Aeipathy | Ryu Shi-Oh and Tsetseg

Chapter 21

DOUBLE UPDATE! WOOHOO!

Tsetseg

“Eomma...I going to tell Ryu Shi-Oh about my identity...” Tsetseg announced before her mother, who sat across her on the couch. It was something that took a lot of courage for her to speak about. She had made her decision, she will give Shi-Oh a choice. A choice that he deserved.

“Namsoon-ah, stop joking about something like this,” her mother laughed away, dismissing her genuine confession. And she understood, why her mother responded like that, but she was not going to back out anymore.

“I am being serious...I won't be able to deceive and lie to him anymore. I can't do it...” she admitted, feeling her mother's gaze of pure disbelief. Looking straight into her eyes, she continued, “he doesn't deserve to be betrayed like that... I'll tell him everything and let him decide for himself.”

Her mother stood up in blazing fury, and raised her voice, “Are you even hearing yourself? What betrayal are you talking about? You went there undercover, so that we can spy on him and gather evidence... He's a criminal!”

“And my friend...” Tsetseg calmly added, still keeping herself composed. “He's also my friend. And Hi-seek had already told you that his association with Pavel has been distance for a while...Even when we visited Busan, you analysed the list of guests yourself. None of them were criminals, were they?”

“What are you getting at? Are you saying he suddenly switched sides. He's a monster Namsoon-ah, that man is evil. You have spent so much time with him, you should know better...” Hwang geum ju responded, fired up about the whole discussion.

“First of all, he's not a monster. And second, I do know him better. That's why I am standing here while trying to convince you to give him a second chance!” she exclaimed, not being able to restrain her emotions. “You did it with Hwa ja, then what's the problem with him?”

“All of his life the only thing he craved for was freedom, and he is finally on the verge of achieving it...” Tsetseg felt her voice drench with heavy emotions, as she continued, “he risked his life while trying to get out of Pavel's clutches. You don't the things he had gone through, and I don't want to see him suffer again...just please give him a chance..”

“Namsoon-ah, ” her mother merely whispered, walking closer to her. She felt hands grabbing her shoulders gently, and then she asked, “Why are you defending him like this? Have you fallen for him or something? Who is he to you?”

“He is a man that I can't bear to fail...he is the man who had put all his trust in me. He is someone who had showed me both his beauty and scars...he's someone who is still able to stay kind to the world, that has been nothing but cruel to him...” Tsetseg did not realise the warm tears cascading down her rosy cheeks, “please don't make me hurt him.”

“What if he hurts you? What then? If you tell him your identity right now, would he stay kind? ” her mother asked, wiping away her tears. Her words held a certain weight, but Tsetseg's faith in Shi-Oh was stronger than that.

“He wouldn't. He would never hurt me,” she claimed with utmost confidence, making her mother raise her eyebrows in surprise. “I just want to give him a choice...for once. All of these years, he had been controlled by Pavel. He never had the option to decide for himself, but I want to give him that.”

“Pavel is the real problem and you know it...he's the only one who can help us about that. He had cut all ties with the mafia, I heard him myself and all the shipments of the drug has stopped...Why else would you think he would do all this?” Tsetseg said, trying to convince her mother for the last time. “Please for once, put away your prejudiced perspective and see reality through a sensitive lens...”