By Zephyria Wait, what did I just hear? Maybe this is a dream? That’s right, I’m still asleep. It must be.
But he knew very well that this was reality. In a voice as shaky as the hand holding the phone, Yu-jin barely managed to open his mouth.
“Wha, what are you talking about? Ho… How did you find out?”
“Damn it.”
Grant let out a sigh mixed with curses and quickly continued before the flustered Yu-jin could say anything.
“Run away quickly, Campbell is going there.”
“Yes? Winston? Here?”
Yu-jin was so surprised that he could only repeat his words. Grant took a deep breath at the scream-like words and unexpectedly apologized.
“If you had told me in advance, we would have prepared for this, I’m sorry. He came suddenly… I couldn’t help it.”
Yu-jin was flustered by the unexpected apology and shook his head.
“Ah, no. I’m the one who’s sorry. Ho… I hope he didn’t do anything to you?”
The thought of what terrible things Winston might have done sent a chill down his spine. Grant replied briefly to Yu-jin’s trembling voice.
“I’m alive for now.”
‘For now.’ What an ominous word. Yu-jin was about to ask more, but Grant spoke first.
“This is not the time to be doing this. Anyway, get out of here quickly, and contact me when you settle down.”
“Ah… Ah, yes. I will. I’m really sorry, Grant.”
He apologized again, but Grant said briefly, “It’s okay,” and hung up. As if there was no more time to waste. The sudden silence woke him up as if he had been splashed with cold water. Yu-jin jumped out of bed and hurriedly packed his bags. There was no time to pack a lot. He put some simple clothes in a small travel bag, quickly put the money he had in his coat pocket, and hurried out of the room.
“Angie, Angie.”
He gently shook his sleeping daughter’s shoulder and called her name, and Angela mumbled softly and rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“Wake up, Angie, we have to leave here.”
He felt sorry for her, but he couldn’t take too long. He hurriedly picked up his daughter, who couldn’t even open her eyes properly yet, and hurried down the stairs. In this situation, other people would call a taxi, but that wasn’t the case for Yu-jin. Just the thought of getting in a car made his heart pound and he couldn’t breathe.
What a luxury to say in such an emergency. He scolded himself, but that didn’t make the situation any better. Rather, Yu-jin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling dizzy.
Haa, haa.
Heaving his shoulders greatly, he finally calmed down after taking a few breaths. The cold winter wind helped to cool his head.
“Ugh.”
Yu-jin hurriedly hugged his daughter even tighter as she stirred in his arms, perhaps because of the cold.
“I’m sorry, Angie, just bear with me.”
He had to get in the car somehow, even for Angela’s sake. He couldn’t just walk aimlessly on the road in this cold winter.
He suddenly remembered when they came here. Even then, Yu-jin had taken a car from the train station to here, but he couldn’t stand it and had to get off and walk from the middle. Besides, he doubted that there would be a taxi coming here at this time.
He quickly searched the app for a taxi. But as expected, there were no taxis around. He even called taxi companies, but they were embarrassed and refused when they heard the address. He kept wasting time and eventually gave up.
I have to get to the city first.
Yu-jin soon made up his mind and started walking along the dark night road. He had to go as fast as possible, as far as possible. The weight of the child was already making his arms tingle, but he ignored it and walked almost running. The small travel bag made a loud rattling sound as it dragged on the ground. His ears and hands were frozen by the cold wind, and he felt pain. He gritted his teeth and walked and walked through the darkness, not knowing how long it would take.Suddenly, Yu-jin saw two lights rushing towards him. Realizing they were headlights, his whole body froze. He then heard the sound of brakes and saw the car lurching. The bright light that had been bearing down on him and the deafening roar that had seemed to burst his eardrums were instantly revived as if they were happening right now.
“Hiek…!”
He gasped, swallowing a scream, and hugged Angela tightly in his arms. Instinctively trying to protect the child, he hunched over as much as possible and squeezed his eyes shut as a blinding light poured over him.
Terrified and trembling, Yu-jin suddenly realized that it was quiet around him. All he could hear was the car’s engine. Hesitantly raising his head, he saw the car stopped some distance away. The black shadow of the man standing towards him, silhouetted by the headlights, made his heart stop.
Yu-jin frowned deeply, blinking his narrowly opened eyes several times. His mouth went dry, and his pulse raced. Yu-jin could only watch as the man slowly walked towards him.
* * *
The front door wasn’t locked. A cold air wafted through the door that opened limply. An ominous feeling swept through Winston’s chest at the silence, where no sign of life could be felt.
Winston paused for a moment, then slowly stepped inside. All he could hear was the sound of his own footsteps; the surroundings were filled with a deathly silence. The bodyguards hurriedly began searching the house, but he already knew instinctively. Yu-jin had already left this place.
Instead of cursing, he chuckled. Go ahead, then. Try to turn me inside out like this, and see what happens.
He said nothing as the bodyguards returned with pale faces, glancing at each other. He simply took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. The surroundings remained silent until Winston lit the cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke. Finally, the team leader, having mustered his courage, stepped forward and opened his mouth.
“Mr. Campbell.”
“Enough.”
Winston cut him off before he could say anything more. Winston said sarcastically to the team leader, who quickly shut his mouth,
“If you’re going to tell me Yu-jin isn’t here, I don’t need to hear it. I have eyes.”
The team leader could only step back, embarrassed. Winston, who had been smoking in thought for a moment, opened his mouth.
“Grant.”
“Yes?”
The team leader paused and asked at the low voice. After inhaling and exhaling a puff of smoke, Winston continued.
“That man would know, wouldn’t he.”
* * *
“Thank you for the ride.”
Yu-jin thanked him again before closing the car door. The older man behind the wheel smiled and said,
“It was nothing, I was passing by anyway. It could have been a disaster. Who would have thought someone would be walking there at that hour?”
Yu-jin apologized, embarrassed, at the sound of his hearty laughter.
“I’m sorry, for startling you.”
“No, no. You’ve apologized enough. It’s okay now.”
The man shook his head and thoughtfully added.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do a good deed. May God bless you and your child.”
Yu-jin smiled back at the man with the kind smile and said,
“May God’s blessings be upon you as well.”
With those words, Yu-jin closed the car door, and he soon drove away. Yu-jin sighed and hugged the child in his arms tightly.
Meeting the man was literally a stroke of luck. The fear of Winston that came after the fear of being hit by a car vanished when the man spoke to him. He had been driving by and was startled by the father and daughter in the headlights, so he slammed on the brakes. The man, who had chuckled that he had been trembling at the thought that they might be ghosts, offered Yu-jin a ride. His body was still shaking, but there was no other way. Using the child as an excuse, he sat in the back seat, kept his eyes closed the entire ride, tensing his whole body, and only exhaled when the car stopped.
Thank goodness.
Thankfully, he didn’t ask any questions and dropped the father and daughter off at a motel before leaving. Yu-jin breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into the shabby motel. The motel was old and run-down, but it was kept clean. It was a place the man, who said he drove a truck and crossed many states, could confidently recommend.