Chapter 27: My God, had his feelings for me rekindled to this extent?

Chapter 27 - My God, had his feelings for me rekindled to this extent? Ah, that's why Ki-hoon changed from being a sweet and caring character to a cold and cruel overload. It's not like I didn't already know but it felt so different hearing it straight from his mouth. Like a confession, of some sort. A sincere confession. "I... I don't understand." I said, acting as someone who knew nothing would. "I don't know why you hate me so much or what happened between us, but if you hated me so much, then why..." I looked at my hand in his grip. "Why are you treating me nicely now? Why did you buy me delicious food on the first day we met? And why did you... Why are you taking care of me?" Yes, these were the kind of questions someone who was genuinely confused would ask. And honestly, I wanted to know as well. I wanted to hear it from him. What was the reason why he had turned nice all of a sudden? Was it because he found the truth, or did he just pity my state? "I asked myself the same question over and over again. With each passing day, the anger in my heart burned hotter than ever, and I had begun to forget my resolve to forgive you even if your excuse was plausible but... I forgot it all with the snap of a finger as soon as I heard your reason." He brushed his hair back, shoving his gloved hand through his hair as he scoffed heavily at his own pathetic reality. He looked hot though. Wait, focus. "At first, it felt like my feelings were far stronger than my resolve to hate you that was why I forgot about my anger as soon as I heard your reason. I was ready to listen to you, after all. But... it wasn't because of my feelings. It was because of the truth. And after hearing what the truth was, I got lost." The reason Ki-hoon had worked so hard and strived to get the position as head of the family, even with all the opposition and competition was because of his burning resolve to expand his influence. That way, he would be able to find Jo-Pil one day. He would make Jo-Pil kneel in front of him and he would glare with hatred in his eyes and burning in his heart. And then he would ask, "Did it feel great running away from me all these years? Just look at how low you have fallen. It would've been better if you simply stayed by my side." Those were the words he prepared to say to Jo-Pil, and he said something along that line when he met Jo-Pil to pick him up. But he never got to say those words to me because I had interrupted by calling him a name only a select few were aware of. Thank goodness, right? But I didn't understand something. Why was Ki-hoon telling me all this now? I remember these lines were said after about half the volume of the novel. Hmm, it must be as a result of me pushing the confession and investigation forward. "I was so lost that I didn't know what I had been doing all these years. My purpose for finding you, which was to make you suffer like I did, was suddenly overwritten by the truth. And as a result, I came to understand one thing." "What... What is it?" "I should've paid more attention to what you were going through and dug for the truth, instead of believing what others had to say. As a result of listening to someone else and believing fake evidence, I lost you for more than five years and that is my biggest regret." His words brought about a certain enlightenment to me. Since Ki-hoon had come to understand that Jo-Pil did not separate himself from him of his own will, he never cheated and he had lost his memories, living in hiding and suffering all his life... All that hatred had melted, leaving regret and pity. Thus, warranting the soft gaze he was using to look at me. A gaze that lingered with soft and pure emotions. A gaze that spoke louder than words. 'My God, has his feelings for me been rekindled to this extent?' I wondered as I watched his gaze on me and how he had kissed my hand. This development was alarmingly fast and it got me worried. Would he suddenly change in the future? Would he suddenly find a reason to hate me? The way his feelings were back all of a sudden made me worried to the point that I began to cry again. Why was I crying? Gosh, even I didn't know but the tears wouldn't stop falling. Something in me was touched by the situation so much that a dam had opened in my heart. Was I ever a romantic? No, I wasn't. I had spent my entire life alone, faced my studies, buried myself in books that interested me, and then went off to find a job as soon as I graduated. Did I have friends? Well, I had school friends who were also bookworms like me, but we never communicated with each other after school. I had work friends, too, but... Gosh, I had such a pitiful life. "Jo-Pil," Ki-hoon asked as he watched me cry, "Master," I called and sniffed, opening my eyes to look at him, but my sight was blurry, thanks to the tears. "I don't... I don't know why but the tears won't stop falling. I just... I'm not doing this on purpose, master." Right, the tears seemed to have a mind of their own. My feelings were swirling and I was sure that these feelings didn't belong to my current self. So, it was probably the dormant feelings of the original Jo-Pil that strangely became active after Ki-hoon's confession. No matter what, I was still a visitor or rather, a stranger in this body. Ki-hoon stared at me in surprise. He looked dazed for a moment but then, I swear I saw a smile play on his lips. "What's this? You're not a kid." He said with a gentle voice as he reached his gloved hand towards me and wiped my tears with his thumb, but I just couldn't believe it. It all felt too surreal. What if this was a dream? What if none of this was real? What if Ki-hoon had not changed and he was just doing this to test me? It was too much to believe. Throughout most of the novel, Ki-hoon was cold, and emotionless when dealing with anything related to Jo-Pil, even though he cared so much that he would end up drinking himself to a stupor whenever Jo-Pil tried to run away from him. He grew soft for Jo-Pil from time to time but Jo-Pil never let himself get carried away by the soft touch of the men who were controlling his life. So, knowing this, can I still believe that Ki-hoon had turned a new leaf entirely? I guess I'll have to watch the situation for now. If it looks like he's going to change back to his mean and brute-like self then I would have to change my approach to him as well. I would walk on eggshells. I would make sure to listen carefully and do whatever he wanted me to do. So, until then, can I at least feel like a human again when he was around? "Jo-Pil," he called and I sniffed. "Yes, master?" "Did you remember anything?"