3 YEARS AGO, seoul
A girl in middle school uniform was meandering through the streets. She was going in and out of the shops and was thoroughly scrutinizing the notice boards. It looked as she was desperately trying to find something. She walks with her little school bag towards a shop. There was a flyer stuck on the glass door. It said,
"Hiring part timers
Working hours: From 4pm to 7pm (Monday to Friday)
Specifications: The applier should have knowledge of three languages besides English.
Walk-In interview
Call us at: 967*******
Contact ASAP"
Seri pushes the glass door and walks to the front desk. The shop was empty but then why wasn't it locked, she thought. A middle- aged lady approaches her from behind and speaks as she sees the flyer in Seri's hands, "Oh, The flyer got removed again...I'll paste it again. Thanks". "No, I want the job." "But aren't you still in middle school and if you read it carefully it requires a person with knowledge of 3 languages." "I Know Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and" after taking a breath she continues "and English." "I have certificates." She continues. "Sorry, we can't hire you" "Please, I need the job." "Why does a kid want to work?" "I need money." "Sorry, but still we can't hire you". With hopes having hopped down she moves towards the glass door. She turns and says, "I'll work diligently for 4 hours Monday to Sunday for the same pay." "Oh Gord, this girl is amazing!" the boss lady says. "You will work as my assistant and will also have to escort foreign tourists from airports to their hotels." She continues. "Ok….And its God or lord and not Gord" "Stop! You are my assistant starting tomorrow."She says sarcastically emphasizing on the last word. Seri smiles and pushes the glass revolving door. As she moves out, a boy enters in. They were both on the opposite sides of the revolving door. Seri starts moving towards her home with the flyer tightly clenched in her fists. Something comes to her mind and she tries to open her bag with one hand with the flyer in the other. But a gust of wind blows up the flyer. She follows the flyer but before she could catch it, it smashes into the face of a person walking on the street. The person puts the flyer off his face and gives it to Seri. "Be careful next time" He says expressionlessly. Seri recognizes the person to be the boy who entered the shop.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Outside girls dorm
Zeal calls Seri. But the contact 'End of my peaceful day' is unreachable. After ten unsuccessful attempts he calls one of Seri's friends. She picks up the phone. But before she could say a word he shoots her with "Where has Seri shifted?"
"I went with her to search for homes but I don't know which one she finalized."
He cuts the phone. His car stops in front of a high rise building. The building had the letters 'YP Entertainment' stuck on it which were glowing in the dark. He grabs his card from the car and rushes into the building. He presses the card on the elevator and presses the button. The lift opens in a large studio floor. He runs to the glass cabin at the far end of the floor. He presses his card on the security system on the wall and the door gets unlocked and lights switch on.
He approaches the wooden table. He starts to search the boxes kept beside the table. In vain he looks at the documents. He turns on the PC. He clicks on 'My window'. His frustration increases when the computer asks for password. He clicks on the hint. It showed 'World's Biggest Lunatic'. He raises his eyebrows. He types something. Incorrect. Types. Incorrect. 'IDIOTZEAL'. It logs in. He rolls his eyes. He searches the inbox of her email. Nothing. With least hopes he looks into drafts. Nothing. He searches the desktop. He finds a document. Opens it. Password. " I swear I'll kill this girl once I find her." He says. Or she'll kill me, he thinks. He tries. "LOL" he laughs as it logs in. It was her birth date. It was the rent agreement. "Found you" he says and sets the GPS of his iPhone to the location.
He rushes to his car. He puts on the seatbelt and a screen appears on the car. It was already midnight. It was close by. Just 50 minutes drive. He thought to himself. He stops in front of a beautiful small house. Something was odd. If this was Seri's home then her car should also have been parked here. He looks at the address. It clearly showed this.
He rings the bell. But no one opens the door. He presses the button again. He twists the handle of the door and it opens. He was amazed at the level of foolishness of the girl. He enters but there was not a soul in the house. Fear now began to twist his insides. It was freaking 1 'o' clock in the morning and there was no trace of Seri. He grabs a paper from the diary kept on the table and scribbles something on it. It was a note for Seri if she came back here. He puts it on the table. His legs were hurting but there was no time for it now. He moves out of the house and sits on the wooden stairs outside the door with his face in his hands. Should he inform the police? He wasn't sure. He dials it. He reports her. "Can I ask for special favor?" he asks the policeman on the line.
He drives for what seemed hours to him. The route was bending into a mountain pass. "What is this girl doing at this creepy place, 52km from Seoul and that too at 3 'o' clock in the morning" He asks himself. He presses the accelerator and drives into the forest. Suddenly his gaze falls on a car. It was crashed into a tree trunk. The number plate matched with that of Seri's car. The sun had started rising. What could have been the most beautiful memory was turning into a nightmare.