The Way I Loved You

Even When You're Lost, I'll Guide You Home

"Where's Haein?" Hyunwoo asked the moment he got home.

"Isn't she at the town hall? She was there earlier with everyone else."

"I think I saw her go up to the house!"

For some reason, Hyunwoo felt unsettled. Maybe it was his gut feeling or whatever, but he felt like something was wrong. Would she be okay alone in the house? Everyone else was down at the town hall, if she called for help no one would hear her.

As he approached the house, his eyes searched frantically for her familiar silhouette. The house was quiet, too quiet. Despite the warm sunlight that filtered onto the driveway through the trees and the sweet chirping of birds, Hyunwoo felt anything but calm. His heart rate accelerated, pounding loudly in his ears at her absence.

Seeing Haein's driver, he jogged up to the car.

"Have you seen Haein?"

"She was here earlier, but disappeared when I came back. I have no idea where she went."

That was all he needed to hear. Running out to the front gate where she was last seen, his heart sank when he found the mp3 player on the ground.

Why was this here? The fact that she left it here instead of picking it up wasn't a good sign. Did she wander off on her own? What if she was lost somewhere and didn't know how to come home? She wasn't familiar with the area beyond the house and the grocery store.

He whipped out his phone to call her immediately. No answer.

There was no doubt about it now, something had happened to her. She never failed to answer his calls even when she was mad in case it was work related.

His face felt hot, the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He had to do something now before something bad happened. Should he go out in the car and look for her? No, it would be hard to drive on some of the less maintained roads and she wouldn't hear him if he called out to her.

Looking around frantically for ideas, his gaze fell on an old bicycle. It was exactly what he needed; he could navigate roads with ease and have a 360 panoramic view of the area.

"HONG HAEIN!" He screamed, his head constantly turning in all directions as he sped off. He didn't know if she would hear him, but he would be damned if he didn't try.

...

Woah, where am I?

It almost seemed like she has teleported. One moment she was in Hyunwoo's backyard and the next she was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by paddy fields and the rapidly darkening sky.

Her head spinning, she got up slowly and deliberately, trying to get her bearings. How did she get out here? She didn't recall even leaving Hyunwoo's house but here she was. She didn't recognise any of her surroundings so she must be far from the house.

Strangely, her legs ached as if she'd walked for miles and miles but yet she couldn't remember anything. Looking down, the horror hit her when she realised that her clothes were all muddy and there was even a scrape on her knee. She must have walked here all on her own, there was no other explanation for it. But why didn't she remember anything? She'd had episodes like this enfore, but she'd always remained relatively stationary. She'd never wandered beyond her office or the meeting room, why in the world would she walk all the way out here?

Slowly but surely, her worst nightmare was coming true. She was no longer able to convince herself that the doctor was exaggerating the severity of her illness, or that she was different and stronger than the other patients. Just like everyone else who'd developed Cloud Cytoma, she was bound to fall prey to its symptoms until it consumed her fully.