"You're messing with me," Bo Wen said, still looking at his phone with furrowed eyebrows.
June sighed, lowering his voice to convey his seriousness.
"I'm not. Why would I lie to you about this kind of thing?"
"I don't know," Bo Wen bitterly chuckled. "Maybe because I killed you in your past life? Now, you're getting your revenge by telling me that my wife is currently in a cemetery."
"You know I won't do that," June said, subtly reminding him how he was the better friend between the two.
Bo Wen pursed his lips together. Deep down, he also knew how good of a friend Jun-hao was to him. On the contrary, he was a shitty friend to Jun-hao, but the former never left his side.
"Why is she here then?" Bo Wen asked in a vulnerable tone.
"She became a graveyard keeper," June sarcastically said. "What do you think people do in cemeteries?"
June knew he shouldn't handle the situation so sarcastically, but he just couldn't help himself.
"She's not dead," Bo Wen said, his voice breaking.
"She can't be."
June let out a deep breath before showing him the photo of his wife's gravestone.
As hard as it was to believe, June was telling the truth. He wasn't cruel enough to fake Bo Wen's wife's death, especially when she was nothing but great to him when the two of them were still alive.
Jing, Bo Wen's wife, had always been a sweet woman. Bo Wen probably never considered him as a real friend when he was still alive, but Jing did, and for that, Jun-hao was very thankful.
Oftentimes, he felt that Bo Wen used black magic to marry a woman like Jing. However, he also knew just how much he loved his wife and his son. So, when they left, he was the most devastated man on Earth.
Bo Wen looked for the answers through various means; however, what he didn't know was that the answer was with Jun-hao. Being the only friend of Bo Wen that Jing trusted, she sought help from Jun-hao to escape Bao and start anew.
"I helped them leave," June confessed.
A flash of anger passed through Bo Wen's eyes as he held onto June's collar.
"She didn't do it because she didn't love you," he continued to explain, ignoring the pain he was feeling in his neck.
"She did it because she was worried for you and your son."
"You know that in our job, we aren't supposed to have any weaknesses. Just as Jing and Bo were your strengths, they were also your weaknesses—one that our enemies would exploit at any given time."
"That doesn't explain why you kept that information away from me for all these years," Bo Wen angrily said.
"Like I said—it was Jing's request. You know how kind your wife is. You also know that she's generous and forgiving. The fact that she asked me so sincerely to not tell you of their departure meant that she was really determined."
"She was afraid that you would follow after her and your son, and in the end, she would cave in and go with you."
"What is there to worry about? I protected them all these years!" Bo Wen exclaimed.
"Yes," June remarked. "You protected them—from our enemies. However, you failed to protect them from the people whom you were loyal to."
"What do you mean?" Bo Wen asked, his grip on June's collar loosening.
June sighed and held onto Bo Wen's hands before pushing him away.
"Jing is very pretty," June remarked. "The moment Laohu saw her, he wanted her to be his."
Bo Wen's frown deepened. This was new information to him.
Well, of course, June didn't expect him to know. June also didn't know until the day that Jing told him.
"However, Jing was faithful to you. She could never betray you. In the end, Laohu threatened your position in the gang. However, Laohu also knew that you were a vital member of the gang, so he resulted in threatening Bo's life instead."
Bo Wen's breath got caught in the back of his throat.
Laohu, the man he trusted more than anyone else, was actually his greatest enemy in life?
"So, she left," June said. "She left so she wouldn't cause any trouble."
Bo Wen was still silent, internalizing everything that June had just said. He wanted to believe that June was just making all of these up; however, with respect to his wife, he knew that June was telling the truth.
"She died of a heart attack," June continued. "Her mother told me that she never recovered from loneliness after she left, and that led her to abandon herself. In the end, she couldn't take the loneliness and succumbed to her illness."
"When did she die?" Bo Wen absent-mindedly asked.
"A few days before my death," June said. "Jing's mom told me not to tell you. However, I was planning on telling you that day. However, you know, you put a bullet through my head."
June smirked when Bo Wen chuckled softly before leaning against the hard, cold wall.
June saw tears welling up in his eyes, so he looked away.
"I think Bo's doing well," June said, trying to comfort the big man. "Last year, he finally entered school."
"She did just as what she said," Bo Wen muttered. "She really enrolled Bo early in school because she thought he was a genius."
June was surprised that Bo Wen took the news better than he thought.
"Well, if the kid got Jing's genes, then you don't have to worry. He'll have a full head of hair in his 30s, too."
Bo Wen shook his head.
"I still want to see him," he said.
June sighed. "Deep inside your heart, you know that you can't. This life of ours—we're not meant to live normally. It's a pit that only keeps getting deeper the more we try to climb it. Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to live normally in our next lives," he said, facing him with the truth.
"Our next lives? It's unfair. You're already on yours," Bo Wen chuckled.
June shook his head. "I doubt I'll be able to live normally in this life, too."
"Why?" Bo Wen asked. "Is somebody holding you back?"
"Yup—Azure and my fans. I'll probably be burned alive if ever I have a family of my own," June said.
It was true. That was the sad reality of being an idol.
"I guess we're on the same boat," Bo Wen said. "I probably won't ever see my son again, won't I?"
"You technically could," June objectively said.
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Uproot the problem," June said. "Have a completely new slate, and live a new life with your son. However, that's way too complicated, right? You're still working with Phoenix, so you're still affiliated with White Tiger."
Bo Wen paused for a moment before he turned to June with ambitious eyes.
"That's what you're trying to do, right? You're trying to uproot the problem?" he asked.
"I'm just planning on getting justice for my death," June responded.
"But your death is much more complicated than we thought," Bo Wen remarked. "The only way we can give justice to it is if we uproot the problem."
"What are you planning?" June suspiciously asked with narrowed eyes.
"Nothing. You're the one who's going to do the planning, of course," he smirked. "You've always been great at that."
"Now, I believe the truth has come to light, and the people I've trusted before weren't the people that deserved my trust. I know I betrayed you in your past life, and I probably do not have the right to be talking to you like this."
"But, I'll vow myself to you—as payment for everything I've done."
"Your pretty idol hands can't pick up dirty work now, so I'll be your puppet."
"Use my services as you please."
