Girl In The Winter's

Chapter 50

Two years later.

The luxurious house looked deserted, all of its inhabitants were afflicted with deep sorrow, they were still wearing all black clothes as a sign of mourning because after all they had just lost their father and grandfather whom they had respected a lot.

Erik for the first time after two years back home to Korea, during this time he returned to Vancouver and traveled around the world to do an exhibition of his paintings. He has now returned to being a loner who prefers to spend his time in the apartment and painting. But often he spends his time in Stanley Park, a place that has a million memories for him, almost every morning he would go hiking and enjoy the sunrise while sitting on a giant rock at the top of the hiking area, or he'll go enjoy the sunset at Vancouver Look Out.

He knew that it would only remind him of someone but let all those memories be his most precious treasure. Erik took a deep breath, his eyes staring at the clear sky of Seoul city above the second-floor balcony of his orphanage, just a few kilos away, yes just a few kilos of distance that separated him from the girl, she said, the girl he loved so much but was also forbidden to him.

“What are you thinking, son?”

Erik turned around and saw his father walking towards him.

“Nothing,” the answer is short.

Kim Minhyuk is now sitting on a balcony chair where Erik is still silent enjoying the view of the light blue sky with white cloud.

“Are you still not able to forget it?”

his tan broke the silence that made Erik turn his attention momentarily to his father.

“Do you see I've forgotten it?” Erik asked back that made Kim Minhyuk pay attention to him for a while and he already knew the answer, which made Kim Minhyuk notice, during these two years he had seen how his eldest son went through the day like an undead who had no passion and it made him again overwhelmed with feelings of guilt.

“Nak, can I ask you something?”

Erik just shrugged his shoulders in response.

“If you could choose between your family and the girl, who would you choose?”

Erik seemed confused by his father's question, he raised his eyebrows not understanding why his father asked such a question.

“What do you mean?” Erik asked seriously.

“If she wasn't your sister, but we didn't approve of your relationship, would you be determined to marry her and leave us?”

Erik went back into silence before he finally took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to the sky, “If it were reality then I wouldn't have thought twice about taking him running, either, but my problem is not that simple,” said Erik weakly which made Kim Minhyuk feel the suffering his son was going through.

Kim Minhyuk took a heavy breath before he said that breaking the silence, “Do you want to hear my story?” Erik glanced at his father for a moment then nodded in response.

“Your mother and I were in a relationship with no feelings of love between us, we were betrothed. Your mother is a beautiful woman and many men like her one of them is your Grandpa's assistant, Yoon Shin, a good man but he knows that his feelings are impossible given the status that sets them apart. I know his feelings because as a man of course I know how a man looks at the woman he loves, but your mother was then too in love with me or that's what I thought.” Kim Minhyuk was silent for a while as he took a deep breath before continuing his story.

“Until one day your mother disappeared without news no one knew of her whereabouts, at that time I was continuing my studies in Japan. I loved her very much and intended to marry her, but everything fell apart when three years later I returned to Korea to tell my parents that I was going to marry Minami. At that time I saw your mother inside my parents' house along with a two-year-old boy.”

Erik widened his eyes, he could guess who the boy was and his guess was correct when he saw his father nod while looking at him gently.

“Yes, that kid is you, son... My father assured me that you were my son and he threatened me to marry your mother and register you as my son.”

Erik was silent at Kim Minhyuk's words, his heart stopped beating for a while, his logic began to run and began to formulate various possibilities about what really happened that made him look at his father wildly. Kim Minhyuk who realized his son's reaction could only smile wryly and continued his story.

“You were the most beautiful gift God sent me back then, I may have a little trouble accepting your mother back but you stole my heart. Even though I found out the truth when you were seven. I overheard your mother and my father talking about why your mother left me first. When I was studying in Japan, it turned out that your mother started falling in love with Yoon Shin, they secretly started a relationship behind everyone's back, until one day Yoon Shin goes with your Grandfather and gets into an accident, Yoon Shin who is trying to save your Grandfather must lose his life on that day Kim Minhyuk took a deep breath before continuing his story.

“Your grandfather didn't know about the relationship between your mother and her assistant who sacrificed their lives to save him, until finally your mother came in a state of distress because at the time of Yoon Shin's death she just found out that she was pregnant with her child.”

This time Erik's body trembled violently, his face deathly pale, his heart beating violently realizing one of the possibilities he had imagined to be true, his eyes staring at his father demanding further explanation, that made Kim Minhyuk look at her gently but there were sad eyes.

“Your mother didn't tell anyone about her pregnancy other than my father. Your mother would abort her womb, but my father forbade her and promised to help her because she owed her life to the father of the baby in the womb, and that's why she sent your mother out of the country, financed all her needs until you were two, she did it without anyone knowing it including your mother's family, because she knew that if your mother's family found out that her daughter was carrying a baby from a man who was just a regular worker, they would abort her. When you were two years old your grandfather found out about my relationship with a Japanese woman and that's when your grandfather planned everything, he brought you home to Korea and said that if you were my son just to prevent my marriage to Minami, he even without my knowledge had registered our marriage and registered you as my son.”

Erik was completely speechless hearing the reality that had just been conveyed by the man he had thought was his own father, his mind was empty, he said, his body felt boneless even to sit upright, his life seemed to float and he hoped that this was just a dream.

“So you're not my father?” Erik asked very slowly and was full of injuries.

“I am not your real father, but whenever you are my beloved son. Son, I'm sorry for telling you this now, your grandfather actually asked me to keep this secret to death as he did, but I can't keep looking at you all this time like an undead because of a girl you think is your own sister, I can't see you suffering any longer. I repeatedly asked your Grandpa to tell you this truth but he was too scared, afraid that you would leave us all, that you need to remember we all love you and we are your family, therefore your grandfather carried this secret until the end of his life because you were his favorite grandson. But I love you too much and want you to be happy, so I ventured to tell you all this.”

Erik could not think clearly, he just silently stared at the dream-like story and Kim Minhyuk could understand it was not an easy thing that everyone could accept. He gently patted the shoulder of his son who was directly looking at him with a blank look.

“Son, now that all decisions are in your hands, achieve your own happiness, pursue true love. I'll support whatever your decision is, isn't that what the family does? To support each other.”

Kim Minhyuk's words made Erik a little aware of the new reality which means that now he can freely love the woman he loves, but for now he still cannot think how he can be happy after just knowing that he is not the son of someone he has known as his father, his own father was gone even when he was not born. Not for now did he still have to think clearly in response to what was happening in his life, so he decided that this was not the right time to meet the girl until her heart was back in one piece, he promises that one day he will stand before the girl and start over, burying their dark past and beginning with a new, more beautiful page.

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