Epilouge
The Carpenter
Hyuna couldn't remember how she managed to get out of the hospital, but she was utterly thankful to finally get out of it. She couldn't describe how tired and annoyed she was of staying in the hospital. She also couldn't understand how Sungyeol managed to stay inside for two months straight; and Nana, for almost a year and a half - Eighteen months.
She told them that they were insane but the couple just smiled and walked hand in hand out of the hospital. Woohyun had actually told Sungyeol that he needed to stay in the hospital for another week, but the stubborn choding refused point-blank to even stay for another minute. He told the hospital that Woohyun could take care of him at home but the hospital counted-back by saying they needed Woohyun.
"What's the point of having a doctor in the family when he isn't taking care of his family members at all. Really hyung, you're going to abandon me? It's alright, I don't need any rest. I'm fine the way I am already. You should know better Dean."
Woohyun sighed loudly and looked bewilderedly at the Dean.
As if he was asking him to let him off.
"I won't abandon you. I'm letting you discharge today. These three days were more than enough to heal your wounds anyway. One week was just too long. Fine, go go go. Go home. I need to stay back to make my rounds before heading home. Save me a seat at the dining table, I would be home before then."
"Sure. You're finally coming home hyung!"
"Yes I am. Did everyone miss me? Or did Sunggyu hyung just spent most of his time dating instead of thinking about me now?"
"It's hard to say. But he won't forget you hyung. He told us about the pattern a long time ago."
"Really?"
"Yep. And he told Hyuna straight that you're irreplaceable in his heart. So he definitely won't forget you."
"I'm going to cry Yeollie."
"Neh, cry all you want hyung. See you at dinner."
Sungyeol dashed out the moment he said his goodbye to Woohyun. Nana walked slowly behind while Myungsoo, his wife and their kid followed behind. Dongwoo was helping Hyuna along with Sunggyu. The two of them were very worried for Hyuna. Hoya was working that day, sadly, he couldn't pick them up personally.
Sunggyu and Hyuna split up with the rest to head towards the police station as agreed. The policemen were already waiting for them and even offered to help the fragile Hyuna to a wheelchair, but just a glare from Sunggyu was more than enough to make the boys move back. He carried her wherever she needed to go. They brought the two of them towards the visiting room in the station and waited patiently for their criminal to reach.
The moment the doors opened on the opposite side of the thick glass that separated them, Hyuna's eyes widened as she saw who was walking through the door. She slowly stood up and covered her lips, willing her eyes to change the image in front of her.
"U-Uncle?!"
"Hello Hyuna."
"Wha- Why?"
Sunggyu couldn't believe his ears when he heard Hyuna calling the bastard in front of them uncle. Like what the hell, seriously? He told them both to sit down first before continuing whatever they wanted to say or yell at one another. Hyuna's uncle smiled as he took a good look at Sunggyu. Ir had been what, close to seven years that he had last seen the First Leader's face. It wasn't the kind of cynical smile that Sunggyu had presumed he would get, in fact, he got a genuine smile.
And that was really awkward.
Hyuna however, couldn't keep her eyes off her uncle. It was just too insane to believe or think that the man who killed her parents was her father's own brother. Hyuna thought this was some serious sick joke. She was having difficulty breathing all of a sudden. But all Hyuna's uncle did was to smile at them. Hyuna took a close look at her uncle and realized how tired and old her uncle had became. He was the oldest of her grandparents's sons. How could he possibly kill his own brother!
Speaking of which-
"I know what you're thinking. But no, your grandparents didn't know I was a loanshark."
"What..?"
"They left me years ago and moved to America. Your grandfather was bent on leaving, away from me.
"Why?"
"Because I was evil since young. Not bad nor spoilt, evil."
"I-I don't understand. How-"
Hyuna's uncle smiled slightly but Sunggyu could see the old man's eyes watering.
"You were fifteen when I last saw you. And I was already a loanshark. The reason why I didn't appear for the family gatherings was because I was ashamed. Ashamed of what my brother and parents thought about me. I wasn't ashamed of being a loanshark though. But I was ashamed of being someone not so worthy of my family."
He sighed once, thinking back of the past was difficult for both of them, Sunggyu thought.
"But your parents ended up asking money me. I won't lie, I was an to them. They'd looked down on me, yet now they were asking help from me. I couldn't explain how satisfied I was then. I made them beg, made them cry and I felt good inside. This isn't something you can understand. You're too kind inside and out. But your boyfriend would understand. I heard all about it."
His vision landed on Sunggyu who just stared back with equal interest and distain.
As apologetic he was, Sunggyu couldn't bring himself to be nice to the ugly man in front of him.
The smile that was genuine seemed ages ago, and all that was in front of him was a black heart.
Which Hyuna agreed wholeheartedly.
Her uncle grinned slightly and turned back to look at Hyuna.
"Surprised the hell out of me truthfully. The famous First Leader that ruled the night for so long. It was a real treat for me, my lovely niece with my bitter enemy. It was almost like a stab to the back countless times when I realized it. But then, you didn't know who I was then, nor did you know what I am now. I can't fault something that you didn't know on you."
Hyuna gave a stiff nod.
Unhappy that her uncle was talking about Sunggyu in such a manner.
"But he's never like me. Oh I can see in your eyes Hyuna. And you're right. Sunggyu and I are nothing alike."
He laughed pitifully while the couple outside just stared.
Nothing wanting any of their outward emotion to be shown to the man opposite them.
"As I was saying, I made your parents beg. I made my my own family, my own brother begged on his knees. I was angry when I thought back of how he and his wife had treated me like trash. So I treated them like losers who needed money. In my eye then, they weren't my family. In the sense that I didn't give any pity or leeway. In any case, I lent them the money, a huge sum no less. And what did they do to repay me? They ran away because they can't pay back. I searched for them too. High and low."
//Bang-bang.
The guards outside banged the door twice, indicating there was only twenty minutes left for them.
But Hyuna's uncle acted as if he hadn't heard it.
As if his death sentence was two days later instead of twenty minutes.
He continued with his story. Because Hyuna needed to know.
"And I thought about you. I thought, since your parents had left you, you can stay by my side as my family. I was always alone since young because of my magnicifent brother and biased parents. But little did I know they had sent you to America to live with my parents. I was in shock, I really was. And even though this might sound hard to believe, I'd never ask my men to hurt you or treat you like a slave. I told them to find you, yes. But I didn't expect them to treat you in such a manner."
Hyuna snorted loudly.
"They treated you like the daughter of a debtor. This was all understandable because it was your parents that made you in such a manner. It was all your parents' fault."
"So what happened to them?"
Hyuna was close to shouting.
Sunggyu had to hold her down.
The two inspector beside them was just staring intensely at their prisioner.
Judging and hating him more than before.
"As much as I hated my brother and his wife, I didn't kill them. Not directly anyway."
"What?"
"We found your parents in Spain. Hiding and working till their bones were protuding, they looked very haggard. But I didn't have a choice, I wasn't the Head then. I was just one of the leaders that worked in the money part of the gang. And I couldn't even greet them because they were shot right after they returned their money to us. They were killed right in front of me and I couldn't do anything."
He breathed deeply.
"They wanted me to dispose their bodies after they left and I couldn't do anything to stop them. I-I threw my own blood brother into the river. I threw his corpse-"
Hyuna stood up and banged the glass wall between them. It shook a little but stayed intact while Sunggyu held her back quickly. Hyuna didn't care if her uncle was shedding crocodile tears right now, but she couldn't care less. He had sniffed and was in dire shock that his sweet niece actually wanted to attack him. He loooked at her in shock.
"You're a murderer! Murderer!"
Her body had froze when she heard that he had threw her father's corpse down the river. Her warm, happy and cheerful father, her pillar of support and her partner in crime for teasing their common target, her mother. What went wrong, why had her uncle been so ridiculously stupid to hurt them to such extent.
Hyuna then felt a pair of big and warm hands over her own cold shaking ones. Sunggyu was trying, in his own way, to calm her up. He let her know that he was there for her. Hyuna felt hot tears spilling out of her eyes while she bit onto her lips to stop herself from crying out loud.
"You're a murderer. I don't care why you wanted to see me before dying, but I'm pretty sure they're hanging the right person."
His face paled.
"If you think I would plead for you just because you're my uncle, I'm sorry you're badly mistaken. You deserved to rot in jail, not hanged yet. You should be tortured every night about how you killed my parents. How you caused your own parents to get depressed till they died of stress. You should be happy now 'uncle'. You killed your entire family and you also tried killing me."
Her uncle stood up in fear, almost willing and shouting for her to shut up.
"I hope before you get hanged you'll remember that there must be some reason why haelmoni and harabeoji never liked. And if you looked at youself in the mirror, or at yourself right now, the answer is right now. You're a man who would betray his own family because of pride and other things, so don't act as if you're the kindest or regretful right now."
Her uncle refused to listen, and tried coming out when Hyuna stood up and pulled Sunggyu towards the entrance of the meeting room. Inspectors Zhang went in the room to calm her uncle down. But he found it difficult to believe that even his niece was unable to forgive. Inside, he was sure that it was his brother's and parent's fault that he had became this way.
But at the end of the meeting, he still hadn't realized that the reason why his family had turned his back on him was because of himself. He had changed first which caused his parents and brother to give up on him. There was no one to blame but himself. But it was difficult and suffocating to believe in that.
That all these years, the reason why he was so lonely was because of himself.
And he shouted for Hyuna to forgive him.
But she was already gone, outside with Sunggyu and Inspector Oh.
When she got out, she took in one deep breath, as if the meeting room inside smelled like crap and flith.
"Are you alright Miss Kim?"
"After knowing my uncle killed my father? No. I feel disgusted."
"I'm sorry, I was being insensitive."
But Sunggyu just said his thanks for everything and carried the limping Hyuna out of the police station. They stopped just outside and sat down on the bench. Sunggyu knew Hyuna didn't want to head back now, especially in this state. She just wanted to get out of the police station, away from her uncle. Sunggyu felt horrible inside. She was a victim of a crossfire that gangs had. And he was in one before. It was all so complexing.
"What's on your mind Hyuna?"
"That my parents shouldn't have died."
"You're right, they shouldn't. But they did, so you have to be stronger."
"I will be."
She stood up and faced Sunggyu.
"Oppa, I'm quitting the store."
"W-What! Why?"
"I'm going to be a policewoman instead."
"Wha-"
She turned and faced the sky.
"I'm tired of accepting people's help, I wish to help myself and others instead!"
"But you need not be a policewoman to do that. You can help out in other ways."
"There isn't any meaning. Being a policewoman has more meaning."
"That's not true!"
He pulled her back onto the bench.
"Didn't you say were searching for something, and you found it in my store."
"I did. But-"
"So you're just going to throw it away after searching it for long. That's quite low of you."
"I'm just thinking about doing the right thing!"
"But this isn't the right job for you."
Hyuna scoffed at him.
"I don't need another smart brain to know that you won't do well. Do what you're good at, and what you really love."
"But I already sa-"
"Don't do things for others, think about yourself first."
"Oppa!"
Sunggyu puckered his lips and frown at her.
Looking down, he let out a frustrated groan - "I'm going crazy because of her!"
"Yah Kim Hyuna! Don't do the wrong thing!"
"It's not the wrong thing ahjussi!"
"Ahjussi? You're calling me ahjussi?! Yah brat!"
Hyuna pulled her close and shut with a deep kiss. Just in time, Inspector Oh and Zhang came out to head to the headquarters. They tittered at the sight and Inspector Zhang was about to ask if they needed a ride, but Inspector Oh dissed at him and pulled him away.
"I doubt they want to be disturbed right now."
"But kissing in front of the police station..."
"I value my life more than the police station Zhang."
"Much much more."
Hyuna and Sunggyu got home half an hour after pulling apart from one another.
"Yah oppa. You're not making it easy for me to say no."
"Then don't. Just do what you love and everything would be fine. Don't get affected by something else."
He called for a cab and brought them both home. He knew the kids at home would be waiting since they were bound to be very hungry. Hyuna promised she wouldn't say stupid things anymore and continue being a craftsmen instead of a policewoman. Sunggyu was very happy to hear that coming from her lips that he gave her another kiss.
When they reached home, Sungyeol was in an apron and was cooking.
Since Myungsoo couldn't cook for nuts and Dongwoo has a phobia of kitchen knives.
So it was up to Yvonne or Nana or himself.
And since Hoya was at work.
Yvonne and Nana had to take care of the kids, it was left to Sungyeol to make dinner for everyone.
"You two were gone for a while. I thought you two might return after Woohyun hyung. Ah there he is!"
Woohyun walked in casually and bowed to Hyuna.
It was still slightly awkward for them. Especially to Woohyun.
He suddenly had a sister in law at home.
What war would that bring honestly.
Woohyun versus Hyuna.
"I made a lot to today, to celebrate! For Sunggyu hyung, Hyuna and I! And our brave friends and my pregnant wife. So dig in everyone!"
Sunggyu told them all to sit down, but when he saw Hyuna's down expression. There was much to celebrate about, but there was also some to not celebrate about. For Hyuna to realize it was her own family that made her homeless, it was hard for her to celebrate with an ease and happy heart. It was suddenly so rare for Sunggyu to hear Hyuna laugh or see her smile widely like nothing was wrong. He could tell she was still feeling sad inside, but it can't be helped.
Such pain could only be lessen in time.
Hopefully.
At the dining table, everyone was surprised that Woohyun wasn't sitting beside Sunggyu, and had let out his seat to Hyuna. Sungyeol noticed the slight sorrow in his eyes while Sunggyu said there wasn't a need to switch places. But Woohyun said it was fine. It was a thing that made everyone's heart feel weird and frustated when their hyung was at the other side of the dining table. It felt too different that suddenly the two oldest brother was apart.
But Woohyun said nothing and just took the head of the opposite side. After that, he told Hyuna to live in their spare room from now on. Even after the danger was over, he still wanted her to live over at their house.
"Why Woohyun-ssi?"
"No Woohyun-ssi, either call me oppa, or omma or Mi-dearest. The girls calls me dearest, just to make their husband go crazy once in the while. Of course, I'm not forcing you. And as for why I wish you would stay here, the reason is simple. You're one of us now, you're our family. And there was just no sense when one of us is living far away from the other. I'll feel bad at night when you're not beside our poor and lonely Sunggyu. My Yeobo."
"Nam Woohyun!"
The Doctor chuckled.
"Maybe it's time I find someone to accompany me. I'm thirty-three now. Prime time."
- T H E E N D -
Hi buttercakes!
So as promise, ten chapters or less.
But since that's impossibel for me, please give some leeway for two more chapters.
And as the Epilouge states, there would be a nwh sequel.
Please look forward to it!
I promise it would be really cute and fun.
To all my faithful readers, thank you for reading this short fic of mine. I know some readers might not like Hyuna, but I had some difficult choosing her as well. Mainly because I keep seeing Sunggyu liking Hyuna before during OGS era. So naturally I would think of her. Do enjoy the next fic. Love you all!
//wink wink, sticklegs.
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