Chapter 4: Yugyeom

“You’re coming over tonight, right?” Sora asked as she changed lanes. The thought of seeing her parents again made me nausea but I nodded. I had spent Christmas with her family and it was awfully awkward. Her mom was very welcoming and made a lot of food for all of us to indulge upon, but her father kept eying me like a hawk every time I tried getting close to Sora. It was difficult.

“I’ll come over around seven.” I replied. Kissing her cheek, I got out of the car and waved goodbye. The driveway was empty and the house was quiet. Taking off my shoes, I threw my jacket on the couch and rummaged around the house. It had to be here. I ran around the house; going through every single person’s room until I finally found myself standing in uncle Jun Han’s. There was nothing out of the ordinary. I was about to leave until I saw something weird: a blank envelope with a bump. Picking it up and shaking the components out, I saw photographs and a key. Finally! I kept the key, but the pictures looked so familiar.

The first one was a picture of my sister and I in class while the second had a picture of Mark. Why does he have these? The last photo was a picture of my dad’s black Toyota. Something wasn’t right.Taking the last picture, I went into my dad’s room and faced his office. Crossing my fingers, I slid the key into the keyhole and turned clockwise. click I exhaled, turning on the lights. It was clean and everything was in order but I needed to find something.

Yugyeom… You need to be careful around your uncle. Never trust him, no matter how believable he is. Your mother is too gullible to see through his disguise. Delete this message after reading it.

-Dad

I remembered the text that Dad had sent me before he was thrown into jail. It was a must to know why Dad felt so uncomfortable around his own brother-in-law. I took his computer and the folder in his drawer and left just in time uncle Jun Han came in the house. Peeking through the crack of my room door, I saw him enter his room without a sound. Dad must have a reason to hate you. Turning on the device, I typed in the password and immediately clicked on the locked folder.

[Delete this after you read it]

The folder’s password is 9204s. Take these pictures and piece them together.

-Dad

I obeyed and found myself staring at several thousand pictures. Most of them were blurry but the ones that were in perfect HD led me to wonder. A third of them were photos of Mark and Saehee while the rest were photos of buildings, most specifically, Seoul High and Mirae. There were just pictures. What was so significant about them?

“This doesn’t make any sense…” I tried rearranging a few but none of them matched. Taking a different approach, I decided to look at each photo in careful detail. The first photo was taken last year back in Namyangju when our grandparents were still with us. The next was when we first moved into our house in Seoul and the one after was my dad’s precious Toyota. The others were blurry but after tapping the right key a few times, I saw something unfamiliar. A man in a black mask appeared on the screen with a briefcase in hand. His body shape was familiar but I didn’t want to assume. Not yet anyways. I was about to tap the next key when a loud knock on the door rang.

“Yugyeom, you in there?”

“Coming!” I called out. Slapping the device shut, I pushed both the laptop and folder under my bed before unlocking the door. “What’s up uncle?”

“I just wanted to tell you that I won’t be home for a few days. I’m staying over at a friends place for a few days. He wanted me to fix his laptop.” scratching the back of his head, he let out a sigh.

It wasn’t a big deal to me, “Sure.” He let out a grin and gave me a pat on the shoulder.

Kakao!

Unlocking my phone. I saw a text from Sora.

Gyeom, are you coming over or not?

Glancing at my bed, I quickly texted her back and grabbed my napsack. I needed help and the only person available right now was Sora. “Uncle! I’m going over to Sora’s!” I took my jacket and ran towards the bus stop.

Dinner was lively (only because Mrs. Jung was the one animately talking) and I felt more comfortable around her father. He was starting to crack jokes around me but I still felt out of place. “I swear,” I started when we entered Sora’s room, “your dad really likes making jokes that  are targeted towards me.”

I heard her sigh, “He’s always like that. Dad is really overprotective when it comes to me and boys.” We sat down on her bed, “I guess I understand him though. My past boyfriends were all douches.” This was the first time I had ever heard her talk about her exes. “You’re also my first boyfriend who’s younger than me so I guess Dad thinks you’re… stupid? It’s hard to explain.”

I didn’t know whether I was supposed to be offended or not, “I’m only younger than you by two years.” Crossing my arms, I pouted.

I heard her laugh, “Yes but you’re also also taller than me so that’s a plus. I like tall guys. It makes me feel protected.”

We leaned in and were about to kiss until her Dad yelled, “Back away from her!”

“He’s such a party pooper.”

[Added part on Dec. 22]

“But this picture and the other don’t match! How can…” Looking over, I smiled and brushed the strands of hair away from her face. Carefully lifting her head, I tucked her into the bed while pulling the quilt over her. “Sleep well…” Grabbing the laptop, I walked towards the door and down the stairs where her mom and dad quietly chatted amongst themselves. “I’ll be leaving now. Thank you for having me over.”

“Oh, leaving already? Where’s Sora? She should be here leading you out,” her mother tsked and got up.

“No,” I replied, “It’s alright. She passed out. It must have been from the stress.” Picking up my shoes, I knelt down and put them on. “Take care!” I bid each of them goodbye and left the warm house. It was snowing again and as I glanced at the large digital billboard, I decided to head towards the hospital by foot. It wasn’t cold, but it was enough to make my cheeks flush a bright red. The bright, colourful lights made everything seem so surreal as if I was walking in Wonderland.

“Oh, Yugyeom! Welcome back!” Nurse Kim smiled as I entered the elevator. “Your sister is doing well by the way. I just changed her IV bag. You’re uncle is here as well. I just saw him enter her room.” Nodding, I returned the smile and tapped the number 12 button on the elevator. Isn’t Uncle Tae Han supposed to go over to his friend’s place? When I entered her room, I looked around and exhaled. He was gone. I sat down with relief.  The flowers were starting to wither but I decided to leave them alone, knowing Mark would come by in a few hours with another batch. Everything seemed pretty normal. You’re just imagining things Yugyeom…

“When will you wake up…?” asking her was stupid but it gave me a sense of comfort. “You know, I read an article online saying that talking to comatose patients will help improve their chances of waking up. So here I am I guess..” I laughed. “We really miss you… Mark was looking through your room earlier today. Creepy, I know, but I think he misses you more than anyone else.” Sighing, I grabbed the remote and the TV to pass the time.

“...And if you buy this-” bzzzt  “No, what are you doing?!” bzzzt  “And for a limited time…” bzzzt! There was nothing interesting on… “...A black Toyota truck that was stolen in December has finally been found in an abandoned warehouse near Gangnam. Police are further investigating how the truck ended up here and for any clues to who the criminal is.” My eyebrow was raised up high. Why were trucks like those so popular?

“Oh,” the door opened and I turned my attention towards the newcomer. “Why are you here so late?” His light purple hair made mine look plain as he walked towards the bed.

Shrugging, I stared at my sister, “No one’s home right now. There’s nothing to really do.”

Mark changed the flowers and sat down beside me. “And Sora?”

“Sleeping. she was studying before I went over a few hours ago. I guess exams are getting to her.” The way he looked at Saehee made me grin. “I take it you’ve been here everyday.”

He took her hand a smiled, “yeah…” Abruptly, he stood up. “Yugyeom, call a nurse!”

“Why, what’s wrong?” I too stood up.

“Sae… She’s not breathing!” Glancing at the oxygen mask, I realise that it wasn’t on. My heart was caught in my throat as I ran. Why didn’t I realise earlier?!

so I decided to extend a chapter instead of writing two separate ones because It looks kind of sloppy. Sorry! T_____T