Chapter Text
Cha Young passed out just as when she take his hands and he caught it. She had endured with all her might against Jang Han Seok and now all her strength had been exhausted.
He wrap Cha Young arms deeply and incessantly he whispered apologizing for everything that happened even though he knew Cha Young didn't hear.
Looking at Cha Young's face, he smoothed the hair that covered her face, tucked it behind her ear. Vincenzo could see her cheeks were red and bruised as if she had been hit hard there, her eyelids were thick red like she had been crying for a long time, her dry tears were all over her face, her lips were swollen and blood marks were visible there, also her wrists were blue from the rope that previously tied her tightly.
Vincenzo felt his heart shattered into pieces seeing the person he loved so tormented, his anger and pain mixed. He's still not satisfied, Jang Han Seok has to pay for all this, this time he means it.
“Consigliere ...” Mr. Ahn emerged from the door, his clothes disheveled and even though there were fight scars there, he looked fine. He steps in and sees Cha Young passed out in his arms
"Is Ms. Hong okay?” Mr. Ahn continued
Vincenzo shook his head weakly
"Are the others okay?" Vincezo replied
“Several people from the Cassano family and my team were injured, as well as Mr. Cho. But all are safe, we managed to kill them all. Some of us who seem better off taking the injured for immediate treatment, and the rest will escort Ms. Hong and Consigliere to return soon.”
Vincenzo took a breath and nodded “Thanks, thank you Mr. Ahn"
"That's not necessary at all" he replied
“This is Jang Han Seok? Is he dead?” Mr. Ahn crouched checking Jang han Seok
"He's still alive, so what next?" Mr. Ahn asked again
Vincenzo was silent for a moment
“Can you help me one more time? Please take Cha Young out of this place, I'll catch up. Just leave a car. Ask someone here to bring gasoline, tell all the workers who are here to go home and let me do the rest, i'll take care of it” said Vincenzo
"Yes, Consigliere" Mr. Ahn approached Vincenzo and picked up Cha Young, he lowered his head down to Vincenzo, before leaving and disappearing behind the door.
Now it was his turn, he dragged Jang Han Seok and lifted him onto the bed. He tied his hands to the end of the bed. Even though now he was lying weak with blood everywhere, he couldn't die yet. He saw a glass of water on the side of the bed then took it and poured it on him, not satisfied he took the teapot there and poured its contents on Han Seok's face. With ragged breaths and pain Han Seok slowly coughed and opened his eyes, it took a while for him to come to his senses.
"Oh.. Hello Vincenzo Cassano" he said, although he coughed and gasped, he still had a horrible grin on his lips.
Vincenzo didn't say anything. He took something out of his pocket and started cutting off Han Seok's fingers one by one
Screams of pain echoed there.
Vincenzo was expressionless, Han Seok's screams meant nothing to him.
Whenever Jang Han Seok seemed unable to bear the pain any longer until he almost lost consciousness, he would immediately stop and splash him with water so that Jang Han Seok would come back to his senses.
Jang Han Seok didn't look scared at all, he screamed and whimpered a few times but there was no look of fear there.
"Are you taking your anger out on me? You think Cha Young ended up like that because of me?” Jang Han Seok is still trying to provoke him
"No! This all because of you, you're just not good enough. If it wasn't me, your other enemies would have done the same to her. But I love her so-"
Vincenzo punched him again, after everything he did how dare he say love
Han Seok vomited his blood and laughed
“You know I'm right! You're not good at all! And Cha Young! however she will always remember me for the rest of her life HAHAHA cough..cough…” Han Seok choked on his own blood,
Vincenzo had lost his temper, but suddenly someone entered.
“Consigliere… I brought your order. And according to your instructions, everything is done" he said
Vincenzo nodded his head and took a jerry can full of gasoline in his hand then told him to leave.
He looked back at Han Seok
“She will forget you, I swear that she will. She's the strongest woman I've ever met and you're not worth remembering at all. And if not, if she doesn't heal because of you, I'll make sure to hunt you down in your next life, even your next life, and so on. Your filthy mouth doesn't deserve her name."
He poured liquid gasoline from the jerry can all over Jang Han Seok's body. He saw that Jang Han Seok was starting to get scared, he still tried to escape but all was in vain because apart from his battered body, his hands were chained there.
Vincenzo took out a lighter from his pocket,
"For Cha Young..." Vincenzo said coldly.
He turned around walked away, and threw the lighter at Han Seok.
And suddenly a scream of pain and blazing fire filled the room. Jang Han Seok was seen squirming several times, but this time he would not be able to survive. The fire began to spread throughout the room, and devoured everything inside.
Vincenzo walked forward without looking back.
.
.
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Vncenzo sipped his wine slowly, now is 2 am and not once since their return from Forks he can rest properly (as well as Cha Young) or even its already a month no one is back to normal as usual.
Cha Young is the most severe among them, since they back he ask her to stay with him at least until she is a little better, he had promised to help her to recover and the only thing he can do now is watch her, Cha Young just not leave a single comment and just nodded in agreement. At first he brought Cha Young to his apartment because he thought there would be many people helping him at Geumga Plaza, they all loved Cha Young like family so he was sure Cha Young would recover soon and slowly remember everything.
But it seems the trauma and the wound is too deep.
She didn't talk much anymore as usual, mostly just nodding and shaking her head. She eats very little, doesn't move much and daydreams all day.
She is also not to be left alone but can also be assembled with a lot of people, every time she sees someone else who does not know (or thinks, considering she lost her memory) in a will shrink fears pull him and hiding behind him, whenever someone tries touching her, she screamed as if she was about to be tortured, she also didn't stop screaming in her sleep (he knew it considering he and Cha Young were sleeping in the living room because once again Cha Young couldn't be left alone), even Jang Han Seok's name was never absent from her screams almost every night as if she was there and always haunted her.
Vincenzo almost gave up because he felt helpless.
Cha Young's pain is a new hell of regret for him. He wants to take all the pain and bear it, but he can't. Cha Young didn't even let Vincenzo approach nor talk about the things she was going through. She prefers to keep it to herself, she definitely no longer trusts anyone in this world.
Jang Han Seok was right, it was all his fault. Although Jang Han Seok is obsessed with Cha Young but his target was to make him suffer, he wanted to kill him. And Vincenzo had to admit, it was his obsession that made Cha Young live even though Cha Young now seems to have lost herself. If it was Vincenzo's other enemy maybe Cha Young would have-
He didn't want to think about it anymore.
He thinks he's not good enough to protect her, with his world being so dangerous it's too ridiculous to drag Cha Young into it.
Criminals don't seem worthy to love or be loved.
.
In the midst of his despair, one morning he sneaked out of the apartment when Cha Young had just fallen asleep after waking up the umpteenth night this morning, he gathered all the other tenants of Geumga Plaza and told the problem in general, asked for advice and discussed with them, looking for the best solution for Cha Young.
Some of them look it with concern, some in tears and said how much it tough experienced for Cha Young before is ultimately they all advised to bring Cha Young returned to her house and stayed there a while with her, because thinking tranquility there would help her recover.
He felt enlightened and grateful. Maybe this is why he needs a family, they will help you deal with unexpected situations and give you the best advice they have.
He decided to bring Cha Young return to his home on the advice of tenants Geumga Plaza next morning, and Cha Young just said she will follow. So according to the plan he took Cha Young out of his apartment and headed for Cha Young's house. Its true, at least this place not too crowded and just be the two of them. He just hope, something about the house will treat it, how else Cha Young has lived there since childhood she must have felt more familiar with all who were there.
And it looks like the right choice.
When Cha Young entered the house she was silent for a moment, her eyes scanning the room. Even though she was a little hesitant she took a step and began to trace every inch of it.
Her eyes were fixed on the wall full of portraits there, watching them move one by one from one to another. She took the largest portrait there, containing Hong Yu Chan, Cha Young, and the motherly-looking woman who seemed to be her mother. She stared at her portrait longer than the others, gently brushing the dust away and hugging it.
Vincenzo just looked at her and didn't say anything, letting Cha Young do it.
After a while she said quietly
“I don't remember anything, but this portrait stirred something in me. Like longing” This was the first time she had such a long talk in a long time
“They're your parents, something inside of you must know even if you don't remember it” Vincenzo replied
“You're right.” Cha Young nodded in agreement. She returned the portrait to its original place
“I will use this room” she pointed to her own room
"Sure it's yours"
“You can sleep there” She showed the bedroom that Hong Yu Chan used to use across from her
Vincent just nodded
“I felt comfortable the first time I walked into this house, it felt like I really came back home. I'll try it. You know what I mean" She continued
And after that the days feel better. Cha Young starts to talk to him even if only as necessary.
Another day Miri and Han Seo came to visit and although they were still hesitant and a little uncomfortable Cha Young started to want to meet them and speak a word or two (Han Seo almost ran to hug her, before Miri held him) after that the tenants of Geumga Plaza came to meet her every day, bring all goods of food, and Cha Young is now happy to open the door, bringing them all in.
Sometimes he heard her sigh, but he no longer heard the screams like when they were in his apartment. Vincenzo sometimes checked periodically and the frequency she woke up from nightmares began to decrease.
Even though it's not as perfect as it used to be, at least he's very grateful. Cha Young is slowly recovering
.
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"HAHAHHHH"
Cha Young suddenly awakened from sleep (again), shortness of breath, how many times in the last few hours she kept having nightmares, not just the tonight but almost every night (though now reduced frequency).
Her dreams was always the same, like the time she had ever experienced but not remembered mingled with memory that she remembers even though most of it is being with Jang Han Seok.
Her bound self, the sound of broken glass, Jang Han Seok's anger, blood everywhere and always ending with Vincenzo's rescue.
Remembering Jang Han Seok honestly made her feel very disgusted, scared, and angry besides that she felt she was not worthy.
However she allowed herself to be toyed by Jang Han Seok, she even let him touch her, being carried away by her words. Every memory of Jang Han Seok suffocated her and not a day since then she could forget everything he did.
Cha Young closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Vincenzo told her that Jang Han Seok was the criminal and that she had been kidnapped and taken to Forks, she had always thought otherwise. She compared the stories she got from Jang Han Seok and Vincenzo and found none of their versions had the same answer, all the stories had opposite versions.
And now she even no longer knew where truth and lies. If Jang Han Seok can't be trusted, can Vincenzo be? She followed him here the same way as she followed Jang Han Seok shortly after being discharged from the hospital and for the same reason.
She had no other choice, she had lost and was confused.
The difference is that now she is confine herself, not wanting to feel disappointed or accepting other's pretense and getting herself stabbed in the back (again). She prefers to be silent, she would not let herself be vulnerable until she knew the truth.
But even she didn't know how.
She had a hard time every time she met anyone other than Vincenzo (although now it's better when she started to learn to accept the presence of other people like the tenants of Geumga Plaza), every hand that tried to touch her always made her cringe so that she subconsciously screamed in fear .
Everything was stifling, she wanted to go back to normal. There were times when she felt so tired that even her tears had dried up, she felt like dying.
But she quickly got rid of it.
She took the sleeping pill that was beside her (she always needed it) and was just about to take it when she heard a knock on the door.
“Knock..knocck..Knock...”
"Byeonhasanim... I mean .. Cha Young.." Vincenzo slowly opened the door to her room and saw her awake there. She knew Vincenzo was checking her regularly every night and filling the glass beside her.
Cha Young sat up, he saw Vincenzo turn on the lights.
“I didn't know you were awake, just checking. Sorry to bother you ” Vincenzo scratched the back of his neck.
"No problem" she replied
"Are you going to sleep again?"
Cha Young just raised her eyebrows confused
“Want to have tea with me? I'll prepare some snacks too. If you don't mind” Vincenzo asked again
“.....” she just stayed silent not knowing what to say
"It's okay if you don't want to, go to sleep immediately, good night" Vincenzo smiled, she could see his face full of understanding
Vincenzo closed the door
She was still contemplating whether she should accept his offer or....
"Hey..."
She saw Vincenzo quickly reopen the door
"Wait for me in the living room, I will wear an extra sweater" said Cha Young,
She felt the decision was thrown away.
Vincenzo smiled widely and nodded.
"I will prepare everything."
.
.
.
They sat across from each other without a word. Vincenzo sipped his tea slowly, so did Cha Young.
Neither of them spoke, too afraid to break the silence and each of them wrestled with their own thoughts.
It was only after a moment (which seemed forever) that Vincenzo decided to break the silence.
"Are you okay?" he asked
Cha Young breathed
"I don't know" she replied
Vincenzo looked at her deeply
"You don't trust me, don't you?" Vincenzo said
Cha Young lowered her head in discomfort. But she felt something inside her compelled to speak.
"It's okay, I understand" he added
“No! I don't think you understand. I don't know about myself anymore. Everything that I know, I don't really know and everything that I don't know, was so vast. the more I know, the more puzzled. I heard various versions of what you call the truth. And none of those told have the same version. Everything is contradictory, truth and lies all overlap. I trust Jang Han Seok even though most of it is a lie but there is truth there. I try to trust you, but is this the real truth? What if I'm wrong again. I don't want to get hurt again” For the first time she spoke in longer sentences
" You're right I don't know what you've been through and how you feel about it. But Cha Young, you know that I am the Mafia. In my world truth and lies are food that I have to sort out myself. Betrayal? Wounded? I have tasted it, I really understand what you feel. You may be confused, but you will learn one thing from it. However perfect a lie is, it is still a lie, and the truth even if it is covered up is still the truth. Time will answer everything"
And his words grown into Cha Young without her realizing it.
“If you're not sure whether this one is right or wrong you should ask. You need to get it out of your head. Don't think that you are alone so you can decide for yourself which one you think is right or wrong, true or false. Do it whenever you feel there is a dissimilarity between one and the other .” Vincenzo sipping his tea
Cha Young opened her mouth hesitantly
"I have a lot of questions, I don't know where to start" she said
“We have plenty of time, take it easy” Vincenzo smiled
"I am a lawyer, so is my father and he has a law firm called Jipuragi in the Geumga Plaza area, I think this is true" she said.
Vincenzo nodded his head
" And you also a lawyer, came from italy. aims to take over the building Geumga Plaza, you ask all citizens in Geumga Plaza to move from there. True or false?" Ask again
Vincenzo was silent for a moment
"That's true" he replied
“And my father tried to defend the building, and died doing so. True or False? "
"That's true" he replied
"Are you who killed him?" Cha Young whispered, she held her breath
“No… ” he replied calmly
"But i was with him when the night he was killed. I met you before I met him. We were drinking somewhere when a truck suddenly overturned and hit us both. They say the driver was drunk but you & I know best that all this is the work of Babel Group. I just woke up 10 days later and your dad is dead. You took care of me while I was unconscious.” He continued
She closed her eyes taking in every word, and suddenly she could see flashes of memories of rainy nights, transparent umbrellas and crowds of people. She furrowed her brow and opened her eyes. It seemed that her memories were connected to the story told by her.
"Babel group and Jang Han Seok what's the story ? How we can jam into all of this? " she asked again
“In short, Babel Group is one of the Korean companies engaged in the pharmaceutical sector. Many workers there died because there were certain drug trials that were not according to procedures. The working families there want to demand justice and the only law firm that dares to oppose Bable is your father's Jipuragi. And so it goes, as you know. Jang Han Seok himself is the owner, he has been pretending to be an intern and working under you while you are in Wusang and using the name Jun Woo, he controls his younger brother Jang Han Seo to appear in public, while he works behind the scenes. When you moved to Jipuragi after your father died and we started working together, we slowly discovered his true identity. Your relationship with him becomes tenuous of course, you feel betrayed. And we start attacking each other with Babel Group to become a winner." he said
“Last incident was the greatest, he kidnapped you to lure me. The wound on your shoulder is the one you got for protecting me from Jang Han Seok's shot, even though I got shot too. He took you to Forks. I don't know what happened after that, it took me a while to find you there. I couldn't save you then, I'm sorry” Vincenzo looked at her, she could feel his guilty look.
She took another sip of her tea, a hint of calm suddenly welling up in her heart. She felt this was the right time to tell him.
“ I also don't know what happened so I could lose my memory. I just remember waking up in the hospital and seeing Jang Han Seok taking care of me there. He's so nice, I don't think he's a bad person. I let him take care of me, although sometimes I always feel that something is wrong, I always ignore it, thinking that it's all just because of my memory loss. He keeps saying that he loves me, everything he does seems to show how much he loves me, I almost believed him and…” she stopped, she could no longer continue her sentence.
“It's not your fault, he's just so good at manipulating, that's his speciality. And you're in a very vulnerable position so of course it's all very easy for him. He had planned all of this well. But if anyone is to blame, it's all my fault, I wasn't good enough to take care of you, I dragged you into all this trouble and caused you endless misfortune, I'm sorry.” Vincenzo takes his eyes off Cha Young he no longer dares to look at her
Cha Young shook her head
"I don't think it's your fault. I may lose my memory, but I know everything I do is never due to someone's orders or coercion because I hate both of them. I thought that all of this was probably something I was prepared to risk. But due to memory loss, I became dazed and lost my way, shocked by all of this.”
Vincent is looking at her
“You must be blaming yourself all this time, don't you? I can see it. Of all the people I have met, your eyes are the most full of regret and guilt. Don't be, don't feel that way. I thank you and very grateful for you” said Cha Young
She could see his eyes were tearing up. Vincenzo didn't answer
Cha Young stretched out her hand and shakily tried to touch Vincenzo's hand, she fought back her fear.
She looked at him deeply
“ Vincenzo Cassano I can trust you. True or false?” Cha Young whispered
And suddenly Vincenzo's roof softened
"Trust your heart, and you can never go wrong" he squeezed Cha Young's hand gently, strengthening it.
“I trust you” Cha Young smiled
She could see Vincenzo across from her smiling, suddenly something inside of her felt warm and even the room seemed brighter than before.
For the first time since losing her memory, her heart feels full
Epilogue
It was very late at night when they finished the third bottle of makgeolli. They are now celebrating the completion of the first case that Cha Young handled after losing her memory.
After all Cha Young is one of the best lawyers, even losing her memory can't get rid of her.
It's been 2 years and now Cha Young is slowly getting better, much better than he could have hoped for. She has started to socialize again, is getting comfortable with the presence of crowds, and her trauma is slowly diminishing though not fully healed .
Not only that, now she can live alone in her home without Vincenzo and feel comfortable because of it.
The best part is that she's remembered a lot of things she'd forgotten, though not all of them and is still asking questions about true and false.
"I'm a great lawyer, true or false?" Cha Young asked playfully
"Hmmm.... Let me remember... the question is a bit difficult" Vincenzo frowned as if in deep thought
" Aisshhh! You suck." instead of annoyed, Cha Young actually looks happy, her face looked much more lively than the previous
He just laughed softly
"It's getting late now, go to sleep. We will review the new case tomorrow ” Vincenzo kept their empty glass
"Now? What's the time now? Ahhh, it's 2 in the morning. You're right, it's too late. Stay here, you can use your previous room.”
Vincenzo nodded, and he saw Cha Young stood up from her seat and was a little unsteady .
"Good night" she continued
"Good night" he replied
Cha Young stepped into her room, as well as Vincenzo entered another room. They ended their night drinking.
.
He was almost asleep when Cha Young suddenly entered his room without knocking on the door. vincenzo woke up and immediately sat up so surprised.
"Did you have another bad dream?" he questioned her
Cha Young just shook her head and even though she was afraid and a little hesitant she climbed the bed, and Vincenzo shifted his body, making space for Cha Young to lie there.
"What the..." Vincenzo sounded confused. Cha Young has never been like this, is she drunk?
“Shhhh....” Cha Young closed her eyes and slipped into his arms
Vincenzo no longer asked and let her, he adjusted his position so that Cha Young felt more comfortable. Makes his arms a pillow for Cha Young and rubs her shoulders slowly.
They were just silent, enjoying the moment.
"You love me, true or false?" Cha Young's whispers break the silence
Vincenzo stopped rubs, he smiled. There was a pause before he answered
"True" he answered without hesitation
Cha Young tightened her embrace, so did Vincenzo.
“Hong Cha Young...” Vincenzo whispered
"Hmmm?" Cha Young mumbles
"Marry me."
And when Cha Young nods in his arms (slightly sobs and can't speak) he knows his happiness is complete, after everything they've been through now it's time to be a little happy, everything will be fine. All is well...
END