Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“The power is off. A beep sound will follow, and charges will be applied for the voice mailbox.”

She felt like she was about to collapse.

The current time is 4 a.m. Her husband isn’t answering the phone.

Nine hours have passed since he, like a machine, mechanically left work at seven in the evening, cutting off all contact.

As she absentmindedly chewed on her nails, they broke, and blood seeped through the fragments. The smell of metallic blood permeated through her nostrils. Seoryeong started absentmindedly picking at her other nails.

How did things end up like this?

“It’s probably nothing.” This initial thought led to “Maybe something urgent came up at work,” and then “He probably had to go on a sudden business trip and is having a company dinner now.”

She tried to string together reasonable and normal thoughts, fearing that otherwise, she might delve into baseless fantasies like, “See, he must have had another woman,” leading to “He doesn’t love you,”—a dangerous path.

To avoid getting trapped in such futile delusions, she needed the teachings of her teacher.

Seoryeong took a deep breath, waiting and waiting. Hoping that he would open the door and come in first. To dispel this murky darkness.

—

“The call you dialed is either an invalid number or a number with restricted incoming calls. Please check again and make the call.”

But when the company number appeared as disconnected, panic seized her for a moment.

“Damn, what is this?”

Suddenly, a chilly smile flickered on her face. Her husband worked at a small company that manufactured medical devices, and this number was the one he had personally given her.

Could the company have failed?

So… ah, so…

Seoryeong took a deep breath again.

But she couldn’t stop tapping on the table. She tried to forcibly recall him, busy running around at work.

He must be busy, not even having time to eat. Yes, that’s right. So, I shouldn’t bother him. Other wives would gladly trust their husbands. I should do the same…

Let’s think good thoughts.

Seoryeong, as if possessed, headed to the kitchen. She wanted to do something. For her exhausted husband returning home, she thought of making warm bean sprout soup.

Although Seoryeong rarely cooked due to her husband’s warning about the dangers of her visual impairment, she was naturally skilled. Most household chores were often completed by the time he returned from work.

Let’s wash the bean sprouts first and chop the green peppers, shall we?

But as time passed, instead of calming down, she became short of breath and restless. Then, ah…! A groan burst out when she was cutting the green peppers.

It felt like a little flesh had been sliced off, and her fingertips twitched.

Without even thinking about putting on a coat, Seoryeong hastily grabbed a cane and slipped on slippers. Outside, drizzling rain was falling. Tap, tap, tap, the sound of the stick probing the ground urgently.

***

“…It seems like my husband is missing—”

Her body, drenched in rain, trembled. In the unfamiliar fear, her voice, shaky and timid like ants, was insignificant.

But when she opened the door to the police station, the police officers who sprang up like springs shouted loudly.

“Drop the knife!”

“…What?”

“Whose blood is that!”

It felt like her eardrums would burst. On the left, a walkie-talkie was buzzing, and on the right, footsteps were bustling. Seoryeong, feeling the gradually approaching presence of the police, took a step back. No, right now, our husband is missing—!

“Ahhhh! Drop the knife! Subdue this woman!”

As someone approached, Seoryeong reflexively swung the stick to strike him.

Thud! A sound echoed, suggesting that she had hit him squarely in the shoulder. Oof…! While he groaned, she shouted again.

“My husband seems to be missing!”

“Yes, understood. I get it… but for now, please drop the knife!”

“…!”

Only then did she realize that she was still holding the kitchen knife she had been using to cut the green peppers.

She held the knife awkwardly as the cries of “Uhhhhh!” from the men resonated. Having safely handed over the knife, she sighed as if reflecting on her actions. She wasn’t entirely herself.

She brushed away the long hair that had clung to her face. Wiping the moisture off her face, she felt an unusual calm in the air, considering the time was past 4 a.m.

“What is this? Even considering it’s past 4 a.m., the chilling air settling in didn’t seem right.”

“Blood….”

“What?”

“There, the person who reported. Your husband is missing, right?”

“Yes! It’s a missing person report. Please do something about it quickly!”

“….”

However, despite the urgent request, there was no response from the police. Only a low murmuring continued.

“For now, please sit here.”

The sound of the metal chair scraping against the floor sounded excruciating.

“We will start by recording the incident. What is the name of the person making the report?”

The police officer wasn’t excited, but fortunately, he didn’t seem completely uninterested either. His voice had a detached tone.

“It’s okay. As you can see, I’m visually impaired, so my husband wore the same clothes every day of the week. Today, he would have been in a white shirt, gray suit, and a blue tie. And…”

Seoryeong gripped the stick tightly and bowed her head. She swallowed a gulp of anger and bitterness, clenching her teeth.

“I don’t know about his face. But there’s a photo; there’s a wedding photo at home.”

“Since when hasn’t there been any contact with your husband?”

“It’s been about nine hours.”

“Hmm….”

At that moment, the voice of the police officer seemed awkward, as if he was scratching his head. There was a rustling noise as if he was scratching his head.

“We might not be able to move right away. A missing person search usually takes a day to be possible once contact has been lost.”

“….”

“It’s a common practice that after about 24 hours of a person going missing, they often return home. But in cases where it seems to involve a crime, we move immediately.”

“A crime?”

Seoryeong’s entire body trembled now. Whether it was because her wet clothes were stealing her warmth or because the sound of her husband disappearing from her life was echoing unpredictably, she couldn’t tell.

“For example, trying to disguise a murder as a missing person case.”

“….!”