SACCHARIN
CHAPTER 4

 

Wait… hold on. Passports? Incheon Airport all of a sudden?

Dad hadn’t explained anything properly, so how could I just blindly do what he asked? I could already picture what would happen if I grabbed the passports and went to the airport to board a plane with him.

I was a graduate student right now.

If I got caught up in whatever trouble Dad was in, my professors might kill me before anything else happened. Dropping everything overnight without explaining my situation would definitely lead to retaliation—enough to make sure I’d never set foot in the academic world again.

“What do I do…”

During the brief moment I waited at the light, I must have muttered, “What do I do,” at least a dozen more times.

Bring two passports to the airport.

So, does that mean something happened to Dad? And now, whatever it is could involve me, so he wants us to run away together? I desperately hoped it was just drunk rambling, but judging by the sound of his voice, that definitely wasn’t the case.

Dad… what on earth do you want me to do?

My hands were sweaty on the steering wheel, and my heart was racing uncontrollably. My wide, uncertain eyes were fixed straight ahead, so much so that I didn’t even notice the light had turned green.

Honk!

Startled by the blaring horn, I slammed my right foot on the accelerator. The car jolted forward as though it were about to burst into a sprint, and inside, I was already a mess, far from composed. The rising anxiety and tension made my stomach churn, adding to my growing discomfort.

…Almost there.

Finally, my apartment came into view. Just two more lights and a left turn, and I’d be home.

Wait. Hold on. What if someone’s already there?

If Dad’s situation was as serious as it seemed, could someone already be waiting inside, lying in ambush?

“Damn it…”

As I waited for the last left-turn signal, I bit my right thumbnail anxiously, my mind racing. Should I go inside to get the passports or not? Should I just run? Or maybe I should go straight to the police and report everything?

Mom… if you’re watching over me from heaven, please help me.

I even found myself thinking of my late mother, desperately hoping someone—anyone—would give me a sign. But, of course, no answer came. It only meant one thing: I had to navigate this mess on my own.

The light turned green, and I turned the wheel to the left as planned.

Or not.

Instead of making the left turn, I made a U-turn and drove back in the opposite direction. Parking in the building’s lot would trigger a notification on the living room home pad about the vehicle entering. If there was even a chance that someone was inside, I couldn’t afford to risk that.

I circled the apartment complex several times, keeping an eye on both side mirrors to check if I was being followed. After about five minutes of aimless driving, I decided to head toward the rear entrance of the complex.

Maybe parking next to the shopping center near the back gate would be safer.

Phew…

With a heavy sigh, I clutched the wheel, trying to steady my frayed nerves.

I turned off the engine and cautiously stepped out of the car. My mouth was dry, and it felt like my heart was going to explode. Though I tried to keep calm, my legs were trembling so badly it was hard to walk properly.

Forcing my unsteady body to cooperate, I took one shaky step after another, carefully making my way forward. Despite the fear, I managed to steady myself and arrived safely at the shared entrance of the building.

“……”

I realized just how boundless the imagination could be when someone is terrified. The entire ride up in the elevator, I stayed pressed against the wall, clutching my phone tightly, eyeing the chicken delivery guy who had gotten in with me. I couldn’t help but wonder if he might have been sent by some organization.

If it came to it, I planned to call 119—or, failing that, smash my phone against his head.

Thankfully, my suspicions were nothing more than baseless paranoia, and I got off the elevator without incident.

19th Floor.

Still, I figured I should stay cautious. Instead of getting off on my floor, I got off three floors below.

Keeping my footsteps as quiet as possible, I climbed the emergency stairs up to the 19th floor. I hadn’t planned for something like this, but I silently thanked myself for changing out of heels into sneakers at the hotel parking lot earlier.

No one’s here, right? There’s really no one, right?

A mix of sighs and muttered curses escaped my lips as I swallowed nervously. My whole body felt so tense that it was as if I had a second heartbeat pounding in my ears.

Please… let there be no one.

If I’d known it would come to this, I would’ve carried some kind of self-defense tool in my bag. Knowing that Dad had always been suspicious in certain ways, yet still living so naively, made me feel like the biggest fool in the world.

I hid behind the stairwell fire door and peeked at the area around our front door several times. Only after a long, careful observation, during which I saw no signs of movement, did I quietly creep toward the door.

Paying so much attention to an action that I usually did without a second thought made me feel like I was overacting in some kind of spy thriller. But still, it was better to be cautious than careless—for both Dad and myself.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!

The sound of the door lock’s keypad suddenly seemed absurdly loud. My heart raced as I punched in the code, cold sweat trickling down my back.

Ding!

The door unlocked. But that didn’t mean no one was inside. Bracing myself as if for a final hurdle, I slowly pulled open the door.

Our apartment was one of those older complexes with a spacious entrance area. My eyes immediately fell on Dad’s golf bag, sitting in one corner of the entryway. I grabbed a golf club, gripping it tightly in case I needed to fend off an intruder.

I felt a little ridiculous, like I was overreacting again, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Thankfully, there was no one inside. For that, I was genuinely grateful.

Familiar with the space, I didn’t bother turning on the lights. Still, my nerves wouldn’t settle immediately. Keeping low, I methodically checked every corner of the house, from the front to the back veranda, before finally setting the golf club down and exhaling a long, relieved sigh.

Once I was sure the house was empty, I went around closing all the curtains. The act of securing the house gave me a sense of peace—it finally felt like I was truly back home.

I need to find the passports and get out of here.

In Dad’s bedroom, tucked inside the walk-in closet, was a small safe. With the hint he’d given me, it didn’t take long to unlock it.

“Your mom and I first met on Constitution Day,” he’d told me.

“Oh, here we go again. That first-love story of yours…”

Even in the chaos, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the memory of Dad’s endless recounting of how he met Mom.

“At that time, Constitution Day was a public holiday, so it might’ve been part of a long weekend. That’s when I saw your mom, the most beautiful woman in the world, and fell for her at first sight.”

Constitution Day, 0717.
The safe’s password was eight digits, so it had to be the year Mom and Dad first met—199X. Knowing how straightforward Dad was, he probably arranged the numbers in order.

Beep.

My hands were trembling, so I messed up the code the first time. But on the second try, the safe clicked open. I pulled out Dad’s passport, double-checking his name and photo to make sure.

Just as Dad instructed, I left everything else untouched and closed the safe. Inside, there were some dollars and gold bars, but if Dad said to leave them, there had to be a reason.

I packed Dad’s passport into my bag and headed to my room. I quickly found my own passport and decided to grab a large backpack, just in case.

“Bring my passport and yours to Incheon Airport immediately!”

I planned to meet Dad first, figure out what was going on, and then decide whether to leave with him. If we were truly fleeing, I had to consider the possibility that I might never return to this house.

Whatever Dad’s plan was, I couldn’t just leave the country without notice. Even if I ended up running away, I had to inform my research lab that I was resigning. If I disappeared irresponsibly, it would ruin my career for good.

But if we were on the run… I’d need money.

Despite the chaos, my mind hadn’t completely frozen. I started frantically searching the house for anything valuable.

I quickly grabbed the bundles of cash and dollars from the safe. If Dad and I were going to be fugitives, we’d need more than cash. Gold and watches would be valuable too. I searched both Dad’s room and mine, collecting a few heavy pieces of jewelry.

From my collection of luxury watches—ones I rarely wore for fear of scratching them—I strapped several onto both wrists. I hung three necklaces around my neck and slid five rings onto my fingers. The weight of it all made me feel like I was sinking, but I didn’t care.

I was preparing for survival, no matter what it took.

Since I might be traveling far, I wanted to change into comfortable clothes and at least wash my face, but there was no time for that. I also decided against overloading my bag with unnecessary items in case the worst happened and I needed to run.

In the end, I just packed a few extra sets of underwear. After putting on the most comfortable sneakers I had, I quickly left the house.

This time, instead of heading down directly, I went up three floors, planning to take the elevator down to the first floor from there. Just as the elevator was about to close, someone suddenly grabbed the door to stop it.