My Secret

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❝What in the Good Lord's name just happened?❞

—Haneul

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Haneul

"Oookay..." I muttered awkwardly. "Why is he going to be my future hu- my future hus-?" I just couldn't bring myself to say the word husband out loud.

"Husband?" Appa unhelpfully corrected me. "Well, according to your Halmoni's will, Jimin is just one of the seven men you need to marry."

"What? Seven!" I gasped, my jaw fell to the floor. "How is that even going to work?! It's- it's-"

"Unconventional," Jimin supplied.

"-so reverse harem!" I grumbled uncomfortably.

Appa chuckled, looking from Jimin's perplexed expression to mine.

I glanced at Jimin's way just in time to catch him mouthing the words reverse harem, as if it were a foreign concept to him.

"You know," I tapped his arm, "it's when there's one female who has multiple male spouses!"

"Never heard of that before," he frowned. "What is it? A type of manga or something?"

But I didn't respond. I couldn't.

Telling Jimin what it is had triggered something at the back of my mind. It took me to a place I once hoped I would run from. Now there were just way too many painful memories that overloaded my brain.

This sudden wave of childhood nostalgia gave me a throbbing headache. Many of these visions were familiar to me, but, they did not make any sense.

I clutched my head, suppressing the urge to cry or scream from the pain.

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Jimin held my hand as we laughed about something. We ran down a corridor at my highschool, as if running away from someone-or something.

In a different scene, I was smiling at another boy with adorable dimples. He was so tall, he towered over me as he stood together having ice cream near a small stall outside my school.

Then, in another flash of memory, a boy with a heart shaped smile handed me a letter. He pressed his lips to my cheek and rushed off.

Jimin returned again, he looked older, more put together. We were walking out of the principal's office. But he seemed to be consoling me as I cried.

Another boy, with large eyes and an adorable smile handed me his notebook in the library. He said something, but I couldn't understand what he was saying.

Everything was so foggy.

There were a few more memories but they became disoriented and fuzzy and my head began to ache once more.

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"Haneul?" Jimin murmured, his arm was around me.

The sound of his warm voice washed over me. Like sunlight in the summer.

I blinked a few times, then accepted the box tissues he handed me. "Are you alright?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"Haneul, you should take your medication. Do you have it?" Appa's kind voice asked, reminding me about the tiny white bottle I carried in my bag whenever I went out.

"Ye- yes. I do."

"Do you mind if I look for it?" Jimin whispered, gesturing to my handbag.

I nodded, but that only brought another wave of sharp pains running across my skull. My eye scrunched up as I gripped the desk, waiting for this wave of agony to wash away.

Jimin gingerly unzipped my bag, and was looking for my medication. Within minutes, he fished it out, and popped the lid open.

"Here," he handed me the dose and a bottle of water I didn't notice was on the trolley.

"Thank you," I answered gruffly.

They were tiny white film coated tablets. Bitter wasn't even the right description for the way it tasted.

It was plain down disgusting!

But this was the truth of my life. Every now and again I had to swallow bitter pills to suppress the memories-or so Dr. Min said.

In actuality, the medicine worked to ease the pain in my head, rather than suppress my memories.

Dr. Min was funny like that. She's so kind and understanding. Talking to her is soothing, almost like I was talking to my mother!

Jimin ran his hand gently over my head while Mr. Park had gone to the tiny annexure in his office to fetch something.

"It's okay," Jimin murmured to me. "It'll be okay Haneul."

"Thank you," I smiled weakly at him as the pain drained away. "That really helps."

"I'm glad," he returned my smile. "Do you want to go for a walk? Get some fresh air?"

"No, I want to hear what Mr. Park has to say before I leave."

Appa returned just then, carrying a small safe in his hands. He gently placed it on his wooden desk and opened it as if expecting a rainbow to shoot out with some mysterious group of angels humming in awe.

Alas, as the door to the mini safe popped open, there was no majestic humming-and to my great disappointment, neither was there a rainbow!

There was just a single A4 manilla envelope with my name on it.

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Jimin

Haneul looked at the mini safe with a mixture of disappointment and amusement.

She was still a little pale, but the colour seemed to be returning to her cheeks. I took the water bottle from her, leaving it back on the trolley. Begrudgingly, I let go of her as I reached over the desk to help my uncle close the safe.

"Alright. So this is something we've been waiting to look at for quite some time. I only know a few of the details-all of which I have already shared with you."

Jageunappa sat forward, handing Haneul the envelope. She accepted it, her lips parting with wonder.

She hasn't changed at all.

It's taken everything in me not to grab her and kiss her. Not that we've ever kissed before.

But to see her again-it gave me hope.

And then my heart was crushed into a million pieces. Seeing her like that, suffering in pain, killed me.

I have never felt so helpless before.

Not even when I served my time in the military and had to witness fellow soldiers fall when we battled enemy ranks to protect our country.

All I could do was try to soothe the pain with gentle strokes. Her eyes widened and then shut with the pain.

In a panic, I barely remembered to ask her permission before rummaging through her handbag to find her medication. Dr. Min told me what to do, if I ever saw her again.

I wonder if Haneul remembers me.
Is it selfish to think like this, now?

She's going to have to marry the seven of us. I'll have to share her with them.

Just like Halmoni asked us to. Just like she explained to the family to see it through.

It's really happening. Isn't it?

Haneul is here, again. She's seen me. Smiled at me.

She's seen some of the others too. That means she's recovering, right?

Please be okay Haneul.

"This is Halmoni's will? But I thought I received everything she owned when she died?" Haneul's voice was uneven.

"Yes, you received her belongings, the flat and whatever was in her personal account when she died," my uncle replied. "But this is the inheritance you need to sign for and claim within the next three days."

Oh. That inheritance. I knew what my uncle was getting at. I just didn't think that Haneul was strong enough to handle it yet.

"Inheritance?"

"Yes my dear, you're inheriting the school and the family businesses."

"The school?! Family businesses?!" Haneul's mouth hung open. "No, I think this is just a mistake or a dream."

"It's not a dream. And neither is it a mistake," Jageunappa mused, concealing it behind a small smile.

"Haneul, you're going to become the next family head in the Kim clan. Your Halmoni left you everything after your parents' deaths."

"Head of the clan? What does that even mean?" her voice shook.

This is going to get tricky. I just hope my uncle remembers what Dr. Min said.

"You're the next head of the Kim clan, the-"

"Basically, what my uncle is trying to say, Haneul," I politely chipped in, looking at my uncle with a silent plea to forgive me. "Is that your grandmother left you in charge of her shares, businesses and the school we attended together. She had a few conditions, but those were kept a secret," I smiled at her, hoping it would ease the sudden influx of information.

"I see. Yes... I remember you," she sounded hesitant, but her eyes shone with recognition now.

Did she have a flashback of us? Is that why she's in pain now?

Am I hurting my Haneul?

"I'm fine," she smiled at me.

"Good. Haneul, to sum this up for now, we will have a meeting with you, Jimin and the others tomorrow morning. You should rest and try to enjoy your birthday."

"Jageunappa, I'll take Haneul home, if that's okay with you and her."

"Haneul, are you okay with that?" my uncle asked her.

"Yes. I think it would be nice to speak to someone I went to school with," Haneul smiled at me.

"I didn't mean for this to happen, but it was time we handed over these properties to you, Haneul. Or the state would take over everything."

Oh, yeah... that made sense.

I heard bits and pieces of this before. My parents knew, of course. Everyone's parents knew.

Even Haneul's. They'd already given us their blessings.

It was just a matter of time when Haneul and the seventh member finished school so we could discuss the ground rules of the relationship. But then that horrible dark and stormy day arrived. And our Haneul had been snatched away from us.

Until today.

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Haneul

Jimin and I said our goodbyes to Mr. Park.

He walked me to the lifts, silence washing over us completely. The man seemed to be mulling over everything we just learned in that office.

He's going to be my husband-one of seven husbands and tomorrow I'll get to meet the others.

The weirdest part isn't the seven husbands I'll have once this is all over-no, instead, it's the fact that Halmoni insisted that I need to marry all seven of them!

Why would she do that? And who were these other six men?

I get the feeling he already knows them. And a voice in my heart tells me I already know them too.

But my mind keeps wondering to the faces I saw in the splash of memories I saw a little while ago. What did those boys look like now?

"Mochi?" I looked at Jimin.

"You remembered!" he gasped, hugging me.

"Yeah, I also remember how cute you looked with your mochi-like cheeks!" I giggled.

"So then, do you remember me?"

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