MEMOIRS

 

“Are you ing out of your mind?!?!” Jiyong says once he got her on the boat and immediately gave her a blanket to keep her warm. Dara’s whole body was shivering from the cold water and her lips were almost blue.

 

“I’m sorry…”, was all she could say. Jiyong’s worried eyes couldn’t leave her. He was debating on starting the engine and bringing her back to the hotel but if he does, the cold wind will make her colder. “Are you warm enough?”, he asked but she couldn’t answer for the shivering has gone worse. Jiyong walks towards her and sits beside her. “I need to do this. I need to keep you warm.” Dara could just nod then Jiyong puts his arms around her and runs his hands over her arms. “Better?”, he asks, and Dara nodded.

 

When she stopped shivering, Jiyong decided to take her to his house. People at the hotel will probably wonder what she was doing outside in the middle of the night and why she was drenched. He also wanted to know what happened. Why did she jump over the cliff?

 

As soon as they arrived at his home, Jiyong gave her a change of clothes and while she took a quick warm shower, he made hot chocolate for her.

 

“Thank you.”, she says once she finds him in the kitchen. He turned and smiled, serving her the warm drink. His clothes were big for her but Jiyong couldn’t deny that she looked cute wearing them. He invited her to sit on the counter while he stood opposite her. This Dara had no makeup on, and he couldn’t seem to stop staring at her. She truly is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.

 

“You have a nice place.”, she says. “Are you alone?”

 

“Taehyun and Mingguk are sleeping.” Jiyong answers. “Are you still cold?” She shook her head.

 

“You must think I’m not right in the head.”, Dara began. “I don’t even know how I got there. I mean, I slept at around 10, once I was sure that my brothers were in their rooms. I set my alarm because I thought I’d do some work out before filming but…”, her voice broke. “I don’t know why this is happening to me, Jiyong.”

 

“I called the hotel when you were in the shower.”, Jiyong tells her. “I asked the front desk if you went out and they said you borrowed a car and left. She said that you were wearing just your night gown. They tried to ask where you were going or if you needed a driver, but they said that you didn’t answer them. Do you remember that?” Dara shook her head.

 

“I remember sleeping then next thing I knew; I was in the cold water.”

 

“Do you sleepwalk or something?”

 

“Maybe, or maybe I’m being possessed.” she says then she looks at Jiyong who chuckled. When he noticed that she was staring at him, he suddenly felt self-conscious. “Jiyong…”

 

“Yes?” he answered, his eyes not leaving hers. “Do you think I’m crazy if I tell you that I think we were married in another life?”

 

He couldn’t say anything. Did he even believe in past lives? He doesn’t even believe in the afterlife! She didn’t say more, and he felt that he needed to give her an answer. “I don’t really know. I’ve never thought of the possibility of a past life before. I always thought it was just an expression, like when something good happens to you, then people say that you must have done something good in your past life?”

 

“I was having a very unusual dream.” Dara says. “I’m in a room and you were there too. You were writing something, and I was telling you that we should leave the island. You only smiled and told me that we are safe. Every time I wake, I don’t recall the dreams I have been having but I thought that maybe, they were connected. Because every time, I feel an ache in my heart, like I lost something so important to me.”

 

Jiyong saw a tear fall from her eye even though she immediately brushed it away. This was really affecting Dara and he wanted to help her, but he didn’t know how.

 

“Maybe you should rest.” Jiyong says but Dara has turned to the door of Jiyong’s room. Mingguk was there and he was rubbing his eyes. As soon as he saw her, Mingguk ran to Dara who immediately carried the little boy.

 

“Mama…”

 

“You really like calling me that, huh?”, Dara says with a smile. Then Mingguk touches her cheek.

 

“Sad?” Dara smiled and shook her head. Mingguk kissed her cheek and hugged her.

 

“Mingguk, Dara needs to rest.” Jiyong says but Dara pats his hand.

 

“Its fine, Jiyong.”, she says. “He can sleep beside me.”

 

“If you say so.”, Jiyong says. “This is the way to the guestroom.”

 

 

The next day, Kwon Jiyong thought that he woke up in another person’s house for he could hear people laughing from the living room. His tired eyes looked at the door and saw that it was open then the face of his brother came into view. “Hyung, wake up. It’s late.”

 

“How late?” Jiyong asked without opening his eyes and burying his face into the comfort of his sheets. “Like 11 am late. It’s almost noon.”

 

“What?!?!?!” He immediately sat up but that proved to be wrong when he felt his head spin. He closed his eyes then took a deep breath. “Dara made breakfast, or in your case, brunch. What is she doing here by the way?”

 

“Saw her last night…” Jiyong answered then stopped. “She was swimming, so I brought her here.”

 

“Swimming?”, Taehyun asked and Jiyong knew his brother was never letting him off the hook until he got answers. “Yah, maybe you should ask her. I’ll join you in a bit. Why are they laughing so much?”

 

“She’s playing with Mingguk in the pool. I was about to restock the hotel shop, so I got new bikinis that I haven’t delivered there so I gave her one.” Jiyong froze on the spot. Dara was in a bikini? “Make it faster, Jiyong-hyung, or you won’t see her.” Taehyun winked at him then left.

 

True enough, when Jiyong went out to greet his guest, she was in the pool with Mingguk and Taehyun lay by the gutter, getting some tan perhaps. “Good morning, Jiyong!”, Dara sees him and smiles. “Come join us.”

 

“I warmed the coffee, Jiyong hyung! Help yourself.” Taehyun adds. Without having to take his eyes off her, Jiyong walked to his kitchen and found the coffee. He was thankful that she wasn’t wearing one of those skimpy bikinis but a white tankini. That would have been too much for his self-control. He saw a plate of toast and fruits as well and thought to take a bite before he joins them. But as soon as he tasted it, he finished the thing in no time. He nods in approval at the sandwich he was eating. He used to like his sandwiches made this way. Jiyong remembered his mother and how she’d tell him that avocado and bread does not go well together but she still made it for him. He felt warm at the sound of laughter in his home. It’s been a while since he’s heard it in his house. “But come on, man…”, his inner self chides. “Will Dara accept your advances when she’s supposed to be leaving the island in a few days?”

 

 

“Papa!”, Mingguk calls when he saw Jiyong join them in the pool area. He sat on the edge and Dara helped the boy go to him for he was reaching out to his father. “Hyung, how was the sandwich? It’s weird but it tastes good, right?” Taehyun smiled. “Avocado is his favorite.”, the younger brother adds while Jiyong carries Mingguk; pulls him up and down the water while the boy shrieked happily. “It started when we both went to Vegas and were at Five Guys and then he asked why there was an avocado add on for the burgers. He always liked to eat avocado with bread, I think. What’s it called in America, hyung?”

 

“Guacamole”, Jiyong answered between making funny faces for Mingguk. The boy kept kicking the water that in no time, Jiyong’s clothes were wet. “Wait a minute, buddy.”, he sets the boy to stand beside him while he took off his shirt then he gets in the water, but he didn’t get the boy. Instead he walks two steps back and asks him to jump. The boy laughed before he does then shriek once he lands in Jiyong’s arms. Mingguk was so excited that he kept on kicking with his legs and Jiyong held his trunk while he went around the pool.

 

“It’s nice like this.”, Taehyun says and Dara turns to him. “You’re the first woman that has ever stepped foot in this house. Not even his personal assistant can just come here.”

 

“Do you always go to Vegas?”, Dara asked, remembering that time she ran away from the red carpet and ended up in a casino.

 

“Jiyong hyung loved to gamble before.”, Taehyun says in a low voice so that his brother wouldn’t hear. “But don’t tell him that I told you.”

 

“Really?”, Dara began to recall a guy she sat with and placed a bet against him. He looked like Jiyong except his hair was all dark and long now. “Tell me, Taehyun. Did your brother dye his hair orange or red before?”

 

“Yep, he does that when he’s bored.” Then Dara laughed making Mingguk and Jiyong turn to them. Now, the boy sought her attention and asked Jiyong to swim to her. Dara got him from Jiyong’s arms and started to play with Mingguk while Jiyong stayed close to them, splashing water on the boy’s face and laughing. “You look like a happy family.”, Taehyun comments with a smile. Dara and Jiyong turns to him and they noticed that even when he was smiling, Taehyun looked like he was about to cry. “I used to be like this, you know. At the hotel, when mom and dad took me there for a summer vacation. They usually play with me just like this.” Jiyong didn’t know what to say. He hasn’t seen Taehyun this way before and they haven’t talked about their parents in a long time. But then Dara smiled and went closer to him with Mingguk in her arms.

 

“I’m not sure if your brother remembers.”, Dara starts and bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. “I almost married him in Vegas.”

 

“I what?”, says Jiyong. “You what?”, says Taehyun, both completely dumbfounded. Dara nodded then she cleared .

 

“If you win, you get to go home a millionaire but if you lose, you can have me.”, she spoke the words she said to him that night and Jiyong stood there, gob smacked.

 

“You remember?”, he asked.

 

“Just now, when Taehyun told me that you love to gamble and you once colored your hair, red.” Taehyun thought that Jiyong would reprimand him but his brother was just standing there, both of them looking at each other, as if there was no one else around. “Mingguk, maybe we should get off the water now. It’s noon time.”, Taehyun says and when Taehyun carried him, Mingguk didn’t protest. “See, you’re tired.”, Taehyun coos when the boy rubbed on his eyes. He looks at the adults again, sensing that they wouldn’t mind him leaving with the boy, he went inside to help Mingguk rinse up.

 

Jiyong walked to stand beside her, their eyes not losing its contact. “Do you remember, Jiyong?”

 

“I do.”, then he sighed. “I knew it was you even before we met at Seunghyun’s place. You were blonde at that time.”

 

“I was.”, Dara chuckled. “So, what happened after that?”

 

“What do you mean, what happened?”, Jiyong mocked. “You left and I never saw you again!”

 

“But you won!”, Dara laughed. “You have your millions. It wouldn’t matter.”

 

“What wouldn’t matter?” Jiyong asked, his arms on both her sides while she’s trapped against the edge of the pool. “I looked everywhere!”

 

“Clearly, not everywhere since we never saw each other again.” Dara smirked. “But I did see you walk back to your room with another blonde clinging to your arms.”

 

“Did you know who I was back then?” Jiyong asked her.

 

“Did you know who I was back then?”, Dara asked back.

 

“If I did, I’d probably call all bets off.”, Jiyong whispers, while his hand caressed her face. “You caught me by surprise when you suddenly kissed me.”

 

“I was your lucky charm then. You won after that, right?”

 

“Tell me, Dara. If I lost that night, would you have really married me?” Jiyong asked then Dara laughed. “Hey, I’m serious.” Then, Dara nods.

 

“I was foolish that time.”, Dara says and held his hand to take it off her face. “It was a crazy night. Everything I did was just spontaneous. I wasn’t even thinking where to go and suddenly found myself in a casino when I’ve never been there before.” Then she smirked. “So yeah, I probably would’ve ended up in the altar with you, just as you said.”

 

Jiyong was surprised. He wasn’t expecting that answer. This woman never failed to surprise him. She was really the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on and it doesn’t help that she’s also probably the nicest judging from the way she let the boy call her Mama, when she knows that she’s not. They both stood there, quietly. She was looking at him, her hands holding his after she took it off her face. She was biting her lips which were probably cold by now, even her fingers felt cold. He took another step to her and she pressed back, her hand tightening on his, while her other hand pushed at his chest.

 

“Jiyong…”

 

“Was jumping off a cliff another spontaneous idea of yours?”, he suddenly asked but before Dara could answer, he claimed her cold lips in a kiss that changed them both forever.

 

 

~~

 

 

Mino woke up with a smile on his face. He checked the time and it was still early, so he thought to hit the gym and found his brother on the treadmill. “How was your date?”, Jinwoo asked. “Noona was happy you came home early.”

 

“Hyung, she’s really incredible.” Mino says while he starts the machine next to Jinwoo and joins him. “She’s one of a kind. I mean, right now, if you’d ask me to go back to the city, I think I’d refuse.”

 

“Really? She has that effect on you?” Jinwoo was dumbfounded. “Why not just take her to the city?”

 

“She said she wouldn’t leave the island. It’s her home and she’ll always come back here.” Mino sighed. “I actually asked her to be my girlfriend, you know. But she turned me down and we both agreed that it was too fast.”

 

“Yeah, and you’re very impulsive.” Jinwoo reprimands. “You’re not thinking again. Who do you think will get hurt by this after we leave? Hayi knows that her place is here. How about you? Your career is waiting for you in the city.”

 

“Maybe I’ll just be a stable boy like you all suggested.” Mino smirked at his brother and they both laugh. “But really, Jinwoo hyung. Have you ever felt this way about anyone?”

 

“No…”, Jinwoo answers. “But I know someday, I will.”

 

 

Chaerin and Jessie didn’t know what to think when they found Dara’s room empty. Chaerin seemed to have stopped functioning while Jessie thought to call her phone but then, the phone was in the room with them. And that’s how Jisoo found them in her sister’s room, when she was about to call Dara to have breakfast. “Did she tell you where she’s going?”, Chaerin asked the girl but Jisoo shook her head. “Where are your brothers?”

 

“They’re both showering when I checked. They’re coming down for breakfast.” Jisoo thought for a while. “Maybe she’s having breakfast now.”

 

“You’re right.”, Jessie says. “Maybe we’re just overreacting. Let’s go see her. She’s probably stuffing a lot in her stomach again.”

 

 

 

~~

 

 

As soon as Seungri arrived at the Sherriff’s station, he knew that it was going to be a busy day. “Hey, what’s going on here?”, he asked after he got past the reporters gathered by the entrance and found the place packed with people.

 

“Sir, this man came here early this morning claiming that he saw someone jump from the cliff by the café last night.” One of the officers says and Seungri found a fisherman wringing his hat and looking down all worried. “Really? And the reporters knew about this before I did?”, Seungri asked. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”, the man says. “My daughter works at the local tv station and last night, I was walking with her back to our house when we saw a woman jump. The wind was very strong, and we tried to get down to check on her, but it took us some time because it was so dark and when we got there, we couldn’t see her anymore. This morning, I came here to report about it, but my daughter went to work, and she probably told the media people so they’re here.”

 

“Did anyone check the cliff and the dock again?”, Seungri asked but his men could only look down. “Yah! People are probably swarming that place now! We need to put a barricade now! Someone could be dead! Seunghoon was here last night, and you should have reported that at once!”

 

“I’m sorry.”, the old fisherman cried. “I was so scared! I thought she was a ghost! She looked like the woman from the ruins! We angered the ghost in the ruins! They shouldn’t have used it for that movie! They have defiled the Choi’s old home!”

 

“That was just a folk story, old man!” Seungri says. “The ruins aren’t haunted.”

 

“You don’t understand.”, the fisherman shook his head. “I was just a boy when I heard it from my parents, who heard it from their grandparents! It’s true! Soojin Choi’s soul never left the ruins because she’s looking for her family’s murderers! She cursed this island!”

 

“Why will she curse us, when her daughter was saved by the people in this island!” Seungri argued. “Don’t make up stories, old man.”

 

“Sir!”, another officer comes in, catching his breath.

 

“Yunhyeong, you’re late.”, Seungri says.

 

“I know…I know but, I came late because I was by the ruins. There’s a body, Boss! There’s a dead body!”

 

 

~~

 

 

The elevator doors opened, and they were welcomed by the sound of Chaerin’s voice. “WHY THE ACTUAL DID YOU LET HER DRIVE ON HER OWN? You should have told us that she hasn’t gone back!” She berates the hotel guards and manager. Jisoo saw her brothers, then she ran to them and Mino caught her. She was crying so hard; she couldn’t seem to speak.

 

“What’s going on?”, Mino asked his sister.

 

“Dara unnie…”, Jisoo says between sobs. “She’s gone…she’s missing…”

 

“SHE WHAT?!?!?”, both brothers say at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

Kwon Jiyong felt his world stop as his lips touched Sandara’s. Not mindful of what he was doing, he let his own wants take control of his own body. Everything felt familiar but Jiyong was sure, that he was even willing to bet that he hasn’t met Dara before and the kiss they shared that one fateful night was so fleeting. But this was exactly what he thought kissing someone you love should be. He felt a pain in his heart as their kiss deepen and perhaps his subconscious, or perhaps they were memories of a past life, like she said, resurfaced.

 

He was by the door of the kitchen and saw a man with Dara. Their daughter was in a crib in the corner. His hands close into a fist as the man tried to touch Dara but she refused the advances. Suddenly, everything blurred out and he was in the garden with Mingguk while Dara was watering plants. He was playing toss with the boy and the sound of Mingguk’s musical laughter filled his head. Then they were interrupted by a man who looked like Seunghyun! Dara was gone and he was back in his study. He couldn’t mistake Seunghyun’s eyes for he hasn’t met anyone with such a deep piercing gaze. Jiyong felt it difficult to breathe and saw that Seunghyun was choking him. Through his blurred vision, Jiyong saw a boy run to them but Seunghyun easily pushed him away, the boy hit his head on the wall, and he fell unconscious on the floor. “She’s on the dock…”, Jiyong managed to speak and Seunghyun loosened his hold on his neck. Jiyong coughed and crawled his way to his son. There was blood on his head. Jiyong checked for a pulse but there was none and Jiyong cried out his name. He suddenly ran to his table and got a gun before he faced Seunghyun who was by the threshold of their home. But before he could reach him, he felt a pain through his stomach, and he saw the hilt of the blade glisten. Seunghyun held his shoulder and twisted the blade before he stabbed again.

 

“KWON JIYONG!”, Jiyong heard Seunghyun’s voice and he immediately let go of Dara. “Seunghyun…”, he whispered, and Dara just stared at him, unexpectedly scared. “Sorry if I had to interrupt.”, Seunghyun said again and Jiyong turned to him. “I was calling you over and over again!”

 

“What…” Jiyong looked at Dara again. She excused herself and put on a robe. “What just… I mean… why are you here?”

 

“When did this happen?”, Seunghyun asked her but she just walked past him, she was suddenly red in the face. “Wait, Dara!

 

“Seunghyun!”, Jiyong called him instead and shook the thoughts he had. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Dara, we’ll talk later.” Seunghyun tells Dara before she disappeared to the living room. Jiyong got the towel on the lounge chair to dry himself then faced his guest. “We need to go to the ruins.”

 

“Why?”, Jiyong asked. “And when did you get here.”

 

“I was here quite a while. Taehyun let me in and he tried to stop me from disturbing you, but we have an emergency.” Seunghyun said flatly then sighed. “Come follow me.”, he says then they step in the living room when the television was on and they were watching the local news. Truthfully, he wanted to ask Jiyong what he was doing to his sister but there was a more pressing issue that they must attend to.

 

Taehyun and Jiyong froze as the anchor man began saying that a dead body was found. It was a dead body in a small treasure chest. “We have to be there.” Jiyong says and the two men could just nod before he disappeared to his room. Taehyun was checking his phone for a lot of messages were coming thru. Seunghyun noticed that he stopped by the baby’s carrier. Taehyun suddenly turned to him. “He’s gone!”

 

“What?”, Seunghyun asked and approached the carrier as well. “I just saw him before I went out to get Jiyong. He was asleep.”

 

“Yes, he was.”, Taehyun says then he saw something glisten from inside it and took it out. “A necklace?”

 

“We need to find the boy. I’ll look in the kitchen and you look inside the rooms.” Seunghyun suggested and Taehyun could just nod. Where could he have gone? Mingguk was a bit noisy when he moves around so he finds it hard to believe that he’ll just disappear without being noticed. It has only been a few minutes since Taehyun saw him and like Seunghyun said, he was just sleeping.

 

“What’s going on?”, Dara asked after she has rinsed. Taehyun now lent her more of Jiyong’s clothes while her night gown was on the table. Seunghyun and Taehyun’s head snapped up to her.  “What’s this?”, she asked when she found a locket on top of her clothes. Jiyong also changed and was ready to go but no one seemed to answer Dara, so he spoke. “We’re going to the ruins. What are you holding?”

 

“I don’t know…”, Dara says then Taehyun approached them.

 

“Jiyong hyung…I don’t know what happened! One minute, he was just sleeping on the carrier. I was watching the news while Seunghyun-hyung interrupted you and Dara and when you said that we were leaving, I was about to get him, but I found this instead. Mingguk is gone!” Taehyun paled and he didn’t know how to continue.

 

“What did you say, Taehyun?” Jiyong asked.

 

“Where’s Mingguk?”, Dara now asked and Seunghyun looked at them both.

 

“He’s missing.” Seunghyun answered. “Taehyun and I already looked for him, but he’s gone. This was what we found in the baby’s carrier. It’s a locket.” Seunghyun opened it for Dara and Jiyong then they both saw an old photo of Jiyong, Dara, Mingguk and a baby girl. Dara felt cold inside while Jiyong’s hair stood on its end, feeling a cold wind brush past him.

 

 

 

 

“I’m having a hard time making sense of this too, Seunghyun!”, Jiyong whined to his friend on their drive to the city. Taehyun was driving while Seunghyun and Dara sat on the back seat. “Why would he suddenly disappear? Where would the boy go?”

 

“You think he’s real?” Seunghyun suddenly asked.

 

“YOU HELD HIM, RIGHT?”, Jiyong shouted. “Dara, he was real, right?”

 

“But where would he go?” Dara says. “If he really left, then we should have noticed. We could have seen him leave! He couldn’t have gotten far so we could have noticed him.”

 

“Maybe not.”, Seunghyun smirked and Dara glared at him, so he just cleared his throat. “In any case, we can report it to the police and Seungri will get his men to look for the boy. They are in the ruins so we can just talk to him when we get there. And you, Dara noona, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

 

“What?”, Dara glared at her brother again.

 

“Don’t start, Seunghyun.”, Dara says. “My heart’s pounding right now, I don’t need you to keep me worrying.” Dara met Jiyong’s eyes on the side mirror, but she averted her gaze. “How will I explain to them…”, she says under her breath while closing her eyes.

 

“You really don’t remember jumping off the cliff?” Jiyong asked and Dara shook her head.

 

“I don’t even remember leaving my bed!”, Dara answered, and she couldn’t hide her fear. Seunghyun knew that she was again thinking of Soojin Choi and what she said to him at the ruins the other day after they saw Daesung. Seunghyun reached out to hold her hand and Dara accepted his comfort, but she didn’t smile. Seunghyun felt her cold palms. He looked up then saw Jiyong glaring at him, before the latter looked to the front again.

 

“We’re here.”, Taehyun says then he parks the car. They immediately ran to the police and Seungri let them pass through the barricades. “Do you have any idea what’s happening here?”, he asked Jiyong and Seunghyun then Dara who was walking towards the old casket that looked like a treasure chest on grass.

 

“Someone dug this last night.” Seungri states and sighs. “I’ve already talked to the witnesses and from what I gathered, someone came here riding that car, which I traced was from your hotel.” Seungri points at Taehyun. “The person came here and dug this chest.”, Seungri pointed to the broken glass that was there since Dara came to the island, the ground below it now had a deep wide pit. A villager saw it this morning and one of my men came to check and he found these remains. Perhaps just about a year old or 2, and he or she could have been dead for so long.”

 

Jiyong felt his stomach churn then he remembered what he just saw in his mind earlier while he was in the pool. He tried to block out his and Dara’s kiss. He felt his heart ache while he walked closer to what looked like a treasure chest, but it turns out to be a casket of the old days. Instead of finding gold and jewels. There was a skeleton, but they didn’t know if it was a girl or a boy. Its skull was small, even the bones were still small. Dara stood up and turned to him. “Jiyong…”, she says but it was as if he couldn’t hear her.

 

“Is his skull intact?”, Jiyong suddenly asked and the coroner checking on the remains got the skull and showed him the back part which had a crack in the middle, a part of it chipped off. Kwon Jiyong closed his eyes as he pieced together what was happening. But could it make sense? “It seems his skull was broken as I can see some fracture lines. It could have caused his death.”, the coroner informs them. “But how did you know, Mr. Kwon?”

 

“Is there any way we’ll know whose body this is?” Jiyong asked instead of answering, and the police nodded. “We are sending the samples to Seoul for a DNA check. We’d probably get an answer in a few days.”

 

“I’ll pay.”, Jiyong says. “Get those results fast.” Seungri nods then he looks at Dara.

 

“Miss Sandara, may I speak with you?” Seungri says and she nods. “You are staying at the Shilla, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes, I am.” Dara nods. “The hotel says that you borrowed this car.” Jiyong stood close to Dara now and she felt dry up when she saw her family running towards her. Chaerin and Jessie were with them. Jisoo was crying while she hugged her sister. Jinwoo and Mino were very worried. Chaerin and Jessie were screaming at her, but she couldn’t understand them.

 

“Calm down…” Dara simply states.

 

“YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM THE DOWN?” Chaerin screamed before hugging her, and Jessie followed. “We thought something horrible happened to you.”, Jessie admits.

 

“I’m fine.”, Dara says then she wipes Jisoo’s tears away. “Look, I’m still here, Jisoo.” Jisoo could just nod and let go of Dara. She turned to Seungri and composed herself even if she was scared less at the reparations of her actions. “Officer Lee, I don’t think there’s a crime here. I mean, the remains seem to have been here for so long, perhaps someone thought that it’s time for the bones to be laid in the proper place. Or maybe someone was trying to look for a treasure in the ruins. It’s not a secret on this island that the Choi’s could have left a treasure in their old home. I think I read that from Wikipedia.” Dara smiled. “Why don’t we talk inside?”

 

Seungri looked around and saw that there were still on lookers. He ordered his men to bring back the remains to their office and retain the barricades so that no one could trespass on the area again before he joined the group that convened inside the unfinished café.

 

Seunghyun stood in a corner while he looked at his family. Jisoo never let go of Dara’s hand, Jinwoo and Mino stood behind her while Chaerin and Jessie sat beside her. Seungri was joined by his partner, Jonghoon with a paper and pen, writing down what really took place last night and Dara’s part in it as she answers Seungri’s questions.

 

From time to time, Seunghyun felt Mino looking at him while he stood by the wall of the café, but whenever the older brother turns to him, Mino would look elsewhere. “Seunghyun-hyung, I know it makes no sense but…”, Taehyun says from beside him. “I was going to tell the police about Mingguk but when I was trying to look for a photo of him, and I know I took photos with him, but look…” Taehyun showed Seunghyun his phone and there were photos of Taehyun but it seemed as if he was alone in the pictures. “Are you sure he was here?”, Seunghyun asked and Taehyun nodded. “This one, I took it when he first rode my boat. He was smiling then. I remember that it was a great photo.”

 

“Do you think that Mingguk is just a spirit in this island?” They both lived long in Jeju now, knowing that the people in it still believed in the supernatural and this could have been their own encounter with the island’s memories. The old lady he met also believed that and she used to tell him stories about it. About how she felt that her parents were visiting her, or how she was playing with a boy before she died.

 

 

Flashback

 

“Not so fast…”, she laughs. “Aigoo, I can’t run. Oppa, don’t go there!”

 

“Are you with him again?”, Seunghyun asks when he joins Grandma Choi in the garden, and she was sitting on her wheelchair with a blanket over her legs. The old woman laughed and nodded.

 

“Where is he?”, he asked but he couldn’t see anyone. Hanbin went to the city to get the fertilizers and Hayi was still in school. It was just the two of them in the house. Grandma Choi smiles and gave his arm a tap. “He’s hiding from you. He’s scared of you, but I told him that you’re not here to hurt anyone.”

 

“I was really cruel to your family for him to fear me this way, huh?”, Seunghyun says and she turns to him. “Don’t think too much about it, Seunghyun. You’re a good man now. Have you talked to your sister? Is she coming?”

 

“She says she can’t come yet.” Seunghyun answers and sighs.

 

“I wish I could see her before I die. I wanted to meet her.”, the old woman smiles. “She’s so beautiful from the pictures you showed me. I’m happy that she was reborn as your sister.”

 

“What do you mean?” But the woman turned away from him and began laughing again. It seems the boy was back. Seunghyun stood up and decided to go back to working in the library but the lady spoke again. “Don’t worry, Seunghyun. I’m sure she will come and see you. When she does, maybe you’ll be able to see the little boy I’m playing with.”

 

End of Flashback

 

 

“I TOLD YOU I DON’T REMEMBER!”, Dara stood up, angry at the accusations of Seungri.

 

“Please calm down, Ms. Dara.”, Seungri tries to pacify her.

 

“I don’t know anything about the ruins, all right? How the hell will I be the one digging holes in this place when I am just a guest here! And you saw the size of that casket! How could I have carried that and brought it out?”

 

“Yes, I know that. I’m just trying to make sense of things here.”

 

“Seungri, why is this a big issue?”, Jiyong interrupts.

 

“Because what she did was trespassing and she jumped off a cliff, Jiyong!”, Seungri answered. “And this is your property! What if she did more than digging?”

 

“You said it yourself, this is my property.”, Jiyong stood up. “I’m not pressing charges. I’m even thankful that the body was found. I had no idea that there was a dead body under this place. Look, Dara came here last night and yes, she jumped but she’s safe. They explained that she has these episodes of impulsiveness, right?”, Jiyong turns to Chaerin and Jessie.

 

“Yes, but no one is supposed to dive in this place. We have designated places for cliff diving.” Seungri argues.

 

“Be that as it may, Dara didn’t know.”, Jiyong mediates between them. Dara told the story as if she had a spontaneous idea to try to dive but she wasn’t trying to kill herself and Jiyong helped make the story believable. “I also wasn’t aware that this was illegal. I was on my boat and I knew she was jumping. I was waiting for her below.”

 

“You were?”, Seungri asked and all eyes turned to him. Jiyong nodded. “We were out last night.”, Jiyong added and Dara turned to him, her eyes questioning.

 

“We were going out in secret because of the scandal it would cause. I mean, she’s popular, right? So, I met her here and when she said she wanted to jump, I hopped on my boat and waited for her below. I got her from the water and brought her to my home.” Jiyong admits. “She spent the night with me. Taehyun can vouch for that.” Taehyun just nodded although he found out that Dara was in their house only this morning. “I’m sorry, I’ll start putting in signs that it is illegal to jump from this cliff. We should put signs before we open, right Seunghyun?” Seunghyun nodded and that was the only time that his brothers noticed him. Jinwoo smiled but Mino glared at him and looked away.

 

Seungri scratched his head and Jonghoon looked questioningly at him. Seungri sighed. “It’s fine. Keep your things. It seems that the only investigation that we must do is to find out about the identity of those bones. Are you sure you don’t want to press charges?” Seungri asked Jiyong again.

 

“Will anyone believe you if you tell them that I’m complaining that