just a little fracture in her skull but it will soon heal just like before." The nurse explained and I cut her off.
"What do you mean before?" I asked again to make sure that I heard the words right.
"She has a huge fracture in the same area in her skull some years back. That's what we found in the x-ray. She must have hit her head now real hard which caused it to trigger." The nurse added.
Lisa have it before?
I looked at aunt who's still crying and I hugged her.
"What's gonna happen next?" I asked the nurse while pampering aunt.
"She's going to be fine after that, sir. It just needs some time for healing. The possibility of her waking up will be 2 to 3 weeks. All that matters is she's going to be fine. It's just mild. We will take good care of her. She's our boss' daughter. Also, everything we talked about and happened in here will always remain confidential." The nurse looked at aunt and bowed to us then she went inside the E.R.
I am bothered by uncle and the doctor talking in private. What are they talking about?
Lisa's instincts were right. She always rants to me that her parents are hiding something from her.
Probably the reason why Lisa has been deprived of privacy for years.
I am now curious about what really happened with Lisa before I met her.
I guided aunt to the bench near the E.R and let her sit and I sat next to her.
"Aunt," I said while looking at her.
"I wanna know the truth. What really happened to Lisa before I met her?" I asked directly.
Aunt let out a deep sigh and wiped her tears.
Nancy offered her more tissue and took it.
"Thank you, Nancy." She smiled at my lady.
"I'm just gonna roam around the hospital first. It seems like your family has a lot of mystery which I don't want to be involved in. I'm not being rude but I just don't want to meddle in your private talk. With that, I'm going to give you some privacy. I'll be back later," Nancy said bluntly.
"Don't worry. I don't tell." She smiled and winked at me.
Aunt and I both agreed and Nancy took off.
Such a respectful woman. Ugh, I love her.
"Now, Aunt. Tell me. Please." I pleaded.
She cleared her throat.
"She was just 6 years old. We went on a family trip in Korea for a month because she loves that place so much, so we grant her request, but it didn't last a month." Aunt is trying to compose herself.
"She got kidnapped for a week, she was found by the police and they said that she got into an accident, a severe one that led to a coma for a year and a half. She was hospitalized in Korea first but we transferred her here in Thailand for continuous medication while she's in a coma and for her protection as well. She was just a child when she almost died. She could've been dead if it wasn't for that kid who asked for help," Aunt's eyes are watery but she's holding her tears back.
"We all thought it was an accident because that's what the police says, but the kid who asked for help knows something, she was a witness. The only witness that we know. The only lead. That kid told us that someone has kidnapped them when they were playing but the kid said that my daughter is brave, she helped her escape. They ran and ran but still, they got caught. We have so many questions for that kid, we just left her at her seat at the police station to talk to the investigating officers, and in just a blink of an eye when I looked at where she was seated, she's gone. That's the last time we saw her." Aunt took a big sigh.
Woah.
I don't know what to feel right now. I can't believe what I just heard.
That must explain everything.
The overprotective act of lung and aunt over Lisa. The CCTVs, the bodyguards, the maid, being homeschooled and me getting dragged with it, and everything that keeps her safe. The secrecy of their family and how they didn't disclose Lisa to the public and many to mention have finally made sense. I thought they were just paranoid but they have their reasons. A reasonable one.
"You let it investigated right? How did it go?" I asked.
"Yes, but they found nothing. Not even the power of your lung solves the mystery behind it. That attempt of killing my child was covered clean. So your lung and I concluded that it must be from a powerful person. It can't be an ordinary one. To make sure that my daughter won't be in danger again, we did what we have to do, and starting that time we didn't disclose to the public about my child. We pronounced to the media that she's dead after that the media didn't bother us anymore. We changed her name from Pranpriya to Lalisa." Aunt explained and everything makes sense now.
The past story of Lisa made me furious. Someone made my best friend's life miserable.
This can't be. How will Lisa continue to have a peaceful life if the perpetrator hasn't been caught? What if that person is still alive?
I won't allow this. This needs to be reinvestigated. My best friend deserves justice.
—
[JENNIE]
I'm preparing myself to meet Lili and Rosé when all of the sudden my phone rang. I checked the caller and it's dad's assistant.
I hate him.
I wished I told Lili about it but my thoughts were a mess and I don't know what to say.
My mind is loaded with thoughts of Lili, my feelings towards her, my family, that suspicious person, and the admirer.
Now, this caller is adding up more to my problems.
What does he want this time?
"What do you want?" I sternly said.
"Meet me in the same place, ASAP. Make sure you're alone. I hate interruptions, I don't have all the time in the world. Hurry while your dad is not yet in here." His deep angry voice scares the hell out of me.
Dad is in Korea? Why didn't he tell me?
I haven't seen dad for 2 years because of how busy he is with everything but he never fails to communicate with me every quarter of the year.
It's better than nothing.
I miss him.
Mr. Jeon as I call dad's assistant has been his friend since they were kids. Mr. Jeon used to be a father figure to me when I was 6 yrs. old, he said that he always look up to my dad as his inspiration that someday he would also be rich as my dad in the future.
But an incident happened which changed him and changed my view about him. All along he was pretending to be an angel in a devil's body.
"Sure. I'm just gonna meet a friend for a while." I said abruptly.
I heard him smashing the table on the other line which made me jolt.
"Don't you dare disobey me! I said meet me here ASAP. Don't you get it?" He yelled angrily.
"Okay! Okay! I'm on my way! Happy!?" I yelled.
He hung up the phone.
I clenched the phone in my hand. My anger towards him is rising.
I sent a text to Lili that I can't go.
Even if she will just be there for two days in Thailand, I already missed her so much.
I drove my way to the restaurant to meet Mr. Jeon.
---
He is in VIP room number 3, food has already been served. Four plates have been prepared on the table. His three bodyguards were just standing and weren't invited to the feast.
So greedy.
I can see that he brought his son with him.
Jungkook.
"Have a seat." Mr. Jeon offered.
I'd rather stand like the bodyguards.
Never mind, I have to follow him.
I sat across him and Jungkook.
Jungkook is a kind person, I don't know why this person in front of me is his dad.
"How are you, Jen?" Jungkook smiled.
"I'm good. How abo--" his dad cut me off.
"I did not call you here and bring you here to catch up. Save that for later." Mr. Jeon interrupted us glared at me and Jungkook.
It made us shut up.
Mr. Jeon has never been like this. He became greedy for power, fame, and money as soon as he aged.
Time will come he will just betray my family and make our lives miserable but my dad is blinded and still devoted to their friendship. My dad considered him as his life buddy.
I don't feel like eating. My appetite dried out.
"Jennie. Let me get you back in a memory lane." He pulled something in a long brown envelope, showed me pictures that I don't wanna see nor remember.
"N-no! N-noo!!" I closed my eyes and covered my face with my hands to avoid seeing the pictures he showed me.
Two of his bodyguards grabbed my arms trying to pull my hands out of my face.
Ow. Their grip hurts.
"Dad. Stop! Hey, you! Take your hands off of her!!" Jungkook yelled.
"DADD PLEASE!!!" Jungkook pleaded to Mr. Jeon.
Mr. Jeon raised his right arm, signaling the guards to stop.
I glared at the two guards who recently gripped my arms. You guys are dead.
"I hate violence. To avoid such thing, you listen, Jennie." Mr. Jeon said, tapping the table with his fingers and slide the pictures on the table to me.
I took the photos and looked at them.
This is the memory that I buried years ago. The memories that I hated the most were due to fear which led to trauma and therapy but that therapy was not even helpful.
Such a monster.
I can see Jungkook clenching his fist containing his anger.
"Why? What's with this?" I acted like it didn't affect me anymore but deep inside I wanna scream.
He got cut off when his phone rang and answered it.
"Oh, brother. Where are you already? Jennie is here, she's excited to see you. The kid is quite busy in school but I still managed to set a schedule with her for you to meet before going to the U.S. I'm so proud of her. She's just like you. Your one and only heiress is working hard to continue your legacy." He made his voice enthusiastic.
Two-faced.
That's my dad he's talking to.
"Oh, you parked already? We are here in VIP room number 3. Okay. Okay. Bye. See you, brother." the phone call has ended and his smile turned to a furious one.
"Say a word to your dad about what we talked about and worst things will happen. Do you understand? You alread know that Jennie, right? Don't ever forget about the past," he said while glaring at me angrily.
I felt like crying inside. I get dejavu when he told me that.
I'm scared every time he says 'worst things will happen' because I know what he's capable of. I don't have much of a choice but to keep what I know and to do what I had to do.
The door opened and it's dad. Looking at me with a genuine smile on his face, happy to see me again.
I stood up from my seat and immediately hugged him.
"My princess! I missed you." He said while hugging me tightly.
I cried. The emotions are totally in a mix. The fear, anger, confusion, and sadness led to anxiety. I burst into tears and dad is pampering me right now.
"You really missed me that much my princess? I'm sorry if I don't have much time for you." He said while caressing my back while we are still in a hug.
I just nodded because Mr. Jeon is staring at us. I can see him in my peripherals.
"We talked about you while you're on your way here. Jennie says that she misses you so much." I heard Mr. Jeon said.
LIAR.
Dad pulled back from the hug and pulled the chair to let me take a seat.
He then sat beside me.
"Here's a tissue. Don't cry too much, your dad is here already. Aigoo. Such a cry baby until now." Mr. Jeon said smiling from ear to ear while handing the tissue to me.
Such a sore in the eyes.
My dad took the tissue and wiped my tears.
"I'm sorry my dear for always being busy. We are going back to the US tomorrow. Flight will be at 3 am. We got important business to do. It might take years again for me to visit you here but let's communicate as always?" Dad said and patted my head.
You're always busy.
I nodded. I don't feel like saying a word. My emotions are on a roller coaster now.
I need Lili. I used to go to Nayeon when I'm sad but when I met Lili it hits different. It felt like home. I feel happy and secured. I get calm.
We've been in the restaurant for 6 hours already, it's really a long time in enduring this agony and pain.
Jungkook and I were quiet all the time. We only talk when being asked.
I just want to go home.
I excused myself for a while to breathe from the suffocation I felt inside. I don't want to hear Mr. Jeon acting all nice to my dad. It's giving me the cringe.
I went inside the elevator and Jungkook followed.
"Hey, Jen." He waved at me.
"Hey," I said plainly.
We are in the elevator and I pressed the last floor which is the penthouse. The building of this exquisite restaurant is huge, it has 8th floors. This is where most rich people dine.
When we reached the penthouse, I finally feel the cool breeze.
"Finally! Fresh air! I can breathe." Jungkood said.
"He still hates you, doesn't he?" I smirked while we watched the city view together.
"Yeah. I wish I didn't tell him. I thought he was open about it knowing that he's been to a lot of places already." He sighed.
"Yeah. He's still traditional... Uhm, Jungkook, I have a question." I looked at Jungkook who's looking at the stars right now. He turned to me.
"Yeah?"
"Do you hate him? I can feel that you were just containing your anger earlier." I said abruptly.
He chuckled. "Yeah, I do. But he's my father. Even if he hates me, even if he's evil sometimes, even if he's a mad man, I still love him." He smiled.
"Sometimes?" I chuckled.
"Okay, fine. All the time." He smirked.
It's good to catch up with my old friend. His dad took him wherever he goes that's why I don't see him that much anymore.
The last conversation we had in person is when he cried and almost killed himself because his dad got mad at him for telling him that he likes men, and even had a secret relationship with the same gender. His dad finds it taboo. His dad got disgusted by him, loathed him, and beat him up. He didn't have a choice but to break up with his secret boyfriend and pretend that he's not gay anymore.
"Do you know that dad already set me up for marriage when I graduate soon? Poor girl, he will be married to a gay man," He said grinning. Why is he trying to look happy when he's not?
"Silly! He did!? To whom!?" Unbelievable.
He nodded and still smiling. "He did. With a girl he likes me to be with in the U.S. What a beautiful life."
"Stop being sarcastic. You're in pain. Don't tell me you're gonna commit suicide again!?" I slapped his arm.
He shook his head from side to side.
"I'm not. I will never do that again. I'm just accepting it. Life is short. I should just live with it. If I can't be happy now then maybe in another life? I believe I will be happy in another life." He smiled sadly. Looking above watching the stars and sighed.
My heart breaks for him. He's just pretending to be fine when he's not.
"How about you? You still hate my dad?" He asked.
100 PERCENT.
"Yeah. I used to like him when I was a kid but I don't anymore." I answered.
"I'm curious, Jen. What is it with you and dad? He seems invested in you and your past. Is there something that I'm missing?" He asked while looking at me with confusion.
I should leave him out of this.
"It's just between him and me, don't worry I can handle it." I faked a smile.
"Is that one of the reasons why you've been to therapy?" He asked abruptly.
I scratched my head.
"Yeah. Can we talk about something else, please?" I pleaded. "Every time someone mentioned about therapy, I get uncomfortable."
"Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't know," He smiled softly.
We went back to the room. Mr. Jeon and dad are laughing like there's no tomorrow. Aren't they tired of talking?
The guards are sitting now and ate together with them.
Such a show-off.
"Hey, dad. I need to go. I still got school works to do." I lied. I just want to get out from here. I didn't have much time with dad because Mr. Jeon always interrupts me when I do.
"Already? I thought you missed me so much that it made you cry." He said in a sad tone.
"I do, dad. I really do but I have to go." I said while composing myself.
Dad sighed. "Okay, then. Please take care. See you soon?" He hugged me and immediately pulled back.
"Let me guide her to the parking area." Mr. Jeon offered.
I got scared.
"Let me, dad." Jungkook offered.
He looked at Jungkook and it made him back off. "Okay, dad."
"Can you take me to the parking lot?" I asked my dad hoping he will do it. I'm trying my best to avoid interactions with Mr. Jeon. When dad is here he is composed and acting kind, when he's not totally who he is.
I can see Jungkook smiling and nodding at me. Looking proud of my little bravery, but my heart still breaks for him.
"Sure," Dad agreed and it made me happy.
Mr. Jeon cleared his throat which got our attention.
"Jen, my daughter. Take this with you." He said to me handing me a long brown envelope while trying to smile but I know deep inside he wants to eat me alive.
Ew. He called me daughter.
I don't have a choice but to take it.
"What's that my princess?" Dad asked.
"Say a word to your dad about what we talked about and worst things will happen."
Damn it.
"Just school stuff dad that I need to work on." I lied.
Dad just smiled and walk me to the parking lot.
---
I honestly don't know what to feel right now. I am lying on my bed, looking blankly at the ceiling.
Tears are starting to stream down my face. The photos brought the worst memories I have.
I missed Lili. I wish she's here.
I fumbled in my pocket to reach for my phone and dialed Lili's number.
The phone is ringing but there's no answer.
I sent her texts but there's no reply.
I keep on calling her but still, there's no answer.
She must be busy with her family or she must be tired from long hours of flight.
I used to call Nayeon when I'm sad but when Lili came into my life she's the first person who pops into my mind in times like this.
I just need a hug from my favorite person. With her, it hits different, with someone else it's just mundane.
With her, it feels like home and therapy.
Lili is my remedy.
----
(End of Chapter 14)
[Thank you for taking your time to read my story. Thanks for the votes and I appreciate the comments. You make my heart full every day. Stay safe. xoxo]