Taesan’s POV

I don’t get up from the floor, my hands stay pressed to the ground, and my tears drop to the wood under me and she doesn’t move.

"Help me, I’m going mad" I say without holding anything back, I don’t feel ashamed for weeping.

"I knew this was going to happen" the old woman says and I look up.

I can’t see through the tears, but she looks sad for me, and she reaches her hands out, urging me to get up.

I don’t want to fucking move.

"Come on, don’t be stubborn boy, you look tired, hurry" Seoha’s grandma says, she pulls me up, and I let her.

My body is aching from being stiff in the car for the past eight hours.

"Aigoo, look at you, have you eaten, huh? Did you even sleep?" she asks and I shake my head, I can’t stop hyperventilating.

My heart is squeezing in on itself, the sobs keep coming, and she rubs my back as she leads me in.

"Help me, please, grandmother, I feel like I’m losing my mind" I beg her, showing her how much I need help.

"I will help you, but first, go and wash all that blood off your body" she says firmly and I nod, unable to argue as she sends me into the bathroom.

The bathroom is old, but functional, I take my clothes off and wash off, still shaking from crying so hard.

The bath doesn’t ease my worry or stop the flowing tears, but it makes my alpha calmer, and the burning ache to kill has been satisfied.

I wrap the towel I find around my waist, and when I step out, I find a shirt and a pair of pants waiting for me.

They are old and small, but good enough, and I put them on, running my fingers through my hair to look presentable.

"Look at you, crying like a baby, hmm, come eat" she calls to me and I take my seat on the floor in front of her, still sniffling.

Our position reminds me of when I was a kid, I would be too scared to take the life of a pet, and grandfather would scold me.

My mother will make sure I eat instead of spending the night crying.

"Eat, it’s very healthy glass noodle, you like this don’t you?" she asks and I shake my head in disapproval.

I didn’t come here for dinner, I came to talk about winning Seoha back,

"If you don’t eat, we wont talk" she says warningly and I pick my chop stick to eat.

I know the food is delicious, but I don’t take note of the taste, or anything else, I just fucking eat with a blank mind.

She gets up and leaves me as I eat, and when I’m done, she returns with a mat.

"Drink a lot of water son" she says and I drink up, waiting for her but she starts to walk away again.

"Grandmother" I call and she looks at me with a raised brow.

"Sleep, Sannie" she says sharply.

"If you can’t take care of yourself, how can I trust you to take care of my boy?" she asks and I drop my head.

This...I have never heard this in my life before.

"Yes, I’ll sleep" I say and clear the table and take everything to the kitchen, slowly cleaning it the way I wish my life can be cleaned up.

The little act seems to bring control back to me, it’s strong enough to make me stop obsessing over Seoha, but it helps me not to think of killing again.

Once I’m done, I go to sleep on the mat, and the unexpected happened to me, like being in my mother’s arms...I fall asleep.

When I wake up, everywhere is bright, and I can hear singing coming from outside of the home.

The birds tweeting and roosters crowing gives me a moment to think.

"Fuck" I curse and sit up, realizing how long I slept, and how well I feel.

"No cursing in my home" Seoha’s grandmother calls and I get out of the house to sit next to her on the front porch.

She’s with that dog, the one that had all of Seoha’s attention the last time, the dog with the same name as my dead bird, kkumi.

"Did you sleep well?" she asks me, petting the dog’s head and I nod.

"Thank you for the meal, and the hospitality" I say with a bow of my head and she smiles.

"Now, tell me what happened" she says, and I can see it in her eyes that she has steeled herself for it.

"I hurt Seoha, p-physically and I accused him for something he didn’t do" I confess, dropping to my knees in front of the old woman.

"What was it?" she asks calmly and I bow even lower.

"My parents death...his parents caused it but I blamed him" I say with shame and she sighs.

"I always knew my daughter would cause a heartache some day" the old woman says tiredly.

"Sit down, I have a lot to say to you" she pats the space next to her, but I refuse to get up.

"My husband was a good man, a charmer like Seoha and also a man who was...soft" she starts. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"The mafia took notice of him and tried to make him join them, and he worked with them for some months, but the violence was not for him" she smiles fondly and I frown.

Mafia clans are good at picking people from the random and untraceable places to do dirty works, to avoid the government’s attention.

"My husband quit, the money stopped flowing, and my daughter...spoiled and greedy, called her father soft" she continues.

Soft...like Seoha.

"So she met a mafia lord and fell in love, she got pregnant by mistake, and when he walked out...she realized it was a mistake to go down the path her own father rejected"

The dog whines as the woman stops patting his head.

"But her child’s father was brilliant, he kept her on a leash. He used her because he knew she loved him even though didn’t want to give up on their son"

"My Minji was a horrible child, but she loved her son more than anything else"

Oh...Minji, that’s Seoha’s mother’s name.

"She learned music, bought a guitar and fed Seoha with it all by herself"

I drop my head at the mention of the guitar.

I’ve stolen it from Seoha, I have it hidden in my vault, far from all the vultures...but it’s also his only precious possession.

Fuck.

"You see, after a while that bastard, Shin Yechan came back and I knew something was wrong" she spit the name out violently.

"Seoha lived his life craving his father’s love, but when he came back, he didn’t accept him, my boy ran away from him with that Daeshin" she says and I squeeze my fist.

I need to kill him, even if I never get Seoha back, I have to take Daeshin out.

"It is decades of pain that I’m telling you in few words, but Taesan, I apologize on behalf of my daughter for stealing your loved ones" the grandma says and bows her head.

"I’m sorry too" I whisper, feeling more disappointed at myself.

Seoha is a victim too, just like I am, we are victims of being born to the wrong people.

"Will Seoha ever forgive me?" I ask the most important question and she smiles softly.

"My boy is soft but strong, you have to find out by yourself" she says and pats my head too.

I lean into her touch slightly.

"I’ll make breakfast, your phone is ringing" she says and I get up to find the phone inside with my clothes from yesterday.

"Hello" I answer the unknown call and a breathy voice says my name.

"Taesan..."

"Seoha?" I ask in shock.

"Taesan, come home, now" he whispers and my eyes widen.