TW: Mentions of violence and suicide.

RECAP:

My mom decided to stay in the hospital to take care of me for the rest of the day and it’s also better for her to stay because I’m afraid that my father might actually do something that might harm her while I’m recovering and not around her to protect her. Myungsoo on the other hand had himself excused as his family also wants to be with him since this issue didn’t only affected me great but also him. He has received the same amount of boycott when my family issue popped out of nowhere and he is equally shaken from the recent happenings.

I would be lying if I say I am not nervous for the appointment tomorrow because I am I really am nervous and afraid of what I can possibly say or do out of anger.

Let’s just see.

SUNGYEOL’S POV

The day that I am dreading has finally come. My mom and I will meet the man who abandoned us and hurt us to the extent of numbness. We are finally getting the chance to hear his side of the story. As much as I am curious, if I could choose peace then I would but now that my mom really wanted to meet him, how can I say no?

“Son, are you alright?” my mom asked as he fix the collar of my shirt.

My mother stayed overnight in the hospital, in the protection of my security and of myself. Leaving her alone in our family home won’t be a good idea knowing how impulsive my father is.

We agreed on meeting at lunch but it’s just nine in the morning but we’re already good to go. I’d rather be the first one to get there so we could make sure that the place is safe and maybe grab a bite for early lunch. I don’t know how I’ll act if I face him with an empty stomach. Manager hyung also insisted on coming with us despite not being in his job description to also solve the problems in my personal life and with that I am even more grateful to him. He said that he’ll just feel better and at ease if he’s with us. He really truly grew as my real hyung.

“Mrs. Lee, are you all set?” Manager hyung asked.

“Ah yes I am. I am good to go just let me grab my purse.” my mother said and went to my side table to grab her purse with her belongings inside. I looked at the mirror one last time before giving Manager hyung a subtle nod indicating that we’re good to go.

Before anything else, my doctor visited me once more before letting us go. I am feeling a lot better now thanks to my doctors and great support system. Unfortunately, Myungsoo wasn’t able to catch up this morning as his mother fell ill and wanted him beside him which I understand. I guess I’ll just inform him of what will happened later at our home.

We finally went down to the carpark and to our surprise, there was a huge amount of paparazzi waiting for us. My bodyguards immediately covered me and my mom with their coats and escorted us inside the van.

“What the heck was that?!?! Who leaked information!!!!” Manager hyung roared inside the van which visibly surprised my mom. I forgot that she doesn’t really come with me at work so she is not aware of the work environment that I have. I held her hand and squeeze them a little bit to comfort her.

“Don’t worry to much, mom. Hyung is normally like that when he is mad. I’m sorry you had to witness the intensity of my work. These days has been extra sensitive so everybody around me is a bit on edge.” I explained in a whisper and this time my mom was the one who squeezed my hand for comfort.

“Someone better explain themselves before I start firing people on the spot. This isn’t something the media should’ve known of. Someone check on the restaurant. I swear if the restaurant is full of the media people, we will change location.” Manager hyung barked.

“Hyung. Change location? How about, father?” I asked in confusion.

“He have to follow our conditions or else there will be no conversation that will happen. I know this is beyond my work as a manager but you are still under my care, and you know very well that I mean you no harm.” Manager hyung explained.

“I know hyung but if we cancel now or change location that might be the reason of this appointment not happening then I have to fight with you and go to the restaurant ourselves.” I said firmly.

“What?! No. The media made enough money on articles about you. They don’t get to monetize this personal moment as well.” Manager hyung argued.

“But hyung. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the patience to face that bastard, and I don’t want to prolong the agony of my mom. Let’s just get this over with.” I argued back.

“Very well. To the restaurant we go.” Manager hyung said in defeat.

Just as expected, the restaurant was already swarmed with unwanted people outside. We can see from a far that the restaurant was having a hard time controlling the crowd but they were doing their best to keep the media from entering. Two of the body guards went out of the car to clear the way and once there’s space that would fit us to get through, the remaining two bodyguards escorted my mom and I inside the restaurant with Manager hyung following us. Once we entered the restaurant, the main door of the restaurant was immediately barricaded which concerned us on how my father would be able to enter only to be surprised that my father was already seated on one of the tables inside the restaurant, eating his breakfast.

Once we met eyes, he immediately stopped eating and stood up. One of the bodyguards was too quick to cover us with his body. Manager hyung then told the body guard that it was my father. I gave him a tap on the shoulder and quickly moved away to reveal my father already tearing up.

“Yeobo~” my father said with shaky voice as he approach my mother.

“Don’t call me that.” my mother responded harshly and stood behind me.

“Let’s sit and then we’ll only give you this chance to talk and after this whatever happens you have to accept it. You should be thankful that mom even wanted to talk to you much less see you. If you ask me, you don’t deserve another second of our time after you abandoned us. You coward.” I said sharply.

After we were sat, we just stared at each other for a few minutes, not knowing how to start the conversation. My father was looking intensely on my mother as if wanting to touch her and hug her. He has been tearing up since a while ago while my mother was just sitting there and looking at the table.

“If you’re waiting for us to leave then that’s not gonna happen. If you need to talk, just talk now, mister.” Manager hyung said to my father as he stand behind me along with the body guards.

“I-I won’t harm them. You can search me all you want, but you won’t find any weapon with me. I just want to talk to my wife and son alone. Can’t you give us that?” my father practically begged but Manager hyung stood his ground and just shook his head. As if on defeat, my father heaved a very obvious sigh.

“Now start talking before my patience run out.” I said blandly.

“I don’t know where to start.” my father admitted.

“Start with the truth. If you say some bull, consider this conversation done.”

“I understand.”

“Yeol-ah, calm down. Let him talk.” my mother said as she rubbed my arm to comfort me.

“First of all, I would like to apologize to you both. Believe me when I say I have been wanting to contact you for years now but there are forces way beyond my ability trying to force us to be away from each other. I tried. I really did. I have been circling Sungyeol’s condo for months now waiting for a window of time where there’s no body guard around but the security of the condo is too tight so I can’t get through. My next move was to find you, Yeobo.”

”I said don’t call me that.” my mom protested and my father just sighed.

“I found you. I found your new house. When you went out one time to buy some groceries nearby, I was planning on calling out to you and explain myself but there are still people following me. I was afraid that if I made a move, they might harm you so I decided to finish this problem of mine before I finally make a move.”

“Bull. What kind of made up story was that? Serious? Mafia-like stories in this day and age? Cut the crap.” I said impatiently.

“Your anger is valid and I am very sorry, Yeol-ah. I don’t expect you to forgive me immediately but I am still hoping that you will find it in your heart to forgive me someday. I am saying the truth and I can even show you some proof to back up what I am saying. So this is what really happened, my father turned out to be millions and millions in debt with a loan shark in our town and since my career as a badminton player was taking off, the loan shark thought that I was raking money so the deadline given to my father got shorter and shorter to the point of impossibility. I had no choice but to leave you guys before you become the collateral damage. I saw how the loan shark and his crew tortured my father physically and mentally. I was there. They forced me and my mother to watch how they torture my father.” my father started explaining and stopped for a bit as he choke back the tears.

“Your grandmother died the next day because of a heart attack. She wasn’t able to take what your grandfather went through. It was just too much for her. I managed to bargain for my life by promising to pay them back whatever it takes. I let go of my career and my family to pay them. These past few decades, I spent my time working until I am exhausted to give them what they want. They were watching me 24/7 without break. I developed PTSD because of that but I have to fight and do my best to pay them back so I can finally have you two back.” my father continued.

I was blinded by my anger so I didn’t notice the fine lines and wrinkles in his face, the tattered shirt and pants, the lightening bruises on his neck and skinny chest, and his almost-healed busted lips. He then grabbed his backpack and was about to open it but my body guard was too quick and grabbed the bag from him to check if there was any weapon or something worth worrying about, after a quick check, he returned it to my father. My father pulled a untidy envelope with creases and folds and handed it to us.

“This contains all the photos I manage to take of the loan shark’s men who were stalking me. It also has screenshots of the texts of threats of the loan shark to me. I am gathering them because I am planning to sue them when I get the chance and this is it. This is it, Sungyeol. Please help me.” he got out of his seat and knelt down to beg me. He went down to kiss my shoes. As much as I hate my father, no one deserves to feel that low. I immediately helped him to stand up and he took this chance to hug me tight.

“Help me, my son. I am scared. I am really scared.” he cried hard like a baby. I just let him feel his emotions and allowed him to hug me and to cry on me. My mother was also already tearing up as she looks at her husband and son having a moment.

“Y-You can let go of me now.” I said quietly and he did.

I sat down again and looked at the evidences that my father presented to us. I motioned Manager to take a look at it as well since he have dealt with stalker incidences way too much and evidences like these were normal for him. He carefully scrutinized it and gave me a nod which indicated that the evidences presented weren’t fabricated at all. I looked at my father once again and then to my mom.

“So does this mean that you risked your life for this?” I asked.

“Not entirely. I already paid my dues with them. I sold all of my property and my family’s property which left me with nothing, but I still had to work so I applied to all sorts of jobs and slept in the streets until I found a pub that took me in. The pay was good because I need to do some odd job for them that I am not proud of. I felt less and less of a human after all the things I did and after all the things they did to me. I almost ended my life when I finally paid them back because I can’t find any purpose in life anymore. I felt like I don’t deserve you both any more. I feel like you will be disgusted with me, but then I saw you on the tv screen all smiles and living the life. You made me so proud, Sungyeol. It gave me the boost I needed that time so when you guested in that show where your fans can call you, I took the chance and called you. I already know that you will hate me but now that I’m almost free from their clasps, I can’t give up now.” he explained and reached out to my hand and held it. I can feel the callouses in his hand that has formed over time and the rough cuts in different parts of his hand.

“I thought you already paid them? Why aren’t you free yet?”

“In the underground, that’s not how things works. Even if they got what they want, I am still indebted to them. I am still under their radar unless I do something about it. That’s why I am begging you to help me. With your influence, I was hoping you can end this torture of mine.”

“So, the people were right. You only contacted me for the money? For my fame? You’re just going to use me?” I scoffed.

“Yeol-ah” my mom breathed as if asking me to give in and help my father. I can’t hate my mother for getting soft immediately. She once loved this man so much.

“It’s not that, Yeol-ah. I-I just want us to live peacefully. I want you guys back in my life. I think I deserve that after the hell I’ve been through.”

“And how about us? We also went through hell. Mom went through hell almost every day for years when you left us. How are you going to make it up to us? Huh? I was bullied. I was also physically bullied for being fatherless. I went through hell too!” I responded and I found myself crying as well.

“I’m sorry, Yeol-ah.” my father said as he stood up and hugged me and cried with me. He also extended his other arm and invited my mom who’s already crying in the hug. The room was filled with heightened emotions and the outside of the restaurant was flooded with camera flashes as the media tried to capture the moment through the crack in between of the curtains.

“Yeol-ah. Please, son. Let’s end this agony. I know the world has been cruel to all of us and we need to regain our right to live a good life.” he said and in a brief moment, my father looked like the carefree teen that he was in the pictures that was left at our home.

There are so many things to process. I was partly relieved that he didn’t leave us for a new family and partly mortified to learn what happened to him and what forced him to abandon us….. his family.

“Okay. I’ll help.” I said which shocked all of the people in the room especially Manager hyung. I immediately went beside me and asked if what I said was really correct and I told him it was.

“Hyung. Do me a favor and ask our lawyer friend to take a look on this matter.” I said to Manager hyung and immediately after hearing what I said, my father hugged me once again but I immediately pulled away.

“I am not doing this for you alone. I am doing this for my mom. I can’t have your goons go after her. This is for our peace of mind as well, and my conscience dictates that we are still related by blood and that you don’t deserve to be treated like that.” I said.

“Thank you so much, Yeol-ah! This means a lot to me, son. We’re finally going to be a complete family. I promise to do my best to make up for every second that we spent away from each other. I will be a better person for the both of you.” my father said in relief.

“Don’t thank me. Thank, mom. If she wasn’t here, I would’ve punched you already.” I scoffed.

“Yeobo. I’m really sorry.” my father said while holding my mom’s hands.

“I am also sorry that you went through those hard times. No one deserves that.” my mom said and removed her hands from my father’s grip.

“I still haven’t forgave you, so please try not to go too close to us still. Don’t try to contact mom without me knowing. Don’t try to sneak in. Just don’t do anything fishy or I will immediately stop this investigation to free you.” I exclaimed.

“I understand. I will stay in the shadows but, son. I am still hoping that we would be together in one house someday.” he sighed.

“No promises. Just take care of yourself until the end of this battle and let’s see from there if your fantasy will become a reality. We have to go.” I said and stood up from my seat, but before I could walk away, he grabbed my wrist and looked at me intently.

“Thank you so much. I am sincerely grateful to the both of you. I promise to stay away from your sight for the moment. I won’t cause any scene but please let me see you guys even just once a week.” he begged.

“Month.”

“Hmm?”

“Once a month. You can see us once a month or when you are needed for the case. That’s the best I can do. You can contact one of my body guards first before going directly to us. This is for our protection.” I said.

“Okay. I understand. Thank you, son. Take good care of your mother.”

“Don’t worry. I always do….. dad.”

And with that we left the restaurant and were met with the familiar sight of media mobbing me.

a/n

the truth has finally been revealed! 

i am as excited as you are as to what is going to happen next.

please stay tune!