Are you scared yet?

Chapter 9

Ga On was trying to hold back his tears the whole way back home. He put on some music in the car, in the hopes of distracting himself from his thoughts, but as soon as he stepped through the door of the apartment, he gave up. His knees gave out and he collapsed on his way to the living room. It didn't take long for Jin Joo to come out and actually see him on the floor.

"Oh my, Ga On, what happened?" She asked him with a stressed voice and sat in front of him on the floor.

He took the opportunity and held onto his best friend firmly and started to cry uncontrollably. He almost couldn't breathe with how hard he was crying and if it wasn't for Jin Joo reminding him that he should breathe, he'd probably pass out right then and there.

"Ga On, what's wrong? Didn't you go to see Elijah?" Jin Joo spoke again, trying to get some information out of him, because she was concerned. "Just take a few deep breaths and tell me what happened," she advised and when Ga On finally let go of her and looked at his best friend, they took those deep breaths together.

"He's alive," Ga On said quietly, his voice hoarse from all the crying. He didn't wait for Jin Joo to question what he just said, so he decided to continue. "Yo Han. He's alive and he fucking hates me."

Her eyes widened at that. "Yo Han?" Jin Joo said, a bit confused. Ga On just nodded at that. "Kang Yo Han? Our chief?" She kept asking, and he noticed that it must have just gotten to her, because her expression changed from confused to shocked. "Kang Yo Han is alive?" She asked, looking at him like he was crazy.

"I came to see Elijah and- Well, there he was," Ga On shrugged like it was nothing, like he didn't just have a breakdown because of the older man.

"How is that even possible?" Jin Joo asked, still a bit surprised. "How is he alive?"

Ga On knew he dropped a pretty big bomb on Jin Joo right now, and she did seem surprised, but that was it. She wasn't on the verge of crying, like he was, because she wasn't that invested, like he was. "I don't even know," Ga On admitted, because it's something Yo Han didn't tell him, he could just speculate. "I guess he must have survived the explosion somehow."

"It was probably his plan all along to do that," Jin Joo pointed out. "Gosh, he's brilliant," she added then and Ga On looked at her unimpressed. "What? It is! He's basically a criminal, so faking his death was a genius idea. He probably moved overseas with Elijah and has been there ever since."

She was right, and Ga On didn't know why he didn't think of it before. That's why Elijah didn't want to tell him where she actually lives. He knew she graduated from Stanford and attended classes there in person for a while, but it didn't mean that she actually lived in America this whole time. They must have moved somewhere quiet together, somewhere nobody could find Yo Han.

"So, what did you talk about?" Jin Joo asked with curiosity.

Ga On just shrugged, not really knowing what to say. What should he? That Yo Han basically wants him dead, because he hates him so much? That Ga On wanted to crawl in bed and cry himself to sleep, because he was so hurt? That Yo Han made it perfectly clear he would never forgive him? Yeah, maybe that's what he should tell her, the truth.

"He loathes me," Ga On said quietly and Jin Joo frowned at him deeply, clearly not understanding. "He never wanted me to find out and he's- Well, he's very hurt by what happened with Min Jung Ho. He still holds a grudge and he hates me," he explained as best as he could, trying not to cry again.

"Did he actually say that?" Jin Joo asked and he just nodded. "So- What now?"

"I don't know," Ga On shrugged. "He's staying tomorrow, because I asked him not to disappoint Elijah and he's only doing that for her. And then? He's probably going to go back to his new place and that's it. I'll never see him again."