As True as a Dream Chapter 77

It was almost 3 o’clock in the afternoon when Yi Ho, who had been sitting patiently on the railing, got up from his seat.

 

He rushed out of the house, got into his car, and ordered one of Hongo’s crow to take him to Iksunjeong.

 

For the first time, he realized that his inability to drive was an inconvenience.

 

Sitting in the backseat, he watched the crow’s hands hovering over the steering wheel and gears, and sighed in frustration.

 

Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic on the road, and they reached Iksunjeong earlier than he expected.

 

He got out of the car and walked briskly on his long legs to the front of Hae-Joo’s house.

 

“Hae-Joo!”

 

He stood in front of the door and pounded on it with his fist.

 

When he didn’t hear anyone inside, he knocked again and again, calling out to her, but there was silence.

 

He frowned and tugged at the doorknob.

 

The door swung open without warning.

 

Yi Ho paused, then pushed the door wide open and stepped inside.

 

The house was quiet, as if no one was home.

 

Yi Ho frowned.

 

Hae-Joo had left the house without even closing the door?

 

It was ridiculous that a woman who loved her wealth more than her own life would leave her house unguarded against thieves.

 

Yi Ho reached for the half-open sliding door and jumped back.

 

There was dirt on the frame.

 

He rubbed the dirt with his fingertips for a moment in disbelief, then opened the sliding door to the room all the way.

 

He saw a yellow board floor, a four-drawer chest that took up one wall, a coffee table, an open futon, and a suitcase with its mouth half open on one side of the room.

 

There was no sun.

 

But there was something strange.

 

Yi Ho’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at the crumbs of dirt scattered across the yellow tabletop.

 

There were vague human footprints in the dirt.

 

To the naked eye, they were the size of an adult man’s foot.

 

His heart sank and he turned back to the room.

 

Someone uninvited had obviously entered the house wearing shoes, but there was no sign of a disturbance or a struggle.

 

‘What could have happened?’

 

Yi Ho turned and walked straight out the door.

 

He walked straight back to his car, which was waiting at the entrance to Iksunjeong Alley.

 

But a small box lying by the door, at his feet, was lightly kicked by his shoe.

 

He bent down, picked it up and opened the lid.

 

Hae-Joo was gone, and Yi Ho’s face became unusually rigid as he swallowed the embarrassment he’d never felt before at the sight of a grown man’s footprints in the middle of nowhere.

 

Inside the box were the slain mountain birds.

 

His knuckles turned white as he held the box, crushing the corners of his ears.

 

‘Why is this in front of Hae-Joo’s house?’

 

There is only one possible explanation for the footprints.

 

Hae-Joo could have been kidnapped by someone!

 

Yi Ho felt a shiver run down his spine and his heart sank.

 

He put the lid back on the box and set it on the ground, then ran to the car at the end of the alley.

 

The crow, waiting in front of the car with no expression, blinked in confusion when it saw him.

 

“Hae-Joo’s gone, find her.”

 

The crow opened its mouth stupidly, as if it didn’t understand.

 

“Immediately! Tell Hongo to release the crows and find Hae-Joo!”

 

He spat out a low, single syllable, a single syllable that carried the ferocity of a fox that had survived the line of fire.

 

His momentum carried him high into the sky, where he transformed into a raven without even looking back to see if anyone was around.

 

Yi Ho watched the crow disappear into the distance and returned to Hae-Joo’s house.

 

He knocked on the door of the house next door.

 

A young woman in a hanbok came out with her hair neatly done.

 

When she saw him standing at the door, her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, and she asked what was wrong.

 

“The lady who lives in this house, have you seen her?”

 

At his question, she looked toward Hae-Joo’s house and shook her head.

 

“I haven’t seen her, but I heard something late last night…”

 

“What did you hear?”

 

“I’m not sure if it was the lady of the house… but I heard voices late last night… a woman’s voice and a man’s voice. It was a friendly atmosphere, so I thought it was someone she knew…”

 

Yi Ho frowned.

 

‘A friendly atmosphere?’

 

A box of dead mountain birds on the doorstep and a friendly atmosphere?

 

It didn’t make any sense.

 

“Oh, and later I heard two men whispering something… was it her? Was it her? I think they said something like that…and I heard footsteps, like they were running.”

 

The woman rambles on, as if trying to remember something.

 

Although he had expected it, his heart sank at the realization that someone had been following Hae-Joo.

 

The only reason the house wasn’t in chaos was because Hae-Joo had beaten the man who broke into the house outside.

 

And it looked like she’d used her wits to get away from them.

 

‘So where is she now? Is she safe? And who was after her?’

 

Ignoring the cold sweat on his scalp, Yi Ho knocked on door after door.

 

But all the other houses were empty.

 

Then he heard a crow cawing overhead.

 

He immediately looked up and ran towards Hae-Joo’s house as the crow swooped down in his direction.

 

When it landed on the ground, a note was dangling from its leg, a note from Hongo.

 

“Sorry, she’s still missing, we’re doing our best to find her.”

 

The urgent handwriting caught his eye.

 

Yi Ho didn’t think his heart had ever beaten so hard.

 

They can’t find her.

 

Something must have happened to her, but he doesn’t know where she is, if she’s okay, or if she’s even alive.

 

“When you feel that you can’t live without me, then we can talk again. Until then, let’s not do this. I’ll put up with it, no matter how much you like it.”

 

He remembered Hae-Joo’s solemn words in the thatched courtyard of the small village, her face as ripe as a peach.

 

One by one, he flashed back to their colorful faces, some smiling, some frowning, some angry, some smiling but clearly cursing, and some worried and afraid.

 

‘I won’t see her again, will I?’

 

The sudden thought made his heart clench in his chest and his breath catch in his throat.

 

Stupid Hae-Joo, who was depressed because she felt guilty about other people’s lives.

 

Hae-Joo who couldn’t stop spending money.

 

She used to get mad at him for flirting with her.

 

She used to draw him, saying he was like a flower, like spring.

 

“That’s ridiculous.” Yi Ho muttered to himself.

 

He’d spent so many days with her, but he’d never thought about how many times she’d disappear.

 

She’s a woman who values her life more than her beloved money, and she knows how to take care of herself.

 

‘But what if she really did disappear? What if she disappears and is never seen again? What if he can’t even find her?’

 

Yi Ho felt as if his whole body had fallen into a pit of ice.

 

‘No, no, no!’ he thought to himself.

 

It felt like flint sparking and scraping against his heart.

 

A fierce energy rose from him, wild and fierce, a maddening fear that spread like wildfire.

 

Yi Ho turned around and glared at the box containing the dead mountain bird.

 

Since this box was in front of Hae-Joo’s house, it must have something to do with her disappearance.

 

Besides, it wasn’t the kind of thing someone in their right mind would do.

 

‘Who sent this? Did someone hate her enough to send such a thing?’

 

“A raven sent to the governor’s residence said that Mao was taking a walk in the garden. Apparently, the boils caused by the sea snow are in remission.”

 

‘…Mao Saito?’

 

At that moment, Yi Ho’s mind flashed back to what Hongo had said last night.

 

She had been quiet for a while due to the boils, but now that she was feeling better, Saito Mao was more than capable of doing that, considering her madness and obsession with the broken doll.

 

No matter how he thought about it, Mao Saito was the only one who had earned Hae-Joo’s hatred lately.

 

Yi Ho’s face froze like an iceberg.

 

If the crows were looking for signs of Hae-Joo, he could just start with the suspects.

 

The sun was slowly setting in the west, and the sky began to blend into a confusing mix of scarlet and indigo.

 

There was no one to drive the car anyway, so Yi Ho hoisted himself lightly onto the roof and peered in the direction of the governor’s residence.

 

Then again, the sound of crows cawing echoed from above.