the jeju navy bootcamp has called rijeen to check the belongings that they found in the sea
to check if it's really hyungwon or not
hyungwon's father and his brother are going along with her, since his mother is not in a good condition after hearing it her parents and hyungwon's brother's wife stayed with her
they couldn't said a single thing while the ride to jeju, but his brother would keep glancing at her from time to time, since her hands keep trembling
and her eyes are swollen she just can't stop these tears
“rijeen please we still don't know for sure right?” his dad said from the backseat, trying to make her ease a bit eventhough he himself is already anticipating to expect the worst
“right..” she said quickly “that's what i'm saying” she wiped her eyes “i'm sure they did some mistakes” she confidently said
who is she trying to console? his dad or herself?
his brother stayed quite, bracing himself up for whatever they have coming up
he drove the car with tons of bad thoughts clouding his mind
finally they arrived at the bootcamp, with a restless heart and devastated soul
knowing the worst awaits them ,they still tried to fool themselves with the best scenario
all three of them rushed inside, while his brother talked with some officer who told them to wait inside a room
shortly after two officers came with few plastic pouches in a tray
they gently put it down on the desk before them and bowed to the three of them
his dad was the first one to get up quickly and check whatever was in the tray
he rummaged through it and the first thing he found was the hand watch that hyungwon always use to wear
it was a gift from him to his son, he gave it to him on his very first day as a navy officer
the glass of the watch is broken and the clock has stopped.
his father could feel his stomach making knots inside him, a sickening feeling creeps inside him.
he looked more inside the tray to check the other things and the next thing that came up is his name tag
it's torn apart, he can only read “hae” of “chae”. the c has fallen apart.
another knot builds inside his stomach
the next thing that came up was his shoes. and he'd be a fool to not recognise his son's shoes.
hyungwon's shoes has his initial in it. he made it so that his shoes doesn't gets mixed with others
his father turned the shoe to see if it has any initial in it or not and unfortunately it has initial in it
the “c.h.w” initial staring back at him with so much power, as if it's trying to scream and say that yes all of this belongs to hyungwon and yes he's no more.
his father couldn't take it anymore and he dropped on the floor, sitting like a statue, as if he can't move.
the two officers were quick enough to catch him and his brother and rijeen also rushed to help him out
“dad…dad what happened?” his brother asked eventhough he can imagine what exactly has happened.
his dad shook his head and tears starts rolling down his face “dad…” he called again
“we…we lost him…” he said in between sobs
“those are his belongings” he cried “hyungwon..” his dad sighed out loud “your brother…left us..alone” his breath hitched
rijeen's grip on hyungwon's fathers forearm looses as she quickly stands up.
“no!” she exclaimed “do you have any proof?” she asked looking down at his dad
“oh dear…” he cried more “those are his belongings and i checked them with my own eyes” he shakes his head
“so? can't it gets mixed with others? they were fighting and his belongings got mixed up with someone” she explained “is that not possible?” she asked turning towards the officers
the officers kept looking down, not answering her questions.
“is that not possible?!” she raised her voice but the officers still don't have an answer to her question.
“rijeen..my dear” his dad called her “it's not possible” he sobs “he's really not alive anymore” he cries
“i don't believe it” she said sternly “i don't believe it i haven't seen his body and i can't believe this” she scoffed
“rijeen” his brother called her, trying to control his own emotions “look i understand what you mean but—”
“why are you all believing this without any concrete proof?!” she almost yelled at him
“have you gone mad??!” his dad screamed out loud looking at her with bloodshot eyes
she flinched by the sudden action
“can't you see all this?” he asked her “he is my son i know him better than anyone” he continued “we all are grieving but doesn't mean you'll start acting like a senseless madwoman” he yelled
“but dad think about it—” “shut up” he yelled at her again “officers i, as his father confirms that these things belongs to him so i confirm that who you're suspecting to be dead is most likely my son” he sighs “chae hyungwon” he finished his words
“dad—” rijeen started “dad what are you talking about?” she exclaimed “do you even know what you're saying?” she huffed
“officers—” she started “rijeen..” his dad called her
“please stop” he sternly said “stop acting like this” he said trying to compose himself
“but—” “please stop!” his dad raised his voice at her
she just stood there as tears kept on falling from her eyes “no one understands” she mumbled
“he's not dead” she kept on mumbling things “i know hyungwon you're not gone…they don't believe you but i do” she cried “i know you're not gone” she cried more and stand there like a rock
“rijeen —” his brother went to her side to comfort her, but she quickly left the room without listening to anyone
“rijeen wait!” he called her, but she already left
“let her go” his dad said quietly “give her some time…she's too badly damaged by this news” he said “much more than you and me” he sighed
“i don't know how is she going to survive with this truth” his dad says sighing out loud “i fear this is probably not the last worst news we are receiving” he said “there's something much more worse about to happen” he says crying while his whole body trembles
he doesn't know how they're going to handle rijeen now. he just doesn't know
