As True as a Dream Chapter 111

“Kaaaah! Fire! Fire! Fire!”

 

A cry of “Fire!” came from somewhere, and the department store quickly turned into chaos as panicked people scrambled for cover.

 

“Run!”

 

“Mother, come this way, let’s get out of here!”

 

“Fire, mom, get out, get out, get out!”

 

Yi Ho frowned as he looked around, clutching onto a storefront stall as people frantically ran for their lives.

 

There was a fire, but there was no smoke yet.

 

He didn’t know where all these people were.

 

People poured out like a swarm of ants, each one wrapping their arms around the group and scurrying frantically toward the stairwell.

 

Yi Ho pushed his way through the scrambling crowd, looking for Hae-Joo.

 

At that moment, black smoke began to spread from somewhere, and when it proved to be a fire, the department store became an abyss.

 

People were pulling and pushing each other, trampling over those who fell to get out of the department store first.

 

Screams of pain rained down from all directions.

 

Yi Ho’s heart was racing.

 

He hadn’t found Hae-Joo yet.

 

He pushed past the people and headed toward the latrine.

 

He didn’t speed up for fear of losing her.

 

He had a bad feeling about the unpleasant thumping in his heart.

 

And his premonition was not far off.

 

Flames began to leap from all sides, and firefighters from the Jongno Fire Department put out the blaze.

 

As he searched the department store, away from the prying eyes of the public, Yi Ho had a rare moment of calm.

 

Nothing.

 

There was no Hae-Joo.

 

Nowhere.

 

After circling the store several times, from the basement to the fourth floor, undeterred by the flames, Yi Ho emerged from the building at the end of the day.

 

Outside, there were countless people lying on the floor, their faces blackened, their mouths covered with handkerchiefs.

 

Yi Ho walked around, checking each of their faces.

 

But he didn’t see anyone he was so desperately looking for.

 

“Hae-Joo…?”

 

He looked around in despair.

 

He searched until his eyeballs fell out.

 

But she wasn’t there.

 

No sign of her.

 

“Hae-Joo, where are you!”

 

Yi Ho was frozen in place by the panic and fear that rushed through his head.

 

***

 

An hour ago.

 

Coming out of the cubicle with the flushing toilets, Hae-Joo glanced at the backs of the girls in white jerseys and black skirts who were laughing loudly as they left, then went to the sink.

 

After checking her face in the large, high-quality mirror at the sink, she ducked her head and washed her hands.

 

Before she entered the restroom, it had been quite crowded, but now that she was the only one, it was quiet.

 

Drying her hands thoroughly, she turned around and stood tall in her seat.

 

Her loose face stiffened.

 

It was Mao Saito standing at the entrance to the restroom.

 

It wasn’t just Mao Saito.

 

There were also two men in plain clothes with military colors who had been standing guard near him since earlier.

 

“[…Miss Saito].”

 

As Hae-Joo opened her mouth, Mao Saito approached.

 

The click of her clogs against the tile floor sounded eerily familiar.

 

“[I have something to tell you.]”

 

“[I don’t want to talk to you.]”

 

“[Why don’t you? I’m sure you do.]”

 

Mao Saito muttered, the corners of her mouth tugging upward.

 

Hae-Joo stumbled backward.

 

It wasn’t the smiling mouth, it was the sinister, creepy malice that emanated from Mao Saito.

 

However, she bumped into the sink and couldn’t retreat any further.

 

“[…What do I need to talk to the lady about?]”

 

“[The matter of leaving Ban Yi Ho, the matter of breaking up, or else I will forcefully tear you apart, even if it means making you disappear from the world].”

 

Saito Mao, who clasped her hands together in front of her somewhat uneasily, said gently.

 

He-Joo really thought that this precious young lady of the house must have lost her mind.

 

Otherwise, this kind of obsession and thinking wouldn’t make sense.

 

She had vaguely noticed her at the birthday party, but she hadn’t expected her to be this crazy.

 

A chill ran down her spine at the sight of Saito Mao’s intense gaze.

 

But she clasped her hands together and met her gaze as calmly as she could.

 

“[I’ve never had anything I didn’t want, and whether I lived or died, I always got it in the end. Of course, if I hold it after I die… it’s no fun].”

 

Mao’s murderous words were infused with a kind of amusement.

 

“[Ban Yi Ho is the first thing I thought I wanted to have when I came to Korea, and I will definitely have it].”

 

“[A person is not an object, do you think you can have it at will?]”

 

Hae-Joo clenched her fists tightly and shouted back at Mao.

 

Mao pouted her lips in a wistful way.

 

“[I mean, I’m annoyed that I can’t get my way, but when I think about it, you’re the problem].”

 

Mao’s face, which had been pouting, amused, or otherwise expressing a variety of emotions, suddenly lost all emotion.

 

“[First, I want you to disappear, and then… Ban Yi Ho will at least be in pain, it’ll be terrible, and then it’ll be easy to destroy him… After that, I’ll make him want to die, and then my anger will be relieved, right?]”

 

Seeing Mao rubbing her hands together and talking excitedly, a sense of danger flashed through Hae-Joo’s mind.

 

This woman, her eyes have turned.

 

Deciding that this was no place to argue, she pulled herself away.

 

She pushed Mao away and tried to leave the restroom.

 

But her hand was stopped by a powerful force that came out of nowhere.

 

One of the men following Mao Saito grabbed Hae-Joo’s arm painfully and squeezed.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

Hae-Joo struggled against the pain, twisting and turning, but to no avail.

 

“[Why do you irritate me so much?]”

 

Mao’s voice in her ear made Hae-Joo’s heart go cold.

 

At the same time, a force struck the back of her neck, making her legs weak and her vision blurry.

 

The boss…

 

In the back of her mind, Hae-Joo imagined Yi Ho waiting for her.

 

From somewhere, she thought she heard a muffled scream of fire.

 

Meanwhile, the soldier cradling the fallen Hae-Joo in his hands spoke cautiously.

 

“[You have to get out quickly, the fire will spread, but if His Excellency the Governor knows that you set the department store on fire on your orders….]”

 

“[He won’t know if you don’t tell him].

 

Coming out of the restroom, Mao chuckled in amusement at the screams of the fire and the people scrambling to get out first.

 

“[I wonder if we made too big a deal out of this?]”

 

“[What?]”

 

“[If the fire spreads, there will most likely be casualties].”

 

“[So? People who die are unlucky, what does that have to do with me?]”

 

Mao raised an eyebrow and stared at the soldier with glassy eyes.

 

A cold sweat trickled down the soldier’s temples as he looked into those inorganic eyes that didn’t look like her.

 

Mao Saito had been a pretty little girl under the protection of the governor who had never done anything hard or dangerous.

 

But now he felt a spine-chilling pressure from her.

 

When he stammered and couldn’t answer, Mao suddenly lifted the corners of her mouth in a sneer.

 

The soldier carrying the unconscious Hae-Joo flinched and followed Mao’s gaze.

 

Through the screaming, panicked crowd, he could see the fox-masked figure of Yi Ho darting about.

 

“[Now, it’s time to play tricks].”

 

Mao hummed merrily, then turned and headed for the secluded staff entrance in the back.

 

The soldier carrying Hae-Joo on his shoulder followed Mao out of the department store.

 

***

 

Hongo, who had been walking around Song Yue Pavilion, busying himself with the evening’s business, suddenly stopped.

 

“Master Hongo?”

 

The deputy manager of the main building, who was walking alongside, called out in surprise.

 

But Hongo stiffened his face and raised a hand to silence him.

 

There was no other reason.

 

It was because of the terrifying aura emanating from the direction of the Song Yue Pavilion’s main entrance.

 

“That’s strange… Why am I suddenly breaking out in a cold sweat?”

 

“I also feel like my chest is tight… What’s wrong?”

 

Hearing the words exchanged by the guests who were burning the annual candles not far away, Hongo swallowed hard in his throat.

 

He quickly spoke to the deputy manager of the main building.

 

“You should go back to the main building. As I said, it’s getting hot, so pay extra attention to the storage of the food so that it doesn’t spoil.”

 

With that, he turned on his heel and strode out through the main courtyard’s gate, flying in the direction of the sinister energy.

 

Along the way, he saw some of the guests, some of whom were not in good spirits, looking puzzled.

 

“What’s going on, why is he so unrestrained…!”

 

Hongo muttered to himself as he followed the aura to the building where his office was located.

 

As he stepped onto the stepping stones and stood in the corridor, he saw Yi Ho coming out of the empty office.

 

It was him.

 

It was Yi Ho who was spreading an aura of such intensity and ferocity that it made the guests feel uncomfortable.