As True as a Dream

“Eh, you’re being silly! Stay home with Eun-dong. I’ll go out with Hae-Joo and look for him.”

Eun-sil replied quickly, and Hae-Joo quickly joined her.

 “Don’t worry, I’ll go with her too. Eun-dong will wait with you at home and I’ll go to Uncle Kang’s house.” 

Eun-sil’s mother blinked hard as if she had no energy left, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

 “Thank you, Hae-Joo…” 

After they had calmed her down and led her outside, Eun-sil’s face, which had maintained a stoic expression the whole time, immediately fell.

 “Sis… Eun-ho always tells me when he’s going somewhere, he never does it without telling me what’s wrong with him…!” “I don’t think he’s gone far, he’s just a kid. You should go to Uncle Kang and ask for him again. I’ll ask the neighbors if they’ve seen her. Maybe he was playing somewhere and didn’t notice.” 

Hae-Joo and Eun-sil were soon torn apart and went door to door asking if anyone had seen Eun-ho.

 

After knocking on more than a dozen doors, a neighbor said he saw Eun-ho walking into the shantytown with a boy about his age around 3 p.m.

 

Hae-Joo immediately ran through the alleys of Sungin to find Eun-sil and went to the shantytown.

 “That bastard, let’s go find him, I’ll burn his cheeks, he’s 7 years old and doesn’t know his mother is worried about him…!” “Never mind, we’ll talk after we find him. You can ask people in the village. I’ll look for places where children can play.” 

***

 

She had lived there briefly a year ago, so the geography was familiar.

 

Hae-Joo pushed Eun-sil’s back through the cluster of huts on the sloping hillside.

 

Eun-sil took the wooded path on one side and she took the other.

 

This side was wooded and thick with bushes, a favorite place for the village children to play hide-and-seek and catch.

 “Eun-ho! Are you here, Gu Eun-ho!” 

Hae-Joo called in all directions as she trudged up the path.

 

It was dusk and overcast, the trees cast a wide shadow, and the path was dark and dreary as if it were early night.

 

The only sound she could hear was the buzzing of insects.

 “Eun-ho, Eun-ho, Eun-ho, answer me if you’re there… Ow!” 

She got about halfway up.

 

Hae-Joo stepped on something and fell right on her knees.

 

She rubbed her bones, wondering what she had stepped on, and then froze.

 

It was a human hand that she had stepped on.

 

The hand that came out from under the bush didn’t move, not even to see if it hurt.

 

Hae-Joo stood up and stuck her hand through the bush.

 “Hey, are you okay? I stepped on your hand…!” 

Hae-Joo’s face turned blue and she stopped.

 

The sight in the bush was frightening.

 

His tattered jerkin and pants, his bloodless blue face, his blue discolored lips, and his ankles cut off as if he had been pinched.

 “Ah, ah, ah, ah…! ahhhhhhhh!”

Hae-Joo screamed as she thrust her hips backward.

 

Soon, the screams attracted the villagers from the shantytown, who rushed over the bushes one by one.

 “Hey, isn’t that Mr. Yang’s grandfather?” “Mr. Yang? Who is that?” “Oh my God…! He’s dead.” 

Cries echoed overhead, coming from all directions.

 

The panic in her chest showed no sign of abating.

 “Where’s Val?” “Some asshole must have gotten superstitious again.” “You don’t think it’s a western ghost, do you?” “My God, they’re mean. How many of them are there?” 

Hae-Joo slowly rose from her crouch against the tree beside her.

 

Most of the people surrounding the body in the bushes were wearing old, tattered rags that could barely be called clothing.

 

They were the inhabitants of the local shantytown.

 

They lived in pits dug into the hillsides, in shacks covered with cobblestones or tarps, in hovels, and most of them were illiterate and terribly destitute.

 

They could barely make ends meet by working as food vendors, janitors, and weavers.

 

Not everyone in Gyeongseong was well off.

 

Nevertheless, people continued to flock to Gyeongseong in search of a way to make a living, and the village continued to grow.

 

As a result, it was impossible to tell who had come and who had gone.

 

This old man was a case in point.

 

If she hadn’t found him, no one would have known that such a man had ever existed and died like that.

 “Oh my…! Sister? Oh my God! Sister Hae-Joo! Sister Hae-Joo, are you okay?” 

Hae-Joo, who had been standing there stunned, turned her head at the sound of Eun-sil’s voice.

 “Did you find Eun-ho? Thank God.” 

Eun-sil grabbed Eun-ho’s hand, her eyes red from crying, and pushed her way through the crowd.

 “Sis, what the… Oh, my…! Come here, Eun-ho!” 

Seeing the body surrounded by people, Eun-sil gasped and covered Eun-ho’s eyes with her hands.

 “Sister, I found Eun-ho, let’s go downstairs.”

Eun-sil whispered as she backed away in fear.

 

Hae-Joo obviously didn’t want to stay there for another second.

 

She was about to turn around when someone grabbed her arm and stopped her.

 “Where are you going? You found this body, young lady! Feng Man went to report it to the police station a while ago, so a policeman should be here soon.” “That’s right. When he comes, he’ll surely find who found it.” 

Another man stepped in front of Hae-Joo.

 “No, I didn’t…!” 

Panicking, Hae-Joo tried to pull her arm out of the middle-aged man’s grip, but it was no use.

 

Eun-sil was also surprised and removed her hand from covering Eun-ho’s eyes and pushed the man’s arm away.

 “If we don’t find anyone, we’ll be the ones to call the police, so just wait and answer their questions well.” 

A middle-aged woman nearby said reassuringly, feeling sorry for Hae-Joo who was clinging to the man.

 

Hae-Joo clenched her teeth, feeling the pain of the man’s tight grip.

 

When she looked over, Eun-sil was screaming at the man to let go of her arm, looking like she was about to cry.

 

Eun-ho was also scared, his face was so blue that he couldn’t cry and he was shaking.

 

Hae-Joo couldn’t help herself, so she grabbed Eun-sil’s shoulder.

 “Eun-sil, Eun-sil, it’s okay. Take Eun-ho home first. Your mother will be worried.” “Sis!” 

Hae-Joo shook her head, smiled weakly, and looked at Eun-ho.

 “It’s not like I’ve done anything wrong, like she said, I just have to tell them how I found the body. It’s okay. Go back.” 

Eun-sil shook her head in disapproval.

 

But while they were arguing, a group of people came up from down the path.

 “[We have a report of a dead man. Who found him?]” 

A menacing voice shouted, and the area fell silent.

 

***

 

Hongo looked at the short-haired girl who pushed past the staff and ran into the office.

 “So you’re saying that our boss’s fiancée, Miss Hae-Joo, was taken to the Japanese police headquarters?” 

The girl who identified herself as Gu Eun-sil nodded eagerly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

 “Hae-Joo found a dead body in a shantytown in Sungin and was taken for investigation?” “Yes, hmph…! It’s called an investigation, but how do you know what will happen there…! Whoever goes in there comes out half-wit, hurry up and tell the boss to bring my sister back…!” “No, don’t cry…” 

Hongo clutched the hem of his black skirt tightly in his hands and took a handkerchief from his pocket as he stamped his feet.

 “Just calm down and go back. I’ll inform the boss right away.” “No, I want to go with you…!” 

Eun-sil took the handkerchief from Hongo, rubbed her face roughly, and ruffled her hair.

 “No, please go back home. Leave me your address and I’ll send you the news.”

Hongo flatly refused.

 

Considering Yi Ho’s personality, he couldn’t just take a complete stranger with him.

 “Mister…! Please, please, please bring back my sister Hae-Joo in one piece.” 

Hongo’s head hurt as he knelt before Eun-sil.

 

After telling the unsuspecting staff outside his office to escort Eun-sil and send her back, he went straight to Yi Ho’s courtyard.

 

Hongo had been speechless when Yi Ho, who had attended the Governor General’s birthday party the day before, had described his affair with Hae-Joo.

 

The situation was unbearable, to say the least, and to think that Yi Ho had a fiancée, albeit a false one!

 

Besides, it was the same girl he’d let sleep in his living room the other night.

 

Hae-Joo.

 

In the three hundred years he’d known Yi Ho, he hadn’t paid much attention to the affairs of men and women, and this change in Yi Ho’s behavior struck Hongo as suspicious.

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