Author's Note: Just recently, we all were hit with the devastating news of a beloved K-Pop idol gone too soon. It's ironic that 10 years ago, I had started to listen to K-Pop with KARA songs during the time when Hara and Ji Young joined as new members and still listen to their albums. Also subconsciously, I had written their roles into my anthology series but in different stories with each season. This chapter is dedicated to the late Goo Hara and I will miss your sweet voice....

In Loving Memory of Goo Hara (1991-2019)

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Taecyeon was still reeling in shock after looking at the photo right after Nichkhun revealed that the girl he saw was dead but is roaming around to get revenge. But before he could do anything, a door opened by the mighty wind and when he tried to shut the door, he saw Yoona approaching him which put in frights. He backed away and screamed for help while Yoona looked worried.

"Please d-don't hurt me..! I was here for work and didn't know you were dead..." Taecyeon rambled on before Yoona approached him slowly and touched his hand. Taecyeon looked confused and realised that she is a human but not a ghost.

"It's okay Taecyeon-sshi, I'm alive and if I was dead, I would've went through you now....I know you have questions in your mind and I want your help to uncover the truth..." Yoona confessed. 

"My name is really Im Yoona, the person you thought is dead was actually my aunt, Park Mina. My mother was a young girl living with my aunt and grandparents in this little inn and they lived a happy and simple life. Until it changed when my aunt fell in love with a boy who was a mix of Chinese and American and came to Korea as a tourist. He was a nice guy when we let him stay and he was helping us arrange a visit to America for my further studies but slowly, he told the family of his felationship with Aunt Mina and we were happy for them..." Yoona narrated the story with a wistful smile until a tear fell from her right eye.

"It all came crashing down when Park Jaebum had his luftul eyes on her and kept of harrasing her until she rejected him in front of everyone. He found out about her relationship with the boy and along with the other boys, Jaebum and the others confronted the boy and stabbed him before hiding his body somewhere and just when things couldn't get any worse, Aunt Mina saw them but when she tried to expose them, Jaebum created a false rumour that her boyfriend was a spy for the government and that Aunt Mina betrayed them. She ran away in fear knowing that the people will be out to punish her and the family, she made my mother and grandparents escape the inn before they witnessed the horrifying sight of their inn burned down and Aunt Mina died of her injuries..." Yoona sobbed while Taecyeon wiped the tears from her face and gave her napkin.

"How did you your family get away from here...?" Taecyeon asked Yoona who dried her tears and continued the tragic story.

"The boy arranged Visas for a family visit to America for all of us for their wedding but my family used them to escape the tragedy and Omma fulfilled her studies in America, became a lawyer and married to a Korean-American businessman and lived our lives peacefully. It was during my grandparents' death bed that I found out about this tragic story of our family and Omma wanted to get justice for her Unnie but couldn't due to the laws of the country. So I decided to go to Korea to search for the truth but then few people started dying for unknown reasons and then bumped into you and realised that you were also here to find out the same thing even by accident..." Yoona finished narrating the tragic saga of her family.

"I know that I was here for few days now but I felt like I've known a lot of things that I couldn't in a lifetime. But now that I've known everything, I will help you get justice for a horrible crime so that it doesn't happen to any other innovent boy or girl...." Taecyeon promised to get justice while Yoona felt surprise yet touched by his gesture.

"We'll do whatever it takes to get Jaebum punished..." Nichkhun entered the room and nodded towards Taecyeon while he felt grateful for his support.

"But what we gonna do Taecyeon-sshi, how are we gonna punish Jaebum for his sins...." Yoona asked in a wary tone.

"All he needs a bit of a spook from a ghost to confess his sins..." Taecyeon replied with a smirk on his face and revealed the plan to Yoona while Nichkhun stood next to him and gave his ideas.

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Taecyeon had a call from Jaebum who wanted to discuss something inportant, but he had a feeling something wasn't right and wondered what he wanted to talk about. He entered the mansion by a maid, who directed that the mayor was up in the terrace waiting for him. He went upstairs to the terrace and saw Jaebum looking over at the terrace and looked over his shoulder to see Taecyeon with a smile on his face, the kind of smile that was unsettling.

"Taecyeon-ah..! Welcome to the Park Mansion....how did you find it here...." Jaebum asked while serving a drink to Taecyeon who took the glass, pretended to take a sip but dropped the liquid in a plant.

"Anni! It wasn't a problem Mayor Park..." Taecyeon pretended to make conversation whilst trying to stall to execute the plan. 

"Well it's not like every day when someone comes around and bad things start to happen. We had a few people die and as it turns out someone was asking about an incident that happened 30 years ago. About a girl named Park Mina and how her death wasn't an accident but rather murder by someone who had power..." Jaebum enquired in a suspicious tone.

"Mianhe Mayor Park, I don't know what you're talking about..." Taecyeon nervously replied but stopped when he saw Jaebum pulled out a revolver aiming at him.

"I wasn't born yesterday to know that people will be digging the past that I buried years ago. Mina was an obsession that I wanted to have but couldn't. I thought if I showered her with luxury and treated her like a queen that she would agree for my proposal but she rejected me in front of the townspeople. When I found out about her little romance with that Chinese half-breed, it sickened me and with my friends I decided to end everything she had and punish her..." Jaebum confessed in a sinister tone which alarmed Taecyeon who tried to text Yoona for the backup plan.

"We went to see that guy to confront him but he wasn't willing to leave and after a fight, me and my friends stabbed him and unluckily, Mina saw us in shock and I knew I had to come up with something so I had lied to everyone that her boyfriend was a spy who was trying to start a war and used Mina to get information and she betrayed her own people. The people got angry and Mina got scared that she ran away home, I thought if I scare her to listen to me then it will all be fine but it all backfired when the inn burned down and Mina died inside. I pretended to be sympathetic about it and decided to bury this incident and rebuilt the small inn again like brand new but then my friends started to die and wondered if it happened due to some curse and then you came along and started to ask questions...." Jaebum confessed everything while holding the revolver towards Taecyeon while he laughed at his foolishness which confused Jaebum.

"You won't get away with this, everyone will know about this and I've got this recorded on a live feed and the townspeople have seen it now." Taecyeon confessed and nodded towards Jaebum who saw townspeople coming towards the mansion with anger and outrage. Before he could react, a door opened and Yoona stepped out with anger and vengeance in her eyes which shocked Jaebum on her resemblance with Mina.

"Andwe! I can't believe this....you're dead, I've killed you both with my bare hands....stay away from me...." Jaebum ran away from them while Taecyeon ran after and due to the shock, Jaebum didn't see his footsteps and fell down the long height of stairs which resulted in his death.

The townspeople came inside and shocked to see Jaebum die but realised it was an real accident compared to the fake accident that happened 30 years ago. They confessed to the police that Taecyeon uncovered a horrible truth of a murder and needed their help to get justice for Mina while the corroner's report ruled Jaebum's death as a shock and accident. Taecyeon and Yoona hugged each other in relief that they were alive and survived from the ordeal without any further harm.

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Taecyeon and Yoona drove over to the inn that he was staying to get his luggage as they would be leaving together back to the States. He was telling Yoona about his journey so far since coming to Korea.

"To think I would never have done it without your help or Nichkhun..." Taecyeon mentioned about Nichkhun which confused Yoona.

"Really....I thought it was just the two of us in the plan, I never seen your friend anywhere..." Yoona confessed which further confused Taecyeon who went to the small inn and asked a woman about Nichkhun.

"Mianhe....we don't have anyone named Nichkhun working for us...." The manager confessed which made it more baffling. Taecyeon showed a photo in front of Yoona who made a shocking revelation.

"That's Khun Young, he was my aunt's boyfriend that was killed years ago...." Taecyeon now realises that the real ghost was actually Nichkhun who actually turned to be Khun Young, the boy from China that fell in love with Mina and died for his romance with her. He reminisced the moments when Khun Young spoke to him and the clues that indicated his life and persona and his connection to Mina and Jaebum.

A wind blew with an envelope near his feet, Taecyeon picked up the envelope and opened it to show a photo of Khun Young and Mina holding each other and smiling at the photo. He saw a letter inside and read what was was written to Taecyeon while Yoona read the letter aloud.

"Taecyeon-ah.....If you're reading this letter, you would know by know that I don't exist in this world anymore. I was a roaming spirit that lived a brief life that was happy and beautiful but ended in tragedy. When I met Mina and her family, they were like my second family and made me feel welcome. Mina was someone that I've connected in soul and mind and didn't expect to fall in love with her. I was scared what her family would think since I wasn't Korean but to my surprise they welcomed me with open arms as their son-in-law. But it felt like our happiness was cursed when Jaebum targetted Mina and went after me to remove me from Mina's life. When I died, I had little life left in me and transferred my spirit into the small inn and cried when I saw Mina die in front of me. After years of roaming around, I saw you and was surprised that you can see me and realised that you were the one to help me get revenge for the injustice and help my soul set free. I was the one that caused the deaths of his friends who had killed me years ago and I was there on the night you were confronted by Jaebum and he was in shock when he saw me standing behind Yoona and ran for his life before he died and killed himself. Now that I'm finally free, I'm finally united with Mina and her parents now. Kamsahamnida Taecyeon-ah....hope you find our own happiness with someone too...." 

Taecyeon and Yoona had tears in their eyes after reading the letter and knowing that they fulfilled an unfinished wish of a ghost. Taecyeon put their bags in the trunk and thanked the driver, he held Yoona's hand and they entered the taxi before driving off from the small inn. They looked back out of the window and saw the spirits of Khun Young and Mina waving at them with smiles in their faces.

"Thanks Khun Young...." Taecyeon whispered to himself and both him and Yoona waved back at the spirits, knowing they have finally come back together again and also bought Taecyeon and Yoona together to start their new beginnings as a couple.....

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End of The First Story

02 December 2019