Chapter 11
The cell phone was hot in my hand as I held it still, and I was startled by the sudden knock, as if I had done something wrong. Even if I heard the sound of someone calling, I doubted that the man would understand Korean, so I got up from my seat.
Knock knock.
Only when the second knock came did I finally put the phone back in my pocket and barely managed to speak.
“Yes.”
“The items you ordered from Orbis have arrived. Can I come in?”
The person who opened the door and came in was a maid working at the hotel. I nodded and the maid stepped aside. People waiting outside came in one by one, carrying the packaged items and heading to the empty dressing room before she could even guide them.
“Please sign here.”
A man handed Sarin a paper and pen with a list written on it. Even if she saw it with her own eyes, she didn’t know any of the items, and even if she read the writing, she wouldn’t know which one it was among the many things she had seen today. She just signed as she was told, and the man politely nodded in thanks.
After the people left, Sarin went into the dressing room.
The empty space was now full.
And on one side, familiar items were visible. The things she had left at the hotel were back here without anyone telling her where they were. Owen’s claim that he knew everything that happened in Eden City was not an exaggeration.
“If I sell just this, Hayan won’t have to worry about hospital bills.”
Dozens of different outfits, expensive luxury jewelry and accessories were neatly arranged in rows. As much as she wanted to sell them right away and get money, she knew that these were not her belongings.
It felt like seeing a completely different world. Comparing the shining items with her own meager belongings, it felt even more so. Without even touching the organized items, Sarin turned her back in the dressing room.
***
“No. Wait.”
Sarin tightly grabbed the leash of the dogs. She stopped abruptly, stuck out her tongue, and firmly told the three dogs looking at her.
In the first few days, the clothes Owen bought for her were constantly being changed as they were dragged around. The expensive, high-quality clothes were discarded because they couldn’t withstand the dirt and asphalt, and were stained beyond wear.
Owen had a useless delicacy in picking out different clothes for her to wear the same stained clothes, and Sarin knew that there was someone following her instead of the busy Owen.
Now, she had developed a knack for handling the dogs (actually, it felt like the dogs were paying attention to her), and she stood still for a moment, looking around. Someone was still following her, but she couldn’t see it in her eyes. Even Sarin’s emotions, which had been tense, softened after talking to Hayan on the phone.
The child is safe.
Her chest tightened. The largest Doberman, who had keenly perceived Sarin’s emotional change, came close and nudged her thigh with his snout.
“It’s okay.”
She wanted to do everything for the child. She vowed to do everything she could.
Whenever Hayan missed her mother, she cried loudly whenever she saw Sarin.
Whenever Hayan looked for her mother, Sarin couldn’t do anything. She even thought that if she and Irin were fraternal twins, she could deceive Hayan until she was old enough. She had such thoughts.
The child cried so much that she couldn’t sleep without sedatives due to refusing treatment.
Sarin couldn’t stop the child from realizing that her mother was no longer in this world.
What comforting words could she offer? It was a daunting time for her, as she couldn’t even console herself after losing her sister, who was like a part of her own body.
It was pathetic to cling to someone who didn’t take responsibility for the child, but she thought she should at least find Hayan’s father and get child support. She was burdened by debt to that extent and was cornered.
“Sigh….”
To get money, I’ll do anything, but there’s one exception: if that person harms Hayan, I’ll run away.
Sarin had nowhere to retreat.
She slowly turned back to the hotel. The smart Dobermans knew the way they needed to go. They walked confidently and elegantly towards the hotel, finding their own way.
She thought they had calmed down, so she let her guard down for a moment. Suddenly, her upper body leaned forward. The dogs, which had started running again, no longer listened to Sarin.
They vigorously ran on all fours and started following a black sedan slowly moving behind the hotel. Sarin had to follow them.
It felt like her wrist was going to snap.
When she slipped and hit her buttocks, she thought, “This outfit is going straight to the trash.” Normally, the dogs would stop when this happened, but this time, they swiftly turned the corner and disappeared.
“Oh no.”
If she let the dogs go or lost them, Owen wouldn’t leave her alone.
Desperately holding her sore buttocks, Sarin got up and ran after the trail. It was her first time experiencing something like this, and her mind was in a panic.
They were smart, so nothing should happen, but something was definitely going to happen to her.
The cold wind poured in through her nose and mouth. Since running like crazy to avoid being late for school, it was the first time she felt this way. The first day of the walk wasn’t this hard. She had already slipped two or three times today, and her legs were covered in bruises.
“Ha, ha, ha…”
She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and looked around, realizing she was on a completely unfamiliar street.
She didn’t know every street in Eden City, but she remembered the hostel owner’s warning about the underdeveloped area behind the hotel, where it was like a lawless zone full of thieves and dangerous people. So, even though she had been to the Eden Hotel several times, she had never thought of coming here.
The hotel had strict security guards, but once outside the hotel, they couldn’t guarantee safety.
“What should I do?”
On one hand, she thought they would come back on their own, but on the other hand, she was worried about the dogs.
The dogs were kind enough to comfort her even when their owner was strange. They had a lot of energy but weren’t bad dogs. Sarin cautiously looked around. She found a fallen brick, picked it up, and held it in her hand.
It was said that the annex of the Eden Hotel would soon be built here. The area had become a lawless zone because it took time for the hotel to buy this land for expansion and start construction.
It was only natural that crime followed when people who had lost all their money and been kicked out of the casino gathered together.
“Hey, miss. Where are you going?”
Wearing old clothes, a tall and skinny man approached Sarin after spitting on the ground.
“You need something?”
“Don’t come any closer.”
Sarin showed the man the brick she was holding. He smirked, asking if she really carried bricks around with all the guys with guns here. “Hey guys, our precious lady here is walking around with a brick in Lux Street.”
Thinking he had caught a sucker, the man laughed loudly, drawing the attention of the people sitting on the ground or gathered among the old buildings, began to gather one by one.
The man who had come to sell drugs to Sarin was now getting closer, and the people around her were closing in as well.
Sarin tightened her grip on the brick. She couldn’t handle them all, but she was ready to smash one guy’s face. She didn’t want to be found as a cold corpse in a foreign country. When her eyes nervously darted around, thinking of knocking one down and running away, the approaching men suddenly backed off.
Sarin took a step back and was soon blocked by a huge wall.
“Run. Why the hell are you here?”
The men dispersed quickly, unlike when they had approached her slowly before, leaving the street empty, with only the sound of footsteps echoing through the alleys.
Should she look back?
The people running away from her didn’t seem scared of her. Before Sarin could ponder further, the wall behind her grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.
“Yuri?”
“What are you doing here?”
“The dogs disappeared from here…”
The familiar face of Yuri eased Sarin’s tension. He looked down at her with a furrowed brow and let out a short sigh.
“The dogs went back to their owner.”
“Ah…”
“They’re smart dogs. If something like this happens again, don’t walk here, just go straight back to the hotel.”
“If I lose them…”
Yuri shook his head, already knowing what Sarin was thinking. If he is here, Owen must be close by. The dogs recognize their owner like ghosts and move accordingly. They were better than people.
“Don’t worry about unnecessary things.”
In Eden City, the safest thing was the dog’s Owen raised. The three dogs that always followed him were his symbol, and no one dared to harm them. They were never meant to be harmed by anyone in the first place.
Yuri thought the dogs seemed to like Sarin, as they were behaving relatively calmly. Dog walkers who hadn’t been liked by the dogs had been tormented to the point of crawling on all fours.
