A rectangular envelope fell on top of her keyboard, disturbing her work flow as her eyes naturally moved to the bold letters written on the white background. "Letter of resignation?" She raised her head then leaned back in the chair. "Whose is this?"
"Mine," Hyunwoo replied.
"…Is this some kind of joke?"
He shook his head.
Haneul sighed, "why do you want to quit then?"
"You can just read—"
She quickly cut him off, "no, I can't be bothered. Just tell me now and I'll let you know if you can or not."
"What do you mean let me…" He grumbled. There was a silence that broke quickly as he realised she was simply trying to amuse him; no matter the answer, he wasn't quitting his job today. This time, Hyunwoo was the one who sighed. "I need to take care of my mum and sister. They don't complain about it but I know they don't like me doing this kind of stuff. I barely go home as it is, I don't want them thinking they're seeing me for the last time without realising."
"I can always switch for you to do something else."
"No need, I think it's time I finally go back."
"Go back?"
"Japan. I'll enrol in university back there, get a degree and a normal..ler job."
"I thought you said you were quitting to spend time with family.." Haneul looked at him with a puzzled expression then furrowed her brows as she held up two fingers. "Two weeks."
"Huh?"
"Stay for two more weeks. If you still want to quit after that, you can hand this back in," she raised the envelope up.
"..."
Hyunwoo reluctantly took it from her. Though unsure as to why she asked for that, sticking around for two more weeks wouldn't do any harm let alone change his mind so he agreed.
Mun Haneul knew from the day he agreed to come back to Korea, there would always be a possibility he would leave and run away again but with his mum and sister waiting for him here, maybe she was just a little hopeful the chance of him leaving was significantly smaller. Though, of course, if that's not the case, there was always a backup plan.
"Can we even find him? Hyunwoo's description was practically useless because of how basic it was." Despite all the complaints however, Kei still agreed to help.
"It's not that difficult. Find a list of all the passengers that had a flight around that time and filter out the Kangs, even if we don't find him, once we get the sister, he'll pop out just as quick."
"You're just saying that because you don't have to do anything… Why is he so obsessed with him anyway…"
"Kei you're so slow," Haneul said, getting up from her desk and leaving. "What other reason could he possibly have?"
"Huh? Wait where are you going?" He called after her.
"Meeting."
"What? Man, why do I have to do this.. It would take just seconds with Mii's ability…"
At first it may have seem like he was suddenly responsible for the task of manhunt, and truthfully, he was, but that wasn't so Haneul could slack off. During the time the trio had known each other, there was always an imbalance in their knowledge of one another with Hyunwoo's past being in the dark. Though there were instances mentioned in passing, at the end of the day, neither Kei nor Haneul would be able to give a proper reason as to why he left the country in the first place.
Unlike the pair who grew up in Japan, Kim Hyunwoo lived in Korea until he was 16 years old and the most they know of his life before was the encounter with Kang Seojun before his departure and the existence of his mum and younger sister. Had it been anyone else, Haneul may have already dug into their background, but as a friend, she had to understand there must be a reason as to why he never talks about his past. Hence why she was a little hesitant to start now.
It wouldn't be hard to find out all about someone's life with the amount of resources she had at her disposal, but Hyunwoo's story may have come too easily. Despite being buried under time, news articles will never cease to exist once published, which meant there will forever be a remnant of a memory he wishes to forget somewhere.
If it comes to it, I'd rather not use this to make him stay but..
"Ha… Let's just hope Kei found him."
And I did!
Even with the transmission of thoughts through a telepathic network, you can still hear how loud someone was. "Ah! You're too loud, don't shout," she grumbled.
I was looking for a well done Kei, you're amazing! But ok.
Sigh, just come to my office.
"His name's Kang Seojun, 20 years old, oldest out of three siblings, and in his second year of university. There's really nothing out of the ordinary about him so I guess we just tell Hyunwoo where to find him then."
Skimming through the piece of paper on her hand, Haneul grinned, "..No… I have a better idea."
From the moment she said that, he should've took the chance to back out and leave her to her wild imaginations, but with the small moment of hesitation, he was already too late.
"Let's get him to join!"
"No."
"We needed to recruit people anyway!"
"No."
"Hyunwoo will stay!"
"..." Kei groaned, that reason was why he was helping in the first place after all but there was another obvious issue. "Why would he even agree to join us?"
"It would be beneficial for him of course!"
"In what way? His family literally owns a hospital chain, I doubt he'll struggle looking for a job anytime soon."
"Yes but this sort of thing is more exciting, no?"
"You're so simpleminded, that's not a good reason."
"You say that but that's how I roped you into this."
He rolled his eyes, tired, "whatever, do what you want."
Due to the circumstances lining up perfectly and with her holding the right cards in hand, recruiting Kang Seojun was a smoother process than expected. Right before the end of the two weeks, Hyunwoo received a phone call from Kei abnormally early in the morning.
"Hello?" He murmured into the phone along with a yawn.
"Dude, come in right now." There was a sense of urgency and excitement from the caller but for Hyunwoo who had just woken up, he didn't seem to care much.
"Why?"
"Just, hurry up."
He looked at the phone confused, about to deny the request but paused as Kei made an offer he couldn't refuse.
"Jinhyuk."
"...I'm listening."
"Limited edition Idol plushie. I'll get you one if you get here in 30 minutes."
"Two." He could tell Kei quickly turned his head to discuss something and chuckled, soon there was an annoyed reply before he agreed to the new condition.
Hyunwoo was the first to spot the new guy in discussion as he approached the building. From a distance, there was nothing special but the closer they got, the more expectant his heart grew, until finally, they were only a few steps away from each other. A curious look was born once again in his eyes, one that occurred often throughout the past 6 years as if looking for someone and by this point, he was more desperate than ever. Perhaps it was because his looks were the closest to that guy.
That night, it was just aimless fun. He just wanted to get back at him for his attitude. Yet when Kim Hyunwoo saw that scar, his mind stopped working as his heart fluttered. All those time trying to find the one who had saved him finally came to an end.
Kang Seojun was slowly starting to warm up to him, so why does it feel like he's running away now?
-
"Are you dumb?"
"Huh?" Seojun turned to his sister's voice. "What did you say?" He hadn't even notice her standing there and staring at the show he absent-mindedly put on. Jia didn't even spare him a glance and just pointed to the tv.
"Her! Who runs away after finding out someone likes them?"
"...Well maybe she doesn't know he likes her for sure."
"Brother don't defend her!" She slumped her bag on the floor before sitting down besides him, "and how would she not know? Would the male lead spend a decade looking for her if he didn't like her? Would he had chose her over his family? Would he have given up and changed his goals just because he was different from her ideal type? Like, is she just being dumb on purpose!?"
"Jia calm down.."
"So annoying…" She grumbled, grabbing a nearby pillow and pressing her chin against it to drown out her complaints, completing forgetting the fact she was going to be late for school until Seojun pointed it out. "Oh shit!" Standing up hurriedly, the girl paused on her way to the front door before turning back to look at him, "do you want the driver to take you to the company?"
"No, it's fine, just get going."
"Okay! See you later!"
He waved her goodbye whilst getting up too. Since there wasn't a need for him to be in today, he decided to take a walk to clear his mind before deciding if he wanted to go. Though that may have done more harm than good. Time may soothe anxiety, but it can be it's catalyst too.
He bumped into me at an airport, so we didn't know each other… why… Should I just quit? Seojun sighed briefly then took a deep breath as he looked at the fallen leaves by his feet. I really don't kn–
"Mm!"
A soaked cloth aggressively pressed against his face, covering his nose and mouth. Kang Seojun tried to grab onto the presence he felt behind him but the pungent smell quickly knocked him out before he could do anything.