Bab 68: Reconciling
"I saw you walking in the food district earlier. I knew that it would snow later on and I noticed that you weren't wearing enough clothes to keep you warm. You weren't also bringing any umbrella so I decided to give you this drink. It's chocolate milk with small marshmallows on it. Just the way you like it. This doesn't mean that I completely forgive you for neglecting your health. It's because I don't want to see my friends worry like that again. Let this hot cup of milk warm up your cold night. Happy New Year."
As soon as I finished reading the note, a smile crept up on my face. This means she actually cares about me. Does this mean that I have a chance?
Wait…
How did she even know that I like chocolate milk with marshmallows on it?
Snap out of it!
I decided to forget this for a while and start mixing the songs that I needed to work on. But I couldn't help but wander off to the letter that she wrote. It really brightened up my mood tonight. I hope that I'll have that chance soon.
"Well, that's enough lazing around, I should get started." I took a sip from the hot chocolate before going to my computer to start mixing.
There were 13 songs all in all. This has got to be the biggest album that I had to produce in our entire career so far. "Alpha Project" had 8 songs with 4 songs that we had to choreograph. "The Hunt" had 10 songs. "Boys be" was our coming of age album with just a song to dance to which made the promotion easier. Now, our fourth album, Out of the Den, had 13 songs with 7 songs to dance to as a team and 2 songs for some of the units to dance to.
This has to be the biggest project I've ever done. I was still halfway through producing the songs. I've finished mixing and producing the songs that we had to make a choreography to. That was until I passed out that I didn't get to finish the album. Now that I had the opportunity to finish the album, I was excited to do so. Half of the songs were already done with its recording. All that's left was the other half.
These were the songs that I produced and were all from Seventeen's discography in the previous world:
1. Pretty U
2. Very Nice
3. Don't Wanna Cry
4. Clap
5. Thanks
6. Boom Boom
7. Crazy Love
8. Love Letter
9. Campfire
10. Pinwheel
11. Change Up
12. Lilili Yabay
13. May I
These were some of my favorites in their early discography which I really wanted to bring out to this world. I hope that if they see this, they'd be proud. I'm working on the latter half of the album which are numbers 8 to 13 and I do hope that I can finish this today.
________
"God! That took a while!" I yelled to no one as I stretched my arms up in the air. I took a glance at the time and saw that it was 5 minutes pass 11. The New Year would was slowly coming up.
Thankfully, I was on the last song of the album. I just needed to polish up on the other songs before I relax. But for now, I guess I could still afford to slack off a little. Anyway, Zhang would be helping out later on.
I saved the file that I was working on before shutting the computer down. I went out to take a look at the window outside the studio to see if it was still snowing hard. The snow seemed to have stopped. "There's still some time before I meet up with my family. I should grab something to fill my stomach a little. I can feel my medicine eating up the walls of my stomach."
After changing onto some warmer clothes, I grab my stuff and started making my way to the nearest convenience store. There were a lot of people coming and going. Most of them were happily chatting as I passed by them. I covered my face with the scarf that Twice gave me as a Christmas gift so they couldn't recognize me. Although, it was okay to be out in the open today, I had no choice since it was really REALLY cold. I wanted to get something from a convenience store. Instant noodles sounds good right about now. Some bibimbap too. Just thinking about it makes my tummy rumble.
The walk towards the convenience store was pretty quick. And as usual, I bought more than what I could eat. I can't finish all of this since I'm still meeting my family later on. Still, I'm quite hungry from all those songs that I had to prepare. Even my brain was looking for food. I can't wait to get back to the company and gulp this down.
As I was passing by the children's park, I realized that there were no people inside. They must be at their homes waiting for the clock to strike twelve. My stomach starts rumbling again. I guess I can start eating the bibimbap then. I can just keep the noodles for the next few days. I started making my way inside the park towards the swing. As I was doing so, I noticed that there was someone on the swing.
"Umm… excuse me? Do you mind if I use the swing beside you?" I called out to make sure that I don't startle that person.
"Hmm? What? Oh sure. Go ahead. I don't mi- JayB-ya? Is that you?" The person asked as she took off her face mask revealing who she is.
I was surprised to see who it was. "Kei-ya… It's you. What are you doing here all alone?"
She smiled wryly at me. "Well, my so called 'family' were imprisoned. It's the first time I gott to spend Christmas alone actually. New Year's eve isn't that much different. Though I know that Kim Doram was using me as a pawn for his schemes, he always provided food for the table and home for us when it was Christmas and New Year's Eve."
I sighed as I sat down on the swing beside her. "Well… I don't know about a home, but I have some extra bibimbap, if you want?"
She took 1 roll and slowly unwrapped it while giggling. "You bought too much food again, didn't you?"
"It's that obvious, huh?" I smiled wryly at her.
She laughed. "Yeah. I know you well enough. Thanks for the food."
"You're welcome." I replied with a proper smile this time.
"So any plans tonight?" She spoke with her mouth full, barely making the words understandable.
I stood up before approaching her and wiped off the rice grain on her upper lip. "Yeah. I'll be meeting my siblings later on."
"What are you doing?" She asked as she blushed with what I did.
I immediately pulled my hand away. "Ah! Sorry! Force of habit. I guess I got used to us hanging out again this year."
She stared at the ground as she swung slightly. "You… Why don't you hate me? Shouldn't you be at least still be angry with what I did?"
I turn to look at her who was sadly looking at the ground. I could tell that she was still guilty with what she did to me years ago which made me sigh. "How many times do I have to tell you? It's not your fault that you did those things. Besides, you helped me take down Kim Doram."
She clenched her fist tighter which made her knuckles go white. "I wish I didn't do those things to you though. I wish wasn't a spy and just met you under normal circumstances."
I knelt down in front of her and saw that she was starting to tear up. I wiped it away and smiled at her. "We are not normal. There's no such thing as 'normal' between us. I'm a multi-tillionaire business prodigy. And you're a highly trained spy AND an assassin for hire. Even if we talk about our alter egos, we're still not normal. We're idols who are part of famous groups."
She turned to me with a sad smile. "Maybe in another life then?"
Even if it's in another life, I'd choose HER. I just got side-tracked thinking I needed to let go of HER. But every time I do try to move on from HER, a lot of obstacles keep coming in the way. Like Kei and IU-sunbae for example. It's like the universe is telling me that SHE is the one for me. Even in this world too.
But nonetheless I gave her a warm smile. "If the gods permit. Let's do it."
She gave me a smile. This time it was a happy smile. I turn to see my watch saying that it was almost twelve. I better start heading towards our meeting place. I stood up and held my hand towards Kei. "Want to join us for a midnight snack?"
She turned to me and shook her head. "I think it isn't the best idea. It's a family thing."
"Hey, adopted or not, you're family too. Now come on." I said as I as I grabbed her hand and started walking her towards the company.
"Where are we going? Where are you taking me?" She asked.
I turn to her before letting her hand go. "Let me go get my car. We'll drive to the restaurant that my brother reserved."
"Let me guess. It's one of YOUR restaurants?" She let go of my hand as she crossed her arms.
I chuckled. "It's not MY restaurant per se. It's my family's which is under my brother's name."
She sighed. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"It'll be fine. Trust me. Besides, there's going to be food." I said.
"Oh I trust you, alright. It's THEM I'm worried about." She said as she rubbed both her arms to keep herself warm.
I took off my jacket and put it on her before I started pushing her towards our company to get my car. "Enough talking. Let's just go. You're freezing to death."
"Let's just hope that the cold kills me first before your family does." She joked.
"For the last time. It's 'our' family. AND you're exaggerating. They won't kill you. They'll just slowly torture you first." I kid.
She rolled her eyes as she sarcastically spoke. "Wow. Even better."
_________
"What is SHE doing here?" Yoohyeon crossed her arms in disappointment the moment we entered the restaurant.
They were staring at me in disbelief and anger. Although Kei DID help me in taking down my uncle, they still haven't forgotten what she did years ago. Not just to the company, but to me as well. It's my fault for not explaining to them the entire story. I only told them the part where we needed to take down my uncle and we had evidence. They were shocked when I went on a hiatus after all. I just told them that it was for the company. They didn't even know that she helped me take him down. We couldn't go public about it since there were too many people watching her movements at that time.
"All of you calm down. Be nice." I reminded them as I gritted my teeth.
"What do you mean be nice?! Have you forgotten what she did to you? To us? To our company?" Kibum-hyung asked as he stood up from the table.
The restaurant staff was giving us weird looks as the conversation went on. At this rate, this dinner would be over before it even starts. I have to do something.
Kei pinched my sleeve which made me turn towards her. "JayB-ya… I think I should go. It was a mistake coming here."
Chungha scoffed. "Mistake? More like a bad idea!"
"Chungha-ya! Be quiet!" I fought back before turning to Kei. "I'm sorry that they're acting this way. You don't have to go."
"You're taking her side?!" Chungha bit the inside of her cheek as she scoffed.
"What did she do to you this time, JayB-ya?" Kibum-hyung asked me as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
I shrugged it off as I glared at him. "She saved the company. That's what she did."
"What the hell are you talking about oppa?" Yoohyeon asked.
"I should go." Kei said as she turned around. I immediately grabbed her wrist to stop her.
I pulled her back. "Don't go. We have to let them know. Don't treat this as a punishment for what you did. How many times do I have to tell you that it's NOT your fault?"
Kei begins to sob as she crouched. The rest of us remained silent as we watch her break down. I didn't try to calm her down since it was good for her to cry it all out. All the years of guilt and shame just exploded in one go. It must have been eating her up all this time. I still remember the look of relief that she had when we put my uncle in jail. I've never seen her that happy.
After she calmed down, I asked my siblings to at least hear her story out so I can tell them the truth about what really happened during my hiatus. We told them everything. The bomb implant, the number of orphans that my uncle used to take down Kim Group, and Kei being one of them, her operation in Atlantis, and the revolution. I also showed them some evidence from my phone to help prove my story. As we were telling them the story, the look of anger from their faces dissipated. It was soon replaced with sympathy and worry. My sisters were already crying by the time I finished telling them the story. The room was silent for a few seconds.
Kibum-hyung sighed. "If that's true… then I apologize for how we acted."
He stood up as my sisters followed suit. They all bowed at her at a 90 degree angle showing them that they were indeed sorry. Kei on the other hand waved it off as she tried her best to stop them from bowing. "Please… it was my fault that we got into that mess in the first place. Stop. I don't deserve to be forgiven."
Yoohyeon reached out to Kei and grabbed her hand. She was practically crying at this point. "Kei-unnie… it wasn't your fault. An explosive chip was planted inside you. I mean… who would do that to a child? TO A CHILD. That's... That's just cruel."
Chungha then approached Kei and gave her a hug as she patted her back. "Even if you didn't do it, someone else would have done so. I'm glad that it was you. My goodness… It must have been hard on you. I'm sorry that you had to go through that."
As soon as Kei heard all these, she started crying like a baby. She was just letting all the loneliness, pain, and guilt out. I know that after this one, she can finally live in peace. Yoohyeon joined in on the hug. For a minute there, I felt like I had another sister that joined the family.
They soon broke off from the hug with smiles on their faces. Chungha wiped Kei's tears off with tissue. Although Chungha and Yoohyeon were younger than Kei, It felt like I was watching two older sisters taking care of their baby sister. Kibum-hyung walked towards them slowly. He had a serious expression on his face.
"Oppa, don't be mad at her anymore." Chungha said.
Yoohyeon tried to stop Kibum-hyung from being angry as she locked her arms around his and acted all cute. "Oppa!~ Don't be mad anymore. Okay?~"
He shrugged Yoohyeon off as he took a step closer to Kei. Kibum-hyung raised his hand like he was about to hit her. Kei closed her eyes, waiting for the hand to strike her. The next thing she felt was a hand pulling her in for a warm embrace.
"I'm sorry. I really am. I can't believe that you had to go through that because of our uncle. I feel all torn up inside right now with just the thought of it. Don't worry. From now on, you'll be protected. After all…" Kibum-hyung said as he pulled away from the hug with a smile on his face. "We're adopting you as one of our siblings."
Kei's jaw dropped as she stared at Kibum-hyung. "You can't be serious?"
"I AM serious." Kibum-hyung chuckled which made my sisters squeal in excitement. They've been saying a lot of times as to how much they wanted to have an older sister. This was the closest one they could get.
Kei turned her head to glance at me which made Kibum-hyung raise his eyebrow. "That's unless… you still have feelings for my brother?"
Kei blushed madly as she turn to face the ground. I quickly stopped them as I went between them. "Okay. That's enough for now. Why don't we have dinner?"
I tried to stop them but Yoohyeon continued to tease. "That's okay Jiyeon-unnie. There were also times that I felt my heart flutter for JayB-oppa. He's just REALLY handsome and charming that I sometimes forget that he's my brother."
All of us turned to her. "YA! Kim Yoohyeon!"
_________
"Well, that went really great. Weird… but great." Kei said as she walked beside me.
We were now walking towards her dorm since it was just nearby. I insisted on driving her there but she told me that it was in a small alley which makes it harder for cars to pass by. After trying to convince her several times, I gave up and just decided to walk her there.
"Which part was weird? You being adopted to the family or Yoohyeon-ie having a crush on me from time to time?" I joked.
She giggled. "Both actually. It still feels surreal though."
"What is? You being part of the family now?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yes. I still can't believe that I'm REALLY part of a legit family now."
"That means you can fight for being an heir to the Kim Group." I smirked.
She grinned. "Can I? I'd love to take everything for myself."
It made me chuckle. "One problem with that statement though."
She raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"
I grinned cheekily. "You have to beat me first."
She rolled her eyes. "That'll be easy. You're a sucker for love."
I halted my steps as I turn to her with my mouth wide open. "Wha… No I'm not!"
The bickering went on for a while until we finally arrived in front of their dorm. She stood there and smiled at me. "Well, this is my stop. Thanks for everything."
"No problem. Happy New Year to you." I greeted.
"Happy New Year to you too." She replied.
I motioned for her to get in. "You should get going. It's getting colder outside."
She nodded and was about to turn around when she stopped midway. I noticed it and asked, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
She bit her lip as she turned towards me. "Now that we're good, I think there's one more person that you need to reconcile with."
She handed me a note that had a restaurant's address on it. "What's this?"
"A gift. It's where your other ex-girlfriend is spending his New Year's Eve at. She's with her NEW boyfriend." She smirked.
I was surprised with what this was about. I waved the noted in front of her. "Where did you get this?"
She rolled her eyes. "You know I'm a spy by nature. I used to watch EVERYTHING that you did. I just saw them earlier today and overheard them planning to go to this restaurant."
I sighed. "Why are you doing this?"
She gave me a smile that I've never seen from her before. It was a look of satisfaction and joy. "Because you taught me how to forgive myself. I'm giving you a chance to move on from the past. That includes me and her. Besides, how can you have a married life if you can't move on from us? Well, it's still a virtual one. But who knows? Maybe you'll end up marrying her in real life."
She gave me a wink which made me understand what her words meant. "How did you…"
"Spy, remember?" She replied with a proud smirk on her face.
I shook my head and smiled at her. "Thank you."
Before she could even reply, someone cleared her throat. "Uhh… are you guys done?"
We all turn to see Lee Mijoo, which was one of her members standing on the doorway. Behind her was Yoo Jiae who was waving at us excitedly. She then covered Mijoo's mouth. "Mijoo-ya didn't mean to disturb you. Don't mind us."
Mijoo broke free from her grasp. "Are you two dating again?"
"Shut up. Will you? Go back inside. Sorry about that." Jiae smiled as she pushed Jiae inside.
Kei chuckled at how her members were responding. "I should go."
"Yeah. You should." I replied.
"Thanks again. And don't forget to settle things with them. It's better for you to do so now." She said as I nodded in response
I watch her enter her dorm. As soon as she closed the door, my smile turned into a frown. "I guess I really need to do this, huh?"
_________
"What are you doing here?!" IU-sunbae whispered yelled.
After contemplating about it, I decided to end things properly with IU-sunbaenim. It was for the best. Not just on my part, but also on her part. It was also to stop Jungkook from overthinking things. He can become quite over possessive sometimes. He's somehow different from the Jungkook of the previous world. I just hope that he's fine with me being here. The worse that could happen was receiving a beating from him.
"I'm here to see you." I replied.
She grabbed my wrist as she dragged me outside the restaurant. "Jungkook-ah's going to kill you when he sees you."
"Don't worry about it." I told her.
She sighed. "What is it? What in the world came it to your mind that you would decide to come here? And how did you find us? Were you stalking me?"
"Oh please. That would be pretty low of me. Someone told me to come here and fix things properly. I'm here because I trust her." I replied honestly.
Her mouth fell wide open. "If this is about us getting back together, I-"
"Relax, it isn't. Now why don't we head back inside and talk there since you can't stand the cold." I said as I went ahead of her.
"I was thinking of the same thing." Jungkook was at the doorway with his hands inside his pocket. He looked like he was in a passive state but I knew that he was about to attack me.
"See. Your boyfriend agrees." I turn to look at IU-sunbae as if to tell her to go inside immediately.
"Are you mocking me?" Jungkook was about to step forward but IU-sunbae stopped him.
He scoffed. "Are you trying to take his side again?!"
IU-sunbaenim was surprised. "What? No! Of course not! I just don't want you to end up in the face of a newspaper article after tonight."
"So you ARE protecting him!" He yelled out.
"Enough!" I yelled to get their attention. They stopped and turned to look at me. I sighed. "Since your obsessed boyfriend won't calm himself down. I'll just say my piece and leave. Yeah?"
Jungkook glared at me. "If you're trying to win her back-"
"Why does everybody keep saying that? I am NOT trying to win her over. Okay?" I replied as I raised my hands in defeat.
Jungkook then calmed down as he sighed. "Then what are you doing here, hyung. Surely, you're not here to ruin date night for us."
"Of course not. And if ever I did, I didn't mean to. Look. Let me just say my part and I'll go. Will that do?" I told them seriously.
They both turn to look at each other before nodding at me.
I sighed. "IU-sunbaenim. I respect you so much. I know we had a history together, but that's all in the past now. You deserve to be happy. And I'm happy that you're with someone I can trust my life with."
Jungkook was surprised with what I said. His face says it all. I smiled at him. "Jungkook-ah, you and I both know that ANYONE would be lucky enough to have her as a girlfriend."
He smiled at me before looking at IU-sunbaenim in the eyes. I could see that they were in love. I then continued. "You BOTH deserve to be happy. I just wanted to apologize to the both of you. Sunbaenim, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry I couldn't make you any happier than you are now. Jungkook-ah… I'm sorry for making you feel like you could never live up to how I made her happy. But here's the thing, both of you are there for each other and are making each other happy. And that's what matters."
They both turn to me with a sad smile. I chuckled. "Don't look at me like that. I'm about to begin a new chapter of my life. It's New Year's Eve after all. But please, do me a favor?"
Jungkook raised his eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Protect and love each other at all cost." I told them.
They both smiled at me. Jungkook approached me as he extended his hand. "Thanks, hyung, I really mean it."
I smiled at him before taking his hand to shake it. "You know I got your back. Right?"
His smile suddenly turned into a frown. I noticed it and asked. "What's wrong?"
"For a second there, you sounded like someone I knew from... the past." He replied. IU-sunbaenim turned to him with fear written all over her face.
I was about to ask about it when my phone started ringing. It was Dahyun. What does she want at this time of the night?
I turned to them and smiled. "Well, I've disturbed your date long enough. I should take this call. Happy New Year to the both of you."
Without hearing their response, I started walking away as I answered the call. "Dahyun-ah? Why are you calling this late?"
"I'm sorry, JayB PD-nim. I didn't know who else to call." She replied. I could hear breaking noises from the other line along with shouts from a familiar voice.
"Is that… Nayeon-ie? Is everything alright?" I asked out of concern.
She sighed. "Yeah…about that." Another crashing and breaking sound echoed from where they were. "We were at a New Year's Eve party with some of my members and some other people. And something happened which made her drink a lot. The rest of the members went home already or are with their boyfriends. I'm the only one left with Nayeon-unnie. If it's not any trouble… can you please pick us up?"
"Alright. I'm on my way. Text me the address." I replied before hanging up.
What the hell is wrong with her?!
__________
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone