She looked at her best friend's face with sad eyes, all the while embracing his hand as they sat on the living room couch. Jungkook, who was watching them from his armchair, smiled slightly as he sipped his coffee. It was the middle of the night, and he was feeling sleepy, so he needed caffeine.
Chanmi didn't need it. She was aroused by the alcohol she had consumed earlier, and more importantly because of the presence of her best friend, whom she could finally recognize as a true Chansung. It only took literally a moment for her to realize that this was the man she had missed so much....
- Thank you for you and your father helping him. Thank you for taking care of him all these years - she turned to Jungkook. The brunet raised an eyebrow, putting his teacup to his lips - I am truly grateful to you for protecting him, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't understand your behavior.
- What don't you understand? After all, I told you that I approached your family to avenge Chansung. It is my brother who wants to do harm to the people who turned his life into hell.
The redhead squeezed her friend's hand tighter, as if she was afraid that she might lose him at any moment.
- I understand that in America you specifically approached my sister.
- Yes, because she is completely not my type. In appearance, she's a nine, but her personality is a total zero - he said, setting the cup down on the saucer. - I started pretending to be interested in Jieun when Chansung saw her and told me who she was. She chased me like a dog. It was the perfect opportunity to start a plan. The fact that I caught her eye made my revenge easier, well, and definitely sped it up.
- Bottom line. You seized the opportunity and made my older sister fall in love with you. - His demeanor was exasperated as he shrugged his shoulders in disapproval. - From the beginning you treated her like a toy because in your mind she deserved to be punished, but why did you tease me all this time as well? Why did you first claim to be Chansung's friend, then lie to me that you were, until you finally confessed the truth to me?
Jungkook sighed loudly and rubbed his brow with his hand.
- Why? - He asked in a lazy voice. - Because since I was a child I like to tease girls I like. It's such a childish way to pick up.
Chanmi looked at her friend with embarrassed eyes, who only smiled at these words. He acted as if he knew that she was his brother's affection.
- He stated that you are incredibly cute, and he likes cute girls. He wanted to meet you years ago when I told him about you. He's a crazy man - Chansung announced in a joking voice. - He got a phobia about you. I think it's because of me. I think I over-colored your personality too much.
The redhead felt even more embarrassed as she fixed her gaze on Jungkook.
- My heart beat harder when, after all these stories, I finally saw you in a photo. Jieun showed me the photograph of the angel. I couldn't wait to fly with her to Korea and meet you in person. - His bold confession made Chanmi feel intimidated. - Here's the whole secret.
- Don't you have an ounce of shame? - She asked, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear.
- No - he answered directly, smiling roguishly at her. - Why should I hide it any longer? - He shrugged his shoulders. - You're cute and I like you.
He was delighted to see how shy she became by his words. It made her even more adorable and amazing.
- Psycho - she muttered under her breath, hiding behind her friend. It disturbed her that even Chansung was amused by this madman's confession.
- And back to the subject of my brother.... - He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, joining his hands into a fist. - You asked me why I first said I was his friend, and then started lying to you.... I noticed that it wasn't working, and I wanted you to trust me faster, so I started claiming to be Chansung - he stated, revealing his collarbone. - The scar was fake. My body is smooth and amazing - he added, looking at his brother with an apologetic gaze. - Forgive me if I have just offended you, but no one can deny that I have a great body.
- Chansung, do you really trust him? - The girl posed the question to her friend, still thinking that Jungkook had a headache. - Maybe it's better if I take you out of this house?
The scarred boy was amused.
- Rather, you didn't make her trust you, Jungkook said. - The boy turned to his brother.
The brunet once again shrugged his shoulders, looking indifferent.
- I won't change my personality. I like to be crazy about my affection.
The redhead felt like taking her friend out of there and never facing Jungkook again. He really bothered her. He was too bold! He's a jacked-up man who didn't know when he should bite his tongue.
- I didn't believe you when you claimed to be Chansung because you differ in character like fire and water. With your behavior, you only led me to hate you more and more every day.
- I know, that's why Chansung and I decided that you would eventually learn the truth.
- And of course you must have caused problems in my family beforehand. You caused me to be kicked out of the house. Jieun can't look at me. She hates me, claiming that I bounced her fiancé.
- This is what I wanted. I wanted you to be far away from the place I was going to destroy.
Chanmi squinted, looking at him suspiciously.
- So what's your plan, madman?
Jungkook smiled mysteriously, but he wasn't about to share with her the idea he had come up with.
- I would advise you to quickly hate this family. You have no blood ties to them anyway. You are just their surrogate product.
- Tell me, what are you planning?
Chansung lowered his head to avoid eye contact with his friend.
- You don't need to know everything, Cha-Cha. The main thing is that you don't live there anymore - he stated, rising from his chair. He stroked her chin, then walked away toward the kitchen.
The redhead stuck a concerned look at her friend.
- I already know that Jungkook and his father saved your life, but doesn't he scare you?
The boy lifted his face. The terrible scars that covered his face at all times caught Chanmi's attention. She couldn't take her eyes off them. Each time, her heart hurt just as much when she thought that it was because of her family that Chansung went through hell and only left the house in the dark, hiding under the hood.
- I trust no one as much as I trust him. He was unable to give a damn about my past, but for a person he cares about, he is willing to go to the point of complete madness. He is capable of destroying the lives of the people who took my mother and sister from me. He wants to trap them in suffering, to inflict monstrous pain, to make them feel like me when I was fighting for life with the last of my strength.
His words chilled her. Were they planning something really cruel against her family? On the one hand, she understood Chansung, but on the other.... she hoped their revenge would be milder.
She was trapped in her thoughts, although seeing her friend in such a state, she was definitely more on his side than that of her family.
- Why are you worried about them, Chanmi? - She was surprised when he asked her this question. - Ten years ago, you wanted to run away with me. You were ready to do it if it wasn't for your brother, who took you to the car. You know perfectly well that they wanted to kill you. They were going to rip out your heart and give it to the real Chanmi.
- Nevertheless, they recognized me as their daughter - she added hastily.
Chansung laughed under his breath.
- Jungkook was right when he said that you became too attached to them. Bottom line. You consider them your family because you've lived with them for twenty years, but I still don't understand your feelings. You should hate these people. All your life, they treated you like trash. They wanted to kill you, there were days when you were invisible to them like a ghost. Your mother only saw Jieun and Jin. Did she ever show you affection?
- Only Seokjin has been caring towards me all my life - she said in a whisper. Her friend's words caused her to return her thoughts to the past.
He was right. She was treated like a ghost in her family home. It seemed to her that she was just an ornament there, a substitute product. She cried in her room many times because she dreamed of her mother showing her the same warmth as Jieun, or at least Seokjin.
She was spurned and only began to understand this when she accidentally learned the truth. She was not a biological daughter, but merely a child left sympathizing to replace the presence of the late Chanmi.
- Jieun and your mother are hellish monsters - Chansung commented, looking at her friend with pained eyes. - I wanted Jungkook to take you out of this house at all costs because I was worried about you. I don't know when it is supposed to happen, but they're having plans for you. And they are not likely to be good plans.
- After all, they would not harm me. I was a ghost, but I lived a normal life. - The redhead did not understand Chansung's concern.
- Your parents are hiding something else in connection with the fact that you replaced the real Chanmi. - The girl furrowed her eyebrows, looking at her friend carefully. - I don't want to believe that you were simply meant to fill the void in their hearts after losing their daughter.
- You know something, don't you?
The boy embraced her hands, stroking her delicate skin for a long moment. With his head lowered, he bit his lip, thinking about something.
- I have to tell you this, Chanmi, so that you finally understand that you can no longer feel sorry for this family. You have to completely disconnect from them.
Ten years earlier.
The terrified thirteen-year-old watched the woman spill gasoline with a frantic expression on her face, along with the help of her daughter. Tears streamed down his chubby cheeks, he trembled on the inside, sensing that he would die shortly. There was no one around to help him, though he screamed as loudly as he could. He had no idea where he had been taken, but the perpetrator felt no fear from his loud behavior, so he figured they must have been in some desolate place.
He was attacked by surprise, hit with a heavy object, and was bleeding, feeling dizzy. At the first moment when he regained consciousness, he didn't know what was happening. Only when he spotted the woman and her daughter did he realize that they wanted to kill him just like his mother and sister. If he hadn't witnessed the conversation in which the woman confessed to the crime, he probably wouldn't have had to lose his life now.
- Do you think that if I am put to death, no one will know that you killed my mother and sister? - asked the teenager in a tearful voice. - Even if I die, the truth will see the light of day! You will fry in hell!
- Shut up, fatty! - yelled Jieun. She walked up to him and slapped his face, looking at him with disgust in her eyes. - It's your mother and sister who are just frying in hell! That foul woman had the audacity to seduce my dad and give birth to a child from an illegitimate bed! She deserved it! And you fatty, too!
The woman threw the gasoline canister and pushed Jieun aside, pouring frantic eyes into Chansung's face.
- Your mother is a whore who deserved to be punished! Your sister had no right to live - she replied in a loud voice, smiling devilishly. - I will remove the unnecessary bugs, and my family's life will return to normal.
- You are a common murderer! No sane person acts like this! - yelled the boy, but he was immediately silenced when the woman slapped him in the face. He burst out crying worse, terrified of the coming minutes. - The lady has no heart, so I won't believe that you recognized Chanmi as your daughter.
Jieun looked at her mother with curiosity in her eyes.
- How does he know Chanmi's secret?
- This boy definitely knows more than we thought. We have no choice. We have to remove him, Jieun said.
The 15-year-old wrinkled her eyebrows.
- Do you think Mommy has managed to tell Chanmi everything? What if he runs away from us before the day in the contract comes?
- No worries, daughter. Chanmi has nowhere else to go. There is no one else besides us. She is afraid of the world, and after the death of this kid she will be a total zero. She lacks courage," the woman declared.
- What are you going to do Chanmi! What do you need her for! - The fear for her best friend was stronger than the fear of losing her life. - If you hurt her, I swear that I will return to you even from hell! - he yelled.
Smiling sultryly, the woman flicked off the lighter.
- Say hello to the mommy in hell. Maybe she has managed to seduce the devil himself. - After these words, she threw the lighter next to her, starting a fire. Chansung darted into the air, asking for help, and the woman grabbed Jieun's hand and, like Satan in flames, walked out of the building.
Every second counted if the boy wanted to get away with his life, and he wanted it to avenge his family and protect the friend he secretly loved.
He couldn't just die like that. This was not his time.