"This is Jeon Jungkook, CEO of Seoul Higher View. You must pour all your skill, energy and talent into protecting him from all these attacks."
My head snaps up to meet eyes as bewildered as mine.
"You-"
"Do you know each other?"
***A week earlier*...
I apologise in advance for this chapter which is very very long 👉👈...
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Flashback
Hyejin walks by my side in the cemetery, we walk in silence while I lead her to the tomb I came to visit, that of my father...
I suck in a sharp breath when we reach it and we stand together for some long minutes, in a respectful silence. "He must be so proud of you."
I turn to her, tilting my head, intrigued. She looks up at me, her soft gaze wrapping me with her usual warmth and kindness.
"I know I'm so impressed by your achievements, your sense of duty. As your girlfriend, I'm so proud of the man you are. I can't imagine how proud your father must be from wherever he is."
A shade of sadness passed through her eyes. Her father...he used to hit her, hit her brother... Her mother, she drunk herself to death...
"Do you still resent them?"
Hyejin's eyes dive into mine and as if compelled I can't look away. She slowly shakes her head.
"No. I mean, I do resent my father for hurting my brother. For hurting me too... My mother? I can't resent people after they're dead. To me, death is a new beginning. You get another chance. One of the reasons I work in law enforcement is because people should receive justice here, and be punished before being sent to their next life or to the afterlife. There's no point punishing a spirit, is there? All we can do is wish they live a better life after. That's why I've always hated kills on sight. Sometimes it's necessary. But still...
Sometimes I do feel angry at my mother, and I'd be lying if I said I forgave her entirely.
The next life is an opportunity to beg for forgiveness. We never know it, but I believe that every life we live is connected.
I believe that in her next life, my mother is living a better life, she's atoning for her sins."
She shrugs and looks down at my father's grave. I watch as she takes a flower from the bouquet iI'm carrying and walks through the cemetery. She walks to a smaller tomb, a stone that is more discreet. She closes her eyes for a few seconds and I walk towards her while she bows and stretches her arm to depose the white rose in front of the stone.
