As True as a Dream – Chapter 69

Author: Dakku-san

They circled the city market several times before finding a rickshaw puller who said he had been cleaning at the Jiao’am Inn for seven years.

But when they insisted on asking him about his time at the inn, he immediately fluffed up the towel on his shoulders and said bluntly, “Forget it, I have nothing to say, I’m busy making a living, who has time to sit and chat with you?”

Hae-Joo immediately reached into her pocket and held out a dollar to the rickshaw driver.

“Sir, I’ll buy you time with this money, do you have time to talk to me now?”

The rickshaw puller was surprised to hear the word “sir” for the first time in his life, but then he looked at the money Hae-Joo offered, took it, and asked. “What do you want to ask me? I should warn you, it’s been a long time since I worked at the Jiao’am Inn, so I’m not sure if I can answer you or not.”

“Sure. If you can’t remember, that’s fine, but can you at least try to remember?”

Hae-Joo asked quietly, smiling wryly, and the rickshaw-puller nodded coolly.

“I’m looking for a man who stayed at the Jiao’am Inn for more than two weeks in October eight years ago. He was from Gyeongseong and must have known someone in Sogok Village, and…”

Hae-Joo trailed off.

The information she heard from Uncle Jige was much less.

Uncle Jige said that his father had only told him that the acquaintance from Gyeongseong had stayed at the Jiao’am Inn.

He only guessed that he had stayed there for more than two weeks.

Her father said that the day after the shaman’s luck, he went to the inn with the painting and looked for his friend, but there was no one in the room where he was staying, so he left the painting with the innkeeper.

Unbeknownst to him, the painting had returned home, and late that night the acquaintance came running to get it.

This meant that the acquaintance had most likely been staying at the inn since he left the painting with her father.

That’s why her father went straight to the inn without making an appointment, and why the acquaintance was able to come to Sogok Village as soon as the innkeeper told him that the painting was missing.

To move so quickly, the acquaintance must have been in town.

Remembering Uncle Jige’s words, Hae-Joo quickly added to the blank rickshaw driver.

“And he must have had a car!”

Uncle Jige said he had seen the man get into a car.

Eight years ago, when cars were a rarity compared to today, that would have been a more reliable clue.

The rickshaw-puller’s face lit up.

“I am not sure if it was around that time… but there was a man who came by car around that time and stayed for a long time. He started wearing a coat, so it must have been around October. He had a chiseled face and liked to dress up. He always wore a white bowler hat and a bow tie.”

The rickshaw-puller narrowed his eyes as if recalling a memory and spoke slowly.

“I don’t know how many times he flirted with the ladies who stayed at the Jiao’am Inn. But later, the man’s wife came…”

“His wife?”

“I thought there was someone in the back seat too, but it was too far away and dark to be sure.”

Hae-Joo remembered what Uncle Jige had said.

‘Could it be his friend’s wife?’

Meanwhile, the rickshaw puller continued.

“The man stayed alone at first, but after a while, a woman with a veiled hat came and stayed with him for two days, though she left soon after.”

“Do you remember exactly when she left?”

“It was so long ago that I don’t…”

The rickshaw-puller replied, rubbing the back of his head as if he still had a headache.

“Then perhaps you can remember his name, or what you called him?”

The rickshaw-puller frowned, as if unsure, then suddenly opened his mouth.

“Ah! Migratory Bird! The wife calls her husband Migratory Bird. I remember the strange name for a married couple!”

‘Migratory bird?’

Hae-Joo mulled over the name in her head, thanked the rickshaw driver, and turned around.

“Can I find another one if you need one?”

While Hae-Joo was organizing the rickshaw driver’s words in her head, she heard Yongzhou’s question from her left.

“Uh, no. I appreciate the offer, but we have to go back to Gyeongseong. The acquaintance isn’t from here and it will be faster to find him in Gyeongseong. What we found out today is already a big deal, thanks to you.”

“Is there a way to find him in Gyeongseong?”

“Sure. Your father is coming next month?”

Hae-Joo nodded happily, already thinking of a way, and changed the subject.

“Uh-huh. I’m not actually changing branches, but I’ll help out, and I heard that there are a lot of mysterious murders in Gyeongseong these days, and there’s a lot of controversy about Western ghost attacks and superstition.”

Hearing Yongzhou’s words, she looked up at Yi Ho to her right.

The uncomfortable feeling she had yesterday when she heard Uncle Jige telling her about the horrible events of eight years ago came back to her through the conversation with Yongzhou.

Still, she wanted to talk to Yi Ho about the uneasy atmosphere in Gyeongseong lately.

But for some reason, Yi Ho had been giving off a nervous aura the whole time, as if he was in a bad mood.

When their eyes met, Yi Ho raised an eyebrow in a gesture of displeasure.

Hae-Joo pursed her lips at the reaction.

What was this man thinking at this crucial moment?

“It’s almost dinner time, what do you want to eat? There’s a delicious hot pot restaurant nearby, I’ll treat you to it.”

While Hae-Joo was narrowing her eyes and exchanging glances with Yi Ho, she heard Yongzhou’s voice next to her.

“How about you, Mr. Ban… Do you like red bean paste? Hae-Joo likes it.”

Yongzhou, who awkwardly spat out the word “Mr. Ban” as if he didn’t know how to address Yi Ho, repeatedly suggested.

Yi Ho, on the other hand, almost burst out laughing at the man’s suggestion that Hae-Joo liked red bean paste.

‘What a naive person. Hae-joo likes red bean paste? She likes money, she likes cars, and she likes me.’

There’s no way he would react to such a childish provocation if she likes bean curd and you don’t.

And he didn’t want to sit with her and eat red bean paste.

But Hae-Joo was the first to say no to Yongzhou.

“Brother, I’m sorry, but we have to work. We’ll have dinner in Gyeongseong next time. If you come to Gyeongseong, you can go to my place in Ikseo…”

“If you come to Gyeongseong, please come to Song Yue Pavilion. Leave a message and I’ll bring Hae-Joo to you.”

Before the words “Ikseonjeong” could come out of Hae-Joo’s mouth, Yi Ho pushed open the door of Song Yue.

Yongzhou looked back and forth between him and Hae-Joo and asked in disbelief.

“Song Yue? Isn’t Song Yue a very famous restaurant in Jingsheng? Why is it there…?”

“It’s a restaurant I run.”

Yi Ho cheerfully answered Yongzhou’s question.

“Ah, I see… Song Yue… Yes. Uh… Well, you should do it then, and I’ll be on my way. See you in Gyeongseong.”

“Yes, brother. Be careful.”

Upon hearing that he was the owner of Song Yue, Yongzhou waved goodbye and turned away, his face confused and pale, unlike when he had gone with them to find the rickshaw driver.

As soon as Yongzhou was out of sight, the heavy weight on his stomach seemed to lift.

But when he saw Hae-Joo standing next to him, he remembered how she had laughed so hard when she called Yongzhou her brother, and his mood became violent again.

“When reporter Lee Yongzhou comes to Gyeongseong, will you really eat out?”

“Because… I told you, right?”

“Huh, really?”

Yi Ho’s complexion became somewhat unpleasant.

Hae-Joo looked at him curiously, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you’re in a bad mood. You’re in a bad mood because I’m close to my brother, right? Normally, that would be called jealousy, you know?”

Yi Ho was stunned for a moment, but then he laughed.

He knows what jealousy is.

It’s when you’re jealous of someone you think is superior to you.

But why should he be jealous of Yongzhou?

He doesn’t have anything better than him.