His Truth
His Truth
"Kanji…" she tried to speak but Junho shushed her.
"He'll be bailed soon," he assured her. "Just rest, alright?"
He grasped her palm to comfort her. Mina wanted to ask something else but her insides were aching. The blood was still being transfused into her to detoxify her from the poison.
"Haejong is safe too," Minho replied, answering her unspoken question. "He's...he's in the post-op. Jina is fine too. She's with the ghosts."
Mina seemed relieved. The man had saved her and she would have been really sad if something had happened to him. She clasped her father's hand, silently begging him to stay. Gayoon sat next to Junho, patting Mina's head.
"Get well soon, okay?" she mumbled. Mina was feeling sleepy again.
"Dad...stay…" she slowly pleaded.
"I'll be right here!" Junho told her.
"We'll go and get some snacks," Minho said. He motioned to Gayoon and she got up to follow him out. Junho sat there, watching over his daughter. She looked so tiny in that state that he was afraid she would become even weaker. Falling in love had truly sapped the life out of her and he wished that he could give Kanji a good kick in the ass for hurting her. Even though he understood the lad's reluctance to endanger Mina, Junho was furious that someone would make his daughter cry like that!
"Jason better be ready to save his son from me!" he growled in a low tone. Unbeknownst to him, a shadow passed by the ward.
Meanwhile, Jina was still holding Casper's hand. He was unusually still but grateful that she was with him because he did not want to be alone at that time.
"Casper, he'll be fine," Yumi was saying. "He's got you protecting him! You'll see. Your grandson will recover in no time!"
The ghost did not reply but gave her a wary smile. His eyes did the talking, expressing how grateful he was to these two girls who had accepted him as a friend despite knowing about his past.
He was about to make a gesture at Jina when he saw a shadow behind Jina.
"What happened, Casper?" Jian frowned. He wordlessly pointed behind her. Jina turned around and to her surprise, it was Kanji.
"Uncle Kanji!" she exclaimed and stood on her feet to run towards him. Kanji stood there, smiling at her. Yumi frowned before her eyes widened but Jina did not notice.
"Casper…" she began to say but the mute ghost stopped her. He shook his head, prohibiting her from saying anything. He wanted to see what was going on.
"Uncle Kanji, have you visited Aunt Mina yet?" Jina asked crossly.
"I did," Kanji said. "I saw that she has regained consciousness. What about…"
He glanced at the post-op room where Haejong lay. He had overheard that Haejong had saved Mina and was innocent of her kidnapping charges. It was a surreal feeling because he felt grateful towards his rival.
A doctor came out of the post-op and called a nurse.
"The patient regained consciousness," he told her. "Inform the Hwang's."
The nurse nodded and rushed by. Yumi tugged at Casper.
"You go ahead and meet your grandson," she whispered. "Let's not tell her anything right now."
Casper was torn. He looked at Kanji and Jina then to the post-op room where Haejong was at. Casper turned to Yumi and secretly made a gesture at her.
"I understand," she nodded. She walked towards Jina and stooped down.
"Jina, Casper's grandson is now conscious," she whispered. "He needs your help to communicate with him."
"Right!" Jina exclaimed. The doctors wheeled Haejong out of the room and were shifting him to another ward. While he was being sped away, Kanji glanced at him.
"I'll go and check on Mina," he said solemnly.
"Alright, uncle Kanji!" she chirped. "Tell how you really feel about her! I'm sure she's gonna forgive you."
Kanji gave her a small smile before walking away. Yumi gazed at him, torn between what to do. Jina grabbed Casper's hand.
"Let's go," she said. Casper shot one last glance at Yumi before walking off with Jina. They entered the ward where Haejong was resting.
"Umm...Mr. Mafia?"
Haejong slowly opened his eyes to find the little girl from earlier standing there. Jina slowly walked towards him and sat on a chair next to the bed.
"How are you feeling now?" she asked.
"Awful," he muttered. His eyes glanced around.
"When you said that you can see my grandfather," he began. "Can you really see him? Is he here?"
Jina glanced at Casper. "He is," she nodded. "He's a really shy and quiet person."
"Doesn't sound like the cruel man I know," Haejong softly snorted. Casper stood there, feeling ashamed. He was not sure how to face his grandson anymore but it was inevitable. Slowly raising his hand, he touched Haejong's palm.
Haejong felt a cold sensation on his fingers but it was not uncomfortable. In fact, it felt quite soothing.
"He's touching your palm," Jina stated. "He's also crying."
A memory briefly flashed in Haejong's mind. It was brief but he knew that it was real. He saw the image of the old man, holding a pistol while standing over his parents' corpses, shedding a single drop of tear.
"That sounds like him," he muttered. He turned to Jina.
"Tell me what he wants to say," Haejong requested. "I want to hear from him."
….
Kanji stood outside Mina's room, silently watching her. She was holding her father's hand as she slept. Junho took care of her, cautious of her every movement while Kanji could only see her from afar.
Minho was walking towards her room, talking to someone on the phone. Gayoon was downstairs, handling some of Mina and Haejong's paperworks at the reception.
"What do you mean no one can find him?" he was asking. "Who bailed him out?"
He was so engrossed in his conversation, that he did not see Kanji standing in front of the room
"Well, find him!" he snapped. "He can't have gone far. I'm sure he's coming to the hospital. The roads are full of traffic today so maybe he's stuck there? Look around…"
He kept on talking on the phone, not noticing Kanji. As soon as he came closer, Minho walked straight through Kanji as if he was air. Minho shivered a little at the sudden cold wind which brushed him by but he did not pay much heed to it.
"Aren't you going to tell them?" Yumi asked from behind. Kanji had been ignoring the ghosts all this time, talking to Jina only. It seemed that she had not noticed his state yet. Maybe it was due to the fact his skin had gotten paler in jail so she could not distinguish the change in him. Or maybe it was because she was too focused on other things to truly notice him.
"Don't you think it's about time that you reveal the truth?" Yumi demanded.
"Not now," he gritted.
"But she'll know soon," Yumi insisted. "Jina will find out that...that you're dead!"