Chapter 29 - I Still Remember Her.
UNEDITED VERSION
For a moment Wang Yu Min could see sparks of fury glinting in Wan Yi Jun's dark eyes. It felt as if he was somehow trying to turn down his anger just because he was sitting with his grandma, otherwise he would have lashed out on Han Ze Min for spreading rumour him.
"What happened? It's not true?" Wang Yu Min gently touched his hands and probed more. She wasn't ready to hurt him by some false information on otherhand she wished to confront him about the truth behind the relationship between Wan Yi Jun and Zhi Lan.
"But Min said that-" Just as she mentioned her other grandson, Wan Yi Jun abruptly interrupted her, drawing out a clear line that he doesn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Grandma, we are just friends. I met her at university and it's true that at that time I didn't know about her father, if I knew about it a I would have never become closer to her. And I swear I don't want to live my entire life regretting how I lost a good friend while trying to keep up with our act to please our families. That's never going to happen." Wan Yi Jun harshly explained while wondering why no one gives any importance for his likes and dislikes. He was really disappointed that his beloved grandmother was also being blind to his emotions.
"No dear. You know how close general Zhi and your uncle are...they always wanted to strengthen their bond through a marriage alliance. Last time, when your uncle and aunty tried to set an informal meeting with Min and that girl, she said that it's you whom she likes to marry. She made it clear that she want no one else, but you. Otherwise, why would your aunt look for another girl for Min?" Wang Yu Min explained and squeezed his hands as if she wanted to comfort him. "If you like her, we can go ahead with the marriage talks."
As soon as Wan Yi Jun heard her words of concern, he remained silent for a long minute. He knew that Zhi Lan had always liked him, but he never knew that she even confessed her feelings to the suitor who happened to be his cousin.
"I'm sorry, grandma. I don't know why Zhi Lan said like that, but for me, she is one of my closest friends." He admitted in utmost honesty and respect. However, Wang Yu Min who misinterpreted his words, tried to correct the young man who was hesitant to see his friend in a different light.
"There is no wrong in marrying your friend, Yi Jun ah. In order to lead a meaningful married life, it is better that your partner is some one whom you know. Don't you know, your parents used to be friends before they fell in love?" She came up with some ways to persuade her grandson, but Wan Yi Jun on the other hand, kept rejecting the whole idea of getting married as if he hated it to his heart's core.
"It's not the same." He firmly retorted.
"But she said that-"
"I don't know, grandma...I can't see Zhi Lan like that...she is my friend and more than anything else I don't know if I can love someone anymore." Wan Yi Jun's deep and profound voice sounded agonized as he spoke the truth. His guilt and pain refrained him from opening upto anyone...Even to Zhi Lan who practically followed him everywhere in the last ten years.
"Yi Jun, are you still punishing yourself for whatever happened in the past? You know...you know that both of you were kids. What you could have done to save her?"
"I could have atleast said something to console her...I could have visited her in the shelter home....I could have begged dad to bring her back....There were so many things that I could done for her...but instead of that I just stood watching them dragging her out of the house. If one of us raised our voice, she should have been alive today."
"Maybe it was her fate... Rather than living a miserable life as victim of her parent's wrong doings."
"Don't call it as her fate. Her fate was to grow up in happily in a normal household...like rest of us...But grandma, we were the ones who abandoned her. Last night, I met a girl and for some reasons she kept reminding me of Tsuki. She was abandoned by the people who were supposed to take care of her. No food, no clothes, she grew up in a brothel. I was feeling bad for her...but she...she said it was okay...It was far better than the hell she previously lived. Even after going through all trouble she still got the will to live. If Tsuki was alive she should have done the same thing... don't you think?"
"Do you miss her, Yi Junah?"
"Hmm…a lot."
"I have been remembering her, nowadays. What if she was alive? She would have become a pretty girl, right?'
"She must have."
"Sometimes, I think if she was here you two must have troubled her."
"We would have killed each other for her."
For a moment Wang Yu Min could see sparks of fury glinting in Wan Yi Jun's dark eyes. It felt as if he was somehow trying to turn down his anger just because he was sitting with his grandma, otherwise he would have lashed out on Han Ze Min for spreading rumour him.
"What happened? It's not true?" Wang Yu Min gently touched his hands and probed more. She wasn't ready to hurt him by some false information on otherhand she wished to confront him about the truth behind the relationship between Wan Yi Jun and Zhi Lan.
"But Min said that-" Just as she mentioned her other grandson, Wan Yi Jun abruptly interrupted her, drawing out a clear line that he doesn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Grandma, we are just friends. I met her at university and it's true that at that time I didn't know about her father, if I knew about it a I would have never become closer to her. And I swear I don't want to live my entire life regretting how I lost a good friend while trying to keep up with our act to please our families. That's never going to happen." Wan Yi Jun harshly explained while wondering why no one gives any importance for his likes and dislikes. He was really disappointed that his beloved grandmother was also being blind to his emotions.
"No dear. You know how close general and your uncle are...they always wanted to strengthen their bond with through marriage. Last time, when your uncle and aunty tried to set an informal meeting with Min and that girl, she said that it's you whom she likes to marry. She made it clear that she want no one else, but you. Otherwise, why would your aunt look for another girl for Min?" Wang Yu Min explained and squeezed his hands as if she wanted to comfort him. "If you like her, we can go ahead with the marriage talks."
As soon as Wan Yi Jun heard her words of concern, he remained silent for a long minute. He knew that Zhi Lan had always liked him, but he never knew that she even confessed her feelings to the suitor who happened to be his cousin.
"I'm sorry, grandma. I don't know why Zhi Lan said like that, but for me, she is one of my closest friends." He admitted in utmost honesty a
"There is no wrong in marrying your friend, Yi Jun ah. Your parents used to be friends before they fell in love."
"It's not the same."
"But she said that-"
"I don't know, grandma...I can't see Zhi Lan like that...she is my friend and I don't know if I can love someone anymore."
"Yi Jun, are you still punishing yourself for whatever happened in the past? You know...you know that both of you were kids. What you could have done to save her?"
"I could have atleast said something to console her...I could have visited her in the shelter home....I could have begged dad to bring her back....There were so many things that I could done for her...but instead of that I just stood watching them dragging her out of the house. If one of us raised our voice, she should have been alive today."
"Maybe it was her fate... Rather than living a miserable life as victim of her parent's wrong doings."
"Don't call it as her fate. Her fate was to grow up in happily in a normal household...like rest of us...But grandma, we were the ones who abandoned her. Last night, I met a girl and for some reasons she kept reminding me of Tsuki. She was abandoned by the people who were supposed to take care of her. No food, no clothes, she grew up in a brothel. I was feeling bad for her...but she...she said it was okay....It was far better than the hell she previously lived. Even after going through all trouble she still g