Chapter 38 – Arising Conflict (2)
A pall of smoke emanated from the office, making the two cough. The office was filled with thick smoke of cigarettes, and Tae-jun was sitting in the middle with one between his lips.
“Oh, hey. How long have you been waiting?”
Tae-jun slowly glanced at Jae-won and stubbed out the cigarette in an ashtray. When Jae-won wondered who brought the ashtray to his office, his secretary pointed at himself, winking.
“What time is it?”
“Seven Thirty.”
“Ok, then I must have waited about two hours.”
For the love of God, two hours? From 5:30 in the morning? Tae-jun, as far as he knows, hated waiting and the amount of cigarette that Tae-jun smokes is in proportion to the depth of this agony. If Tae-jun spent two hours in an empty office, filling up the entire space by cigarette smoke, something must have happened.
Jae-won quickly snatched the ashtray in front of him and gave it to his secretary. Then he rushed to open the window as he could not tolerate the thick smoke and gloomy air surging in the office.
“You should stop smoking. You actually quitted before. I know you’re a heavy smoker, but this is too much.”
“Maybe, soon.”
What does he mean by that? Maybe? Soon?
With his head tilt, Jae-won sat in front of Tae-jun. He pretended that he is calm, but he could not hide his shaky voice.
“You could have just called me or come to my house. Someone would have prepared a jaw-dropping breakfast for you.”
“I wanted to find something”
Only then Jae-won realized the mess in his office. Every drawer was recklessly opened, the documents had fallen on the ground, and his desk was at its own war.
God, help me. Jae-won felt delirious. After taking a few deep breaths, he took out words.
“In case you were wondering, I don’t keep a ledger in secret, nor do I have a safe in disguise. I don’t know what you heard from whom, but I will never betray Seoin Group. I swear to god.”
“That’s good to know. But that’s not what I was looking for.”
Dumbfounded, Jae-won was at a loss for words. Tae-jun pointed at the document in front of him on the table – It was Roy Jean’s resume and portfolio which was a part of Seoin Hotel’s new exhibition project proposal.
Why did he look for that?
“Did you say you met his assistant?”
“Yes, I did. I went out for dinner with her a couple of days ago. What about it?”
“You went out with her?”
Tae-jun’s sharp eyes were stuck at his face.
Appalled, Jae-won tried to read what is on his cousin’s mind. With his straight face and monotonous tone, it was hard to read Tae-jun’s real intentions. Honestly speaking, Jae-won could tell he was angry, but he did not know why.
Jae-won confessed. “I think I have a thing for her. Don’t worry, I’ll draw a clean line between business and my private life.”
Immediately, Tae-jun’s face turned stone-cold. As if something triggered him, he blurted out.
“You should forget about it.”
What? Jae-won was about to confront him, but he was reduced to silence after watching Tae-jun’s eyes. Jae-won could sense a weird mixture of smile and pain from Tae-Jun.
Even after Tae-jun left the office, Jae-won was still left with a strange feeling. Tae-jun interrogated him as if his lover cheated on him with Jae-won.
What is happening?
While sweeping his face, something came to Jae-won’s realization.
You went out with her?
Did I ever mention Roy Jean’s assistant is a woman?
⸙
Leaning on the window, Yuri organized her thoughts with a cup of coffee on her hand.
I need to remember my past.
When she came back to her hotel room from the payphone booth, it poured. Maybe because of the sound of raindrops or maybe because of her deep thoughts, she could not fall asleep.
After a long contemplation, Yuri concluded one thing. That is: the year that she has forgotten, is not just another year. She could not remember a thing about it, but she could fathom the frightful fear that it hid.
After tossing and turning all night long, she left her bed when she received an approval from Daejin Department store’s new exhibit. Installation was planned in the same morning.
Yuri put on a beige blouse, a black long skirt and a trench coat. When she was done getting ready, she pushed a call button on her phone at the vanity.
– “Is everything going alright, Yuri?”
Roy sounded astonished and worried at the same time as it had been a while that she talked to him. She asked after him first.
“I just wanted to know how you are doing. I also have something to talk about. How’s work going?”
-“It’s going well. Talking about myself, I’ve been doing not-so-well. It’s been raining cats and dogs here. What about Seoul?”
Unlike Yuri, Roy detested rain.
“We’re installing the Heart of Apollo today.”
-Yes, I got the news. I also received the report that it arrived in Korea without any damage. Work is almost done, right?
“Yes. So… I think I am going to stay in Korea for a bit after work is over.”
A heavy silence hovered over the phone. Yuri patiently waited for Roy’s answer. After a short sigh, Roy asked.
-Why did you make that decision?
“I want to regain my memories.”
Yuri brought up what she thought about last night when the rain poured. Finding her memories was what she had been intentionally avoiding for the past four years.
In the beginning, she tried her best to regain her lost memories. She tried counseling, medication, and even hypnotherapy. What welcomed her instead, were serious side effects, and she was labeled a “habitual attempted suicide patient.”
After that, she did not put more effort on regaining her memories. Thinking what is lost is lost, she comforted herself. It was regrettable that she could not remember the death of her father, but she did not want to risk anything anymore just to find her memories.
However, ever since she came back to Korea, the pieces of her memories came back and told her there is more behind the year she lost. If it was about the deaths of her loved ones, she needed to know more.
She was resolutely determined.