The Seoul facility was in commotion. Ibuki had finally been brought out of solitary confinement. As he entered the mess, he saw a group gathered around a table talking about something. There were no guards to disperse them. Ibuki went to his chair and found his roommates eating, heads down. Ibuki sat down slowly and began eating. After a few bites, he cleared his throat and, in a low voice, asked, "What is with the crowd?"
Miyon lifted his head and turned his gaze to the crowd, "They say following this week, we will be off to Germany."
Jo-Hyun put his chopsticks down, "I wonder if it is only a rumour."
O-Jin responded, "Who gets such news anyways and from where?"
Ibuki gave it a thought. "So what if it is a rumour? It should appear out of somewhere. Something should provoke such a rumour."
Looking at the puzzled face of Ibuki, Miyon said, "Even if it is true, what are we going to do? It is not like things will change once we go there."
The rest of the group nodded. There was a moment of silence as the group ate their food.
After a moment, Ibuki noticed that Ji-Bok wasn't there and inquired about his whereabouts from the rest of the group.
Miyon replied with a straight face, "Couldn't make it."
Ibuki gave him a perplexed look, to which Jo-Hyun responded, "He died."
Ibuki dropped his spoon in shock. Miyon got up to pick it up and, handing it back to Ibuki, said, "We thought you died too. You have nerves that you made it so far."
Ibuki did not reply to it. Miyon went back to his seat and went on with his food. The rest of the group also went on, but Ibuki remained still.
To see death yourself is one thing, but to see people around you perish while you breathe is another horror in itself. First, it was Woshi, and now Ji-Bok. Who knows what will happen to the rest of them by the time they arrive in Germany?
It was the first week of September. The weather had taken a pleasant turn. This week was also Ibuki's birthday. He hadn't celebrated it in a long time. Not at least since his father passed away. His mother used to tell him that he was born with the brightest smile on his face. She had never seen such a smile in her entire life. His father would tell him he was the calmest child he had known, and many of his relatives were jealous that Ibuki did not pester his parents much. His grandmother told him that his first word was 'grandma' and that he also spoke on his birthday. Before he could celebrate his 12th birthday, his father committed suicide. Since then, he has given up on celebrating his life. He remembered that he never told Misao when his birthday was. She never asked him either, and neither did he know when her birthday was. It was 4 September, and yes, that was the day Ibuki was born.
This very month in Germany, however, was rather cold. Misao had added a layer of clothing to herself. It would rain heavily. Misao sat in her room under a blanket, counting on her fingers. She had counted so many times that she had forgotten what she was counting to begin with.
"Maybe I was counting how much time I have to live," Misao thought. But then she quickly recalled that she had been counting her days left before beginning college. "Makes sense."
She got out of her bed and checked the calendar. She had kept her phone on silent and did not want to open it. Somehow, she was scared to get some horrifying news on it, which she did not want to see. So she refrained from using it, even to the extent of searching general knowledge through books in Yun-Ji's library rather than googling them. Least to say she had gone full medieval.
Looking through the calendar, she realised that today was the second of the month. She paused and thought, "My birthday. It is the day after tomorrow. Yeah!"
She was about to go and pick up the phone to call her brother but immediately stopped herself. She went out of the room to the old lady she had befriended. She asked her if she could help her send a letter back home. In her coarse German, which Misao had begun to understand well, the lady asked why she did not want to call.
Misao felt her actions were becoming too much out of hand. No matter what she did, she had to use her phone at some point. So she let the old lady go and returned to her room, nervously picking her phone up. She hadn't checked it since last evening.
There were no new notifications except from some menial apps with their updates. Misao called home, and her brother picked her up. He greeted her joyfully, "Hello, sister. I thought you had forgotten that you have a brother."
Misao replied, "Oh no, I did not. How is everyone?"
"Good. How are you?"
"Good. Actually, I wanted to say that since it is my birthday the day after tomorrow, I can return home for some time, even if not by tomorrow. I want to see you all once before I begin my semester."
"Of course you can. I will book your tickets, and you can book them by the time your birthday is. Is that fine?"
"Yes. Thank you, Brother."
So Misao began preparing to leave for her home for her birthday before she began her university journey. She informed Yun-Ji and Uno. While Uno wanted Misao to stay with him for her birthday, Yun-Ji was fine with her going back.
When Misao was in her room watching the night sky late at night, Uno came in. Uno approached her and stood next to the window facing her.
"Why do you want to go? It has been a long time since we celebrated your birthday together. Last year, I could not come because of my college entrance exams, but this time, I finally thought I would get to celebrate it with you."
Misao looked at Uno. She then turned to face the door and replied, "I miss home, Uno. I want to celebrate it with them. Once I am back, I will probably celebrate all my birthdays with you until graduation. Let me celebrate this one with my family."
Uno went closer to her and held her arms. He turned her towards him and said, "I hope you enjoy it. Happy Birthday in advance."
Uno let go of her and walked to the door to leave when Misao stopped him.
"Uno, it is odd of me to remember small questions and talks from years ago, but somehow, to this day, I still remember you asked whether Ibuki liked me."
Uno turned back and said, "Yeah, I did. Now that you speak of it, I do remember that the question had been in my mind for a long now."
Misao went near him, "Well, he did. He did like me. And if he is still alive, I believe that he still likes me."
"Can I know why all of a sudden you speak of this?"
"Uno, when he said you wanted to celebrate this birthday with me, I do realise that you like me. I have always known that you liked me, or else why would you ask me the question about Ibuki? The thing is that I don't want to keep in the shadows of whether I do or do not like you. So, I am clearing things up. Ibuki liked me or, better yet, still likes me. And I......... I like him too."
Uno stepped forward and hugged Misao, "Oh, you still put me in wonder."
Misao smiled and hugged him back.
"By the way, where is your mom?" Misao asked after a moment of silence.
"Oh, her cousin, Uncle Woon-Gi's daughter, is getting married. She has gone to attend the wedding."
"Oh, okay."
Yun-Ji was at the wedding of Woon-Gi's daughter. The hotel that was booked for the extremely expensive wedding was no less than an hour away from Yun-Ji's house. She was dressed in a white and silver gown. The wedding happened joyfully and the couple took the blessings from everyone. After the wedding was over and most guests were gone, the couple's families were the only ones left. A dinner was arranged, and everyone sat together to enjoy the occasion. Yun-Ji, for the most part, remained silent and enjoyed from the background. Her mind was more occupied with the tests. One week to go before they arrived in Germany.
After the reception and dinner, the couple were sent off home, and Woon-Gi invited Yun-Ji for a drink.
As they sat at a table with their drinks, Yun-Ji began the conversation by congratulating Woon-Gi on the wedding.
Woon-Gi replied with generous thanks and moved on to his question, "What are you doing these days, sister?"
Yun-Ji sipped her drink, her red lips softly touching the wine glass, and placed it back on the table, "Well, what say. Life of a widow, that is."
"Ayi, sister, you should marry. People far older your age marry. You have a good chance with a wealthy old guy, preferably a British or a German. I know a British man with impeccable wealth and looking for a gorgeous wife. He would not mind marrying someone like you."
Yun-Ji sipped again, her eyes fixed on Woon-Gi. She responded, "Brother, you see, I should be willing to marry. But I am not. I have changed Uno's family once already. And I have a daughter too, you seem to forget. I don't think it would be wise to marry again."
"Oh, no, it would be wiser to do so, especially for your children. How long will you live off of the Choi's wealth? That Choi Sungmin has more control over the wealth and will leave none for you. I tell you, that guy is a devil in disguise."
"I know that Sungmin is becoming a hurdle for me. But then he does not have an heir. So the wealth goes to my children once he dies."
"Well, but what about you? Will you live long enough to see him die? I know I said you look young, but that does not mean you are immortal."
Yun-Ji let out a giggle before replying, "Woon-Gi, death does not always come naturally and not always when you are old."
Woon-Gi gulped, "Mu---murder, you mean?"
"Yes. Yes, my brother. I mean murder."
"You are going to kill Choi Sungmin?"
"Yes, but for now, I need him. So, some time for the next three to four years, I need him to be alive. Then he is of no use to me."
Woon-Gi felt that Yun-Ji was about to tell him all that he needed, so he pushed ahead with a simple question, "Why?"
Yun-Ji leaned forward and whispered, "You know that Chang. He is working for me. He is working for me on a drug trial, so when the police catch him, he frames Sungmin and Sungmin is arrested. That way, I can ensure that the drug trials are not affected, and I can remain safe."
Woon-Gi gasped in shock. "What a devil she is?" he thought.
Once he had what he wanted, Woon-Gi took his leave and went back to the hotel where he was staying. There, he called Sungmin and revealed all of what Yun-Ji had shared.
"I guess congrats on becoming the new director of Cheongug, Mr Gong Woon-Gi!" responded Sungmin.