By Zephyria “The one Lee Seo-kyung picked was Hong-seo.”
When CEO Myeong and Lee Seo-kyung noticed him, Choi Hong-seo had just graduated from high school, barely twenty years old. Legally an adult, but socially still like a child. It was more terrible than violent threats with a knife.
“Think about it, Teacher. I only did what Lee Seo-kyung told me to do! In a way, I’m a victim just like Hong-seo! Please… please speak well of me to Vice President.”
Lee Hae-sung stopped the recording midway, hearing CEO Myeong’s voice pleading for leniency from Manager Kang, daring to claim he was a victim like Choi Hong-seo. If it wasn’t about Choi Hong-seo, it was just the barking of a dog.
In any case, he had no memory of seeing the name Yoon Hye-an on any other investigation lists at the time.
The car was now entering Dongho Bridge, heading towards Yeoksam, where ARA Electronics’ headquarters was located. Lee Hae-sung took a deep drag of the cigarette, which had become short enough to reach the filter despite having only taken a few puffs, and unceremoniously bent its neck in the ashtray.
“See if there are any parts of Hong-seo’s associates that haven’t been fully investigated. And also, briefly check on the actor Yoon Hye-an himself.”
“Should I look into it in detail?”
“No, the basics are enough for now.”
“Understood.”
“And, when was the day you returned from the Gumi factory?”
“Thursday.”
“On your way back that day, stop by Hanam, so make sure to secure the time.”
Manager Kang, hiding his surprise, glanced at Lee Hae-sung’s expression in the rearview mirror.
Hanam meant the memorial park where Choi Hong-seo’s ashes were enshrined.
Lee Hae-sung had never visited the place before. Or rather, he had never entered the interior of the ancestral shrine building. He had sent people to decorate the urn with fresh flowers every week, and he had gone to the entrance of the memorial park several times.
But he had never succeeded in getting out of the car.
He would just sit in the back seat, smoking several cigarettes, staring at the building against the backdrop of Namhansan Mountain for a long time, and then return.
But this time, his voice was unusual. He sounded like someone who had decided to face Hong-seo, Hong-seo’s death.
Perhaps he had finally decided to step out of his long shadow, Manager Kang thought, feeling a sense of relief but trying not to show it, speaking in a cautious voice.
“Will you be alright?”
“Well… I just feel strange today.”
“……”
“I feel like I can go now.”
Lee Hae-sung muttered as if to himself, leaning his head back on the seat. Outside the window, the autumn Han River sparkled brilliantly like tens, hundreds of millions of shattered fragments of the sun.
“Time has passed, after all. You will overcome ‘that incident’ eventually.”
“……”
“Hong-seo would be happy to see you.”
Manager Kang misunderstood, thinking that the traces left by Choi Hong-seo were fading. But Lee Hae-sung simply smiled quietly. It was a smile like an introverted boy, savoring a secret all to himself amidst the crowd, feeling pleased.
He didn’t feel the need to explain it in words.
No matter how much time passed, these ‘memories’ and ‘feelings’ would never become distant and blurred, changing into ‘those memories’ and ‘those feelings.’
■
“When moving a cat, you shouldn’t just hold it by the front legs under the armpits… Hmm, one hand on the chest, one hand on the belly… support it with both hands and move it…”
Choi Hong-seo, who was mumbling aloud while reading a book on a small two-seater sofa next to the bed, briefly looked up at the cat.
Tiffany, curled up in the transparent hammock of the cat tree, was staring intently at him.
“You have to give me a chance to hold you… Tiffany, when will you let me hold you?”
Despite the rather pleading question, the feline merely licked its lips with an indifferent expression. Choi Hong-seo shifted his gaze back to the book.
“When giving a butt pat, if you make a loud meow and lower your rear… Ah, this is an expression for lowering the intensity…”
Nodding and seriously reviewing the content, Choi Hong-seo looked at the cat again. And this time, he briefly turned the book upside down, keeping it on the page he was reading.
“Butt pat? If you won’t even let me hold you, will the day ever come when I can give you a butt pat? What do you think, Tiffany?”
Meow.
This time, the cat opened its mouth as if yawning and made a sound. It felt like a response saying, ‘No way,’ which made him let out a faint laugh.
It had been about two weeks since he moved from the Nonhyeon-dong Officetel to Yongsan-gu, leaving Gangnam-gu.
It wasn’t far from Lee Hae-sung’s villa, which had been the last accommodation for ‘Layered,’ and it was closer than the shabby accommodation he had lived in for a long time before. This area, where narrow multi-family housing complexes, inaccessible by car, and an exotic affluent neighborhood were in close proximity, was fortunately not much different from Choi Hong-seo’s memory.
Although it couldn’t compare to the officetel where Yoon Hye-an lived, the new place was not small for a studio apartment. Having lived in cramped accommodations for a long time, with bunk beds filling the space in a multi-family house with no separate living room, this much was satisfactory for Choi Hong-seo.
A bed was placed by the window, and a cat tree was installed at the foot of the bed opposite. It was a spot where he could see the entire rectangular room at a glance and enjoy the sunlight while looking outside. He had read in books that cat towers or cat trees were best placed in such locations, and it had actually been effective. In about a month, it had completely become her sanctuary.
To the cat, Choi Hong-seo might have been a suspicious figure whose appearance was only similar to its owner, but to Choi Hong-seo, the cat was just as unfamiliar a creature. He had no experience raising a pet.
To live with the creature, I had to learn and master everything from A to Z. Thanks to that, books like
“Tiffany.”
From within the semicircular transparent acrylic, the creature’s small ears twitched.
“What do you think? The
She still wouldn’t come near me unless there were treats, and she wouldn’t let me pet or hold her, making brushing a struggle every time. Even though I had to carve out time to study cat behavior, I didn’t dislike living with her.
No, I was grateful she was here.
If I were alone, I wouldn’t have been able to endure this unsettling situation. I might have wandered the streets every night, unable to stay home, trying to soothe my anxiety.
At least, she looked at me when I spoke to her like this. Sometimes she’d twitch her ears, let out a small meow, or wag her tail. As if telling me to keep talking because she was listening.
Of course, it would be even better if she let me pet and hold her…
Choi Hong-seo pulled his legs up onto the sofa and rested his chin on his knee.
“They said the audition results would be out today, why haven’t I heard anything yet?”Tilting head.” Tiffany tilted her head.
“It’s not even 1 PM yet, I must be too impatient, right?”Tilting my head again.”
“If I don’t get cast… I won’t have any way to see that person again.”
Because now I’m nothing to that person. Someone I can’t contact, can’t visit, a stranger with no connection. No, someone I shouldn’t contact or visit.
The cat showed no reaction this time. Not even a tilt of the head.
What would I do if I could meet them again? What could the current you do in front of that person? It felt like an accusation. It was a self-serving interpretation born of guilt, but still.
“Tiffany, want a treat?”
Choi Hong-seo brightened his tone to distract himself from the anxiety of waiting for the audition results. At the word ‘treat,’ the creature lifted her head and pricked up her ears. Choi Hong-seo stood up from the sofa and walked towards the kitchen, and she hopped down from the cat tree with little leaps.
She never followed me at other times, but only with treats did she let her guard down, her honesty making him chuckle.
“Yes, I’ll give it to you now. Tiffany, want a Churu?”
The liquid Churu was her favorite treat. As soon as she heard the word Churu, she seemed to perk up, her meows growing louder as she followed him.
Just as he was about to open the cabinet where the treats were stored, his phone, left on the sofa, rang.
“Just a moment. I’ll answer the call and give it to you right away.”