Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Tekken. QQ.
Author's Note: Aaaaaand here is, at long last, the sequel to "Mi Ahn Hae Yo." The only other oneshot I've loved as much as "Mi Ahn Hae Yo" is "Decoy". Must be something about Hwoarang, LOL. XD But in all seriousness, I'm seriously proud of those two. I guess that's why I wanted to write companion pieces to both :P Enjoy!
YONGSEO
Haksaeng,
I received your letter just as I was starting to write one to you. Unusual, hm? Of course, I would have nowhere to post it to, but now that I have received your letter, I can send it somewhere where I know you will reach it.
I'm fine. I've been living life as always. If something is thrown at me, I will push through. I will just keep on pushing through all my difficulties with strength and speed, like a train. There is no time for me to worry about petty, individual things, and fret about them like a young sonyeon. I am a grown sanae, and I must put such things behind me and pursue onward. In the face of the public, I cannot show weakness.
But in privacy, I can grieve. Concern can wash over me.
Haksaeng, I worry about you so much. Ever since you ran away, I wonder what I could have done to make things a little more bearable for you. Just… anything to stop you from running away for a whole year. Did I yell too much? Did I push you too much? Did I treat you too much like an adeul? The more I think on it now, the more I realise, or feel that you did not want such a thing. Maybe you did not want a gajok in the first place.
Was I too much of an Abeoji, and not enough of a seongsaeng?
It pleases me that you say that you are well, however I sincerely have my doubts deep down. You are known to be a liar, haksaeng, and I feel as though you are lying to me here only to comfort me. And while it does bring me a little comfort, your news at the end of your letter has only flared my worries. My other students notice, and they just smile sadly. It is almost as though they know that I am thinking of you, wondering and worrying over your safety; because you are the closest thing I have ever had to an adeul.
The note was fine, stop worrying. You are worrying more about whether or not your writing is legible than your own life at the moment… Strange little thing you are. I could reach each sentence perfectly, and yes, haksaeng; that indeed was an atrocious way to commence an apology note.
I still have that soccer ball, you know. I keep it in the room you used to sleep in, along with everything else you left behind in the dojang. It is old and worn, and the black paint is still coming off. I moved it around with my foot a little a few weeks ago, remembering your skill with that object. But the thing is, it was an accident. There is no need for you to repay me for an accident. Even when you did get your job, you still wanted to pay me back, and I refused. Oh, and haksaeng? Your drift is caught. Couldn't you find another way to get money?
Jail… Oh you silly thing, how could you allow yourself to wind up in jail? You must learn to control your inner anger, and your outer strength. Martial arts is not used to show off, or to inflict harm on unsuspecting people, like that second person you described. I can understand for the first situation, but the second… You were not under any threat. It was stupid and foolish of you to do such a thing, though I am grateful that you repaid them. It shows that you do have respect for my teachings, and that you are willing to help.
You couldn't be more wrong, dear sonyeon. You were never a nuisance nor 'just' another mouth to feed. Granted, you were a stubborn child, and I was an obstinate adult… But I know why you hated me so. Because I was like you, and in the future, you would be like me. It was never a matter of an overbearing authority that you wanted to rebel against, nor a cap on the amount of won you could spend. You knew you'd turn into this, didn't you?
Of course I want our gajok to come back together. I am alone, and as are you before we found each other. And it hurts, doesn't it, haksaeng? It hurts to know that you cannot truly turn to the person next to you and pour your heart and soul out to them, showing them who you really are, and what is disturbing you. It hurts knowing that no one around you cares. But I cannot force you to return, because you are not a sonyeon anymore. You are a sanae, and you can make your own decisions. And I trust them.
I wish I could help you with them though, you know? Why did you run to the streets, when you could have gone to a shelter, or even an apartment? Why do you thieve when you could have easily gotten a job? Why did you choose the easiest solutions as opposed to the hard, honest ones? Were you that angry at me that you did it merely to spite my memory? You may be nineteen, but you are still a merely child. You are too young to be coordinating the lives of others, haksaeng… because you yourself still need guidance.
You do not want this life? I do not want this life for you. Because let me tell you, haksaeng, you may be the sonyeon in tattered clothing, stealing to survive, but you can still change your life. You can still better yourself and live properly, with or without me by your side. You can be the sanae, dropping the knife to the ground, and walking away from the fight.
…Please, walk away from that fight.
You will be the better sanae if you leave. Are you any better than your opponent if you kill him, just as he killed your friends? You have a choice! You don't have to do this. Honour your fellow friends in memory, not in blood. Carry their spirits alongside you, not against you. For once in your life, be selfish… Those people you are with on the streets, they can survive on their own, or leave any time they want. They stay there, isolated in depression, bringing down a much brighter light with every passing day – you. You have no obligation to that gajok, just as you have no obligation to me, but… As your seongsaeng, as your chingu… maybe even as your Abeoji… do not waste away in those dark, foul alleyways.
If this reaches you in time… please know that I thank you too. You did a lot for me as well. You taught me to care again. I never thought I would, but you, with your mischievous grins and silly antics, put the meaning of 'care' back into my life, amongst other things. Even if we do never meet again, you will always be with me in that sense, because you impacted my life to such a large level. Even larger than my own family, because… I don't really know how to explain it. I wish I could.
In times of fear, you indeed think of those who you hold dearest. Those who you love. Those who changed your life. And in your time of need, I give you strength to carry on through the cold, and through those times of doubt. And you carry them close to you, from the past right through to the future, saying mi ahn hae yo a million times under your breath. But in my time of fear, I cannot draw your strength, for you are not here.
Mi ahn hae yo, too… For not being there enough.
Haksaeng… you have my yongseo.
Sincerely,
Your seongsaeng.
The romanization system used for these Korean words is "Revised Romanization", not the "McCune-Reischauer Method.
Below are translations in order of story appearance, checked against 'wiktionary' and other websites.
These seemed most suitable (there's always more than one way to say these things XD).
I'm not Korean, so please correct me if these are wrong in the context of the story.
Haksaeng – Student
Sonyeon – Boy
Sanae – Man
Adeul – Son
Gajok - Family
Abeoji – Father
Seongsaeng – Teacher
Dojang – Training Hall
Won – Korean currency
Gajok – Family
Chingu - Friend
Mi Ahn Hae Yo – I'm sorry
Yongseo - Forgiveness