Chapter 109 – Episode 109. Escape

At first, I thought it was an auditory hallucination.

“Oppa.! Where are you? If you can hear me, answer me!”

However, when she heard Si-eun’s voice two or three times, she realized that it was not an auditory hallucination.

“Si-eun! It’s here!”

“. Oppa? Where? Say it again!”

As she screamed loudly so that Si-eun could hear, Si-eun’s voice got closer and closer.

It was fortunate that Si-eun came to visit while Si-hyeon was away.

Si-eun soon knocked on the door of where I was trapped.

“Oppa! Are you here?”

“Oh, I guess that’s right.”

But the door was locked, so I couldn’t come in.

“Wait. Just wait.!”

I tried my best to untie the rope, but it didn’t work out.

When Sihyeon was away, she tied it a little tighter, so it only chafed and didn’t loosen up.

I sat on the chair, moving my whole body, and slowly approached the door.

Although I almost fell a few times, I successfully made it to the door.

Since my hands were also tied, I unlocked the door by biting it with my teeth instead.

“Oppa!!”

The door opened and Si-eun came into the room.

Sudden! I almost fell when I opened the door, but Si-eun held the chair for me.

“Oppa?! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Uh… It’s okay.”

After examining my body carefully, Si-eun began to undo the ropes that were binding her.

“… Is that what you are?”

“Isn’t it… Long?”

“Look at how all the skin is peeled off… Did you leave it tied up this tightly?”

“No, the injury was caused by me struggling to open the door…”

Si-eun stopped untangling her leash and glared at me.

“Do you feel like defending your sister in this situation?”

“No… Not a defense, just telling the truth…”

There were tears in Si-eun’s eyes as she glared.

I kept my mouth shut.

“… Anyway, how did you get here?”

“I tracked the location of my cell phone.”

“Is that possible?”

“I installed the app on my brother’s phone before.”

“…?”

“Originally, I was going to report her missing and track her location, but they didn’t accept my report. It’s really absurd…”

“No, there is a location tracking app installed on my phone?”

“I laid it down a long time ago and hid it as a joke, but I don’t remember, so it’s a bit late.”

“Is that something worth talking about as a joke?”

“. I solved everything!”

In the morning, Sihyeon untied her rope and did some stretching, so her body wasn’t that stiff.

“Brother, let’s go home now.”

“…”

Si-eun said let’s go home, but she didn’t let go easily.

I remembered Sihyeon, who seemed unstable even in my presence.

“… I can’t go on like this. Furthermore, I have to at least talk to Sihyeon.”

“… Brother, are you crazy? Is it Stockholm Syndrome or something? You said something like that after being kidnapped and imprisoned?!”

Si-eun rarely got angry.

“If I was tied up like that, I would get angry and get sick of my sister and lose affection for her! At the very least, I would be very angry with my sister!”

“… Don’t be so harsh. Sihyeon must have been shocked too.”

“Do you just think about her? What about us? Has she ever thought about what it was like for us when her sister and her brother disappeared too?”

“…”

“Mom’s passed out and is lying in her bed.”

“… What?”

“My sister and brother are gone, and there is no news of either of them. How can my mother hold on? Since the day her brother disappeared, she hasn’t been able to go to her café and has been lying around all day.”

“… Soo-ah’s sister…”

“We can’t even report her missing. We don’t even know if she’s dead or alive. Do you know how much my mom and I are heartbroken?”

“. I’m sorry. I wanted to contact you too…”

“It’s okay. Just live the rest of your life being raised by her older sister.”

I caught Si-eun, who was about to turn her back and leave.

“I’m sorry. Let’s go home, Si-eun.”

Even so, I couldn’t just leave.

Instead, I decided to leave a note for Sihyeon.

[Sihyeon’s older sister, I think she needs to go home urgently.]

[They said that Su-ah collapsed because my sister and I disappeared…]

[I hope we can talk together again next time.]

I put a note on the chair I was tied to and went home with Si-eun.

**

“… Sister! Are you okay?”

As soon as she arrived home, she quickly ran into Su-ah’s room.

Sister Su-ah was sitting leaning on the bed looking haggard.

“Soo-a noona!”

When I called Su-ah’s name, her head turned this way helplessly.

She looked at me for a moment with blurred eyes and then returned to her original position.

I just walked up to Su-ah and held her hand.

“Sister. Are you okay? Don’t you have to go to the hospital?”

“…”

As I held her hand, Su-ah looked back again.

Unlike before, light gradually returned to her eyes, which had been blurry before.

“… Are you Seonwoo?”

“Yes, it’s me. Were you surprised when I suddenly disappeared? I’m really sorry…”

Su-a raised her hand and slowly traced my face.

“Is it really Seonwoo.? It’s not a hallucination.?”

“… Yes, that’s really true.”

“Seonwoo…”

A single tear fell from Su-ah’s eyes.

Sister Su-ah hugged me tightly.

As if it were a mirage that would disappear if I didn’t catch it.

I also hugged Su-ah in a hug that felt desperate.

As time passed, Sister Su-ah regained her Gyeongsam

I let go of her, and she explained what had happened.

… I tried to be as gentle as possible so as not to be shocked and spoke in a positive light.

“That’s right…”

After hearing her story, Su-ah’s sister seemed to be touched by her vision.

“I’ll talk to Sihyeon one more time. So don’t worry too much, sister.”

“… Yes, I understand. First, I feel a little relieved to see that you are safe…”

Su-ah looked very tired.

“I’m sorry, but I’m so tired… I’ll sleep for a while and wake up.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But… Can you stay next to me until I fall asleep?”

Su-a’s sister seemed like her anxiety hadn’t gone away yet.

“I will.”

I sat next to the bed and held Sua’s hand.

Su-ah quickly fell asleep while holding my hand.

After confirming that she was completely asleep, I came out of Su-ah’s room.

When I came out to the living room, Si-eun was sitting on the sofa waiting for me.

“Mom?”

“You just fell asleep.”

“… Really?”

Si-eun seemed calmer than I thought.

I walked up behind Si-eun and hugged her tightly.

“You were worried a lot, right? You worked hard. I’m sorry… And thank you.”

“… Hmph, what are you worried about…”

Unlike her indifferent words, Si-eun’s voice gradually became watery.

Tears welled up in her eyes and eventually began to overflow.

“. Ugh. I-I. My older brother and older sister… I wonder if they’re just going to leave Mom and me and stay alone… Or I’m worried that something big has just happened… “

“Where can I go if I leave my Si-eun behind?”

“… Ugh…”

Si-eun couldn’t hold back her tears and eventually began to cry.

I hugged Si-eun tightly, feeling my chest getting wet.

“Oppa… Don’t go anywhere and leave me alone…!”

“Yes, wherever we go, we’re together.”

“Hibb.!”

Only after crying for a long time did Si-eun calm down.

But even after she calmed down, Si-eun didn’t let go of me.

Although it was a little uncomfortable, I continued stroking Si-eun’s head.

Si-eun kept rubbing her cheek like a cat applying pheromones.

“… Go and stay with her mom some more. Her mom has been through a lot of trouble on her mind…”

Contrary to what she said, Si-eun was still hugging me.

“Then shall we go together?”

“. Huh?”

“Shall we sleep together for the first time in a while? I’m a bit tired because I haven’t been able to sleep well either.”

I quickly picked up Si-eun and headed to Su-a’s room.

Sister Su-ah was still fast asleep.

However, he was slightly frowning as if he was somehow uncomfortable.

I put Si-eun down next to her sleeping sister Su-a.

“. Then my brother lies in the middle.”

Si-eun separated from Su-a, leaving a space in the middle of her.

I went in between them and lay down.

Si-eun has clung to me again.

I gave her a pillow and stroked her head, and Si-eun soon fell asleep.

After confirming that Si-eun was asleep, she held Su-a’s hand with her other hand.

Then, Su-ah’s expression cleared up, and she returned with a relaxed expression.

The bed was too small for the three of us to sleep in, so we had to press close together, which was uncomfortable.

But that discomfort actually put her mind at ease.

I soon fell asleep between Su-a and Si-eun.

**

Sihyeon felt good.

Finally, she was able to get out of the shabby warehouse and make her Seonwoo feel comfortable.

Not only that, my heart pounded at the thought of spending time together.

… Of course, I wasn’t all that happy.

When Si-hyeon thinks about her life with Seon-woo, the faces of Si-eun and her mother also come to mind.

‘… After I move, I still have to tell you the news about Sunwoo.’

I thought she would be very worried because of Seon-woo’s sudden disappearance, but she held her peace, thinking it was punishment for deceiving her.

The appearance inside the warehouse that I opened with joy was different from usual.

There was no one in the chair where Sunwoo was supposed to sit.

In that place, there was only a loose rope and a small piece of paper.

Sihyeon didn’t even close the door and just stood there staring at her chair.

A moment later, with shaky steps, he headed towards the chair where Sunwoo was sitting.

I picked up the note with trembling hands.

[Sihyeon’s older sister, I think we need to go home urgently.]

As soon as he read the first line, Sihyeon lost sight of the note.

There was something written underneath it, but it wasn’t that important.

What mattered to Si-hyeon was that in the end, Seon-woo chose that side over her.

“… Again…”

Sihyeon’s eyes seemed to be broken, and a single tear flowed down without any sign.

Her tears smeared her makeup, and black tears ran down Sihyeon’s cheeks.

“This time too. You don’t choose me.”

Like a doll whose strings were cut, Sihyeon flopped down on the spot.

Sihyeon, who had been sitting like that for a while, slowly stood up.

With empty eyes, I slowly cleaned up the inside of the warehouse, erasing any traces of Sunwoo.

After tidying up the inside of the warehouse, Si-hyeon headed to the new house she had originally planned to go to with Seon-woo.

As Sihyeon parked his car in the parking lot and waited for the elevator, a thought occurred to him.

‘What’s the point in going there alone…’

The elevator arrived, and the doors opened, but Sihyeon did not get on.

The doors closed again, and the elevator went up.

Instead of taking the elevator, Sihyeon took the stairs to the first floor and came out of the building.

And then she started walking down the street.

Without knowing where to go or where to go.

As Sihyeon was walking down the street like that, he smelled something familiar.

She seemed to miss it and her body seemed to get a little hot when she smelled it.

Sihyeon turned her head toward the scent.

I saw an alley so dark that I felt a sense of disconnection.

And at the end, I saw a store emitting a faint light.

Vision is like a moth flying towards a fire.

She stepped into the alley as if possessed.