Dae was walking out of the office with a frown face while his hand was tightly grabbed by Kwan. As soon as they reached outside, Kwan released his grasp turned behind towards him with a heavy sigh.
"Why did you react such severely? You know it well, if I hadn't stopped you today, you could have been fired, Dae!" Kwan sounded a bit irked.
"So what should I do then? Didn't you see that bastard? How can he be so cruel towards someone's family? His...His barbaric command was rubbing salt on my wounds! I wanted to smash his freaking head!" He was terribly hyped up.
Kwan realized his internal agony and gawked at him with a sad gaze. Slowly he walked closer to him and stroked his arms, "calm down, Dae. I know your pain really well, I can understand how you felt... But sometimes we can't express everything in the prim moments... Endurance is our only option." He tried to console his grieving heart.
Dae's eyes were tear-filled and he tried to avert his gaze downwards to hide his vexation. "Kwan, let's go somewhere else. I want to cool off my mind." He murmured.
Kwan immediately glanced at his wristwatch and it was around 6 pm. He raised up his chin and gently answered, "umm, I have overtime night duty today with the patrolling team. I gotta join them within 7 pm, so we have still some time. Where do you want to go?"
"Let's grab a drink." He reciprocated.
...
Both of them were seated opposite to each other in a nearby restaurant from their workplace. They ordered strong chilled beers with fried chicken while having heart to heart chatting.
But, Kwan was getting worried about Dae. He was consistently gulping down the beers and it was his 5th round. Kwan was already feeling a bit boozed up with the 3rd drink so he understood it quite well, how much Dae has been getting drunk beyond his capacity!
"Dae, hey man, stop drinking now! My head is already dizzy after 3rd drink! Why are you boozing beyond your endurance?" He groaned at him deliberately.
"Nope... I want to drink today...till I pass out..." With a small burp, he replied.
"And who is gonna carry you home after you pass out? You know it well that I have overtime--"
"Kwan, I really tired of being always left out alone..." Dae suddenly interrupted him with a sad voice. His eyes were shimmering in tears and he tried to smile to conceal his immense grief.
He felt quite sorry for Dae and gazed at him with his poignant eyes. "To be honest, I can't feel your pain entirely as I was grown up in an orphanage. I never had a family to begin with. But watching your agony, it makes me sad too..." He murmured.
Dae smirked with a mournful expression and stared at the glass of beer. "I still have a buried dim hope in my heart that maybe...my mother didn't die that day. Probably, she would be back again and hug me within her soft embrace. It's been 17 years already...but still I am living with this fragile hope." He sounded distressed.
Kwan scrunched his eyebrows and sharply asked him, "did your mother really disappeared that day? As you can see ghosts, didn't you see her soul for once? And I still can't get it, how can you possess such powers?"
He was still looking down and slightly shook his head in declination. "I was just a 10-year-old kid. Mom literally dragged me out of that room and begged for a promise, that I would take good care of myself even when she won't be around me anymore...
I was crying bitterly while clutching her hands hard but slowly... she released herself from my grip and closed the door as she entered inside. All I could remember that I was blinded by a distinctly sharp beam of light that filled the entire room and also flashed on my eyes... After passing out for a while, when I got back to my senses, I entered the room hastily but there was no trace of my mom... She was all gone. I couldn't even see her properly for the last time..." Tears of anguish were rolling down from his cheeks. He grabbed the glass of beer and gulped down the entire drink in a sip.
Kwan was still immensely stunned by his revelation, and he couldn't utter a single word. He had heard this explanation a few times more but every time, it gives goosebumps in his body. "What the hell actually happened to his mother?" He anticipated.
........
It was around 7.30 pm. After getting completely drunk, Dae was on the verge of passing out as he couldn't even walk on his own. Kwan grabbed him by the shoulders and almost dragged him outside the restaurant anxiously.
"Damn it, man! I told you don't drink too much! Look at yourself now, you can't even walk on your own! I have to go back to the office, how am I going to leave you all wasted?" Kwan whined furiously while struggling to walk as Dae was tilting on his shoulders.
"Ughh... you..sound like a...nosy grandma..." Dae uttered gibberish.
"Really? I am nosy to you?" Kwan frowned his face and abruptly released his supportive hands from his shoulders. Immediately Dae failed to stand on his own and fell down on the ground hard.
"Ouch!" Dae stroked his head as it got hit hard due to falling.
"Look, you can't even stand on your own! I was helping you and you termed me nosy! Why do you cause so much trouble for me?" He grumbled.
..........
"Excuse me?"
Kwan flinched with the sudden voice and turned behind. A tall, handsome man wearing a massive black coat was staring at him with an irked expression. Slightly he averted his gaze towards Dae who was still lying down on the ground and scrunched his eyebrows.
"Why are you two blocking the road? And what happened to this nuisance? Why is he lurking on the ground? I guess he really likes to cause trouble for others!" He asked inquisitively while looking at Dae.
Kwan suddenly flinched with his question and rolled his eyes with a dim hope. "You... You know my friend right? You know him, right?" He blurted out.
He couldn't give him a definite answer and awkwardly nodded his head while fumbling, "yes...no...."
Kwan didn't waste a single moment and immediately pulled wasted Dae up from the ground. He was still wobbly and grabbed Kwan's shoulder as support.
"I am in big trouble today... Please can you just help me once?" Kwan pleaded to him in a distressed tone.
Dae slowly tried to open his eyes to gaze at the mysterious unknown person. As he unfolded his eyes a bit, immediately he shrieked out, "Mr. Yeon? You again?"