Chương 59: S.04 Memory of the Clock 10(06)

Scene 17_02. FLASHBACK Seated in her own office, Yeon-jin was looking at the ledger spread out atop a large desk. Her posture was looking at the ledger, but her head was endlessly tangled. Outside, the noise was beginning to carry through. Unlike usual, when the more crowded with people the more comfortable and cozy she felt, today Yeon-jin's inner self only grew more and more tangled. The hawking calls and nasal pitches drifting from beyond the door bothered her today.

A while later, Yeon-jin, who had snapped the ledger shut in irritation as it wasn't even taking root in her eyes, drew a single remote from the desk drawer. As she worked the large remote, the great audio system installed in the room rustled to life. From beyond the closed door came the small sound of a knock. Yeon-jin: Come in. At the presence that came through just before she turned the music on, Yeon-jin passed an indifferent voice.

The closed door opened, and Hee-jin, still with her long hair at the time, stepped in with her steps moved with effort, her expression a touch worn. At Hee-jin's appearance, Yeon-jin sprang to her feet and made to assist Hee-jin. Hee-jin, as if to say it was fine, stretched out her hand and refused Yeon-jin's help. Hee-jin seated her body on the thick sofa, then let out a sigh as if briefly settling her body and feelings. Yeon-jin, not yet seated across from her, asked Hee-jin who had taken the sofa first.

Yeon-jin: Could I, offer you tea. Hee-jin: Yes. The drug is stronger than I'd thought. To clear my head, I'll take a coffee. At Hee-jin's calm voice, Yeon-jin moved her steps toward the capsule coffee machine. While the clattering sound briefly continued, Yeon-jin asked Hee-jin. Yeon-jin: Strategist. Hee-jin: Yes. Yeon-jin: Who is she. That woman. At Yeon-jin's blunt question, Hee-jin only drifted a thin smile and did not pass on an answer for a moment.

Yeon-jin, with her back to Hee-jin as she pulled the coffee, didn't catch sight of Hee-jin's face, but there was no way she did not know what kind of expression Hee-jin would be wearing. Yeon-jin, who returned to Hee-jin with two cups of coffee in hand, set down the hot coffee and only belatedly seated her body on the sofa across from Hee-jin. Yeon-jin: That woman, is not Lee Si-yeon.

Hee-jin, who had taken a sip of the coffee she received, with the corner of her mouth still slightly raised, set down the coffee cup she had been holding. Hee-jin: What makes you think she is not Si-yeon. Yeon-jin: Strategist, for you to work alongside Si-yeon at our place of business and protect her, Si-yeon is not someone of such importance. At least, not yet. Hee-jin, finding Yeon-jin's plausible deduction rather impressive, with her lips pursed slightly to one side, lightly nodded her head.

Yeon-jin: And, if one of the dead has set foot in the world of the living, what flows from a wound should not be blood, but Samdo-cheon. Both when she was brought from the accident site and just now, Si-yeon shed blood. Si-yeon is most certainly dead, so she should not be able to shed blood, nor hold blood within her. Hee-jin: The intent behind why you think she is truly dead would seem to come first. Yeon-jin: Because I saw Kwon Su-jeong kill her with my own eyes.

Killed her, dragged her into the mirror, all the way to her sinking into Samdo-cheon — I saw it. At Yeon-jin's certainty, Hee-jin pondered briefly. Yeon-jin: When you first said you needed a place for you and Si-yeon to stay, I thought it was good fortune. I thought a windfall was rolling in. Both with Si-yeon, and with someone of the Strategist's high station personally staying and lightening Si-yeon's work — at the time, all I thought about was making money. Hee-jin: And now, you're not?

Yeon-jin: Unless you tell me who she is, I will keep being uneasy. The reason Kwon Su-jeong had to be sent off was not solely that Si-yeon died at Kwon Su-jeong's hands. That woman is, surely, someone Kwon Su-jeong must not have caught sight of. That is why Kwon Su-jeong was sent off, and why the Strategist decided to remain with that woman. Hee-jin, well-pleased with Yeon-jin's deduction, with a brighter smile, nodded her head.

With trembling hands she gripped the coffee, took it up as if in a clutch, and once again moistened her throat. Hee-jin: The one who, until now, has held no name, can hold none, will hold none — she is The Oldest of all of us, the shamans of the headquarters. Yeon-jin, as if struck, even forgot the coffee set before her, and was staring at Hee-jin transfixed. Hee-jin: Take charge of the side that loses. Lead the empty husks, encourage the empty husks, and gather the empty husks.

The Executive Secretary will lead them. Yeon-jin's head was tangled all at once. There was neither room nor time to sort it out. Even Strategist and Executive Secretary alone she had thought were of very high station. She had thought it the highest station of any she would face. But, at the voice now heard from Hee-jin, Yeon-jin's head turned over in an instant. She did not know what to ask first. Yeon-jin: Stra, Strategist.... What, what is it, that you want....

Hee-jin: As you have heard, Master of the Province, the former The Oldest has already passed on. Having handed everything down to the present The Oldest, she has crossed beyond Samdo-cheon. What I want is to attend the former The Oldest, and the present The Oldest, that they may safely follow the natural order. Always. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Yeon-jin, having heard Hee-jin's words, began bit by bit to settle the tangle in her head. Yeon-jin: Even now.... does The Oldest, know everything as well. Hee-jin: I am the Strategist. What I am not directed to do, I do not perform. I follow what she has decided to do, and serve. Yeon-jin: As a merchant, I dare ask. Hee-jin, with her hand now beginning to settle, carefully moved it and drank what remained of her coffee. Yeon-jin: What is it, that I gain. Hee-jin: Hm. Now then.

Hee-jin, having set down the coffee cup she had finished, sat her body a touch more upright and answered Yeon-jin. Hee-jin: This may not be talk to give from my present standing as one asking a favor.... but, first, I think it would come first not to go against my intent. Yeon-jin: What that means —— Hee-jin: I, for now, want nothing else. Hee-jin lifted her seated body. Rising from the sofa where she had sat, she let out a great sigh.

Hee-jin: I only wish that The Oldest, may safely take back the headquarters and lead them well. Yeon-jin too thought she could not just keep sitting now that Hee-jin had risen. As Yeon-jin rose carefully, almost stumbling, Hee-jin, with a smile drifting on her face, spoke. Hee-jin: Until She is trampled underfoot, by me. Scene 17_03. Yu-seok, more brightly than at any other time, smiled and shook his shoulders.

With a fist held lightly to his mouth, he was forcibly suppressing the laugh he was about to break out loud. After hearing all of Yeon-jin's explanation, the laughter that surged in was too great a laughter to hold in. After Yu-seok had shaken with it for a long while, he barely managed to suppress the laugh, and let out a small cough. Yu-seok: My apologies. Without my realizing. Yeon-jin: It is fine. If anything, I am only curious what the reason for your laughter is.

Yu-seok: I thought it was just like the Strategist. Trustworthy, uncomfortable, sharp, fierce, magnificent — wouldn't you say. Yeon-jin: For me, there is nothing but chill. Yu-seok: And yet you decided to follow. Yeon-jin: Because I considered that, the road that would be left to me. Yu-seok, looking at Yeon-jin's certainty, nodded. There still remained, at the corners of Yu-seok's mouth, a smile that had not yet faded. Yu-seok: I have heard you out enough. I, also.

Yeon-jin: I spoke under the assumption that you knew it all already. I cannot place my intent in only one place. Yu-seok, as if having grasped Yeon-jin's meaning, nodded his head. Yu-seok: Each path differs. Should you straddle the bridge for too long, the two boats may part too far, and you might end up in the water. Yeon-jin: That, is the Executive Secretary's mistaken judgment. Yu-seok: Oh. Is that so. Yeon-jin: Yes.

The Executive Secretary, with my apologies, may consider that you are moving while holding both your stated intent and your hidden intent — but you cannot fool the eyes of a merchant. Yu-seok's head nodded lightly. Yeon-jin: No one, ever. Can escape the eyes of the Strategist. The Strategist is someone who, until she resolves to lose, will absolutely not lose to anyone. Even The Oldest at present is in no way someone who can win against her. No person at all can defeat the Strategist.

As if having recalled something, Yu-seok asked Yeon-jin with a touch of doubt mixed in his expression. Yu-seok: But, Master of the Province. Yeon-jin: Yes. Yu-seok: Some time ago, I recall you stated with conviction, "I will not be at odds with The Oldest." Your present resolve, your present conviction, do you not think they are, somewhat, different. It was a teasing question from Yu-seok. It was a question to which both already knew the answer.

Yeon-jin, with a curious smile drifting on her face, looked Yu-seok square on and answered. Yeon-jin: I, at that time, most certainly, did not say "the present The Oldest." Scene 18. So-hui sat next to Ji-yeong. Ji-yeong, looking around So-hui's room which had not yet been fully tidied, drifted, all of a sudden, a feeble smile across her face. From outside came the small flow of Gyeong-seo's excited voice as she set up a simple drinking spread, and Yeon-su's voice scolding her.

Ji-yeong briefly settled the gaze that had been moving around the room, and looked down quietly at her own two hands. Ji-yeong: Just, four days? Has it been? So-hui: For sis, it was a longer time. Ji-yeong: Honestly, I came to feel anew how truly remarkable mom was. How did mom bear it. I find myself wondering. So-hui: From the moment when, as little as we were, mother gathered us into her arms, everything would have been decided. All her resolve too, would have been finished. Ji-yeong wordlessly nodded.

After a long while in which Ji-yeong did not pick up her words again, along with an exhale, beyond a vacant gaze, came Ji-yeong's voice, like a half-murmured reading. Ji-yeong: I miss her. At Ji-yeong's words, So-hui, as if struck by a thought, sent a message to Ji-yeong. Looking at her phone, So-hui passed a light jab. So-hui: Sis, your phone, no surprise from someone with corporate experience — you went and got the one that records calls again, of course.

Ji-yeong, slightly showing off her own watch and phone strapped to her wrist, said to So-hui as if boasting. Ji-yeong: Hey, ajeossi picked it for me. The watch too. You think I won't tattle on you to ajeossi?? So-hui: Ajeossi is ajeossi so it's fine. Sis, you're not ajeossi so it's not fine. Anyway, I sent you the link, so tap it. It's a family share. Sis, you might invite Yeon-hui sis's number later, so when that comes, you invite her yourself. Ji-yeong tapped So-hui's message and fiddled with her phone.

And then, the form she had longed for so deeply showed itself on the screen. Ji-yeong, helplessly, without even thought of holding back, dropped tears down onto the phone screen. Ji-yeong, who wept, breath held, for a long while, kept watching the phone for a long while even after the screen had gone dark. So-hui, wordlessly, gathered Ji-yeong's small shoulders into her arms. Ji-yeong: I am erasing such a mother, and filling myself in. The longer I stay, the more mother's traces will be erased, won't they?

So-hui: They won't be erased. They'll remain even more deeply. With sis, with us. Ji-yeong: It's something I've resolved on, something I've vowed I would do, but sometimes, in that room, I find I can't. I'm so reluctant, I'm so sorry. I miss mother so much. So-hui: Sis. Look at me. Ji-yeong, with effort, lifted her face and looked at So-hui. So-hui: Sis. Sis's road, no, all of our roads, mother resolved on and made for us. Trusting that sis would carry it through to the end, she sent sis to that place.

Hoping sis would, in mother's place, fill in her seat. Sis, who already chose everything, sis, who can't not know mother's intent — sis must not turn aside mother's intent. Sis can erase mother. No, sis must. Only then will mother be at ease. Mother's memory, fully —— So-hui carefully stroked Ji-yeong's bracelet. So-hui: All of it has been passed on to sis. The moments mother loved someone deeply, the love they shared. The wrath. The moments mother gathered us into her arms. The beauty, the dreadful, the terror.

The resolve. Even mother as a parent who scolded sis half to death for sneaking a smoke. Sis is taking up every mother. I can't even remember, but I don't feel reluctant or resentful. Mother's intent, that she trusted sis alone could bear it. I respect it. I want sis to respect mother's intent too. Ji-yeong, with effort holding back her tears, nodded. So-hui drew a tissue from where it sat at the head of the bed and handed it to Ji-yeong. Ji-yeong, blowing her nose with all her might, wiped her eyes.

At that sight, So-hui drew an expression of disgust. So-hui: Filthy, jinjja. Just use a clean tissue. Scene 19. The sound of weeping was no longer heard, nor the rustling. When in Su-jeong's indifferent two eyes a doubt showed itself, Su-jeong was rising from her seat. Opening the door of her own room set on the maru, she scanned the inside. Seong-hyeon, collapsed without a single wound, looked up at the entering Su-jeong with frightened eyes, weeping as if sobbing.

Su-jeong, with a small sigh, moved her steps a touch deeper. Su-jeong, who had reached before Seong-hyeon, lowered one knee heavily and removed the cloth stuffed in Seong-hyeon's mouth. There was no need for a single word. Seong-hyeon nodded slowly. To the Seong-hyeon who had shown his wordless assent, Su-jeong let a sigh-laced voice slip out. Su-jeong: You gave up later than I'd thought. Seong-hyeon: Just promise. That you won't touch anyone. Su-jeong: I, will only kill Kang Ji-yeong.

Anyone else is just a tool for that. If you hand Kang Ji-yeong over, there's no reason, no need, to kill anyone else. Seong-hyeon: Promise me straight. Su-jeong: I won't kill anyone. The people around you. Your boss. All of them. As if having heard a sufficient answer, Seong-hyeon caught his breath and nodded. After Su-jeong drew off Seong-hyeon's geum-jul, she passed on the rest of her words to Seong-hyeon in a dagger-cold voice. Su-jeong: Don't. Hold any other thoughts. I, can kill them all, this very moment.

Seong-hyeon answered in resignation. Seong-hyeon: I'll just hand him over. Su-jeong: You can't do anything beyond that anyway. Seong-hyeon, drawing his breath a little larger and barely turning back all the visions he had been put through, with eyes swollen from weeping, glared at Su-jeong as if challenging her. Seong-hyeon: So, when do I have to go.