ILJIN

33 | MONSTER (2)

事实如此，人生在世，有太多的事与愿违，不尽人意。总是起起落落，大悲大喜也就在瞬间即逝。
(Life is full of ups and downs. There'll be many things that don't go as planned, or as hoped, but nothing's ever permanent. No matter how happy or sad you might feel at that very moment, it will pass just like any other moment in life.)

..

"After many days and hard hours of effortful searching, I've boiled my results down to six people," the old man sitting across Choi Siwon flourished a hand over the papers laid out in front of him. "Never thought there'd be so many people named Na Jeolha, but clearly I was wrong."

Siwon swept his eyes over the pictures attached to the front, searching. "Did any of them have records of plastic surgery recently?" None of the pictures matched the distinct memory he had of the rude, scoffing girl.

The old man shook his head slowly, expression hesitant now. "Is something the issue, sir?"

"She's neither of them," Siwon gathered the papers and pushed it right back to the man. "Looks like your effortful searching was wasted."

The other man was silent for a second. "What if Na Jeolha was not her true name to start with?"

"What do you mean?" Siwon eyed him critically, mind whirling. He had entertained that thought. He just never went further than the surface on it. There were too many things at hand, all thoughts of his nephew's friend just automatically got pushed backwards.

"Na Jeol Ha," the old man emphasised the breaks purposefully. "If we bring the Na backwards, it'll be Jeol Hana. Zero and one respectively."

Zero and one?

One and zero?

What was so special about those numbers-

"She has some Chinese lineage."

Choi Siwon wrecked his brain to remember the Chinese translation of the numbers one and zero.

One was 一 (romanized: yī)....

Realisation hit him like a wrecking ball, slamming him into the nearest solid wall, taking the air out of him. "Do you by any chance have a picture of Wang Yilin?" he breathed out. He could feel the anger boiling in his veins, could hear the blood roaring in his ears. That Choi Hansol. Bastard. How dare he.

Bewildered but unquestioning, the old man opened a separate file, turning to a picture displaying a person who entirely matched Choi Siwon's last recollection of his nephew's best friend.

The Choi Clan leader made a sound of outrighted disbelief, something between a huff and a laugh. "Looks like our sweet Hansol isn't completely stupid, after all."

..

The trapdoor to the roof squeaked open and shut behind me, notifying me of a new presence. The same presence who had overheard my conversation with my father, I'm betting, from the gentle soundless glide he was moving with.

"Are you here to ask me if I want to build a snowman?" I inquired without turning to face him. I couldn't. Not with the tears streaking down my face. I looked weak. "Because the answer is no. Go away, Sicheng."

He paused, stepping closer, "No, I don't think I will." He made himself comfortable beside me, looking out at the starless sky with mild, neutral eyes. Clearly not an avid stargazer.