"Her father killed your father!" His mother finally spilled the truth that she held for years. Or what she thought. "That night..." she broke into heavy tears.

10th June 2002, 11:33 pm.

Mrs Song stirred a bit in her sleep before lifting up her head. She was resting her head on her folded arms beside a bed. She could feel her neck was getting ached from the position. She opened her eyes wide, finding no one the bed.

"Honey!" she called for her husband. She got up and looked around the room but she couldn't find her dear husband. Mrs Song ran out of the room and went to the reception desk.

"Did you see my husband?" she asked frantically.

"Yes. Just a moment ago. He asked me how to get to rooftop. He said he needs fresh air," the nurse said as she politely showed the way.

After thanking the nurse, she took off to the rooftop. There, she saw a man standing on a place a bit higher than the floor, as if he wanted to jump off the building. There was another man behind him. As she walked closer, she found out the former was her husband. The sight had Mrs Song fainted on the spot. Before she totally out, she saw the other man pushed her husband away.

"Your father could've been saved! But that bastard had to push him! That bastard is her father! This is the truth you want, isn't it? Now, swallow it all!"

Joongki was stunned after hearing everything from his mother. For a moment, he lost for words. It took him a while to digest everything. But slowly, he came to his sense. He went to his mother and held her shoulders. He looked into her eyes with a heavy feeling.

"Omma, I'm sorry...I thought you knew," Joongki looked down and tears started to form. He looked up as his tears rolled down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, mother." He hugged her and kept saying 'I'm sorry' to her.
 

Australia, 13th October 2015.

Chaewon tightened her thick and long coat as the cold wind was hitting her covered body. It was in the mid of spring but as the sun was setting, the breeze was getting colder. She redid the scarf around her neck, making sure it was tight enough. As she was walking leisurely along the pedestrian path of Sydney Harbour Bridge, her eyes was struck in amazement with the breathtaking view of the city. She felt like she had chosen the best place for a vacation. She decided to stop at the middle of the bridge, taking out her camera to take pictures of herself and the view. After she was done, she felt light taps on her shoulder. Chaewon turned her back to find someone was smiling brightly. A young woman in her mid 20s with a pair of slender eyes. Her feature did look like a Korean, she assumed. Her hair was shoulder-length and black in color.

"Can you help me with something?" she asked in English.

"Sure, what is it?" Chaewon replied.

"Please take a full shot of me?" she asked shyly as she let out a laughter. "I'm travelling by myself. So..."

Chaewon flashed a genuine smile. "Sure!"

"Eunji-ssi, how long you've been here?" Chaewon asked out of curiosity. "I've been here since 10th October."

Both of them decided to have a dinner together as they were both are a lone traveller. Besides, figuring out another Korean in the foreign city was a rare occurence.

"Since 11th. I was supposed to come here with my cousin, but he suddenly got a work to do. So, I'm on my own now." Eunji smiled as she stuffed food into . It doesn't matter if she was in mess at the moment. "We should exchange numbers!" Eunji suggested, taking out her smartphone excitedly. Chaewon let out an awkward laugh.

"I didn't bring my phone. Left it in Seoul."

"Oh! It's okay. Give me your hotel number then."

Australia, 14th October 2015.

Chaewon was awakened by rings of her bedroom's cable telephone. Not opening her eyes, her hand roamed around to find the telephone receiver.

"Hello," she spoke in her groggy voice.

"Hello Chaewon-ssi!" It was the bright voice of Jung Eunji, the young woman she met yesterday.

"Oh, Eunji-ssi. It's—" She took a quick glance on the classic clock hanging on the wall. It read: 9:15 am. "—9 in the morning. What—" Her eyes widened in surprise as she took a good look of the time. She then heard a cheerful laugh from the other line.

"Take your time, Chaewon-ssi. I'll be roaming around. Let's meet at the entrance. See you at Royal Botanic Gardens!"

Chaewon went out quickly after getting dressed. She chose to wear a lighter outfit as the weather was warm in the day. They met at the entrance of Royal Botanic Gardens and went in together. After walking for a while, they decided to take a break as it was a cue for Eunji to visit the ladies. Chaewon was left alone. The place she was at was a green meadow with a large lake by its side. As the sun was starting to strike its ray, Chaewon turned her back against it, protecting her face. All of sudden, she heard a ringing of a phone. She wondered whose could it be since she didn't have one. There was nobody around. She felt vibrate from her bag. She peeked inside and found a smartphone. Since it was in her bag, she picked up the call.

"Hello."

"..."

"Hello? Who is this?"

"..."

She thought it was a prank call and about to end it when she heard a familiar voice. A very familiar one.

"I'm actually a coward.

When I watch horror movies, I don't have the courage to open my eyes.

If I go to high place my leg will shake." Chaewon could hear the voice getting closer, as if it was right behind her.

"But for me the most scary thing is..." she turned her back, the sun rays striking into her vision, she didn't manage to see whose voice it was. But, she knew.

...when I can't see you."

As soon as her vision was cleared, she could see clearly and she was right about the voice. Joongki was smiling brightly to her. It was a very genuine smile and even brighter than the sun ray. Chaewon was astonished. For a moment she lost for words. One moment, she thought it was amazing. What Joongki had done for her melted her heart. It really did. But another moment, she was reminded to her sister. Her pregnant sister who wanted to marry the man in front of her. Joongki took a step forward and knelt on one knee, holding out a shiny diamond ring, as if he want to propose to her. Chaewon gasped. No way.

"Moon Chaewon-ssi, will you marry me?" Joongki asked, looking straight into her eyes.

"I-I..." Chaewon stuttered, but then realization hit her. "What about my sister? Are you abandoning her? Oh my, God. The wedding's tomorrow. What are you doing here?"

Joongki sighed in annoyance rather than disappointment. "It was perfect until—" he got up and glared at her for ruining such a wonderful proposal. Chaewon glared back at him.

"How dare you come to me after what you did to her." Joongki frowned in confusion.

"What I did?"

"You made her pregnant."

"What the- I did not! Moon Chaewon-ssi! Aren't you the greatest lie detector? What happened to that? Why are you so oblivious?"

"I still am and I'm not oblivious!" Chaewon said defensively.

"You're oblivious! Chaewon-ssi, your sister made that up. Shiwon-ssi suffers split personality. I didn't notice it at first. Like you told me about her before, it was from those classes she was forced to attend. She was mentally abused by your mother since she was a kid. Probably she was in defense mode when she convinced you about the pregnancy," Joongki explained without taking a breath in between. Chaewon needed to know the truth. "You were abused too. The dissociative disorders. How did you think you get it?"

Chaewon gasped in shock. Her tongue was almost tied. "But..I don't remember getting abused..."

"Yeah. Somehow your bad memories during childhood was erased, leaving only the good ones."

"No wonder I only remember the time I lived with my dad. I don't even remember when did my parents get divorced...Wait," Chaewon turned to face him. "How do you know about all of these?"

Joongki flashed a sweet smile. "My older brother. He suffered the dissociative disorders too, due to his bad childhood. He doesn't remember any of them."
 

"Are you crazy?" Chaewon asked, having her eyes widen after hearing Joongki's suggestion.

"I'm not. Why do you think I am?" Joongki casually asked, looking at her innocently.

"The wedding is tomorrow. And it takes at least 10 hours for us to get there. And the earliest flight we can take is 6 in the morning," she stated with fiery eyes.

"The ceremony will start at 8 pm," he replied.

"What if there's no ticket?"

"No worry. I bought them already." Joongki smiled brightly. There was no way Chaewon would decline that.

"We'll be—" As expected, she would still fight no matter what.

"Come on, Chaewon-ssi. I already invited everyone," he interrupted her.

"What do you mean by everyone?" Chaewon looked at him in horror.

"Chaewon-ssi, you don't want to marry me?" Joongki asked, making a sad face. "Argh I'm disappointed. I shouldn't have such a high expectation from you. Gosh, this is an embarrassment."

"I-I..." Chaewon took a deep breathe as Joongki was waiting in anticipation for her answer. She exhaled and smiled. "I—"

"Excuse me! How much longer do I have to wait? It's been an hour and half!" A voice yelled. Both of them turned their head to the owner of the voice. Jung Eunji was standing three meters away from them with crossed arms and sour face.

"Eunji-ssi!" Chaewon said, letting out an awkward laugh. "Sorry if I kept you waiting. It was sort of important." Eunji walked closer to them and kicked Joongki's left shin right away.

"Oppa. You said it only takes 30 minutes!" And she gave him another kick.

Did any of you realize that there's no curse words in this story? Well, in this chapter, "bastard" is the first. I don't really curse in real life, that's why this fic is kinda clean lol.

And! Joongki's "I'm a coward..."

Guess where it came from! Joongki said it himself. I'll give a shout out if you guess it right. Good luck!