Running from Him by YH Yohi

Chapter 37: Confession

Have you ever been hit by a meteor? or perhaps a thunder bolt? The harsh impact of it and the sudden state of intense confusion of what, why, when....

Pari was plunged into a situation like that. After hearing about the place, even if the puzzle didn't come together, she felt like she could see the pieces more clearly than before. The more she tries to understand the man, the more she realized that she didn't really know him. It was frustrating but somewhere worry persisted, and so did anger at herself for never really trying to figure out Arin. As long as he played the part of a perfect boyfriend, she was content. Arin, on the other hand, knew her very well. Besides he was a good listener too. Looking back, it was so selfish of Pari to turn a blind eye on Arin as long as he didn't disrupt her life. How selfish!

The feeling only intensified seeing him helplessly cry in her embrace. After the old man, told her all he knew about the place, she decided to stay back. The place had many buried secrets, and it most likely held the key for everything. She thought she'd need to come back many times, but it was no longer needed. The biggest secret she was looking for revealed itself to her. 

Pari had hid behind the rubble when she heard someone coming her way, but the last person she expected to find there was Arin himself. She was scared, fearful recounting the deep fall into the ice waters, the assault and everything.  After seeing everything Arin did, and his state of being, Pari fell into a conundrum, was Arin truly faultless or was this another act of his. Another act, she concluded.

She watched him for long minutes, not daring to move. He appeared to have come alone. When she heard him speak, his eyes that kept dazing off, his appearance that seemed neat yet disheveled, the way his hand slightly tremored felt an uncomfortable gut-feeling in Pari. There was no audience here, no one for Arin to put up a show for. Did he know she was here? Impossible! She's dead to the whole world, if Arin knew, he wouldn't have wasted a second in taking her back.

But his condition only worsened, soon his legs gave away. It was foolish, absurd, stupid...yet Pari slowly stepped out of her hideout. She tightly held onto her knife in her pocket as she came into his line of sight. But she never would have expected Arin to mistake her for a vision. The sadness and regret in his voice was evident, even nature seemed to have taken note as suddenly chill air blew, and the river began moving more ferociously.  

Pari knew Arin was no longer a threat to her in that moment, for some odd reasons, he seemed to be his own threat, gradually descending into madness. She finally let her instincts guide her. She moved closer and embraced him. His scent was still the same, so was his touch. It calmed Pari in the oddest ways. It truly was an unresolved irony- she felt safest in the arms of her worst fear.

She felt the safest in the arms of her worst fear.

"How is that possible Arin?" Pari gently asked him as he closed his eyes, drawing her hands to his lips. It was as soft and gentle as she remembered it to be, tears pricked the ends of her eye.

"This was where I lived Pari. When I was about 7yrs, my now-parents came and adopted me from here. For years, I kept asking, why did they come here, why did they have to pick me, why me?"

"Fortune shines when you least expect it." Pari consoled him.

"Fortune?" Arin scoffed. The perplexing reaction caught Pari off guard. Arin lifted his hand shielding Pari from the Sun, like he always did. "I wish they hadn't. I was the black sheep, a stain in the proud Kare empire" he sarcastically commented as he continued. "Everyone in the mansion knew I wasn't the real son. The lies about me being a sick child brought up abroad for 7years was meant for the outside world. In a way, my life as Arin Kare began with a lie."

"Did Mr and Mrs Kare..." Pari asked cautiously

"No, they were good to me. Very good indeed. But the others couldn't digest the fact that a boy with 'unclean' and 'unknown' origins would one day take over everything they desired. I was bullied and abused whenever my parents weren't around."

"Why didn't you tell them?"

"Because I thought I deserved it. 

"You didn't" Pari said with finality. 

"Yes, I know now. If a 7yr old uprooted from the only world he knew, was told constantly, by maids, the so-called family, his 'friends' that he didn't deserve it. It is only natural he believed it."

Pari didn't utter a word, she looked down at Arin, his eyes closed as he nuzzled into her stomach. And he continued...

"So I worked hard, very hard to excel at everything. At first it was to gain their approval, then it was out of resentment. I brought AISC at the #1 position, and as a result those relatives thought that a mere director seat was enough to compensate me. If anyone was going to lead AISC from the front, it had to be me."

"Is that why being CEO mattered so much to you?"

"Umm" he nodded "but it doesn't matter anymore. By trying to get even with those scumbags, I sacrificed the ones who loved the 'underserving, impure' Arin. I sacrificed you" he voices wavered.

"How can you be so sure I didn't like you being rich?" Pari asked cupping his face, asking him softly.

"I know you liked it. But you never loved it. You loved me."

"What makes you say so?"

"Like I always say, I know you better than you know yourself" those words murmured against the roaring winds, were loud enough to shake Pari from within. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, and this time Arin held onto her as she finally cried. Everything that had hurt her heart, all those thoughts, fears, regrets that ruthlessly pierced her heart since that night. She let it all out by crying.

After sometime, the enemies or lovers, or maybe both...quietly lay on the grass in each other's arms, not saying a word as they dozed off under the blue sky. Alone, away from the world that tried to pull them apart.

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Hi guys! They story is almost reaching its end now. I hope you like the way it is unfolding. How did you like the reveal? Finally, Arin's most guarded secret is finally out. The reason he was twisted in an odd way, his desperate obsession with Pari, his flawed ways of showing love...hope it all makes sense now. 

Share your thoughts in the comments, looking forward to reading them!

Until next time,

Adios!