But I found you

11

Then we tried to find her. Everywhere we assumed she might be.

"Before she left, one day she called me into her room and made me promise to never leave Jimin under any circumstances. I guess that was the day she decided to leave everything behind. We tried to reach her. Get a contact number or anything...But we couldn't. We tried our best to at least get an address. She vanished. Without even a hint of her, it was like she disappeared into thin air. And we got to know she filed a divorce with Mr. Park and all of her property and businesses were shared with me and Jimin, making Mr.Park the custodian of the business only till we both turned 21.

At that time I was given the job as an intern by Mr.Park.Since we both were family, it was easy for both of us to work together. He treated me as a daughter. Both granny and Jimin were so glad that I got a job at Daesung group. As I was working there, I noticed something weird happening. There was this one coworker who snuck into Mr.Park's office room. Since I was his secretary I had all the authority to check what she does there. But I never did that cuz lowkey I knew what was happening and I wasn't ready for that. Not having Eomma around overwhelmed me and I couldn't handle anything else. Even though I was adopted, I loved my step-parents. I've been living there for almost 10 years and I wasn't ready to face the truth."

But one day, I was late for work and there were a ton of files that needed Mr.Park's signature. So as soon as I reached my table, I grabbed all the files and went to his office directly. Even though I wasn't ready, I saw what I shouldn't. A lady named So Young was sitting on Mr.Park's lap as she fed him food. I almost panicked but I gathered myself walked straightly to his desk and placed all the files. So Young jumped out of where she was sitting as Mr.Park practically pushed her away from him. After telling him to sign, I turned at the door to leave.

"Wait! Shin-ah! Daughter...please don't get this wrong. Please let's talk. I wanna explain everything"

"There's nothing new to explain papa. Oh I'm sorry "Mr.Park"
I'll pretend that I didn't see this for my own sanity" I replied as I stormed out of his office.

More than that, I was afraid that Jimin would hear something he shouldn't. He was a sensitive kid and he deserved to be happy. So I kept it a secret. I knew I couldn't do anything. So the least I could do was protect him. I got to know that granny knew what was happening all along because one day she called both me and Jimin and told us to be prepared for a visitor. Jimin had no clue and he was so happy but I already had an idea who it would be...
So like that So Young used to visit us regularly. We were not surprised to see her walking down a corridor or cooking in the kitchen. With time Jimin realized what was happening and he looked...calm.He didn't seem to care. He didn't scream. He didn't even ask his father why. Day by day, his bubbly personality went dull. He read books, barely hang out with his friends and the only thing he did enthusiastically was his dancing. He loved dancing. I got busy with the job and we didn't have a lot of time to hang out.

After one year, Mr. Park married So Young and she automatically became Mrs.Park So Young and she moved in with us. Not only her.Her 16 years old son Kim Eunwoo. Mr.Park accepted him as one of his own children. Just like he gave me shelter. It was no secret for everyone that for the whole 4 years they'd been in an affair. Even when our mom was in the house, even when they were still married...he had an affair with another woman. I was so disgusted by that information but I was still young and had nowhere else to go. Besides I couldn't leave Jimin or granny. I made a promise and I had to keep it.

Everything was fine until one day So Young's son fell off the stairs. I tried to protect Jimin from his anger. But he screamed saying that Jimin pushed him off the stairs. I never believe that Jimin would do anything like that. But as Eunwoo said, Jimin pushed him. Eunwoo wasn't bruised that much and he was hardly injured but So Young was desperate to punish Jimin. Mr.Park was like a monster that day. He just slapped Jimin till he bled. Jimin to all our surprise didn't cry. Didn't even try to explain himself after. He just went straight to his bedroom. But after that day, he stopped talking to dad. He didn't come out of his room for almost two days and we tried our best to take him out. When he came I saw something different in his eyes. Like a rage and that day I got to know why he was so silent the whole time.

Jimin wanted to leave the country. He wanted to go abroad and major in dancing. He randomly dropped the bomb at the morning breakfast table and we all were shell-shocked at the spots we sat. Dad looked almost panicked. I guess he believed Jimin will not leave him. But in his eyes, I saw regret and guilt. He tried his best to convince Jimin to stay. But when Jimin set his mind to something he acts stubborn until it's done. We all tried to make him stay but he was confident about his decision. Even granny was surprised at his stubbornness. After so many attempts,we gave up. Dad tried to make him stay for at least another year.

"Jiminie...son, why don't you stay for a little bit and reconsider if this is the right thing to do? Papa wants you to study business"

"It's too late papa. You already lost us. Don't even bother making me stay now. Just take care of the business till I return" is all Jimin said.

Like that, Jimin left Korea for his dream while I was stuck at my office listening to some random worker rants about useless stuff. I worked so hard to keep myself busy. I survived another year like that. I was hopeless and depressed. For the first time in my life, I felt useless. Every person I ever got attached, left me or abandoned me. For the first time, I felt like I was that witch my villagers kept accusing me of making people vanish. Even though I was at the age to take over my shares at the company, I could not make myself do it.  I was drowned in guilt and depression and had to meet a therapist. He told me to focus my mind on something rather than thinking too much. He asked me what I like or what was my dream. My dad was a skillful martial artist even though I don't remember his face. My granny who died years ago used to tell me stories about my dad being so strong and fearless. So martial arts were something I always wanted to try.

"Go for it Shin-ah. No one's stopping you," my therapist told me.

All I had to take care of was my job. So I talked to Mr.Park and asked him to replace someone in my position. He knew I needed a break. So he gave me permission to leave with the promise of coming back after recovering. Leaving granny was the hardest thing... she too wanted to join me for a change but she said she had to be there.

"I should stay here to make sure everything is put together. When Jimin is back, you both should be the ones looking after this business and all. So I have to stay and protect what is yours. Shin-ah, promise me you'll be back" she told me when I went to see her the night before I left and made me promise to come back even though I had no idea if I would come back or not.

Then I flew to china to master martial arts and when I was back after three years, everything changed.