As True as a Dream Chapter 74

“Why are you looking for him?

 

“I want to ask him about something that happened between him and my father. You know that migratory bird, Mrs. Na, don’t you? What is he like?”

 

Hae-Joo asked Mrs. Na as she leaned closer to the table.

 

Instead of answering right away, Mrs. Na raised her eyebrows and asked after a moment of silence.

 

“How much will you pay for the information?”

 

“Twenty won.”

 

Twenty won is about a month’s salary for a factory worker.

 

Mrs. Na raised an eyebrow at the amount, but then looked vaguely at her desk.

Then she opened her mouth.

 

“His name is Kim Sang-jin, he used to call him Chul-sae. He used to deliver your father’s works.”

 

“What about now? Do you know where he is now?”

 

Hae-joo asked expectantly.

 

For Mrs. Na to say that, they must have had a close relationship.

 

At that time, her father had received work from her, and when the migratory bird delivered her father’s paintings, the three of them would inevitably see each other often.

 

Besides, Mrs. Na was her father’s old love.

 

Of course, Yangbu had never said it out loud, but his father’s memories of her shortly before his death had left her with an unquenchable affection.

 

“I don’t know. I don’t know much about him, not since he left Jingsheng.”

 

“Then can you look into it for me? He’s someone I need to find, and you realize that what you just told me falls far short of the information I’m paying for?”

 

Hae-Joo raised an eyebrow, and Mrs. Na looked at her questioningly as she released the arms she had crossed in front of her chest.

 

“Why do you have to find him? It’s not as if I don’t know anything about Yangbu’s time in Gyeongseong.”

 

“It was after he left Gyeongseong. When he lived in Gongju, that bird came to visit him, and I want to know what happened.”

 

“When he lived in Gongju? Did that bird ever visit your father? Did you see him? Did they get along?”

 

Mrs. Na asked, her tone a bit urgent but careful.

 

Hae-Joo furrowed her brow in surprise.

 

‘Had the three of them been in a love triangle back then?’

 

Yangbu’s face couldn’t be called handsome, no matter how hollow his words, so had he lost out to a migratory bird who knew how to show off?

 

“Are you the one who wants to know the news about the migratory bird?”

 

“That’s… yes. It’s been a long time since the three of us were together.”

 

“But you didn’t look for him?”

 

“That’s the way it is here. When they leave without a trace, they just want to leave. So I don’t even think about looking for them because it would be rude to them.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Hae-Joo agreed.

 

Maybe that’s why in the twelve years since her father left Gyeongseong, no one has come looking for him.

 

If he hadn’t gone to Sogok Village this time, he wouldn’t have known that the migratory bird was looking for him.

 

“Anyway, it’s difficult, but I’ll see what I can do. You’ll have to pay well for the information.”

 

“Eh! You don’t have 20 won?”

 

“It depends on how difficult the information is.”

 

Mrs. Na replied, smiling at her own bravado, and Hae-Joo’s jaw dropped.

 

“Okay, just tell me, anything that leads to a clue is fine by me.”

 

Hae-Joo tried to be reassuring.

 

In truth, Mrs. Na was the only link she had to her father’s past.

 

Without her, she would have had to scour the black market to find out about her father, and it would have been a long and complicated journey.

 

“By the way, I heard that you are engaged to the owner of Song Yue Pavilion.”

 

Hae-Joo thought she had said all she needed to say and was about to get up from her seat when Mrs. Na’s sudden words made her ears perk up.

 

“Oh, that’s it.”

 

Before she went to Sogok Village, she hadn’t gotten so excited when someone asked her about her engagement, but not now.

 

Maybe it was because there was room for change in her relationship with him.

 

She’s embarrassed and nervous.

 

“Congratulations, Hae-Joo. Your father will be very happy for you.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Please invite me to the wedding, I’ll give you a big gift.”

 

“Well, I’ll definitely invite you. Let me know if you get any information… Oh, no. I’ll be back in three days.”

 

Hae-Joo got up and left the soup kitchen.

 

She walked back to Iksunjeong, satisfied with her knowledge of the migratory bird.

 

Somehow, she felt good.

 

If she could get information about the migratory bird, she might be able to find out what it did to the Guishan Dao.

 

Then there might be a cure for Yi Ho’s illness.

 

 

* * *

 

Hae-Joo walked through the familiar alleys of Iksunjeong until she reached her house.

 

Instead of opening the door and entering the house, she looked down at the square box on the doorstep.

 

“What is this?”

 

Hae-Joo bent down, picked up the box and looked around.

 

It must have been addressed to her because it was on her doorstep.

 

But there was no Gyeongseong postmark and no address on it, which was strange.

 

Hae-Joo felt a little nervous and shook the box gently.

 

She could feel something heavy rattling inside.

 

Shaking her head, Hae-Joo carefully opened the lid of the box.

 

“…Ugh!”

 

She dropped the box back to the ground, unable to scream at the horrible sight of brown and red peeking through the cracks.

 

Inside, several mountain birds, each slightly larger than her fist, lay sprawled in a bloody mess.

 

The lid of the box came off as it hit the ground, revealing more details of what she had seen at first glance.

 

Some birds had their necks broken, others had their stomachs ripped open and their wings torn off.

 

Hae-Joo squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.

 

‘What kind of madman would leave this in front of someone’s house…!’

 

After a few moments, she managed to calm her nerves.

 

She crouched down, picked up the fallen lid, and closed the box again.

 

She had seen it before in the empty cemetery, and she had recently found a corpse in Sungin Temple, but no matter how many times she saw it, she could never get used to it.

 

Suddenly, she heard a crashing sound not far away.

 

Turning her head in the direction of the sound, she saw the shadowy figure that had been standing at the mouth of the alley for what seemed like an eternity turn quickly.

 

“Who’s there…!”

 

Hae-Joo jumped to her feet and stood tall as she chased after the shadow.

 

Then she looked back at the box on the ground.

 

‘Could it be the person who left the box at the door?’

 

‘Was he watching her to see how she would react?’

 

She listened to the footsteps fade away and resisted the urge to go after them and question them.

 

She didn’t want to be reckless and put herself in danger.

 

Biting her lower lip hard, Hae-Joo stepped back and turned to look down at the box.

 

‘Who the hell sent this to me? Who had I offended?’

 

The only person in Gyeongseong who doesn’t get along with her is Mr. Zhang of the Iori Automobile Association.

 

But Mr. Zhang would never have the guts to do something like that.

 

Hae-Joo thought back to her short, albeit brief, one-year stint in the Imperial Guard.

 

‘Who did I hate? I can’t think of anyone.’

 

The nature of her job as a taxi driver and handyman meant that she had to take what she could get, avoid what she didn’t like, and grin and bear the unfairness of things.

 

The only people she was close to outside of work were Eun-sil’s family.

 

‘What did I do to deserve this…?’

 

As Hae-Joo’s thoughts raced through her mind, the face of Mao Saito, who had been staring at her with a narrowed brow, flashed across her mind.

 

“No way…?”

 

Hae-Joo shook her head in disbelief.

 

Mao Saito was no ordinary teenage girl from the street, but a noble lady of the governor’s house.

 

No matter how mean and obsessive she was, she wouldn’t do something like that. She’s a young lady of a noble family.

 

“No way. It can’t be.”

 

As Hae-Joo shook her head in denial, there was a sudden rustling sound behind her.

 

It was getting dark, and her heart was pounding from what had happened earlier, so she looked around carefully.

 

*Meow-!*

 

“Oh my God, you scared me to death!”

 

Hae-Joo flicked her chest at the cat wandering down the alley, then looked back at the box and thought.

 

It’s hard to believe, but no matter how much she thinks about it, Mao Saito is the only person she’s hated lately.

 

If this box was Mao Saito’s work, she would have to have a hard talk with him.

 

But the other person is the daughter of the Governor General, and even if Yi Ho is the owner of Song Yue, how could she have a point?

 

What could she, a mere colonial subject, do in front of such a powerful person?

 

The more she thought about it, the more helpless she felt, and her heart sank.