Beware: Lengthy chapter

Taegi knocked on the door and held her breath. It had been a while since she's seen him, so her showing up was kind of out of the ordinary.

The door opened and a young man around his early 30's opened the door. “Taegi-ah.”

She smiled, “Hey Taesuk,” she stretched out her neck to look behind him, “May I come in?”

“...And so.. I was wondering if you can help me out because you know; you have all the equipment needed and you're good with these type of things." She awkwardly smiled and held her breath once again crossing her fingers. Facing her brother again after two years was tough and it sure as hell wasn't easy.

Taesuk leaned back in his chair and looked at his younger sister. He just sat there with his hands on his face and looked at her, making her feel uncomfortable. He leaned towards her with his elbows on his knees and cleared his throat, “Got everything I need?”

Taegi sighed with relief, “Thank you so much Sukkie!” she said happily.

He smiled hearing his nickname once again. “No problem Gi-ah.”

The two entered his computer lab. She handed him the things, “Search Lee Hoya from both Seoul and Busan.”

He nodded and typed away but shook his head, “I'm not finding anything.” he kept searching and searching, “Yep,” he leaned in his chair, “Nothing.”

“Damn.” Taegi hissed under her breath. She didn't want to think that Hoya was only from Nayeon's conscious. She knew he wasn't. She held her head and squeezed it, “Okay, okay. Now search for Lee Hojae.”

He nodded and typed it, “Okay I think I've got something.”

Taegi stopped squeezing her head and looked at the screen. She scrunched her eyebrows, “Wait!” she said impatiently, “What is this?” she said confused and skimmed everything. “Lee Hojae. Busan, South Korea. Deceased.” She scoffed, “Deceased?” she nearly shouted. She stopped and took a few breaths with her eyes closed, “Okay search for Lee Hyojun then.”

He obligated then searched. He clucked his tongue, “Same thing; deceased. Frustrated, Taegi let out a loud growl. “Really? First Hoya doesn't exist, brothers are dead, sister is–” she stopped. "Sister! Lee Hoya has an older sister!" she snapped, “Quick Taesuk search for Lee Hyojin!”

He nodded and again searched, “I’ve got something!” he announced. He smiled and turned to Taegi, “I've got an address too.”

Taegi looked at the address, “2590 Dongguk Ave. Daegu, Korea 602-030” she proofread. She was tired; the drive from Busan to Daegu was exhausting but she was determined to find her answers. She walked up the doorsteps and rang the doorbell.

A woman around her age opened the door. She saw Taegi and bowed, “Hello? May I help you with something?”

Taegi bowed, “Hello, my name is Hwang Taegi and I am a psychiatrist. Are you Lee Hyojin by chance?” Hyojin nodded, still not knowing why a psychiatrist was at her doorsteps. Taegi looked at the woman, “May I come in? I have some questions to ask.”

Hyojin nodded slowly. She had no idea why this woman was here, nonetheless a psychiatrist. She opened the door for Taegi to come in. 0

“You’re probably wondering why I’m here, unexpectedly,” Taegi said turning to face Hyojin.

Hyojin nodded and lightly chuckled, “To be honest, yes. I’m not sure why a psychiatrist at my doorsteps, questioning me.” She sighed, “Well, make yourself feel at home. I just made some tea so I’ll go fetch us some.”

Taegi nodded and took a seat. She looked at Hyojin’s nice and tidy home. She noticed how she didn’t have many pictures; family pictures to be exact.

“Here,” Hyojin came in and set it on the coffee table.

Taegi took a cup and sipped it a little, “Thank you.”

Hyojin nodded and took a seat, “Now,” she took a deep breath, “Can you explain to me why you need to question me?” she asked, hoping it didn’t come out blunt.

Taegi put her cup down and cleared , “I’m working on a case and your name came up.” she explained shortly, not wanting to let such private investigation be let out.

“But why? I don’t understand. Why me?”

Taegi shrugged, “Do you have siblings by the names of Lee Hoya, Hyojun, or Hojae?”

Hyojin nodded her head, “Yes but,” she looked at Taegi in the eyes, “I don’t have a brother by the name of Hoya.”

Taegi’s eyebrows rose, “Pardon?” she asked astonished.

Hyojin nodded, “There was only me, Hojae, Howon, and Hyojun.” She shook her head, “No Hoya.”

Taegi searched for her tape recorder, “Lee Hyojin. Possible relation with patient 748.” She turned to Hyojin, “Can you please name your family from youngest to oldest?”

Hyojin nodded, “There’s Hojae, me, Howon, then Hyojun.”

Taegi was still confused, Hoya was not part of her family. She shook her thought away and continued, “Where are they?” she asked hesitantly.

Hyojin sighed sadly, “My whole family died in a car crash when I was 15. I was unharmed physically, but mentally damaged seeing my family die before my eyes.”

Stranger Sun - Park Hye Ri

play while reading.. It should help build up the mood..

Date: November 14, 2004 | Age (From oldest to youngest) : 17, 15, 12, 9

The Lee family had stopped at a gas station. They were moving to Seoul and their moving truck needed more gas while everyone needed a bathroom break.

“C’mon Howon,” she held out her hand to her little brother.

He continued to stare out the window. Today was the day he was supposed to confess to Nayeon. They were in the sixth grade and he knew he was prepared. He couldn’t keep it to himself anymore, he was urged to confess. But when he finally got the chance to, they had to move to Seoul. He sighed, “Noona,” he whined to her, “Why must we move? Busan was perfectly fine!” he said frustrated and angry.

“Sorry, kiddo but mom and dad found a better job in Seoul,” she explained to him, but he was still upset. “Oh come on, Howon. You’ll meet new people. There’s lots of dance school in Seoul,” she nudged him playfully, “And there are pretty girls there too!” she cooed.

He looked out the window again. ‘I will not be happy unless Nayeon is there with me. Nayeon is the only girl for me. I don’t want anyone else but Nayeon.’ he thought stubbornly.

She sighed, “Okay, I guess if you wanna be like that.” she got out of the truck, “Want anything?” He shook his head and remorse to himself. She closed the car door and went to the gas station to pick out snacks for her family.

“Hyojin-ah,” she heard her parents call her.

She turned around, “Yeah?”

“We’ll be in the car waiting.”

She nodded, “Alright.”

“Don’t take so long, we’ve still got a long way back to Seoul,” Hojae said with Hyojun trailing behind him.

She nodded and proceeded by purchasing her snacks.

“Thank you,” she thanked the cashier and took her bag of goods. “Maybe this will cheer him up.” She opened the door and waved to her family waiting for her in the car. She smiled and shook her bag then walked closer.

Suddenly she heard a dangerously close crash ahead of hers. The terrifying sound of metal scraping the pavement screeched her ears and Hyojin looked up. A huge truck came and crash right onto their small car.

Her knees jerked, she felt as if her life flashed before her eyes, “No,” she whispered and dropped her bag. “No!” she ran to the crash and looked at their crushed, trampled car. Hyojin slumped on the ground, not caring if her snacks were going to be ruined. Her eyes were wide and was open. There were many words that wanted to escape from , but all she could say was 'No' and 'no' over and over again.

“Mom! Dad!

She saw her parents were covered in their own puddle of blood. Body limp and dead just laying in the crashed car.

“No!” crying hysterically, “No no no no no!” she cried in her bloody hands. “Someone call 119!” she screamed from the top of her lungs, “Please! Anyone!” she cried more and so much harder. She stopped, “Hojae, Howon, Hyojun.” she whispered and got up, almost falling.

She scrambled to the other side of the car and her heart broke into a billion thousand pieces. Hojae was holding onto both Howon and Hyojun. She fell to the ground and cried and hit the ground with her bloody fists. “It’s not fair. They’re just kids.” She cried and looked at her siblings. “Howon-ah,” she wanted to reach out and touch them but it was too much of a hazard to do so. “Hyojun-ah,” she hiccuped, tears streaming down her pale face.

“Miss, please get up. Help is on its way.” a man came and got her.

Her face was red and wet with tears. Her voice began to rasp from crying so many and her head began to hurt from all the pressure she was exerting. Bodying was shaking, still in shock from the event that happened right before her eyes.

She shook her head frantically and pointed to the car, “No!” She clung to the man, “Please mister,” she pleaded with begging on her knees, “help–please help my family I beg of you!” she cried, “Please!”

It was a difficult time for her, but he knew she needed to leave. Helping her up, the man took Hyojin to the inside of the grocery store and sat her down. Still hysterically crying, he sat with her trying to console her but a blanket and a warm cup of hot chocolate couldn't help her recover.

Breaking. he was breaking. She tried to block all the images before her eyes, but her eyes betrayed her. Falling in the arms of this stranger, Hyojin sobbed all the energy she had left.

After fifteen minutes, the police and paramedics came and evacuated everyone from the crashed vehicles. She couldn't help but look over at the scene. She cried in his arms as she watched them take out her dead family from the car. Then she saw them take out the truck driver; the one who had taken away the lives of her family. Anger boiled in her. Throwing the blanket off of her, Hyojin left the store and ran over to the only minor injured man and shoved him out of the paramedics’ arms.

“You ing bastard!” she shouted and hit him, hard. “You killed my family, you worthless driver!” She kicked him down harder and harder. “I hope you rot in hell! You don’t deserve to live, you ing piece of !” She didn’t care if she was only 15. Her family just got killed by a reckless driver–she had every right to be pissed. “I hope you die! I hope you burn in hell, you bastard!” The old man pulled her away and enveloped her in a hug. “You don’t deserve to live!” she repeated, bawling her eyes out while being consoled.

“After that day, I was adopted by Mr. Lee. He was really nice and sweet. Him and his wife Kana treated me like one of their own.” She sighed, “That ing bastard got sentenced to life for manslaughter.” She scoffed bitterly, “But he should’ve gotten a death sentence in my opinion. His time in jail cannot bring back my family. His death would’ve made me feel bitterly satisfied, but it still wouldn’t have been enough.”

Taegi exhaled and wiped away her tears, “I’m so sorry,” she shook her head, “That’s–that’s terrible. I’m so--” She couldn’t even finish her sentence. The death of Hyojin’s family was so devastating, she couldn’t help but pause. Taegi sighed, letting all her sadness out, “Do you have anything that will help me with the case?”

Hyojin opened up her storage room, “I couldn’t bring myself to throw these away.” she wiped the dust from her hands on her jeans, “These were the only thing that wasn’t damaged from the crash.”

Taegi nodded, “Thank you,” she dipped her head while still looking at everything. There wasn’t much of anything, so it was very clean and tidy. Everyone’s belongings had a label so it was easy to know whose was whose. She turned to face Hyojin, “You don’t mind if I–”

“Oh no,” Hyojin shook her head and waved her hands, “Go ahead.” she smiled and pointed to the door, “I’ll be in the house fixing something for us.”

Taegi nodded and continued looking around the room. She had it figured out. Hojae and Hyojun couldn’t possibly be Hoya, since Nayeon mentioned them as his brothers. But this Howon; she just couldn’t figure out. Taegi was the type of person that didn’t jump to conclusions. She had to find all the evidence and put the pieces together.

She automatically went to Howon’s section. She looked through everything. There were notebooks, paper, pencils, and more school things. “Argh!” she exclaimed and kicked a random object, “How is this going to help me?” She looked down at the helpless object on the floor. She hesitantly opened it.

It was a journal of some sort that was labeled

‘이호원’
Lee Ho Won

She opened it but closed it afterward. “He’s not even alive anymore, it’s okay. And plus it’s for a good reason.” she sighed deeply and opened it.

February 14, 2003

Dear Journal,

   I think I’m in love. Today was Valentine’s Day and as usual, no one gave me any chocolates or candies... Except for Moon Nayeon... Journal-ah... Is this love? I know I’m only in the 5th grade.. But I really like her.. URGH! WHAT DO I DO?!

Sincerely,
A hopelessly in love boy
이호원

Taegi reread that journal entry again. She didn’t believe what she was reading. Were her eyes playing with her? “It can’t be,” she whispered to herself. Nayeon’s name was in there; it was pretty clear. She flipped to a random page.

March  24, 2003

Dear Journal,

   Gosh, I think I really am in love. I feel like a weirdo for looking at her in class. I want to talk to her so bad! But then her friends and everyone else would just say, “Back off goggles!” and tease me about my glasses and my dark skin. I really dislike them. It’s not like I chose to be born with poor eyesight and dark skin ):  Journal-ah, how do I talk to Nayeon without looking like an idiot? Why can’t I be handsome?

Sincerely,
‘Goggles’
이호원

She frowned, “Goggles? Wow, they’re rude!” Taegi set it off to the side; that was gonna come to good use and evidence. She continued searching–until she saw a school yearbook. It was completely clean with no signs or drawing. “This kid was really an outcast,” she whispered to herself. She looked at the very back of the yearbook and finally saw one.

Have a great summer Howon-sshi~
–Moon Nayeon ♥

The book slipped out of her grasp and fell to the concrete ground. She bent down to get it but noticed something dangling out of it. “Huh?” she tilted her head and slid it out. Her eyes widen. She ran back to the Hyojin’s house. “Hyojin-sshi,” she called.

“In the kitchen!” she chimed.

Taegi ran in there with beads of sweat laying on her forehead, “May I take these for further investigation?”

Hyojin nodded, “Are you leaving already?”

Taegi nodded, “It’s a long drive to Busan.”

Hyojin nodded, “I understand,” she wiped her hands on her apron and walked Taegi out.

“Thank you for everything,” Taegi bowed when they were at the porch.

Hyojin shook her head, “No problem, have a safe drive back.”

Taegi nodded and got in her car. She dialed Taesuk’s number, “Suk-ah, do you have that program where you can see how someone looks like years from now?”

‘Yeah, why?’ he answered over the phone.

She sighed with relief, “I’mma need you to do that.”

“This picture,” she handed her brother the picture of Howon.

“Comin’ right up,” he scanned it and was automatically sent to his computer. “Just gotta do some things,” he said while typing something and clicking buttons here and there. His computer skills were unbelievable. It’s true; greatness runs in the family. “Here we go; I got it.”

Taegi snapped out of her thoughts and froze. She touched the screen, with shaky fingers. She quickly took out Minrin’s sketch of him and compared the two. They were almost identical. Her face turned pale and her breathing quickened, “So, this means...”

Taesuk looked at his sister. She looked like she just saw a ghost, “Are you okay?” he looked at what she was holding and the picture he morphed just now. “Ah, is that–” he ruffled his hair, “This is why I’m not a psychiatrist. Too much work for my brain!”

Taegi paced around the room while biting her thumbnail, “Lee Howon is Lee Hoya. Lee Hoya is Lee Howon. Lee Howon died. Lee Hoya is a ghost. Lee Howon was in love with Nayeon. He got in a car crash and died along with his brothers and parents.” she said putting the pieces together, “Nayeon sees him and only him.” She let out a frustrated yell, “But why only on the 14th of each month?” she sat down on a sofa and took out a piece of paper.

Nayeon’s birthday: December 14th

“Is that really the only reason why he sees her on that day?” She threw her bag. All her stuff scattered on the floor.

Even Howon’s notebook.

A light bulb clicked in her head. She crawled to get the notebook. She went back to the entry.

Valentine’s Day-when he fell for Nayeon: February 14

She scanned thru the notebook then skipped to the last entry.

November 14, 2004

Dear Journal,

   WE’RE REALLY MOVING!!! I DON’T WANNA GO TO SEOUL! I WANNA STAY HERE IN BUSAN WHERE NAYEON IS!! I WAS GONNA CONFESS TO HER TODAY!!! It’s been a year since I’ve liked her!! I seriously can’t hold it in any longer!!!!

Dang it, I have to go and put you away in the stupid boxes! The moving people are here.

Sincerely,
A big idiot
이호원

Taegi sighed and wrote it down,

Death: November 14

Taegi dropped her pencil. And looked at what she got.

Nayeon’s birthday: December 14

Valentine’s Day-when he fell for Nayeon: February 14

Death: November 14

“It. All. Makes. Sense. Now.” She looked at all off the evidence that she collected, “14, 14, 14.” She felt chills running down her spine. “Taesuk-ah!” she yelled.

“What?!”

“Print me that picture!” she demanded.

“A please would be nice,” he muttered while printing it out.

She ignored him and grabbed her phone.

‘Hello.’ she heard Minrin’s voice.

“Minnie, I need to see Nayeon now.”

Minrin looked at Nayeon who was choosing a snack to eat, “Alright.”

“I’ll meet you two at the hospital,” she said and hung up.

Nayeon looked at Minrin, “Who was that?”

Minrin shook her head, “Just Taegi, she wants to see us. So pick something for you two.” Minrin’s smiled faded. What does she need? Why did it sound so urgent?

Whoo!! Dayumm!! 3,000+ words!!! I’m so sorry!!! But I didn’t feel like splitting this in two... And this was my first time actually trying to put some background music.. Haha, how was it? Okay? Did it match?

Oh and I just wanted to remind you guys again, this is a short story. I know I said that it’ll be about 10-15 chapters--I lied. There’s only about 2 or 3 chapters left in the story ): I know, I’ll miss writing this so much TT~TT

Anyway.. HAPPY THOUGHTS HAPPY THOUGHTS!

See you next chapter :D