## Chapter 53
“You told me that three children from the orphanage were missing.”
“Children from our orphanage? No. Nothing like that happened.”
“Don’t you remember checking the documents with me? There were fifteen sheets, but when we counted the children’s faces again, there were only twelve…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Weren’t you just here yesterday on an errand from the director of Somang Orphanage?”
The client wore a bewildered expression at the mention of missing children. His previously welcoming gaze had changed to one of suspicion, as if he thought I was saying something strange.
Could he have lost his memory due to the shock from yesterday? But why would he only forget about the missing children?
As I stood there confused, the Director, who was standing next to me, gently pushed me back and stepped forward with a pleasant smile to face the client.
“You must have been quite shocked. I’m glad you’re unharmed. Have they caught the arson suspect?”
It was an innocently benevolent smile that surprised me every time I saw it. When this cold-looking beauty asked with such kindness, I could feel the client’s wariness ease a bit.
“The suspect hasn’t been caught yet, but with such distinctive features, they’ll catch him soon.”
“You saw the suspect in person?”
“Yes. He was tall with brightly dyed hair. He set fire to our orphanage’s storage room and ran away.”
“That’s impossible…!”
“Jaeo. Be quiet.”
The Director stopped me as I tried to refute the client’s words. I bit my lip and seethed with frustration. If it weren’t for Heerim, they would have all died in the fire yesterday. Instead of being grateful, they were accusing him of arson. I felt indignant and frustrated on his behalf.
[When the fire started the client was already unconscious Heerim only arrived after the fire started he couldn’t possibly be the arsonist]
I took out my phone, wrote what I wanted to say in the notes app, and showed it to the Director. I was too upset and frustrated to pay attention to spelling and typos. The Director merely glanced at my note and ignored it.
“What did the police say?”
“Well, they just told me to wait. It seems it will take a long time to catch him. Unfortunately, the CCTV footage was destroyed in the fire, so they don’t know the arsonist’s face.”
The client clicked his tongue as if genuinely regretful. I felt regretful for a different reason. If the CCTV footage existed, it could have proven Heerim’s innocence, but without it, the client’s delusion seemed to have grown stronger.
The Director crossed her arms and appeared to be considering something for a moment before speaking with an even more friendly smile than before.
“We could catch him for you. What do you think? Would you like to entrust this to us? Since it’s for a good cause, we won’t charge a fee.”
“Director! What are you saying?!”
“But you should avoid discussing this further with the police or anyone else. Too many cooks spoil the broth, as they say.”
I was shocked. I thought the Director was going to hand Heerim over to the police. Instead, she was cleverly proposing a new request to protect Heerim.
“Hmm…”
“What do you think?”
The Director asked with a persistent, friendly smile. It was a business smile that could have worked for a presidential campaign. The smile seemed effective, as the client dropped his suspicious expression and nodded.
“Alright. If you can do that, I would be grateful.”
We ended our brief conversation with the client and left the hospital to get into the Director’s car. I fastened my seatbelt while glancing sideways at the Director. As if her warm, melting smile from earlier had been a lie, she had returned to her cold, sensitive demeanor.
“This is strange.”
I cautiously spoke to the Director. She had just started the car and looked at me while skillfully navigating a corner.
“What is?”
“Yesterday, he definitely talked to me about the missing orphanage children, but it’s strange that he only forgot about that. Plus, it’s odd that he talks as if he saw Heerim setting the fire.”
“From the client’s perspective, he might really have seen Heerim.”
“What? Wait, Director. You’re not going to report Heerim to the police, are you?”
“What?”
I asked just to be sure, but the Director looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“We need to catch the real culprit. He’s probably the one who took the orphanage children too.”
“How are we going to catch the real culprit?”
“Well, we’ll figure something out.”
Are you saying you’ll catch him or not?
I felt frustrated by the Director’s irresponsible answer, but knowing that further questioning wouldn’t yield a proper response, I stopped trying to engage.
After driving on a main road for a while, the car suddenly turned onto a narrow street. It wasn’t the way to the office. I remained silent, wondering if she had taken a wrong turn, when I saw a familiar landscape. It was the road to my house.
After carefully navigating the expensive car through the narrow alley, the Director stopped at the bottom of the hill that led up to my house.
“Why did you come here? This is where I live.”
“Jaeo. Don’t come to work for a while.”
“What?”
“I’ll still pay your daily wage during this time, so don’t worry about that.”
“No, that’s not the issue. Why? Is it because I took on a request on my own?”
I couldn’t help but feel emotional at the sudden announcement. Seeing my obvious disappointment, the Director showed an uncharacteristic expression of confusion.
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“Should I be honest with you?”
The Director sighed and leaned her head against the car window. I hesitated for a moment, then bit my lip and nodded slightly.
“Sorry. Let me just smoke one cigarette first.”
The Director took a cigarette from the car’s console box and put it in her mouth. The smoke filled the small interior of the car, but I didn’t have the nerve to say anything like Heerim would. Instead, I quietly lowered the passenger window a little.
I waited silently while the Director finished her cigarette. She quickly crushed the butt in the car’s ashtray and looked at me.
“When you’re around, we can’t achieve what we’re aiming for. Honestly, because of you, our plans are being disrupted in many ways, and it’s causing a lot of problems.”
“Are you saying I’m in the way?”
“Yes.”
It was a straightforward answer without any beating around the bush.
“Remember when I told you before that you were Heerim’s ‘brake pedal’?”
“…Yes.”
“But it seems now that you’re acting more like an accelerator than a brake. Of course, I know it’s not your fault. It’s my fault for not realizing he would be so swayed by emotions.”
My entire body felt cold. It was like being a character in a drama who receives an envelope of money with the request to stop seeing someone’s son.
I didn’t know what to say, so I moved my lips for a while before finally speaking.
“…I understand. I’ll take time off starting tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, Jaeo.”
“It’s fine. Please go now.”
I got out of the car, pretending not to be affected.
“Sigh…”
I stared at the back of the Director’s departing car for a long time, then sighed and rubbed my face. The muggy summer air enveloped me, but my heart felt cold.
[Heerim: Did you meet the client?]
The timing was either good or bad. A message came from Heerim.
I was confused. As Heerim’s only Guide, I should be helping him, but after hearing that I might cause Heerim to go wrong, I didn’t know what to do.
[Me: Yes. The Director told me to go home early.]
[Heerim: Oh really?ã… ã… ]
[Heerim: Was everything okay with noona? Nothing happened, right? I should have come with youã… ã… ã… ]
[Me: Nothing happened.]
[Heerim: That’s a relief. Noona took out her anger on you because of me today. Don’t take it to heart.]
[Me: Okay.]
[Heerim: Well, get some rest.]
I didn’t tell Heerim that I wouldn’t be coming to work for a while starting tomorrow. I felt that if I mentioned it now, he would come to my house and ask what was going on.
The Director will explain this properly, right?
I entered my house with a bitter feeling, slowly reading through the messages Heerim had sent me.
It was an unexpected paid vacation, but I didn’t feel happy about it at all.
***
“Oppa, you weren’t really fired, were you?”
“I told you, no. It’s a vacation. A paid vacation.”
Jaeyeon, who was preparing for school early in the morning, shot me a suspicious look. She seemed worried since I, who usually woke up around the same time as her, had been lounging around at home for three days straight.
“That’s a really weird company. Paid vacation for a part-timer? Did the boss start the company as a hobby?”
“Maybe…”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. Just talking to myself. Have a good day at school. Don’t fight with your friends. Don’t complain about the cafeteria food.”
“Whatever.”
Jaeyeon frowned as she put on her shoes. She was so impatient that she folded down the back of the new sneakers I had bought her recently. I was about to say something to her but decided against it and just waved goodbye.
After Jaeyeon left, the tiny house became awkwardly quiet. I repeatedly opened and closed the refrigerator, even though there was nothing to eat, then returned to my room and lay down on the mattress.
After staring blankly at the mold stains on the ceiling, I reached out and picked up my phone that was connected to the charging cable.
“…”
I touched the phone screen to check the notifications. Apart from one spam message that kept coming despite being repeatedly blocked, there were no other contacts for me. I habitually entered the chat I had with Heerim and skimmed through our conversations.
[Heerim: Well, get some rest.]
Ironically, after worrying that Heerim might come to our house, there had been no contact from him since our conversation three days ago.
“I hope nothing’s wrong.”
[Me: Heerim]
[Me: What are you up to?]
My heart suddenly sank, and I sent a message to Heerim first. Heerim usually replied immediately when I sent a message, but for some reason, there was no answer even after 30 minutes. Worried that something might really be wrong, I tried calling, but it just kept ringing without connecting.
[Me: Is something wrong?]
[Me: Please reply;;]
[Me: I’m worried]
I sent more messages. I kept turning the screen back on whenever it went dark, staring intently at the chat window.
“Oh! He read it!”
After about 20 minutes, the number beside the message disappeared. I waited for Heerim’s reply with some tension.
But even as the day grew dark, Heerim never replied to me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
