Chapter 7 Quick departure 2

‘Few days?"Why so soon?

Jan nodded as if she was repeating a recite line

They found a suicide note in Hae's cupboard. He said he was tired. That his parents keep pushing him to continue school. That he wanted to quit… and end everything because exams frustrate him.

"Hae wrote that? Hae?"

Jan nodded again, 

"Did they check if it's his writing?" I asked, already knowing the lie before she said it.

Yes… his close friends confirmed it. And it looks like the writing in all his notes.

"No, Jan." I stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "I don't accept this. You have been in this school longer than me and how long will all of you keep covering things?

Jan turns her face around and then back to me…

"Jina, we need to move. Whatever truth you think you know will never be louder than what the school says.

Jan… tell me about Yen.. Who is she?

Jan froze. She turned around and back to me,

Jina… you want answers?

Her voice changed as she lowered it...

"Yen was a sweet soul. Until she started investigating her close friend Eunwoo, who suddenly…

Jan!

A voice shouted from afar,Jan jumped hard. A tall guy in a cap waved at her, then signaled her with urgency.

She panicked,before I could speak, she waved down a taxi and rushed inside like she was running from death.

Jan! Wait!

The taxi sped off, disappearing into traffic.

I stood there, stunned,why did she run like that?and who called her?

I walked toward my taxi and gave the driver my address. 

When we reached home, my mom rushed out, grabbed me tight, and pulled me inside like she had been standing at the door for hours.

"Mum, what is it?"

‘ I have been searching for you,Where did you go?

Mum, it is just a stroll and nothing serious.

No, Jina,Her voice shook. a message came to my phone.and I thought you were in danger.’

A message? stopped immediately and grabbed her arm.

What message?

She wiped her palms on her skirt. I don't know the number. But the message said… 'Hold your daughter.'

My heat beats….

‘Mom, let me see.’

She handed me her phone. The number was unfamiliar. No profile and no name.Someone sent my mother a warning.

Mom… I have to go somewhere.

Where?She stepped back. Jina, no.

"It's nothing serious. I just need to know who sent this."

I took my shoes, but before I could leave, she grabbed my hand again,this time with both hands, desperately.

"Jina,please Don't follow your father's path’

My father's… path?

She sank onto the couch, and her hands shaking.

‘Your father was an investigator."

"And whatever he was looking into… it killed him.’

I slowly lowered myself beside her, my heart pounding ,

"Mom, what was he investigating before he died?

"He never said. He always locked himself inside his study. Every night. And after he died… the house burned down.

"Mom… the house burned?"My voice shook a bit.

you told me we relocated to forget memories.’

She shut her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I lied because you were not around and I didn't want to scare you. I came home from the hospital the day he died,and the entire house was ashes. Everything gone. 

My mother wept quietly. I pulled her into a tight hug. Her body shook with fear I had never witnessed in my entire life.

I stayed with her until she finally calmed a little, then helped her to her room.

She checked on me twice within minutes, before she fell asleep out of exhaustion.

I sat on my bed, staring at the unknown number on my mother phone screen.a part of me knew my mom was right i should stay out of it just as Raven has warned…

But a louder part inside me,the part that refused to let Hae's death be labeled a suicide was already burning.

I need to know who sent that message to my mom,even if it means to

Put me in danger,I can risk that to remove my mom out of it….

At exactly 6a.m the next morning,I decided to go on a morning run,partly to clear my head and partly because something in me kept pulling me toward the burnt house. Maybe if I walked around it… something would come up.. Even the smallest clue.

I quickly sneaked out, careful not to wake my mom. She had barely slept last night after crying in my arms. I didn't want her worrying again, especially when I was the reason tears fell from her eyes in the first place.

The old house wasn't far. When I got close, I stopped instantly. the house… or what used to be my house… was now an open construction site.. New blocks were already arranged.and Workers were moving around with. Everything was happening fast.

Nobody told us the site had been sold and that reconstruction had already begun, and Mom never said anything. Or did she even know?

I walked to the half-built entrance I didn't want to imagine what happened here and I didn't even want to think that my father's death might actually be connected to what happened in this house. 

Just as I turned to leave, a voice called behind me...