By Zephyria In the afternoon, the doorbell suddenly rang. Yu-jin, who had been blankly spacing out, exhausted from thinking, only realized it after the bell rang for the third time.
Who is it?
There was no one on the island. Winston wouldn’t ring the bell. Yu-jin hesitated and cautiously headed to the front door.
“Wh-who is it…?”
He asked in a voice that trembled involuntarily due to unnecessary tension, and an elderly woman’s voice returned from the other side.
“Hello, Mr. Campbell. I’m the caretaker of the mansion. Could you open the door?”
Caretaker?
Yu-jin couldn’t react for a moment. After a few seconds of silence, he came to his senses and hurriedly opened the front door. Half in doubt, he checked the faces outside the door, and a middle-aged couple who looked quite old greeted him with a smile.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Dorothy Taylor. This gentleman is my husband, Jacob Taylor. We both manage the inside and outside of the mansion. We also prepare simple meals. I prepared some simple things to eat in the refrigerator, just in case. Have you seen them?”
“Oh, no, not yet…”
He hadn’t even thought about eating anything. When he belatedly felt hungry, Dorothy let out a light sigh and hurriedly came inside.
Dorothy headed to the kitchen first, saying to Yu-jin, who had inadvertently stepped aside,
“I’ll prepare a meal right away. Don’t worry about my husband. He’ll take care of the housework on his own.”
As she said, Jacob simply bowed his head in greeting and soon disappeared somewhere. And Dorothy quickly prepared food on the table and called Yu-jin.
“Please eat comfortably. I’ll be cleaning on the second floor, so please tell me if you need anything.”
Soon after, she also disappeared from sight, and Yu-jin was soon left alone. He blinked blankly, then belatedly looked around the table and quickly picked up a piece of bread. While eating the bread with the warm and thick mushroom soup, he gradually regained his thoughts.
There was no one else here but me.
Then where did they suddenly come from? There was only one answer. They must have come from the mainland, just like Winston. However, judging from the fact that he didn’t hear any noise at all, they must have used a means other than a helicopter.
By boat.
Yu-jin momentarily forgot what he was eating and blinked blankly. He sat there as if he had gained some enlightenment, then quickly finished his meal and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Shouldn’t I be more rational? Yu-jin immediately dismissed the thought that flashed through his mind. He had left Angela alone, could he afford to hesitate? Yu-jin decided to act without thinking deeply.
“Well then, I’m going for a walk!”
He shouted towards the upper floor, and Dorothy’s reply was soon heard. He tried to act as nonchalant as possible and walked leisurely past Jacob, who was trimming the trees in the garden, but it soon turned into a quick pace. Yu-jin continued to glance back and walked urgently.
There must be a place to dock a boat nearby.
Come to think of it, he thought he had seen something similar. He had been so focused on finding people that he hadn’t thought of anything else, and he vaguely assumed that if there were no other people, there would naturally be no means of transportation other than a helicopter. Moreover, the idea of someone coming to do housework for him was something he couldn’t even imagine, given his background.
I should have thought from Winston’s perspective.
On the contrary, he wouldn’t be able to imagine that there wouldn’t be someone to provide him with convenience. Let’s try to think that way from now on.
It won’t be easy because I don’t know that kind of life at all.
Those people will probably come every day, right? At least once every two days, right?
Yu-jin panted, out of breath, and looked around. If I take advantage of that opportunity, maybe I can escape from here. If I can only do that…
Just as he thought that far, Yu-jin finally found it. A pier stretching out towards the sea, and a motorboat docked there.
38
What should I do now?
Yu-jin looked anxiously back and forth between the mansion and the boat. He didn’t know how to drive a boat, so it was impossible to steal the boat and run away. Winston probably expected that much. But Yu-jin couldn’t just sit there.
I have to think of a way somehow.
This was definitely an opportunity that had come to him. He couldn’t believe that such luck had come to him, but it wasn’t the time to hesitate. Yu-jin decided to act without thinking deeply.
I have to find Angie first.
The place where the child would be was obvious. She would definitely be at Delights. Yu-jin paced back and forth on the spot, not knowing what to do, and then stopped walking. Time was passing. He had to make a decision. It was a classic method, but it was the only method with a high probability of success. Yu-jin took a deep breath and looked around. There was a perfectly broken tree nearby. Putting what he had thought into action required quite a bit of courage. Angela’s face suddenly flickered before his eyes, and at that moment, hesitation completely disappeared and courage surged instead. He then put strength into his hand and slashed his other arm with the tree.
* * *
“Oh my goodness, what should we do! Quickly, quickly!”
The couple who had taken Yu-jin on the boat and out of the island rushed to the nearest hospital first.
“Call Mr. Campbell, hurry! H-here! There’s a patient here!”
The wife, seeing her husband supporting Yu-jin into the emergency room, hurriedly took out her cell phone. She tried to make a call quickly, but her hands were shaking and she made several mistakes. Leaving his wife behind, the husband shouted urgently.
“Please take a look at this patient! Quickly!”Amidst the commotion, Yu-jin was left alone on the bed. His husband was nowhere to be seen, presumably gone to handle the formalities, and the medical staff were too busy rushing back and forth to pay him any attention. In the first place, his injury wasn’t that serious, and the bleeding had already stopped.
I’m sorry for startling you.
Yu-jin apologized inwardly to the couple and slipped off the bed, making his way out of the hospital. Fortunately, he spotted a taxi waiting. He felt all the strength drain from his body in an instant, and dizziness washed over him, but he barely managed to hold on. He had to catch that taxi to go pick up Angie. He gritted his teeth and climbed into the taxi.
“D, Delights… to Delights.”
He barely managed to speak between ragged breaths, and the driver turned to him with a surprised look.
“Delights? You mean the Campbell estate?”
“Yes, that’s right. Please hurry.”
Soon, Winston would know everything. He had to run away with Angela before that happened. Yu-jin closed his eyes, trying to suppress the rising fear. In an instant, the memories of that day crashed over him, and his whole body trembled as if convulsing.
It’s okay, it’s okay.
He forced himself to picture Angela’s face. It was the only way to overcome the fear. And on the way to Delights, he briefly lost consciousness and woke up again several times.
* * *
“Mr. Yu-jin, what happened?”
The Butler cried out, startled by the sight of him practically leaping out of the car. Yu-jin gasped, barely managing to speak.
“Ang, Angie, Angie… where is she?”
“She’s in her room. What on earth happened? That injury…”
Yu-jin didn’t wait any longer and rushed into the house. He had to leave quickly. He had to take Angie and leave this place forever, never to return.
Hurry, quickly.
“Angie…!”
Yu-jin, his breath catching in his throat, managed to shout as he threw the door open with all his might. The bright sunlight that flooded into the room caused him to squint momentarily. As his eyes gradually adjusted to the light, the scene he had expected came into view. His precious daughter was sitting on the floor, playing with toys. He could clearly see her mouthing the word, “Daddy.” The sight of her smiling brightly and standing up unfolded slowly, as if in slow motion. And then Yu-jin saw it. Winston, who had been sitting across from Angela, was also slowly rising to his feet.
“Honey.”
Winston’s voice seemed to come from far away. He continued, smiling leisurely.
“What brings you here?”
At that moment, Yu-jin completely lost his strength and collapsed to the floor.