❝Truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.❞
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♚
In the last remainder of Mata Hari's life, she wrote her final words in a letter adressed to the lawyer Clunet. It read: memories are full of caprice, where things people experienced are still capable of suffocating them through one small detail or insignificant sound. For memories bring with them a devil called melancholy - a cruel demon no one could escape.
Lisa tried escaping hers. A futile effort.
As the night grew deeper, old wounds from the past began to resurface. She thought she had them all healed and covered, but it has its own way of dredging itself into the present and open up closed injuries. One look into Taehyung's eyes made every repressed memories come rushing back into her consciousness.
It was a fair morning when a fifteen year old Lisa landed at Incheon International Airport with a fresh surge of optimism. Terra firma, she thought. Her 12-hour flight from Italy had been a bumpy ride. The pilot announced that they had hit a clear air turbulence and things became unsteady for a while. With the plane plummeting and lurching through the air, it somehow crossed her mind of not making it. Yet there she was, standing on Korean soil, her birth country. She was finally home.
Living in Florence was amazing, her grandfather gave her everything money could buy. She was sent into one of the most illustrious schools in Italy. Under the tutelage of her private instructors and a brilliant mind, she excelled in both sports and academics. Nonetheless, such grandeur and accomplishments cannot compensate the longing she had for a family. And so she made a gamble, without knowing what consequences it entailed.
From the window, she watched in awe at the dense horizon of the city as the taxi serpentined through the traffic. Seoul was a definition of interwoven ties between old and new, where contemporary meets tradition. Its skyline has a unique fusion of cutting-edge infrastructures and Buddhist temples. Everywhere she looked, there was a sense of familiarity in her body she can't explain; in the air, in the view, in the place - she knew it's where she belonged.
A twinge of nerves hit her as she handed a wad of notes to the cab driver and got out of the car. Looking up, the sky was starting to get covered by dark rain clouds, threating to fall at anytime. She walked up to the front door of the stately house; hesitated, then pressed the bell firmly. A young housekeeper in blue nylon uniform greeted her and was led into a vast drawing room where she was told to wait.
Her insides were jittery with anticipation that she can't simply sit still. Lisa had repeatedly visualized on how their reunion would look like. Her second brother will cling to her like there's no tomorrow, the same way he used to when they were young. The twins' faces will light up and her father will be bowled over seeing his youngest daughter, then he will break into a crinkly smile. And they will come running towards each other through pink clouds and rainbows. Actually, she may had gone a wee bit overboard with the last part - if not the most of it. For starters, her little trip home was meant to be a surprise.
