Date - December 5, 2013

Time - 10:00 AM

Place - Son Naeun's Apartment

I stepped inside Naeun's apartment. After reading her diary, I deviced a plan which I called "OPERATION HEALING." I knew my title was lame, but I was never good at mind work anyway. Naeun wouldn't mind.

I noticed almost immediately that something was off.

Naeun was missing.

She was gone without a trace.

Time - A second later

My heart beat unstoppably and my legs almost refused to move. I could feel sweat running down my forehead uncontrollably. Naeun was not the type of person who would leave her apartment, especially after a recent breakdown.

As I finished checking the entire room, I realized that she would not have gone out without a reason. I tried thinking of a way to know where she was, but how? Naeun never spoke and she barely had any items of sentimental value.

As I thought of her things, I realized an important fact:

Naeun's diary would have all the clues needed to finding her.

Time - 10: 20 AM

Place - Local Convenience Store

When she was fourteen years old, Naeun wrote that she loved food and wished that she could eat even more. But a large supermarket would be out of the question, since she currently hates crowds.

Soon enough I found myself standing in the front door of a local convenience store. I terribly hoped that it was the correct place.

I covered every aisle, but she was not there. I wildly questioned a worker, but she merely looked at me as if I was crazy. In the end, I even checked the stock room discreetly, but she was still not present. 

If I wanted to find her and make sure that she’s safe, I had to try harder.

Time - Ten Forty-Five in the Morning

Place - Local Middle School

When Naeun was only fifteen years old, she wrote that she lacked friends in class. Being the desperate man that the situation pulled me into, I went to the only middle school in town.

Classroom after classroom, field after field, faculty after faculty, I searched.

But she was still not there.

Time - 11:45 AM

Place - Local Playground

When she was seventeen years old, Naeun experienced betrayal once again.

I visited the playground where she last met her "friend" but she was nowhere to be found.

Why was I so desperate? 

I didn't know why, but I simply had to finid

Time - Twelve Noon

Place - Local Cemetery

I found her.

Son Naeun, the girl whom I do not seem understand, was the reason why I stepped inside the most morbid place in my memory. As I made my way around the cemetery, I realized that I would never have gone in if the reason was to bring back any other girl besides her.

Naeun sat silently in front of a grave, her back faced towards me.

I was almost certain that she sensed my presence, but her lack of movement suggested otherwise.

I wondered if I should have made a move towards her, but something inside of me kept me from doing so.

That "something," it seems, was the fact that the surname "Son" was written on the epitaph, and that her parent’s death anniversary was today.

Time - Five Hours Later

I sat behind her for exactly three hundred minutes. She never turned back to face me, and she never moved an inch from her original position.

She wasn't crazy. Insecure, yes. Betrayed, definitely. But not crazy. 

If anything, Naeun was a loyal companion who longed to feel loved.

Time - An Hour Later

She fell asleep.

 I stood up from my sitting position as soon as I saw her body go rigid. 

Because she no longer ate properly, it was easy to lift her up and to carry her bridal-style out of the solemn place.

Naeun looked so peaceful and problem-free while sleeping.

But it was for this same reason why I did not want her to wake up. Naeun lived a nightmare, one which could only be escaped through dreaming. 

Who am I to steal her dreams, the only chance where she can be happy?