Honestly Lying ❌

Chapter 26

"Tracked her at this location Ma'am. According to my former colleague, she's been there for 3 hours already. She's like staking out for someone."

"Staking out?" My brows furrowed.

"Yes ma'am. The place isn't dangerous though. It's just a local beach."

I looked at the gps map that he gave me. "I just need to follow this to reach her destination, right?"

He nodded. "I'll go and transfer the location to your car's gps ma'am."

I nodded and drove right away after his preparations.

-----
And that's why I'm here. Parked just a few metres away from where Tzuyu's car is parked at.

I took the binoculars Mr. Park gave me and used it to have a clearer view of Tzuyu from this distance.

I spent 25 minutes sitting inside my car looking into that binoculars but I haven't seen any movement yet. Is she even inside?

I looked at the gps and it says that Tzuyu hasn't move an inch.

Wait. I remembered Mr. Park saying that this signal comes from Tzuyu's mobile.

Could it be? I tried dialing her phone.

No answer.

I called back for about three times but still no good. That's when I decided to move.

I hopped out of my car and went to Tzuyu's parked car. I looked inside the tinted glass and it's empty.

She's not here!

Then I saw her phone on the dashboard. I knew it!

I looked around the area. It's just a local beach without being commercialised. I don't even see any resorts nearby. Just a wide space fronting the beach and this local convenience store where Tzuyu parked.

"Ms. Mina?"

I heard someone called me from behind. When I turned around, it was Soo-young.

"Soo-youngssi? What are you doing here?" I asked in a genuine surprise.

She looked amused at my question but still answered. "Well, as far as I remembered, I lived here all my life. What are YOU doing here?" She returned the question to me.

"Well, I... I uhh-"

"Wait." She cut me off. "Did you happen to know that this is where the real gallery is actually located?"

Huh?

"Y-yes." I answered without having any idea on what she's talking about.

She chuckled. "I see. That makes sense now."

I just nodded and smiled weirdly. I don't have a damn clue of what's happening.

"So, shall we get inside?" She asked and gestured the way in to the convenience store.

Though confused of why is she leading the way inside the store, when she said that the "real" gallery is actually here, I still followed her and acted as if I knew where we were headed.

She opened the door and that familiar bell hanging from it echoed inside the entire store.

Nothing's odd in here. This looks like a regular store with a regular cashier.

But Soo-youngssi just walked her way in, into the "only staff" area. She stopped walking when she noticed that I was not following her anymore.

"Come on Ms. Mina." She gestured me to follow her further in.

I hesitated at first but followed her in the end. Might as well continue this facade of "knowing" this gallery's whereabouts.

Soo-youngssi stopped in front of a wooden door. She knocked, in a rather peculiar way. It's like the beat has a certain pattern or something.

The door's lock clicked from the other side after she knocked. When it finally opens, a beam of light blinded me. When my eyes adjusted, I got stunned by the things hidden behind that door.

She's right! This is really a gallery!

"Welcome Ms. Mina. This is the real gallery of Mr. Kang. All paintings you see here are made by only one artist." Soo-young announced proudly.

Well, of course she is proud. It's her gallery after all. A private one on that note.

I roamed around inside and feasted my eyes with the pretty paintings hanged every corner.

Soo-youngssi was already gone behind me before I could notice.

As I continued my sightseeing, I ended up on one of the corners of this room. I saw a hallway with a dim light. It looks creepy so I wanted to walk away right away.

But suddenly I heard voices from further in. I was about to ignore it since it's becoming scary but I heard something fell down inside.

I gathered my courage and walked in inside the narrow hallway. I reached the end and stood up behind the door.

I still heard the voices inside.

But my eyes widened when I heard Tzuyu's familiar voice.

Without hesitation, I turned the knob and rummaged in.

Inside, I saw Tzuyu talking to someone in front of her. When she turned around to see me, I finally saw who she's talking with.

It's Yeri.

"Mina?"

Being surprised isn't just enough to describe Tzuyu's reaction. She's more like scared about something.

At first, I thought that it's just only the two of them talking inside. But as Yeri moved a little, I saw a figure of someone else standing behind her.

My heart started to pound as that person slowly moved forward to see clearly on who came in inside this room with them.

Everything then stopped for me.

My eyes couldn't believe what it's seeing.

I heard Tzuyu calling my name and telling me something but I couldn't hear it. I took a step forward towards that person.

"Mina, look...we need to talk first." Tzuyu tried to stop me from walking but I just shoved her aside.

Yeri also moved and pushed that person behind her.

That person's face looked confused of what was happening. She's looking at Yeri and back at me and back to Yeri.

"Mina...please. Just listen to Tzuyu first."

I saw Yeri's mouth opened. She seemed like she's talking to me but I couldn't hear her as well.

I felt my cheeks getting wet as I took one step closer to her.

I can't breath.

It's like my heart is beating so fast but stopped at the same time.

I reached to touch her face. And when I felt her warm skin on mine, right there I knew that she's real.

"Chae!"

I shouted her name before hugging her so tight in my arms. I am crying.

So hard.

Really hard.

"You're alive. You're alive." I kept on repeating it while still hugging her.

I don't wanna let go. I'm afraid that if I did. She'll just vanish and I will end up waking up from this surreal dream.

She just stood there while I hugged her tight. She didn't even hugged me back.

But after a while, I felt her hands held both of my shoulders and pushed me away, gently.

She looked into my eyes and wiped my tears.

"I'm sorry but...

Who are you?" She asked.

My world crumbled after hearing the very first thing she said to me after all these years.