Chapter 25

Chapter 25

It was bright and early when she opened her eyes. Drawing the curtains aside, she let the rays stream in and light up the room.

She felt particularly refreshed this morning. It was the first time in a while that she had had a dream involving anyone other than ‘him’. Neither had she woken up drenched in sweat nor had she felt the usual agony. Most importantly, the person who’d visited her dreams was someone she had a soft spot for– Hye-yeon.

Although she’d left for the States abruptly, while there, Yuri had tried to reach Hye-yeon.  She was curious as to how her friend was faring now that she was not around. However, no matter how many times she tried, she couldn’t get through to her cell phone or residence. In the end, she had concluded that the numbers could have been disconnected for some reason. For the lack of a direct line, she tried reaching through her social media accounts. What was once a boisterous account with a slew of pictures et al., was now insipid due to inactivity. Thus, upon receiving no response even after several tries, Yuri had been forced to give up.

But the dream from last night had rekindled her desire to reconnect with her good friend. While at it, she decided to do something else as well but needed some info before going about it.

Noting the time, Yuri decided to call her uncle in New York. She reckoned, by now he would have closed the restaurant for the night and would be relatively free to talk to her.

–         Uncle, it’s me, Yuri. Are you busy?

“No, we’re just wrapping up now. Are you okay? What’s going on?”

Her uncle was, in addition to being her mother’s brother, her father’s best friend. Her father had fallen in love with his bestie’s younger sister at first sight. He visited his shop every single day in a bid to catch a glimpse of the queen of his heart and win her over. Her uncle loved his sister and her man. For that reason alone, he was particularly devoted to his orphaned niece. Without his material and emotional support, it would have been impossible for Yuri to have survived.

–         Of course, I’m doing well! It’s nothing special, but I wanted to ask where my dad’s ashes are resting. I’d like to visit while I’m in Korea. It’s somewhere in Jinseong, right?

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He sounded firm.

Early in her treatment, when Davis had suggested that she visit the places associated with her past, her uncle had fiercely opposed it. He didn’t furnish a reason, so the matter had simply passed. However, as her condition worsened he’d reluctantly agreed upon realizing that this was the only recourse. Left to him, he wouldn’t have allowed Yuri to take this trip to Korea.

Her uncle’s flat refusal confused Yuri. Her father was not just an integral part of her memory, but her life too. Besides, her uncle was his best chum. Why then was he this against her visiting him? In fact, shouldn’t he have been the one to ask her to do so in the first place?

–         Why? Why shouldn’t I…”

A long sigh was heard from the other end, there seemed to be a veiled fear even. After a moment of silence, a low voice sounded.

“There’s something that I haven’t been able to tell you. Considering all that you’re going through, I’d best kept it to myself… Actually, the last time you were there you went missing for ten days.”

–         … missing?!

She was in utter disbelief.

“Even today, I don’t know the whys and hows. By the time I heard about your dad’s accident and managed to get to Korea, you’d long disappeared. I searched all over Jinseong for you while I arranged the funeral. Then, a group of strange-looking men suddenly showed up at my doorstep and threatened me against doing anything stupid. Some of them were police officers.”

Her head began to spin, she gripped her phone tight and heard her uncle continue.

“I couldn’t bear to stay there, so I went to Seoul as soon as the funeral was done. Just in case, I gave my contact information and the name of my hotel to your friend. I think her name was Hye-yeon Jin? And a week later, very late at night, you showed up looking like a mess and fainted right away. When you came to, you had already forgotten all about what had happened.”

A long silence lingered on. She had never heard this before.

“Anyway, you shouldn’t go to Jinseong. Please don’t go there, Yuri.” Her uncle repeatedly pleaded as if casting a spell. But his niece’s mind was a tangled mess.

She mumbled something in response and got off the phone.

Dazed, she turned around to catch her reflection in the vanity mirror and gazed at it for a long time.

What on earth has happened to me?!

Apparently it had all begun with those ‘missing ten days’. She had found her first clue and how!

But this was no time to sulk, she had to get to the bottom of it all. She tried to jog her memory.

She remembered calling her uncle about her father’s accident, he had soothed her and said he would be with her shortly. However, recalling what happened next was a challenge. As she closed her eyes and tried to drag out the memory in any way possible, she heard a ringing in her ears. It was the same warning siren that appeared every time she attempted to break the seal on her memory. Each time this was where she stopped… had to stop. Even so, today, she blatantly ignored it. But that made it only louder, an excruciating pain dominated her mind. She staggered. Luckily she was close to the wall, she steadied herself against it. Slowly, the ringing stopped.

The seal remained intact… she’d given up yet again.

However, this did not mean she had given up altogether. She knew all too well there was no use continuing to drill her mind for answers, she would needlessly suffer. She had to find a better way of going about this. Now that she had somewhere to start, she wouldn’t let go of this opportunity.

Her gut instinct told her that the person he’d given his contact information to and the one she must’ve met at the end of her “missing ten days” were the same.

I have to find Hye-yeon!

Determined, Yuri went to the bus terminal and bought a ticket to Jinseong. Her uncle’s word of caution lingered in her ears, her heart sank… But did she have a choice?

The situation felt similar to the beginning of a horror film that she’d watched. The heroine had gone to the village that she wasn’t supposed to visit. All alone on a journey into the unknown… what’d happen to her? Would she die, or escape?

Sitting on the window seat on the bus, she gazed at the passing cityscape. She could almost glimpse the desolate Yuri who had started towards the city upon dropping out of university. All alone, wronged, robbed of hope she’d sat in a corner seat of the bus and cried even as the scathing sunshine streamed through the window and the bus rattled along.

Memories are strange. How could she remember small things like that, but not the important ones?

Yuri hailed a cab at the bus terminal in Jinseong.

“Hotel Jinseong, please.”

The gray-haired driver glanced at Yuri through the rearview mirror. “You mean, the hotel that used to be Hotel Jinseong?”

“Sorry?”

“That place is called ‘Hotel Seoin’ now.”

Surprise spread across her face. The city’s landmark hotel had closed down? Whatever happened to Mr. Jin? And Hye-yeon?

She turned her gaze towards the outside, trying to contain the chaos brewing in her heart. It did help though.

As she looked, she found the city had changed vastly in five short years. Large new buildings had replaced the old ones, and the run-down market had been transformed into a clean shopping center. Never had she thought this quaint place would see such a drastic makeover.

When they stopped at a red light, the driver asked, “When’s the last time you were here?”

Yuri counted the number of years since the last visit she could remember. “About five years, I think.”

“Ah, of course, you’re surprised then. It’s really changed since, right?”

“Yes. It really has changed a lot.”

“I think it was three or four years ago? Things started developing after Hotel Seoin opened. More shops came up, and young people started moving here. We get a lot of foreigners too. And there’s a rumor that they’re opening a casino here soon.”

Yuri nodded as the cab driver happily donned the guide’s hat. Before she knew it, they’d arrived at the hotel.

She was amazed by its exterior. The hotel that she remembered was nowhere to be seen. Its façade, adorned with black marble, was impressive to the intimidating degree.

She approached the front desk, but Hye-yeon was nowhere around. Only employees dressed in fancy uniforms greeted her.

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