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Scarecrow: The Final Chapter
Nothing ever came right in Dara’s life these days. It was raining cats and dogs. Her car broke down. Her story was under revision, again. Her boyfriend, Lee Joon won’t be able to meet her up on their date because of his secretary got his schedule wrong and now he is halfway across the globe. And worst, her Ex, Kwon Jiyong is in the record store they used to go to when they were still dating.
Sure they get to see each other from time to time.
But that doesn’t mean that she’s already immune to the pain. She thought she was over him. She thought she finally moved on. But that’s just it. She thought.
She saw him clearly. He was browsing the endless racks of tracks. She up air in her lungs as she tries to control the turbulent emotions she feels whenever she saw Kwon Jiyong. Her heart clenches. She still loves him.
Get over him. You already have a boyfriend and he is planning on proposing. You saw the ring. Her conscience kept drilling inside her head. But it won’t even leave a dent inside her stubborn mind.
Dara, you can’t do this. You won’t be the only one who will get hurt.
Just once. Let me talk to him.
The sky rumbled as if protesting on her rash behaviour. She ignored it and stepped inside the record store and smiled broadly at Jiyong who immediately recognized her.
“Dara!”
She smiled at him, “Fancy meeting you here.”
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Kwon Jiyong is an escapist.
On the first signs that Jin-ah would be blowing a gasket, he would make excuses and leave the house. Everyone keeps telling him that everything will get better in time, but doesn’t seem to be the case with his marriage. His marriage is aging like milk instead of wine, it only gets sour as time passes by.
The only thing that keeps him sane now is his daughter, Sandra. His daughter has been his world and his only source of happiness.
Each day has been a struggle with Jin-ah. With Jin-ah being paranoid with his every move, breathing has become suffocating. It would have been better if he didn’t exist at all. But that’s a luxury he doesn’t deserve. The woman he loves, is in the arms of someone else and it was all because of him.
He should have been selfish.
He should have done something . . . anything.
But he was stupid. He caved in on one stupid phone call, who turned out to be her cousin Park Chanyeol who answered her phone on that fateful day. If he wasn’t stupid . . . Dara might be with him now. Instead of being a miserable old bat, he would be blissful man, contented and happy.
Just this morning, he saw pictures of the Tycoon, Lee Joon coming out of Tiffany’s with headlines of him proposing to his girlfriend and soon-to-be fiancé Park Sandara. All he wanted to do was march to wherever Dara was and beg or grovel. His heart can’t handle it.
He is a selfish bastard. She deserves every shred of happiness that he wasn't able to give, but just the thought alone that she was with someone else breaks his heart what more if she's already married with someone else? He can't . . . he just can't take it.
So instead of staying at home, he volunteered in taking Jin-ah to school just to have a moment of peace alone. He went to every place he and Dara used to frequently go to. Maybe he is a masochist by nature. His mood really jives with the weather. He focused in looking at the tracks when he saw a Ofra Harnony album, he sighed inwardly as he lets his memories of Dara wash over him. Dara likes indie music and classical pop music. He can still remember how she squeals whenever she finds Liberace, East meets East and worst Josh Groban.
He felt his neck prickling. He looked up and saw the woman who has been a constant presence in his thoughts for the past few years.
“Dara!” His heart beating like a drum.
She smiled at him. She looked like an angel of salvation. “Fancy meeting you here.”
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Jin-ah paced back and forth in their living room.
“What the hell is taking him so long?” She muttered anxiously. Biting her fingernails, she kept walking around the room and glanced at the clock every five seconds then checks her phone just to see if ever Jiyong texted.
None.
Her anxiousness escalates further. And the weather isn’t even helping her. She can’t resist it anymore. She dialled his phone.
One ring . . . two . . . three . . . “Answer the damn phone!” As if yelling at it would make Jiyong answer it. It continued ringing until she heard the inevitable phrase she hates to hear.
“The number you are calling is either turned off or out of coverage area. Please try your call again later.”
“Where the are you?!” She threw her phone on the couch and paced the room again. Suddenly, a bright pair of eyes emerged on the corner.
“Mother, where is Daddy?” Jin-ah’s blood boiled. She looked at the source of the voice.
Just looking at her infuriates her. With each passing day that the brat exists, the reminder of her mistakes rings inside her head. But, she can’t hate her too much, if it wasn’t for her, Jiyong wouldn’t be hers. But that doesn’t mean she has to like her.
“Go to your room you brat. Your dad would be home in a bit.”
The little girl nods her head and canters back to her room. Even at a young age, she already knows that her own mom hates her.
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It was already late when Jiyong and Dara finished chatting.
They talked about everything and nothing at the same time. They skirted away from anything related to their past. But it was all good for Jiyong. He was already contented with him monopolizing Dara’s time. He didn’t even mind if Jin-ah was mad. Besides, she was always mad, constantly accusing him of cheating and blows with every little thing.
He felt happy.
Suddenly, an ambulance was blaring behind his back and was honking madly. He shifted on the left to let it pass. Whoever was in the ambulance must be really unlucky. With the slippery road and the constant drizzling he is not surprised that someone got into an accident.
Jiyong whistled a tune and glanced at his wristwatch, 10:47 pm. Sandra must be sleeping already. He sighed inwardly. Because Jin-ah doesn’t have any patience in reading a story book to Sandra, he was the one who would tuck Sandra to sleep. It’s not that he minds, he really likes it actually. It gives him a few hours away from Jin-ah.
There was a huge commotion just near their street, he saw the ambulance taking in a small body and Jin-ah shrieking wildly.
His blood turned cold, fear crept inside his heart.
No!
No!
Sandra!! He stopped out of his car and ran to the ambulance. One of the paramedics tried to stop him and tried to hold him back. “That’s my daughter you imbecile! Let me go!”
He was inside the ambulance with his daughter gushing with blood. Sandra’s eyes opened and looked around for a moment.
“Sandra-yah, Daddy is sorry he is late. Don’t leave Daddy.” He held on his daughter’s hands as he prayed to God. The little gilr stared at him blankly before completely giving in to sleep.
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Fear enveloped Jin-ah’s heart.
Fear for a lot of things.
She was afraid for Sandra’s life.
She was afraid of Jiyong’s wrath.
She was afraid of the outcome of the accident.
She was afraid of being left behind.
She was afraid of the truth coming out.
That brat . . . . if she ruined this for me . . . Urg!
Jin-ah took out her phone and dialled the number she solemnly swore that she would never call. But because she was afraid, she did. She may not have loved Jiyong before but she loves him now. Jiyong is his world and she would do anything to keep him with her.
The person on the other line answered after four rings. “I didn’t expect this, what do you want J?”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in LA. What do you want?”
“Get back here in Korea.”
“I can’t, I’m busy.”
Jin-ah felt impatient. “Too busy for your own daughter? Or do you want your Father or your girlfriend to find out about your dirty little secret.”
The person on the other line was breathing hard and fast. “I’ll be on the next flight.”
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Everyone rushed to the Seoul Hospital as soon they knew that Sandra was in the hospital.
Jiyong was livid when he found out that Jin-ah left the gate open that’s why Sandra was able to step out of the house. Jiyong was being calmed down by the guys while the girls were trying to calm the hysteric Jin-ah.
“It’s all my fault . . .” Jin-ah sobbed pathetically. “If something happens to that – Sandra, Jiyong will leave me, I’m sure of it.” She cried harder. The girls tried to tell her otherwise, but she was really inconsolable.
A doctor came to the waiting room and requested for the parents to see him in the office. Jin-ah gingerly stood up and dried her tears. Bom went outside to call Jiyong.
When they were inside the Doctor’s office, Jin-ah knew there and then that whatever the doctor was about to say, it won’t be good.
“Take my bone marrow!” Jiyong yelled furiously.
His daughter is about to die and he can’t even do anything. “I’m sorry Mr. Kwon, but like I said, your bone marrow doesn’t match with Sandra’s.”
“Did Jin-ah’s result come out already?”
As if on cue, one of the nurses came in and gave the results to the doctor. “What did it say?” Jiyong asked anxiously.
“Her bone marrow doesn’t match either Mr. Kwon, I’m sorry.”
Jiyong knows that he shouldn’t get mad, but it was his way of coping. “How is that possible? We are Sandra’s parents! How come neither of us is not a match?”
The doctor looked at him filled with pity. The doctor glanced at the pale looking Jin-ah with a mixture of disgust and pity. Jin-ah looked away with shame.
He rubbed the grieved shoulders of Jiyong, “We will keep looking for a bone marrow that will match your daughter’s.”
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Dara found Jiyong quietly crying in the chapel.
It’s as if her body has a mind of its own, she walked to where Jiyong was and hugged him. He stiffened for a while and calmed down after a few seconds.
“I c-can’t-t Dee-ah . . .” He cried harder. “I won’t be able to handle it if I lose my daughter.”
She hugged Jiyong tighter, no words can comfort him from his grief.
And though Dara hasn’t prayed for a long, long time, she prayed to God for the first time.
“Lord, I know I haven’t prayed for a while, but please . . . please don’t let anything happen to Sandra. Please.”
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Dara felt like crap.
When she saw Jiyong holding his daughter’s hands, an undeniable jealousy surged through her, no, not towards the girl, but towards Jin-ah. She gazed longingly to the man she could never have. Well, sure, she can . . . but she won’t. She won’t ever take away Jiyong from his family.
But you want to. The devil whispered in her ear.
Turbulent emotions made it impossible for her to think clearly. Just this afternoon and early evening, she had the most wonderful afternoon with Jiyong. And though it was purely a friendly encounter for Jiyong, hers wasn’t completely innocent. She kept thinking in the lines ‘what’ and ‘if’, ‘what might have been’s’ and ‘what could have been’s’.
Those dumb thoughts kept pestering her. She glanced at her phone and found 8 missed calls from Lee Joon and 12 messages.
She instantly felt guilty.
Why can’t she just stay contented with Lee Joon? He is perfect, he is loving, he is very supportive and he accepts what he can get from her. If she was a scarecrow in Jiyong’s, Lee Joon’s was hers. And it shouldn’t be that way.
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To Lee Joon, Dara is his present and future. He doesn’t care about her past or if he only owns a portion of her heart, as long as she was with him, he really didn’t care.
Before he met Dara, he was wild and carefree. He felt like he can do anything with the world. He was young, good looking and filthy rich. He had strings of girlfriends and one night stands and he was careful. Real careful.
Until one night, he was so drunk that he slipped. The woman slept around, so when she came to him and told him she was pregnant, he didn’t believe her. He constantly ignored her and even went to America to hide from her. And when the girl gave birth, the girl sent him a test proving that he was indeed the father. The girl promised that she won’t tell anyone as long as he sends her money regularly all is forgiven.
And then he met Dara. She was in the met park, writing in her notebook. She was quiet and ignored him when he tried to make moves on her. This caught his attention. He thought, “This girl is playing hard to get.” But she really wasn’t. She was not that interested to him. So he would pop out and follow her around until she gets mad and yell at him. That was their cycle. He would annoy her and then she would get mad and he would calm her down with something and do the cycle all over again when he sees her. It was something he looked forward to.
They became friends when Dara was being mugged. It was a weird way but their bond was certainly a unique one. All his life, he had guards protecting him, so he wasn’t that much of a help. He was also mugged and sustained a lot of bruises. After that incident, their previous routine was completely changed. Every Tuesday and Friday, they would meet up and sit down at the park and they would do people watching.
When he didn’t see her for a long time, he hired a private investigator and found out that she went back to Korea. She stayed there for three months, by that time, he was sure that he likes her. When she got back from Korea from her friend’s wedding, she was heartbroken and didn't tell him why.
Lee Joon felt worried. He urged Dara to talk to him, and after a while she told him everything. He felt infuriated at the man who broke her heart. The man Kwon Jiyong even did his wedding with Dara’s preference. Her frustrations, angst and hurt became his. And all he wanted to do was protect her.
He changed because of her. He acted differently towards Dara. He was happy just being around her. It was just a of luck that she chose him out of all the hordes of men lining up to be her man. And he wants it to stay that way.
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Please READ.
Okay. Don't murder me. I wanted to finish this in one go. But I can't. Tomorrow, I'll be going to my province and I'll be staying there for a week or two. And I'll be busy there since I'll be helping out in my Dad's business (Learning the ropes (?) o.o) So pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase. Don't hate me. I'm not even sure if I'll even have time for the internet. O.o Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Please do comment.
*This might be a three chaptered fic. So please be patient. :)
*This will be slightly cliched. So . . . . .
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