The Truth
Behind That Bright Smile [Sequel to Behind the Thick-Framed Glasses]
✻ chapter eighteen:
the truth
eun mi's pov
After school ended, Zelo moved into Yongguk and Jongup's apartment and L.Joe went home. When I woke up the next morning, the familiar feeling of loneliness crept up into me again. Now that I was used to waking up because of Zelo's nagging, I felt kind of empty inside.
And I haven't felt that way in a long time.
Why won't Zelo tell me who Park So Eun is? I wondered to myself as I got out of bed and into the bathroom. She obviously has something to do with me. Is she related to me somehow?
I stood in front of my reflection, staring at my sleepy self in the mirror, thinking. Then, a lightbulb lit up in my mind and I rushed to my laptop that I had out away under my bed. I haven't used it in a while and wondered if it was already charged.
Thankfully it wasn't dead and it had half of it's batteries left. I logged in, going to the Internet and searching, What is the address of the main building of JellCorporations?
The search answers came up and I scribbled the address on the palm of my hand in blue ink. I frantically changed clothes and headed off to my destination.
If Zelo wasn't going to tell me his little secret, then I had no choice but to go and find out for myself.
-- ♥ --
"Deep breathes. Take long, steady deep breathes." I whispered to myself, my palms sweating and turning clammy. Closing my eyes, my chest heaved up and down as I inhaled and exhaled deeply.
I opened my eyes again and looked up at the tall building before me. This was it. This was the JellCo Headquarters. All I had to do now was barge in there and demand answers from Mr. Choi. It was as simple as that.
A few people walking by eyed me suspiciously and I gulped, hurrying up the stair-steps and through the glass doors. The bottom floor was full of people rushing here and there and I nervously walked over to the front desk.
"Um, excuse me..." I started and the lady working at the computer looked up. "Is Choi Jung Ho in his office right now?"
"Who?" She asked, looking straight at me from behind her spectacles. I glanced at the nametag on her vest, which read Han Sunhwa. "Oh, do you mean President Choi?"
"Y-yes, is President Choi in?" I asked again. "May I see him?"
"I can see if he is available or not. But first, your name."
"P-Park Eun Mi."
She nodded and held up a finger before picking up the phone on her desk. "Please wait a moment."
I could hear the phone ring against her ear and my heart pounded at the same time. After waiting for four rings, the phone on the other end picked up.
"President, there is someone here to see you." Sunhwa said. "She goes by the name Park Eun Mi."
There was a short pause at the other end before Sunhwa hung up and told me, "The president's office is on the third floor. Once you exit the elevator, turn left and you'll see it right away."
I bowed, thanking her, and left to go on the elevator. I was squished into the very back corner by people coming up and down and had no choice but to stand with my cheek against the wall.
The elevator timer dinged and I went alone with the wave of the crowd. Looking to the left, I saw a sign on a door that said, President Choi.
I carefully walked over to the door and raised my fist to the door. I shut my eyes for the millionth time and I knocked once, twice, three times on the polished wood.
"Come in." A partially muffled voice called out from inside the room.
I twisted the knob, opened the door, and stepped inside. The office was quite big, with several chairs surrounding a table of papers and a desk in the back, where the President sat now, looking at more documents and files.
The President looked up and seemed pretty amused to see me standing there in front of him. I bowed awkwardly to him and my fingers played with a lose string hanging on the hem of my shirt.
"What brings you here at this time of day?" He asked.
I looked up and tried to meet his intimidating gaze. "I want to know why you kidnapped me."
"Why?" He repeated, putting down his pen soundlessly. "Didn't I already tell you? I want you to stay away from my son."
I shook my head, knowing he would say that. "No, I know that's not the reason."
Mr. Choi looked shocked at my response. "What?"
"I know that not the reason to why you kidnapped me." I repeated again. "I want to know what the real reason is."
Zelo's father just sat there and eyed me carefully, searching my face for any emotion. I confidently stared back at him, not backing down. "Why don't you start by telling me who Park So Eun is?"
As I expected, he didn't answer right away, but eventually gave up and told me. "She was a beautiful woman, your mother."
I breathed in sharply and tore the loose string in half. So this person really was my mother.
"She was always smiling and laughing." His voice had gotten softer and gentle this time. "Always the good student, she was like the role model for everyone."
My eyebrows furrowed together as my fingers moved to the end of my shirt and fuddled with it. Why was he talking about her as though he was in love with her?
"You look a lot like her, you know." I snapped back to the current situation when he said that. He continued talking. "It's a shame she won't ever get to see you like this."
"Tell me, why do you care about her so much?" I asked, trying to get straight to the point.
Mr. Choi sighed, standing up from his desk and slowly stepped towards me. "I knew this day would come, I just never thought it would be this soon..."
"What day?"
"The day I would tell you that I was in love with your mother," he told me softly, but loud enough for me to hear. "But she and my best friend were in love with each other instead."
"Your best friend...?" I had a really bad feeling about this.
"Seohyun's father. He was my best friend." He told me, pacing back and forth like before. "Park So Eun and Seohyun's father, they're your parents. But then he met Seohyun's mother, and he left So Eun."
I tried to follow what he was telling me but it couldn't be possible. "Are you saying that my father is... n-no, he can't be..."
"He is." Mr. Choi stopped pacing and looked out the window calmly. "It was hard for me to watch your mother struggle to take care of you, all on her own. It got to the point where she had to leave you at an orphanage, saying it was the only chance for you to grow up normally. After that, she left and disappeared."
"No." I said again. I couldn't believe what he was telling me. I didn't want to believe it. "No, you're lying, you have to be..."
"You know I'm not." He said, and he was right. I knew he was telling the truth. "The thing is, Mr. Seo doesn't even know that you're his daughter."
I stared at the wall, letting all of this sink into my brain. Mr. Seo left my mom for another woman and had Seohyun, not knowing a thing about me. All this time, we were sisters, and we didn't even know. All this time, the hatred I had for the one person who tried to ruin my life was directed towards... my very own father.
"I know what Zelo is trying to do." Mr. Choi continued and I looked up. "I know that he's trying to help Mr. Seo out, so I told you to stay away from each other because you might have to cross paths with him someday. And I don't want that to happen. After all he's done to So Eun, he doesn't deserve to see this daughter of his."
He met my eyes and pursed his lips together, but I could tell he wasn't done yet. There was one more thing he needed to tell me, and I didn't even have to brace myself for it.
"He's back, Eun Mi. He's come back to Korea."
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✻ author's note the dorky me
I just felt like updating another short chapter, then leaving a cliffhanger like always. Oh, and if you've been living underneath a rock or something for the past few weeks, I got a username change. I'm no longer LjoeLove1560, I'm -ByungKitty-, mwahahaha!
Anyways, I need your opinion on something; would it be weird if the sequel contains less than half the amount of chapters the prequel has? To be honest, I update this story a bit too slow and I really don't know what to write after this... unless you want Eun Mi to go find her mother or something, lolz. I'm really out of ideas.
baekhyun = me, water bottle = you and your fury
~Ljjang창조♪
05.16.13 - Did anyone not notice the paradox I just made? What a big fail I am...
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