14 Truth Untold

Seonghwa barged into the house without waiting for anyone to answer. He had been knocking the door for who knows how long, and it only made his irritation grow. Where were the maids? The butlers? Even the family didn't seem to be present.

He looked about him and was engulfed by a strange feeling. It felt hollow and dark.

Something was wrong, and he could sense it.

Another thing he noticed was that the servants were avoiding his gaze, like they were trying to hide something. And why didn't one of them open the door when he had knocked just moments before?

"Seo! Darling!" Jae's nasally voice came from down the hall, and she held her arms out wide as she came towards him. "What are you doing here?"

He stepped aside, and Jae stumbled forwards as she tried to keep her footing. It was the first time he had avoided her embrace, and whilst it left her with a bruised pride, Seonghwa felt nothing but disgust. There was just something about her that he didn't like.

Wooyoung was right... He was an idiot to believe the unknown woman who came to see him and claimed to be his fiancée.

He just hoped that he hadn't messed things up with Ali. Whereas he knew things were fake with Jae, he could tell that what he had with Ali was real: even if he couldn't remember any part of their relationship.

"Seonghwa, what's wrong?" Jae looked up at him with doe-eyes and reached up to place her palm on his forehead. "Are you not feeling well?"

"I'm fine." He scowled and removed her hand. "There's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?" Jae questioned innocently, then something dawned on her. A shadow flitted over her features. "It's Ali, isn't it? Why is it always Ali?" She stomped her foot, like a toddler that doesn't get their way, and she grimaced.

"Everyone loves Ali. They always asked me why I wasn't as pretty as her, as smart as her, and why I wasn't as nice as her. Do you know what it's like living in your sister's shadow? It's maddening! And even my mother loved Ali more than she ever loved me - her own daughter. And even you only saw Ali when you were together."

Seonghwa could see Jae's slow descent into madness, and it honestly scared him. Yet, he knew that what she did wasn't justified.

"So you hurt your sister out of jealousy? Was Ali ever mean to you? Did she ever do anything to make you feel less than you are?" Seonghwa stepped closer to her. Now, he was finding it hard to control his anger. "Ali was just living her life, and you made her feel the way you did because you wanted what she had. Instead of hurting her, and the people she cares for the most, why didn't you talk to her? You are sisters after all, and that should be a bond that is greater than none."

"We're over, Jae." Seonghwa looked on at her pityingly. "I hope you find real happiness for yourself one day."

And you get what you deserve. He added as an afterthought.

His honeyed words were nothing more than a cover for what he was truly thinking.

"You'll never get her back, you know!" Jae taunted him. Clearly, she hadn't heard what he had said, and only wanted to rile him up more.

"What do you mean by that?" Seonghwa roughly held her by the shoulders. "Jae, what did you do?!"

Jae smirked up at him and leaned closer so he could hear every word she said:

"She's in a place no one can get to her." 

Her manic laughter continued, even after Seonghwa had run from the house.