"Thank you." Sari smiled as she took her order from the counter of the coffee shop and walked out.
Another week had passed and so far, things remained uneventful for her. Then again, it was something she felt worried about, if she was to be honest. She and her friends continued coming up with plans to get close to Professor Soohoon. But with him teaching at a different university and with no clue about his schedules, they thought it would be hard to do something about it.
Even chance meetings weren't that easy to determine. Perhaps the only thing she could do at the moment was to pray that something ㅡ anything ㅡ would happen for that chance meeting to occur.
"Miss Yoon!" a voice called from behind, causing her to turn around in surprise.
Her eyes widened as they fell on the handsome man that she was thinking about just moments before. "Professor Soohoon!" she exclaimed, taking a few steps towards him.
His face broke into a smile upon seeing her, causing her heart to flutter within her chest as always. "Why does this start to become a pattern for both of us, huh?"
"Yes, and you keep calling me formally, as well, when I did mention a few times that you can just call me by my name."
"I'm just being careful. I know the mindset of the Gangbeodeul University students when they see two teachers or staff from different universities interacting with each other."
Sari nodded, finally realizing that the professor had a point on that and she'd seen proof of it.
"But that doesn't mean I don't want to call you that way. However, we can only do that when we're not in a public place like this."
"Of course! But you really don't have to be polite, it's good that we're able to talk with each other like this. It keeps us on the same page."
"Right," Soohoon grinned, "So, what have you been up to lately since the last time we saw each other? Any progress about trying to find your father?"
Sari shook her head. Both she and Soohoon started walking away from the coffee shop. She then noticed that he was walking at the same pace as her.
"There wasn't anything new lately. But... I'm still going to do what I can to look for any clues about it. It's just that I'm getting busier than usual because of my work."
Soohoon chuckled. "I hope my sister isn't driving you crazy with all the workloads she was giving you."
"No, it's not like that. In fact, I'm glad that those workloads she gave me had kept me distracted from further thinking too much."
It was strange, but Sari kept finding herself easily blurting out her thoughts like that in front of the professor. It was probably a side effect of talking with him more than any other person. Although it didn't bother her much ㅡ she was just happy that they were now able to continue talking to one another like this. And she didn't think she'd ever get tired of listening to his voice.
"Well, it sounds like you're doing well. You don't seem tired or stressed out at all."
She smiled at him. "Yes, I feel pretty good. Professor Geunhee is a great person to work with. I wouldn't mind continuing working like this with her, though, even when my workload is increasing every second."
Soohoon nodded. "Well, we should take some rest then."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"You've worked long enough, haven't you? Let's take a break and eat together," he suggested.
A sudden blush crossed her cheeks, almost instantly followed by a feeling that seemed foreign yet warm.
"O-okay," Sari replied softly, unable to form coherent sentences. But even so, she knew this was a chance that she'd been asking a while back.
And now it was happening, even though she wasn't expecting it.
Soohoon smiled gently at her response before reaching over to intertwine their fingers. He squeezed her hand lightly before he guided them away from the pastry shop's entrance.
As he began making their way down the street, he pulled a small bag out of his pocket. She watched curiously as he opened it and reached inside. When he showed her what was there, her mouth hung open slightly.
"What is that?" she asked, pointing at the object in his hands.
He looked at her and smiled. "This is a sandwich. I made it myself."
"Oh, wow..." she said, looking at the sandwich in his hands. "That looks delicious."
"I'm glad you think so. Then again, I wasn't expecting someone would actually complement the food that I made."
"Well, it does look good." And Sari wasn't lying about that.
The sandwich looked as tasty as its appearance told her. A slight frown appeared on her face, however, after a few seconds as her thoughts went back to the reason why she came to the coffee shop.
"Um... Professor Soohoon? I need to ask you something. I hope you don't mind."
"Is everything alright?"
She bit her lip. "Well, it's actually important. So..."
"Go ahead," he said with a hint of amusement in his tone.
She exhaled slowly before saying, "I wanted to know... Is there somewhere else we can eat right now?"
'What in the world just came out of my mouth?' But she couldn't take it back now.
He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the street ahead before turning his head towards her once again. "Are you hungry?"
"Not really. But I'm sure you are. So, where do you want to go?"
"How about we go to the park?"
"Okay."
They continued walking until they arrived at the park. They sat down on a bench near the lake, watching the ducks swim around.
"Okay. Now we're here at the park and I can eat. So what is it that you wanted to ask me?"
Sari shifted uncomfortably for a couple of seconds before she turned her body towards him.
"Umm... It's about the sketches I found in Professor Geunhee's collection."
"Ah, you mean the ones I drew when I was younger. Geunhee did mention to me before that you've taken some interest in them. What about them?"
Though Soohoon asked casually, it only made Sari’s heart beat faster than usual. For her, it doesn't sound good. But she already decided to do this.
"How come you were able to draw them? I mean, what was your inspiration for drawing them? They seem... rather vivid and detailed, as if you've seen the actual items before." After that, she looked at the professor with a hopeful look on her face. "Have you?"
The man let out an amused chuckle, causing Sari to shoot him a surprised expression.
"Do you expect me to answer you immediately?" he teased.
She pouted slightly as she lowered her gaze. "If you can tell me the answer, then I'd appreciate it," she murmured. She didn't mean to be pushy, though.
All she meant was that she wanted to understand the reason behind it. Why would he draw them? It sounded like something he'd done years ago without thinking.
"Hmmm," he sighed, staring off in the distance. "I suppose I can try telling you."
"Okay..." she nodded. She leaned forward slightly so that she could better hear him, wondering if she could catch some of the words he might say.
"It was probably the most surreal experience I have ever experienced," he muttered. His voice then trailed off for a brief moment until it returned to its previous volume once again. "It all started when I was younger, after I witnessed my mother's death..."
xxxxxx
According to the professor, the visions of his past lives started flashing in his mind after his mother died. But now that she finally heard the reason for those sketches to exist, Sari realized that it was similar to her, as well. But she didn't mention anything about that to anyone.
Not even to her father.
Sari realized that she couldn't see anything about her own past lives even if she looked at her eyes from the mirror's reflection after witnessing her mother get killed. She was young, as well, when it happened.
Maybe six years old.
But she remembered that day vividly. The memory of her mother's death killed in front of her and seeing the blood splattered around within the land where the house was built.
How she tried to run away just to escape from the killer that was about to hack her and was able to hide. How her father was screaming as he ran to the spot as soon as he saw her crying by the porch about her dead mother. Her father cried hysterically upon seeing his wife's lifeless and blood-covered body; she once thought he might die.
In the end, she learned that he was fine. Only his tears of grief were the only signs of how hard he had fought against it at first.
When her father eventually calmed down, he did his best to help her get through the grief. But she wouldn't allow him to go through it alone. She knew he was also grieving. And so she also helped him, in her own little way, and let them go through the process together.
Now Sari couldn't help wondering how the sketches that Soohoon made as a child had helped him go through the process of grieving for his mother's death and eventually get over it.
"It was crazy that those visions appeared all at the same time. It was overwhelming for my brain at the time. But I could feel since then that they were significant in a way to my life. I just don't know how. And so I made those sketches ㅡ items that I can feel would give me some answers," Soohoon explained and sighed right after. "Unfortunately, none of them answered my questions regarding the source of those visions."
Sari remained quiet, letting him talk.
'If only I could tell you that I know without me feeling as if you'd judge me after telling you the truth...' Even with that, she couldn't even voice it out.
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