First Love

Chapter 20

"Do you want to hear it or not?" asked Jae getting irritated.

"Okay I'll zip my lips," he promised.

"You have to promise me something," started Jae.

"What?"

"I know you don't like my brother much. Don't get angry with him as it has something to do with him too," explained Jae.

Yoongi sighed, "I'll try."

"You asked me last time about what happened to my brother and me. To cut the story short, Chin-Hwa oppa made some bad investments and foolish decisions regarding his business. He was gambling his wealth away. His downfall was when he trusted his finance advisor too much that all the money was gone in a blink of an eye. That happened when he moved his business here in Seoul. It's like a legal scam. First he got some return when he invested in a small amount of money. He invested again and he got some more. Then he got greedy, he went for the high stakes. It snowballed, one after another. After that, things went for the worse. He started to get involved with loan sharks," Jae took a long gulp from her bottle.

"How did you get into the picture?" asked Yoongi.

"At that point of time, I already returned here. I had to quit Juilliard because of the financial problems and was just helping Chin-Hwa oppa along. Not long after, he sold off all the offices and properties. Our family home had to go. After all that, it was still not sustainable, so he ended up filing for bankruptcy."

Yoongi suspected that much had happened. He called up his brother and subtly asked about Chin-Hwa. When his brother told him the Ahn's family house had been occupied by other people for years, he guessed that business didn't go that well for Chin-Hwa to be selling off the house. "How far longer were you from graduating Juilliard?"

"I went into the degree program early so at that time I had a year more to go," Jae sighed. "But that's in the past. Chin-Hwa oppa needed me more," replied Jae firmly. "That was when I started my songwriting gig. I didn't make that much so I had to do part time jobs. We were just surviving, then one day my brother was late with his loan payment." Jae took another gulp from her drink and Yoongi can see her getting restless. He took her hand and motioned for her to sit next to him. Jae stood up and moved.

"Do you want anything stronger than the mineral water you're drinking?" he asked.

Jae declined. "I'm a lightweight. I can get drunk by just a can of beer." She then continued, "Look, I'm telling you this not because I'm looking for your sympathy."

"Trust me, sympathy is a far cry from what I am feeling right now," said Yoongi, holding her hand tightly. "Go on, continue," he prompted.

"So my brother was late with the payment. The thugs threatened him with me," Jae paused.

"What did they do?"

"They told my brother that they would cut my hands off if he didn't pay them in 2 days."

"What else did they do? Did they kidnap you?" asked Yoongi, worried.

"They did."

Yoongi started to curse and looked at Jae who was focusing on the ceiling.

"I was walking home from the shop when they took me. They released me after Chin-Hwa saw that they were not messing around. They knew we didn't have any money nor any place to go. So there I was, walking aimlessly around, scared to death at the thoughts of getting my hands cut until I saw this cute little boy who was chasing a ball on the road. There was an oncoming car. I didn't think long, I just ran and saved him."

"Were you okay? Any injuries?" he asked.

"I was hospitalized for a week when I saved the little boy." Jae felt Yoongi's grip tightened again. "I was okay, my leg healed nicely," she patted his hand. Yoongi shook his head. She was the one who went through hell yet she was the one who comforted him.