AN: *warning* about to whine for the next thirty seconds... Why does life need to be so busy? Why do I need to sign so many contracts? Why are there numerous meetings to attend and appointments piling up? Why must university begin next week? Okay. The end. Shutting up. Frustration and stress explosion are finished.

It is a big possibility that this chapter will be the last chapter before university resumes... and I need to confess something to you, my dear readers. This chapter is extremely sensitive for me because this is an event that has happened to me when I was much younger and I am only beginning to feel comfortable to share my experience... This is a chapter that is fairly difficult for me to write. Thank you.

The wind howled harshly while plucking a few leaves off the large tree branches. The golden leaves slowly dances down onto the streets where countless people were busily marching on, minding their own business, and trying to escape the bitter cold. Meanwhile, Elsa Menzel tightened the loose scarf over her chilled face as she peeked over to the woman who stood next to her.

After she had unexpectedly angered Jack, she felt no choice but to call his older sister, Emma, for help. She didn't understand what wrong she had committed, thus, what to apologize for. No matter how many times she repeated the memory in her mind, she saw no faults. It made no sense. But she did want to apologize for upsetting him so much. She wanted to ask why he was so angry, but he didn't give her the chance to ask during their work and after their job was finished, he and his manager rushed to Jack's next workplace.

So what choice did she have, except to call Emma?

When she called, Emma was absolutely silent on the phone like now and they only fixed their schedules to meet each other privately. So here they were at Starbucks, waiting in line in silence. She was about to take another glance at Emma, but two young girls rushed away from their mother and towards her. They giggled excitedly and said, "You are Queen Elsa, right?!"

The actress smiled and said, "Yes, I am."

Emma noticed the two little fans jumping with glee and smiled too. They were very cute and they grinned even more, thrilled by Elsa's response.

The taller girl said, "I am an older sister like you, Queen Elsa!"

Elsa said, "Is that so? And how may I be of your service?"

The younger girl asked, "Can we take a picture with you, please?"

She said, "Of course, you can."

The sisters squealed with tremendous joy and shouted, "Mama, she said she will take a picture with us! Come quickly! Take a picture!"

The mother, with hot coffee in her hands, smiled meekly and said, "Thank you. They absolutely adore you and they really wanted to take a photo with you, if possible."

Elsa said, "Anything for my fans."

Each girl stood by her side, holding her hands, and beamed a huge smile as the mother quickly took a picture of them with her cellphone. Then Elsa waved bye to the girls before it was their turn to order. It didn't surprise either of the celebrities as the cashier swooned about their success and politely asked for their autographs.

After receiving their little treats, Emma drove them towards a familiar house. Jack's house. Elsa was relieved to see that the photographers were no longer bothering him any more. She also felt a sense of familiarity and remembered all the events that took in his house. It would be a lie to deny that she missed living with him. There were only good memories there.

Emma parked her car and she remarked, "You're smiling. You had fun living with my brother, didn't you?"

"Yes," she said.

Then his older sister asked, "Did you notice anything sad in his house while you stayed there?"

Elsa tilted her head, feeling confused by the question; she didn't notice anything sad about his house. Emma sighed and said, "Not a lot of people notice these kind of things... but did you notice any family picture in his house?"

Elsa thought pensively and recalled the structure of his house and the beautiful decorations within its splendor. There were pictures of Emma and her husband while Jack was gently holding onto his nephew in the corner of his bedroom. However, now that she thought of it, that was the only photo in his house- not that she checked every detail of his house.

She watched Emma wear a very sad expression as she said, "My brother loves our family and his friends dearly. He cherishes us and we all know that. But he can't stand our parents, not that I can fully blame him and I also share his sentiments..."

The actress frowned as she was surprised by her sudden statement. It was true, there hadn't been a single trace or sign of their parents. She gulped, hesitating to ask the question, but she found some confidence to ask, "What happened?"

Emma stared at her with teary eyes and whispered, "It's not in my position to tell you about my brother's past. It's his choice, but I am only giving you a clue because I can trust you... Miss. Elsa."

She was further surprised when there was a knock on their window. There stood Jack, arms crossed, and a deep frown smeared across his tired face.

Jack frowned as his drove towards his house. There was a car parked in front of the gates of his domain and it was a car he recognized, it belonged to his older sister. She had called him a few hours ago, stating that she would make a quick visit to his house. It was an unexpected news, though he was tired by his career, he couldn't reject her. He never could.

Once he pulled behind her white car, he climbed off of his motorcycle and approached the window side, and he would have never expected to see Elsa sitting in the passenger seat. He didn't feel comfortable to see her at this moment and assumed his older sister already knew how he behaved towards his friend and colleague. It explained why his sister demanded to see him and it upset him because his sister knew why that incident angered him. She would never force him to talk about the past, but the fact she brought Elsa here evidently showed that his sister disapproved his misconduct.

The glass window glided down and his sister stared up at him while he frowned at her and Elsa. This wasn't something he felt comfortable with.

"Jack, please let us in to your house. You know we need to talk," his older sister pressed.

The crease between his brows deepened at her words and he didn't reply back. Instead, he went to angrily punched in the passcode to open the metallic gates. He mounted his bike and followed the vehicle into the vacant driveway. He kicked the brakes onto the gravel and knew Emma and Elsa were following him to his house.

Once they were safely inside, he gestured only Emma to follow him into his private quarter while they left their guest behind in the quiet living room.

"Why did you bring her over?" he demanded as the door shut behind them.

"She's been upset and conflicted by your outburst at work. She said that she wanted to apologize to you, but she didn't know how to because you kept avoiding her like the plague." She said.

He retorted, "That's none of your concerns though and you know that I don't like talking about it. You just have left the issue alone and wait for me to calm down."

Emma flung her hands up in the air and exclaimed, "I know you don't like talking about it and neither do I! But you know better than to treat her that way. She's your friend and you should have enough trust in her to explain why you acted that way."

He growled back, "What if I don't want to?"

Then there was a soft knock against his bedroom door and he knew it was Elsa. He glared at his older sister and said, "I just needed time."

He opened the door and glanced away as Elsa immediately bowed her head. She said, "I am sorry for inconveniencing you and for upsetting you to this extent."

He looked back at Emma, who remained hidden in the darkness. He toyed with the word, trust. He did trust Elsa. He had seen her in a vulnerable state. She wasn't afraid to cry around him. She showed him her pain. That was some sort of proof that she trusted him, was it not? Did that make him the coward then? The fact he was afraid to share his secret... did that make him a weak coward? Did that mean he didn't trust her?

The doubts he felt for the past few days resurfaced and his thoughts bothered him once more. These kind of feelings and thoughts made him want to run. But was he in the wrong too? He frowned as he stared hardly at the actress who dared not too glance up at him. He clicked his tongue in irritation and stepped out into the living room.

He slowly said, "Fine, I will tell you why I am so angry these days. Why I felt hurt when you touched my back."

He clenched his hands into firm fists as he slumped onto the couch. Elsa hesitantly followed him into the open space and sat across him. He stared at her face for a long time as he hesitated to open his lips. Then his sister nodded at him, before saying, "I will be waiting in the car while you two discuss this out. And Jack... this doesn't make you weak, if that is what you are thinking."

Jack glared at her one more time and sighed. He started with, "That day, when you touched my back... the marks you saw, they weren't fake."

He suck in a lungful of air and exhaled slowly. He gingerly touched his back, knowing they still remained there, and confessed, "They were real burn marks."

Elsa still looked confused as she listened to his story very carefully.

Jack continued, "This won't make sense, unless, I tell you from the beginning. My parents are famous... as you may have known. They are both well known in this industry. They are successful actors with a very good background. They believe that my sister and I should be able to surpass them or at least, be in the same prestigious league as them. That was their expectations for my sister and I. In order to do so, they thought we should be raised in a certain way."

He paused for a moment and she asked, "What does that exactly mean?"

He replied, "It meant, we had to learn everything: different languages, cultures, arts, sports, anything really. In Asia, the competition for success and high education is extremely fierce. They also have a belief system that discipline can come in a verbal form, but also in a physical form. So when I was a very young boy, around the age of three or four, I started living in South Korea. My sister, of course, went through this as well, except she was raised in Japan. We only lived in Asia for three or four years. So when I was a child, I used to believe it was alright for parents to use physical discipline- it was normal. Whenever I misbehaved, I used to be hit and beat until one of my limbs would turn blue or purple or black."

She looked horrified by the start of his childhood.

He continued, "Then I moved to North America where this teaching was no longer accepted. That's when I learned it was not okay to treat children that way, under the pretext of discipline. My parents knew as well, of course. So they no longer hit me or beat me until I lost consciousness. Instead, they decided to burn my back with the shower as they used piping hot water to "wash" my back. In a way, that was very smart of them... no one checks a child's back. It's always covered with a shirt and who would expect to see burn wounds on a child's back? Nobody did and I never took my shirt off either."

His fists shook with anger as he remembered the day when he was punished for skipping a lesson which cost several hundred dollars just to go play soccer with his friends. He could still easily recall the scorching blaze that ran down his back and the way he screamed his apologizes to the man whom he once called father. He remembered how he cried as the adult kept him still by firmly gripping on his nape in the large bath tub. As he recalled those memories, he felt that pain on his back again.

Even now, he could feel like choking on his humiliating past. He voice shook as he tried to continue, "I never allow people to see my back even now and for the drama, it was promised that nobody would film or know-"

Jack was surprised when he found himself embraced by Elsa and she firmly hugged him as if to protect him from his past. This was the first time he had ever confessed to anyone besides his manager and he realized how he was trembling and how much comfort he felt by her action. She whispered, "I am so sorry, Jack..."

His voice finally failed him and he let a tear to stream down. It was hard to admit his shameful past. It always haunted him in his sleeps. But now he had Elsa stroking the back of his head- and he felt like that weak nine year old boy.

And as he felt some sense of peace spread through his body, he muttered, "Thank you."

He remembered how his sister was always right... and she was right again when she said that he could and should trust Elsa.

Okay, I really don't want to write anymore; this chapter took me a month to actually write out, bit by bit. Thanks for reading.