Pain

Devoted Love
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Park Shin Hye stormed out of the big mansion as fast as she can and ignored those eyes that were following her movement. She quickly ran to the main gate and exited the house that felt like a hell for her. Without turning back, she took big steps and keeps running forward without bothering where she was going. Her cheek ached and the corner of her split lip stung her. Tears were b in her eyes, threatening to escape. But no matter how the liquid stung her eyes, she wouldn’t let it roll down. She wouldn’t let herself cry because of them, because of Park Doo Jun’s slap. She is stronger than that. All the humiliation she got today, all the pains that caused her mother’s death, she vowed to make them pay back. Maybe not now but one day… they will definitely going to regret with what they did.

She wasn’t sure how long she has been walking but her steps have started to slow down due to exhaustion. All the emotions, all the anger and rages have drained her body and make her unable to walk anymore. She stopped at the roadside, looking around the place, hoping there will be a taxi that could bring her away from this place. High walls, multiple surveillance cameras surrounded the area, making it impossible to even take a glance at the houses there. Maybe the taxi driver that brought her here earlier was right. He told her that it’s not easy to find a taxi at this area. This was an upscale neighbourhood in Sungbook-Dong and the people who live here are all very rich and have their own driver. No taxi will come here.

A soft sigh slowly escaped her lips as she stepped backward and leaned her body against a tall wall, outside one of the house. This is the first time she came to Seoul and she is not familiar with this place at all. How is she going to go back to her motel? Walk back? Where? Which way she needs to use to go back? Her brain seems too tired to think of anything now but she knows she have to leave this place as soon as possible. The sky is getting darker and it will be harder for her to leave later.

And just when she wanted to continue walking, she felt drops of rain hit on top of her head. She looked down and saw big droplets of rain fell around in a fast pace, quenching the dry earth. Her hands slowly clenched into fists, as she glanced up at the darkened sky.

“What have I done wrong that you have to be so cruel to me?” She sank her teeth into her bottom lip as tears finally rolled down her cheeks, blending with the relentless rain. She was frozen in place; content to just stay in her own unreleased misery. Her dress was soaking wet but she didn’t care that she will die from the cold. She felt her life simply wasn’t worth living anymore.

Her mother, the only person who actually cares for her existence was no longer here. The man that he claimed was her father and love her, slapped her mercilessly just because she humiliated the woman that destroyed her mother’s life. What is the meaning of continuing to live in this world?

Just when she clenched her jaw, doesn’t want to admit defeat to her fate, a loud crash of thunder cut through the silence and frightened her. She let out a terrified whimper as another rumble of thunder boomed again. She quickly squatted down on spot, set on her knees and buried her face in with her hands covering both her ears. Her body began to shake violently as the cold rain continued to pour on her. She is not afraid of heavy rain but please not thunder. Please…

“Stop… stop…” She cried softly. “Eomma… eomma… the thunder… please make it stop… eomma…”

But no matter how hard she begged, the rain didn’t stop, the thunder and lightning still continue to roll throughout the sky. Shin Hye slowly looked up but she could barely see anything; it was raining so hard. She cried, tears of fear and anxiety splashing down her beautiful face.

“Eomma… eomma… where are you?” She wailed as she slowly brought her forearm to her lips and sank her teeth into the flesh of her hand. Ignoring the pain that was searing her consciousness, she continued to bite her hand as hard as she can. She knows by doing so her fear will slowly numbed and lost in the pain.

 

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“Sajang-nim.” Secretary Oh approached Min Ho when he saw his boss came down from the stairs.

His bow tie has already taken off and the first few buttons of his shirt was ed. His hair was slightly unruly and a bit messy. He looked worried without a trace of smile on his face. Something must have happened that make his always-smile face to look like that.

“Have all the guests left?” Min Ho asked when his eyes met with the older man.

Secretary Oh nodded. “Outside is raining and I told them hoejang-nim is not feeling well. The party have to cancel.”

“Okay.” Min Ho pursed his lips. This is the best way since nobody will really enjoy the party after what happened just now. The party is just a formality to tell the world that Jang Ji Ae is officially married to Park Doo Jun now. With or without this wedding party, everyone already acknowledged and accepted her position in this house.

“Is everything okay? Is hoejang-nim okay?” Secretary Oh asked in concern.

Min Ho looked back at him and heaved a deep sigh. “He is having a headache and we just gave him some medicine. I think he will be better after taking some rest.”

Secretary Oh stared at him, hesitated for a moment before he spoke again. “That girl who came just now… is she… hoejang-nim’s elder daughter?”

Min Ho was slightly taken aback by his question, surprised that Secretary Oh know about Shin Hye too. But come to think about it, he shouldn’t be surprised at all. Before Secretary Oh work for him, he has been working with his father for a long time. He is not a stranger to this family.

Nodding his head softly, Min Ho let out a weak smile. “She came here to give something back to abeoji. Her mother… has just passed away.”

Secretary Oh creased his brows before letting out a deep sigh. “Poor girl.” He said in a sympathy tone. Although he hasn’t see Park Doo Jun’s first wife and his elder daughter before but after working for him for such a long time, he can roughly imagine what kind of life Shin Hye and her mother has gone through all these years.

‘Poor girl’ can’t even enough to describe the misery she must have been enduring now. Heaving another deep sigh, Min Ho gave the older man a soft squeeze on his arm and smiled at him. “Thank you for your help today. It’s raining outside. You should go back.”

Secretary Oh nodded and gave him back a kind smile. “I’ll see sajang-nim in the office next Monday.”

After he left, Min Ho walked to the cabinet at the corner and took his car key, heading towards the door. But before he could walk out of the house, Bo Young’s voice was heard and stopped his step.

“Oppa…”

He turned around and saw Bo Young running down the stairs, rushing towards him. A light smile curled up his lips, shielding the worries on his face when Bo Young stopped in front of him.

She glanced at the car key in his hand and travelled her eyes back at his face. “Where are you going?”

Min Ho reached out to hold her hand and looked into her eyes. “I have to go out to find your sister. It’s raining outside and I’m worried about her.”

“She is not my sister.” Bo Young said, pouting her lips. “She said it just now that I’m not her sister. And I don’t like her. She said something to hurt eomma and make appa almost fainted just now. She is very rude and… the way she look at us is so scary… like we are her enemy.”

A deep sigh escaped Min Ho lips as he tightened his grip around her hand. “Don’t be mad at her. Her mother just passed away and it’s understandable that she is not in her good mood. Don’t be serious with what she said just now. She is grieving and she just wants to let all her anger out. I’m sure it was just an angry talk. You heard what abeoji said just now. He cares for her and doesn’t want to lose her. She is our family. I have to find her and make sure she is okay.”

“But where are you going to find her?” Bo Young argued. “She had left for more than an hour now. She probably has gone back to… to where she came from. You don’t have her contact number and don’t even know where she stays. How are you going to look for her? And outside is raining so heavily.”

“I don’t know but… my intuition told me that she might still be around. I didn’t see any car waiting outside when she came just now and if she really took a taxi here, then she probably wouldn’t get one to go back. You know taxi seldom come to this area. She might be… trapped somewhere around because of the heavy rain.” Min Ho paused and looked at Bo Young. “I know you are angry because she was the reason that your mother’s wedding party was destroyed but no matter what, she is still your sister. I promised abeoji that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I have to find her.”

“It’s raining and the road is very slippery. You have to be careful. Come back immediately if you couldn’t find her.” Bo Young said with a worried tone, defeated by him and gave in. “She is not your responsibility.”

Min Ho smiled before he leaned forward and kissed her forehead softly. “I’ll be careful.” He whispered, pulled back and looked at her again. “Take care of abeoji.”

Bo Yeong nodded before she let go of his hand reluctantly. Looking at him walking out of the door, walking away from her, an uncomfortable feeling swirled around inside her chest. She could feel that Shin Hye’s presence would bring them a lot of problem in the future.

 

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Min Ho slowly drove down a quiet road around the neighbourhood as his eyes were darted firmly at the road ahead. The rain has become more and more heavier and makes it more difficult for him to focus with the windscreen wiper moving fiercely in front of his eyes.

Thirty minutes has passed since he drove around to look for Shin Hye. Maybe Bo Young was right. It was almost two hours now and she might have left already. But it’s really not possible for her to get a taxi at this place especially at this hour. He still believe that she is somehow still waiting somewhere around the place.

He continued to drive until turning left into another road where there were big houses along the way. He kept his eyes wide open and just when he turned his head to his left; he quickly stepped on the brake to stop the car. His eyes widened further when he saw a tiny, trembling figure sitting at the roadside, soaked in the heavy rain. Although it was dark and the rain was so heavy but he still recognized her outfit. It was the same black dress he saw her wearing in the party just now. It was her. Without wasting anymore time, Min Ho took the umbrella from the back seat, opened the door and quickly jumped down of the car.  

Shin Hye closed her eyes tightly as another heavy roll of thunder crashed into her ears. She crouched low to the ground, shielding her ears with her hands. The rain was too heavy, the thunder was terrifying loud and she didn’t even notice a shadowy figure running up to her. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she nearly jumped up in shock. Her face jerked up and it took her a moment to take a clearer look at the person in front of her.

“S-Shin Hye…” Min Ho covered her under the umbrella, looking at her worriedly. She looked… vulnerable.

In that brief moment, Shin Hye felt a strong urge of throwing herself into his arms. She is very scared, terrified by the loud thunder and lightning above her. She needs a place to hide, a place where someone will protect her. It was always her mother’s jobs to comfort her, to keep her safe during a thunderstorm like this but now; she has gone and left her alone. She has lost her only place where she felt safe and well protected. She has no one anymore.

But as she stared at Min Ho’s face, the picture of what happened in his house just now came rushing back into her mind. She bit her lip hard, resisting the urge of showing her real self to him. Suddenly, she felt thankful it was raining because it disguised her weakness and protect her pride.

Min Ho scanned her from top to toe, to make sure she is okay. Her face was pale and her lips were almost purplish. He reached out to grasp her hand and was shocked of how cold she was. “You are freezing.” He said as he gently pulled her up to a standing position. Her body was still trembling. “Come, get inside my car.” He held her hand and when he wanted to pull her over to his car, Shin Hye yanked her hand hard and took a step back, lengthened the distance between them and let the rain to beat down on her once again.

“What are you doing?” Min Ho asked anxiously as he walked forward to cover her with the umbrella again.

“I don’t need your help.” Shin Hye said in a shaky voice, trying hard to sound cold.

Min Ho heaved a deep sigh and looked at her. “I know you are still angry with everything that had happened but… it’s raining now and you are all wet. You will be sick if you continue to stand here. Let me help you. I don’t mean any harm. I… I just want to send you back and I promise I’ll leave you alone after that.”

“I said I don’t need your help. I can go back myself.” Shin Hye said stubbornly. They were both literally shouting at each other due to the heavy rain.

When Min Ho saw her turning around and wanted to walk away from him, he quickly rushed over and held her hand tightly to stop her.

“Ouch…” Shin Hye winced when she felt the sudden pain and turn back to him, looking down at her own hand.

Min Ho followed her gaze and saw the wound on her forearm. The bite mark was still fresh from the way the wound looked. If he remembers correctly, the wound wasn’t there when she was in their house just now. He shifted his gaze back to her face as his brows furrowed. “Did you bite yourself?”

Shin Hye looked into his eyes and forced a curt smile on her face. “Good that you see it yourself. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. As you can see, I bite. You better leave when you still can before I snap you.” She warned him as she tried to pull her hand away from him. But this time, he didn’t let her go and even tightened his grip around her wrist.

Forcing himself to ignore the bite mark that make him felt uncomfortable, he held her gaze. “Let me send you back first. You can bite or chew or do whatever you want after that.” He said firmly, unaffected by her warning. What he wants now is to bring her away from soaking under the rain.

Shin Hye inhaled a deep breath as her gaze moved to his expensive car that was parked not far away from them. She slowly looked back at him and spoke coldly. “Let me go. I don’t need your help. I’m soaking wet. I think I’m too dirty to sit inside your beautiful car. I have no money to pay you back for the expensive leather seats if I dirty it.”

Min Ho pressed his lips together and felt extremely helpless in front of this woman. He has never seen someone as stubborn as her before. Even with her body trembling because of the cold, she still stubbornly refused his help. But no matter how stubborn she was, he couldn’t leave her alone like this. Without thinking further, he let go of her hand before throwing the umbrella he was holding onto the ground and let the rain poured onto him, soaking his whole body too.

Shin Hye widened her eyes slightly, startled and confused with his action. What is he doing, she wondered.

“Look at me. I’m wet and dirty too. So don’t worry that I’ll blame you for ruining my leather seats.” Min Ho said and when she didn’t say anything back, he took a step forward and looked deep into her eyes. “I know you hate me… hate all of us. But getting yourself… like this, it won’t help you to accomplish anything. If you want to show us how strong you are, how much you want your father to feel sorry and guilty over what he did, I think the first thing you need to do is let yourself well taken care.” Reaching out to hold her freezing hand once again, he was surprised that she didn’t pull away this time. “We might both get pneumonia if we continue to stand under the rain like this. So please… get inside the car, okay?” He pleads softly.

She wasn’t sure what got into her but his concern gaze makes her heart softened and slowly broke down the wall she built in between them. She finds it irritably difficult to turn him down.

A soft smile spread across Min Ho’s wet face when he saw her eyes softened and didn’t reject him anymore. Without giving her any time to think twice, he quickly pulled her towards his car and opened the door for her before she regret and changed her mind. After she went in, he closed the door and quickly ran to the other side and jumped into the car as well. He opened the glove compartment in front the passenger seat, pulled out a box of tissue and passed it to her. He then turned to the back and took a jacket that was lying on the seat.

“You are freezing cold.” He said worriedly as he covered Shin Hye with the jacket before he turned the heater stronger.

Shin Hye wiped her face with the tissue as she stole a sideway glance at him. He was still staring at her and his gaze magically burned her ice-cold cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out few pieces of tissue from the box and passed it to him. He was as wet as her too.

“Thank you.” Min Ho smiled. “Where are you staying?” He asked as he wiped himself with the tissue.

Shin Hye bit her lip and turned to the window, avoid looking at him. “Blue Motel at Nogosan-dong.”

Min Ho stopped wiping his face and looked at her with a shock gaze. Motel? She is staying in a motel alone? And at that moment, the conversation she had with his father just now slowly replayed in his mind. She said she earn money by selling herself to men. Does she really mean it or it’s just a lie to hurt his father? Min Ho continued to stare at her and let out a soft sigh. No matter what she did in the past, it’s not important anymore. From now onwards, he will not let her do anything that will hurt herself or ruin her life again. He will take care of her, protect her and bring her back to her family.

Taking another deep breath, he fastened the seatbelt before starting the car and drove away.

 

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The rain has already stopped by the time they reached the motel that Shin Hye was staying. Min Ho’s brows instantly furrowed together when he saw the building in front of him. The motel was situated on a main busy road and looked absolutely awful. The building has only three storeys and it was looking old with a bit of stains here and there. But that was not the ma

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rifdha_azmi #1
Chapter 13: Hope you will update these stories again.
stoneflower #2
Please update this story, please. Thank you!
romantic-lover16 #3
Chapter 13: Please continue this story….🙏🙏🙏🙏
dreamcatcher27 #4
Chapter 13: Authornim please continue this story'
vienna19 #5
Chapter 13: Authornim i hope you r fine n healthy, very please update your ongoing story dont left us hanging like this 😭😭😭
bgaspar23 #6
Author-nim please comeback! Waiting for your update it's been a long time please 😭😭😭
Esraasaied #7
Chapter 13: Authornim please update 😭😭😭
dreamcatcher27 #8
Chapter 1: I have reread this story, and I still cry whenever I read this.. I hope you Will continue this story and make happy ending for our minshin..
czpiee #9
Chapter 13: Please comeback authomnim..
I miss you
bgaspar23 #10
Chapter 13: Authornim please update almost every day I check it! Please comeback.