Okay. Soohoon said to Geunhee before leaving his apartment that he had to go somewhere before heading to the mansion by night time. But now that he was outside and standing in the middle of the nearby park, he had no idea where to actually head out.
He wanted to clear his mind. That was his initial plan and reason for going out. He just learned about the connection of the person who stabbed Sari to the serial killer that had put the town of Huijin in chaos and panic recently. Who would've thought that they were the same person? Even Detective Seo couldn't believe it when they first found out. But now that the connection was clear, he had to be even more careful. The detective said the same thing.
The only problem now was finding out the motive for targeting him and the other victims. Maybe that way, they'd be able to figure out what to do when the killer tried to strike next.
Another thing he was worried about was Sari and her safety. If Detective Seo Jinho was correct about the profile of the culprit that the profiler managed to piece together about the killer, then she could be a potential target, as well, on the account that she interfered with his goal to kill Soohoon that day.
"I can ask Geunhee to watch over her. Same goes for her friends. But I don't think Sari would even like being watched over like that..." he muttered and sighed.
Even if it was for her safety, he had a feeling that it would suffocate her.
'Could I think of another way to do this?' Another sigh escaped his lips once again and looked up to the sky. He better think of a sensible action to deal with the situation — and fast.
"Professor!"
Soohoon didn't notice that call at first as he was still busy thinking, racking his brain of steps and actions that even gave him a slight headache. He groaned.
"Professor Kang Soohoon?"
Now that had caught his attention and made him turn around almost immediately to the source of it.
"Miss Yoon?" What was she doing here?
Okay, that was a silly question, even if it was in his head. Then again, he soon noticed his heart beating fast as he kept looking at the approaching woman.
"I thought I mentioned before that you can call me Sari, Professor. By the way, I didn't expect to see you here," she started and showed a reserved smile afterwards.
'She's still putting her guard up, huh?'
Soohoon thought but didn't voice his thoughts out loud. Instead, he simply asked.
"What are you doing here? Not work-related, I hope."
That seemed to have surprised Sari, too, as she opened her mouth to respond.
"Well, not about work. But I needed to get some fresh air. A lot of things have been going on lately that I'm having a hard time processing all of it in my mind."
He knew the feeling very well and couldn't help feeling sympathetic towards her. Not that she needed to know that.
"I understand completely. Sometimes things happen so quickly that our brains don't have time to process things correctly."
He wasn't sure where those words came from, but apparently they got through the conversation without any issues since Sari let out a small laugh and nodded.
Soohoon took that as an invitation to continue talking. He had a lot of questions, especially for someone new like her, but he couldn't ask that in front of her. She might not feel comfortable enough to talk to him freely yet. Still, maybe it was better if he asked them all at once anyway, just so that she has an idea of how many there were.
"So... why did you need to get fresh air?" he asked after clearing his throat slightly. It was weird that he was coming into her personal space when he didn't even know her fully well.
It felt really wrong to keep asking for personal information when they just met. But at the same time...
"I guess I'm just frustrated," she said and looked down, seemingly annoyed at herself. "Things and clues keep coming up that could've given me some answers that I need. But when I try to think of what to do to have those answers, I can't even... move properly."
She let out a deep sigh. "Honestly, I don't know which one is worse: not knowing or not trying to solve something."
Her answer surprised him. Usually, people wouldn't give their whole lives over to solving cases. But she could still be talking about the owner of that journal he returned to her that one time. Sari might not have mentioned that person, but he could tell that the leather journal was important to a certain degree. And judging by her reaction, she probably remembered it as well.
"It sounds like you're not getting anywhere."
His tone must've been encouraging to her because she finally raised her gaze to look at him. For a moment, she seemed lost in the depth of his eyes.
"Not really, no... But I don't want to stop doing what I have to do... I just want some answers, that's all."
She spoke quietly and he could hear it in her voice. Her hands were folded in front of her chest, like she was holding herself back from expressing whatever she was feeling.
Before Soohoon could even stop himself, he approached the woman closer and took both of her hands for him to hold tight.
'It's cold, and yet it's not even winter. How did this happen?'
Sari shot him a wide-eyed look, like she couldn't believe what he just did. But he still didn't let go.
"You'll find some, Sari. Believe me, I promise you will."
For a while, the two stood there staring at each other, silently taking in each other's features. The sound of the chirping birds could be heard from somewhere far away. It was calming, calming Soohoon's nerves.
And he was glad — even though he still doesn't know why — that he did this.
xxxxxx
A few hours passed and neither one of them said anything. The silence between them felt peaceful and warm, as if the calmness and serenity surrounding them was keeping it safe and making them forget everything else. In that particular moment, they both seemed content with just observing each other. No words, just a presence of each other.
But Sari knew that something still felt off even with all of the good emotions she felt at the moment.
After the initial shock wore off, she realized how strange it felt to be this close to Soohoon. At least, she never felt that kind of physical attraction before. There were times when she was really attracted to her boss from her part-time job and the professors she met back in college, but these instances never lasted longer than a few days or even weeks.
But there was just something different this time. And only she knew why.
"You seem like you're doing a lot of thinking these days. Even when I first talked to you that rainy night," Soohoon started, which made Sari turn to him.
"Is it that obvious?"
Her cheeks flushed red upon realizing how obvious she must seem to him.
"No, not really," he answered with a soft chuckle, his dark brown eyes still fixed on her face. "But I can see your eyes glaze in focus whenever you're thinking. Like right now."
Okay. Should she be glad that this man had read her like this? Yes, she knew she wasn't an expert in terms of hiding her emotions to people. But she tried. At some point, she succeeded and she was okay with that.
"I don't know if I should be glad knowing that or not," Sari joked. "But yes, I've been doing a lot of thinking. Mainly about the real reason why I came back here."
"Came back here? Are you saying that you've left Huijin before?"
She nodded. "Yes, around 5 years ago when... my father disappeared. I had to leave this town in order for me to search for his possible whereabouts."
There, she said it. Then again, she already told him about her father's disappearance once before. So there was nothing wrong if she mentioned it again. At least to him.
"The answers I needed could be in this town. I just have... to know exactly where to look for them. Five years is already a long time."
She wasn't expecting a reply. Well, if he knew why she was looking for answers he would definitely give them to her and hopefully, she won't regret it. That is if the answers weren't already found and it was too late to look for them anyway.
xxxxxx
More questions than answers. It was still unexpected for Sari to cross paths with Soohoon while she was trying to unwind a little. After their little rendezvous, he even took her home and said that he would visit her again.
But why would he say that? What was his reason for deciding to do that — if he actually ended up doing it?
If it was because he was worried about her? Or maybe he was genuinely interested in her?
Whatever the reason was, seeing him here had brought a smile to her face. She liked how he interacted with her, and how easygoing and gentle he was with her.
'Aside from Seoha, I think the professor is the only guy who made me feel good despite feeling nervous after Dad disappeared.'
Believe it or not, Sari found it fascinating. But yes... she could use that. She wanted to know more about the professor's past lives, right? And all this time since seeing each other again, she had not attempted to remove the glasses that she'd use to protect her from seeing visions unexpectedly.
Sari just needed a reason. She only had to get close, get comfortable enough with him and actually allow her to do it. To see more of his past lives.
"Easier said than done..." she whispered under her breath. "Urgh!"
As soon as that thought hit her mind she felt like slapping herself for saying that out loud. That was not the best way to think. She sighed. It was pointless to think about this anyways. Maybe she was being irrational.
Still, she couldn't quite shake the sense of urgency she was feeling towards getting answers and finding her father.
Especially since she recalled the man she saw on the other side of the road nights before. The past life vision she saw in that man still bothered her to this point.
But the feeling of realizing a sort of connection that she needed to look for could never leave her.
"Not that I can easily point it out..." she mumbled again. Maybe it was too much effort anyway. "I just don't want to miss anything."
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