Pursuit of Happiness (Sequel to Pursuit of Fate)

Chapter Nineteen

A few days later..

Hee Gun took out the scrapbook that he received from Seong Im and placed it on the table. It looks like just any normal scrapbook seen outside but for some reason, Hee Gun wasn't sure if he should open it. He was afraid he would change his mind and get back with her, and that his effort of wanting to keep her safe will go down the drain.

He sighed and after much contemplation, he finally flipped it open. What he thought was perhaps pictures of them in the book turned out to be brown dried leaves collected during autumn and the oldest was collected ten years ago.

Words were scribbled beside every piece of leaves and the dates of when each were collected were also written down. There were ten leaves in total and each occupying half a page, except for the last one; the most recent one. It took up an entire page.

Miracle Leaf

The past few years of autumn and the other seasons, I was all by myself. Omma passed away when I was still a young kid. Abeoji only knew how to gamble and he passed away months ago.

This year, I thought I would be watching another autumn passed by, alone. But no, God has another plan. For the first time in a while, there was someone else; someone that I love, to be spending autumn with. Maybe it was a whimsical dream, I thought things were starting to turn out well..

He noticed that there were tear stains on the paper and there was a small dot of ink right where the sentence stops. It was as though she held the pen and pressed it down firmly into the paper, struggling to continue writing. He continued to read on.

Perhaps happiness was meant to be short-lived; something that I'm not fated to have. If only I had took the opportunity when we were together to say those four words, maybe I won't feel as regretful.

I love you, oppa.

Hee Gun run his fingers over the four words. A sudden guilt surge through him. He clenched his fists tight and punched the wall opposite him. He did it a few times until his knuckles were bleeding. The frustration inside overwhelmed him that the pain only set in after he brought his arms down. He closed his eyes and a tear streaked down his stubble face. He loves her but circumstances forced them to be apart. All he could do was to watch her silently.

***

He chose to go to the café early in the morning as he knows that Seong Im would always reach her workplace at 9am and any time before that was perfect for him to head down. He slide the envelope across the counter and told Kwang Soo to pass it to her.

"You just told her days ago to treat you as a stranger and now you're asking me to pass her this letter?" Kwang Soo threw the rag over his shoulder and frowned at him.

"I trust that you will pass it to her. Thanks." Hee Gun replied.

"She won't be coming today or the day after, I think.." Kwang Soo scratched the back of his head and replied.

"Why?"

"She's sick. It happens every autumn. She'll fall ill for one or two days and recover quick enough to be back at work on the third day. But this time, she hasn't been coming to work for four days. Maybe the stress from what happened during the past few days is taking a toll on her." Kwang Soo said and looked at Hee Gun with a all-your-fault gaze.

"What's your number?" Hee Gun suddenly asked.

Kwang Soo shot him a shocked look and blurted out, "what?"

Hee Gun looked around and spotted Kwang Soo's phone nicely tucked in the front pocket of the apron. He bent forward and fished it out from his apron. Hee Gun keyed in his number into Kwang Soo's phone while raising his arm a few times to block him from taking back his phone. Once he was done, he placed the phone on the counter and return it to him.

"I will need your help for the time being and remember to pass that to her." Hee Gun pointed at the envelope and told him before leaving.

"What did he just say..?" Kwang Soo mumbled and went back to cleaning the counter.

***

Hee Gun had to make a trip down to Seong Im's house after finding out that she was sick. It was a lie to say that he wasn't worried, especially when she's living alone with no one else to take care of her. He stood outside her house and hung a black plastic bag on her gate, before pressing the bell and hurriedly walked off to hide behind one of the parked car.

Seong Im came out of the house wearing a pullover and walked to the gate. Her lips were pale. There wasn't anyone but only a plastic bag hanging from the gate. She unlocked the gate to take it and locked it again. She peered into the bag and saw that it was a bowl of porridge. She furrowed her eyebrows, thinking who could it be and only one person came into her mind - Kwang Soo.

***

Kwang Soo's phone goes off just as he was about to prepare some coffee for himself.

"If Seong Im ask you anything about food found outside her house, say it's from you."

"Eh?" He let out a surprised gasp. "What do you mean? Hello? Hel-" The line got cut off. Kwang Soo took his phone away from his ear to take a look at the caller ID. Hee Gun called him though it had only been an hour since he left the café.

Seconds after the call ended, his phone rang again and this time Seong Im was calling him.

"Oh noona. How are you?" He asked.

"Still the same. Kwang Soo-yah, thanks for the porridge."

"Eh? Porridge?" Kwang Soo questioned. His face filled with confusion.

"You should have at least waited for me to come out before leaving." Seong Im continued.

"It's because I had to rush off to work.. " He mumbled, not even sure what he was saying.

"Thanks anyway. I'll eat it well." Seong Im replied.

"Ah.. yea.." Kwang Soo mumbled after the call had ended. Was this what Hee Gun meant? He reached for the milk pitcher filled with hot, steaming milk and drew his hand back instantly as his hand came into contact with the hot metal pitcher. He grabbed the round surface instead of the handle.

He took the cap of his head and frustratingly threw it onto the counter. He glanced over to the envelope that he placed on the table in the pantry room and grew even more annoyed. He still has to visit Seong Im to pass her the letter.