Chapter 184 - EXOTIC (XVI): Words Left Unsaid

"Because…" he started. "Because I'm in love with you, Jung Mirae. And no matter how long it takes, I will fight for you. Until the very end."

Or so he wanted to say. The words played in his head but he could not utter them. The words were aching to break through his lips but he held them back. He could not muster the courage to tell them to her.

"Well?" Mirae's voice brought him back to reality. "Why did you change your mind?"

KJ took a deep breath and looked at her. "You're Ms. Sohee's daughter," he said. "I couldn't protect her but I can at least help you. For her sake."

Mirae seemed to have accepted his answer because she nodded in understanding. 

"Alright," she finally said. "See you tomorrow."

KJ nodded back and exited the room. Mirae sat back in silence, pondering their next move. She took out a small notebook and began to scribble. After a while she began to study the notes she had taken.

No matter how she saw it, the whole matter with the Cartel started with the deaths of KJ's parents. Before that, the Cartel had no specific enmity with the Kwon family save for minor rivalry. But were those enough to create an all out war which stretched on for years?

"What if…?" Mirae wondered. "What if we were thinking wrong?"

An idea quickly hit her. She had drawn a line between the President of the Cartel and Grandpa Kwon. She quickly scribbled out the line between them and instead drew a connection with the President and KJ's parents. 

"What if the enmity was not with the Kwon family but with Kwon Sungmin and Song Sia?" she deduced. She had not thought of it like that. So far, she was linking the Cartel with Grandpa Kwon based on the old man's claims. 

But what if the old man was mistaken or was hiding something? Mirae suspected the latter because if the Cartel was linked to KJ's parents, then the old man would definitely know about it. After all, he kept an eye on his son and daughter-in-law for ages. If they were involved with the Cartel, he would know. Coupled with the fact that his computer containing all the information on their killers was burned down only fortified her suspicions. 

Furthermore, they have the box which they retrieved at Busan. The box holds an important clue regarding the identity of the Cartel's President. Why would the box be in Busan al this time? Why didn't Goo Soo Bin hand it over to the Kwon family? 

There were too  many questions and everything pointed back at the box and KJ's parents deaths. She quickly picked up her phone and dialed a number. 

"Hello," came Hyun Jung's voice.

"Hyun Jung, I'm sorry to call you this late," Mirae apologized. "But I need you to do something for me. I need information on KJ's mother, Song Sia."

"KJ's mother?" Hyun Jung frowned. 

"She was from Busan, right?" Mirase pointed out. "Can you get in touch with the police there and ask them to give me all the information they can on her? Her background, her parents, what she did there. Anything they can collect? It's urgent. And please keep this a secret from KJ. I don't want to tell him of my suspicions until I have all the proof."

There was a long silence on the other end. "Alright, CEO," Hyun Jung agreed. "I'll give you the file. I'll need a few days."

"Thank you," Mirae said gratefully before hanging up.

She put down her phone and clenched her fists. "I will find you," she vowed. "No matter what."

….

"You're an idiot," Jade said. "You should've just told her about your feelings!"

"It was not the right time," KJ stated. 

"Who cares?" Jade snapped. "At this rate, I'll be stuck in this cat's body forever!"

They were at KJ's apartment. KJ was packing his bags and other essentials in boxes.

"You've lived so far haven't you?" KJ asked as he separated his socks and tied them into paired bundles before putting them into a suitcase. He had Riggs arrange to pack up Mirae's things since she was not there. The movers had already taken her stuff to the location KJ gave them.

"Where will we move to anyway?" Jade asked. 

"You'll see," KJ replied. He was being very secretive about their new home. Jade purred.

"The only place I can think of is that apartment you once shared with her," the cat said.

KJ did not reply but silently kept on packing his stuff. He had hoped that while packing, he would run into the box they brought back from Busan. But to his disappointment, the box was still nowhere to be found. He did not tell Mirae about the fact that it was missing. It completely slipped his mind.

Jade, on the other hand, was thinking about how to tell KJ that Mirae knows that he can talk. He had not come face to face with her since that day at the club, but by the looks of it, he assumed that Mirae still did not say anything about it. Either she forgot about it or she was hiding the fact from KJ for now. He dreaded meeting her. What would he tell her?

"What are you thinking about?" KJ frowned.

"Nothing," Jade said quickly. "Just wondering we might be going."

"You'll know," KJ repeated. 

"It's so strange," Jade commented. "You're getting married to Mirae again. It's like fate wants you two to be together or something."

KJ stopped packing his clothes midway. He just remembered something.

"You know…" he said slowly. "I've been wondering this for a while. That girl, the one who sent you to me that night. Who was she?"

"You mean Cherry?" Jade asked. "Well…"

He had not been in touch with Cherry for years. The last time he saw her was almost ten years ago after KJ changed the timelines. She had met up with him to explain the two abilities she had gifted him and about the astral plane which KJ was stuck in while he was in a coma.

"It's hard to say exactly what she is," Jade frowned. "All I can say is that she is on some kind of mission. She did not specify what it is. All she said was that your and Mirae's fates were connected. It was her job to redirect you two to your fates and her work was done. So you won't see her for a while."

KJ sat down on the bed, thinking hard. "If we could only find her," he said. 

"You won't find her," Jade said. "She finds you. If she wants that is."

"Was she even human?" KJ wondered. There was a time when he did not believe in the supernatural beings but after seeing how he changed time and his experience with his past life, he began to think that maybe the world is not what it seems. There are things which are unexplainable and this strange fate he had was one of them.

"If only she finds us again," KJ sighed. "I want to ask her many things."

"For now, just tell me where are we moving to!" Jade exclaimed, feeling annoyed. KJ ignored him and continued to pack.

….

Hyun Jung was typing away on his computer. He was at the precinct, working on the pending cases. He had put forth a request with one of his acquaintances at Busan police and he hoped that he would get the file on Song Sia soon. 

"Sunbae…" Eli approached him.

"Yes Eli?" He raised his eyebrows. He was angry at her for her reckless behavior. 

Eli, on her part, was also a little guilty after hearing the details from Dasom. She was rash and impulsive on coming to conclusions.

"Sunbae," she began. "I want to apologize for that day. I was too impulsive. I wanted to help but…"

Her voice trailed off as she felt guilty. 

"It's alright," Hyun Jung sighed. "You were only following your instincts as a detective."

"But Sunbae," Eli said. "I want to help you."

Hyun Jung frowned at her. "Eli, you don't know what you're getting into," he said. "The Cartel is dangerous and secretive. We have been chasing them for years and-"

"Maybe that's why you may need more people to track them down," she said quickly. After witnessing the standoff between KJ and that mysterious youth, she was itching to find the big guns at the Cartel. "I want to help too. Please just let me in. I'll keep it all a secret. You know me well, Sunbae. I take my work very seriously."

She was determined to rectify herself. Seeing her determination, Hyun Jung had to give in to her request.

"I'll talk to the CEO," Hyun Jung promised her. "But if she says no, then I can't do anything."

"Alright, Sunbae," Eli nodded. I'll do my best, she swore inwardly.