Hypnosis Release: Heena (2)
The man carrying the suitcase answered her question about when he would come back.
"Tomorrow. He'll be here by tomorrow at the latest. Got it?"
In response, she stuck out her pinky finger. Hook pinkies and press thumbs. Promise.
"Then promise me. You'll come back by tomorrow."
"Ah, of course! Pinky promise."
The man readily hooked his finger and sealed the promise. Then, as if fleeing, he dashed out of the mansion and started up his sports car. With a roar of exhaust, the sports car sped away—and with it, the world blurred, and brightness flooded her vision.
Rubbing her eyes, she turned her head. Her own reflection stared back from the window: slumped against the windowsill, fast asleep. Sunlight streamed in through the clear glass.
It had been a dream. One she'd had while exhausted from crying herself to sleep.
But she could smile.
"Tomorrow."
She knew it instinctively. This was a truth buried deep in her memories for some unknowable reason. Not just a random dream, but something that had really happened.
He'd promised. To come back by tomorrow.
"Tomorrow."
Heena clenched her fist tight. A faint, radiant smile bloomed on her lips.
She couldn't remember his face, his name, or anything about him. But every time she thought of him, her heart ached with tenderness. She missed him. Wanted to see him. Loved him more than words could express.
Her memories were gone, but her heart remembered.
"Yeah. Tomorrow's no big deal. I'll wait."
She resolved to trust and wait. Because he'd promised to come by tomorrow.
"He's coming tomorrow!"
She called out to Joo Hye-eun and the other maids. They were all so pretty and young they could shine anywhere, but after a day of crying and barely eating, their faces looked a bit gaunt.
"I remembered! He said he'd come tomorrow...!"
Heena shouted brightly, clenching both fists and speaking with fierce determination.
"I don't remember much, but... I do remember he said tomorrow!"
A spark of life flickered in the maids' eyes.
Tatata!
"I-Is that true, miss?"
"T-Tomorrow?!"
"Is there anything else you remember? His name or...!"
Like dying people revived by a miracle elixir, they sprang up and crowded around her, firing questions. It was hard to believe they'd seemed on the verge of collapse moments ago.
"Sadly, nothing else comes to mind. But... he promised to come tomorrow! My oppa!"
"Oppa...?"
"Doesn't it feel familiar? Like it really happened."
"Come to think of it, you used to call someone 'oppa'..."
Joo Hye-eun pressed her temple hard with her hand. Something was on the tip of her tongue.
"Unnie Hye-eun? What's wrong?"
"Did you remember something?"
"Definitely... Ah!"
She remembered.
"I have an oppa. We lost our parents young and leaned on each other to survive. But then he got hooked on gambling and partying, lost his way completely."
The once pure, kind oppa had changed overnight after winning fifteen times his bet at the casino.
"He kept asking to borrow money, and I firmly said no. So he snuck into my place, found my savings account passbook, and blew it all gambling. Somehow he knew the password..."
Joo Hye-eun slowly pieced together the fragments of memory.
"I stopped my oppa's spiral."
She remembered. A late-night street, her drunk oppa staggering along it. And him, stepping in front.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Are you Hye-eun's oppa?"
"What...? Oh, you're Hye-eun's boyfriend? Good for you. I'm her bro—can you spot me 5 million won?"
"You took your little sister's wedding savings and now you want to borrow more?"
"Aw, fuck. Lost it all on Jones. Shoulda bet on Aspinall..."
"Even I, who doesn't watch the fights, could tell who to bet on."
"Whatever, just 5 mil. I'll turn it into 10 and pay you back."
"Sigh... Here, take a look."
With a heavy sigh, he showed her his phone. And said,
"Ah...?!"
"From now on, you won't gamble. You'll think working hard and earning money honestly is the best life. And Hye-eun—your little sister—you'll regret not being a good brother, do everything you can for her, and reclaim your old pure self."
After sending her oppa away, he approached Hye-eun, who'd been watching from afar.
"What the...?"
"It's okay now. Your oppa won't gamble again. So don't cry."
"Th-Thank you..."
"Right, how much was in the savings account?"
"60 million won..."
"You saved a lot. I'll fill it back up to 60 by next month. Just take good care of Heena in return."
"Wh-What...?"
"Heena. Poor girl. If I'm ever away and can't see her, look after her for me. That's the deal."
Thump thump...
Hye-eun hurriedly turned her head, face flushing, heart pounding wildly as if it might give her away.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she finished the story.
Wiping them away, she spoke in a voice thick with emotion.
"And... he told me to hang in there, that I'd been through a lot, that good things were coming from now on. He smiled so brightly."
"Ah..."
Heena felt it. He wasn't just precious to her—he was to these three women too.
"Ah...!"
"Ugh..."
The other two maids shuddered suddenly.
"I-I remember. My dad had dementia, didn't recognize me anymore, but when he stepped in, Dad... recognized me and passed peacefully."
"He chased off the loan shark demanding I pay my parents' debts. Said why should the kid pay for the parents' mistakes, and the guy left. I remember."
The maids breathed raggedly, hearts racing with wild hope.
"Then this isn't the time to sit around. Oppa said he'd come tomorrow."
Working at Yangho Group was highly competitive. They had to pass tough exams to get in. Even veteran Hye-eun and the others had specs good enough for top companies. They understood exactly what Heena meant—and what they needed to do.
"I'll tidy the garden."
"I'll clean the house."
"I'll get the best ingredients!"
The maids sprang into action, moving in perfect sync. Pretty faces beaming with smiles, they suppressed their pounding hearts and worked to impress the man they loved.
"Hye-eun unnie, do you know where the spare vacuum is?"
"Shelf 4 in the storage room!"
"Thanks!"
"Pfft, then yield the second hug to me?"
First was obviously Miss Heena. So second place?
"Eek! No way! Not even to you, unnie!"
"Ha? You joined later and think that's fair?"
"Why not? I won't yield even to you!"
The junior hissed like a cat baring claws. Hye-eun just chuckled anyway. She understood—and she'd be the same.
The women threw themselves into the work. For the man whose face and name they couldn't quite recall. To look good for him.
"Huaa!"
"I'm beat...!"
"Can't even lift a finger."
The three collapsed in the sparkling reception hall of the mansion. They'd worked so hard sweat soaked their backs, hair plastered to foreheads. But their faces glowed with bright smiles.
"Hehehe..."
"Huhihi..."
"Hehet."
The women grinned like fools. Imagining him arriving, hugging them one by one in the spotless mansion—it made the exhaustion vanish.
While the maids cleaned, Heena picked out clothes in her room.
"Haa..."
She sighed. Should've bought prettier ones. They were all nice, but she felt they weren't enough.
"I-It'll be fine. At least... the hanger looks good?"
She changed into what she thought was the prettiest and spun around.
"P-Pretty good, right? Oppa will like it—he's a good guy."
She patted her cheeks and headed out. Seeing the three maids sprawled in exhaustion in the reception hall, she brought them water.
"You worked hard. Drink up and head home."
The three shook their heads in unison, as if scripted.
"""No way."""
"Why...?"
"What if he comes before our shift starts?"
"Hye-eun unnie's right."
"So we're not leaving."
Yeah, she'd do the same. Heena nodded with a smile and sat with them, chatting.
They'd grown close, somehow.
Dawn came, then morning. They ate simple toast while the maids and Heena prepared lavish spreads.
"It's for oppa, so I want to help too."
"If you insist, miss."
Lunchtime.
"Hmm... Oppa’s late? He should come before the food gets cold."
Dinnertime.
"......"
Night.
"Miss...?"
"Don't say it. It's not midnight yet. 'By tomorrow' means before 12."
Next morning.
"Miss, h-he must be busy, right? Some circumstance we don't know?"
"Yeah. That's it. Oppa wouldn't break a promise."
But the smiles had faded from their faces.
The next day.
"Hye-eun unnie, what if he's hurt?"
"He’s not."
Day after that. And the next. And the next. The promised tomorrow had long passed.
Despair shadowed the maids' faces. Hye-eun especially had been crying since yesterday, finally collapsing into exhausted sleep.
"He said he'd come. Right?"
Still, Heena clung to that one thread of hope, neck craning toward the gate.
The glass in her hand slipped and shattered on the floor. Like letting go of hope itself.
Crash!
The fragments scattered, mirroring her heart.
"He said he'd come... Right? He promised."
She staggered to the front gate and flung it open. A cool breeze greeted her.
Yeah. Not oppa—a cool breeze.
Thud!
Heena collapsed right there, her support crumbling.
"You promised... You promised tomorrow."
She repeated it through tear-choked whispers.
"You promised tomorrow...!"
God was a real bastard. Tormenting an innocent girl, then gifting her the most beautiful person to eclipse all that pain—like a shooting star. Only to rip it away by force? Even Satan would shake his head.
"How is this fair... How?!"
If you're gonna do this, don't let her remember. Don't give her that spark. How's she supposed to endure now? After losing the warmest person in the world—how to go on? Better to die.
"Please come back... Please."
Heena wept at the empty gate. Until the midday sun sank in the west.