Chapter 3
 

Home and Family

The taxi carrying Jessica and Seohyun turned into a suburban, where traffic became lesser and lesser. Houses turned from the western style to the traditional Korean houses with greater gaps between each of them.

Jessica closed her eyes to rest. Trying to remember what happened last night. She was walking home from her college alone and she met a guy. That guy was scary. And then she remembered the sharp pain on her stomach. Next thing she remembered was the guy turned into flames and collapsed to the ground.

"I'm sorry it turned out this way," Eeteuk said.

That visions again, a different one. The rundown theatre and the guy named Eeteuk. He was going to kill her. She knew that much. But she wanted Yuri.

Jessica snapped her eyes open and took a deep breath.

"Who is she? Who is that guy?" Jessica pondered. Was it supposed to be her future?

The taxi crossed a small bridge where small river water runs beneath it.

"I thought you're taking me home," Jessica asked.

"I am? or do you no longer consider the orphanage as your house anymore, Unnie?" Seohyun looked to Jessica.

Jessica chuckled. She actually didn't care where Seohyun would take her.

The orphanage was home for Jessica for eighteen years before she decided to rent a small house for herself as she entered Seoul Art University. It has been three years since she moved out. But she never missed every Sunday dinner at the orphanage.

"Mother is eager to talk to you, Unnie," Seohyun smiled at her own sarcasm.

Kim Hyunyoung owned the orphanage but her children called her Mother. Mother was a woman with a really short fuse, a very brilliant cook and an awesome story teller. She hated the very idea of Jessica moving to her own house in the core of Seoul. But after long discussion with the girl, Mother caved in, she nodded although didn't say she was okay with it.

The taxi crossed a small forest and stopped in front of a huge gate. A few meters behind the gate was a huge western looking house with a wooden porch.  There were two oak trees on each side of the house.

Jessica was about to take her wallet to pay the taxi driver when Seohyun stopped her. "On me."

Jessica just smiled and hopped off the taxi. She stood before the huge gate, looking at her childhood house. It was still as huge as ever.

Seohyun pushed the gate a little to make a crack and pulled Jessica in. They walked a few steps closer to the house. The same childhood wind blew Jessica's hair. She loved everything in here. Jessica took a moment watching the old oak tree.

Seohyun pressed the door bell and looked back to Jessica.

"You taught me how to climb trees, Unnie. Remember? You used to climb to the top and I can see your underwear from below."

"You ert," Jessica chuckled.

The door cracked open and a woman with her curly hair pulled back peeked out.

"Hyunnie? Jessica!" she shouted and hugged Jessica.

"Mother," Jessica patted the woman's back.

"You okay? I heard you got stabbed? Are you okay? Let me see the wound," Mother started to touch Jessica's body, every inch of it. Litterally stripped Jessica
on the spot.

"Mother, Mother!" Jessica yanked herself away, "No, I'm fine. I got stab, yes, but I'm fine," Jessica smiled.

After telling the whole story and convincing Mother that she was okay, Mother led Jessica and Seohyun to the house, passing the recreation room, the fireplace and then into the kitchen.

The kitchen was huge. A large sized table set in the middle of the room where cooking ingredients scattered all over it. There were three stoves, a huge microwave and a two door refrigerator. Everything looked old but well maintained. A big pot was on one of the stove, boiling something.

"This smell?" Jessica sniffed the air, "curry?"

Mother smiled and nodded, "yep. Now, Hyunnie, help me. Prepare the kimchi, please."

"Yes, Ma'am," Seohyun swiftly rummaged through the cabinet and the fridge.

Jessica leaned on the wall and looked out to the window. The window led Jessica's vision to a small courtyard. Across the courtyard, was a classroom where children from the orphanage get their lessons from a private teacher. When they're old enough, then Mother let them go to school.

Inside the classroom, Jessica could see small heads tilting left and right, singing. A girl was leading the children to sing.

"New teacher?" Jessica asked.

Mother looked up from her curry and frowned, "yes. She has been here for quite a while every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Jess. Hyunnie, brought her."

"I never know," Jessica crossed her arms.

"Of course. If you come here on weekdays instead on Sundays only, you'd meet her. You should come here more often. Hyunnie comes here almost every day after school," Mother tasted the curry and smiled. It was done.

"Really?" Jessica turned to Seohyun, she nodded, "your parents okay with that?"

"Yes. As long as I come home and still call them Mom and Dad, they're okay with everything," Seohyun smiled.

Unlike Jessica, Seohyun was adopted at ten by the Park family. But Seohyun kept her surname, Seo.

"The kimchi's done," Seohyun clapped her hands.

"The curry's done. Call them to eat, Jess," Mother pointed to classroom direction, "let's get this to the dining room, Hyunnie."

Seohyun and Mother left the kitchen and went to the dining room. Jessica thought for a while before went out the back door and walked across the courtyard.

It has been a while. She has indeed only came to the orphanage on Sundays and left right after dinner. She felt bad now.

She stopped at the classroom door and knocked. Then the door opened, revealing a girl with a shoulder length brown hair came out smiling.

"Oh, hi."
 

**

Yuri and Taeyeon stopped at a small caf?. Yuri ordered pancakes and mineral water while Taeyeon asked for juice.

"What's wrong with you? You looked so scared before at the basketball court?" Taeyeon asked.

"Don't mind me?," Yuri sipped her mineral water before chewing back the pancake, "anyway, let's review the case."

Taeyeon leaned forward and her padlock necklace dangled on her neck. Yuri always feels some chill down her spine every time she saw the necklace. The necklace was small, only a size of a coin. It was silver with really complex carvings. The key hole was small, right in the middle of the padlock, peeking like a small eye.

Remembering back to the history, that necklace was a proof of how strong this puny girl named Taeyeon is.

Another thing that made her shivers too was the eyes of a girl she met at the basketball court, those painful eyes.

Yuri took a deep breath, wiped with a napkin and clench her palms together, "first, we had a lead that two persons injured at the basketball court."

"One was a girl, the other one was a man. The girl got stab and the man burned alive," Yuri paused, "the girl was admitted in Seoul Central Hospital and the man? we don't know where he is now and?," Yuri noticed Taeyeon was looking elsewhere.

"Ya!"

Taeyeon jolted, "what?"

"Are you listening to me?"

"I am?," Taeyeon rolled her eyes, "Eeteuk-oppa briefed me too, Yul," she smiled.

"Then what do you think?" asked Yuri.
 

**

"How do you think the man could get ablaze all of a sudden?" asked Hyoyeon. She was in Sunny's car, heading toward Seoul Central Hospital.

"I don't know? maybe? the man was carrying something flammable and he was smoking," Sunny joked around.

"Okay? how did the girl got stabbed?"

"Maybe the smoking man stabbed her before? aah, you're asking questions that you already know the answer."

Hyoyeon snickered.

"So the morgue said that there was no flammable material on the man?"

"Yep."

"So maybe this Jung girl could be the one causing the fire?"

"Yep."

"We're on the right case then?"

"Yes, we're on the right case."

"Seoul Central Hospital? our next stop."
 

**

"Yep, Seoul Central Hospital?," Taeyeon straightened her sitting position.

Yuri nodded.

Taeyeon's eyes stopped at a spot. Yuri followed Taeyeon's eyes, she was looking at a woman's .

"Taengoo!" Yuri slapped Taeyeon's arm.

"What!?" Taeyeon jolted.

"Don't stare at people's !" Yuri hissed.

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are! I'll tell Tiffany if you do that again!"

Taeyeon pouted, "you wouldn't?."

Yuri glared.

"Fine?."

And the small girl curled up in her seat.

--to be continued