Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Looking at an ashen Yuri, Hyeon-ah Kim’s eyes widened to their limits. This was totally unexpected.

“What, you didn’t know she was dead?” she asked in apparent disbelief.

The two were thick as thieves, how could she not know? But looking at her now, it seemed she really didn’t know.

“I couldn’t even imagine… I-I just thought I couldn’t get in touch with her. And I didn’t have the energy to worry about it in the US. Hye-yeon… is really gone?”

Yuri’s voice was quivering. How could this be?! She felt a big stone weighing down her heart. She could not possibly believe that her friend was dead… gone forever.

Can you please fill in for me, just for three days? I’m going to Japan with my boyfriend.

I’ll give you twice, no, three times my hourly pay.

Yuri could still vividly picture the naughty Hye-yeon, asking her to show up to work at the hotel in her place. How she would plead, coax, boss… but never take no for an answer.

But why?

“I heard it was suicide. Someone found her body floating down the Jinseong River,” Hyeon-ah said as if sensing her thoughts.

No, no way! That was ridiculous! Hye-yeon would never kill herself!!!

“…That’s not possible.” Yuri spoke with conviction. She knew her friend best!

A few breaths of silence passed. Hyeon-ah peered at Yuri in all seriousness. “Do you know anything? I mean, you were the last person to see her alive.”

A flash of lightning struck impregnable walls in her subconscious, a crevice of hope emerged. And without a warning, a scene began playing in her mind. It was so vivid as if it were happening in that instance.

Splash! Cold water sprayed across. Gradually as the water settled, a figure came into view… the serene face, vacant eyes… she was going deeper and deeper into the river. [4]

Yuri’s pupils dilated, she clenched her fist trying hard to endure the torment and glimpse the drowning face.

That… that woman… Hye-yeon![5] 

Stop remembering!

Something sharp slashed the deep corners of her brain. Violent pain began gnawing at her. Yuri gripped her head with both hands and started shaking it.

What was that image?! Was it a lost memory… or, a delusion brought on by shock? If it was a lost memory, then why was I watching Hye-yeon sink into the water? Was I there?

“Are you okay?”

Hyeon-ah stared into Yuri’s face with concern. Her already pale face was now turning blue. Before she could wrap her mind around it, she saw her struggling to say something.

Yuri barely squeezed a sentence out of her throat. “…I’m so-rry. I thi-nk I sho-uld go.”

It was becoming difficult even to stay seated. Everything in front of her was just too ruthless for her to handle. All she wanted was to run away from there.

As she stood up, her legs shook precariously. She staggered to get a footing with the help of the table.

“Are you really all right? You look as white as a sheet!” There was panic in Hyeon-ah’s voice, helplessness wreathed her confident visage.

Even so, her friend’s anxious voice felt strangely distant. Yuri shook off Hyeon-ah’s hand that was trying to hold her steady. She turned around and stumbled out of the café.

She was floating in a dreamlike state as if her brain was on a meltdown. Her mind refused to think. She moved mechanically for a long time before gradually coming to her senses. When she tried to muster a semblance of her whereabouts, she discovered she was in the lobby of Hotel Seoin. It was unclear how she’d managed to take the bus back to Seoul or made it to this place.

Why am I here?

Yuri slowly looked around her, blinking, striving to make sense. Sounds from her surroundings, which had thus far been blocked as if the speaker had been turned off, suddenly rushed in at once and bombarded her eardrums. Her sensations, that had previously disappeared, now returned.

This was not the first time that she had moved around in an unconscious state. It was an often occurrence since losing her memory. She would wander the boundaries between reality and fantasy, as if she were seeking something, sometimes even running away. Each time, she had done something that she could no longer remember, or found herself in an unexpected place.

But why this hotel, when she’d canceled the reservation only a few days ago? What is she supposed to find here?

Is this because the new Hotel Seoin in Jinseong had left a strong impression? And who is the man that was going around looking for her? Jin-wook Jeong from J Consulting–who is he? Is he related to the people who’d threatened her uncle?

She suddenly noticed the CCTV camera hanging at a corner on the ceiling and recalled Hyeon-ah’s words.

It looked like it was from CCTV footage. You had your hair up in a ponytail, wearing a trench coat.

That must have been her first day back in Korea. Could the footage have been from here? She peered up at the camera. How had the man obtained a copy of the footage?

She knew, from her days working at Hotel Jinseong, that it was not easy to get one’s hands on the lobby surveillance footage. An upscale place like Hotel Seoin would require a warrant from the police.

That man must be an insider here. A shiver ran down her back. Perhaps she was being filmed right now?

Yuri took a step towards the exit. At that instant, the floor sloshed and things began spinning in front of her. Her knees gave away and she dropped to the floor. She felt the impact against the surface and began hearing the murmurs of the crowd around her.

“Are you okay, miss?”

Urgent footsteps stopped next to her and a man’s voice echoed. The world in front of her swayed up and down nauseating her. She wanted to say that it was nothing, that she was all right, but she was finding it difficult to even breathe.

“Yuri? Yuri Han? Are you all right?”

She managed to regain composure at the sound of a familiar voice. A tall man with light brown hair, slightly drooping eyes, and firm hands… Jae-won helped her up.

“Jae-won?” she asked, doubtfully.

“That’s right, Yuri. We meet again.” He smiled.

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