Chapter 27 – We Meet Again (1)
“What, you didn’t know she was dead?”
“I couldn’t even imagine. 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 shaking. How could this be? She felt her heart sink. She could not possibly believe that Hye-yeon was dead.
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 Hye-yeon, asking her to show up to work at the hotel in her place. But why?
“I heard it was suicide. Someone found her body floating down the Jinseong River. ”
No, no way. That was ridiculous. Hye-yeon would never kill herself.
“…That’s not possible.”
Hyeon-ah peered at Yuri with serious eyes. “Do you know anything? I mean, you were the last person to see her alive.”
A lightning flashed in her head. A scene began playing in her mind without warning. A splash, a woman sinking into the river. Yuri’s pupils dilated.
That, that woman… It was Hye-yeon!
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 a look of concern. Her already pale face was now turning blue. Yuri barely squeezed a sentence out of her throat. “…I’m sorry. I think I should go.”
It was becoming difficult even to stay seated. Everything in front of her was too cruel for her to handle. All she wanted was to run away from there.
Yuri’s legs shook precariously as she stood up.
“Are you really alright? You’re looking white as a sheet. ”
Hyeon-ah’s voice felt strangely distant. Yuri shook off Hyeon-ah’s hand trying to hold her steady, and stumbled out of the café. She was floating in a dreamlike state, as if her brain had melted. Her head refused to think. She moved mechanically for some time and finally came to her senses at the lobby of Hotel Seoin. It was unclear how she had managed to take the bus back to Seoul.
Why am I here?
Yuri slowly inspected her surroundings, blinking. Sounds from all around her, which had been blocked as if the speaker had been turned off, suddenly rushed in at once and crashed into her eardrums. Her sensations, previously disappeared, returned.
This was not the first time that she had moved around in an unconscious state. It had been happening frequently since she had lost her memory. She would wander the boundaries between reality and fantasy, as if she was looking for something, sometimes 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 had canceled the reservation a few days before? What was she supposed to find here?
Was this because the image of the new Hotel Seoin in Jin-seong had left such a strong impression? And who was the man that was going around and looking for her? Jin-wook Jeong from J Consulting–who was he? Was he related to the people who had threatened her uncle?
She suddenly noticed the CCTV camera hanging at a corner of the ceiling, and recalled what Hyeon-ah had said.
It looked like it was from a CCTV footage. You had your hair up in a ponytail, wearing a trench coat.
That must have been her first day back in Korea. Was the footage 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 instance, the floor sloshed and things began spinning in front of her. Her knees gave out 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 and nauseated her. She wanted to say that it was nothing, that she was all right, but it was difficult for her 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 raised her upright from the floor.
“Jae-won?”
“That’s right, Yuri. We meet again.”