Beautiful You (Chapter 20)
Beautiful You - Chapter 20
A/N: The angst is actually very long at least up until Chapter 25 but I cut it down and think this much is enough. I hope this doesn't disappoint y'all.
HeeChul rang the doorbell again, as he tried to calm down and prayed for anyone, and he really mean it, ANYONE from inside the house to open that damn door.
HeeChul was standing right in front of a doorstep for at least fifteen minutes now, with reporters who were eying him with much confusion on their faces as to think, 'Why and what on earth a priest is doing here?'
It has been two weeks since Park SinHye was allowed to go home. A month since the 'engagement', without any arrest done yet to the current fugitive, Kim SoYeon, who was never seen since that day.
The press were seen in news attacking the family, swarming and have been gawking, or more like camping outside the home of the Parks, waiting for any kind of news.
'Don't they have a life?' HeeChul silently thought, eyeing the reporters munching on something from their bento.
But not all bad as they provide him with much information, and respect too when he politely requested to know more about the family. They had told him that, they heard screaming and shouting from inside the house, as well as crying from a lady - they assumed was Mrs Park. ChangMin, a relative was the only one walking around freely. The reporters were afraid to go near the tall boy because he seems to have a temper when approached.
HeeChul tilted his head cutely to the side as he thought back of what SaRang told him when he asked her to describe them. Of all the description given, none labeled as bad temper; except maybe for YooChun, in his point of view.
All heads turn to the main gate as a tall boy appeared from behind with a garbage bag, looking somewhat lost.
'Now, no wonder he has a temper!' HeeChul glared at the lady reporter who had told him that piece of information.
ChangMin looked tired with a very visible bags right under his tired eyes. His hair although seemed neat but HeeChul would have guess it was haywire right before he walked out to dump the garbage. His clothes were all too wrinkly, for that, HeeChul knew something bad is going on in that house. He wasn't sure whether to complete his task as the informant right now.
But he seems to have no choice when the tall boy politely walks up to him and greeted, plus invited him to come in for a sit.
"Please do come in" ChangMin said with a small but genuine smile. "It's rather impolite to let you wait outside here. My aunt will want you to come in"
HeeChul didn't know what to do. Should he or should he not?
He declined but when he noticed all pairs of eyes staring at him and ChangMin's perplexed look, he knew he must have said something wrong. He was too observed in his 'no informant' thinking without adding the part that he was dressed in a robe, with a Bible and a cross in hand, had been waiting for fifteen minutes under a very hot noon, trying to get into the house.
'Gosh....sometimes I hate doing this'
"Father?" ChangMin brought him back from his 'world'.
"I'm Hee....um...Brother Casey" HeeChul wanted to laugh for such a name given by SaRang's grandmother.
"Brother Casey, I'm Shim ChangMin" ChangMin offered a hand to shake but after realizing he had not clean them yet after the garbage, retrieved instantly. "This way, please"
"Thank you" HeeChul nodded.
HeeChul followed him and while ChangMin thought he was admiring the exterior design, the 'priest' was preparing his mind with the thoughts of the weirdest cases ever encountered when managing foster homes. He had witnessed so many and yet, none ever leave him dry-eyed. Not even once. He was too kind, SaRang once said, although he had countless denied.
But this time he can't as he was greeted by a distraught mother with tears in her eyes. 'Oh My God, that's never good!'
"Good afternoon, Father -"
"It's Brother Casey. You can call me HeeChul" HeeChul said, trying to control his emotion.
"Please have a sit. Do you want anything to drink?"
"No, I'm alright"
"A glass of orange juice?" ChangMin asked after washing his hands.
"Water will do"
ChangMin nodded then walks into the kitchen, leaving the uncomfortable HeeChul with a crying woman alone. Seriously, HeeChul hated this the most. A crying mother is never good.
"Are you alright, Madam Park?" HeeChul diverted his attention to the woman.
"Yes...yes" Mrs Park sniffed, wiping away tears with layers of tissue. "I'm alright"
"Any reason you invited me in?"
"I need blessings"
"Blessings?"
"I must have done something terribly wrong for my children to face such punishment"
"Excuse me?"
"I need forgiveness from the Lord for what happened to them"
"SinHye doesn't want to see her brothers, she would hurled things at them a-and...my other son, YooChun, h-he....never spoken a word to anyone of us. He locked himself and only goes out to wait fo-for him every night. He wouldn't eat nor sleep, he's always with the video" Mrs Park continued.
"What video?"
"The one I recorded when he and JunSu-hyung were still togeth -" ChangMin abruptly covered his mouth. "Oh no, I mean -"
"I understand"
"It was so painful to see him watching those in darkness. He refused to turn on the lights at night and snuck out to wait in front of his house" She cried. "He doesn't want to talk to anyone at all"
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"So, how was she?"
"She's fine" HeeChul removed the robe and puts them into the washer. "Had a little rage going on"
"Rage?"
"She throws things around when she sees her brothers. JunJin walked into her room one day for a goodnight and got a direct hit on the head, resulting him to get 11 stitches and she didn't regret it one bit"
"That's horrible!" SaRang gasped.
"Horrible isn't a word to describe everything that's going on in that house" HeeChul lets out a deep groan.
"What else?"
"The mother was painstakingly pitiful. She wanted to ask forgiveness from the Lord through me, which, you know, I can't give it to her. She blamed herself for everything" HeeChul groaned with irritation.
"It wasn't her fault!" SaRang struck a sad expression. "It was Yoo -"
"Even him was pitiful" HeeChul took a seat at a garden table, sipping on the can of soda. "Do you know he snuck out every night to wait for JunSu? Every night for the past month!!?"
"That's nothing! He still has a house to live in -"
"His room was way much smaller than the one you lived in"
"We lived in a very bad situation" SaRang glared at him for taking their sides.
"He's currently living in a much worst condition" HeeChul drawled.
"How so?" SaRang raised a brow, not believing one bit.
"He's dying, SaRang" HeeChul summarized whatever he saw of YooChun. "You should see him! He was...was....gosh...there's no word to describe!"
"Meaning not that bad yet!"
"A mother was crying when she saw him like that! If it's not bad, I don't know what is!"
"He deserves it!" SaRang said out loud.
While the two were arguing, they didn't notice a dark shadow looming the grass from the side of the wall.
A tiny tear dropped wets the ground.
'YooChun'
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Curtains drawn.
Flashes from the computer screen showing the many faces of happy JunSu repeats, serves as the only source of light for the almost empty room.
YooChun went totally berserk the other day, after stepping into his room for the first time in two weeks and the scent of perfume lingers around. He shuts the door, ignoring cries from his mother and slammed everything into pieces, except for his electrical appliances and bulletin board.
The others were completely destroyed by YooChun himself. He didn't want to get rid of his precious bed at first but the thought of SoYeon slept there once had led him to just burn everything she ever touched with kerosene. His crazy act almost burned his room down.
Then, he went frantic again when he saw the picture of skinny JunSu on some old newspaper which was kept hidden from him. ChangMin expected him to say something, anything at all but nothing came out from his mouth as the composer snuck out from the back door and ran to JunSu's house. He waited there for three straight days before he fell sick and was brought home by ChangMin who was trying to find him since he went missing.
He never spoken a word to anyone after that. The only thing he could mumble out was JunSu's name.
Sleeping was hard, because every single time he tried to, the image of JunSu came running back into his mind. He can't think of anything but JunSu.
Eating was a chore, but he had started to consume something right after hearing a conversation between his mother and a guest this afternoon. He can't hurt his mother anymore so he ate, but with much difficulty. His thoughts was to JunSu's skinny self.
He looked around the four walls of his room. People might think of him as a stalker for having so many pictures of JunSu. Every single photos were taken from ChangMin's camera. From the happier times when they were at the beach house to a newspaper cutting of skinny JunSu.
He wanted to cry as his eyes gaze to the bulletin board, the once upon a time, filled with poems of JunSu. He chuckled as he thought of the many times JunSu advised him to place all those in a folder so he could use the space for his songwriting. Maybe he should because if he did, it wouldn't be found by SoYeon and then out to the fireplace.
He looked to the window where rain was drizzling outside. He promised his mother through writing this afternoon that he will not sneak out if it's raining, she didn't want him to fall sick. It was okay, he thought, just one day. He has been waiting for JunSu for a month and the news of him not in the 'Wanted' list should have known by the siblings.
'But why they haven't heard any news from them yet?. Was JunSu running away from him?'
'Maybe. Why wouldn't he?'
'If it was to happen to him, he would just leave this stupid a**hole here and find someone worthy'
The silent argument between himself upsets YooChun further. His eyes switched to the plastic sound hanging by the wardrobe.
His trembling hands caress the tuxedo that was meant for JunSu to wear for their wedding. That's the only thing he has, the last thing reminded him of JunSu...the scent and it's slowly fading away.
It was all his fault, if he hadn't believe a word what that b*tch had said, JunSu wouldn't leave him. He and JunSu would have been busy doing preparations for their wedding, but all that are gone! All because of his generosity.
His kind generosity almost killed his family
His kind generosity led him to hit an angel
His kind generosity left his loved one to have so much hatred
His kind generosity...he wished he never had
"I'm sorry...." YooChun's whole body shook as he touched the fabric. "I'm sorry...come back.....Su, please come back"
"I don't care if you don't want to forgive me. I don't care if I am to endure your hatred for me everyday" YooChun continued to sob uncontrollably. "I need to see you. I love you. I love you so much!"
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The JunSu he had been calling out was right there, standing under a large umbrella with Colleen. His eyes were staring at YooChun's room window, at his very far right. So, what HeeChul said was right then, YooChun has been staying in his room and watching repeats of them. Not that he doesn't believe in HeeChul but he wished so much that it wasn't true. It hurts him so bad knowing YooChun's suffering.
Colleen never mind seeing her owner go melancholic on a bright sunny day, she won't complain at the very least because she gets to move around. On rainy days, she prefers not to come out at all so again, she doesn't mind but as for now, she's starting to get a little edgy standing under the little shade from the wind blowing rain so she decided to do something about it, something unexpected from an obedient dog.
"Woof!"
"Colleen!!! Shhh!" JunSu motioning her to shut up but it was a little too late as he looked back up.
There, standing right by the window, was YooChun. Their eyes locked for a moment. The feelings they had been hiding sparkled, hearts beating but neither could figure out whether it was happy or sad as their eyes begin to sting.
"JunSu?" YooChun whispered before his feet took full control and ran downstairs. He fell tumbling down the long flight, shocking his family members who were rushing to get him but he got up instantly and ran out of the house.
"Hyung! Where are you going?" ChangMin followed him as he saw YooChun opening the main gate.
Reporters were swarming around him. ChangMin tried to block them and grabbed his brother inside but YooChun started running and shouting someone's name.
"JunSu! Wait!" YooChun shouted, ignoring the pain coming from his bare feet.
JunSu ran faster. Why was he running? He doesn't know. He just have to?
"JunSu!!!" YooChun called again.
JunSu wanted to run faster while pulling the reluctant Colleen along. She was actually slowing him down. Both were pulling each other; JunSu was pulling to his side, securing his steps as he tried to cross the road but the canine was pulling at the exact opposite direction. They both struggled to pull each other until the leash snapped and JunSu landed right in the middle of the road.
A tire screech was heard as a car was seen speeding towards JunSu's direction. JunSu was still sitting on the ground, couldn't think of what to do. Colleen was barking.
"JunSu!"
That's what YooChun could only mutter as he made a quick dash to save the shocked boy from the speeding car.
YooChun made it to JunSu as the terrified boy hugged him in return but to make sure they're safe are impossible now as the car was just about two metres away from them until something completely unbelievable happen.
Colleen lunged towards the car, blocking the view, resulting the driver to swerve to the other side and stopped abruptly, sending the dog flying and landed on the road several metres away.
ChangMin, who had just arrived with JunJin was in utter shock as he recognized the driver.
He marched towards the car, regardless of JunJin's calling, ignoring the sudden reverse and reached for the door, yanked it open and pulled the driver out and showed everyone who was it.
Everyone gasped as they recognized her, it's SoYeon.
"Oh, you f*cking b*tch!"
The young boy has been hiding that much anger in him for so long and finally burst and vented out onto SoYeon as he pulled her up like a rag doll and whacked her with all his might.
"ChangMin! ChangMin!" JunJin holds ChangMin from the back as he pulled him away from killing her. SoYeon was then left on the road for the reporters to whack as the boys ran towards Colleen.
"YooChun!" JunSu cried, holding onto YooChun's weak body.
"JunSu" YooChun said before passing out.
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**@ Beautiful You - Chapter 21 @**