A/N:
Thank you for all your lovely reviews, and for not giving up on this story!
Chapter Thirteen: Forgotten People
Part III
"Young Master Yi Jeong, you have a visitor. Should I let her in?"
Yi Jeong looked at the demon. Gyeoul smiled. Her smile told him what he wanted to know. He rushed to the door and answered the call. There he was, the old plump security guard, nervous and panting.
"I mean, it's not quite the hour for a decent young lady, I know, and she didn't even tell a name, but... I-I can send her off if you want, Young Master..." The guard stammered.
"But?"
"She's injured."
Yi Jeong felt his chest tightened. His drunken haze lifted up.
"Where is she?"
"In the car park."
Yi Jeong didn't need further ushering. The next thing he knew was that he was standing in the middle of the studio's parking lot, panting, and demanding answers from the taxi driver.
"How did this happen?"
"I don't know."
"Where did you find her?"
"She was running. Maybe someone was chasing her? I don't know. I thought she needed help... Didn't know how I ended up in this address... It's strange. I don't even know this neighbourh_"
"_doesn't matter." Yi Jeong pushed the startled driver aside, and swung open the back door.
...
...
Ga Eul was awake. Her body had grown cold, and her hands had gone numb. But she was awake.
Her heart rang loud inside her ears. Her thoughts raced, one overriding the other. Vague memories flashed inside her head. A dark figure chasing after her, an old man offering her a ride, and a familiar face appearing in front of her. So Yi Jeong? Could it be? Impossible.
She felt people aiding her to her feet, she didn't recall who. She remembered being lifted up. She felt the cold breeze on her face. She saw the starlit sky, heard the sound of her own rusty breath, felt the warmth of another pounding heart. She caught a whiff of alcohol, mixed with a familiar fragrance; a strong scent of... lavender?
Maybe...
...
It was lavender. Wasn't it? The smell was itching her nose. Who ever the person who carried her, placed her on a bench, in the middle of a lavender garden. It was purple everywhere.
"Ga Eulyang?"
The person knelt down, and cupped her hands. Ga Eul felt warm.
Warm... Lavender... Light...
The person...
Where...
Where was she ? There were shrubs of lavender everywhere. What was this place? How did she get here?
She felt concerned eyes searching her state. Quick hands slid her hair aside. Long fingers rolled up her sleeve. She felt coldness on her arm.
"It looks like a knife made it, sir."
"Bandage! Quick! Bring the first aid kit!"
So Yi Jeong?
How is it possible?
She heard footsteps running around. Fabric was torn. She felt a liquid streaming down her arm.
The smell of hospitals ...
A quick flashback: A man shoving her to the bed. Pressing a cloth on her mouth. Grasping her neck. Strangling her breath.
Ga Eul gasped.
"It's okay. Just a little bit."
She looked to her side. There was a boy kneeling on the ground. Wiping away the sticky blood. Blowing into the wound. He was focused. Careful. And handsome...
The chemicals Ga Eul had inhaled, was batting against her eyelids. But she stayed awake – rather forcefully, in that matter – staring at him. She stared like that for an unknown while.
...
...
"Ga Eulyang?" Yi Jeong tried calling out again. Ga Eul blinked. Her eyes ran all over the studio, for the hundredth time.
"Damn it. Ga Eulyang, say something."
She flinched, and again, blinked.
"Are you..."
Her voice was only barely audible.
"Are you ... Sunbae.. Are you... Yi Jeong.."
"Yes, I am. Ga Eulyang, what happened? Who did this to you?"
"Are you... Yi Jeong?"
"Yes, I am Yi Jeong. Ga Eul, tell me what happened?"
'It's useless...' said a ghostly whisper.
Yi Jeong glanced at the demon, who sat nonchalantly on the table.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I'm afraid, I do not know_"
"_Not you!"
"Eh?"
"I said, what's wrong with her?"
The demon chuckled. 'First, you better send those two away, sunbae... We don't want more unwanted rumours...'
Yi Jeong glanced at the doorway, where the two startled men stood, faces grown even paler than before.
Yi Jeong sighed. He marched to his wallet, took out some notes and gave it to the taxi driver.
"Leave."
"But sir, this is too much_"
"Get lost. Both of you."
The two men did exactly as he said.
"Now, tell." He demanded the demon.
Gyeoul smiled. 'She's drugged...'
"What?"
'Sunbae, isn't it obvious? Trembling hands... dilated pupils... alert senses... The list could go on...'
Yi Jeong took in a deep breath, and turned back to the shivering girl.
"Ga Eulyang, who was it? Tell me, what happened?"
'She probably doesn't remember... '
Yi Jeong shifted on his seat. He reached to Ga Eul's hands, and gave them a long squeeze. They've gone cold.
"You're safe now, Ga Eul. It's okay now. If you could..." Yi Jeong trailed off. Should he have to ask it now? He should probably let her rest... Explanations could wait... right?
'Sadly... no.'
Yi Jeong looked up at Gyeoul.
'Her mind's a haze... she's forgetting fast... By day break... any detail she remember now, will be gone as well...'
Yi Jeong hesitated. He looked into Ga Eul's soft brown eyes, now filled with peril and confusion. "Ga Eulyang" He said in his sweetest tone. " Do you remember what happened? Tell me, if you could remember anything, anything at all, that would really help..."
Ga Eul squeezed her eyes. She took her time.
"There... There was a man... there was a man... in my..." Tears welled up in her eyes. "What... what was I... saying?"
"There was a man, in your ?" Yi Jeong slowly repeated.
"Yes... there was... a man... in my... apartment..."
"Why was he there? Do you have any idea?"
"I don't know..."
"It's alright."
"I don't know. But I think... I think..." Ga Eul struggled to recall, while trying to push back her tears. "Sunbae?"
"Yes..."
"I don't remember..." a sob escaped. " I don't remember... what I was going to say..."
Tears ran in streams, down her face. It broke his heart to watch her like that. Yi Jeong patted her shoulder. He said: "It's alright... it's alright... You're safe now.. Ga Eulyang... everything's going to be alright..." He said it again and again, like a chanting of a mantra... like a lullaby to make her at ease...
But he himself knew that it wasn't alright. The wound on her arm, the bruises on her neck... It was not alright.
He stayed like that until she was taken by sleep. He then laid her on the bench, folded his coat and kept it under her head for a pillow's stead. He glanced at Gyeoul who gave him an endearing smile, and an assuring nod. He then grabbed his phone and slipped out of the studio.
He was good at handling the dead. But when the living butts in, it calls the need for other experts.
"Woo Bin ah? Yeah... Are you free to talk?"
...
...
...
It was dark everywhere when Ga Eul looked around. Even the faintest dot of light was far, far away.
It's alright... you're safe... you're safe... you're safe now..
Ga Eul listened, allowing the voice to lull her into sleep. Her eyelids grew heavy. Down, and down, and down, they came, framing the little dot of light, dancing in the dark.
A firefly? Was it? How beautiful it was, dancing in circles, round, and round, and round, in the dark. After everything that happened during that day, how soothing was its little light... warm, bright, and calm...
Ga Eul stared at the little creature, twinkling in the dark, and drifting further away... Her sleepy eyes followed its little warm light...
"It's alright... you're safe here... everything's going to be alright..."
She heard the soft voice of a child.
The firefly floated forward, dancing further away into the dark. Ga Eul found herself following the little creature, which flew ahead of her, along vast meadows, over small streams, above tight-knit canopies, circling round the large barks of ancient trees... The little creature led the way.
"It's alright... stop crying now..."
As the firefly led the way, the child's voice grew closer, and closer. Ga Eul went after the little creature, as its hypnotic little light led her along sandy shores of moonlit rivers, and through dark ancient forests.
"It's alright now... stop crying... pretty girl..."
Ga Eul arrived at an old warehouse, long, and rectangular in shape. The firefly flew inside, through a crack on its wooden door. Ga Eul stopped at the door, and peeked through the crack. The little firefly flew around the room, illuminating its surroundings.
The warehouse was surely large, though most of its area was occupied by mountains of dried straw, piled up till its roof. A small table and a potter's wheel took the most space of the remaining part. An array of small clay bowls, freshly made, lied on the table for drying. An old unlit lamp stayed by their side. The firefly twirled a few rounds around the lamp, and sat on its wick, lighting up the room.
"Please... stop crying... pretty girls shouldn't cry..."
There was the boy. On the neatly swept earthen ground, patting the shoulder of a sniffing girl. The girl was about six or seven–Ga Eul guessed–and the boy, about eight or nine in age. Ga Eul saw neither of their faces, the boy had his back turned towards her, and the girl had her face buried in her hands.
"Do you... do you really think I am pretty?" The little girl looked up. Her little round face was sticky with tears.
"Um... Maybe?"
"Do I look like a princess?" Her large brown eyes glimmered, under the pale light.
"Not at all." The boy said.
"But you said, I look pretty... I heard you say that!"
"But you look nothing like a princess!" The boy blurted out. Visibly annoyed by his little maiden. "You look like a piglet."
The little girl slapped both her hands on her face, and burst into tears.
"I mean..." The boy hesitated. "All girls look ugly when they're crying..."
"You think I am ugly?" The little girl yelled an angry cry. Her face was still buried in her hands. "You told I look like a pig, and now you say I'm ugly?"
The boy sighed. "Look here. You're not ugly, right? But that doesn't mean you look like a princess, okay? Now, please stop crying, I need silence to sleep."
The girl cried even louder.
"Or... I could try tell you a story? How does that sound? Would you like that?"
The bawling reduced to a loud sniff.
"What kind of story?" came the muffled, slightly irritated voice.
"Have you heard about the dragon of the east?"
"Yes." She sniffed. "Everybody knows that story."
"Um... But... have you heard of his friend? The... " The boy looked around, and saw a gecko passing round a leg of the table. " The... salamander king?"
"I'm not interested in stupid salamanders." The girl puffed.
"Oh, that was just his name. Besides, he had a lady love.. a beautiful sea princess..."
The girl became mildly interested.
"I've not heard about her..." said she.
Neither did Ga Eul. She was one hundred percent sure no one in whole Korea had heard anything about that sea princess, or the salamander king, or the octopus witch. But, the boy wanted the little girl to stop crying.
Ga Eul sat down on the earthen step, outside the door. She found the exchange between the little couple to be interesting.
...
...
...
That was a weird dream. But, it was a beautiful one. Ga Eul had to admit, the boy's story was fairly amusing. (She was a bit disappointed for she couldn't recall what happened after the salamander king defeated the octopus witch, though. She fell into deep sleep around that part.)
Ga Eul slept well, better than she did in ages, and that was good. So, she woke up refreshed, the next morning. Well, as refreshed, as her sore body, wounded and bruised, and which ran bare foot half way through Seoul, could be.
"Did you sleep well?"
Ga Eul grunted to a seat, struggling to look up at the man in white, glittering under the morning sun. Ga Eul took some time to recognize his angelic presence.
"Ji Hu Sunbae?"
Yoon Ji Hu smiled warmly. "How are you feeling Ga Eulyang? "
Ga Eul didn't know what to say. Or where to start. Yoon Ji Hu... was it... Yi Jeong sunbae?
JiHu smiled, reading her thoughts. "Yi Jeong called me to check up on your wound." He said.
"Ah." Ga Eul nodded. Of course, it was him. Who else could it be.
Ji Hu sighed. "Seems though, he'd done a great job... despite his reputation." He gestured at her arm.
Ga Eul looked down at her arm, which looked like something rising from an Egyptian sarcophagus. She heard Ji Hu's soft chuckle. "Shall I take a look?" He asked.
Ga Eul allowed herself to take in her surroundings, while Yoon Ji Hu un-bandaged her wound.
It was a spacious room, with artistic touches. Four large, tables stood their ground, with two long benches at the sides of each of them. A first aid kit laid open on the one, right in front of her. Scraps of cotton, and antiseptic pads were scattered around it. An improperly closed bottle of antiseptic stayed by their side. To her left, was a simple pantry. A bottle of whiskey hidden in a corner, winked at the sunlight.
Yet, none of those made that room more stranger, than the striving forests of lavender it grew. Big vases, small vases, Ming vases, Goryeo vases... all had the same purple blossoms, popping out from them. They stood in every other space – on table tops, on cabinet tops, and on the pantry top – forming an indoor meadow of lavender. In addition to them, four big pots stood in the four corners of the room, which grew lavish bushes of the same kind. Their strong scent choked the room, and painted purple everywhere. Even the daylight had a tint of pastel purple on it.
"Never been here before?" Ji Hu asked, wrapping a new bandage around her arm.
"No..." Ga Eul said, amazed by the strange little garden of a room that surrounded her.
"Well then..." He smiled. "Welcome to Yi Jeong's studio. You do have questions, don't you? Go ahead."
Ga Eul hesitated. "Why's there... so much of them?"
"Lavender? That smell's horrible isn't it?" He wrinkled his nose.
"This place... this is where she died... Yi Jeong's Eomoni..."
Ga Eul took her time to process.
Yi Jeong's mother...
...
Forgotten people...
That's what she called them...
...
Ga Eul hesitated again. "Did she ever..."
"Once, a long time ago, Yi Jeong told he saw her in here. She was his first ghost." Ji Hu said, wrapping up the last round of bandage around her arm.
"Didn't he saw her ever again?"
"Never since. Though, I personally think that was shock." He smiled sadly. "It would have been hard for a child to see their mother in such a state."
Such a state?
What kind of a state? ...
Ga Eul wondered. But, before she could ask any questions, the door to the studio opened, and in came Song Woo Bin, followed by So Yi Jeong himself.
"Yoh... What do we have here..." Woo Bin whistled.
"Any updates?" JiHu asked, rising up from the freshly dressed wound.
"Junpyo wants all of us in the F4 lounge, in an hour. 'No excuses'.. he says." Yi Jeong read the text message.
"Tsk. That pain in the ass." Woo Bin said.
"Ga Eulyang, how are you feeling?" Yi Jeong asked, still a bit worried.
"My head aches." Ga Eul said. "But, that's it. Much better than yesterday." She smiled.
"Sounds good then." He said relieved. "Once we get your check-ups done, we're good to go."
"Before that, " Ji Hu interrupted. "You better learn how to dress a wound."
–to be continued.