In a single room ward on the hospital’s second floor, a crowd of reporters had gathered.
Eunji was, currently, weakly responding to the interview questions. She lamented about taehyung. “You say, are there any sons like him? He won’t even come to visit me after my accident. I really brought him up for nothing. My heart really hurts!”
“Mom, I’m here!” taehyung suddenly appeared at the entrance.
eunji was very surprised by his appearance. Her complexion was especially pale due to the amount of powder she had applied. She immediately put on a comforted expression. “taehyung, ah. You’ve finally come to visit Mom.”
Her tears rolled down her cheeks. “Please don’t blame me for using the media to force you to visit. Mom really just... misses you too much.”
There were several cameras in the hospital ward which were broadcasting everything that was happening live on all of the major television channels. God only knew how many times it would be further reposted on various social network sites.
No matter what, she had to convince all the netizens that taehyung was unfilial; that he had come visiting because of the pressure from the media.
The moment taehyung appeared, all the cameras turned to focus on him. “Mr. Kim, may I ask, why didn’t you come to see your mother immediately when she met with a car accident?”
“Are you here now due to the pressure from the public?”
“This matter has gotten a lot of attention. Most of the netizens feel that you are unfilial. Don’t you think it’s a little late to be visiting now?”
The polite, yet sharp questions left taehyung silent.
Eunji watched him remain speechless from where she laid on the bed. She felt extremely pleased.
A hint of ruthless pleasure appeared in her eyes.
This was exactly what she wanted, to ruin the reputation of taehyung, this whore and to utterly destroy her. Soon, the entire world would be scolding him!
Taehyung was only silent for a few seconds before responding with a question. “Can filial piety be measured by money?”
“...”
No one expected him to ask such a question. Several reporters were taken aback.
At the same time, the audience watching the live-stream on their phones started leaving angered comments:
[taehyung really doesn’t know what shame is. How can filial piety be measured by money?]
[Actually, I think it can be. After all, in recent years, giving money to our parents is a way to express love.]
[Although that is true, sincerity is the most important. From what I see, taehyung is relying on his status as jungkook's fiancée to discard his familial relationships! He is truly a black-hearted man!]
...
In the hospital room, eunji suddenly laughed miserably. “taehyung, Mom knows that ever since you were lifted up by the Jeon family, you’ve become complacent. But how can filial piety be measured with money? Besides... You’re only a Year 2 University student. You haven’t earned even a single cent. How have you been filial to me through money!”
Although she sounded like she was nagging, her words were cearly announcing her pitiful status and backing taehyung into a corner.
“Mom, go on.” A hint of hurt flashed past taehyung's indifferent gaze.
His tone was also gloomy. “Let me hear exactly how many mistakes I’ve made in your eyes.”
“Since you claim that money can replace filial piety, let me ask you. The Kim Corporation is currently facing financial problems. Have you asked the Jeon family for any help?” eunji's expression was that of heartbreak. “You haven’t. You won’t contribute through money or effort. Even as I lay here, I have to rely on the media to force you to appear... You’re not even suited to be a human!”
When the reporters heard this, their gazes were filled with disdain as they looked at taehyung.
Jungkook stood in the hallway. His expression was extremely dark and his figure was stiff.
Eunji, this whore! She was really asking for a beating!
Taehyung smiled bitterly. “It turns out that, to my mother, I’m not even suited to be a person.”
A reporter asked him firmly. “Mr. Kim, as a... person working in the media, I don’t know how to judge your actions. I only wish to ask one question. Do you regret your actions?”
Taehyung's expression clearly conveyed his pain. “No. I’ve never regretted anything.”
[Fuck! Taehyung isn’t even suited to be a human. To think that he doesn’t regret anything. He really is shameless. No one can compete with him in this aspect.]
[Isn’t it? He still has the face to appear in front of his mother? We should throw him into a furnace for him to reincarnate into a better human being!]
Wave after wave of comments came in. They were much more ‘interesting’ than the reporters’ questions.
All the reporters present in the hospital room fell silent. This person’s character was lacking to the point where he did not even know how to reflect on himself. They really did not know how to describe him...
In the three bedroom ward next door, hyunwoo and jennie were watching the live broadcast from their respective beds. However, they kept the volume down to prevent attracting any attention.
jennie watched as taehyung was left speechless from all the questions. He was cutting an especially sorry figure. This caused jennie to feel great.
In the hallway, Seokjin stood behind jungkook and watched as the events unfolded. He truly felt upset on his CEO’s behalf.
taehyung wasn’t just ugly. His character was also especially lacking.
He truly was a poor match for their outstanding and powerful CEO!
Jungkook, alone, was watching taehyung with eyes full of heartache.
The Kim family treated him too poorly. He could only make it up by treating him many times better.
At this moment, in eunji's one bedroom ward, taehyung suddenly teared up. “To me, filial piety cannot be measured by money. Yet, my relatives have relentlessly taken advantage of my loyalty to redeem it for a price tag.”
When eunji heard this, she smirked mockingly. “taehyung, Mom knows that you’re unfilial. You don’t have to make up excuses for yourself. You’re a student who has never earned a single cent. Who would take advantage of your loyalty for money?”
“Earlier, didn’t you say that the Kim Group is in a financial crisis, and that I’ve never asked the Jeon family for help?” taehyung smiled coldly.
Eunji assumed that she could no longer endure the pressure and was about to publicly ask jungkook for help.
However, taehyung only said this indifferently, “Just as everyone knows, I have a fiancé who dotes on me dearly. Because of me, for the past few years, jungkook has financially supported the Kim Group and given them more than a billion dollars!”
“What?” Everyone watching the live broadcast was dumbstruck. The comments were filled with their exclamations.
This included all the reporters and others.
Eunji felt a sense of foreboding rise. She rushed to stop him. “taehyung, don’t speak nonsense...”
“I’m speaking nonsense?” taehyung harrumphed coldly and continued. “All the financial support that the JJK empire gave to the Kim family has been recorded by their finance department. There is written proof. Everything I’ve said is the truth. The mother I love dearly has been taking advantage of my engagement with jungkook to obtain benefits from the JJK emoire for a long time. Just because of me, jungkook has been giving into her demands repeatedly. He has supported her time and again. The smallest sum he gave her was five million dollars. The bigger sums went up to tens of millions. In total, she has received 1,547,700,000 dollars from him.”
He paused for a second. “jungkook did all this to ensure that I’ll lead a better life in the Kim home. Yet, over the past few years, the Kim Group has not used a single cent of the money which they received, on me. They even forced me to stay in a storeroom on the first floor of the Kim home. They couldn’t bear to spend any money on food for me. Everyday, all I had was deep fried junk food that caused my weight to shoot up. They’ve also never given me a single cent of pocket money. My mother, my second uncle and my second sister even spread rumours that I’ve been living a life of luxury. My heart has long turned bitter from this treatment, yet because I valued our relationship, I’ve never once said anything negative about them.”
“My silence didn’t last for a day. It has lasted for seven years. Over the past seven years, I’ve silently tolerated and accepted all the mistreatment from my mother. I allowed her to suck on my fiancé’s family’s blood like a vampire!”
The hospital room was filled with a pin-drop silence. Everyone was dumbstruck by taehyung's words.
Eunji leaned back against the bed with a pale complexion.
She did not expect taehyung to bring this matter up. To think he was humiliating their family without pausing to worry about his own face!
Taehyung's tears continued rolling down his cheeks. “Yes, I’m a student. But isn’t silent acceptance of my mother’s actions a form of filial piety? This is truly a joke. My mother took over a billion dollars from the Jeon family, yet she lied to me, claiming to only have taken a few million dollars. When the truth came out, she even criticized me for asking for too little from the Jeon family. Although my fiancé is wealthy, that is his money. The Kim Group is really too thick-skinned and shameless. To what extent will they go before they are satisfied?”
His tearful expression was far too miserable.
It expressed his deep sadness and despair. It definitely was not a performance.
Everyone watching the live-stream was quiet.
Taehyung was truly crying. He was crying over his own past foolishness.
He also cried in gratitude. He was thankful that he now had the opportunity to change his tragedy from his past life and to cherish the people who deserved his love.
Jungkook stood outside the door. As he watched taehyung cry, his heartache intensified.
He swore that in this life, he would offer everything he had, including his own life, to properly love and pamper taehyung!
Taehyung's tone conveyed his despair to the maximum. “My mother always only has cruel criticism when it comes to me. She even wishes for jungkook to end his engagement with me so that my second sister can take my place.”
Eunji's expression was flustered. “taehyung, enough of that. That’s not true...”
“If it’s not true, why did you allow Second Sister to pretend to be jungkook's fiancé? If it isn’t the truth, why did you stand in front of jungkook and ask for him to cancel his engagement with me?”
After being publicly questioned by taehyung, eunji immediately wanted to insist it wasn’t true. However, she saw that jungkook was standing in the hallway.
It was true that she once requested jungkook to end his engagement with taehyunh.
She was afraid that he would corroborate taehyung's testimony right now. Given his status, everyone would surely believe in him.
Hence eunji pursed her lips and chose to remain silent.
Taehyung smiled with a hint of self-mocking. “No matter what I do, no matter how much hatred and grievance I endure, I will never be able to obtain my mother’s love or even an expression of concern. To her, I’m not even worth the treatment a human deserves! If you were in my shoes, how would you feel?”
He paused and wiped his tears with his uninjured hand. His gaze then turned firm and he loudly announced. “The people watching will never be able to understand the actual truth. I’ve reached the end of my despair and I’ve long grown numb. I no longer wish to conceal anything on my mother’s behalf.”
As he said this, he tapped on his phone and lifted his screen to one of the cameras. On the screen, a message content was being displayed:
[Mom, quickly give taehyung a call. Tell him that you met with an accident and ask him to quickly bring jungkook to the hospital to visit you!]
After showing them the message, he continued. “This is the message my second sister sent to my mother right before ‘Warming SNU With Love’. Jennie had wanted to prevent her status as a fake fiancé from being exposed, no matter what. That’s why, my ‘great’ mother came up with a fake accident to fool jungkook and me into leaving the event.”
eunji's expression was extremely poor now that her schemes were exposed. “What do you mean by a fake accident...”
Furthermore, how did taehyung obtain a copy of the message that jennie had sent her?
After ‘Warming SNU With Love’, taehyung easily guessed that eunji would take revenge on jennie's behalf. Thus, he instructed jackson to send someone to secretly make a copy of the messages on jennie's phone.
He had the ability to make himself invisible. Thus, he naturally knew jennie's phone passcode a long time ago.
After being beaten up, jennie was unconscious for an extended period of time. Thus, jackson's people had no trouble obtaining the messages in her phone.
A middle-aged man suddenly appeared in the hospital ward. “Director Kim, you instructed me to lie that I injured you with my car and paid me forty thousand dollars as a reward. At the time, I did not expect you to use this matter to slander your own filial son. My deepest apologies. I’m returning this money to you.”
He then handed over two stacks of cash. When he saw that eunji did not move to receive it, he placed it on her bedside table.
“Excuse me, sir. Could you please clarify this situation...” The reporters immediately urged him.
“I’m an employee from the Kim Group. Recently, my family has been struggling with money. My employer, Madam Kim, coincidentally requested my help. In a moment of foolishness, I agreed to stage a fake accident with her in exchange for forty thousand dollars.” The middle-aged man did not hold back as he accepted their question.
“I didn’t give anyone forty thousand dollars! taehyung is the one who arranged for him to say so!” eunji refused to admit it.
Taehyung was not interested in arguing with her. He turned to address Doctor Kim, who was standing outside in the hallways. “Doctor Kim, could I trouble you to take a look at my mother’s injuries?”
“No problem.” seokjin stepped into the hospital ward and was about to carry out an examination for eunji.
But eunji immediately began struggling. “Go away, go away! I don’t want your examination!”
“Mom, Doctor Kim's skills are the best in our country. Most people don’t even have the opportunity for him to examine them,” taehyung coaxed her.
“Who knows if you’re collaborating with him to...” Before eunji could finish speaking, seokjin cut her off. “Please be rest assured, Director Kim. I, kim seokjin, will definitely be honest about your health. Furthermore, all the cameras are recording us. I won’t ruin my own reputation.”
The cameras were not from a particularly big television channel. However, taehyung's topic had caught a lot of attention. Countless media websites were live-streaming the news.
“That’s right, Director Kim. Why don’t you just let Doctor Kim give you an examination...” A reporter also urged her.
I said I don’t want to!” eunji was agitated.
Another reporter immediately noticed something amiss. “Madam Kim, didn’t you say that your arm was fractured during the accident, and that you’re unable to move? Why do you appear to be struggling so well?”
“...” eunji immediately became quiet. Her expression was awkward.
Taehyung approached her bedside and brought a small pair of scissors, seemingly out of thin air. With three snips, he easily cut open the white bandages around eunji's body. The bandages loosened to reveal the green stains from the medicine applied.
After wiping off the stains, everyone saw that eunji was completely unharmed!
“...” All the reporters and hosts were dumbstruck.
Even the audience watching this from their homes were astonished.
Seokjin stepped forward and forcefully examined eunji's body. He then drew a firm conclusion. “Madam Kim is completely unharmed. In other words, she did not suffer any injury in a car accident. Everyone has been fooled by her!”
Bye bye! Take care!