Leaving Rose alone in Damyang was not a great decision, not at all…. I trusted Maya to take good care of her and also keep her being inside Moonlight resort…. But the business trip with Thai drug dealers were as important as Keeping Rose involved in my plan and I had to leave her all alone…I should've known her…Her insane behavior…
"Daniel, listen to me! I had no idea she would run away? Why are you getting so aggressive? We can find her!" Maya shouted at me as I broke the lamp in her clinic.
"I'm being aggressive? You're being such a fool to leave her alone at school! What were your so-called guards doing there standing on gate? Thirsting over young school girls?" I couldn't get over the fact that Rose had guts to run away from me after messing up with my heart.
"Listen, just calm down for a while. How far can she run away? She doesn't have money to spend and the cell phone with tracker must be still placed inside her school bag. Wait, let me just track her down! And stop breaking things in my clinic!! Get lost, my patients are waiting outside." Maya held me by wrist and dragged out of the door. The patients waiting in lobby were entertained by the sight of man getting pushed outside the clinic.
"Go wait at Damyang, I'll find her in next 5 hours and send her back to Moonlight resort." She said while making me wear the seatbelt in car.
"Next 5 hours? Maya you've seriously lost your mind while treating these lunatic patients, right? Or have you not yet recognized the extreme reckless behavior Miss Rose Lee exhibit? Ahh…. Go, just go in and take care of your clinic at least…" I said while starting my car.
Was I really being aggressive for no reason? But it was so difficult convincing Rose to join me, how could Maya leave her alone without any supervision, and knowing Rose's sharp mind I don't think so she has the tracker cell phone in her bag….she might've sold it by now for travelling expenses… I held my head with both hands in distress and banged it on the steering wheel. No, I can't just wait for that tracker to show the location, should I go and enquire about her personal information in school? Hmm, that would be helpful…hope so…
I drove the car inside school parking lot and ran up the school office at 5th floor. Black Mask and cap was an essential part whenever I entered my high school, as there was the possibility of any staff to recognizing me. I approached the enquiry counter and asked the staff lady about Rose.
"Excuse me, could you give me address to Lee Yuri's house? She's giving her final graduation exams right now…."
"No, we cannot." She replied while working on PC.
"Please, it's an emergency. I need to get in touch with her as soon as possible, at least give me her guardian's contact…"
"She has no guardian. And we're sorry but the school cannot reveal student's personal information to any stranger."
"Stranger??? I'm… Forget it, give me her address. Don't let me pull the strings from higher authorities!"
I raised my voice at the staff.
"Ohh?? Shim Daniel??? Am I wrong? No… What the… It's you! Daniel!" A familiar manly voice called me out from behind. I turned around in surprise to see who the fuck recognized me in this school after 8 years. Professor Kang was standing at the door staring at me with shock in his eyes. My legs went weak at the sight of professor, he was one of those four people who saw me on that cursed evening of my life.
Professor Kang walked towards me and as he lifted up the cap from my head, Black silky hair covered my forehead and eyes. I couldn't see up in his eyes and lowered my head in front of him.
"Daniel? It's been so long… 7? No.. 8… 8 years, right? I never expected to see you in administration office after that day…. What were you enquiring about? Oh, Soojin-ssi, you can give him whatever information he needs. He's our ex-student Shim Daniel and also the best ever General secretary of Student council our high school has experienced in past one decade."
Best General Secretary? Does he still remember me as a head of Student council instead of a murderer who killed his own mother? I kept looking at him in awe, until staff handed me the piece of paper with a contact number and name written on it.
"Choi Dojun… I asked for her guardian's contact, but this.." I was confused.
"He's her only best friend in this school and as I told you earlier, she has no guardian."
"What does that mean? I remember seeing her walking out of the school with her Mom."
"It's been 2-3 months, her parents were passed away."
"Passed away? You mean her parents died recently? How?" Actually I was low-key expecting such situation might've taken place in her life but then as it turned out to be real fact, I was blown away with Rose's courage to still stand strong not leaving her attitude.
I took the paper with contact written on it and left the office as staff had no information related to her parents death. Professor Kang followed me, I knew it…He has so many questions to ask right now… We walked inside the playground and sat on the bench. A bunch of students were playing volleyball in dried grass. Professor looked chuckled and looked at me,
"Don't you remember? Our first meeting, on this playground. You had hit me with that same ball and then followed around me for the whole week just to get that apology."
"He was a different Shim Daniel, he was the bright student, the head of student council, the most popular student in school campus. The person who's sitting beside you is a CEO of Hotel and resort chain, who has gotten involved with illegal business deals, who has killed his own mother." I left a deep sigh and looked up in the sky where sun was setting down spreading it's orange red paint which will soon turn itself into dark blue night sky.
"Can't you just move on with your life? Until when are you going to keep on resenting your past, regretting that one incident? You've suffered and paid enough for that one mistake in juvenile….You need to forget those memories in order to lead a better life, Daniel…Find someone who would give you the warmth…You've turned so cold through all these years." Professor patted on my back lovingly.
"Was that just one mistake? Wasn't it my decision to pick up that knife…." Tears rolled down my eyes.
"It was for your self-defense, Mrs. Shim protecting her man was her fate…. You never intended to kill your mother. Why do you have to keep on blaming yourself when all you've done was to protect your life?" Professor stood up and walked towards the gate. I walked behind him.
"Professor, is it possible to love someone now? A person like me, do I deserve to be loved back from someone? What if that person gets hurt with my actions…actions which I'm doing for my selfish reasons?" I asked him with tearful eyes.
"Every human being in this world deserves to be loved. Having a dear one beside you is a good feeling, Daniel. Clear up the resentment in your heart and open it, hold your hands tightly with a special person. Live your life in peace, happiness and love. You've suffered a lot, just like you've freed yourself from juvenile prison… Set yourself free from the prison of your own resentment… Come and meet me when you've successfully achieved that." Professor smiled at me and walked away.
I stood there with his words swirling around in my mind….
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8:00 PM
I walked inside the RED MOON cocktail bar, the staff there was quite surprised at the sight of their owner suddenly raiding the business. Yerin, the bar manager rushed inside the cabin.
"Sunbaenim (Senior), you should've informed me in the morning so that I could close the bar after 7 pm…It's so crowded right now."
"It's okay Yerin, I can handle this much crowd. And closing the bar after 7? Waahh, you'll make me go bankrupt soon…" I laughed at her.
"Ahhhhh!!! How could you say that? Our Red Moon is running smoothly even in your absence. After all the peaceful interior you've created in this place, customers love it so much."
"That's great. Keep going and growing our Moon empire Yerin-ssi." While we were having a bit fun talk with each other, a name was being called outside which startled me. I opened the door of the cabin and went outside in customer area. The bartender was calling out for next order,
"Choi Dojun-ssi!!! Order no.541!!"
Choi Dojun? Isn't he the one….Rose's best friend…. I searched for him in the crowd. A young tall boy in blue oversized hoodie and ripped jeans walked towards bar counter and received his order.
"Choi Dojun." I called him back. He turned around looking at a stranger calling his name suddenly.
"You know me? Sorry, I didn't.." He said with an amused expression on his face.
"I know your best friend, Tell me where's she."
"Who? I don't have any girlfriend."
"Did I ask for your girlfriend? I said best friend!! Lee Yuri."
He was taken aback with the mention of her name, "How do you know her? No…how do know her real name?"
"Hey, why did you drop honorifics? You're talking to owner of this bar. And regarding how do I know her name, that's not the point here. Where did she run away and where is she hiding now that's the main point my boy." I went closer to him messing up his hair with my fingers.
"Are you bullying me right now?" He said coldly.
"Hawww??? When did I bully you? I'm just asking you with my handsome face, so please tell me where is Yuri hiding?" My dramatic ass couldn't get enough of fun from a young teenager.
"She's not hiding! Actually, I don't have any idea what she's doing….But she's safe and sound. And you don't need to know her location." He sat down on his table and started drinking his cocktail.
"Dojun-ssi, tell me when I'm being nice to you. You've got no idea whom you are talking with, so tell me." I pulled out a chair beside him and sat down.
"I know, you saw a teenage boy and thought he would get scared of you, right? Just because you're the CEO of Moon empire, it doesn't give the power to make people go down on their knees before you, Shim Daniel-ssi." He remained unbothered of my presence, simply drinking his cocktail.
"Are you deaf or what? Did I say you to go down on your knees? Waahh…Kids these days… Hey, stop watching those weird ass rich man poor girl dramas okay. I am being so nice to you and asking for help just to find out Yuri, that's it! Why would I use my power on a mere high schooler? Is there any need to argue over this topic? It's not like I'm going to kidnap her or something. She has signed an exclusive contract with me, so don't you think breaching of contract like this and running away from her job would bring such a big penalty on her!" I tried keeping myself as cool as possible because Dojun was getting on my nerves after each and every second.
"I will pay for that penalty!! Don't worry!" He said loudly.
His innocent yet annoying face while saying that cracked me up laughing loudly.
"What?? You're gonna pay for her? Ohhh, I'm so touched with this pure friendship….See my eyes are tearing up….Wow… Dojun-ahh even if you sell your healthy organs in the market you wouldn't be able to pay for it…. Now, does these straightforward words makes sense to you? Hmm?" I said while laughing at him.
As we were having this nonsense discussion my phone ringed on the table. It was Maya, I placed index finger on my lips and signaled Dojun to be quiet for a while.
"Speak up…" I said after picking up the call.
Maya from the other side informed me about Rose's location tracked through her cell phone.
I nodded my head and hanged up the call. Dojun was looking at me curiously, his cocktail glass was empty by now.
"Namhae….Namhae-gun…. I see… So are you going to take me there on the exact location or should we debate more and keep on adding zeros in Yuri's penalty amount?" I said with my classic smirk on the face.
Did you really think of running away from me was a great choice, Rose? Maybe this was your worst decision ever…. Let me show you my bad boy side now….How bad can this Daniel get, let me show you now Miss Rose…