XIII. Father

       “Hello, Heekyung,” Sihyeon’s mother stood her distance from the second mate of her ex-husband. They had never been on bad terms, but they had never been on good terms either. They were just . . . neutral.

       “Hello, Inha,” Heekyung smiled tiredly. Inha could tell by the dark circles under her eyes that she hadn’t been sleeping. Heekyung must have spent every night taking care of her husband.

       “How is he?” Inha asked.

       “Holding on,” Heekyung said as Joonjae walked over to her to hold her hand. Heekyung looked down at her son’s hand and clenched her teeth, trying to hold back tears. “Thank you,” she spoke in almost a whisper. “Thank you for coming. He’s been waiting for you both,” Heekyung looked back up at Sihyeon and Inha, but then her eyes traveled to Joonmyun. “May I ask, who you are?”

       Joonmyun cleared his throat, not sure how exactly to put it. He knew Sihyeon harbored ill feelings towards these people, but he also knew that she came to get rid of those feelings. He wasn’t sure what to say, but then Sihyeon spoke up.

       “My mate,” she spoke, making Joonmyun wince at how cold she was acting.

       Inha squeezed Sihyeon’s hand, but Sihyeon ignored it.

       Heekyung could barely look Sihyeon in the eye.

       “Ah, well, it is very nice to meet you . . .” she trailed off, still not knowing his name.

       “Joonmyun.”

       “Joonmyun,” Heekyung repeated.

       “Where is he,” Sihyeon asked.

       The girl beside Joonmyun was different. He had seen her act cold towards him before, but this was different. The anger was more deep-rooted. He was almost . . . almost terrified of her.

       Heekyung nodded and let go of her son’s hand.

       “Let me lead the way.”

       “I’ll go first,” Inha said.

       “Why don’t we go together?” Sihyeon asked.

       “I’m sure your father would like to speak to you alone,” Inha caressed her daughter’s cheek and curled her hair behind her ear. She smiled sadly and turned to enter the room alone.

       Sihyeon clenched her jaw and fists. Joonmyun wrapped his hand around them to calm her down. He could hear her heart racing. He wasn’t sure whether it was in fear or anger.

       Maybe it was both.

       “Let’s give them some privacy,” Joonmyun said.

       Heekyung and Joonjae nodded, agreeing.

       Sihyeon frowned. She didn’t want to leave her mother alone with that man, but it was her mother’s wish.

       “Inha,” Sihyeon’s father, Jinhyuk, was shocked to see his first and true mate standing beside his bedside. “Y-You’re here,” he tried to sit up, but such a menial task was energy draining.

       “Don’t,” Inha quickly spoke, assisting him with laying back down.

       She should have hated this man, this man that never truly showed her love, this man that tortured her and her daughter and broke both of their hearts over and over again.

       “W-When did you get here?” he asked.

       “It’s going to be all right,” Joonmyun wouldn’t let go of Sihyeon’s hands. “If you want, I’ll go in with you.”

       Sihyeon was too angry to feel sad. Coming back to the place where she was beaten and treated like she wasn’t meant to be born just to see the very man that destroyed her life because he requested it, made her angry. He had done so much to tear her and her mother apart. He didn’t deserve to see them.

       Sihyeon knew that she had come to receive closure, to forgive to be able to move on with Joonmyun but being in the place that started it all was firing her up.

       “I would like that,” Sihyeon said, still unable to wipe away the indifferent look on her face.

       “Sihyeon?” Sihyeon’s mother, Inha, walked around the corner and entered the backyard where they had been waiting in. “Your father’s ready to see you.”

       Joonmyun squeezed Sihyeon’s hands.

       “Let’s go.”

       “Sihyeon,” her father’s tears that he cried when he was speaking to Inha had still not dried. The bones of his cheeks were showing, as though his cheeks were hollow.

       “Why did you ask to see us?” Sihyeon hated the man. She hated what he had done to her and her mother, but what she hated the most was how she felt sorry for him. Despite all he had put them through, he was still her father.

       Sihyeon’s father let new tears fall as he stared at his standoffish daughter that he had been longing to see again for the past eight years. Jinhyuk knew how he treated his daughter and mate was wrong, but he had always been in control, so when he was presented with something that he couldn’t, he did everything in his power to change whatever destiny the Moon Goddess had presented him. That still didn’t justify his actions, and he knew that.

       “Sihyeon,” he cried.

       She hated him. He knew that much. His mate, Inha, had shown him forgiveness after what he had explained to her and warned him that Sihyeon would be very much different. There were a few good memories they shared, but the bad overpowered the good.

       “I’m so sorry,” he said, wiping his tears away. “I’ve done so much wrong to you and your mother. You both never deserved that kind of treatment. If I could go back and change what I did, I would. I was young and dumb. I wanted to be in control. Your mother told me how it was hard for you to accept your mate because what I had done. I am so sorry,” he knew that these words would mean nothing to Sihyeon, but he wanted to have a chance to explain himself.

       Sihyeon couldn’t hold back the scoff at the back of , causing Joonmyun to go rigid.

       “You’re sorry?” she asked. “You wanted to be in control, so you beat me to a pulp because the maids fed Joonjae blueberries when he was allergic to them? You wanted to be in control, so you forced Mom and I to scrub the floors of your house on our knees and hands? You wanted to be in control, so you fed us the scraps that even the maids didn’t eat!” Sihyeon’s voice grew louder and angrier.

       “Sihyeon, please,” her father tried to sit up and reach out to her, but she only backed away with disgust.

       She was supposed to find forgiveness, but forgiveness was nowhere in sight for her.

       Joonmyun knew that Sihyeon’s father’s condition was worsening, especially with his crying, so he grabbed onto her hand to remind her why they were really there, but Sihyeon only whipped her hand away from his.

       “You’re not sorry,” Sihyeon shook her head as her own tears fell. “This must be another power trip you’re having. Wanting us to feel sor—”

       “Sihyeon!”

       Sihyeon’s mother burst through the door, almost breaking it off its hinges.

       Sihyeon jumped and looked at her mother in surprise.

       “Inha, don’t—”

       “Do you know what he’s done for us?” Sihyeon’s mother cut Jinhyuk off.

       “What?” Sihyeon asked.

       “When werewolves runaway from a pack or leave without permission, they’re considered rouges and therefore have a target on their backs. I knew that,” Sihyeon’s mother in a sharp breath, “I knew that and still took our chances in the woods because I thought dying would have been better than living here for the rest of our lives. When we found the Hera pack, I was still surprised that we hadn’t been killed or found by other rouges. Do you know why?” she asked.

       “Inha,” Sihyeon’s father tried to stop his mate from speaking any further, but his body wasn’t letting him.

       Sihyeon could tell what the answer was, but she didn’t want to believe it.

       “Your father knew that it was better to let us go. He knew that we were running away and did everything he could to protect us. He is the reason why we are both still alive today.”

       Sihyeon’s jaw quivered. She looked from her mother to the dying man in bed. She shook her head and took in a shaky breath.

       “That doesn’t mean anything,” she said when she knew that it did mean everything.

       “I’m sorry, Sihyeon,” her father cried. “I was stupid. I should have held you both back, but when I saw how happy you both were when you left, I knew that I couldn’t keep you here even when I had regretted then how badly I treated you both. I love you and your mother, and I never stopped loving you both. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that I’m the reason why you can’t even trust your mate now.”

       Sihyeon shook as she cried. She hated him. She hated him so much, but it wasn’t until now that she realized that she loved him as much as she hated him. She remembered the bad, but there was still the good.

       She had always thought that the man in front of her was as evil as the devil himself, but he was still her father. He was still her father that loved her despite his actions showing otherwise. He was still her father that protected her all these years. He was still her father that she knew deep down that she loved and that loved her.

       “I’m sorry, baby,” Sihyeon’s father cried and reached his hand out to her. He wanted to hug her. He wanted to hold her one last time.

       Sihyeon hesitated, but with Joonmyun’s hands that rubbed her shoulders assuringly, she ran into her father’s arms one last time and cried with him.

       Sihyeon had finally found forgiveness.