.
Removing his thumb from the speaker mic on his phone, Woo Jooin opened his mouth again.
“Um, Yeo Ryung, in my opinion, it seems better to just ask the kids to find her, instead of you. It’s been only been a few days that you recovered your memories, so you won’t be able to think clearly. Besides, the memories that came back to mama are related to you, so wouldn’t she also be confused when she sees you?”
“You sure?” asked Yeo Ryung.
“Uh-huh. Call Eun Hyung. I’ll reach out to Jiho.”
“Okay, then.”
Before hanging up the phone, Woo Jooin flung a question.
“By the way, the thing that mama asked you to bring her, may I ask you what it is?”
Her voice returned, which was still in a state of confusion.
“She asked me to bring her the yearbook messages, those that we made with the kids around our elementary school graduation,” she replied.
“Ah, I see… Thanks, I’ll get back once I speak with the kids.”
Dropping those words, Woo Jooin pressed the end button, then immediately called Eun Jiho to briefly explain the situation.
Before long, a breaking nose came from the seat across the table.
‘Hmm, I guess she fell out of the chair, trying to stamp out of the space. Perhaps, that’s when she also pushed her book and pencil case off the table with her elbow. The number of pens she dropped is one, two, three…’
The moment when Woo Jooin rambled those thoughts in his head, the phone ended without notice. Looking down at the device that went suddenly silent, Woo Jooin murmured, “Mama can possibly become upset about me.”
As long as Eun Jiho was taking action, the situation wouldn’t come to end so peacefully. Being aware that Donnie would hate him making a loud fuss, Eun Jiho would, at first, try to stay as low-key and quiet as possible, but in the end, there would be no mercy once he runs out of either his temper or patience.
‘He would immediately put in a large number of experts since he couldn’t stand his resources left unused,’ thought Woo Jooin. ‘That’s why a person can’t return to the times when having no money.’
Being occupied elsewhere, Woo Jooin then barely pulled himself together and faced the front. The girl with the hoodies was touching the cup, looking nervous. Even though it was inside a cafe, she wasn’t trying to take the hoodie off her head. A few people threw a doubtful glance at her.
Watching the sight, Woo Jooin heaved a deep sigh. He told her to get rid of that hoodie, but she showed up with another one, only different in colors. His advice seemed useless.
Controlling annoyance, Woo Jooin asked, “Do you know where mama went?”
“No, I really have no idea,” she clearly replied.
Woo Jooin deeply furrowed his forehead. Showing a light smile, he tossed another question.
“You aren’t considering me a volunteer, are you?”
“Eek…”
“To begin with, it was you who proposed an exchange––you providing me useful information if I help you. As long as I trusted your craps like you’re seeing the secrets of nature, then aren’t you supposed to return me a favor, huh?”
Revealing her feelings that she was caught off guard, the girl quietly grumbled, “Did he just say by himself he’s doing me a favor… when all he did was just hiding me somewhere…?”
Woo Jooin cut her off again, “You aren’t caught yet both at school and in the gym of Sung Woo Science High School––who made this possible?”
“…”
“Besides, you broke into the hospital twice. Let’s see, Balhae Medical Center belongs to Chun Young’s, right? He’s number is––”
Dropping that remark, Woo Jooin pretended to immediately take out his phone. The girl grabbed his arm hurriedly in surprise, then made a long face.
“I wasn’t there to harm anyone but just to do something good!” She shouted.
Woo Jooin replied without blinking an eye, “Still, no one’s gonna believe you.”
“…”
“Anyway, you really have no idea where mama is right now or any place that comes to your mind?”
The girl acted like she was tearing her hair out but soon put her hands slowly down. Showing a tearful look, she replied, “Seriously, I don’t know where she is. According to the flow in the first place, I mean, the secrets of the universe…”
“Let me tell you one more thing. Falsely representing yourself as a shaman is also illegal.” Woo Jooin interrupted her.
Squinting her eyes shortly, she continued speaking regardless, “… In fact, Ham Donnie and Ban Yeo Ryung couldn’t build a good relationship right now. It’s, of course, impossible to stay good friends with you guys too. However, all those have been completely twisted. I learned it now that it’s due to her memory loss, but anyway…”
Casting down her eyes to the floor, the girl uttered in a slightly sharpened voice.
“So, you shouldn’t ask me about it.”
“Fine, then anything else that I have to know among the things you’re aware of?” Woo Jooin blurted out nonchalantly, pushing the empty cup aside. He added, “Such as the things about Chun Young… I’m afraid if something happens to him in the film set. That’s what concerns me the most. Like Yeo Ryung, he’s a type of person arousing a lot of jealousy. Many actors around him gave me bad feelings too.”
“Well, I’m not sure of that too…”
Her response returned hesitatingly with no confidence. Woo Jooin slightly perked the corner of his brow upward.
He asked, “Why? You said it’s fine as long as I don’t ask questions about mama.”
The girl replied with a sad face, “That’s… um… it’s sort of a butterfly effect… Originally, Yoo Chun Young wasn’t meant to shoot a TV drama…”
“Hmm…”
“You know, he’s such a character who doesn’t prefer group works. He hates having people around and only dives into the things that interest him. Hmm, then what on earth has inspired him to become an actor…?”
Her explanation gradually turned into a murmur to herself. She became serious and listed the facts about a stranger. Watching that sight, Woo Jooin rested his palm on his chin, then was soon lost in thought.
He had no trust in her words–reading the secrets of nature. However, whenever she behaved that way, he thought that the sources of her information were beyond common sense no matter where they had come from unless she had the backing of some intelligence agencies.
Only having a few close friends, Yoo Chun Young’s real personality was less disclosed to the public. Thus, the girl having that much information about him was enough for her to flatter her abilities.
Then something flashed through Woo Jooin’s head. His brows slightly met in the middle.
“Hey, you.” He suddenly blurted out.
The girl stopped murmuring and raised her head.
He uttered, “Do you know anything about me? Let’s say, those in my childhood, related to my family such as ‘the woman.’ You have any information about her?”
As soon as those questions slipped out of his mouth, her black eyes fiercely trembled as if she in a rainstorm. It convinced Woo Jooin that she knew something about him and his past.
Showing a more swiveling smile on his face, Woo Jooin said to himself, ‘Yeah, you do, huh?’ In fact, he wasn’t about to interrogate further or become angry at all. Since he already decided to derive benefits from her special abilities, he sincerely welcomed her outstanding capability.
It was, of course, inevitable to feel a little disturbed. The memories of his past were so dreadful that he finally made the choice just last year to confess such things to his closest friends.
Thinking to that extent, Woo Jooin smiled again. To think of it, this girl just appeared in the perfect timing too. What if he had met her before he saw his stepmother, or if that strange and indescribable thing didn’t happen in last year’s courage test? Then he would have not reacted this generously and relaxedly.
Anyway, right now, the girl being aware of his awful times in the past didn’t really piss him off.
Aside from the thoughts occupying Woo Jooin’s head, the girl sitting across the table turned paler. Retracing the memories, Woo Jooin found that, recently, she also had yelled at him, ‘You smile when you get angry!’ when he was showing a grin to her.
‘Maybe I’m getting it wrong?’ He wondered, but things about her interested him anyway. That was when he put a richer smile on his face.
“Um… your… ” she stammered.
“Huh?”
When Woo Jooin replied with a brighter grin intentionally, her shoulders quickly drooped down. Sinking her head on her chest, she hesitated for a second, then dropped her words.
“Your… mother… uh, no, I shouldn’t call that way. What ‘the woman’ said… in the court…”
