ʀᴇᴠᴇɴɢᴇ ɪɪ || ᴋᴛʜ & ᴊᴋ

Chapter 5 || Betrayal

Yeri keenly listened as Dong-ha read the document aloud to her.

"That shouldn't be a problem," she said when he finished. "But make sure you add the notes about the specific days when the Kangs would be busy with the local fair and festivities. The Kims can compensate with more people during that time, just like we would when they are busy with theirs."

Dong-ha nodded and marked the dates on the calendar provided. Even though Jungkook had told that her signature wasn't necessary, she signed on the document. "Take a copy of this and give one to Jungkook. After that inform the project managers we had appointed to meet us in an hour."

Dong-ha nodded. He made a copy using the copy machine and left with the original papers.

Yeri sighed and sat back as the door shut softly behind him.

Her eyes fell on the copy of the document lying on her office desk. As usual, the words barely made any sense to her at the first look. Slowly and painfully, she managed to comprehend the first two words before giving up.

Jungkook had called her an illiterate. Even though she had reacted badly to it, it had been one of the better abuses hurled at her because of her lack of reading and writing skills. Growing up, she was called retarded, slow, or just plain stupid. It didn't matter that she displayed her intelligence in various other forms. The fact that she couldn't read or write made everyone think she was intellectually challenged.

As a child, she was beaten and abused by various tutors her aunt had employed to educate her. Each tutor who came in succession after the previous one had been fired turned out to be more brutal. They had starved her and beaten her, saying they would drive out her insolence, that she wasn't trying hard enough, and that she was simply lazy.

It didn't make much difference to them or her aunt when a doctor finally diagnosed her and gave a proper medical term for her disability.

Dyslexia.

A disorder that involved difficulty to learn to read or interpret words, letters and other symbols, but does not affect general intelligence. In her case, it was a genetic disorder.

"It's okay, sweetie. We don't need to know how to read or write. We have people for it."

Her father, Kang Shin-il, had suffered from dyslexia, too. But during his time, rather than diagnose it properly, they chalked his reluctance of wanting to study or write to his hyperactivity and natural male aggression.

So, unlike her uncle, Kang Yeong-min who had gone for higher studies in London and settled abroad in San Francisco after marrying a woman of his choice-her father had dropped from school at a very young age and remained in the Kang province all his life-until he was ultimately killed and branded a murderer.

Despite her attempts, Yeri knew how closely she was following in her father's footsteps.

Is that how it would end for me too? Be branded as a savage murderer and then be shot dead one day on a street like a dog?

She hadn't always chosen this life. She had been forced to do so. All because of Kim Jungkook.

SEVEN YEARS AGO...

After getting caught at the Kim cottage, Yeri was dragged back to the Kang Mansion. Two men held Yeri in the courtyard overlooking the balcony of her aunt's suite.

Yeri sobbed with helplessness. She had thought she and Joo-hyuk had almost succeeded in their elopement. They were going to build a new life for themselves in a city that did not include violence or humiliation. She had thought she could finally escape from having to spend the rest of her life being called the murderer's daughter who had started the feud.