Apollo’s Heart - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

A pall of smoke wafted through the dimly lit room. A stench was so strong that one would be dazed just by a whiff of it.

The duo coughed, eyes burned. As they gradually started to make things out through the dense cigarette fog, they saw Tae-jun sitting in the middle with one between his lips.

There had always been a savage aura about that man.  If he hadn’t known him since childhood, Jae-won would have long been scared to death. Nevertheless, his heart was racing at the eerie sight before him. He cleared his throat in a bid to muster courage.

“Oh, hey. How long have you been waiting?” He tried to sound as calm as possible.

Tae-jun slowly glanced at Jae-won and stubbed the cigarette into the teeming ashtray. When Jae-won wondered who brought the ashtray to his office, his secretary pointed at himself, winking, well aware of his line of thoughts. He sighed inwardly, at least his secretary had not been totally useless this morning, else his office would have been a pile of cigarette buds.

“What time is it?” A cold voice rang.

“Seven Thirty.” Answered a meek one.

“Ok, then I must have waited about two hours,” said he nonchalantly.

For the love of God, two hours?! From 5:30 in the morning?!

Tae-jun, as far as he knew, hated waiting, and the number of cigarettes that he smoked was in proportion to the depth of this agony. Simply put, if Tae-jun spent two hours in an empty office, filling up the entire space with cigarette smoke, something must have happened!

Jae-won jolted to his senses, quickly snatched the ashtray in front of him, handing it to his secretary. Then he rushed to open the window as he could not tolerate the thick smoke and gloomy air effusing his office.

“You should stop smoking. You’d actually quitted before. I know you’re a heavy smoker, but this is too much!”

“Perhaps, soon.”

What does he mean by that? Perhaps?! Soon?!

With his head tilted, Jae-won sat in front of Tae-jun, pretending to be calm, but his shaky voice gave him away.

“You could have just called me or come to my place. Someone would have prepared a jaw-dropping breakfast for you.” He tried to cool the air, more so his nerves.

“I wanted to find something.”

It’s only now that Jae-won realized the mess in his office. Every drawer was recklessly opened, the documents scattered across on the floor, and his desk was at its own war.

God, help me!

Jae-won felt delirious. After taking a few deep breaths, he took out words.

“In case you were wondering, I don’t keep a ledger in secret, nor do I have a safe in disguise. I don’t know what you heard from whom, but I will never betray Seoin Group. I swear to god.”

“That’s good to know. But that’s not what I was looking for.”

Dumbfounded, Jae-won was at a loss for words. Tae-jun pointed at the document in front of him on the table – It was Roy Jean’s résumé and portfolio which was a part of Hotel Seoin’s new exhibition project proposal.

Why did he look for that?

“Didn’t you say you met his assistant?”

Tae-jun’s question interrupted his thoughts.

“Yes, I did. We went out for dinner a couple of days ago.[5]  What about it?”

This whole thing was getting more and more confusing, he was at a loss.

“You went out with her?”

Tae-jun’s sharp eyes were stuck at his face.

Appalled, Jae-won tried to read what is on his cousin’s mind. With his straight face and monotonous tone, it was hard to read Tae-jun’s real intentions. Honestly speaking, Jae-won could tell he was angry but did not know why.

Jae-won confessed. “I think I have a thing for her. Don’t worry, I’ll draw a clear line between business and my private life,” he said trying to appease.

Immediately, Tae-jun’s face turned stone-cold. As if something triggered him, he blurted out.

“You should forget about it.”

What?!

Jae-won was about to confront him, but one look at Tae-jun’s fierce eyes, and he was rendered speechless. He could sense a weird blend of smile and pain from him.

Even after Tae-jun left the office, Jae-won was still left with a strange feeling. The man had interrogated him as if his lover had cheated on him with Jae-won.

What is happening?

While sweeping his face, something came to Jae-won’s realization.

You went out with her?

Did I ever mention Roy Jean’s assistant is a woman?[6] 

⸙

Leaning on the window, Yuri organized her thoughts with a cup of coffee in her hand.

I need to remember my past.

When she came back to her hotel room from the payphone booth, it poured. Maybe because of the sound of raindrops or maybe because of her deep thoughts, she could not fall asleep.

After long contemplation, Yuri concluded one thing- the year that she has forgotten, is not just another year. She could not remember a thing about it, but she could fathom the frightful fear that it concealed.

After tossing and turning all night long, she left her bed when she received approval from Daejin Department Store’s new exhibit. Installation was planned on the same morning.

Yuri put on a beige blouse, a black long skirt, and a trench coat. When she was done getting ready, she pushed a call button on her phone on the vanity.

–         “Is everything going fine, Yuri?”

Roy sounded astonished and worried at the same time as it had been a while that she talked to him. She asked after him first.

“I just wanted to know how you are doing. I also have something to talk about. How’s work going?”

–         “It’s going well. Talking about myself, I’ve been doing not-so-well. It’s been raining cats and dogs here. What about Seoul?”

Unlike Yuri, Roy detested rain.

“We’re installing the Heart of Apollo today.” She reported.

–         “Yes, I got the news. I also received the report that it arrived in Korea without any damage. Work is almost done, right?”

“Yes. So… I think I am going to stay in Korea for a bit after I’m done with work.”

A heavy silence hovered over the phone. Yuri patiently waited for Roy’s answer. After a short sigh, Roy asked.

–         “Why did you make that decision?”

“I want to regain my memories.”

Yuri brought up what she thought about last night when the rain poured. Finding her memories was what she had been intentionally avoiding for the past four years.

In the beginning, she’d tried her best to regain her lost memories. From counseling, medication, to even hypnotherapy, she had made every attempt. What welcomed her instead, were serious side effects, and she was labeled a “habitual attempted suicide patient”.

After that, she did not put any effort into regaining her memories. Thinking what was lost was lost, she comforted herself. It was regrettable that she could not remember the death of her father, but she did not want to risk anything anymore just to find her memories.

However, ever since she came back to Korea, the pieces of her memories came back and told her there was more to the year she lost. From Hyeon-ah Kim to her subconscious arrival at Hotel Seoin, she could not ignore any of that anymore. If it was about the deaths of her loved ones, she needed to know more. It was time to face her demons no matter the cost, she was done running away.

This time,  she was resolute.

⸙