The dawn touches Maldives. It's still cold and dark outside but Seulgi is already wide awake though she has a long night with Jimin. A smile appears on her face as she looks up and stares at him. He is still deep asleep and she listens to his low breathing. She reaches out her hand and caresses his cheek gently before she snuggles closer and stays inside his embrace. After a while, she decides to leave the bed. Carefully she pulls herself away from him then immediately picks up her night gown on the floor and wears it. She walks to the small kitchen and makes a cup of tea. Then, she brings the warm cup with her to the deck and on her way she also grabs her phone too. This is the first time she gets her phone on hand since she first arrived here.

Right after Seulgi steps out, the wind welcomes as it blows her hair softly. Though it's cold, she still proceeds to the nearest chaise and sits there. It's quiet and she loves it how there is only the sound of wave. Vague and fuzzy. She sips her tea as she has her eyes on the horizon that slowly splits in two. She puts down her cup and takes her phone to capture the beautiful scenery. A hazy sunrise greets Maldives in a very stunning way. Vivid orange and pink beam scatter and turn dawn into morning. She is speechless as she witnesses the grandeur. A couple more pictures and she smiles as she feels satisfied with the come out. She is going to show it to Jimin and she knows already that he is going to love it more than she does. She is about to put down her phone and enjoy the view but all of sudden it rings as there is an incoming call from grandma. She furrows her eyebrows confusedly as her heart starts to beat faster. This is not a good sign. Somehow, in some way, she feels that something bad is happening and she is not wrong as she finds out once she answers the call.

"Dear, I know it's still early morning in Maldives, I'm sorry that I disturb you, but it's an urgent matter" Grandma begins and there is a slight panic on her tone.

"It's okay, what's happening?" Seulgi talks then immediately bites her lips as she waits for the response. Nerve-wrecking.

Grandma opens up with a heavy sigh but already makes her mind to tell everything clearly. She speaks up about what happened last night in Seoul. An original file case of Jimin's mother accident from 1999 was uploaded online and accessible for public by Jimin's father with an approval from grandma. It of course caused a mess and frenzy as everything was revealed in a blink of an eye. JJ company's stock was affected and suffered damage though thankfully it could be recovered. Every name that was written on document, start from cops to detectives to prosecutors and judges, all were trending and getting a lot of hate and mockery. One bye one came up with a public apology and some even officially announced retirement and withdrawal. The criticism was out of control but it was worse for Hyorin as she was the brain of crime. The truth finally came to light and the public were aware that Jimin's mother died not because of an accident but a premeditated murder. The public was angry and mad with the reality that Hyorin's criminal statute of limitation was already expired last year. Backlashes like cursing and swearing were never enough and in the end the public signed a petition to reinvestigate and bring the case to court.

Seulgi suddenly feels a weight on her shoulder. Truthfully she wants to ask and to know more but her lips and tongue are numb. One, two, three seconds, she is in a complete silent. Then, there, grandma decides to continue and reveal her darkest secret. Grandma forthrightly tells that she was not only involved in destroying and sabotaging evidences, but also in hiding and covering that crime. She is deeply in fault and guilty. All this time she keeps it from Jimin and selfishly lives her life receiving her grandson's love and respect. Truly, she is ashamed and regretful. Speechless. Seulgi already is aware of the truth but never to this depth. She is not going to lie, she is in a great shock. This truth is too much to take in. It's ugly and hurtful. Her heart suffers, cracks and shatters into pieces. There is a long quiet moment before grandma chooses to speak. Grandma asks Seulgi to call her when Jimin is awake. This time, grandma wants to be the one who breaks the news to him directly. At last, before grandma hangs up, she asks Seulgi to stay by his side and hug him because he is going to need that the most.

After the phone call ends, Seulgi sits there, stares blankly as she feels uneasy and anxious. She immediately thinks about Jimin. How will he react to this situation? Will he be happy because everything is revealed now or will he be sad and mad because he finally finds out the secret and the lie? She doesn't know. She takes a very deep breath and slowly releases it to calm her heart beat but it still thumps in pain. She hates this kind of feeling but she is not able to avoid it. She stares at the beautiful sea as she tries to distract her thought and it doesn't work. She worries about him and she is frighten of what is going to come. She wishes he will be alright, she wishes everything will be alright.

"Seul" All of sudden, Seulgi hears Jimin's raspy voice and instantly turns her face to him.

"Good morning" Seulgi says as she fakes a smile, hoping it's convincing enough.

"Morning, what are you doing here?" Jimin asks as he approaches and joins her on chaise.

Seulgi doesn't answer. She just leans to Jimin and asks for a warm hug. He happily gives her one without knowing that her mind is full of fear. They stay like that for a while before she volunteers to make him a cup of coffee which he immediately responds positively. She uses the momentum to get away from him and make a phone call to grandma from the small kitchen. She tells grandma that her grandson is already awake and then hangs up to make the coffee that she promises him. The timing is just right, as she finishes with the coffee, his phone starts to ring. In flash she goes to his phone and delivers it to him.

"Grandma calls" Seulgi says as she hands his phone and keeps his cup on her own.

"It's annoying" Jimin whines adorably with a smile on his face.

It slaps hard. Seulgi just forces a smile as she plays dumb. Her heart stops when Jimin answers the call with a bright tone. His smile is still there until a couple second later, it disappears completely. His expression turns dark and his body tenses. It kills her to witness. She petrifies on her place when he gazes into her eyes with so many questions written there. A sigh leaves his lips as slowly his eyes lose their light. She reaches out her free hand to touch his shoulder and comfort him but he rises up, walks to the edge of the deck and stands there. He watches small waves below him as he listens to his grandma. He seems calm outside but inside there is a storm happening, wrecking and tearing his heart apart. Every truth makes his heart breaks into pieces but he completely drowns when he finds out about his grandma's involvement. Really, he doesn't know how to handle it.

Everything is revealed and thanks to his father and grandma now everybody knows the truth but why is he feeling this way? Jimin is confused. It doesn't make him feel relieves or happy but instead his heart is heavy and somehow he feels empty. Isn't it what he always wants? He starts questioning himself. He is deep into his thought and completely shuts his mouth. He hears his grandma calls his name continuously but he is not able to say a word and his grandma mistakenly takes his silence as anger. Grandma is panic and she says her apologize over and over again.

"Jimin, please, I beg for your forgiveness" Grandma's voice begins to crack.

"I--- I need some time alone" Jimin manages to talk and the next second he immediately ends the call.

Actually, it's hurtful to hear his grandma talk like that and Jimin somewhat regrets his choice but he also needs to think calmly and avoid a wrong decision. His eyes start to waver and his hands begin to tremble. It's complicated and he is utterly bewildered. He takes a very deep breath as he looks straight. The blue ocean is exquisitely serene and it shimmers prettily under the sunlight. It's contradictory with what happens inside his head, one by one, everything collapses and crumbles. How ironic.

Jimin is busy with his thought and he totally forgets about his wife's presence. Seulgi understands and she just sits there as she contemplates about what she should do. At last, she decides to follow what grandma says. She puts his mug down and arises from the chaise. Slowly, she takes step toward her husband as she stares at his back that heaves up and down in a heavy breath. Halfway, she halts and reconsiders but she convinces herself to keep going. She continues to approach him and when she is close enough, she reaches out both of her hands and touches his waist gently before she traces her hands around and completely pulls him into her back hug. She rests her head on his spine as she tightens her embrace.

"This shall pass too" Seulgi whispers comforting words as she softly caresses Jimin's torso.

Jimin stays silent. From the way Seulgi talks, it seems like she already knows about the situation. He believes that she also feels devastated with the news and thinks how unfair it is to happen in their honeymoon. In this kind of circumstance, he is supposed to comfort her as well but like a fool he fails to say a thing in return. He just places his hand on hers and strokes it with his thumb as a sign that he is aware and thankful of her moral support. Not long after that, he slowly breaks the hug and turns around to face her. He stares for a second before he pulls her into his embrace. He rests his chin on top of her head and brushes her hair with his finger. He feels a little bit better because he has her but he is not going to lie, his heart and mind are distracted.

"Go inside and have a shower, I'll be here, waiting" Seulgi says.

Jimin is grateful for everything that Seulgi does and says. She is full of consideration as she advices and gives him some space. A nod and slight smile, then he immediately gets inside and goes to bathroom. He stands underneath the shower and lets the water pour on him. For almost an hour, he sinks into his own thought and thinks about everything thoroughly. No resolution and eventually he gives up. Whatever, he is just going to ignore. He is determined to forget about this problem and enjoy his honeymoon but his plan shatters after he gets a message from his father.

***

Hyorin is at the corner of her bedroom. She is on the floor, hugs her knees vulnerably as she hides her face there. It's over. Everything falls apart. Her life turns to mess and she doesn't have a power to even fix a single thing. Tears stream down her face as she feels helpless and useless. It's hard to believe that Junjin betrays her like this. It hurts and there is no way to escape the pain. Hours ago, when the news first broke, she immediately came to her only son's room to explain and apologize, but before she could do, her son refused her and she could tell that he was truly disappointed. Her world collapsed and she tried to get an explanation to why this happened. Then, she ran to her husband's room but he wasn't there. She had no one. She was all alone. She lost everything.

"Please save me" Hyorin desperately whispers to stillness.

Hyorin doesn't know what to do anymore. Everybody hates her. Everybody swears and curses at her. She reads all those comments that ask her to kill herself and die but honestly they are nothing compared to text messages from her socialite friends. They throw her away from their society. They say they can't let a murderer stay inside their circle because it's too dangerous and tell her to rot and disappear. All these years, she works extremely hard to climb the ladder to get her high status and position and right now everything just vanishes in a blink of eyes. She is so mad and devastated at the same time and all she can do is crying and bawling. She is out of her mind. In any second she is going to turn nuts and in that very moment, suddenly the door is opened and she sees her husband there.

"Hyorin-ah" Junjin calls her name softly.

Hyorin just gazes at Junjin before she continues to cry. She hates it when she knows that she is being betrayed by her husband but she still falls for his gentle voice. In the other hand, Junjin watches how his wife breaks down and waits until she is a little calmer. Once she feels a bit better, he reaches out his hand and talks.

"Go with me, let's move to Queenstown and live quietly, hm?" Junjin talks.

Hyorin is taken aback. She lifts her chin up and stares at Junjin in disbelief. First he betrays her and now he asks her to come with him and disappear. How cruel he is. No, never, she is not going to leave what she has here. Whatever it takes, she is going to recover and protect what is hers. She is so sure about that as she immediately refuses him and looks away in anger but then there is sound of steps and not long after that she hears her son's voice that changes everything.

"Mom, let's move to Queenstown and start over, aren't you tired with everything?" Junhoe speaks pitifully.

All this time Junhoe always questions why his half-brother is so cold to him and sometimes he feels unfair with the way Jimin treats him, but today he finds out everything and now he understands. He feels like this is the least he and his mother can do for his hyung, to vanish from his sight and to disappear from his life. It hurts to know the truth about his mother but for this once he is going to let it slip and forgive. Right now, he joins his father and reaches out his hand for his mother. His eyes plead and his lips convince his mother.

"Mom, this is our last chance to be a genuine and considerate human being, please, I beg you, we have hurt Jimin hyung too much" Junhoe is almost in tears as he feels guilty.

Hyorin is speechless. Junhoe keeps stating 'our' and 'we' as he takes part in every ill doing she has committed in the past when in reality he is not. It's such a hard slap for her and somehow she starts to feel embarrassed by her own misdeed to the point where she believes that she doesn't deserve those hands and helps. Her sight meets the floor in shame but all of sudden she is already inside her husband's arms with her son's hand on her shoulder.

"Let go of everything here and begin again there" Junjin whispers and Hyorin nods weakly on his embrace.

Just like that, Junjin delivers the news to his mother and gets her agreement. From airplane tickets to their house and other accommodation to Junhoe's school and education, everything will be prepared and handled by her personally. In three days, they are all ready to leave and there, Junjin feels the need to say his farewell to Jimin and decides to send him a text message.

'Jimin, I bet you hear everything already. I'm sorry to keep the truth away from you all these years, I'm sorry to send you abroad when you want to bring this to court, I'm sorry for everything that I have done to you, for the pain and the scars. Though it's too late now, but this is the least I can do to stop my wife to hurt you and your wife even more. I know I have no right to ask forgiveness but still, this old man wants to shamelessly beg for one. Jimin, in three days, I'm going to move out to Queenstown and probably not going to return to Seoul anytime soon. Jimin, my son, I know I'm not a good father but still I wish you happiness and blessedness in your life with your dearest Seulgi. I wish your day will be filled with smile and laughter. Please be happy. One day, perhaps when you finally have no resentment left toward me and are able to forgive me, please come and visit Queenstown with Seulgi and maybe with some of your kids too, but for now, I need to say goodbye, farewell my son'

***

I hope you will enjoy this chapter. Please kindly vote and leave some comments. Thank you for every support and love, I truly appreciate that :)