At around 9:00 am, the trio had stepped their foot in the main hall and examined the walls of Busan High School of Arts and Music. They entered the office and saw one of the administrators, working in the front desk.
“Mrs. Nam?” He called lightly.
“Oh, hi there. It’s good to see you there,” she greeted with a beam.
“Have you found Hyun Aera?”
“Yes, I did what you requested…” she said with a nod as she flipped through the pages in the folder and pulled it out to slide it forward, which made them slightly perplexed.
“Umm, is that all?” Bryan questioned in astonishment.
“Unfortunately, that’s the only identification records I’ve collected of her. No recent or latest documents have been submitted, nor have they been noticed. I’m sorry, Mr. Zedler. Unless you may have to contact somebody else, who is related to her, file clerks, or history researchers,” Mrs. Nam explained gently as she pushed the bridge of her eyeglasses upward.
“I don’t get it. You said you know her, and yet here you are telling me otherwise,” he contended with his voice starting to raise crisply.
“Bryan…” Ava murmured, grabbing his hand in warning.
“Not entirely. Again, I’m very sorry if there’s not enough evidence you’re looking for…” she said, shrugging, whereas the two women frowned.
“That’s alright. Thank you for your due diligence,” Sally bowed her head respectfully and nudged her friends. “Let’s go.”
“Okay,” Ava said, whilst Bryan narrowed his eyes in disappointment after looking away from her.
The three of them exited the office, leaving Mrs. Nam to continue her work. She stared at them in pity and pondered on to herself. She was willing to assist them, but could not find any clippings and even so, she was only doing her job as a school administrative officer.
The doors swung open loudly as they marched out of the entrance with Bryan heading towards the car and his friends trailing behind him. He went inside and started the engine as soon as the girls scooted over to their seats.
“We could call this number and the difference is the last two digit numbers,” he said, holding the card to his girlfriend.
“Is this the one you researched?” Ava asked.
“Yes. Now, dial it,” he instructed.
“Kay,” she pursed her lips and typed it on her cell. They were waiting as it began to ring a few times, till it answered with a soft tone of voice.
“Hi…”
“Hey, is this Hyun Aera?” Ava asked courteously.
“Yes, this is ‘she.” What can I do for you?” she spoke graciously.
"I would like to have a short meeting with you. What time will you be available?"
“Anytime today," she answered.
“Where are you right now?” Ava asked, whereas her friends were listening carefully to her voice. She nodded with a hum, saying. “Uh huh. Sounds great. We’ll be there soon. Thanks.”
The call ended until Bryan kept his hands on the steering wheel and his focus towards the road. “Her location?”
“Seoul High,” Ava responded, then she got startled by bouncing back in her seat once she noticed his foot stomped on the pedal to boost his speed, along with Sally’s short yelp.
They all went straight and turned over to the right side after passing through the hurdle with the orange light.
It took them thirty five minutes to reach their destination and saw the young woman briefly guiding her classmates to paint the edges of the banner. They made a couple of vertical strokes as they spread it frequently.
“Should we wait for her?” Ava asked blankly.
“No, she’s coming,” Sally blurted as she noticed her approaching them.
“Hey,” she greeted cheerily with a broad smile.
“Hi there. You must be Hyun Aera,” Sally said slowly where her doleful gaze was set upon the female figure.
“Yup. That’s me, so what’s up?”
“We have questions that we want to prod on and I just want to know why you suddenly stopped texting me.”
“Huh?”
“You know, we were friends three years ago?”
“Uhh…” Hyun Aera blinked a couple of times in a long, awkward pause, much to Bryan and Ava’s bemusement.
The Ddong-café became a commonplace for the customers that dine in regularly or take out the leftovers. To Sally’s confusion, she took an observation at Hyun Aera, who was sipping her cup of coffee.
She stiffened a little and replied earnestly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember meeting you at all, nor have we ever had any personal connections. Look, I believe you were friends with a different girl. You see, I’m a school leader at the Arts club in Seoul High.”
Sally mentioned further. “Not even the messages I've sent you? Pictures or Videos?”
Hyun Aera shook her head in confirmation and frowned. "No. I believe you got the wrong person. I mean, my phone number hasn't changed since then."
“But if you are Hyun Aera, then who was I actually talking to in those years?" Sally questioned suspiciously.
“Beats me. Maybe, the person you were friends with a long time ago probably has the same name as me. She and I go to different schools. It’s most likely there are some people who happen to have the same names, if not coincidentally,” she explained.
“Unless she uses it as an alias. Koreans have used the famous ones like Kim, Park, and Min so often these days,” Bryan stated.
“It's very common to identify which person you've actually known. Did she ever tell you her real name?” Hyun Aera queried.
“No, I thought she did and I always believed her. Although, she never mentioned her family, nor any friends or relatives. I only stayed in Busan High for only a month and visited her apartment. She was living all by herself until I had to move back to the states in Massachusetts. She never mentioned anyone in particular. Not ever…” Sally muttered faintly.
“I know it's not my place to speak out about this, but I'm guessing you don't know her wholly,” Hyun Aera noted.
“Well, she spoke to me about what went on with her and the other students during senior year,” Sally recalled.
“What was it?”
“Violation of Property,” Sally bit her bottom lip falteringly.
“So the rumors were true?”
“Yes, sadly…”
“If that's the case, then I don't know if there's anyone who knows her,” Hyun Aera sighed concernedly.
“Jimin and Taehyung…” Sally mentioned.
“Huh?! Those guys?!” Hyun Aera widened her eyes in surprise.
“Yeah. I'll ask them about the school yearbook photos or any photos they have with her,” Sally thought.
“That is the best thing you can do to find your friend,” Hyun Aera advised, then placed her hand on her arm in solace. “I know I haven’t been much of a huge benefit, but I hoped I saved you guys out of trouble.”
“Hmm. You did. Thanks, anyway,” she smiled sadly, then they resumed their meals and confabulated onto further propositions. Her mind was still lingering on the person who she thought was her actual friend. She was hoping it was the girl right in front of them, but it only led to her disappointment.
It was quite eerie to say that the dark brunette from Busan High is not her original name and was used as an alias. Still, there was more to what the trio had learned from Hyun Aera herself.
The bedroom was filled with LED lights and modern lamps on the floor, whereas the posters of jazz artists and musicians were on the wall. Taehyung’s eyes widened as he became still and serious at that moment. He took a rueful glance at the music box on the shelf. The door creaked open as his best friend popped in with an alarming look.
“Jimin?”
“Tae, I got your message. You alright?”
“Not really…” he said, trailing off of his words faintly and skimming through the pages of the yearbook.
Jimin stood beside him as his eyes landed on the plumped girl, who was bubbly and vivacious. She was in the middle while him and Taehyung were in the background photo.
“Is that-?”
“Hyun Aera.”
“Yeah, she’s very familiar...”
“She’s not Korean. I think she’s probably half,” Taehyung assumed.
“A foreigner…” Jimin muttered as he glistened back and forth at the picture of her. He then remembered the times where he daunted her disgracefully in their high school, which he reminds himself of his own contrition and nefariousness.
He comes into question if there was still a prospect to be given to him in some measure because deep inside… He knows that he’s afraid of the shambles that he may cause. 290Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISwRLvC0s1
