Shocking News
Almost PerfectXSYKOTICA
Almost Perfect
Almost Perfect
Chapter 12: Shocking News
Chapter 12: Shocking News
It was exactly 8:30 in the morning when the plane landed at Incheon Airport. Thank God for my driver's decent punctuality that he came early to fetch me. I'm just so tired with everything that's happening and all I want now is the comfort of my solitude bedroom and the soft mattress of my bed.
I was about to drift myself to sleep when suddenly, the thought of the pink box had crept into my mind. Huh~ I think I have to somehow return it to the rightful owner. It isn't mine to keep for in the first place. Oh, maybe I could ask the EXO boys to return it to Kris in behalf of me.
And because I felt tired of even driving, I hired a taxi and made my way towards the EXO villa. It's a Saturday today, so for sure they'll be there. It had been a tradition in their group to bond in that place every weekends.
The moment I arrived, I immediately think of the right words to say to be able to explain on how this box had ended up being with me. I was about to press the doorbell button when I noticed that the door was slightly opened. Huh~ This is new, they never would leave the door ajar because of their trauma with their fangirls.
I shrugged the thought away and just opened the door. What flaunt before my eyes are bottles of soju scattered around the table of the living room, and worst, the maknae Tao is drinking his last bottle like it was just plain water. What's happening here?
I stepped in further and layed the box on the side table near the sofa. That's the moment when Tao noticed my presence and he started walking towards me, knocking some things down with his drunken wobbly steps. My goodness, he went too far with alcohol this time.
"Belle~" he cooed in his slurred speech while still holding a bottle in one of his hands. "Tell m-me, Kris hyung is t-the most kind and lo-loving person weve known, r-right?" he asked and hang his arm over my shoulders.
"A-ah... neh~ Tao, but what's gotten into you? Why are you drinking at this time of day?"
What's with this sudden happenings? Why does everything seem out of place this past days? I'm already beginning to think that, there's a lot of things that I've missed out at the short span of two weeks that I've been gone.
"H-he was so k-kind to experience all t-these cruel things" he continued on as I try to help him gain his balance amidst his already drooping eyelids. "And you-!" he pointed at me. "Why did you left him when he needs you the most, why?!"
"What are you talking about Tao? You know the very reason why your hyung and I need to part ways. I didn't left him just because I want to" I defended my self.
Gosh~ Did I really start talking sense to someone who's so drunk to even understand me? I bet he's even unconscious of everything that he's talking about now.
"No!" he shouted and threw the bottle against the wall with a loud crash and it came into tiny pieces down the tiled floor. "You left him and he has to endure every pain alone. Now h-he's gone and left--"
"Tao!" Luhan shouted from the stairs. "Stop that nonsense of yours this instant!" he stormed down the stairs and hurriedly took the maknae away from me as the rest of the boys appeared too.
"Don't mind everything what Tao had said. He's just so dunk that he isn't in his right state of mind now" Lay said with a weak smile and patted my shoulders.
"Belle, you're back!" Chen came and greeted me with an obvious fake smile that came from the unusual twitching of his facial muscles. "How have you been?"
"I'm doing fine Chen, but I guess you guys are not" I eyed each of them suspisciously. "What's been happening here?" I sternly demanded an explanation.
"What are you talking about? Were doing fine, see?" he replied back with a another forced smile and gestured to the others who are obviously trying to keep up with his lame cheerful excuse. Huh~ I won't easily be fooled just like this.
"No you're not!" I retorted back and that startled the hell out of them. "Tao will never drink all the way to drunkeness if there is no problem. What is he even mentioning about Kris being gone and--"
"Oh t-that~"Xiumin interjected in his stuttering voice. "K-kris has g-gone some-somewhere. Yes, he's gone some--"
"Somewhere that were not suppose to tell you" Chen casually butted in and Xiumin instantly smacked him hard on the head while muttering the word, "Pabo!"
I was about to rant them again with my questions when suddenly, the door swayed open with a loud bang and revealed a panting Kai. I just stared at him curiously while the others had gave out a chorus of relieved sighs.
"Belle, you're finally back. I immediately came when I heard it from Luhan hyung" he said and I curiously looked at Luhan who just gave me a guilty and sheepish smile. "I've missed you so much" Kai continued on and gave me a tight embrace.
"Ahmm.... now that you're here Jongin, why don't you accompany Belle to somewhere relaxing. For sure she's been stressed out with work" Luhan suggested as if immediately trying to keep me away from being in their presence.
"Sure hyung, let's go Belle!" Kai snappily replied and grabbed my hand.
I wasn't even able to give my protest because Kai was fast enough to let me out of the house and made me ride in his car. I didn't want to leave yet because the rest of the boys are driving me insane with their every suspiscious words and actions. Aarrgh! Who could have thought that they're into keeping secrets too?
Wait! If I couldn't squeeze the truth out of those boys, I still have my one remaining wild card here with me. Maybe I could force him into telling me instead. My devious plan had suddenly drifted away when the car stopped and he announced that we finally arrived.
"Kai, of all places, why should we be here at the Han River?" Gosh~ this guy is so unpredictable to read.
"Why, it's beautiful here" he said as we took our seat on one of the benches.
"I know it's beautiful and relaxing here, but--"
"I'm leaving for Japan tomorrow" he suddenly said and looked at me. "I don't know when I'll be coming back"
"Hmm... I see~" I nodded. "You sure are busy with your business" I said with a smile.
"Neh~ and before I'll go, I want you to start calling me Jongin then. I've already waited long enough to hear it from you, right?" he pouted and I just chuckled at his childishness.
"Arrasso~ Jongin~" I finally said, and right that moment I saw him squealed like a little blushing girl. Gosh~ this is a new side of him.
"See, it wasn't that difficult to say my name"
"I know, I just want to tease you, that's why~" I retorted back with a smile.
We stayed there quiet, as we let the serene aura of the environment sinked in to relax our body and minds. Then, he decided to break the silence and started talking some sense to me, again.
"You still love him, don't you? He's still the one that your heart desires" he said and I just defeatedly sighed and nodded. Huh~ I don't have to deny the obvious truth. It will only make me look pathetic.
"I know it's wrong for me to still be feeling this way, but I just can't help it. It seems like my heart has a mind of its own"
"You're right. It's difficult to move on when your heart still belongs to the one who broke it, right?"
"You sure can relate to this, huh?" I chuckled at him. Gosh~ this annoying brat I've known had turned out to be an understanding love guru.
"Ofcourse I can relate" he replied back. "You see, sometimes, we are meant to fall with someone we shouldn't love. That's the exact thing I'm feeling towards you" he said and I just looked at him apologetically.
My goodness, did he just indirectly confessed to me? Oh Kai~ I'm really sorry but I can't reciprocate that feelings. I'm not ready now to involve myself into another romance when I know for the fact that I'm not over Kris yet. It will be all unfair for you.
"Hey, it's alright~" he cheerfully beamed. "I completely understand. Don't worry about me, I can handle this. I'm stronger that you think I am" he confidently said. Huh~ the ever proud and boastful Jongin. Kekeke..
"Hmm... I know that~" I nodded at him. "By the way, what does the other boys say about Kris being gone and--"
"Oh that~ why, you want to know where he went?"
"A-ah..... it's not like that, besides I know where he is"
"You do?!" His eyes grew wide in shock. Gosh~ what's the big deal if I know?
"Neh~ He's with Elaine, right? They decided to migrate to the States"
"What?!" he almost shouted in disbelief. "But that's impossible!"
"Why would it be impossible? I just had a conversation with Elaine regarding about this yesterday"
"But it is really impossible" he continued to protest. "You see, just two days ago, Elaine and Kris hyung are proclaimed to be officially divorced. Elaine was the one who insisted on it"
What did he just said? Divorced? But why does it have to end this way, they could still try to work things out. Wait! Oh my goodness! How about Kris? In his condition right now, the divorce might trigger another blow to his depression.
"Omo! Where's Kris then? You can't leave him all alone. He might commit something reckless because of his major depression" I said in my panicking voice.
"Huh~ Major depression~" he deeply sighed. "That's what he insisted on calling it. It was not as simple as depression, it's more serious than that"
"What do you mean?" I raised my eyebrows in confusion. Is this the thing that they kept hiding from me?
"Remember the time when he punched me out of jealousy?" he asked and I nodded. "That day we stayed at the villa to settle things out. Then that same night, he started screaming in pain"
"Yes, I know about that. I've heard him screaming before too, but he won't let me take him to the hospital"
"He really won't let you" he shook his head. "Because he doesn't want you to find out about it"
"Wae? What is it then?"
"We rushed him to the hospital that night" he continued on. "That's when we found out about the secret that he's been keeping from us too, for almost two months then" he sadly recalls and looked down.
"Mworago?!" I couldn't help but shout in disbelief.
"Belle, Kris hyung~ H-he.... H-he has...... cancer, bone cancer" he finally confessed and buried his face in the palm of his hands.
Right that moment, it felt like my world has come to an end and my soul has been ripped out away from my body. My knees became weak and all my blood had drained out of my face with shock.
Oh my God! Why does the world been so cruel and unfair to him? Now I understand it. It all make sense to me now. He looks pale and weak. He easily gets exhausted and he had lost so much weight so suddenly. Not only that, the agonizing pain he's been experiencing says it all.
They say that, bone cancer is the most painful type of its kind. It feels like you're whole body is being squeezed and crashed from the inside, in the most severely painful way. My God, and Kris experienced it all alone, denying every help, even from me.
"Jongin, where is Kris now? Take me to him" I pleaded as tears start to flow down my face.
"I'm sorry, but I can't Belle~" he said and looked away.
"But why? He needs us right now Jongin. You're his friend, you should know that"
"Exactly" he replied back. "I'm his friend and I intend to keep the promise I made with him not to tell you until the right time comes"
Damn it! Why do they always keep me hanging with everything they say? Gosh~ Until the right time? How long will I have to wait for it to come? I've already had enough of this confusion.
I was about to argue with him again when suddenly, my phone rang and the caller id revealed it to be my dad. Huh~ Seriously? This is totally bad timing!
"Hello~ What is it dad?" I lamely answered the phone.
"Come to the house immediately, we have an emergency"
"What?!" My voice almost cracked with panic and anxiety. "Alright, I'm on my way now" I said and hanged up.
"What is it Belle? Is there anything wrong?" Kai asked curiously.
"It's dad~ Jongin, can you drive me towards our house, it's an emergency"
"Alright, let's go now!" he snappily said and we drove away.
The moment the car parked outside our house's gate, I hurriedly thanked him and opened the car's door, but then, he grabbed my hand to momentarily stopped me.
"Belle, I promise that everything will be explained to you the moment I return from Japan" he said and I just nodded.
"Thank you for the ride again" I replied back and hurriedly run into the house like a lost child in the woods. My God, what emergency is it?
When I stepped inside, it somewhat surprised me that the atmosphere doesn't even match with an emergency situation. All the servants are calm and they even took the time to smile and greet me. One of them even calmly escorted me towards the library where I supposed my parents are waiting for my arrival.
The moment I opened the door, I saw my parents sitting comfortably on the sofa. What kind of emergency is this, that they even find time to relax and drink tea like it's just a normal thing to do in this situation.
"Mom, Dad, what's the emergency? What happened?" I said in between my panting breaths. Gosh~ don't tell me I ran all the way here just for nothing?
"Oh, there you are. Come and sit here, dear~" My mom said and gestured me towards the sofa just across them.
"Dad, you said there's an emergency. What is this? Are you perhaps just trolling me around?"
"What's trolling Belle?" he raised an eyebrow. Gosh~ did I really used that word? Aiissh... blame Chen for this. "Anyways, what were going to discuss with you is something really imprtant"
"Just say it already, Dad. You're making me nervous to death" I said, and much to my shock, what he said next made me want to dig my own grave and bury my self alive.
"We've decided to have you arranged for marriage, and we already found a suitable man"
What?! Arranged Marriage for me? No! This couldn't be happening. I've already been through a lot of hell because of a stupid arranged marriage, and now I'm going to be personally involved with another one? Dear Lord, please spare me from this one. I'm so tired of all these things.
"Belle~" my mom cooed. "I'm telling you, he's really a fine man. His name is--"
"Andwae! Don't tell me his name. I don't want to hear it or anything about him" I said and turned towards my father. "Dad, how could you do this to me? You know well enough that I'm not yet ready for any of this"
"That's why were making you ready for it now. Atleast we still have the decency to tell you about it, than to just drag you around and place you at the altar"
"Shireo!" I protested in my almost angry tone. "I'm not marrying anyone!"
"It's final Belle!" he sternly retorted back. "Whether you like it or not, you're marrying him by next month"
With that said and done, I immediately ran to my room and locked myself in, crying my heart out. I know for the fact that, once dad had decided on something, it will be impossible to ever change his mind. This is so unfair! Why does every problem in the world came tumbling onto me one after another?
Huh~ Is this the same feeling that Kris had when he was placed in the same situation? Oh Kris, he's been suffering not only emotionally but also physically with his disease. I think both our lives had been so tragic to even be called a fairytale. Now everything is totally ruined for me. My life is too much buried into destruction, that it is even beyond repair.
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