FATE, WRITTEN BY US - CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 17
NURSERYJo Kwon stared at his phone after Seul Ong hung up on him. He had never heard his Seul Ong hyung talk to anyone in that tone before. He was still shocked by the turn of events. He had thought his surprise would be a nice one for Ga-In but…
He walked towards the musical box in the middle and closed the lid. Other than shock, his curiosity was also aroused – why did Ga-In noona react that way?
I need to get to the bottom of this.He knew that Seul Ong would not pick up his call so he sent him a message.
Seul Ong hyung, I’m sorry about what happened but I really need to know what caused Ga-In noona to react in that manner. Please tell me where to find the two of you. After he pressed ‘sent’, he waited patiently for an answer. He half-expects Seul Ong not to answer him at all so when he got the reply from Seul Ong to meet them at his place, he was very surprised. He got up from where he was sitting, took the musical box and went to tell Jung PD that he was leaving for the day.
“Jung PD, sorry for the mess created today. If there’s anything…”
“Kwon-ah, it’s alright, no one expected Ga-In to react in that manner. Are you alright? You must have been shocked too.”
“I was shocked but I’m more worried about how Ga-In noona is. I’m heading off to see Seul Ong hyung now and hopefully he would be able to explain to me what I did wrong.”
“You’d better be careful. Seul Ong-ssi is very angry at the moment. We all know how precious Ga-In-ssi is to him and something traumatic must have happened to her in the past for her to behave the way she did. Hopefully, she’d be alright. Please send our apologies to both Seul Ong-ssi and Ga-In-ssi when you see them.”
“I will do that. I’d make a move first.”
“Alright, see you soon.”
Both Jung PD and Jo Kwon knew that if Ga-In decides that she did not want to continue with the show anymore, there was nothing they could do to stop her. With Im Seul Ong in the picture, she could break the contract anytime and pay the liquidity damage. Not to mention, this time round, the production team was the one who caused the trauma so they do not have any say as well. So they were pretty much at the mercy of Son Ga-In.
Jo Kwon walked towards his car quickly and got in. He entered the address that Seul Ong sent to him in his text message and realised that his residence wasn’t too far away. He has always been a safe driver who never went beyond 120km/hr. This time round, he hit 180km/hr. That was how much he needed to see that Ga-In was alright.
SEUL ONG’S APARTMENTWhen Seul Ong arrived at his apartment, Ga-In was still sound asleep. So he carried her up to the apartment and straight to the bedroom and let her continue sleeping. Luckily, he has his own private garage and elevator. So no one else in the building knew that Ga-In was with him.
After making sure that she was lying comfortably, he made a phone call to Ga-In’s manager to inform her to cancel all of Ga-In’s schedule for the week. If there were any program that required compensation because Ga-In could not turn up, she was to send the letter and amount required to him directly and he would take care of it instead of going through the company.
The moment he got off the phone, a text message came in from Jo Kwon. He knew he would send him a message requesting to see Ga-In and himself. He did debate with himself a little whether he should let him come over. While he was angry with him, he also realised that Kwon didn’t know anything and therefore couldn’t be blamed entirely for the day’s happening. So he agreed to let Kwon come over and gave him the address.
Seul Ong went to check on Ga-In before he went for a quick shower and changed out of his work clothes. He was drying his hair when the doorbell sounded. He walked out of his room and went to answer the door, knowing full well who was the visitor. When he saw Kwon’s face through the intercom, he could see the worry and guilt on his face. That took the rest of his anger away. He could never stay angry for long with the two of them, whether it’s now or 18 years ago.
18 years ago…
How much should he tell Kwon?The moment Kwon was allowed into the private elevator, he heaved a sigh of relief. He knew Seul Ong has every right to refuse him entry even when he had given him permission to go over since he did hurt Ga-In noona, unknowingly or otherwise.
When he got out of the elevator, Seul Ong was waiting for him at the door. Though he didn’t smile at him, he was relieved that he didn’t look angry.
“Seul Ong hyung, I’m really sorry for what happened today. But…”
“I’m not the one you should apologise to. Save that for Ga-In when she wakes up. But what were you thinking, blindfolding her and asking her to walk to you in the dark? Don’t you know she’s afraid of the dark? Don’t you know that she doesn’t like anything covering her eyes?”
“No, I don’t.”
That was when Seul Ong realised that he got the past confused with the present too. When they were still living in the orphanage, they knew how Ga-In was afraid of the dark. So, she had a nightlight beside her bed. They found out that Ga-In hated having her eyes covered when they attempted to get her to play hide-and-seek.
He remembered the one time they finally forced her to be the one seeking. She just sat on the floor after they blindfolded her and went all quiet. They thought she was throwing a tantrum, only to discover the wetness on the blindfold – she was crying silently.
From then on, he never allowed anyone or anything to cover her eyes or her face, not even for her album covers or magazine photo shoot.
“Sorry, I forgot that you just met her and you wouldn’t know these details about her. Don’t worry too much, she would be fine after she has rested enough.”
“But Seul Ong hyung, why? Why did she react so badly to being blindfolded and in dark spaces? Did something bad happen to her when she was young?”
Seul Ong looked at Jo Kwon’s earnest and confused face and contemplated how much to tell him.
“She was kidnapped when she was around 4 years old. The kidnapper kept her in a dark enclosed space with her eyes blindfolded for the entire duration that she was held hostage. After the kidnapper got what she wanted, she brought her to the orphanage.”
“The kidnapper was a woman?!! How could she do that? Why did she bring her to the orphanage instead of returning her to her parents?”
“Because the kidnapper was her mother.”
“What?!”
“Yes… Ga-In…”
Seul Ong was about to continue when they heard a loud scream from the room. Both men rushed towards the room. When they entered, they saw Ga-In thrashing about on the bed, as if she was fighting furiously with an unknown captor.
“Let go of me! Let go of me!! HELP!!!”
Seul Ong went forward and grabbed hold of Ga-In. Ga-In resisted and fought to be released. Instead of shouting to be heard like what he did in the nursery, Seul Ong whispered very gently in her ears.
“In-ah, it’s me, Seul Ong oppa. Don’t worry, I’m here. Turn away from the monster and come back to me now.”
Gradually, Ga-In calmed down and slumped into a puddle in Seul Ong’s embrace. When he saw that she was fast asleep again, he laid her down gently on the bed, wiping the tears that she had shed throughout that ordeal with his thumb. He smoothed the hair that had gotten stuck on her cheeks. It broke his heart to see her tears.
Jo Kwon watched the entire scene and wondered how many times did Seul Ong offered Ga-In the same comfort through their years of growing up. It was no small wonder the two of them are so close to each other.
But I want to be the one to protect her from now on. Would she trust me enough to do that?The strong desire to be her protector surprised him. He didn’t know whether it was because he craved to have the kind of closeness that Seul Ong and Ga-In obviously shared or he was feeling guilty for causing this ‘relapse’.
Seul Ong got up from the bed and signalled for Jo Kwon to follow him out of the room.
“Seul Ong hyung, does this happen very often? I mean Ga-In noona getting nightmares…”
“When she first came to the orphanage, it happened every night. I first noticed her when I was on my rounds to make sure that all the kids were asleep. Since I was one of the oldest in the orphanage, the adults appointed me to help. I found her one night sleeping on the bench outside the room because there was light outside. I woke her up and insisted that she sleeps in the room. She went back quietly. But minutes later, I heard a scream and when I ran back, I saw her curled up on the floor and she was crying so badly.”
Remembering that first encounter with Ga-In still gave Seul Ong chills. Maybe it was from that moment on that he decided that he had to look after this girl.
“Hyung, you mentioned just now that her mother was her kidnapper… How did she find out about it?”
“That woman didn’t hide the fact that it was her. Well, she tried to at first but she started talking about how all she wanted to make Ga-In’s father stay with her but she can’t. So she had to resort to kidnapping to get what she wanted.”
“But why did she put Ga-In noona in the orphanage when she could have leave Ga-In noona with her father?”
“That is a question I would like to have answered too.”
Both men turned when they heard Ga-In’s voice. Seul Ong walked forward and put his hand very naturally around Ga-In’s shoulders. He made her look at him.
“In-ah, you alright? Why did you get up? You should rest more.”
“Oppa, I’m alright. How come you were at the nursery? Did I tell you I’d be alright?”
“Yes of course, look at how that turned out. Did you really expect me to be able to sit peacefully in my office after receiving your message?”
Ga-In looked properly chastised by his words. She knew that Seul Ong would have appeared at the venue and maybe subconsciously, she wanted, or needed him to be there.
Listening to their conversation, Jo Kwon was puzzled. Ga-In noona obviously told Seul Ong hyung where she was going, otherwise he wouldn’t have known where to look for them. But why did she have to tell him that she was going to the nursery?
“Ga-In noona, why did you have to reassure Seul Ong hyung that you’d be alright even though you are going to the nursery? Is there a problem with the nursery? And Seul Ong hyung, why did you rush out to the nursery? Did something bad happen to Ga-In noona at a nursery before?”
Seul Ong and Ga-In turned to look at Jo Kwon when he spoke. The two of them had actually forgotten he was around. They looked at each other and in that few seconds they knew they could not reveal the truth yet.
“I’m allergic to flowers and since I didn’t know we were going to the nursery, I didn’t bring my medication with me. I told Seul Ong oppa that and he probably went into a panic.”
“But you were fine when I gave you the purple tulips.”
“She’s ok if there isn’t a lot of flowers but since it’s a nursery and there’s flowers everywhere, that’s why.”
“Ga-In noona, why didn’t you say something when you arrive at the venue? We could have cancelled the recording.”
“No, we couldn’t and you know it. It’s alright.”
“Kwon-ah, have you had dinner? I’m going to order some food, would you like to stay and have dinner with us?”
“Can I? That would be great.”
“Alright, is Japanese food ok with you? In-ah, do you want something else?”
“Oppa, I’d go with whatever you choose. You know what I like to eat.”
“Kwon? Any preference? Rice or noodles?”
“Hyung, you decide, I’m fine with anything.”
“Alright, the two of you chat while I go make the order.”
Seul Ong walked off to make the phone call in his study room. Ga-In and Jo Kwon sat in silence, neither wants to be the first to speak.
Finally, Jo Kwon decided that he had to initiate the conversation.
“Noona, I heard from Seul Ong hyung about the kidnapping when you were 4. I’m so sorry that I made you go through what you did today.”
“It’s alright, everyone has a past. Mine was just a little darker than usual. You didn’t know so you are not to be blamed.”
“So, you’d continue to be on WGM with me right? I promise not to do anything without consulting you first again. I should have learnt my lesson after our first meeting.”
“Of course I’d continue with WGM. We are the ‘hot’ couple to watch right now! It’s a good chance to raise our popularity, why would I stop now?”
Just then, Seul Ong came back into the living room. Ga-In got up immediately.
“I need to go and wash up before dinner arrives. Oppa, the clothes I left behind on my last visit here, where are they?”
“In your room, where else would they be? I have no use for your clothes.”
“Ya~ How would I know? Maybe some mysterious female came over and needed a change of clothes and you gave her mine.”
“Like I would! What mysterious female? Don’t talk nonsense! Go and wash up!”
Their casual banter was a direct contrast to the formal and stunted conversation we just had. Would we ever reach that level of comfort with each other?Jo Kwon had no idea why every time he sees the interaction between Seul Ong and Ga-In, he would feel that he had missed out on something. The feeling that he
could have been part of that comfortable and casual interaction disturbed him. He could not understand why he would miss something he never had in the first place.
Kwon-ah, come over to hyung’s side. Don’t go and bother your noona. She’s in a bad mood today.Jo Kwon shook his head. This was the first time he heard a boy’s voice.
Jo Kwon, you are going crazy, you are hearing voices in your head!“Kwon-ah! What’s wrong?”
Jo Kwon was pulled out of his reverie by Seul Ong’s slightly raised voice.
“Hyung, why? What happened?”
“I should be the one asking you that! I called you a couple of times but you didn’t answer me. Not just that, you were just staring into space. What were you thinking about?”
“Hyung, I hope you won’t find me crazy but I keep hearing voices in my head. It used to be just a little girl’s voice but just now, I heard a boy’s voice as well. The strange thing is I seemed to
know these voices… Like I have heard them say those exact words to me before.”
“So, what did the latest voice say to you?”
“Kwon-ah, come over to hyung’s side. Don’t go and bother your noona. She’s in a bad mood today. Strange right? I don’t have any siblings so who is this hyung and noona?”
Seul Ong actually asked the question, thinking that Jo Kwon was just joking around. But when he heard what the ‘voice’ said, the smile on his face was wiped off immediately. Seul Ong closed his eyes as he remembered when and why he said that to Jo Kwon – that was the day they forced Ga-In to play hide-and-seek. Kwon was pestering Ga-In and she kept pushing him away and he had to ask Kwon to go back to his side.
So, he’s getting flashes from the past without knowing that those things really happened to him.
And us.“Hyung, are you alright? You look like you are in pain. Are you controlling your laughter? You don’t have to because it is actually quite funny now that I have told you about it.”
Seul Ong simply smiled. He didn’t think he could get a word out.
No, Kwon, it’s not funny at all. I wonder how you would feel when you realised it’s all real.
Would you be happy to know that it’s real?“What are the two of you talking about?”
Ga-In had come out of the shower and was drying her hair with a towel when she saw the pained expression on Seul Ong. She didn’t hear what they were discussing prior to that so she wanted to know what had transpired.
“Nothing. It was a joke.”
The doorbell sounded and Seul Ong quickly excused himself to tend to the deliveryman. He paid for the food and brought the food to the kitchen. On the way there, he shouted for the two of them to go to the kitchen so they could have their dinner.
Jo Kwon was about to walk to the kitchen when Ga-In stopped him by holding on to his arm.
“What did you say to Seul Ong oppa just now?”
“It was nothing, I was telling him that I have been hearing voices in my head. Don’t worry, I think it’s just my crazy imagination running wild.”
“You sure that’s all?”
“Yes… why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
With that, Ga-In released her hold on Kwon and walked towards the kitchen. Jo Kwon followed quietly behind her. Once the food was set out, the three of them sat down and started eating. It wasn’t a totally comfortable meal but at least there was no more mention of the dreadful incident at the nursery.