CHAPTER 37 – I’m Hwang Dojun (Part 2)

As Dojun left the office, he picked up his phone. At the end of the long ringtone, there was only the repeated message that the other party couldn’t answer the call. Dojun pressed the call button again after pressing the elevator button.

At the end of the long ringtone, the call was answered.

• Hello.

Seoyeon’s urgent voice was heard.

“It’s Hwang Dojun.”

There was no response from Seoyeon’s end, just trembling breaths.

“Have you found your grandmother?”

• …No. Not yet.

Seoyeon’s voice trailed off and on as she choked back tears. She barely managed to finish her sentence before she broke down and sobbed.

• What should I do? My grandmother, what do I do?

Dojun closed his eyes and gently rubbed his forehead as he listened to Seoyeon’s voice, unable to breathe properly.

“Don’t cry.”

There was no response from Seoyeon to his words. He imagined her blocking her mouth and crying, so he bit his lip.

“Send me your grandmother’s photo, what she was wearing today, and the last known location and time.”

• …Okay. And, what else should I do? I’m just…”

Seoyeon trailed off, breaking down in tears again. Dojun spoke softly to her.

“Wait. I’ll help you find your grandmother.”

Ending the call, Dojun made another call.

“This is Hwang Dojun. I hope you’ve been well. I have a favor to ask…”

Hoping that Seoyeon wouldn’t cry for too long, Dojun got on the elevator. It was time to go find Seoyeon’s grandmother, who loved chestnut bread.

After ending the call, Seoyeon sat crouched in her grandmother’s room, tears streaming down her face. She had arrived in Yangpyeong to find traces of her grandmother, consulted with the police, and tried to console her stepmother. She had been doing well, but the tears she had been holding back finally burst out at the sound of Dojun’s voice.

The only trace left behind from her nap was the futon spread out. Her stepmother had gone to meet a friend and couldn’t check on her, and the housekeeper said she was cleaning upstairs.

Her grandmother didn’t have a habit of going out, and even when she did leave the house, she never went outside the yard, so no one had predicted that something like this would happen.

[Send me a picture of your grandmother and a description of what she’s wearing, along with her recent whereabouts and times.]

Another message from Dojun came in. Seeing the number without a name, Seoyeon wiped away her tears with her hand. There were still things she had to do. Crying wouldn’t bring her grandmother back.

She found her grandmother’s picture in her phone gallery and sent it to Dojun, along with pictures of the flower-patterned vest and dark pink coat she wore today. The last sighting was at the bus stop, where CCTV had captured her boarding a bus.

After sending the message, Seoyeon stood up and wiped away her tears again. Her father was on his way, and her stepmother was outside panicking. 

I should have been more careful. I should have put a tracking device on her or engraved her phone number on her vest pocket. 

She kept saying she should have done it, but there was no time to keep crying.

“So, Grandma said she was going home, right?”

After wiping her tears and coming out to the living room, a police officer who had been waiting at the house answered the phone and spoke loudly.

“This is her home, but she said she was going home again?”

The police officer said, rubbing his nose. At his words, Seoyeon suddenly remembered something.

“She must have gone to the house in Umyeon-dong.”

Tears streamed down her face. She realized her grandmother must have gone to their family’s old home in Yangjae, the place they lived before moving to Yangpyeong.

“Do you have another house?”

“That’s… the house we lived in before moving to Yangpyeong. It’s where I grew up.”

The house where her grandmother’s favorite hydrangeas bloomed in the yard. They used to go hiking to Mount Umyeon together. She had thought about stopping by near Yangjae, but she hadn’t actually gone.

Her grandmother had said the house couldn’t be used anymore after her stepmother and father’s marriage. She didn’t want new people in the house her deceased daughter-in-law had cared for. That’s when Seoyeon became independent, and they moved to Yangpyeong. She remembered that they couldn’t sell the house in Yangjae and had to pay taxes.

How far is it from Yangpyeong to Yangjae? 

Tears kept flowing at the thought of her grandmother getting off the bus and wandering in an unfamiliar place. The police officer took down the address in Umyeon-dong, and said they would also look into the bus routes to Umyeon-dong.

Her father arrived, and they decided to split up and search the nearby area by car, in case her grandmother hadn’t gone far. Seoyeon also sent a message to Dojun, informing him that her grandmother might have tried to go to Umyeon-dong, and then got into the car.

“Grandma!”

Calling out to her grandmother through the window and turning on the headlights, Seoyeon drove slowly along the road. Her heart would drop every time the shadows of the trees flickered. Time was cruelly passing, and the night was getting deeper.

Buzz.

Her cell phone vibrated loudly in the console box. It was a phone number with no name. Seoyeon picked up the phone with trembling hands. As soon as she pressed the answer button, she heard Dojun’s voice.

• I found your grandmother.

Clutching the phone, Seoyeon let out a loud, wailing cry.

***

“Who are you?”

It was the third time she asked the same question. Dojun smiled and answered Seoyeon’s grandmother.

“I’m Hwang Dojun. Seoyeon’s boyfriend.”

“Seoyeon’s boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Which Hwang family are you from?”

“The Hwangs of Changwon.”

After that, Seoyeon’s grandmother nodded. She looked around and asked again when she made eye contact.

“Who did you say you were?”

“I’m Hwang Dojun. I’m Seoyeon’s boyfriend.”

From a distance, Secretary Kang came running. Seeing him opening the door and coming in, Dojun raised his hand. Panting, Secretary Kang approached and handed over a shopping bag. Dojun took out the bread from the bag and spoke to Seoyeon’s grandmother.

“Grandma, you like chestnut bread, don’t you?”

“Huh? How do you know that?”

“Eat the bread too. Have some of everything.”

Dojun unwrapped the packaged bread and handed it to Seoyeon’s grandmother. Smiling, she accepted the bread. Dojun smiled as he watched her tear it in half and pop the yellow chestnuts into her mouth.

“I wonder how she got here. Did she come all the way from Yangpyeong by herself? No, she didn’t even have money for transportation.”

In response to Secretary Kang’s question, Dojun answered.

“Senior citizen priority.”

According to the senior police officer who found her grandmother through CCTV, she casually boarded a train to Cheongnyangni. After the bus stop, her grandmother’s appearance was cut off, but she was seen again on CCTV at Yangpyeong Station. She boarded a train to Seoul from there. The CCTV had captured her stopping passersby multiple times to ask for directions.

Upon arriving at Cheongnyangni Station, she followed the crowds getting off the train, wandering aimlessly. That was the last sighting. When they called Cheongnyangni Station, they said they had escorted a woman who couldn’t remember her address or phone number to the police station.

The police officer at Cheongnyangni Police Station called Vice President Yoon. Dojun, who arrived first, identified himself and took custody of her grandmother as her guardian. He was waiting for Seoyeon at a coffee shop inside the station. Seoyeon and her family could be seen running from afar. When the door opened, Seoyeon rushed in.

Seeing her grandmother eating bread, Seoyeon stopped in her tracks. Tears streamed down her face without saying anything. 

“Seoyeon’s here?”

The grandmother’s face lit up when she recognized her granddaughter, and Seoyeon covered her eyes with her hands and slumped in her seat. Vice President Yoon Sang-cheol also ran in and shouted, 

“Mother!”

Seoyeon’s grandmother walked over to Seoyeon, who was sitting crouched.

“Why is my little Seoyeon crying, is she crying because she misses her grandmother?”

Seoyeon sat sobbing, unable to say anything. Her grandmother patted Seoyeon’s back. Dojun silently watched them.