When Sari decided to go to Detective Seo to ask for his help and also his opinion about the pictures she unexpectedly found a few days after the confrontation she had with Professor Park and the three girls, she never thought she'd discover something unexpected.
Her father had long been aware of Professor Soohoon's past life. She didn't know how he realized that, but it seemed that he mentioned about her finding Kang Chulsoo. That man was Professor Soohoon and Professor Geunhee's father.
And to think that man — the person jokingly referred to by her friends as old man Kang — was the one who helped him with the issue about Professor Park and created that engagement lie just so she would use that as an excuse to see Professor Soohoon more often.
True, she hadn't intended to prolong the meeting and extend it to more than just acquaintances. But fate seemed to have other plans for her and the young professor.
"Sari, are you here?"
That call from Seoha coming from outside her apartment brought Sari’s thoughts back to reality. She couldn't help frowning, however, as she didn't know any event or prior plans that she and her friends made just so Seoha would go to her apartment.
'I wonder what brought him here.'
As she opened the door, she looked up at him and smiled. "Hey!"
But to her confusion, Seoha looked quite worried and concerned for some reason as he looked into her eyes and frowned before shaking his head as if he wasn't sure what happened before.
"Is everything okay?" Sari asked cautiously. It was unusual for her to see her friend like this.
Did something happen to him?
Seoha took a deep breath once again and faced her. "Have you heard? About what happened to Professor Park?"
At this point, Sari frowned. "No. What do you mean by that?"
"They found him hacked to death in the woods."
Her heart started beating fast as soon as she heard that. 'It couldn't be...'
"You mean the northern woods?"
He nodded. "The whole town is buzzing about it, and the police are all looking for anyone suspicious. They're even thinking of closing the city limits."
"What?"
For the first time since they've met, Seoha actually looked nervous and Sari could easily tell why.
"Detective Seo told Sejin about it because he mentioned that you went to the police station last night to show him some photos. Sejin urged me to check up on you since her parents wouldn't let her out in the meantime until the chaos died down a bit," Seoha explained and entered her apartment even before she told him so. But she didn't mind.
Though even when the door closed, Sari remained standing in front of it until Seoha put his hands on her shoulders, snapping her out.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded, but the worry creeping up in her didn't dissipate one bit. "I just... don't know what to think. Why Professor Park?"
There were plenty of people who had a bad history with Professor Park, most of them related to that one time he tried to remove Principal Chan from his position. It wasn't just Professor Park though; there were a lot of Gangbeodeul University professors involved in the incident. All of them had been removed from their posts for various reasons.
But at this point, there was a voice nagging at the back of her mind that Professor Park's death had nothing to do with that issue. There was something else that they might not be aware of.
"Here's something else I haven't mentioned. Detective Seo said that... Professor Park's body was dumped in that woods... where the police found your mother's dead body before."
Sari grunted in exasperation now that she heard it from Seoha. She suspected as much the moment Seoha told her that Professor Park's body was hacked and was dumped in the northern woods. But hearing it still gave a different disgusting feeling to her.
She took a deep breath, quite ragged and faced Seoha. "How are they dealing with this? The other professors and... maybe the students linked to his shady business..."
Seoha shook his head and sat on the sofa. "I still have to ask Riyoung about it since she's the only one out of the four of us who has the skill to dig out information like that. Or maybe even Detective Seo, if he still has some time to tell me the details. But I'm pretty sure he would remind me and the others to watch over you. Probably because he knew how this certain case related to your mother's death would affect you."
She gave her best friend a weak smile and sat next to him, hugging herself tightly. The sudden coldness of the air didn't seem appealing enough at the moment.
The only thing on her mind right now was the fact that she hadn't seen Professor Park since their encounter nearly a month ago, and that bothered her. She was sure he was only suspended, not removed from his position as a Gangbeodeul University professor.
"What exactly happened for him to end up like that?" Sari asked, mainly to herself.
"The one thing I'm curious about is the area in the northern woods where his body was found. Detective Seo mentioned to Sejin that it was the spot that you're already aware of. What is he talking about?"
But Sari remained silent for a few more moments and sighed. "Does this mean the serial killer from before is starting to strike again?"
"Serial killer from before? You mean the time your mom died?"
She nodded. "The Huijin serial killer from way back almost 3 decades ago was the one who killed my mother and also Professor Soohoon's mother. And for some reason, my dad believed that the killer was related to Professor Soohoon's past life."
Seoha's eyebrows shot up. "You mean...?"
Sari nodded. "Seems like our paths crossing recently wasn't just some sort of coincidence. And honestly, I don't want him to get hurt as I try to find out more about his past lives."
Seoha stared at her for several moments . "You can't protect him forever, you know."
"Of course, I’m aware of that, but I know I have to do my best. And as far as I know, no one knows what he was really dealing with. Professor Soohoon might be talking to me like there was nothing bothering him. But those visions that I saw in his eyes that day were enough indication that he was dealing with so much since his mother died. We'll wait until it's safe to find out the truth."
He shook his head. "And if that day comes too late? There will never be a safe day for you or anybody to discover anything, especially about someone's past lives."
Sari felt like that too, although she wasn't going to say it out loud. "I know..." she trailed off. "I wish there was another way, but we need all the facts we can gather before trying to investigate any further. Even if things turn out wrong, I still want to try. For me at least."
Her friend stared for a few seconds longer, before taking her hand softly. "Just remember that you don't have to deal with everything alone, okay?" he said, giving her a soft smile.
But Sari couldn't find it in herself to return it. She only stared at him as she slowly processed what Seoha had said.
"If there's anything that you discover along the way, even just a suspicion, you have to inform me immediately, understand?"
Finally, Sari nodded. "I know. Thank you, Seoha," she whispered as she squeezed his hand gently. But that wasn't enough to erase the thoughts in her head nor the dread in her chest.
xxxxxx
It was expected that Professor Park's gruesome death would reach everyone in town, especially the people in Gangbeodeul University. But for Sari, the news had only made her suspicious of a lot of things.
Mainly, its relation to her mother's death.
She wouldn't have associated it to that part of her past. But the fact that Professor Park's body was found hacked multiple times and dumped in the same area as that of her mother's dead body 26 years prior made it hard for her not to think that something felt wrong.
Especially after what Seoha had told her before.
But the more she thought about that, the worse that nagging feeling would strike her. Was Professor Park somehow connected to something she didn't even know of? Something that, perhaps, her father was already aware of and what had caused a possible rift between her father and Professor Park?
But as much as she wanted to stop it, the fact that she didn't have any idea what it was that Professor Park had been up against made it impossible for her to.
She'd rather have an answer and an explanation.
She'd rather face it sooner rather than later instead of waiting for someone to explain it all to her. But she wouldn't force anyone to tell her anything. That wasn't right at all. And besides, she'd learned a long time ago that sometimes, you don't want the answers you expect to come.
"I hope you're not putting too much pressure on yourself when you're working like this."
That voice snapped her out and made her raise her head, only to see Professor Geunhee with a folder in her hand.
"Professor..."
"I appreciate your hard work and your enthusiasm. But I hope you understand that you also need to rest to replenish your lost energy and for you to be able to think things through carefully."
The professor's words only made her smile and nodded. "I know. Please don't worry. I just don't want my work to get in the way of me still trying to find time to learn the truth about what's been happening lately. I couldn't help thinking that... there's a hidden story that's nagging at the back of my mind for me to realize before it's too late. Professor Park's death made me realize that."
Professor Geunhee let out an amused laugh as she placed the folder on top of the table near the window behind her chair. "Then I believe you'll be able to know the truth surrounding your mystery soon enough. But, while you're working on solving that particular puzzle, please take good care of yourself and try to make sure your energy isn't depleted. I don't want a sluggish assistant in my office."
Sari laughed before nodding. It was when Professor Geunhee left the office that she decided to look at the content of the folder that the professor gave to her.
Her expression turned serious, then shock, as soon as she saw the content of that folder. They looked like compilations of pictures from a long time ago.
Specifically, pictures of Professor Park and... her father? Together?
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