FORCED ʲʲᵏ ✓

3| He's Gone

❝If my fate is to disappear like this, then this is my last letter.
Penned words, written then erased.❞

- Let Go

๑☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ๑

Jihye's greeting had turned into "what's wrong?" because of Mrs. Jeon's gravely expression. She was supposed to go buy her wedding dress with her mother and soon-to-be mother-in-law. What she hadn't expected was Jungkook showing up with her.

Considering the fact that the last time he saw Jihye, he had said, "please don't tell me I have to use honorifics with you now," he looked pretty upset, too. And it was impossible not to notice Mrs. Jeon's tear-stained cheeks.

"Are you going to tell me what happened? Junghyun's phone is switched off, too." Jihye repeated her question, as they took their seats on the living room couch and her mother entered the room.

Jungkook decided it was time Jihye knew the truth. "He's gone," he said, avoiding eye-contact with her.

"Gone where? When will he return?" Jihye asked, obviously not understanding what her soon-to-be brother-in-law meant. At least, that's what she thought of him till then.

"He left on purpose. He said he was going to his friend's for a bachelor party or something, but he never returned," Jungkook elaborated. "He left this for you," he said and handed Jihye an envelope.

Jihye opened it to find a letter. It written by Junghyun, she recognized the handwriting immediately. She read it once. Then twice. Tears started brimming in her eyes. "When did this happen?" She asked him.

"He left three days ago telling us not to call him, that he wanted to spend some time alone with his friends," he explained. "We were worried and called him but he didn't answer. After that, he switched off his phone. Then, we found this in his room during cleaning today."

"Is this why his name wasn't mentioned in that article?" A few tears escaped her eyes and Mrs. Park scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.

"He convinced us not to. We thought it was weird but..." Jungkook trailed off when Jihye dashed out of the room. At precisely the same moment, Mr. Park entered the room, and asked, "What happened to her?"

Jungkook sensed they'd be asking the same questions as their daughter, so he handed them the letter without any words, which they unfolded at once.

๑☆ﾟ.*･｡๑

Dear Jihye,

By the time you get this letter, you'll already know I'm gone. You must think I left you for good, but that's not true. Don't think for an instant that I don't love you. Although I'm sure it doesn't seem like that now, I love you more than anything else in the world.

But I just couldn't. I couldn't just take all those responsibilities on my shoulder, Jihye. You can say that I'm a coward but you know all I ever wanted was to become an artist.

I'm sorry, Jihye. I can't take the responsibility of the whole company and lead a happily married life with you at the same time. Please forgive me if you can, and remember, I'll always love you. I'll return for you.

Wait for me.

Until then,
Hyun

๑☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ๑

''He could've just told us all," Mrs. Park said. "Jihye's going to be so heartbroken now."

"Please forgive us," Mrs. Jeon suddenly broke into tears. ''I never expected my son to do something like this.''

"Hey, hey, it's not your fault," Mrs. Park extended a hand of support towards her.

"He must've been under a lot of pressure," added Mr. Park. "Now, the problem is," he said, "What are we going to do about Jihye?"

All of them remained in silence thinking of a solution, until Jungkook suggested, "Do you mind if I talk to her?"

At their permission, Jungkook went to Jihye's bedroom and found the door locked. He knocked twice, and said softly, "It's me, Jungkook. Please open the door."

There was no answer. The door didn't open, either.

"Jihye, please. I just want to talk to you."

Still, there was nothing.

"Jihye?" Jungkook suddenly started to feel worried. What was she doing all alone in that room?

"Jihye!" When he had almost decided to break down the door, it opened with a click. Jungkook pushed the door open and entered the very dark room, to find Jihye sitting on the bed, her knees folded, shaking uncontrollably.

He walked up to the bed and sat in front of her. "Jihye..." He hesitatingly placed his hand on her head, unsure of what her reaction would be. But it was the last thing he could think of.

At his touch, Jihye suddenly threw her arms around him. Normally, he would've pushed her or any other girl away, but it was different. She needed support and a shoulder to sob her heart out.

"Wh-why didn't he just tell me?" She stuttered and Jungkook felt really bad for her. It was true that he wanted his brother to achieve his dreams, but Jihye didn't deserve this. ''I'm sorry, Jihye. Can you please forgive us?"

"It's not your fault," she said, barely audible. "I called his best friends from college. Yoongi and Hoseok Oppa. They said he didn't go to their place, there was no bachelor party."

"Dad's devastated. He's got himself locked up, not eating, not talking to anyone," Jungkook said in a sad tone. "The last thing he needed was this. Who knows what'll happen to him now."

"I want to see him," Jihye released Jungkook. "Will you take me there?" She wiped her tears hastily.

"Of course, I will."

๑☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ๑

Jihye entered Mr. Jeon's room to find him sitting in the arm chair, his eyes closed. She sat in the other chair in front of his silently, knowing he had sensed her presence.

"Parents really shouldn't differentiate between their children. I did," he suddenly said, eyes still closed. ''I used to think Junghyun was better in everything. It's not like I didn't love Jungkook, though."

Jihye couldn't decide if she should say something. Mr. Jeon saved her the trouble. "He's my eldest son. I expected him to take over my position one day since the moment he opened his eyes," he continued. "But there's only two things he loves — fine arts and you."

"But he proved what he loves more," Jihye pointed out. "He left the latter for the former."

"It was my fault, Jihye." Mr. Jeon opened his eyes. ''I should've at least asked him if he wanted to take over. I didn't and look where it got me."

"I lost my son, the trust of my best friends, and when the media comes to know, I'll lose my reputation and the respect I got from people," he summed it up.

"You didn't lose my parents' trust. So what if you lost your son?" Jihye's sudden change of tone made Mr. Jeon look at her.

"You earned a daughter instead."