⚠️ Trigger warnings:

Heart break

Strong Language

Angst

🎶 Theme song for this chapter:
'Oublie Moi' by Cœur de Pirate.

You can also try her English version of the song, 'Carry on' but I feel like the French version is better.

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Eun-Tak's POV

Her office

A week had passed since Kim Seokjin had left our offices and our lives.

'Since he'd left my life...'

His brother, Taehyung oppa had been quiet about the matter. As if that wasn't bad enough, Taehyung oppa had avoided me all week.

Oppa probably knows all about what ensued at the restaurant. I sighed to myself, rubbing my temples. My head was aching.

There was this banging inside - it felt like someone was banging a pair of symbols together inside my skull.

I pulled open my desk drawer and took out a box of painkillers. I grabbed the bottle of mineral water on my desk and swallowed two pain killers.

Hopefully that would work.

I hadn't left my office much since Jin oppa had left me. There wasn't anyone to talk to anymore. And no one was as helpful as he was.

The staff returned to being snooty gits. All the young women began to give me funny stares as I walked through the hallways and whispered about me.

It was difficult to endure.

I cornered Taehyung oppa in an empty boardroom on the eleventh floor.
No one came here much.

He had been hiding in here since his brother had resigned. Stepping into the large room, I sat down at the large conference table, opposite him, and looked at him silently.

"What do you want?" He asked without looking up from his laptop.

Taehyung oppa was mad at me.

And I really miss Jin oppa so much. I miss him so much, that it hurt to breathe. My chest had a constant dull ache.

I thought back to all the times I'd meet with him at the photocopying room or the staff cafeteria. All those times when he'd laugh and joke and smile with me. And to think that my family has done so much wrong to him.

He said he loves me. And I didn't get to say it back.

It was not quite the way I'd have preferred him to confess. But it was a confession nonetheless.

I wish I could hug him. Just one more time.

I had tried calling his cellphone at least ten times a day. But his number had gone to voice mail. And later, the operator had said that his number no longer existed.

I tried emailing his personal email account. And again, there was no response.

At least he hadn't blocked me.

I huffed out in frustration.

I'd messed up.

He'd been honest with me from the start. He even introduced himself as Kim Seokjin.

I was so blinded by his personality and good looks to even notice it.

I'd caught the last part of his name and felt embarrassed to ask him again. He always appeared to me so I never got a chance to ask him where he was from or which department he worked in.

Most of the younger women in the office called him Jin oppa and a lot of them would giggle and try to get his number. But he'd give them his office extension line, smirk and walk away.

I should have seen it.

No one asks a line staff member for their number. Especially other managers. And these women used to fawn over Jin oppa.

Some women would 'accidentally' bump into him, others would drop pens near him.
Some would even send him food or drinks laced with sleeping pills.

God only knows what they planned on doing with his sleeping form.

I'd been so busy trying to acclimate to this job and then to the new role of Operations manager, that I hadn't even noticed how much was going on with him.

'I hope that he is happy at his new job. Wherever he is.'

"Oppa, I need some answers please?" I implored him, grasping my hands together.

"Why?" He finally looked up from his laptop and stared at me. His eyes were cold and his jaw was stiffly set.

He didn't want me here.

"You Ji sisters are extremely pathetic. Did you know that?" He asked me rhetorically. I sat in silence.

"My hyung did nothing wrong to your sister. In fact, on the day this all began, he was minding his own business, fishing at the lake behind his cabin while watching us play."

I gasped at that. I didn't know oppa went on holidays with us back then.

I didn't even know he was close to my family.

"But your sister just had to force him to kiss her. Threatening him that if he didn't, she'd tell everyone he'd attacked her."

I gasped again, putting a hand over my mouth.

More of what Jin oppa had said that night began to make more sense.

"My brother had to have his first kiss - a special and unique moment - with your disgusting sister. He'd sacrificed it for the sake of his family's honour." He paused for emphasis.

"Because your sister didn't want to leave him alone. But she'd over stepped her boundaries. She'd crossed lines a woman should never cross. Forget that she was also seventeen. The fact that my brother had said no should have been enough to send her away."

Taehyung looked on fire.

His eyes were darkened and his face was contorted with the anger that radiated off him, his hands trembling as a testament to this.

"I don't want to see your face ever again. You have hurt my only brother. It was my mistake. I should not have convinced him to confess his feelings to you. You don't deserve someone as kind hearted as Kim Seokjin." He said and then pressed a hidden button on the desk which called security to escourt me away.

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I can't believe what Taehyung oppa had said to me.

My sister had really embarrassed our family.

How could she force herself on someone so pure as Jin oppa?

She'd used him and hurt him and broke his heart. He said that he never loved her. He tried his best best avoid her. But she ruin everything for him.

She traumatised him.

'Gosh she's such a whore.'

Every night, for the past week, I kept replaying what had happened at the restaurant.

Seokjin tried to reason with me and with her. He tried to forgive her and make amends - though that was her job.

'He'd tried to apologise to me. But I'd turned him away when he was at his most vulnerable.'

How could I ever claim to have loved him if I didn't notice this?

Of course I was in shock from all the secrets that were spilled in front of me...

And then there's the fact that my sister was suddenly alive?!

I'd found out that oppa was the Finance Director and he'd been a part of my life for much longer than I knew.

Taehyung oppa is actually Jin oppa's baby brother and Jin oppa has an evil twin brother, Kim So-jin. It was this evil twin who apparently had a child with my dumbass sister.

That also meant that I have a niece or nephew somewhere.

And So-jin was now in prison.

'God, I know I messed up, but please can you help me fix this mess? Please?' I whispered to myself, holding my head I my hands at my desk.

The medication was taking far too long to work its magic.

I opened our internal staff HR Solutions application on my cellphone and clicked on the 'Leave' tab. I applied for a month of leave. I needed time to process everything.

And I needed to find Kim Seokjin to apologise to him. For everything.

Poor Jin oppa. He'd survived all that trauma on his own. No one to confide in. No one believes that these things happen to boys too.

I felt disgusted with myself, even though it wasn't my fault he was scarred like that. Nevertheless, as his friend, I should have been there for him more last night. But I wasn't.

My father was upset when he'd received the resignation letter from Jin oppa. And then he became furious to see my sister's smug little face in our house.

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Flashback

"I had hoped you'd stay dead longer." He said to her by way of greeting. "You do not belong here. You are not part of our family anymore. Go to your precious boyfriend, So-jin. Because of the two of you, and your selfishness, I have lost my best employee. The man was bloody good at his job. We were making the money because Jin knew exactly how to run the company's finances. You better be sorry for this." My father was seeing red at this point.

I'd scurried off towards my room, planning to cry myself to sleep. But my father had stopped me before I exited the main foyer.

"Eun-Tak. Wait right there. You aren't innocent either. You hurt Jin too." Father said to me, staring at me with his piercing eyes.

"Appa, I didn't know he loves me. And I had no idea that he was the Finance Director... he never answered me seriously." I whined to my father.

"He did so under my orders. Because, despite how our family has treated him, he was more than willing to keep an eye out for me on the company and on you. He only asked that his younger brother also be employed at Hana. And I granted him that wish." My father beamed with pride for Jin.

"The best kind of justice I could get the man was a respectful position at our company and I asked that he takes care of you for me. I knew what Yoon-ah had been doing was wrong. Ofcourse, I only found out after she made good on her threats to Jin." Appa continued.

I listened. Because appa hardly ever spoke to me. Let alone about my sister or Jin oppa.

"Jin had come to me in confidence the night she'd tried her tricks on him the first time. That was why I decided to leave the forest early." Appa looked sharply at Yoon-ah.

"That was him and you? You knew?" She covered her face as if it would change things.

"I knew about you and your escapades for weeks before Jin became your new target. My only regret; and I begged the lad for forgiveness for this;" Appa paused to give Yoon-ah a poisoned look, " ... is that Jin had made sacrifices and was ill-treated whilst he was in my care."

Now here's something I remembered as a child. Appa had taken off his belt and whacked Yoon-ah on her palms and her shins twice.

It was harsh. But not too harsh.

Because no one could give Jin back his innocence nor his peace of mind.

No wonder he gave the women in the office a wide berth. He never allowed them to even lay a finger on him.

"Guards. Please could two of you escourt this harlot off my premises... And could the other two escourt my daughter, Eun-Tak to her bedroom." My father instructed the guards, before breaking into a hacking cough.

I rushed forwards to help him, but the guards held me gently by my arms and began to march me to my room.

"Appa! Are you okay?" I called out to my father, twisting my body around to face him as I was marched away.

"I'll be better when the medic arrives."

"Nooooo, not the military medic! They're so rough!" I whined as I was practically carried off to my room.

End of flashback

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Present day

Eun-Tak's office

'Jin oppa was a true unsung hero.
I love him so much.'

I spent the better half of the next two days looking at possible options he would have had, even going through his laptop and personal drawer.

Until... I found it!

Earlier today I had dropped by his office to search his desk and cupboards for any other clues to help me with the importers case.

And that's when I found the a copy of a signed contract in his drawer. It was a photocopy.

'Argh... he's got the original.' I sighed.
'But I now know where I can find him.'

Because now, I will be with him until the very end.

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Jin's POV
Canada - Québec City

'I love my new job!'

And I love my friend Yoongi for considering me for this post! Though I wouldn't say that out loud... It might be misunderstood here.

I've had an amazing week thus far. This place is perfect to mend a broken heart!

It's like balm to my soul.

Though, I miss Taehyung. But, he'll be joining me in another week or so.

I hope he's alright. He looked distraught when I'd explained to him what the new plan was.
But he didn't complain. He had obediently ignored Eun-Tak's incessant attempts to extract information about me from him the entire week.

I'm not interested in my past anymore. Korea has given me nothing but pain, heartache and grief.

"Hyung? Are you okay? All set for the office?" Yoongi says to me as he walks down the stairs from his room.

He offered for me to live with him, indefinitely - because he's tired of living alone after his ex-girlfriend Dam-bi left him.

As part of my gratitude towards him for giving me accommodation, I made breakfast and supper each night.

Yoongi is overjoyed that I'm finally here with him, 'in the flesh' as he says.

We spent my first night here, out on his front porch, sipping beer and eating chicken as we stared up at the starry night sky.

I explained my situation to him.

Thankfully, I didn't have to recount the entire history as he was there when it had happened. I confided in him and he helped me through it.

I didn't let my past affect me. I just chose not to be with women. They complicated matters and I believe that someday, hopefully soon, I'll get to meet someone I can be myself with. I will treasure her and love her.

We talked for hours about what I can do and about the job he'd arranged for me.

I had done the interview while I was still in Korea, via Zoom.

The next day I reported for duty.
'My first day on the job.'

I am now the Chief Financial Officer for DHL International shipping & co.

'Take that Hana Enterprises!
And stuff it up your arse...' I snorted.

"I still can't believe this Yoon-ah chick has the audacity to pitch up alive. That's rude." Yoongi pouted in deep though.

"But don't stress hyung. All will be well in the end." He says throwing a arm around my neck.

I sure hope Yoongi is right.

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A/n: Thank you for reading 😊