Chapter 149
Chapter 149
The next morning.
When I finished getting ready for school and came down to the first floor of the apartment building, Yang Hye-in was waiting.
"Hye-in!"
So-hee hurried over to Yang Hye-in, who stood there as still as a statue.
"If you'd let me know, I would have opened the door for you."
This was my first time staying at an apartment, so I wasn't sure how things normally worked. But apparently this building required either a passcode or pressing the unit number and getting approval before the door to the first floor would open.
If she didn't know the passcode, she could have just pressed So-hee's unit number and gotten permission. It wasn't as if she meant to stay here overnight; I couldn't imagine So-hee's family refusing her request to wait briefly at the entrance.
"No, I'm fine."
Yang Hye-in gave So-hee only that reply, then turned toward me and bowed slightly.
"Did you rest comfortably last night, young lady?"
At the mansion, that greeting always came in my room before I ever stepped out the front door, so other people never saw this side of her.
It was early in the morning, and maybe because of the hour, a fair number of people were passing by—everyone's commute or school schedule was different. The school I attended wasn't the kind just anyone could go to, but even so, there were enough people around to notice.
And every one of them was looking this way.
Yang Hye-in was wearing the same clothes she wore at the mansion. She probably had plenty of spares in the same design. The apron and headband she always wore indoors, though, were absent.
Thinking back, Yang Hye-in had always dressed like this whenever she went out. So-hee, of course, was in her school uniform, as any student would be.
But even if her outfit was just a black shirt and a longish skirt, the sight of someone taller and older than me bowing with such formality apparently struck people as strange.
"Yes, I rested comfortably."
My nights had been comfortable lately.
Because there was someone inside me, waiting for me.
Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, Yang Hye-in straightened up, her face expressionless.
"Did you come to show me the way to school? I just need to follow So-hee."
"Yes, that is part of the reason, but..."
Yang Hye-in paused mid-sentence and glanced around. The people who had been sneaking looks flinched and quickly turned their heads away, heading off on their way.
Was this something even a passerby wasn't allowed to overhear?
"Let's talk as we walk."
At that, I started moving, and So-hee quickly stepped ahead to lead the way.
Right. I don't know the way.
*
Listening to her story, I understood why Yang Hye-in had come.
"Mother came by at dawn?"
"Yes."
So if I had been just a little later, I might have come face-to-face with Mother right there at the mansion. First thing in the morning. Completely unprepared.
"..."
It seemed she had meant it when she said "soon."
My heart beat a little faster at the news.
Did Mother still love me?
...The fact that such thoughts even crossed my mind showed just how far gone I was.
The person inside me would have been devastated to hear me think that. But I couldn't help it. I'd read through months of memories, experienced them firsthand, and felt so much, but that couldn't erase the years of recollections etched into my mind.
Neither my memories with that person, nor my memories with my friends, could ever serve as a substitute for my memories with Mother.
It wasn't just that my childhood memories with her were precious.
It was that those memories were different memories.
Time doesn't come back. And family bonds, no matter how much you try to sever them, have parts that simply cannot be changed.
As long as I carried the memory of Mother from the days when she was kind, the memories I'd made with friends in high school could never replace them.
The only thing I could do was layer coat after coat over them—make new memories so vivid and unforgettable that they'd slowly, over time, dull the feelings those old ones stirred up.
"...But."
Still.
"If Mother came all the way to look for me, isn't it dangerous for you to be here, Yang Hye-in? It could give away exactly where I am."
I asked, my voice a little sharp.
Knowing Mother's personality, she might well have ordered someone to tail Yang Hye-in and investigate. If she'd realized I'd left this morning, she definitely would have.
...I still didn't know Mother in any real detail. Whether the way she'd treated me had been genuine, or whether she'd been after something else entirely.
But still, I was the one who had watched her for all those years.
A mother tenacious enough to dig that deep into my thoughts would absolutely use that kind of effort to find me.
"Yes, most likely."
"Then may I ask why you followed me anyway?"
"Even if I had not come, the Chairwoman would certainly have learned your location by the end of today. I decided that getting word to you as quickly as possible was the priority."
"..."
I started to ask why she hadn't just called, then closed my mouth.
A phone call is no guarantee against eavesdropping.
I didn't know the technical details... but Mother surely had more than enough money. If there was a method that followed scientific principles, money could track it.
Running away is harder than it sounds.
"Couldn't Mother be waiting in front of the school?"
"The Chairwoman had an important matter to attend to today and returned to the company immediately."
"That could be a lie."
"..."
Cutting ties with Mother meant cutting every string that still attached me to her side.
Of course, the only strings I had in the first place were Mother's people, and they had no reason to do me any favors. I might force information out of them, but there was no telling how reliable that information would be. If Mother had deliberately fed them false intelligence, anything I learned would already be inaccurate.
That was why I'd thought cutting things off unilaterally was the better approach.
But now that things had come to this, the number of people I could lean on was small.
At least while Yang Hye-in had been managing the mansion, she could have gotten information from the staff, even if only formally. But as far as those people were concerned, Yang Hye-in had already been fired and only reinstated because I forced it. And since she still couldn't stop the Chairwoman from visiting, they had surely grasped by now that my power wasn't as strong as it looked.
...Right. My life was just about perfectly matched to me.
I was sinking into that gloomy thought when—
"No. The Chairwoman did not come to the school."
Yang Hye-in said it with absolute certainty.
"...How do you know?"
At my question, Yang Hye-in pulled her smartphone from her pocket, tapped at it briefly, then handed it to me.
[Just in case, I'll send you photos covering the whole area.]
Photos received barely five minutes ago.
The sender was Ha-neul.
The pictures, taken with the phone's ultra-wide mode, all showed the school's main gate. As always in the morning, expensive foreign cars were gathering, and a few had students stepping out of them.
"The Chairwoman's vehicle is not in any of the photos. At least not among the ones I have memorized."
"...You've memorized all of Mother's cars?"
"Yes. It was necessary for my work. The Chairwoman keeps two vehicles—one for business, one for personal use. To my knowledge, she does not collect cars as a hobby, and there would be no suitable place to acquire one at that hour of the morning. Even if she rented a car, a rental plate is identifiable."
Yang Hye-in explained this all to me, step by step, as I stood there with my mouth hanging open.
"I am also familiar with the vehicles of other executives, to an extent. If the Chairwoman borrowed someone else's car, there could be a vehicle I do not recognize—"
Bzz. Yang Hye-in's phone, still in my hand, vibrated.
I looked at the screen again. This time, photos had come from Su-a. They were similar to the ones from moments ago but different.
A few of the cars that had been parked were leaving, and a few new ones were arriving. Students were visible stepping out in these shots, too.
"At the very least, with photos coming in real time like this, I judged it possible to determine whether the Chairwoman was approaching."
"..."
Only moments ago I'd thought I had no one to lean on...
It seemed I'd have to take that back.