Long Love Stories: "What loveLove Worth You Did For" *Part 16 - 18*

********** PART 16 **********
[Seoul, Korea]
July 26, 1997
Ji Won traced the ‘M’scar on his back. ‘Damn,’ he thought. ‘I miss Mina so much.’ He sent out one of his men to retrieve news about her and if they could, get her here to him in Korea. Ji Won had it all. Money and power. The only thing that was missing was Mina. So much had happened to Ji Won as he remembered back.

Ji Won and Sung Hoon made it to Seoul, Korea. With Ji Won’s leadership skills and Sung Hoon’s smooth talking, they end up getting a lot of businesses and putting others of out business.

Money was not enough for Ji Won. He needed power so he created Sechs Kies, where he was the leader and Sung Hoon was his 2nd-in command. He and Sung Hoon managed to eliminate the group Quiksilver on their own and gained the respect and loyalty of the two members Kim Jae Duc and Lee Jae Jin. Along the way, they found Ko Ji Yong and Jang Su Won wandering the streets. Ji Yong proved to be a genius and Su Won was handy in finding information.

Ji Won knew they were enough. They had hundreds of men under them but Sechskies were the main leaders with Ji Won as the head. They committed a lot of crimes but no evidence was ever found to convict them.

Just then there was a knock on his door, interrupting his thoughts.
“Come in,” said Ji Won.

Jang Su Won came in. “I have news for you, boss,” he said.
“Well what is it? What did you find out about Mina?” Ji Won asked.
Sun Won looked down and hesitated to reply. “I’m afraid it’s bad news.”

Those words made Ji Won panic. “Jang Su Won, you answer me now!” yelled Ji Won with rage.
Ji Won’s yell scared Su Won so he blurted it out. “Mina Nam is dead. She drowned while she was swimming in the ocean. Her body has not been found and is still missing.”

Ji Won fell back in his seat in shock. ‘Mina’s dead? No, anyone but Mina,’ he thought. Su Won knew it was a good time to leave so he left Ji Won in his office. “Mina!” Ji Won screamed out of his window in pain. His cries echoedthroughout the city of Seoul.

********** PART 17 **********
I finally made it to Chejudo, Korea. I didn’t know where to look for Ji Won so anywhere was fine. I was never a lucky person. I couldn’t find any signs of Ji Won there so I traveled to Inchun City. My search for Ji Won continued for another year. During that time I had traveled to many cities like Guam, Pusan, etc. It must have been a gift from God because one day my search was over…

November 21, 1998

I had just finish my overtime shift at the Nam Hotel. It was pretty ironic because my whole family spent their lives working for hotels and here is the biggest one in all of Seoul with our family name. I went into the worker’s lounge to take a break and pour myself some tea. I sat down and read the headlines.

‘Sechskies are to open a conference broadcasting live on Channel 6 today’
I rolled my eyes. Not them again. They were the notorious mafia lead by Matthew Eun. I shuddered. I can’t believe the leader has the same last name as my beloved Ji Won.

Actually 6kies was composed of 6 leaders. They committed a lot of crimes and were always challenging the authorities. They had a lot of power and no one could take their pictures without their consent but a lot of people know what they look like. I didn’t care. I was too busy looking for Ji Won to notice them.

A worker with me named So Kyung Hee came in. “Hey,” she said, patting me lightly on the knee. “On break?” I took a sip and nodded. “Me too,” she said smiling. I smiled back at her. Kyung Hee was actually one of the nicest people at the hotel. Most of them were cold and just worried about how much tips they can get.

Kyung Hee picked up the TV remote and turned to Channel 6. “Hey Mina, there’s supposed to be showing 6kies today. Wonder what they look like.” I nodded and watched with her. When the clock struck 9, I felt my heart had stopped and it was not from my heart failure either. I stared at the face that was giving a *bleep*y smile to the camera. Ji Won. Slowly the camera pulled out revealing the other 5 members.

I recognized Sung Hoon. He and Ji Won looked completely different but I still recognized them. Ji Won had his hair dyed completely blonde while Sung Hoon’s was streaked. Kyung Hee and I watched them in silence as they began to talk. Ji Won and the others introduced themselves. Then the camera showed directly at Ji Won.

To most people he would look like an evil gang leader but in my eyes he was a beautiful angel. If it was ever possible, Ji Won was even finer than before.
“Mina, are you okay?” asked Kyung Hee, as she waved a hand in front of my face.
“Huh?” I asked looking at her. “Oh, I’m fine. Just listening to what they have to say.”
I pointed to Ji Won on the screen. “Who is he?”
“That’s Matthew Eun,” she answered me.

I stared at Ji Won some more. He had change his name and so did Sung Hoon. No wonder I couldn’t find them.
Kyung Hee caught me staring so she smiled at me. “The leader is cute huh?”
I blushed. “Yeah.”

“Too bad in real life he’s such a jerk.”
“He is not!” I yelled at her.
Kyung Hee scooted her seat back in shock. I apologized right away. “Sorry Kyung Hee, I didn’t mean to yell at you.” She had a confused look on her face but she said, “Uh, it’s okay Mina.” I pulled a finger to my lips. “Shh…let’s listen to what they have to say…”

Ji Won began talking. “This is Sechkies speaking to all you losers out there watching us. We just want to say that we’re open to hire new ‘employees’. We usually travel around to our many hotels but you’ll find us if you have the right connections. Also a word to the police of Korea. Why are you picking on us?, “ Ji Won asked sarcastically. “We’re good, law-abiding citizens.” Ji Won folded his hands together and gave a little bow. Then all of the Sechskies leaders started laughing.

“Oh my gosh! Look at him!” yelled Kyung Hee and pointed to Sung Hoon on the T.V. screen. “Look at that stupid smile and that perverted laugh. Kekeke…” Kyung Hee made a poor impression of Sung Hoon’s laugh and it made me laugh. Geez, I thought. Sung Hoon would kill her if he knew she made fun of his trademark smile.

The show ended a little too soon for me but Ji Won did say he was visiting many hotels and mine is the biggest one. He has to come here. I went back to work and waited for him to come.

********** PART 18 **********
Ji Won entered the main doors of the Nam Hotel and headed towards the lobby. He let out a sigh. Being in a hotel brought back to him a lot of memories. He remembered how he would take Mina to the hotels to trash it or slide down the long stairway banisters. But those carefree days are over. His only love had died and he no longer has the heart to love anyone else.

Ever since the news of Mina’s death, Ji Won began to develop a passion for anything he thinks is related to her. Things like her hairbrush, the same type of lipgloss she uses, her little respirator, etc. There are times when he had to give her mouth to mouth if the respirator wasn’t around. Ji Won smiled remembering that she had told him that he was her first kiss. Mina never went out with any guys so it made him really happy but he also found it very strange. He didn’t want to give her any ideas about dating other guys so he never asked.

Ji Won had changed his name to Matthew. It’s to symbolize that Ji Won died with Mina and Matthew replaced him. He chose the name Matthew because of Mina’s initial ‘M’ and if anyone asks, the ‘M’ stands for Matthew.

Sung Hoon wanted to changed his name to Ricky but Ji Won wouldn’t let him. Ji Won only allowed him to change it if it had the letter ‘M’ so Sung Hoon ended up changing it to Mickey instead.

“Hey hyung! Over here!” shouted Sung Hoon.
JiWon looked over at his five friends. He walked over to them and was surprised at what he saw. “What the hell is this?” he asked angrily. Every single one of them had a girl in each arm. “What do you guys think you’re doing?” he asked as he strode over to them.
“Come on hyung,” said Jae Duc. “Lighten up.”

“Yeah,” said Jae Jin. “We worked hard all day and now let’s have a little fun.”
Ji Won rolled his eyes and then he saw two girls wrap their arms around him. He smiled. “Yeah, I guess.” “Alright!” they all shouted. They like it when Ji Won is in a good mood.

From where I was standing, I felt as though someone had stabbed me with a knife. Ji Won looked so happy with those 2 girls sitting on both sides of his lap. I stared at my reflection in the hotel mirror. Big, glassy eyes, pale skin, and waist-length black hair. I looked kind of like a ghost. Not much to look at, I thought sighing sadly. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder and I slowly turned around.