Chapter 103
- A New Life
2023.08.11.
Hyun-ji's place was an apartment in Palo Alto, near Stanford University. It was an ordinary apartment with a small living room and two bedrooms, but surprisingly, the inside was cluttered. This, too, seemed to be Hyun-ji's true self.
So-eun ended up staying at Hyun-ji's place. So-eun had stubbornly refused, saying she would look for a hotel nearby, but Hyun-ji was adamant.
"Since there are two rooms, don't worry about me and make yourself comfortable. I'm getting a bed from a friend tomorrow, and I'll get you a desk if you need one."
To be honest, So-eun hadn't expected Hyun-ji to be this nice, so she was a little dazed.
"If you don't want to cause trouble, you should either be good at English or know how to swear. You can't swear in Korean or in a foreign language, and you don't have a fighter spirit, so how can I not be frustrated?"
She was clearly offering her kindness willingly, but with her cynical tone, So-eun felt like she was seeing a female version of Kim Tae-joon before they became close.
"Instead of clinging to independence and saying you won't be indebted to anyone in this harsh American land, it's better to just blend in and stay safe. You came to get help from me, so just live like that. Got it?"
"Yes. Thank you, really."
"Okay. I don't have much time to play around. But I believe you can take care of yourself, So-eun. I leave early in the morning, but I'll be at school most of the time. So, if you feel comfortable being alone here, meditate quietly, and if you want to come out and have lunch with me, come to school. You can study in the library."
"......"
"It's also a great place to study English. Everyone you meet outside is a native speaker."
So-eun laughed at her rambling, and Hyun-ji smiled, relieved.
"You did the right thing coming to me."
Hyun-ji's nose also tingled at the sight of So-eun's face, which was brimming with tears at the small act of kindness. Hyun-ji turned away and went to the bedroom.
"You must be tired, so go to bed early. The bed is small, but let's sleep together tonight."
"No. I'll sleep on the sofa."
Hyun-ji glared, and So-eun quickly noticed and bowed her head. She would follow her orders.
After washing up, the two lay in bed, quietly talking as they tried to fall asleep.
"Did your father pass away?"
Hyun-ji had been bothered by So-eun's passing remark as they drove home.
"He passed away in April. I wanted to go to the Philippines, but I couldn't because I thought the director would come after me."
She felt sorry for her, who had unintentionally become a fugitive.
"People say this when they're going through a hard time. There are people who have it harder than me, so this is nothing, so cheer up and work hard. ...... I was that person back then."
So-eun's arduous life seeped into Hyun-ji's ears.
"I even had a friend who told me directly that my hardship seemed like nothing when she looked at me. But I wasn't really having a hard time. My dad had disappeared from my memory a long time ago."
"......"
"......But the happiness that came and left is a little different. ......I also have a lot of regrets."
She wanted to comfort her because her father had passed away, but Han So-eun was subtly talking about Kim Tae-joon. Even after running away like this.
A bitter laugh escaped, but Hyun-ji could relate to So-eun's lament.
"When you're in love, you only remember what you couldn't do for that person. You only remember what that person did for you."
"You've been in love too, Hyun-ji."
"I'm not like you."
Hyun-ji turned her back and lay down as So-eun, who had been whispering listlessly, showed a delighted expression.
That's right. I had a loving friend too.
A friend who was a source of strength just by being alive.
Hyun-ji tried to instill life into that friend, who had eyes that seemed like every day was her last.
It's okay to just stay still. You're someone who can just stay still.
Even if you stay still, there's something that will go for you. Time will diligently go for you. Time will take you to the future, so you can just stay still.
There are people who will be happy just by you being here peacefully. So you are a valuable person in yourself. Don't forget that.
The words she had given to her friend back then kept trying to come back to life.
Hyun-ji wanted to protect this woman who had come to her like a baby bird.
\
Tae-joon, who had resigned from his position as director of K Electronic Service, headed straight to the Philippines.
So-eun had left with the mail Tae-joon had hidden, the obituary of Han Hong-gyu that had arrived from the Philippine Embassy. So, he guessed that she might have gone to the Philippines to get her father's Relics.
However, no trace of So-eun could be found in the Philippines. He hired people to thoroughly check the airport's CCTV and search the flight records, but no information about So-eun came up. He even went to the place where Han Hong-gyu's Relics were said to be stored and met with the people involved, but no one knew about So-eun. No one had touched Han Hong-gyu's Relics.
Thinking about it, it seemed like a trap she had set. It seemed like she had created a false clue to make him go to the Philippines.
Han So-eun was thorough. Before leaving, she showed a meticulous side by opening an untraceable overseas account and transferring all her money, and even threw away the cell phone that Jaepil had prepared for her at Incheon Airport. She was prepared to completely cut off contact with Jaepil from the beginning.
She didn't even open the ten million dollar account that Jaepil had created for her so that she could live a prosperous life in the future.
Ten million dollars.
Chairman Kim Jae-pil, you're really generous.
He thought that both the grandfather, who gave his grandson's lover ten million dollars to get rid of her, and Han So-eun, who didn't even check the ten million dollar account created in her name, were truly terrible people.
In a difficult situation where he didn't know where to start tracking her, he received a call from New York. The detective he had hired had thoroughly searched the airport. The detective had found So-eun by checking all the CCTV records at the airport. So-eun had left the airport and taken the AirTrain and the subway to downtown New York.
Tae-joon left for New York again.
\\
It had been three weeks since she came to the United States. It had been two weeks since she started living with Hyun-ji.
So-eun and Hyun-ji's roommate life had gradually settled down.
Hyun-ji asked So-eun to cook for her, as So-eun insisted on paying for the room share. She asked her to take responsibility for the meals, as they would eat breakfast and dinner together every day.
So, So-eun pondered what kind of food Hyun-ji would like and tried various things, and Hyun-ji became So-eun's test subject and ate everything deliciously. The sighs that So-eun used to let out heavily when she was left alone gradually faded, and the vitality in her eyes slowly returned.
"Engineers are good to live in the United States. And this is Silicon Valley. Prepare to get a job again and get into Silicon Valley. I'll help you."
Hyun-ji's role was to constantly inject vitality into So-eun's life.
"Don't just stay at home, come out a little. The school library is good, so you can go there and study."
Hyun-ji lent So-eun her library card.
One sunny noon.
So-eun, who had been studying at home, finally left the house alone, as Hyun-ji had advised.
She had packed all her study materials, but she felt lost when she entered the campus. The scale of the prestigious American university campus was different from the start.
She didn't know where the library was, and she was afraid that she would be embarrassed if she was caught at the entrance trying to enter the library.
Everything was an adventure for So-eun, who had only lived righteously. In fact, everywhere she looked seemed more like a park or a quiet village than a university, so she felt like she could sit on any bench and study. Still, she wanted to sit in a pretty place and enjoy the sunlight, so she wandered around a little more.
The tall trees in the wide fields constantly reminded her that this was America. She was worried about whether she would be able to move between classrooms properly, which was a typical Korean concern, and as she turned her eyes to various places, she eventually reached the center of the campus.
Bronze statues of maroon color, arranged in harmony with trees and grass, caught her eye. She had heard that they had many works by the sculptor Auguste Rodin, but she didn't know that there would be so many outside, not inside the museum.
Among them, the work that stopped So-eun's steps was the bronze statues in the center of the corridor leading to the church. An explanation of the work was engraved on the floor stone.
‘The Burghers of Calais’
She had heard about ‘The Burghers of Calais’ when she was a university student. When the King of England, who had won the war, demanded the lives of six citizens of Calais, France, there were six citizen representatives who willingly offered their lives for the sake of the other citizens. Rodin depicted the human fear and anguish of these citizen representatives heading towards death.
A work that expresses the high level of moral duty and responsibility required of the leaders of society, ‘Noblesse Oblige’.
The moment she faced the work, Kim Jae-pil came to So-eun's mind. Chairman Kim, who is respected by everyone. So, Chairman Kim, who cannot reveal the distorted face inside. Chairman Kim, who showed her that bare face, but has to live with a thick mask on for the rest of his life, Chairman Kim, whose life is pathetic.
She didn't know why he suddenly came to mind, even though he was standing exactly on the opposite side of the work. Perhaps there was still some lingering attachment that she had left behind even in that painful moment.
He hurt me, but he is also a human being just like me, and a pitiful person who lost his child, so I thought I was too presumptuous in the last phone call. Just because I was hurt doesn't mean I have the right to return the hurt to that person.
If I meet him again, I will say I'm sorry, but since there will never be a chance to see him again, I have no choice but to shake it off.
With a heart of reflecting on the past, So-eun took a seat on the bench facing the statue of the Burghers of Calais.
The new book that Hyun-ji had bought for her to study English was really heavy. Trying to read it while holding it in her hand without a desk, her wrist couldn't bear the weight of the book and went down. Her head also tilted down along with the book. The sunlight was so warm that it was hot, and her glasses slipped off her nose due to sweat. She couldn't see properly and English was difficult, so So-eun dozed off in less than an hour after opening the book.
Thud!
Oh my!
So-eun woke up in surprise when she dropped the book while dozing off, and her eyes turned to the opposite side.
A man with black hair was looking at her with a faint smile.
"......Director Kim?"
In an instant, dewdrops swelled up in So-eun's eyes.
