Love After Love...

Chapter 56: "I beg, I'm so sorry."

~2 weeks later~

Author's POV:
Jieun had taken a break from the clinic for the last two weeks. Beomgyu handled everything well. Jimin and Jieun returned to somewhat normal but Jimin was very sad he couldn't do much about her situation. But him being there was the biggest consolation for Jieun and she made sure she thanked him for it. They were both fragile, but happy.

She wrapped up with her appointments for the day and waited for Yoongi. She had thought a lot about how she was going to handle his situation.

He arrived on time. With Hoseok this time. They both gave her warm smiles. "Are you okay now? Beomgyu said you were sick," Hoseok said. "Yes, fine now, thank you," Jieun replied. "Yoongi, we have another outdoor session for today," she said. His eyes lit up. "Yeah! Love outdoor sessions!" he exclaimed.

They drove to a graveyard. Namjoon's graveyard. "A graveyard? Why?" Yoongi said, trembling and scared. "Just follow me," she said. And she led him to Namjoon's grave. Yoongi was shaking as he read the name on the gravestone.

His eyes then landed on the dusty photoframe near it - a picture of him and Jieun. His legs started giving up on him. He wanted to run but he felt weak. It was as if the walls around him were closing. He started palpitating.

And then Jieun spoke up, "Namjoon was my boyfriend. He was going to propose to me on the day he died. The day your car hit him." Yoongi fell to the ground. He couldn't utter a word. Streams of tears fell from his eyes but he couldn't sob. He couldn't make a sound. She continued, "I've had a lot of time to think about your case. It was extremely painful and difficult for me to reach an unbiased standpoint and take a 360° view of the situation. You see, I've spent close to three and a half years cursing the person whose car bumped the 'love of my life'. I wished every ounce of pain in the universe to befall that person. And here he is... Right in front of me, on his knees... But the things is, you lost more than I did. You also lost a child. Not just your life partner. You went through exactly what I wished for you." Yoongi was sobbing now.

Jieun shed tears of her own and said, "But you have suffered so much. Even before your wife. You have had a life of pain and insecurities, and the minute that was vanishing, your only happiness was taken from you. But you live on. You are the strongest person I know, Min Yoongi. I could never do what you have been doing. You're not who you think you are. You are not a murderer. You are more than what you give yourself credit for. You are a good human being. You have repented for almost six years. But you have no one to whom you can ask for forgiveness. So this is the grave of the man I once loved, the man you tried to save when the love of your life was dying in front of you. You can ask him for forgiveness. And I knew Namjoon better than anyone. So I can say on his behalf; Min Yoongi... I forgive you."

They were both crying. Yoongi had his hand on Namjoon's grave and broke down. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I beg, I'm so sorry," Yoongi kept saying.

"Needless to say, our sessions will suspend from now on, because I'm too personally involved to be able to correctly counsel you. I hope coming to me was not a mistake in your eyes and I hope this gave you a tiny, minuscule bit of closure. You will be a memorable client, always," said Jieun.

Yoongi stopped crying after 20 or so minutes. She drove him back to the clinic. Yoongi gave her a tight hug and thanked her.

Jieun returned home to Jimin's arms. She cried. Jimin hugged her and made sure she felt okay. Jieun knew she will never cry about this ever again.

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A/N : Again, this was a short chapter for its content. But this was, by far, the hardest chapter for me to write. This is also the saddest chapter. Was I able to appropriately convey the gravity of the events?