In Search of Our Destiny - Chapter 206

Su-Jin was crying that time, sobbing and wailing with all her might. She kept calling out to her mother and father, but all she could see were two pictures perched on top of two wooden caskets.

The picture frames were surrounded by lots of white flowers; daisies, her mother’s favorites. A black ribbon flower was tied in the top middle of the frame, with two stripes sticking to the sides of the portrait.

The two people in the photographs were smiling, looking young and healthy.

However, in reality, they were no longer alive and breathing. Their bodies laid inside the caskets, forever asleep. Never again will they be able to answer their daughter and son’s pleas. Never again will they be able to embrace their children and give them comfort.

Just when Su-Jin believed she might go blind from all that crying, someone gently escorted her out of the large funeral hall. Next, there was some bustle near the entrance and Su-Jin was suddenly left alone outside. But she only stayed like that for a moment, before another person came along.

“Here.” That person spoke with a boyish voice.

Based on his rather high pitched tone, the boy seemed to be young, maybe not older than eleven or twelve years old.

As he spoke, the boy pulled something out of his jacket and offered it to Su-Jin.

It was a pure white handkerchief.

Su-Jin couldn’t see it at that moment, but there was a neatly sewn pattern in one corner of the handkerchief, representing three initials.

Su-Jin gaped at the object in wonder, still pondering whether to take it or not.

“Take it.” the boy urged, pushing his outstretched hand towards Su-Jin.

“Is it really alright if I take it?” Su-Jin squeaked between small sobs.

“Mn, I am giving it to you.” the boy replied evenly.

Ultimately, Su-Jin took the piece of white cloth and whipped her eyes and face with it.

By now, her entire face was extremely red and stained with tears. Her eyes were so swollen that she couldn’t even see that person’s face properly. All she could distinguish was his dark hair being neatly combed and slicked back, as well as the white armband wrapped around his upper arm. The single black stripe made a stark contrast with the white surrounding it, making it easier for Su-Jin to notice this small detail.

Just as she was squinting at the boy, struggling to see what he looked like, she heard him speak again.

“You shouldn’t cry so much or else the departed won’t be able to rest in peace.”

Hearing this, Su-Jin blinked at him. First, she felt confused by his words. Next, she was hit by a sudden urge to cry again.

But before any tears could fall from her eyes, the boy’s words flashed inside her mind like a neon sign. Thus, Su-Jin bore the pain and bit down her sobs. After all, she didn’t want to make her mother and father suffer even beyond death. She wanted them to be at peace, so that their souls could move on.

“T-Thank you.” Su-Jin finally choked out after a little while.

She wanted to return the handkerchief, but that person pushed it back towards her.

“You keep it. You might need it again later. Crybabies usually can’t stop themselves from shedding tears whenever they are sad.” he said bluntly.

And with that, he turned around and left.

Su-Jin didn’t get a chance to see where he was going, because something else suddenly caught her eye.

A small piece of paper laid on the ground. It was on the very same spot where the boy had just stood. Clearly it must have dropped out of his pockets when he pulled the handkerchief out.

Su-Jin bent down and picked up the paper. As soon as she touched it, though, she realized it wasn’t just a plain piece of paper, but a photograph. Turning it around slowly, she eventually distinguished the image of a boy and a woman, smiling widely at the camera.

Despite trying to make out the two people’s features, Su-Jin’s eyes were still too bleary so, in the end, she gave up.

A lot of things happened afterwards and Su-Jin lost track of both the photograph and handkerchief. Apparently, they ended up being safely deposited with the rest of the things she had kept from her parents.

~~~

Su-Jin blinked and gradually woke up from her daze.

The memory of what had transpired the night of her parents’ funeral left her slightly dizzy and confused.

‘Ah, so that’s how it was. I ended up in the possession of those two objects on my mother and father’s funeral day. A kind person gave me a handkerchief, but ended up losing a personal object in the process.’

Suddenly feeling sad for the owner of that picture, Su-Jin made a silent promise to search for the boy and return his missing object.

Feeling even more baffled by the unsuspecting recollection, Su-Jin eventually turned to analyze the other object she was holding.

Just like before with the handkerchief, Su-Jin was instantly stricken by the familiarity she felt towards the photograph.

Sure enough, she had seen it before.

But what shocked her the most was the fact that she had also dreamt of it before.

“That same day at the hospital…” she gasped. “Isn’t this the same photograph I dreamt of?”

Su-Jin stared at the picture, struggling to remember the image she saw in her dream.

The lighting of the picture was somewhat poor and the sun rays in the background made the image rather difficult to make out. The two people captured in the frame had their faces painted with shadows, as their backs faced the twilight.

Notwithstanding the poor lighting, Su-Jin was still able to discern the bright smile hanging on those people’s lips. Their entire faces seemed to glow with happiness as their heads leaned closer to each other.

Seeing how both of them had the same raven black hair and delicate features, they were definitely mother and child. Even if that wasn’t enough to prove they were related, then the similarity of their expressions, and how their eyes curved in the same way when they smiled, made their relationship pretty obvious.

“Why do I have a feeling that I know these people? It’s like I’ve seen them somewhere before.”