“It seems I’ve interrupted a… training exercise?” my dad said. Then he noticed Yejun and his eyes brightened. “Oh, Yejun! Good to see you!”
“Uh, you too, Mr. Yang,” Yejun said. “Despite the circumstances.”
Hong Gildong narrowed his eyes and turned fully toward my parents. His towering silhouette blocked the city lights from the window behind him, casting darkness across the doorway.
“Leave,” Hong Gildong said. “This is none of your business.”
I expected my parents to bow and then scurry away at the direct order from their boss, but neither one moved.
“Mina,” my mom said hesitantly, “I found your note in my bag.”
Oh no.
They weren’t supposed to come back. Now they knew too much, and Hong Gildong might decide to erase them too.
“Your note had us worried, and you wouldn’t answer your phone,” my dad said. “Why are you talking about us remembering you?”
“Both of you need to leave,” Hong Gildong said, his words thundering across the floorboards. “We will discuss this tomorrow.”
Still, neither of my parents moved.
“Sajangnim,” my dad said, bowing his head, “I’d like to leave with Mina and Yejun.”
“That’s not possible,” Hong Gildong said. My dad flinched at the sharpness of his words. “Everything will be in order by tomorrow, Allen-nim. You can trust me. This is all part of the timeline.”
My dad opened his mouth to respond, but then his gaze settled somewhere beyond Hong Gildong, and his face drained of color.
“What exactly is this training?” my mom said.
“Eri,” my dad said, tugging at my mom’s sleeve.
“Please just leave,” I said to my mom. The longer they stayed here, the more likely it was that Hong Gildong would decide to just erase my whole family and be done with it. It’s not like they could ever stop him, even if they wanted to.
“Are you even old enough to use firearms?” my mom said.
“Eri!” my dad said.
He was no longer looking at me, or my mom, or even Hong Gildong, but at the scrying pool.
The pool where Hana’s file was still open.
My mom followed his gaze, and after reading for a few moments, clapped her hands over her mouth.
“Hana,” my dad whispered, as if testing out the word. He looked to Hong Gildong, his face deathly pale. “I had another daughter, and I forgot her?”
My mom shook her head quickly. “I wouldn’t forget my own daughter,” she said. “I… there’s no way I…”
Hong Gildong stepped forward and tapped the scrying pool, wiping away Hana’s file. “Go home,” he said. “This doesn’t concern either of you. Trust in the timeline that this is how everything is supposed to be.”
“Trust,” my father echoed, nodding slowly, his eyes distant. My mom was still staring at the scrying pool as if trying to remember the image, the only photo of Hana any of us would ever have.
At last, my father let out a breath and looked away from the pool. As always, he trusted in the agency above all else. It was easier that way. He couldn’t feel the pain of Hana’s loss, and he wouldn’t feel the pain of losing me either. I wasn’t even surprised at this point.
But instead of leaving, he crossed the room and stood in front of me.
“Allen-nim,” Hong Gildong said, teeth clenched as his fangs descended, “you don’t want to get involved in this. You are a dependable employee.”
My mom stood beside my dad.
