Pay With Your Heart

Eun-Sun blinked in confusion at the woman's word. Whose eyes?

She looked at Dan-Han, who was also staring at the woman through the rearview mirror.

"Aunt, I'm sorry but do you mean? Whose eyes do I have?"

"He took my child." Soomin blurted out, making Eun-sun's eyes widen in shock.

"Who took your child?" Eun-Sun asked in shocked surprise. Why would anybody take her child?

"They took her." The woman muttered in a low voicexc , not bothering to reply to Eun-sun's question.

Eun-Sun glanced at Dan-Han again, who was intently staring at them from the rearview mirror, before staring back at the woman.

But as much as she waited for a reply, the woman didn't provide one; rather, she looked over Eun-sun's shoulder and fell into a daze.

Dan-Han turned to look at the woman before staring at Eun-sun, who had a perplexed look on her face. He gave her a look that she interpreted as an, 'It's okay' But Eun-sun didn't think it was.

The woman has been staring at her for hours like they've met before, and when she asks, all she gets is some mystery reply? What sort of thing was this?

She gazed at the woman one more time before letting out an inaudible sigh. She really wanted to know what the woman was talking about. Whose eyes did she have, and who took her child?

It was certain the woman wasn't stable, and she wondered what was wrong with her?

But did someone really take her child? Why would anyone do such a thing?

Eun-Sun tried to let go of the issue, but in her mind, she knew that was impossible. Maybe it was because she was having parent issues herself. She sighed as she helped the woman lean back on the seat before staring outside the window, a plethora of questions playing through her mind.

After arriving at the lodge, which Eun-sun thought was quite good given the fact that it was in a rural area, she helped Soomin to the room which has been booked in her name. All arrangements have adequately been made, and Eun-sun couldn't help but commend Mrs Lee's team.

"Will you be fine?" Dan-Han asked when she offered to stay with Soomin in her room till mother returned.

She looked at the woman who was blankly staring into space before nodding her head.

"I'll be fine." She assured him, but he didn't seem to believe her.

"Sure?" He cocked a brow at her.

"Yes. Just go to the room and freshen up."

"I'll be going back to the field to help them out, but I'll order lunch for the both of you, okay?"

"Okay. But what about you?" Eun-Sun asked.

"I'll be fine. I'll have dinner with you, and tomorrow you'll join us at the field." He said while she nodded. He kissed her forehead before walking away but not before paying one last look at Soomin.

Eun-Sun watched as he walked down the hall till he opened a room door and walked in. She turned around to see Soomin now staring at her just like she had done on the plane.

She approached her and took a seat opposite her.

"Aunty, do you want something? Anything?" She asked, but the woman didn't reply but kept staring.

This was really weird.

"Should I switch on the T.V?" She asked again, but still no answer.

Why had mother given her this aunty-sitting task? It would have been better if she had stayed at the field helping the others out.

A few minutes later, lunch was delivered to them, and she had watched the woman eat. All her steps were slow, even the way she chewed. Eun-Sun couldn't help but notice the scars on the woman's wrist. They were all healed, as a matter of fact, they looked old, but she could tell some severe injuries had been there.

And looking at how many they were, she wondered what must have happened to the woman. Did someone do those to her, or did she do it to herself?

...

Seated at the back of the car, Dan-Han had a deep frown between his brows. His mind flashed back to the little moment at the car with Soomin.

What exactly does her word mean? Did she know someone who looked like Eun-sun? Or was she still psyched up, as his mother had said? When his mother had just brought Soomin some years ago, she had mentioned that the woman was psychologically traumatised, and that has gravely affected her mental health.

So could she have just said those words without any meaning, right?

He sighed.

After much thought, he whipped out his phone and dialled Chang-Wok's number.

"Boss?"

"That file I gave you, have you been able to find anything?" He asked.

"Not exactly, boss. There's been a problem."

"What do you mean?" Dan-Han's voice was nowhere pleasant, sending chills down Chang-Wok's spine.

"Boss, it seems the footage from the airport were purposely deleted, so it's hard finding any evidence of what had happened on that day. And also, you know we're talking about something that happened over two decades ago."

"So what you're saying is, you and the investigators are incompetent?" He raised a brow, and even though Chang-wok couldn't see his face right now, he could tell the man was frowning and staring daggers at him. He already knew about that. He wanted something different.

"President, that's not it."

"Then?"

"Actually, some damaged clips have been found, but it's taking some time to restore, and...we can't be certain of what we might find. It might be useful, or it might not."

"Then make it useful. I want to see whatever's on that footage by morning."

'Morning? That's less than twenty-four hours.' Chang-Wok cried in his mind.

"Yes, President Lee." He replied before Dan-Han ended the call.

Damaged footage, huh?

He wondered what they would discover from it. Would it be a clue, or would it be another dead end?

And the 'he' Soomin was referring to, was it just imaginary, or did she really know someone who could be related to Eun-sun?