Choi Cheonjoon packed his books and other writing materials into his backpack. He had just finished the weekly tutorials he always had with his friend, Sang Chun-Hei. It had been almost a month since Cheonjoon had agreed to be giving him tutorials on some of the subjects that he didn't understand in school. They had decided that the day's tutorial was going to last for four hours. However, Cheonjoon arrived late because he had to help out with some things at home. Hence, the tutorial had barely lasted over two hours before it was late into the night, they decided to call it a day with Cheonjoon agreeing to return the next day and continue the tutorials from where they had stopped.
As Cheonjoon continued packing his books, Chun-Hei, who had left the balcony some minutes earlier, came in and informed him that dinner had been served. Cheonjoon tried to protest that it was getting late and hence he had to return home immediately. Chun-Hei would have none of it; he insisted that he must stay for dinner. Cheonjoon sighed and agreed reluctantly. He knew Chun-Hei was not the one to say no to. Once he wanted something, he would do everything he could to ensure he got it.
Sang Chun-Hei was the grandson of Sang Myung-Ki. He was eighteen and an authoritative young lad with a commanding figure. His grandfather, Sang Myung-Ki was the Chief Executive Officer of Sang Corporations, one of the biggest production companies in South Korea. He was by a mile one of the wealthiest men in the country as well. He wielded a lot of power and influence but he was widely regarded as a humble man. A trait his only grandson, Chun-Hei didn't seem to inherit. He wasn't the best of pupils in school and recently, he had started to count on Cheonjoon to help him get through the difficult subjects in school. Chun-Hei had lost his father when he was barely a year old. His father was the only child of his grandfather. With his father late, his grandfather had taken him in against his mother's wishes and forced him to live with him until two years ago when he insisted he was going to live with his mother.
Cheonjoon was more than ready to help, he saw Chun-Hei as a very good friend. He was eighteen years old, just like him and they had known each other since they were sixteen. Cheonjoon was the son of Choi Taewoon, the owner of the biggest production company in South Korea, Taewoon Corporation. His father was unarguably one of the most wealthy and most powerful men in the country and due to the position of his company in the South Korean production industry; he wielded a lot of influence and was respected by many. Taewoon Corporation was a direct and main rival of Sang Myung-Ki's Sang Corporation. Although, over the past half a dozen years, Taewoon Corporation had been the production company to beat and Sang Corporation, much to Sang Myung-Ki's chagrin, has had to settle for second fiddle.
Despite the obvious difference between his parents and Chun-Hei's grandfather, Cheonjoon had never allowed the rivalry to get between his friendship with Chun-Hei. He was a popular figure at school due to his compassionate and friendly nature. All his peers and teachers at school liked him. He never looked down at anyone and saw everyone has his equal despite being the son of a rich and powerful man. Aside from being a brilliant pupil, he was also excellent at taekwondo and was a black belt holder despite his tender age.
Cheonjoon never met his mother. According to his father, his mother Seo Jin-Kyung had died in a fatal car accident when Cheonjoon was just a year old. His father had remarried to Julia a few years later. Julia was German American. She was previously married and got married to Taewoon after her marriage to her first husband ended in divorce. She had a daughter the same age as Cheonjoon. Her name was Grace Mills. Grace was in a similar situation to Cheonjoon but in her own case, she had met her father. She was popular in Inhun High School as she was the only westerner in the school. She lived with Cheonjoon and the rest of the family.
Julia's marriage to Choi had produced two children. The first was eleven year old Cheon-Ha who got a lot of attention from other kids in school due to his half Korean and Half German American look. The other child was nine year old Soojin who, like her older brother, Cheon-Ha garnered a lot of attention from other kids in school for her distinct looks. All of them lived together happily and saved for their distinct physical looks; no one could tell that they were not born of the same mother and father.
Cheonjoon thoroughly enjoyed the dish of bulgogi and ssamjang and he was glad that he agreed to wait for dinner. The meal was a juicy, savory dish of marinated beef, grilled with garlic and onions and wrapped in lettuce. After the meal, he thanked Chun-Hei for his hospitality.
"Thank my mother," Chun-Hei replied with a warm smile. "She was the one who prepared the sumptuous dish."
"I can't but agree that it's an amazing dish. Your mother's culinary skills are excellent."
"No doubt about that Cheonjoon. You can say it again. Just imagine what you would have missed out on had you insisted on leaving without having dinner."
Cheonjoon smiled. "Yeah, and I wouldn't forgive myself for that."
"I bet you would not," Chun-Hei replied, managing a smile as well.
"I think it'll be best that I take..." a phone beeped, interrupting his words. 'Hmmm, that's my phone.' He reached into his pockets and brought out his cell phone and checked the notification. It was a text from his step sister, Grace. He wondered why she was texting him as she rarely texted him. Perhaps, she was expecting him earlier and was worried that he wasn't back yet. He tapped the read button on his phone with a degree of anticipation and what he saw shocked him to his marrow. Perhaps his eyes were playing some sort of tricks on him, so he took his time to digest the content of the text properly.
"Come home immediately Cheonjoon. Our parents are dead."
Dead? How could they be dead? He left them hale and hearty just a few hours ago and now they are dead? Things are not adding up.
Chun-Hei noticed that his countenance had changed. "Is everything alright Cheonjoon?" There was no reply as Cheonjoon was lost in thoughts. Chun-Hei moved closer to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Cheonjoon was startled as he jerked back from his realm of thoughts. The effects of the text message he had just read fully dawning on him. "I'm sorry"' Chun-Hei apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you. Is everything alright?"
"The message is from Grace. It says my parents are dead."
Chun-Hei's jaws fell open in shock and his eyes went wide. For a moment, no word came forth from his mouth. "Dead? I don't understand." These were the only four words that managed to escape from his lips.
"I don't understand too Chun-Hei. I don't understand anything!"
"Calm down my friend, you have to be calm. This is not the time to be tense."
"I'm trying to be calm. Thank you. I have to leave now. I need to know what really happened."
"Hold on Cheonjoon, I'm coming with you. I'll get dressed in a jiffy."
Cheonjoon held him back as he turned to go get dressed. "I really appreciate your concerns but no. It's really not necessary for you to go with me as it is already late and I don't want to involve you in my troubles."
"No Cheonjoon, I insist I'll go with you no matter..."
"I'll have it my way this time Chun-Hei. Please. Stay with your mother, I'll update you as soon as I get home and find out what really happened."
Chun-Hei sighed and resigned not to follow him reluctantly. "Alright, alright.Take care and give me a call as soon as you can."
"Sure, I will. Thanks," he replied as he dashed out of the house.
Cheonjoon's heart was racing a million times faster than his legs could ever carry him in a race. What could really have happened? He thought. A part of him wanted to believe that Grace's message was just a prank or something but another part of him would not understand why she would choose to joke with a matter of such a high magnitude. If It was a joke or prank or whatever else but the truth, then it was simply too expensive and Grace should know that.
He flagged down the first taxi that he came across. He couldn't think straight as he gave him the address of his home. He picked up his phone and dialed Grace's number as the taxi drove through the busy capital of the country. The call wasn't answered. He tried it two more times and still drew blank from the other end. He had almost given up hope of ever talking to Grace on the phone before getting home but then he decided to try her number one last time. This time, it was answered.
"Cheonjoon," a tiny coarse voice spoke out from the other end of the phone. 'Where are you? Did you get my text?'
Cheonjoon unmistakably identified the voice as her step sister's voice. The voice was no doubt that her voice had been strained from relentless crying. "I got your message Grace. I'm in a taxi already." He replied after struggling to find his voice.
"Good. Be as fast as you can."
"I'm confused Grace," he confessed. "What really happened?"
"I can't say myself, except that I am certain our parents are dead. The police are here already. I have to go now. You'll find out more when you get here. Be fast please, I can't handle it on my own." Her voice was shaking as she spoke.
"Listen Grace, you have to be calm and strong..." But Grace wasn't listening anymore. She had already hung up. Cheonjoon sighed. Grace was obviously disturbed. The events were clearly too much for her to handle and Cheonjoon was certain that she would fare better if he were around. He didn't even think of how she would handle the questions that the police would throw at her. Then there was the matter of Cheon-Ha and Soojin, both of them probably too young to be able to fully comprehend what was happening. They needed someone to be there for them and if Grace couldn't pick herself up, he was certain that there was no way that she could ever be there for the kids. He urged the driver to drive faster as he sank back into the seat, sighing for the umpteenth that night.
Home could not have come any faster for Cheonjoon. He paid the driver the fare and alighted as fast as he could. He could feel tension in the atmosphere, or perhaps the tension was only within him. He saw two police cars and an ambulance parked outside their house. He raced into the house, his heart beating faster than his legs carried him as he ignored two police men who stood beside their cars and were chatting in low voices. He entered the house and saw Grace, Cheon-Ha and Soojin seated beside each other on a three-seater sofa in their massive living room. Two police men sat opposite them, scribbling down some things in a notepad. Indeed, the worst had happened.
Cheon-Ha was the first person to see him; he got up from where he was seated and ran towards him. It was obvious that the young lad was elated to see him. Cheonjoon threw his arms around him in a warm embrace. Grace and Soojin followed promptly, ignoring the policemen asking them questions. Cheonjoon threw his backpack to whenever it cared to go and in an instant, all of them were in a solemn embrace; all of them except Cheonjoon sobbing.
"Where are they?" Cheonjoon asked as he pulled away slowly from their embrace.
"In their bedroom," Grace replied, wiping her tears with the back of her left palm.
Cheonjoon walked briskly to the bedroom. He saw two of their maid servants crammed in one part of the living room but ignored them and walked on. He pushed the door to their bedroom open and the first thing he saw almost made his heart pop out from his chest. There was his father-one of the wealthiest and most powerful industrialists in the country-and his step mother, Julia, dangling helplessly from a suspension in the ceiling. There were about three policemen in the room. They were taking pictures of the scene and scrutinizing the room for evidence. The part of the room where the bodies dangled had been cordoned off as a crime scene.
He walked slowly back to the living room and sat on the arm of a sofa, holding his face solemnly in his palm. He descended into a realm of endless thoughts, unable to comprehend the degree of tragedy that had just befallen him, only to be jerked back to reality by one of the policemen after a couple of minutes that seemed like hours.
"I'm sorry to startle you."
Cheonjoon managed to wipe the tears building in his eyes. "It's alright," he replied, lifting his head up.
"I'm sorry about your losses young mister."
Cheonjoon absentmindedly muttered a barely audible "Thank you" in response.
"I'm Senior Inspector Taehyun, Seoul Metropolitan Police."
"Hmm hmm."
"I'm going to have to ask you some questions. I understand how you feel but I want you to pull yourself together as your answers to my questions might help us in our investigations into the cause of their deaths."
"Alright Inspector."
"Senior Inspector," he subtly corrected.
Cheonjoon wondered why a man should still be concerned about his ego in this kind of situation. "Senior Inspector," he muttered after him, disregarding his building disdain.
"What's your name and what's your relation to the deceased?" He nodded and continued; satisfied that he had immediately taken to correction. He scribbled down some things on his notepad. Grace, Cheon-Ha and Soojin were seated on the three-seater sofa, appearing to stare at him but in reality, they were staring blankly.
"I'm Choi Cheonjoon. The first child of Choi Taewoon and Grace is my step-mother."
He scribbled down the information on his notepad. "How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"Where were you this evening when this incident happened?"
"At my friend Chun-Hei's house. I've been tutoring him for the past few weeks."
"How did you learn about the incident?"
Cheonjoon sighed. "My step-sister Grace sent me a text."
"May I see the text?"
Cheonjoon ran his hand around his pocket and brought out his cell phone. He opened the text message and handed the phone to him.
He collected the phone from him, checked the text message and handed the phone back to him. "I came with some forensic experts. They'll examine the samples of their body tissues for forensic purposes which would help us in our investigations. Thereafter, the bodies would be deposited in the morgue pending further investigations."
"Alright Senior Inspector."
"In the meantime, I want you to be vigilant and report any suspicion to me directly. Do not say anything out of other to anyone. This case is being treated as suicide and would be treated as such until we have evidence to suggest otherwise. I would stay in touch with you and invite you to the station at the appropriate time."
"No problem sir. Thank you."
It took some minutes for the forensic experts to carry out their work and then the corpses were taken into the ambulance outside. Cheonjoon watched solemnly as the police and the ambulance drove off. Grace, Cheon-Ha and Soojin could not hold their tears. To say Cheonjoon was nothing short of an understatement, yet he found it absolutely imperative to console his siblings.
"Everything is going to be alright," he said, trying as hard as he could to comfort them. The words appear to have no effects on them. Deep down in himself, he admitted that things were not going to be alright, at least not for the time being. Things are never going to remain the same after their parents' death.