K.H
I let out a deep sigh that I had been wanting to get out of my chest ever since I entered that living room.
Now that I was out of his sight, my shoulders became less tense. The person who had called my name to unfortunately let me take care of Iseul, fortunately saved me from me losing my resolve.
Feeling his intense gaze and refusal to back down no matter how much I pulled at his strings left me unnerved.
And here it was again. The feelings that I had long buried were rising up like it had never been dead.
To my surprise, he still didn't know my name. He should know who I am bit then yet again, ever since dad passed away I went full 180.
It didn't help either that mom was able to successfully soar her business idea to help us out of poverty ever since dad's death. Now she's filthy rich, drinking with socialites as if she doesn't have a daughter waiting for her at home.
It almost felt like it was just yesterday when I had insisted to go to work with my dad.
"Appa! pleaseeee I want to go with you, Eomma is so boringgg she's always playing Moomin on the television, I'm 8 years old you know?! I'm too old for that," I complained as I placed my hands on my hips as if I was the one that was in charge.
My dad simply laughed at me like I just looked ridiculous but I didn't look ridiculous!
"APPAAAAA! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME! I'M BEING serious! She either only plays Moomin or Pororo!," I complained and to my joy, he agreed and said, "Alright then, you're coming with me to work but you have to promise you'll be nice to the people you meet and you have to introduce yourself properly okay? No aliases whatsoever."
"What's aliases?," I asked and my dad just smiled then said, "Nevermind that, just introduce yourself properly okay? So that everyone will know the lovely name of my beautiful daughter, okay?"
"Okay Appa," I replied to my dad and I caught a glimpse of my mom smiling at the sight of us.
I was ready for her to get mad at me for saying that I didn't like Moomin anymore but she handed me a packed lunch and said, "Go enjoy your saturday with your dad kiddo."
I looked at her suspiciously. Maybe she poisoned the food but the smile on her face seemed genuine and she always makes good food so I don't think she poisoned it.
I smiled at my dad as he offered his hand which I took with unbridled excitement.
It didn't take long for us to arrive at the bus stop and take a ride to the Jeon family mansion.
Dad works as the official driver for the Jeon family.
He said that he was hired to be their son's driver ever since he started primary school.
He said that he's also the one going around accompanying the son.
Dad never really wanted to be a driver or a caretaker for someone but he said he gets paid a lot so he sticks around so that he can buy me all the pretty dresses I get to wear.
He always told me, "Only the best for my pretty little girl."
Finally we arrived at the Jeon mansion and it was huuuuge.
There was a big gate and it opened at the presence of both me and my dad.
Weird.
We both walked in and we immediately saw a really beautiful house that you only see in movies.
Scratch that, I've never seen a house this big and shiny in a movie before.
There were so many cars and so many.....wait...why is this place so big but I barely see any people around.
This is kinda creepy.
I then asked my dad, "Appa, you said the Jeon family were really rich, doesn't thst mean they'd have butlers or somethin."
"You're really observant for an 8 year old but the Jeon family are very particular with their staff so they don't have a lot," my dad explained and I just nodded as we both walked towards the massive entrance of the mansion.
To my surprise, the doors burst open revealing a boy who looked like my age and he came running towards my dad.
"Ahjussi! I've been waiting for you!," he said as he ran right into my dad and hugged him.
Why was he so comfortable with my dad?
I stood there dumbfounded as my dad let go of my hand to gently pat the boy's head.
The boy let go of him then his eyes met mine and he asked my dad, "Ahjussi, who is she?"
My dad gave out a hearty laugh and said, "Jungkook, meet my daughter."
My dad then gestured for me to say something then said, "Go on then, introduce yourself."
I refused, I didn't trust the boy.
"Goyang-i," I said and my dad just laughed and said, "I guess you just want to remain an anonymous kitten huh?"
I nodded. I didn't trust the boy but despite that, he stuck out his hand hoping to get a handshake with me and said, "Hi there I'm Jeon Jungkook, but you can call me Jungkook."
I reluctantly took his hand and he immediately dragged me towards a red car as he shouted back at my dad, "Ahjussi! Let's take the red car today!"
My dad shouted back, "We always take the red car Jungkook!"
I couldn't say much because I felt warm when Jungkook refused to let go of my hand.
We both got in the back of the car as I watched my dad take the driver's seat. My dad then asked Jungkook, "Where are we going today young master?"
"Hmmm, let me ask goyang-i," Jungkook said as he turned to look at me and asked, "Where do you want to go today?"
"Why are you asking me?," I asked because he was being weird.
"I don't really know where to go so I'm asking you," he said with a bunny smile so I said, "Appa! Let's go to Lotte World!"
My father laughed then said, "Alright then, off to Lotte World!"
That was the beginning of many many weekends of me hanging out with Jungkook.
He always had the coolest toys and coolest ideas. He was also really nice and always grabbed my hand to bring him somewhere.
His parents were also very nice to me but I was too shy to tell them my real name and I liked how Jungkook called me "Goyang-i".
So I never told them my real name and Goyang-i was what they called me.
We had so much fun together and his family treated me like I was their own daughter. His mother really liked dressing me up and her reason was that she couldn't dress up Jungkook because he was a boy.
Jungkook's father and mother during their free time would even bring me with them when they went shopping at the mall. Dad and Mom didn't mind and Jungkook wanted me to come cause he didn't like shopping.
But he goes along anyways cause his parents treat him with food afterwards which I so happily join in too.
Everything was perfect. Jungkook was the best friend I've ever had and he always gave me nice gifts. Our parents said that we were inseparable and why wouldn't we be?
Jungkook was the best.
I can still remember the day when he said he wanted to accompany me at my school. We both just turned 10 and we were closer than ever.
All the girls got mad because I was able to hangout with someone like him.
When he excused himself to go to the washroom, the girls in my class approached me and started to push me around while saying, "Who do you think you are?! You're not even pretty! Your hair is black like charcoal and charcoal is dirty and disgusting just like you!"
They would hit me in the face with their hands and kick my legs and all I could do was cover myself in defense. I thought I was gonna pass out with how much they pushed me around.
Yet suddenly I heard a familiar voice scream, "Yah! LEAVE MY GOYANG-I alone!"
It was Jungkook. I know it was Jungkook.
When the girls looked to where he stood, one of them asked, "Why do you even hangout with her?! She's ugly and she's poor! She's an eyesore!"
"No! All of you are eyesores, she's pretty to me and being poor or rich doesn't tell you whether you're pretty or not! So scram!," He shouted and the girls dispersed across the hallways crying at Jungkook's disapproval of what they did.
I was speechless and when I felt him hug me that's when I broke into tears and hugged him back tighter.
He then said to me softly, "Let's get you home, I think this is a good reason to go home anyways."
I nodded and stayed quiet the whole time, even my dad who drove us back to Jungkook's home tried to ask me what was wrong but I stayed quiet.
But Jungkook knew what was wrong so he held my hand the whole car ride. When we all finally arrived at the Jeon Mansion, my dad told me to wait outside because he just needed to speak with Jungkook's dad and mom about something important.
This left me and Jungkook at the parking lot but I still didn't say anything. Because of this, he let go of my hand and held my cheeks together and sort of squished them so I asked him with squished cheeks, "Jungkook, what are you doing?"
"Finally you spoke, and before you even say anything, I already know that what the girls said in your school was bothering you," he said, "I'm sorry I didn't step in earlier, I heard a bit of what they're saying to you so I'm gonna tell you this."
"Don't listen to them! Your pretty! And I don't care how much money you have, you're a good friend!," he said as he let go of my cheeks and pulled me into a tight hug, "And just so you know, I like your hair, it's beautiful."
I found myself hugging him back. I was so touched by what he said. The hug broke when I heard my dad in the background say, "It's time to go now."
I reluctantly let Jungkook go then I took my dad's hand as we walked out of the mansion's parking lot.
As we walked out I heard him shout, "Goyang-I!"
I turned around to face him as he shouted from a distance, "SARANGHAE!"
I didn't know what to say and I felt shy but my dad nudged me and said, "Go on, say it back."
I nodded and let go of my dad's hand then ran into Jungkook's arms and hugged him tight then said, "Jungkook saranghae."
But those moments weren't meant to last for so long. Good things never last long.
We were both 11 years old when it happened.
One day we were at the park and Jungkook wanted to show off. He got a new skateboard and he wanted to show some tricks that he could do but I was very against it.
He's been wanting to show off but when dad was around he couldn't but at that moment my dad received a call from Mr. Jeon and they were talking about some adult stuff I didn't want to listen to.
Jungkook saw this as an opportunity to play with his new skateboard and I warned him, "Jungkook, we can always just move farther in to the park, being to close to the road is dangerous."
"It's fine, I practiced this trick and it'll look way cooler on the sidewalk," he pointed out but I didn't say much anymore and just hoped he wouldn't get hurt.
I watched as he got on his skateboard and started zooming across the sidewalk when suddenly someone was walking towards his direction. "JUNGKOOK LOOK OUT," I shouted and he tried his best to avoid the person but he didn't have much control of his skateboard.
He skidded off the sidewalk with the ongoing traffic that was happening on the highway. Car after car went by and I was preparing for the worst as I reached out to grab his shirt, only for it to slip through my fingertips.
I closed my eyes because I didn't want to see the aftermath as I heard the tires of an incoming car screech. Then there was silence, but I opened my eyes when I heard commotion. I opened them and saw Jungkook standing on the road safe and felta wave of relief.
Only for me to see the body of my dad on the road, bleeding from the head.
I didn't even know what I was doing, I just felt my legs stretch to run to my dad and try to check if I was okay. It was of no use because Jungkook held me back as I screamed for my dad while arriving ambulances' alarms blared throughout the area.
Today was the last day that I heard my father's voice.
All the moment after that day were a blur to me. I could only see fragments of my grieving mother cursing the Jeon family, especiaply Jungkook.
I couldn't even bring myself to look at Jungkook after that day. He tried to talk to me countless times but I refused to say anything.
The Jeon family wanted to offer financial help for what happened and my mother refused saying, "What you took from us, no money in this world can compensate so don't waste your wealth on a lost cause."
Dad's funeral was the last time I ever saw the whole Jeon family. My hate grew for them as I yearned for moments with my dad.
My mom decided to pick ourselves up by starting her own business. Vowing to rival the Jeon family in terms of riches and she was successful. She had our last names changed so they wouldn't have a trace of who he was and that was oir life now.
The Jeon family have been desperate in getting investors for their medical and diagnostic laboratories because of my mother's rivaling diagnostic laboratories.
She's buried herself in the work and she's made me a pawn in her plans. Even enrolling me in the same school as Jungkook to get me close to him and hopefully make a PR disaster that'll lead to their demise.
I don't even know if I really hated Jungkook but seeing how he acted now, arrogant and boastful, it planted a seed of hate.
It felt like he didn't care about my father's death at all.
Now I just want him to feel what I felt. Like I lost everything.
I want him to feel what it's like to lose everything.
I was pulled back to reality when I felt Iseul hug me tight and say, "Haewon-ahhhh I want more drinks!"
"Pabo, I'm taking you home," I said as I dragged Iseul out of the Jeon family mansion that I never thought I'd set foot in ever again.
While doing so, I heard the faint shouts of Jungkook calling for my name.