CHAPTER 31

Yuri’s POV

I can do it. I can do it again. I can go back. I can… I should… and I will...

I know what to do. I just need to do what she told me. I just need to go back. That’s all.

--

Author’s/Normal POV

Yuri sat up from his bed and approached his closet. As he opened it, amidst his shirts and other clothes, a white box sits at the corner. He takes it out and places it on his bed. Yuri sits beside the box and thinks of his next step.

“I need to do this.” He says to no one in particular. The sound of the rain soothes him for a moment but his heart starts picking up its pace.

Yuri was afraid. He was afraid of the things he might discover once he opens the box beside him. The key to his existence has been with him all this time. A moment from his memory palace suddenly pulls itself out and enters Yuri’s consciousness.

--

Flashback

“Listen to me very carefully, okay? I can’t stay for long. I need you to promise me that you’ll do exactly as I say.”

Yuri nods his head, still feeling confused and perplexed at the situation in front of his eyes. It was something a young boy like him would have never imagined. He has yet to draw the line between life and death.

“Do you remember when I talked to you about bad people?”

Again, Yuri finds no words and just nods his head

“Sometimes bad people pretend to be good people. It’s hard to know who’s who, especially for someone as young as you and that’s why I want you to be extra careful.”

The person in front of Yuri kneels down to level with him.

“I know this will be hard to understand but there’s this person who will try to change you, he might have already changed you... It will seem like it would be a good change but it’s not. I need you to believe in yourself no matter what other people say….” This person pauses and makes sure to make eye contact with Yuri

“…I have something for you. This is something you can’t show to other people, not even your father.” This person hands a sealed white box to Yuri.

Yuri looks down at the box then back at the person

“This box will have everything you need to know the truth. I need you to open this when the right time comes. You’re a smart boy, Yuri and I believe in you. You’ll know when to open this but for now I need you to never tell anyone about today, me and this box. Can you promise me that?”

--

Present time

Yuri doesn’t remember who gave him the box. When he tries to picture the moment he was given it, the other person’s face is faded. He’s had the box for years now but he never dared to open it. What he does remember is that he was given the box a little after he started seeing Dr. Kim when he was still a young boy.

He kept the box unopened all this time because he wanted to keep the promise he made. He promised to open it at the right time. Yuri believed in what the person told him, that he’ll know when to open it. With everything that is happening, he felt as though this maybe the right time.

Yuri felt excited and nervous at the same time. What’s beyond the box could be something different than what he was expecting but it was all he had. He had to believe that whatever inside the box was the key to the missing pieces in his life because if he didn’t he would’ve had lost the will to live a long time ago.

This was his reason for continuing to live on. He believed that one day the right time to open the box will come. Today is that day.

Yuri grabs a pair of scissors from his drawer and sets his eyes on the box. He cuts through the tape and sets the scissors aside. He carefully grabs the flaps of the box and opens them.

At the very top of the things inside the box were two envelopes with something written on them. He took the two envelopes and sat down once again on his bed.

The first envelope had: “Read this first” written on it.

He sets down the other envelope and opens the first one. His hands trembled quite a bit but he was determined to do this. With an uneasy heart he tears the envelope open and reaches out for its contents. A letter dawned upon him and for the next few minutes he concentrated on reading it.

--

Dear Yuri,

If you’re reading this now, then that means you’ve found the right time to open the box I gave you before and that you haven’t forgotten about me. I wish you would have heard the truth from me back then but you were too young to understand and things were hard then. Before anything, I want to apologize to you. I don’t know what kind of life you would have when you read this but I want to say sorry for not being by your side. I had to run away because I wanted you to have a peaceful life. Believe me when I say that all I wanted was the best for you and nothing else.

There are people in this world who judge too quickly. They throw their words around carelessly and end up hurting other people. I didn’t want you to hear those bad words so I had to run away. It wasn’t the best way to protect you but it was my only choice back then. I had to give you and your father up to secure the future of our family.

When I met your father, I knew from the very start that he and I couldn’t be together. We belonged to two different worlds but even then, he fought for us to be together. Realizing that, I did the same but at the back of my mind I was afraid. I wanted to be with your father but I knew that if I really loved him, I needed to tell him the truth about me. I told him I was adopted and that your grandparents weren’t my birth parents. You know how your father is, right? He took it as simple as it was and didn’t think of it as anything serious but that wasn’t just the problem. I knew who were my birth parents were. Unfortunately, your real grandparents are far different from the one you have now.

I was 8 years old when your grandfather found me. It was a cold rainy night. That same night, I had run away from my home, from your real grandfather. My parents… they were different in every way. My mother sold me to bad people when I was still a baby. I had a rough time because when I grew up I had to do things that children my age shouldn’t be doing. I had to stay with those bad people for a long time then my real father found me. I thought that, that would be the start of a new and better life but I was wrong.

This was the first time I saw him ever since I was born. I thought he’d be the father I’ve always wanted but he wasn’t. I thought he came looking for me because he cared but he didn’t. He used me as a front. You see, he was wanted for a lot of crimes, including various counts of murder. He needed to assume another identity. And I was the perfect cover, after all who would suspect a man with a daughter to be a serial killer. He was the reason my mother sold me to bad people. Like me, my father used my mother as a front to remove the suspicions of the police on him. When my mother found out, she ran away when she was pregnant with me but in the end when I was born she sold me right off the bat. I guess she didn’t want to do anything with my father and so getting rid of me was the first step to that.

I knew I had to run away from my father. I wanted to go back to my mother, hoping that she would take me back but then I found out she died a little after I was sold to those bad people. I suspected my father but I never really knew what happened to her. That night felt like my last chance for a new life and I was right. If I hadn’t taken the risk, I would’ve died by my father’s hands. That’s when your grandfather, your aunt Sang Ah’s father, found me. I would never be able to thank him and his wife enough for letting me in their lives. They raised me like their own and there was nothing I could’ve ever wished for. The same goes to your aunt Sang Ah. She treated me like a real sister. I loved her and her family wholeheartedly. They gave me a reason to live on.

All of this, I told your father before we got married. I expected him to walk away. I expected him to leave me but he didn’t. Your father stood by me and I knew right then that I should never let him go. He made me believe that I was a good person and that my parents had absolutely nothing on me.

 And so we fought for us to be together. It was a long and hard fight because his parents found out about my past. Your father risked everything for me. He went against his parents for the first time in his life. Eventually, his parents caved in but they had to do everything in their power to hide who I was because the company was on the line. Like I said, there are people in this world who judge too quickly.

I’m telling you all of this now because just like how I did with your father, I want to tell you the truth. No matter what happens I want you to believe in yourself. You are a good person, Yuri. I believe in you and your father does too. It might seem like he doesn’t but he does. There are certain things he did that make it seem like he doesn’t but he did those out of love for you. Me and your father treasure you more than anything in this world and we would do anything to keep you safe from harm.

I want you to promise me to always believe in yourself. You are your own person, Yuri and no one else’s. Not even me or your father. You are you, Yuri. Never forget yourself and the kindness of your heart. You are probably confused as to why I’m saying all this but you’ll find out more when you read the second letter and the rest of the contents of the box.  

You’ll also find a piece of paper with a number written on it. I want you to call that number when you’ve read everything and when you’re ready. I'll be waiting for you.

I love you, my son. Goodbye. 

--

HELLO DEAR READERS!!! :) 

This is a two-letter chapter so the next chapter would be about the second letter! 

Tell me what you think about this chapter!! Any predictions about the story?? Write them down at the comments section!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!!! 

Till next chapter :D 

Peace! -ymllama