As Young Saeng got out of the gallery he was staring at pictures. Something was so off. He didn't even notice that earlier, in the art museum, that felt hungry and he didn't eat anything since the breakfast. As he got home it was already dark, because the hunger he felt was so strong he had to go to the restaurant and grab some food.
He opened the front door and walked in into already lighten room. Aeri was inside watching the TV. Young man shambled onto the couch and sat down. He has thrown the book with art descriptions on the coffee table and didn't utter a word. The nurse was observing him and after few minutes of moving her head and biting her lip, she broke the silence.
'If such a work is draining you out like that, I'm really starting to think you are a prince that has run away from his castle. Maybe you'll at least say hello? In the morning you were so eager to move out and now you're ignoring me...'
Young Saeng finally moved and took out the photos out of his pocket. 'Hi. Look.' He passed her the pictures without looking at her, lost in some thoughts no one could hear.
She firstly grabbed and looked at group picture, as Young Saeng did that day earlier. 'What is that?' Seeing that she was holding wrong picture he just pointed to look at the second one. The nurse examined it and slowly her expression was changing: first shock, then disbelieve. 'What's that?!'
He sniffed and smacked his lips. 'I would like to know...'
She started to stutter... 'Like- what- This man looks exactly like you! Where did you find it?!'
'Janitor gave me that.'
'What Janitor? At the gallery? Why? Come on, give me some info!' She wanted to know so hard that she hit him in the arm.
He sighed, while massaging the arm and finally looked at her. 'Why people love to hit me like that! Geez... So as I walked there he said he recognizes me from somewhere. Then he remembered and handed me this pics. It was taken 30 years ago...'
'30 years?!'
'Yeah. So he doesn't know who's on the picture. End of the story.'
'What, nothing more?!' She wanted to press him, to tell something more, but suddenly her phone rung. 'Oh, it's Ji Soo. Wait.'
She picked up and her best friend started to talk. All Aeri could do is to answer shortly. 'Yeah, he just got here! – What, your uncle already told you? – Isn't it amazing, such a coincidence! -Yeah, exactly, it means he exists! Haha! – What trip? – Wonju?' Each time she was leaving some time for Ji Soo to speak. As she told the word 'Wonju', Aeri placed her gaze at Young Saeng, as he hid his face in his hands.
Another fist landed on his shoulder and he shouted in silence. 'Wait, I will call you later – Yeah, bye, bye.' And she hung up. 'So?' She stood in front of him with her arm crossed on her chest.
'Really, you can't have some privacy?'
'What it is about?' She started to stomp her foot.
'So... he didn't know this man's name...' Young man was speaking slowly, irritating the nurse more and more.
'But?'
'But he remembered that he was there to sell the painting to the gallery.'
'And?'
'Do I have to say all?' As an answer she just raised her hand and he speeded a little bit. 'Okay! Then it turned out that even in archives it can't be found who sold this painting there. But they know it's from around Wonju. They don't pick up the phone, so they have to be visited. End of the story.'
'We have to go there.' She decided very quickly.
'I have to go there, not we. I'll do it.'
'What's the problem? We can go on Monday, I'll switch hours with friend. She'll be happy to have free Sunday.'
'Leave it. On Sunday you usually go to your family, don't you?'
'Yejun called me today and it turns out he listened as I was complaining to you. So now he changed his mind and suddenly is behaving as an angel, apologizing. And gave me free Sunday this week. What a kind gesture.'
He hesitated with the answer, as he was considering the options. 'Still, I'll go by myself.'
'Why? When?'
'You know, gallery is closed on Mondays so one day I can go...'
'Why not the next Monday? Why alone? Yesterday you wanted so much to help me, leave me alone and now you change your mind?' She was upset with his talking, as she couldn't understand his sudden change in behaviour.
Young Saeng shrugged his shoulders. 'That's why. Leave it alone. Take care of your life, I'll find my own by myself.'
She simply couldn't give up, so she took his hand in hers. 'Young Saeng, it's not how it works. It's like you're scared. Will you tell me why or you want Ahn Chang-Woo doctor to examine you again?' She spoke to him like to small kid, but it worked.
'Like we need larger bills for medical treatment... Eh, fine... I don't like this picture.'
'What? Why?'
'He looks like me. Like a twin.'
'So? It was taken 30 years ago! It may be your father or uncle!'
'It scares me. It doesn't feel right. It gives me a headache. It's like all my memories are gone, but the emotions connected with them are still intact. And all I feel here is pure anger and fear.'
'Come on! It happens really often that sons look like young fathers of their. And that's the only clue we have so far! Your mind may be just messing with you!'
He wanted to change the subject, to save himself from this torture of going to that place. 'No answer on your forum?'
'None. We have to check this.' She points on the photo and all his hope was destroyed.
He sighed. 'We have to...'
She patted his hand. 'I'll be there with you. I have to.'
He wanted to smile, but it came out absolutely sad. 'Yeah, thanks.'
'So next Monday we're set. Now, get in the shower and go sleep. You must be tired.'
'Yes, mom.' He shambled to the bathroom with his head hung low.
'That's the spirit!' She patted his head switched off the TV and went to her bedroom. Young Saeng took a deep breath, feeling slightly better after saying what was on his mind. It has to be better.
***
Days went by. Aeri was going to work daily, so she was mostly absent, while Young Saeng working hours were shorter. He was in home when she was leaving and he was coming back before her. All time he was nervous, thinking about upcoming Monday. Every time he had a break, he would take out the damned picture and stare at it for a while. He always had the same reaction – rapid heartbeat and anxiety. When symptoms were too strong to handle, he would have to take few breaths and quickly shove the picture in his pocket and go back to work.
Nowadays gallery slowly started to be alive again. One day after his arrival new curator showed, so his work right know was helping her managing the museum, by which he also learned a lot about it. Old Janitor would visit less often – his wife again got worse, against what he was telling everyone, that she's getting better and better. On Sunday they even got some visitor, counted as more than ten. This helped young man to ease the nervousness connected to the planned trip.
Unfortunately, even with his mind occupied, he still didn't sleep at all the night before, so when Monday finally came up, he woke up early, prepared himself to go and waited for Aeri to wake up.
This was her day off and she in fact was a heavy sleeper. Besides, she checked opening hours. They were starting at 12 o'clock, so if she and Young Saeng would depart around 10 it would be ok. So having that calculated, she was sleeping her best, while he sat in the living room zooned out. Problem was that she forgot to tell her plan.
Ultimately, when she woke up, she was surprised with Young Saeng. He didn't pay attention to the surrounding, it looked as he was sleeping with his eyes open. She even waved a hand right in front of his face, but he didn't flinch.
'You usually wake up early.' He said without blinking, after she turned around, scaring her and making her jump a little bit.
'Geeez, you scared me!' She touched her chest. 'Yeah, I wake up, so I will not be late to work, but eventually I still am. But today's day off, so I can sleep longer, can't I?' As the defence she tried to explain herself.
'Of course you can.'
'Hey, did you even had a nap?'
'I might've been asleep for 15 minutes.'
'In the morning?'
'Through the whole night.' He smirked, but again she didn't notice him blinking at all.
'God, I don't know if it's safe for you to go in that state...'
'So we cannot go there?' He at last turned to her with hope in his eyes. He looked like a puppy begging for 10th bowl of food.
'We have to go, you'll catch some sleep in the car.'
'I have a bad feeling about it...' He lowered his head.
'Now or never, as they say. Come on, I'm going to prepare some breakfast, wash, put some decent clothes on and we can go.'
'Yeah. I can't eat.' All the time he was sitting on the couch so he just curled up and laid down, still looking into the void.
Aeri ignored him. She went to the bathroom, then she went to her room to dress. Later she made some easy food, and dragged Young Saeng out of the couch. He resisted, but gave up, since he was out of the energy.
He bit something, that the nurse was forcing under his nose, but certainly he couldn't say what was that. He chewed until she decided he was fed and they could head out.
They went to a car and travelled across the country. Young Saeng couldn't fight with fatigue, so he fall asleep travelling. When they arrived to the open-air museum parking lot, there was no cars around, but as they got there, there was still some time to opening.
Aeri had to shake young man to wake him up, as he slept so hard that he started to drool. He looked around trying to remember why he was there and when reality hit him, he whined.
'Come on, I saw someone in the ticket office.' She said enthusiastically and got out, but he rather rolled out of the car listlessly.
Aeri approached the ticket office first. The lady inside opened the window to inform that they'll open in twenty minutes so they have to wait, but the nurse had to interrupt her. 'No, ma'am, we're here for different purpose. Can we talk with curator or someone responsible for art management here?'
The service lady looked at them from head to toes, trying to sense some kind of swindle. 'You want to buy something?'
'Not really...' Aeri grabbed Young Saeng's shirt and pulled him beside her. She showed with her palm that it was his turn to speak. She even encouraged him. 'Come on, explain why you're here.'
'Ummm...' He took out of his pocket the photo, the cause of this mess. 'You see this man here...' He pointed at his doppelganger. 'We're looking for him.'
The lady in kiosk went quiet for minute. 'Do you want a mirror?'
Aeri whispered under her nose, cursing Young Saeng. 'How did you survive 'till today, I again wonder...' Then she turned to the lady. 'No, ma'am. Let me explain. This photo is 30 years old and this man here is probably his family member. We're looking for him.'
The woman was still not buying it. 'At the museum? Rather you should inform police, then post some notice in newspaper or SNS...'
'No, story is little more complicated and includes his...' She pointed at Young Saeng. '...amnesia. Beside it was already done and last clue leads to here. You see, the man on the picture bought the piece of art from this museum and moved it to Seoul, putting it in the art gallery. The only information about this transaction we have is this picture and the origin of this painting, which is here. That's why we want to talk to the curator, maybe they can help us and find something in the registry. Pretty please?'
The lady looked at them suspiciously. 'I'm working here for a while, but first time I encounter such a situation... Wait, please.' She picked the phone and asked someone to come to the front, to the ticket office. After hanging up she spoke to them. 'Ok, this was Ms. Song, she's the curator here, as you asked. She'll come here in a moment.'
'Thank you very much.'
They moved to the side. As they were expecting to see the curator some tourist showed up, waiting for opening of the museum. Finally Ms. Song approached them. They greeted each other and Aeri again explained the reason they were there for. 'Are you in ability to help us?'
'Well, the request is astonishing, not to hide. It's really not you here?' Ms. Song has kind smile, curly hair and spoke with some accent. Her face was flushed as she probably hurried here.
'I can show you the picture of the man in the middle, which I taken yesterday.' He was talking about the old janitor, as he took out his phone and showed photo. He and old man were posing for a selfie.
'Unbelievable... Umm, ok... Can I ask what piece of art we're talking about?'
'Here.' He changed the photo on the phone to show the painting.
'Oh my, young General! I remember it, you're from Min's Art Gallery, right?' Young Saeng was nicely surprised, that she recognised it and he nodded. 'You, I mean the gallery, tried to give us this painting last year, didn't you?'
'Umm, sorry, I started to work there just while ago...'
'Oh... But you don't have it with you, by chance?'
'No, should I? It's quite large...'
'Heaven forbid! You know, I'm rather not a believer, but since we only has one painting of his – since rest was sold – there's much more peace here.'
Aeri looked at her popping her eyes. 'What?'
Ms. Song toned down her voice and explained quietly. 'Before we had five paintings, from different eras of General and there was a lot of accidents here, like fire or flood. As we were getting rid of them, those accidents were getting quiet and we had more guests. The shaman I asked for advice has said, that those painting are actually dangerous, they held in them some kind of bad energy and when they were cumulated – energy also cumulated. Therefore the occurrences. But now it's calm and, God forbid, we don't want them back!' Young Saeng and Aeri stood there not uttering a word. 'Bu-but don't worry! Separated they are harmless!'
Thanks to quick wit of the nurse, she changed the subject before her friend could say something bad. 'Ok... But what about the registry?'
'Right! Follow me.' She leaded them to the inside. There was an anteroom, where they could sit down. 'Wait. It may take a while, there...' She pointed at the wall, where some shelf was hung. 'We have some leaflets about us and our history. Please, read them while waiting.' She went out, leaving them alone.
After a while Aeri spoke first. 'A possessed paintings?!'
'I told you I had a bad feeling about this place...'
She started to laugh. 'My goddess! Why she even told us that?'
'Well, when you're scared of something you prefer to avoid it.' He was rather bitter about it, not finding anything funny in the situation.
'You're going to complain all day, don't you? But look at it from this side.' She stood up to look at the leaflets. 'At least you will be in ability to say to your visitors that this painting is possessed! Think about it, maybe you'll get more tourists? Hahaha!'
'Thinking about it is the last thing I want to do now...'
She ignored his temper. 'It says that they opened in 1960 as the remains of the old town from Joseon era where discovered... Oh my! It really has burned, twice!'
Aeri read the leaflet out loud, but he ignored her. He looked on the ceiling, again not concentrating on the surroundings, almost as he meditated. After around an hour Ms. Song finally came back. She had her lips twisted, definitely not bringing good news. She held some book.
'Sorry, it was really hidden. Even though we digitalized the archives it still was not an easy task. But I have bad news for you...'
'What is it?'
Ms. Song opened the thing she was holding and showed one page. 'See? Here, there's annotation about the deal. It's at the end of the page. It says when, what happened and it should be followed by further information, but...' She showed the remains of something that once was supposed to be a page. '...there's page missing. You can see, that the numbers of the pages do not match. I looked around, maybe it fell somewhere, but I didn't found anything... You know, we were moving this registries so many times... It just could get lost...'
'And there's no another place you can check it?'
'Unfortunately, paintings and deals from before 2000 are in these kind of books. And this one is the only from 30 years ago... And it has a mention about this transaction, so... I'm sorry...'
Young Saeng didn't say anything, so Aeri had to answer. 'Ok, thank you...'
'I'll still look for it, don't worry! Maybe we'll find some clue, I'll ask some of my older colleague...'
'Oh, if you are so kind. Here's my contact info.' Aeri handed her a card.
'I'm sorry one more time... But if you're already here, why don't you go sightseeing? Wait...' She disappeared once again.
Young Saeng meanwhile let his breath out. 'God, I thought I'm going to collapse...'
'Yeah... Hey, you seem to be happy?'
'I'm just relieved.'
'But eventually you're going to face the true you, it's inevitable.'
'Yeah, but for now I don't think I'm ready, let's take small steps. First new life, second old one.'
'As you want...'
The curator came back. 'Let's go, a new group was created, you can go with them. There's a guide, they will tell you some histories connected to that place. Just walk out using this door.' She pointed one.
Aeri smiled at her. 'Thank you one more time. If you'll have some information, please contact me immediately.'
'I will.'
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