Hypnosis Release: Lee Heena (3)
Heena was in despair. It was far greater than the time she had won despite her hands blistering raw in her desperate effort for her father's acknowledgment, only to receive none. Compared to this current despair, her father's cold dismissal didn't even qualify as despair.
No matter how hard she tried to remember, the memories wouldn't come. But the love remained. So intensely that her own life seemed too cheap a price. It was driving her insane.
"Come back... please..."
"You said tomorrow..."
"You promised."
She muttered into empty space with dead eyes, not even knowing who she was talking to. Her tears had long since dried up; no more would come. She'd cried through the night and into the day.
Ring! Riiiing!!!
"......"
The phone's ringtone. She glanced sideways to check the caller. Yuna unnie. The coach.
"Heena. You home?"
"Yeah, unnie..."
"H-hey... did you... forget someone? Someone precious..."
Out of nowhere, Yuna unnie asked if she'd forgotten anyone. Her voice was thick with desperation.
By any chance?
"No way... unnie, you forgot too? A precious person?"
"You too?"
"Hic."
A single tear traced down her cheek, one she'd thought had all dried up.
"Can't remember at all. I... I searched my phone, the house—nothing. No clues..."
Her next words slurred, hard to make out.
"Unnie..."
"I'll come to you. Wait there."
Heena slowly rose and left the bedroom. The maids, led by Joo Hye-eun, sat listlessly in chairs, utterly unmotivated. It was blatant negligence on the job, but with their faces looking like the walking dead, no one could bring themselves to call them out.
"Ah, miss."
The veteran and eldest, Joo Hye-eun, at least clutched a still-damp rag in her hand.
"You okay?"
"We're fine. It's you we're worried about, miss."
Six pairs of worried eyes fixed on her. Heena turned to the window, staring at her reflection. Her once-lustrous long black hair was dry and frizzy, her eyes hollow voids. Her face embodied utter devastation.
"Heena..."
After a short wait, Yuna arrived. Her condition was a wreck too. The woman who always seemed so proud and unbreakable now looked ready to collapse. Her voice lacked strength, her once-shiny blonde hair a tangled mess—she'd probably yanked at it frantically.
They embraced fiercely.
Heena hugged her silently. She knew unnie only seemed tough and flashy on the outside; her heart was fragile.
"Ugh... what do I do... I just can't remember... There's someone I love, but I can't..."
She was the coach. Barely five years older, close enough to call unnie, but still Heena's coach. She was supposed to stay strong in front of her student. Yet she broke down sobbing in her arms like a child, casting aside all pride as coach and sister.
"Our parents... they weren't on good terms..."
She brought up her family history, something she rarely discussed. Heena didn't know why, but perhaps it was just the need to unburden her knotted heart.
"At first, there were no fights. Our family was super harmonious."
The trophy hadn't helped. She just wanted a harmonious home. Wanted the three of them laughing together again—like childhood trips to Disneyland, hand in hand, or cozy family meals full of smiles.
"Unnie..."
"That man back then... he made our parents harmonious again. Fulfilled my wish."
"I remember this. I was always prickly with him. Still, he did all that for me..."
"Unnie..."
"I fell for him. Loved him. But... no more memories. His face, what we did together—gone..."
The memories were erased, but ambiguously so. Her feelings stayed intact. No—without seeing him, they grew even more tender.
"Unnie, enough. Go home and rest first. Your parents..."
Unlike her own, Yuna hadn't been abused. They'd reconciled; she had somewhere to turn.
"Divorced yesterday."
Yuna shook her head. That single sentence conjured images of a father who'd seemed warm once, now cold again.
"......"
"Parents divorced, him gone. What now?"
Yuna was the same as her—as the maids sitting there like corpses.
"I... I miss him so much. I know he's precious to you too. But... doesn't matter. He's...!"
"Unnie, calm down first..."
Heena had to soothe her, holding back her own tears.
Yuna bought a pile of soju from the convenience store, chugging straight from the bottles with a hollow look.
"Drunk, maybe I'll think of him less..."
"Give me some too, unnie."
"Us too..."
Yuna and Heena. Joo Hye-eun and the three maids. Five women drank soju neat, no snacks, knowing it burned their stomachs—but the ache of his absence hurt worse.
"Heena."
"Huh?"
The feel of someone stroking her hair jolted her upright.
"Ah... Oppa?!"
"Yeah. It's oppa."
There he was. The one she'd longed for.
"Oppa...!"
No resentment. Just gratitude he'd returned. Heena rushed to hug him...
Crash!!!
Her hands passed right through. Drunk and lunging too fast, her feet tangled—she tumbled.
The booze haze cleared a bit.
"Oh..."
He was gone from before her eyes. A hallucination born of longing.
"Please come back... I'll do anything you say..."
She begged and begged, knowing full well she couldn't reach him.