Theo jumped over the last wall. There was a stench in the air around Hunter’s house, which had an eerie atmosphere. Theo, covering his nose, looked around to find the cause of the smell when a forgotten fact came to mind.
Right, Simon. As Theo moved toward the front gate, he discovered a corpse so decomposed that its form was unrecognizable, and he turned away. Damn.
Due to the time constraint, he had reluctantly buried Simon’s body in Hunter’s garden. Although Theo had often seen people die, this was his first time dealing with a corpse.
After dry heaving, Theo slapped his own cheeks a few times and stood in front of a tree. Hyungoh’s room window was still open. The passport should be up there. Now all he needed was to get a plane ticket.
Skillfully climbing up the tree and jumping into Hyungoh’s room window, Theo rummaged through the desk while calling someone with his other hand.
[Theo? What’s going on?]
“Hey, can you get me a plane ticket?”
[A plane ticket?]
The man who answered the phone asked in a surprised voice.
“Get it as soon as possible. It’s urgent.”
[What, what, where are you going?]
“To Korea.”
[Korea? You mean the Asian country? Why are you going there? I want to come too!]
“I’m not the one going.”
[Then who?]
“I’ll tell you when you get the ticket. So save your nosy questions, Jeff.”
Hmph. Fed up with Jeff, who was starting to grumble, Theo only hung up after getting a promise that the ticket would be secured by tomorrow.
Jeff should be able to get it easily. Theo was confident. After all, Jeff was the only one from a wealthy family among Theo’s friends, and he was just using his association with Theo’s group as a means to rebel against his family.
Whether he admired Theo, who grew up in a rough and harsh environment, or was just being calculating, thinking that becoming close would be beneficial, Jeff was eager to do whatever Theo asked. So it was obvious he would do this too.
Once we get to the airport, things will go smoothly. The key is getting there. After searching all the desk drawers, Theo cursed and sat down on the bed. Then, on a hunch, he fiddled with Hyungoh’s pillow.
“What on earth is this guy thinking?”
Theo, clutching the passport hidden in the pillowcase, muttered to himself with an incredulous expression. Is it necessary to hide it this thoroughly? No matter how meticulous you are, isn’t this more like a treasure hunt?
After securing Hyungoh’s passport, Theo was about to climb down the tree when suddenly Michael’s earlier words disturbed his thoughts.
To be honest, I couldn’t help but be surprised. To think he knew the truth of that day that only I knew. I could certainly understand why Herick went crazy about that aspect.
Interesting. I dislike it even more. He’s probably trying to touch on people’s vulnerabilities to use them like puppets and then discard them. Cunning bastard.
Thinking it was too early to go back right away, Theo entered Hyungoh’s room again. By now, both Michael and the men in black suits would be fully agitated. It would be much better to go when they were at least a little off guard. Theo laid down on Hyungoh’s bed, stretching his arms and legs.
I envy Choi’s morality—
Yeah, right.
How tiring is Hyungoh’s compulsive moral preaching that appears from time to time. Picking at his ear, Theo soon fell into deep contemplation.
I follow Hyungoh well?
Like Jeff follows me? Does that mean Hyungoh is above me? No matter how I think about it, I don’t grovel before Hyungoh.
As Theo had never given it much thought before, his brain might have been overloaded, because what was supposed to be just a brief space-out ended up taking a full hour. Only then did Theo check the clock on the wall and get up, annoyed.
As he was about to put his foot on the windowsill, he turned around and noticed how messy the room was. He had been searching everywhere for the passport and hadn’t had time to tidy up.
Whatever. Hyungoh isn’t the type to care about tidiness anyway. Theo was about to walk past indifferently, but the mess kept catching his eye, so he thought he should at least clean up the floor. After pushing the scattered pile of books and clothes with his foot, Theo reluctantly crouched down. As he was stacking books neatly in the corner of the wall, Michael’s words suddenly came to mind.
Following Hyungoh well, huh? Looking at himself kneeling demurely and building a tower of books, Theo thought that perhaps Michael’s words weren’t so incredible after all.
* * *
Hyungoh knew that Theo had given him water laced with sleeping pills. Normally, he would have questioned what he was doing, but even that was too tiring, so he just drank what he was given. He also wanted to escape from reality. Even to himself, his current state seemed serious. His mind was unstable, and he was on the verge of going crazy from not being able to organize the sudden new memories and existing ones.
He had heard that you don’t dream when you take sleeping pills. But strangely, Hyungoh was dreaming. And vividly at that.
It was like watching a movie. The scene unfolded before his eyes. The fountain at a university. A young Hyungoh, who looked to be about six years old, was splashing around with his feet in the fountain among college students who were worn down by assignments and job worries.
Hyungoh.
A young professor who appeared to be in his mid-thirties came running breathlessly. Hyungoh faced him and smiled brightly.
The man with a kind face hugged Hyungoh. He didn’t care that his soaked feet were making his white shirt transparent. The man looked at Hyungoh as if he were adorable. Hyungoh also held onto him tightly, not letting go.
Perhaps because it was a childhood memory, there was no sound, like a silent film. Only a gentle song that would make anyone drowsy played like background music in Hyungoh’s subconscious. It was that kind of music.
He had a neat appearance with kind eyes. At a glance, he shared many similarities with Hyungoh. Even without being told, it was clear they were father and son. They lived in an area thoroughly separated from the complex and crowded city, exuding a warm atmosphere, and their house had a high stone wall that clearly indicated an unwillingness to have any contact with the outside world.
Cradled in his arms, Hyungoh was crossing the yard when he spotted something and struggled to be put down. When the man obligingly set Hyungoh down, he ran breathlessly with a smile on his face.
In front of the entrance, she was holding a warm cup of cocoa with both hands as if it were precious, and she slightly opened her arms. Hyungoh jumped into her embrace. The man following behind waved his hand as if pleased to see her. She also reached out to him with a bright smile.
They looked like a harmonious family. Mother, father, and son. Young Hyungoh was happy. Had been happy.
Up to this point.
Hyungoh, immersed in the dream, wanted to end it at this moment. The ordinary family of three, who cherished each other, continued to live happily ever after without any trouble. He was waiting for the ending credits to roll and the screen to turn black. However, perhaps inevitably, that didn’t happen.
Unfortunately, the smiles they were wearing before his eyes were like an intense gunshot announcing the beginning of a movie.
