“You still haven’t heard from him?” asked Chaerin at the other end.

“Not yet,” said Dara in an anxious tone. She moves the phone from her left ear to her right ear. “How about you? Did you meet him before leaving for Incheon?”

“No, I didn’t meet him,” said Chaerin. “Wait a minute, let me ask Seunghoon.” Chaerin moves away from the phone and called out to her brother. “Seunghoon, did you meet Jiyong before we came here?”

Dara can hear Seunghoon’s voice in the background, but can’t catch his words.

“Seunghoon also didn’t meet him,” Chaerin told Dara.

Dara looks down at her toes. “Oh, I see.”

“Are you worried about him?” Chaerin asked suddenly.

Dara takes a breath and slowly takes it out. “He promised to call me as soon as I arrived in Busan last Christmas,” said Dara. Her voice sounds rather frustrating. “It’s now past a week and he still hasn’t called me. I also can’t contact his phone. I even called Grandma to ask about Jiyong.”

“Then what did Grandma say?”

“Grandma hasn’t seen him at all since Christmas, when Jiyong drove me to the station.” Dara gulped, and said in a low voice, “Chaerin, I’m afraid something bad happened to him.”

“Don’t think negatively,” Chaerin said cheerfully, trying to calm Dara. “I'm sure he’s just going on vacation somewhere. Maybe go skiing. Now is the holiday season, you know? Of course Jiyong wants to have fun. In fact, he might have too much fun until he has forgotten you.”

After what he said to Dara at the station at that time? Dara forces a small laugh. “Yes, maybe.”

“Take it easy,” Chaerin said again. “He said he would pick you up at the train station tomorrow, right?”

“Indeed,” murmured Dara. “When did you go back to Seoul?”

“The day after tomorrow,” said Chaerin. “Dara, you don’t need to worry too much.”

“Hmm.”

“You sound like a wife worries for her husband hasn’t come home from work.”

“I’m not.”

“By the way, you haven’t told me about your date on Christmas Eve at that time. Well, start telling me now.”

Half an hour later Dara ends the call after telling Chaerin the whole stories, of course leaving out the last part. After that she returns to daydream. She doesn’t realize her mother had entered her room with a plate of sliced apples.

“Why are you daydreaming again?” asked her mother.

Dara gasps and turns around. “Oh, Mom. It’s okay.”

Her mother puts the plate on the table in front of Dara and sits at the end of her bed. “Your friend hasn’t called?”

Dara looks at her mother with raised eyebrows. “Why do you think I’m waiting for a call?”

Her mother stares back while smiling. “You’re my daughter. I surely know what you’re thinking,” her mother said.

Dara laughs softly. Her mother really knows-it-all, always like that. She can’t never hide anything from her mother’s sharp eyes.

“So,” continued his mother. “The man hasn’t called?”

Dara looks back at her mother in surprise. Well, she won’t ask how her mother can know that she is waiting for a call from a man. “He is just... a neighbor, Mom,” Dara said quietly.

Her mother raises her eyebrows. “I didn’t say anything,” said Mrs. Park softly. “Neighbor or not, friend or not, I don’t know at all. What I know is that my daughter always thinks of this person.”

Dara looks down. She takes a deep breath. “He hasn’t called,” she said. Then she looks up and looks at her mother. “Sounds ridiculous, but I’m worried. I myself don’t know why I can feel this way. As Chaerin said, maybe he’s going on vacation to another place. Go skiing. In the winter like this, it isn’t strange to go skiing, right?”

Her mother shrugs. “Maybe.”

Dara’s eyes narrow at plate in front of her. She pauses, then clicks her tongue in annoyance. “That fool! Why makes people nervous like this? Why ruining people’s vacation?” She grabs the fork and stabs a piece of apple ferociously. “Just wait. If I meet him tomorrow, he must be... Urgh! He’s so annoying!”

***

Yang Hyunsuk stands still staring at his nephew who is lying unconscious in a hospital bed. Jiyong has been like that for a week, is motionless and shows no signs of regaining consciousness. Yang Hyunsuk still remembers the day when the police called him and said that his car was found on one of the narrow streets. They also said that a young man was found not far from the car in a state of unconsciousness, lying on the ground with blood pouring from his head. Yang Hyunsuk remembers how he felt seeing the young man in question was his own nephew.

The most difficult thing was to call Jiyong’s parents and explain what happened, because he himself didn’t know what really happened. The police suspected that Jiyong was robbed, but why did the robber not take his wallet and car? It doesn’t make sense. Until now the police hasn’t found any clues that can explain all this.

Hearing her youngest son had an accident, Kwon Nara immediately flew to Seoul. She is now sitting in a chair placed beside his son’s bed, holding Jiyong’s hand and squeezing it, hoping that he will open his eyes immediately.

“How is he today?” Yang Hyunsuk breaks the silence