Chapter 3
- It Feels Like Someone Is Crying 2021.05.08.
Eun-bi arrived at the officetel that her Oppa Eun-yeop had bought. Eun-bi, who had left for the United States to study abroad three years ago, returned to Korea without completing the four years. She passed the transfer exam to K University and set foot on Korean soil again. At her younger sister's wish to live independently, her Oppa readily got her a place. However, he did not grant his sister's request. She wanted an officetel close to the university, but the place Eun-yeop got was not very close to the school. Still, the condition of the place was excellent, so Eun-bi was reasonably satisfied. After organizing her luggage, she noticed things she needed here and there. Eun-bi left the house to buy daily necessities. As she went down the stairs to the underground parking lot, Eun-bi witnessed an unexpected incident. Bang! Screech! A man was hit and fell by a car that rushed in as if it had suddenly accelerated. Eun-bi was startled and stopped in horror. It happened so suddenly that she didn't even have time to scream. Eun-bi hid behind the emergency staircase wall, covered her mouth, and held her breath. A man wearing a black hat came out of the driver's seat. The black hat stood in front of the fallen man and muttered something.
“……Have you ever heard of it?”
The voice of the black hat was not clear. It felt like he was asking something, but there was no way the fallen man could answer. After asking a short question, the black hat got back into the car. And he left the man behind and drove away. After the car disappeared, Eun-bi belatedly gasped for breath. She peeked her head out and looked around the parking lot. She could see blood flowing under the fallen man. I have to report it! Eun-bi took out her cell phone. But the hand holding the phone trembled. Her mind went blank, and she felt terrified. I'll have to go back and forth to the police station. What if I get caught up in it and become dangerous? Her Oppa, who became a lawyer this year, had told her not to get involved in any noisy situations, no matter what the case.
‘If he's already dead, there's no point in getting involved. Someone else will report it if I don't.’
I didn't see anything. Eun-bi hurriedly went back up the stairs and returned home. Fortunately, a few minutes later, she heard the sound of an ambulance. Eun-bi watched from inside her house, through the window, as the ambulance and police car successively visited the officetel and then left. Was the man dead? Whether he lived or died, she hoped that nothing troublesome would happen to her. Around evening. She received a call from her Oppa Eun-yeop. Eun-bi answered the phone right away.
“Hello.”
[Did you look around the house?]
“Yeah. The house is nice, but it's too far from school. Why did Oppa get this officetel of all places?”
[Jeong Ji-heon lives there.]
The determined expression she had been wearing melted away at her Oppa's answer. Jeong Ji-heon! Her heart fluttered like a teenage girl, and her heart pounded. The reason Eun-bi transferred to K University was because it was the university Ji-heon attended. She heard that Ji-heon was graduating soon, but Eun-bi still wanted to have some contact with Ji-heon. Three years ago, at the crossroads of studying abroad in the United States, the thing that made her hesitate the most until the very end was the existence of Ji-heon. Her Oppa's friend, Ji-heon, was Eun-bi's first love. And that unrequited love had not yet ended. She had dated a few times in the United States, but she still couldn't give up on her feelings for Ji-heon. So she came back. Eun-bi swallowed hard and asked again to confirm the fact.
“Ji-heon Oppa lives here? Do you know what number it is?”
[But is that the problem? There was an accident there today.]
Eun-yeop's voice suddenly turned dark. Eun-bi tilted her head, puzzled.
“What?”
[Ji-heon was hit by a hit-and-run car in the underground parking lot there today.]
Eun-bi almost dropped her cell phone.
“……Hit-and-run?”
[Yeah. I haven't been to the hospital yet, so I don't know for sure.]
The accident that happened during the day…… Could that have been Ji-heon Oppa?
“Oppa…… Where's the hospital?”
Eun-bi asked in a trembling voice.
\ [The power is off. It will connect to the voice mailbox after the beep…….] Jeong-o hung up the phone with a worried expression. Ji-heon, who had said he would pick her up at 3 PM today, did not show up. He didn't answer the phone, and later, it went to a message saying the power was off.
‘Oppa has never broken a promise before.’
As time passed and it became evening, she became anxious. Could something have happened to him? Could he have had an accident?
‘Or maybe Oppa suddenly changed his mind…….’
All sorts of imaginations took over her mind. The waiting time became increasingly nerve-wracking. Just yesterday, she felt like she could accept her situation as a blessing, but now everything was frightening. \ In front of the hospital operating room. Ms. Jang Young-mi sat there, overwhelmed with fear. Her son had been in a hit-and-run accident. The accident reportedly happened just minutes after she had spoken with him on the phone. Her son, who had refused his mother's request to come home today, was found in the officetel parking lot. Her only son, more precious than her own life. She couldn't believe that her son, who had grown up so healthy and admirable, was struggling between life and death. Ms. Jang, who had rushed to the hospital after hearing the news, wailed after confirming her son's condition. It felt like the world was collapsing. Why did this happen to my son? After screaming until she was exhausted, a detective in charge of the case approached Ms. Jang, who was drained of energy.
“Hello. I'm from the Yongsan Police Station. Are you Jeong Ji-heon's mother?”
Ms. Jang stared at the detective without expression.
“Unfortunately, the building's CCTV was malfunctioning today, so there is no data left. Fortunately, there was a car with a black box parked there, so we were able to secure the vehicle number. Part of the hit-and-run scene was filmed, so we have also secured the suspect's identity.”
“Please catch him…… Please catch that bastard…….”
Ms. Jang grabbed the detective and pleaded. She had long since abandoned the dignity befitting the wife of the CEO of the large corporation Seryun Group. The person holding the detective's hand and sobbing was a pitiful woman to behold.
“The suspect is a man named Kim Jin-gu, have you ever heard of him?”
Ms. Jang shook her head. Tears that she thought had dried up flowed again. A woman approached the detective, who was standing blankly in front of the operating room because of Ms. Jang, who was holding onto him and crying.
“Are you the detective? I'm a witness to the hit-and-run incident at the officetel.”
The detective's gaze, which had been directed at Ms. Jang, turned to the young woman.
“I moved into the officetel today. I went down to the parking lot for a moment and witnessed the hit-and-run.”
At the woman's voice, Ms. Jang also raised her head. It was a face she vaguely remembered.
“Mother, it's me, Eun-bi. Chae Eun-bi. Do you remember?”
Eun-bi firmly held onto Ms. Jang, as if to support her staggering figure, and greeted her.
“Oh…… Eun-bi. It's Eun-bi…….”
Ms. Jang, who was disoriented, could only nod her head. The child from a family of legal professionals she knew. The friend of her son Ji-heon, Eun-yeop's younger sister Chae Eun-bi.
“Mother, calm down and cheer up. Oppa's surgery will go well. I'll go to the police station and give my statement. We'll catch the culprit for sure.”
Eun-bi comforted Ms. Jang with composure. It was as if Eun-bi was the adult and Ms. Jang was the child.
“I'll go to the police station and come back. The surgery will take a long time, so please go home. I'll contact you when the surgery is over.”
At Eun-bi's calm comfort, Ms. Jang sobbed once more. She murmured faintly, "Thank you, Eun-bi, thank you,". While accompanying the detective to the police station, Eun-bi told him what she had witnessed in as much detail as possible.
“It was a very cruel hit-and-run. The culprit was a man, wearing a black hat and black clothes. He seemed to be about 180 cm tall, and his voice was husky.”
“Did the culprit make a sound?”
“Yes. He asked the fallen victim something…… 'Have you ever heard of an aggravated hit-and-run?' Something like that, roughly.”
Eun-bi added her imagination to her memory.
“I think I could be more certain if I saw his face.”
While she was recounting her eyewitness account, the two arrived at the police station. As soon as Eun-bi entered the police station, she recognized the culprit. It just so happened that the suspect had been arrested at his home and had arrived at the police station.
“That's the man! That's the man!”
Eun-bi shouted in front of the suspect Kim Jin-gu.
“What is this young lady talking about! Do you know me? Why are you doing this to me! Why!”
Kim Jin-gu, with his hands tied, twisted his body and shouted. His eyes were wide with a look of utter injustice. But Eun-bi was certain.
“That's exactly his voice! I'm sure of it!”
Eun-bi clenched her fist tightly with a determined expression. The culprit who had harmed the Oppa she had admired was like an enemy to her as well. On the one hand, she felt a sense of fulfillment at having done something righteous. \ After the culprit was caught, Ms. Jang was handed her son's belongings. A cell phone, a car smart key, and a ring case. Ring case. After turning on the cell phone, Ms. Jang learned that her son had been about to go on a date with someone named 'Jeong-o'. That's why he had refused his mother's request to come home, because of the date. And that's why he had been in the hit-and-run accident.
- Oppa, where are you?
- Oppa, we were supposed to meet at 3 PM today. Did something happen?
- I can't reach you. I'm worried. Please contact me when you see this message.
- What's going on? Nothing bad happened, right? Please, just send me a text.
After checking dozens of text messages from 'Jeong-o', Ms. Jang clenched her fist and pounded her chest.
“I have a friend I'd like to introduce to you.”
Her son had said that in their last phone call. He was probably going to introduce this 'Jeong-o' to her. How much did you have to like her to refuse my request and go on a date? Ms. Jang resented her son's girlfriend. Ms. Jang was even more dumbfounded after having someone investigate the child named 'Lee Jung-oh'. Lee Jung-oh. 3rd year at H University. 23 years old. The daughter of a single mother. A child who grew up without a father. Not to mention that her family was dirt poor, and her mother was a woman who had not even received a proper high school education.
“Because of a girl like this, my son…….”
The surgery went well, but Ji-heon had not yet regained consciousness. The fact that her son had not regained consciousness made her hate Jeong-o even more. Ms. Jang sent a short text message to Jeong-o using Ji-heon's cell phone. \
- Don't contact me again.
Jeong-o received a text message from Ji-heon after three days of no contact. The short message bewildered her. The Jeong Ji-heon she knew wouldn't say such things. Jeong-o immediately went to Ji-heon's house. She hadn't been there often, but she was invited once or twice a month. Ji-heon had even given Jeong-o the door lock password, telling her she could come and sleep over anytime. How could someone like that suddenly send a breakup text? Telling her never to contact him again? Jeong-o couldn't believe the message's origin. She thought something must be wrong. However, as soon as she arrived in front of Ji-heon's house, Jeong-o faced an obstacle.
“Room 1903. This is the right place, isn't it…?”
The door lock of Ji-heon's house, room 1903, was different from what Jeong-o remembered.
“Could it be…”
Her heart pounded. She rang the bell, but there was no answer from inside. With trembling fingertips, Jeong-o pressed the door lock password she knew. The door didn't open. Jeong-o tried her own house password, her birthday, and Ji-heon's birthday in turn. After entering the wrong number several times, a loud alarm sounded. Jeong-o's face turned bright red when the door opened from the inside. A middle-aged woman stared intently at Jeong-o with a fierce expression. Jeong-o swallowed hard and asked the woman.
“Excuse me, doesn't Jeong Ji-heon live here?”
“Lee Jeong-o, student?”
The other person knew Jeong-o's name.
“I'm Ji-heon's mother. Come in.”
The coldly uttered words pulled Jeong-o in like a chain. Jeong-o felt like she was being dragged into the officetel. Ms. Jang scanned Jeong-o up and down as she entered the house. Seeing Jeong-o, who was approaching timidly with her head bowed like a guilty person, Ms. Jang sighed loosely. Perhaps because she knew the child had grown up in a single-parent family, she seemed to have an innate shadow. She couldn't have such a child next to her son.
“What kind of rude behavior is it to keep pressing someone else's door lock?”
“Ji-heon Oppa used to tell me the door lock password.”
“I'm telling you because the password has changed. Shouldn't you give up if it's not working after trying it once?”
“I'm sorry. I couldn't reach Oppa, so I was worried if something had happened.”
She was a bolder child than she looked. Ms. Jang thought that she might not leave with gentle words. Ms. Jang scolded Jeong-o more harshly.
“How much did you bother our Ji-heon?”
“……”
“I was wondering how tired the student must have made him for our Ji-heon to send me.”
Tears like a glass curtain formed in Jeong-o's eyes at the sharp words like shards of glass. Ms. Jang couldn't bear to watch and turned her head away.
“If you understand, don't come back again. Ji-heon isn't free enough to deal with kids like you.”
“Mother, just a moment.”
Jeong-o grabbed Ms. Jang as if pleading.
“Could you please let me talk to Oppa just once?”
“Who are you calling mother?”
Ms. Jang shook off Jeong-o's arm violently. My son is struggling between life and death right now. No matter how much you plead to talk to him, he's not in a state to do so. The thought that all of this seemed to be because of Lee Jeong-o made her shudder.
“Leave when I'm talking nicely. Don't bother our Ji-heon anymore.”
Ms. Jang said fiercely. Jeong-o's tears fell to the floor. * It had already been half a month since Ji-heon's accident. Ji-heon was still unconscious. Eun-bi came to the hospital room every day.
“Mother, did you get some rest?”
Eun-bi greeted Ms. Jang, who was guarding the hospital room, brightly.
“Eun-bi, you're here.”
Eun-bi's eyes soon became worried at Ms. Jang's weak greeting.
“At this rate, Mother will collapse too. I thought you should get an IV drip, so I asked a doctor I know.”
“I'm fine.”
“Still, get the drip. Oppa might wake up today. When Oppa wakes up, he'll look for Mother first, so you should show him a bright face.”
Eun-bi led Ms. Jang out of the hospital room. Ms. Jang reluctantly followed Eun-bi's suggestion and headed to the reserved hospital room. After sending Ms. Jang away, Ji-heon became Eun-bi's. Eun-bi gazed intently at Ji-heon, who was sound asleep like a prince in a sleeping forest. Even with his eyes closed, his handsome appearance remained the same. How could you not have changed at all in three years? No, it seems like you've become even more handsome during that time. Should I give him a stolen kiss just once? He wouldn't know anyway. Eun-bi's lips, captivated by Ji-heon's beauty, gradually moved closer to Ji-heon. One second before her lips touched his.
“Ahem.”
The hospital room door opened and a man entered. Eun-bi immediately moved away from Ji-heon and sat back in her seat. It was Ji-heon's friend, Park Seung-gyu. A friend who was Ji-heon's high school, university classmate, and senior in the military.
“You're here again today.”
Eun-bi responded to Seung-gyu's greeting, which seemed almost sarcastic, with a smile.
“Yes. I was worried about Oppa.”
Despite the kind answer, Seung-gyu didn't ease his sullen expression.
“What brings you here, Seung-gyu?”
“What else would bring me here? I came to see my friend.”
Seung-gyu replied curtly to Eun-bi's question. Since he disliked her for no reason, Eun-bi didn't feel like being nice to him either. Even if he was Ji-heon's friend. Seung-gyu sat down close to Ji-heon, as if worried about leaving Eun-bi and Ji-heon alone together. An oppressive silence filled the already quiet space.
“Oh, there's something strange.”
Seung-gyu spoke to Eun-bi, who was feeling bored in the silence, for some reason.
“Ji-heon's accident happened at 1 PM, and the report was received at 1:20 PM. The person who reported it was a man.”
“……”
“Didn't you say you witnessed the accident? Why didn't you report it right away?”
Eun-bi was flustered by the unexpected question.
“……My phone battery was dead. I reported it as soon as I turned it on, but someone else had already reported it first.”
Seung-gyu nodded sullenly. Eun-bi felt upset by Seung-gyu's reaction. It was even more so because she had a guilty conscience and felt like she was stepping on her own toes.
“But why are you asking about that?”
“Oh, well… Huh! Ji-heon!”
Seung-gyu, who had mumbled an answer, suddenly called out Ji-heon's name. Eun-bi also turned her head towards Ji-heon.
“Oppa!”
“Ji-heon, Jeong Ji-heon!”
Finally, Ji-heon opened his eyes. Ji-heon, who was blinking and rolling his eyes without saying anything, struggled with his expression as if trying to get up. Seung-gyu raised the upper body of the electric bed to help Ji-heon sit up.
“Are you okay? Can you see me? Do you recognize who I am?”
Seung-gyu, who had adjusted Ji-heon's position, asked Ji-heon. Ji-heon, who had been staring at Seung-gyu for a long time, opened his mouth.
“Who…”
The face was vaguely familiar, but the name didn't come to mind.
“……You don't know me?”
“……”
“Park Seung-gyu! We were high school and university classmates! And I was your senior in the military. We were close after you were discharged. Don't you remember?”
“Military?”
Ji-heon asked haltingly with bloodless lips. He thought he still had a few more months until entering the training camp, but suddenly he was being told he had a senior in the military.
“I served in the military? Me?”
Seung-gyu and Eun-bi's eyes widened at his question. Ji-heon had no idea why they had such ambiguous expressions. Suddenly, a terrible headache washed over him. Ugh. Ji-heon frowned and let out a rough groan.
“Ji-heon!”
“Oppa!”
The voices of those in front of him sounded distant. It felt like a needle was piercing his brain. It felt like he had forgotten something very important. It felt like someone was crying. His chest was aching and his head was throbbing.
