LUCK & SECRET

CHAPTER 5

”Ring! Ring! Ring!

When I hear my phone ring, my left eye opens. Its currently midnight. Who would call me at this hour? I pick up my phone. Im not familiar with this number. After three hours of crying, I saw myself in the mirror, my eyes red and puffy. Not again. That is why I shouldn sleep after crying. I have to wait a few hours for this.

The phone rings once again. Im wondering who it is. If my phone rings again, Ill answer, it may be an urgent matter. My phone has rung three times now. I immediately answered the phone without saying anything.

[Hello, is this Miss Park Yujins phone number?] The sweet, deep voice of the man who had called me caught me off guard. His voice was soothing and warm.

[Hello, is anyone in there? Hello.] He says gently.

[Y-yes hallo, Im here] I say as I snap back to reality. [Who is this? Why are you calling me at midnight?] I ask.

[Im sorry for interrupting you, because of my busy schedule, miss. Thats why Im just available tonight. By the way, I have your sketchbook; do you want me to return it?] He asks politely.

I double-checked my bag. [How can you have my sketchbook? I still have it in my ba––.] I realized when I saw that my sketchbook was not inside my bag.

[If you can find your sketchbook in there, I did bring it now; in fact, Im just in front of your place.] He explains.

My thoughts had gone blank. How can someone come at midnight only to return my sketchbook? It is really important to me, but what about him? Why is it midnight like this? I peered out the window. No way! Hes definitely here.

[What do you mean? I still have it in my backpack; thats not my sketchbook.] I attempted to be calm.

[Oh, if it isn yours, who has this number? This sketchbook was wonderful; the more I opened it, the more amazing sketches I found. Wow, your imagination is too wild, miss.] He teased.

I went silent for a minute and started sweating; don tell me. He didn see my sketch until the last page, right? I began to panic.

[Is it not yours, right? Its fine if I go to the police or just ask people in social media? If I posted this, youll be a famous artist. Theyll know you because of your ID Card in here too.] He insists.

[My ID––.] I suddenly jump from my bed and I have to go down to take back my book before he tells people on social media with my ID on it! [Wait, Im going down now!] Gosh, I can believe he saw that how embarrassing! I running to down as soon as I could.

Hes here. I see a man wearing all-black clothing, including a mask, hat, and black sunglasses, who seems similar to someone I saw before in the library. I almost mistook him for the same guy, but he wasn since they had different voices. He approached me to step by step. I took a step back from him.

I extend my right arm and show all my fingers. ”Stop! Stay where you are and don get any closer! ” I yell at him.

”Why are you giving me the stop-hand signal? How can I offer it to you if Im not getting closer? ”Do you want me to just throw you this book? ” He shouted from afar.

”Sir, please just put it down my book. ” Gamsahamnida! ” I shout at him and bow to him from afar.

I can see him lowering his face into his hands because of my attitude. Is he face-palming? I wonder why the man is just silent, and his right hand is tucked under his waist. Is he hiding the sketchbook? My eyes were wide open because he unexpectedly turns around and begins to run. ”H-hey!! Where are you going? ” I panicked and began running after him.

I was too intent on running, and he abruptly halted. He stopped without any warning.

”Ouch! My head. ” My head accidentally bumped into his broad back.

”Excuse me, Sir, but you can just run and then stop like that. ” I scolded him.

He turns around and lowers his body slightly. I keep wondering what this dude is thinking wearing black sunglasses at midnight. Hed stare at me without saying anything. Is there a problem? Why is he just staring at me? Is he a pervert? I cross my hands.

”Sir, could you please return it? ” I ask politely as I offer my palm out to him.

”Hmm… I change my mind. ” he sighs as he looks at me.

Hes running away again, saying nothing. ”What?! ” This man is weirder than me; I just want my sketchbook and ID back. He waves at me from a distance and signals for me to follow him. I follow him from behind, but I keep a safe distance, about 30 to 40 meters.

My body is sweating despite the fact that it is late at night and should be chilly. My eyes are continuously drawn to the circumstances around me, and I am unable to focus on following him because I am concerned about what I will do if the man is a horrible guy. Oh, Lord! I don have the stamina to run! Hufh! Im sweating profusely. He keeps running till he reaches a tiny alley. There are no people in this alley. This gives me a bad feeling. No one in this alley can save me from harm. Come on, Yujin. Cmon Yujin! I can do taekwondo. If something bad happens to me, Im going to kick him.

My embarrassing sketchbook is far more important than my life. I don him to post it on social media including with my ID card!

Finally, I see him. He stopped for a moment in front of a small private ramen restaurant. He looks at me and walks inside. Maybe he wants me to come in as well. Its the first time Ive seen a ramen restaurant with limited seating, with a pair of parallel hallways where only six people can sit at narrow solitary carrels, as in a study library, with side panels that scrupulously screen us from looking into adjacent seats, so that your privacy is assured. I saw he had been seated while checking the menu.

”Why are you only standing there? ” You are welcome to sit next to me. By the way, you can try to pull and push the side panels.

”This is similar to something like a sliding door, and I recommend that you close the side panel. ” He talks without looking at me.

”Sir, my sketch––. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ ” ­­

He cut when Im talking. ”You are free to order whichever ramen you like. ” He suddenly closed the side panel.

I can only see his back when I talk to him. ”Gamsahamnida, Sir. ” Im sorry, but I have to refuse to eat since I forgot to bring my money. ”

”Don worry, Ill pay. ” If you say no again, your book becomes mine. He tells me to be wary.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. ”Fine, well, then. ” I prefer not to look at his face since he avoids eye contact; maybe he has some reason for this, so my attention is focused on the small bamboo curtain in front of me as I wait for the ramen to appear.

Lets start to eat. Only 15 minutes till the ramen I ordered appears from behind the curtain. When we were eating ramen with the side panel between them, we both concentrated on each others ramen. ”Slurrrrppp, slurrrppp. ” Thats the only voice coming out of us to show how we enjoyed the ramen. The ramen soup is thick and savory, and the noodles are chewy. The noodles were so delicious that I pressed the red button next to my right hand to request more.

”Are you happy now? ” He suddenly asks a question. ”

”Why did you ask? ”

”Because I feel you have cried before. ”

”Im not. ” ”You didn even see me cry. ”

”You deny it, although your eyes were red and puffy. ” he said flatly.

”I accidentally punched myself while sleeping. ” I close my mouth. What in the world have I said? Thats a pretty lame excuse.

”It must be painful for you, and it seems that your sketchbook was also punched. ”

”How come you said my book is like that? Is my sketchbook broken since it once fell? ”

”Nope as I mentioned earlier on the phone, the last page sketches you drew in this sketchbook are very sad; there is no happiness here, ” He speaks more softly. Actually, it looks like you have mixed feelings while being horny and depressed at the same time. ” He chuckles while teasing me.

”I was simply having fun drawing, and you opened my book without my permission. ”

”That is illegal, sir. Please don talk nonsense anymore, sir, especially to women. ” I insist to avoid the topic.

”If I don open it, maybe the police will open it to search for your phone number. Hmm… what happens next if they open it? ”

I can say anything since Im embarrassed, so I simply keep eating until both of us are full.

”Now, we
e finished eating, please return my sketchbook. ”

”What is your dream? ” ”Are you going to waste your talent? ”

”I want to be rich. ” I tell it like it is.

”Hmm… ” He pauses before saying, ”your eyes… ” His right-hand reaches for my face, but he pauses and shakes his head.

”Don let this happen again. ” He returns it and walks away.

”Gamsahamnida! ” I shout at him from a distance. Im relieved to have made it back to my bed safely and without incident.

*Gamsahamnida is a Thank You in Korean language*