Jamais Vu

Chapter 42

P.S: trigger warning ahead.
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Eight years ago.

Sunhee couldn't contain her joy any longer as she jumped in glee when she got into the cubicle in the restroom. After years of hard work with countless hours of dance practice and vocal training, she was finally going to debut as one of the members of the new girl group Fame. She was chosen as a sub-vocalist and dance leader. The announcement went out that day and she couldn't wait to tell her parents. Her dad would be ecstatic to hear the news and her mom – well her mom would be happy for her too.

Her parents moved to Seoul a couple of months ago from Daejeon to be nearer to her, other than the fact that her dad received a better job offer. Her mom started to work at a clinic nearby and everything was just great. She knew the pathway of being an idol is not that easy and cheap. Years of her parents' hard work would pay off too. She was going to make sure she would be the best female idol around. It would be better if her mom didn't act as if she didn't like Sunhee around the house that much. Sunhee didn't go home that frequent but when she did, her mom looked uncomfortable. Distant. It was different with her dad. She's his princess and he spoiled her to the max.

"Youjong eunnie," called Sunhee to her manager who was working at the office.

"What is it, Sunhee?" asked Youjong without lifting her head as she was looking through the items in her file.

"Can I ask you for a favour?"

"What is it?" repeated Youjong.

"Can I visit my parents for a while and tell them about the debut?" requested Sunhee.

"Why don't you just call them instead? It could save time," suggested Youjong, finally lifting her head as she peered at Sunhee through her reading glasses.

"No, this is really, really important and I can't just break it to them on the phone. I've been waiting for years to be debuted. This is so huge for me. Please eunnie?" Sunhee pleaded to Youjong as she pulled off her doe-like expression, hoping Youjong would be swayed by her request. "Pretty please, eunnie? I've never asked for any favours before. You know that, right?" added Sunhee.

Youjong hesitated as she looked at her paper clipboard. "You have a very full schedule, Sunhee-ya. I don't think you could do that any time soon," commented Youjong.

"I don't need the whole day. An hour is more than enough. I can even settle for 20 minutes," bargained Sunhee as she went down and laid her head at the edge of the desk. She really wanted to tell her parents about it face to face. A phone call won't have the impact that she was waiting for. She was thinking of recording their reaction and keeping it for herself. "I'm sure there's a day that I would have a long break at night. I'm looking for nighttime. Then my parents would be at home."

She could see a part of the ice melted when Youjong relented. "I'll put a request for you to the upper management. If they say yes, I'll drive you there. If not, you have to stick to the phone and call them up," said Youjong firmly.

"Thank you," squealed Sunhee, hugging Youjong in return. "I promise I won't complain if you put an apple in front of me. I'll eat that, no questions asked."

"I'll remind you that whenever you do," said Youjong. "I want you to stop smuggling Snickers too."

"If you get me the pass," returned Sunhee.

"Fine, I'll try my best. But there's no guarantee that you can get it."

"I have my faith in you, eunnie."

The permission Sunhee waited for was approved three days later. Youjong drove Sunhee to her home after making sure her parents would be there, or the surprise wouldn't be a surprise. Sunhee bought a cake along the way to mark the announcement and she was feeling giddy as Youjong reminded her she didn't have much time left.

"You have fifteen minutes. If you're late, I'll go and fetch you myself," warned Youjong as waited in the car.

Sunhee's parents lived in a nice property with a small garden at the front. Her dad loved gardening and that was where he spent most of his free time. She basically sprinted from the gate to the door and entered the passkey. She didn't close the door completely knowing that she needed to run back to Youjong. Youjong's a really strict person when it comes to time management as she made sure each time was followed down to the exact second.

Sunhee opened the door and was puzzled at what she heard. Her mom was shouting and it sounded like her parents were fighting. Sunhee was stunned. Her parents rarely fought when she was at home and her mom never raised her voice for as long as Sunhee could remember. They were in the kitchen and weren't aware of Sunhee entering the house. She put the cake she bought on the coffee table in the living room as she crept to the kitchen.

Sunhee looked at the scene in front of her in disbelief. She couldn't process what was happening and it was as if she was watching a movie in slow motion. She could see her mom's side profile and there were bruises on her mom's cheek. Who hit her mom and what the heck was going on?

"I've had enough! I'm leaving," shouted her mom, moving away from the kitchen.

"You're not leaving. You will only leave when I let you!"

It all happened in a split second and all hell broke loose. She saw her dad taking the knife from the counter and without thinking, she went to block him as she stood in front of her mom. She was stabbed in her mom's place and her dad was horrified at what he had done that he stumbled few steps away. He fell as he hit the chair behind him.

"Sunhee..." her dad panicked. He went forward and went to the knife, intending to pull it out. "Don't worry, abeoji will help you," he turned to Sunhee and took the knife quickly.

"No! Don't take that out!" shouted her mom, trying to stop her dad but she was hit and pushed to the side. "You're going to kill her!"

Sunhee was in immense pain that she could hardly say anything as blood streamed out.

"No!" her mom screamed as she went to Sunhee trying to stop the blood, knowing that her dad's action would be fatal to Sunhee.

"This is all your fault. This won't happen if you don't act up!" he shouted back and it seemed that he lost it then when he went to her mom with the knife.

"Abeoji, stop," pleaded Sunhee. This was not happening, this was all just a nightmare, thought Sunhee in denial. Despite that, she tried getting up to stop her dad from doing more harm. She had to save her mom. She became weaker as she bled more with every step she took towards her parents. She then stumbled and fell face down. Her mom fought back with all she had and she too was knifed and fell on the kitchen floor. Sunhee was in between consciousness before she saw her dad took the knife to himself. That was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.

The surprise she intended for her parents became a surprise for her instead.

It became a tragedy.