Chapter Three

song: 未来へ

“Do you want to act?”

Haneul stared at the man in front of her like he had just grown two horns out of his head. Raising one eyebrow slightly, Haneul tilted her head at him in question, not sure if she’s heard correctly.

Act?

Was he seriously asking her whether she wanted to act?

in her breath, Haneul suddenly realised that right now, standing before her was a complete stranger. A tall, well-built man who had been silently watching her cry for god knows how long, before asking her whether she wanted to act.

If he’s not some psychopath killer, then he’s got to be some sort of ert.

Gulping a little, Haneul slowly stood up from the ground – only to find herself falling back down again as her legs gave way from crouching for too long. Instantly, the man took a step forwards and reached out his hand, but Haneul quickly slapped it away before attempting to stand up again.

“I-I’m warning you,” Haneul was never an intimidating person, and even to her ears, her threat sounded weak, “If you t-try to do anything, I’ll call the police!”

The man looked visibly shocked, before his lips twitched upwards into a small, amused smile.

“I’m not a bad person, don’t worry.” Stepping back from Haneul, the man raised both his hands, “Plus, doesn’t my face look familiar to you?”

Familiar?

Frowning a little, Haneul bit down on her lips and studied the man’s face.

He had straight, full eyebrows; twinkling, dark orbs and a pair of plump lips. With ebony hair gelled up to the side, it showed off his whole face - especially his defined jaw-line. Gathering how he was wearing quite a fancy looking suit, Haneul concluded that he must be quite rich, and though he looked young – but he certainly doesn’t look her age.

Twisting her lips, Haneul tried hard to associate the man’s handsome features with a familiar face in her head.

But no matter how much she tried, she could not identify a name in her head at all. Perhaps…perhaps he was a distant relative that she didn’t know about?

Narrowing her eyes, Haneul studied the man again. Looking closely, this man does have a certain resemblance to her grandfather. Though not so much in the appearance, but he does seem quite similar to her grandfather in terms of the authoritative and calm aura that they both give out.

But then again, maybe the man in front of her was lying to her.

Talking a cautious step away from the man, Haneul shook her head at him.

“I don’t recognize you.”

The man seemed a little disappointed, but he quickly wiped off the small crease that appeared between his brows.

“Is that so?” The man let out a smile, and though she didn’t know whether he was dangerous or not just yet, but Haneul had to admit that he was quite charming, “You don’t watch television?”

Haneul shook her head again. “I don’t have television at home.”

The man paused for a second, his eyes flicking over to her grandfather’s grave. Then, he nodded his head slowly. 

“As expected.” The man murmured under his breath, but Haneul caught onto his words anyway. Seeing how he was a little distracted and how her legs was just about recovered, Haneul was prepared to turn around and run away when the man spoke again.

“Anyway, my name is Kim Jongin.”

Haneul paused. Then, she gave him a small, uncertain smile.

“Okay,” Haneul cleared nervously, already taking steps away from him, “Well then, it was nice meeting you. But I’ll be leaving now-“

“-wait!”

Haneul couldn’t stop the scream that erupted from her lips as Jongin suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, but her screams were quickly muffled as he covered with his other hand, entrapping her in a hug in the process of doing so.

“Please don’t scream,” Jongin was almost pleading her, “I promise you I won’t do anything bad to you. Just hear me out, please.”

Still terrified, Haneul stiffened up in his embrace, but nodded her head slightly. Hearing Jongin let out a sigh, Haneul felt the hands on and her wrist loosening before he finally let go of her.

Though her brain told her to run away, but Haneul found her legs stuck on the spot as fear still coursed through her body. Jongin stood before her, an uncertain expression plastered over his face before he let out another sigh and spoke.

“Actually,” Jongin started slowly, as if he was unsure of how to touch onto the topic he was going to start, “I…I know your parents.”

Immediately, confusion took over the fear that she was feeling mere seconds ago. Staring hopefully up at Jongin, Haneul could feel her lips trembling.

“You…you do?”

Jongin smiled and nodded his head. “In fact, probably the whole of Korea knows them.”

Haneul froze.

Seeing her reaction, Jongin pressed his lips together and reached into his pocket. Pulling his phone out, Jongin opened up a photo and showed it to her.

Staring at the photograph, tears immediately collected around her eyes.

In the photo, was a couple smiling at the camera. The lady had shining, warm eyes and a smile that could melt the coldest person, and the man standing next to her with an arm slung casually around her shoulders was tall and handsome.

Though Haneul doesn’t recognize their faces, but she knew instantly that they were her parents.

Yes, Haneul could recognize the smile of the lady and the strong shoulders of the man anywhere. They were her parents. They were exactly the parents she recalled from her three-year old memories.

Lifting her eyes away from the photograph, the tears that was gathering her eyes spilt and began dropping down her cheeks one by one. Haneul stared up at Jongin, curiosity and questions b her eyes.

“Who were they?” Haneul managed to whisper, her heart feeling like it was about to suffocate.

“They were Na Jieun and Go Minjun.” Jongin replied softly, “And they were once the most famous actors in Korea.”

If anyone had told Haneul that her parents were famous yesterday, Haneul wouldn’t have believed a single word they said. But now, as she sat in the coffee shop with Jongin opposite to her, flipping through articles and photos and videos of her parents on the internet, Haneul could not help but believe in his words.

Finally done with looking at all the evidence that was displayed in front of her eyes, Haneul placed the phone down on the table and heaved out an unstable sigh. Still in a state of disbelief, Haneul remained silent and stared blankly down at her fingers.