Love Across Universe

Searching For 'You'

Soojin

I left for Mrs. Brown's house before Sooah returned from school. If she caught me coming out of Mrs. Brown's house, I'd get bombarded with a thousand questions. Like me, Sooah didn’t like her either. Mrs. Brown was always suspicious that unnie was dating someone, and to make things worse, her son went to our school too.

"Oh hello, Miss umm," she paused, clearly struggling to recall my name.

"Soojin, Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Min's younger daughter," I said, forcing a polite smile.

"Oh, how do you pronounce it? Sorry, Asian names aren’t my thing," she said with a sarcastic laugh, making my blood boil.

"You pronounce the S-O-O in my name as S-U. I hoped I wouldn’t have to teach you how to pronounce J-I-N," I replied coolly, watching her instantly regret her poor attempt at humor. "Now, if you don’t mind, may I come in?"

"Yes, sure. Make yourself comfortable," she said, leading me inside.

I settled on her sofa. She didn’t offer me anything, and I wasn’t expecting hospitality from her. Even if she had, I wouldn't have accepted. Who knew what she might have put in it?

The interior of her house was lavish, with cedar ply walls meticulously carved with intricate designs. The expensive carpet shimmered, and everything gleamed with cleanliness. I wondered how much time she spent dusting. The ceiling was white, adorned with a small chandelier. She could easily turn her house into a nice hotel.

"If you’re done admiring my interior, may I ask what brings you here?" she asked curiously.

"When did you last see the Abreos?" I inquired to her with a formidable tone, to convery her the seriousness of this matter to.

"It was 5 o’clock by my watch, last Friday at dawn. I saw them entering their Ford Fusion. Master Abreo was dressed in a blue tailored suit, Mr. Abreo in a dark brown one, and Mrs. Abreo wore a yellow midi dress. They drove off towards the West. They haven't returned since, and I don’t know what happened afterward," she said, her expression grave.

"Were they carrying anything like bags or suitcases? How did they seem?"

"I didn’t see any bags except for Mrs. Abreo’s handbag, but they seemed to be in a hurry," she replied, focused on her new nail art.

Rich people and their frivolities.

"No more questions, Mrs. Brown. Thank you for the information and for receiving me. I’ll be forever grateful," I said, buttering her up before leaving. It was necessary; otherwise, she wouldn’t answer my questions next time. Based on what Mrs. Brown said and Sooah’s prediction, I formulated a theory: they were coming to my party, but an emergency involving their relatives in France occurred, so they left.

Gosh! Mystery solved.

After 8 months:

"Mr. Min and Miss Min, please understand the cops are trying their best. You have to be patient," the policeman said, scanning the documents.

"But it’s been more than eight months. Where are they?" I asked, staring into his eyes.

Yes, it had been more than eight months, and still no sign of the Abreos. They never returned home. The cops had contacted airport authorities in both France and the USA but found nothing. They had also sent information to hospitals in and around DC, but it was futile.

"Did you try contacting any of their relatives?" Appa asked.

"We're still trying. Now, if you excuse us, we can continue our work," the cop said, placing the documents back on the table.

Arguing with US cops was pointless, so we left.

"Soojinah, want to go to Korea for Lunar New Year?" Appa asked as we walked home.

"Appa, how can you ask this in such a situation? I'm tense, and I don’t want to go. You all can go," I said, looking up at him.

"See, my daughter, the cops are trying, and so are we. How long will we search for them? The world is huge, my dear. If they’ve fled and changed their identities, it’s impossible to find them," Appa said, eyes glued to his phone.

"And why would they do that? They aren't criminals, not Alain at least," I said, my eyes welling up, though I tried to hide it from Appa.

"You never know people from the underworld. They seem like normal people. They won't give you a chance to know their real identity. They’ll talk, eat, club, and enjoy life like everyone else, but secretly, they’re involved in unimaginable things," Appa said as I quickened my pace.

It was impossible. The Abreos were genuinely good people. Alain couldn’t hide anything from me. We were each other's best secret keepers. If his parents did something illegal, I would have kept it secret. What was his fault?