The Big Reveal

Chapter 52 | Truth?

"But you," I stand at the exact place. "You don't look like her." My words were baffling and breaking. Her expressions remain hidden as her bangs cover her forehead and half of her eyes. After hearing me, her eyes moved around as if she was looking for something.

"Wait." She turns around and looks for something in her handbag. My eyes never leave her. My mind is blank, not accepting this fact. She takes out something very small not visible to my eyes and does something to her bangs. I squint my eyes to focus, but I can't understand her actions. She finally turns around with her bangs divided in her middle partition, each side turned into a rough twist pinned to her head. Her forehead is finally exposed, with her light-colored, almost invisible eyebrow. My mind is flooded with so many memories of looking at her face. She is her, my mom's best friend. This is how mom did her hair most of the time when she asked for it. Everything seems unbelievable at that moment. I kept gazing at her, not realizing that my feet were unknowingly walking toward her. She was attracting every body part towards her. There is just pin-drop silence in the lounge.

I finally stood closer to her and she just looked at me with tears in her eyes. I never knew. I never recognized her, since I came here.

"You have grown up so beautifully, Hana," she cried while brushing my face with her delicate hand. My eyes are swelling with tears now. The warmth of her hand feels so different this time.

"I see Ji-hoo in you." I burst into ugly crying as soon as she mentioned mom's name. I buried my face in my hands and bowed down. I hear Jungkook mention my name, but he doesn't come closer. I finally release my face out of the grip of my hands and look up at her. Tears are flowing down her face, but she doesn't weep as badly as I, I could feel the lump in her throat. In a second, I was against her body with my arm around her back. She embraced me back and tapped lightly on my back.

She wasn't the same person I knew from months ago. She is just a reflection of my mother- the only person who has spent the most time with her. I clutch her hard, not allowing her to part.

"Hushh." She pulls me back from my shoulders and gazes at me.

"I am here, Hana."

I look up to her and control my overflowing emotions. She smiles at me and pulls me again for a hug.

*************

"You aren't eating." Jungkook places his warm hand on my thigh as I was just playing with my fork. The food on the table is scrumptious but does not attract me at all. I don't know how to feel at this moment. I cut a piece of carrot and thrust it in my mouth to assure Jungkook that I was eating.

"You knew me when we first met?" I ask, looking up at Miss Ombre. Her eyes flash from her plate to my face and she cleans her mouth with a handkerchief.

"I recognized you right away." She purses her lips. "But that doesn't mean I pitied you at all. I wasn't even sure if you were Hana, I just saw the determination in your eyes and decided to give you a chance."

I nod and return to my plate, while Jungkook gulps down his wine.

"Why did you distance yourself and Jungkook?" I finally asked the question I always longed to ask. I remember how I used to think about it; how will I ask her? Would it be right?

She smiles and sips some water. "I saw this coming."

I look back at her now, my eyes demanding an answer with a hint of anger and ferocity. All those years and that little Jungkook appeared in front of me, the way he was struggling to meet me when our parents stood like a wall between us.

"We had reasons." She finally says and takes a deep breath.

"Reasons?" Jungkook came in suddenly. I looked at him and noticed that he was equally confused. We both were kept in the shadows for more than ten years.

"It was nothing, just some things between me and your parents," she states, gazing at me.

"If it was nothing, you could have told me about it, at least. Do you realize how much this nothing cost her?" Jungkook's tone suddenly turned abrupt and indignant. I held his hand lying flat on the table and squeezed it.

"Calm down, Jungkook."

"How do you expect me to? If it was nothing, why did they part?" he looks back at his mother. "You could have told me, a little trust wouldn't have hurt mom."

Miss Ombre was visibly regretful. She didn't look up at either of us or reply to the complaints.

"You were too young at that time, Jungkook."

"Oh please!" his yelling made me shake. "That is the biggest lie you ever told me. You made me believe that I was too young to understand anything, whether it was love, anger, or sorrow. I was the only one fighting to meet her when you completely backed off." He stopped and held his head in his hands. "That was the only time, mom.." his voice saddening with every word. "The only time I was true to my feelings." He raises his head and looks at his mother. "The only time I didn't lie to myself and the only time I didn't find places or reasons to cover up my feelings."

Even though I had thought that I was the one with complaints, listening to Jungkook made me realize that my complaints didn't even matter in front of him. What's worse than keeping your child in a shadow that would affect his whole life? Miss Ombre never looks up.

"Your dad and Hana's father had a little argument that grew into an ugly quarrel." Jungkook and I both look at her. "Before Ji Hoo died, we decided to part for some time and not let you two get affected by that, not even me and Ji Hoo. But when she passed away, I realized that she was the glue to our relationship. I had no strength to fight both of your fathers, so I gave up."

She takes her hand and holds it over her mouth. "There's nothing that disturbs me more today than that wrong decision. It has been ten years, and every second feels like a burden to me when I think about it."

Jungkook straightens his leaned figure against the chair and stares at the ceiling, whereas Miss Ombre starts crying, muffling her voice with her hand. I take several deep breaths, trying to digest the facts without worrying too much, but the anxiety is killing me. I struggle against my disrupted pattern of breathing and walk to Miss Ombre's chair. I hug her, while she is sitting and weeping badly.

"It's okay..." I wait for the air to fill my lungs again. "You did what was best. I don't blame you." As I said the last word, I stumbled on my feet as the piercing pain in my chest tore off my body's strength. Jungkook immediately notices and holds me before I could hit the ground.

"Hana!" he yells and picks me in his arms and starts to walk. Though my lungs are struggling, I am not unconscious. These panic attacks happen often when my anxiety hits the top. My body suddenly touches the cold mattress, while Jungkook keeps on repeating my name. I briefly open my eyes to see him standing over me and Miss Ombre on the back.

"I am fine..just give..me some time."

"I am here, don't worry." Jungkook kisses my forehead and one of his tears falls on my cheek- cold and genuine.

"I love you," I say under my breath, thinking he might not hear it.

"I love you too, babe." He's crying badly now, kissing my hand continuously. I open my eyes again to see him hugging his mother, while she soothes him to calm down.

At least, there's someone for him.