- Seo Special City -
"Your girlfriend is with us now, you better come here ALONE" shouted the horse voice from another line of the phone.
A young man running fast along the empty and dark road. Sweat trickled from the surface of his skin. His face was red from the run and worried. He was panting hard, trying to catch his unsteady breath.
Still running, he pressed his phone button nervously, tried to call his best friends, but his effort seemed futile since no one picked up his call.
“Please . . . Pick up . . . Please . . . I need your help,” he groaned desperately. “I have to save her . . . With or without any help.”
He ran again as fast as his feet could do. The image of the love of his life in danger made his heartbeat increase a thousand times.
‘But, can you save her alone?’ a voice hummed inside his mind, causing his pace to slow down. A look of horror crossed his face and a shadow of doubt crept into his mind upon hearing the words. ‘Can I really save her by myself?’ he thought.
They might beat you into a pulp,’ the second voice said in his mind. ‘You can’t save her . . . You can get killed.’
He stopped from his run, standing in the middle of the road, he hung his head low. A painful doubt filled his soul as he shook his head in surrender, and his voice softened. “I’m sorry. . .” Tears started to perform in his eyes. “I can’t help you.”
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- 5 years later -
“Are you okay? You space out a lot lately,” asked Mike, handed the man a cup of coffee, and took a seat next to him. Not lately, but almost every day for the past five years, but Mike still asked just to be polite. Perhaps, he was secretly hoping for a different answer.
“Thanks dude. Yes. . . I’m fine, I guess.” Deep sigh could be heard as the man took a sip of his coffee. “Tomorrow is her birthday . . .” he gulped a few times as an attempt to take away the sudden dryness in his throat. “If just . . .” he paused as tears started to fill up in his eyes.
Maybe hoping for something else was a bit too much for Mike if he did not take action on his own. He grew tired of all this. “You have to move on! It’s been a long time and I tell you for thousands of times that it wasn't your fault!” Mike's sudden rising voice caused the man to slightly jerk. The man twisted to face Mike as Mike said, “And the kidnapper and the murderer had been arrested.”
“I know. . .” mumbled the man. He knew that once social justice had been achieved, there was nothing more to talk about. His girlfriend got the justice she deserved. But did all that really matter since she was dead? “But I can’t forget her. No matter how hard I try. I just can’t. . .” He thought of the number of times that he himself had been a coward. If he could be a bit braver, she could be alive. “It was my fault. If I’m not a coward . . . If I go. . . Maybe she is still alive now. . .”
“That wasn’t your fault. It was a random kidnapping,” comforted Mike, rubbing the man’s back gently. For five years, he was watching his friend sobbing and torturing himself from the lost and guilt feelings. “I think you need a vacation dude. Maybe you need some time away from this place. Away from a place where you could think of her,” Mike suggested with a hard-as-nails look. “Then… You will move on.”
“Maybe. . . I don’t know,” the man mumbled slowly. His gaze was empty and his words were gloomy. It did not matter where he was or where he would go. He believed everywhere was the same. Every breath he took reminded him of his painful past. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”
“That’s not a problem,” was Mike’s assured reply. The first step was to make his friend agree to go on vacation. As long as his friend agreed, he could arrange the rest. Where to go, when to go and where to stay, everything was in his hand. “I will arrange something and I want you to go. I don’t take ‘no’ as an answer, ok?”
“Oh. . . O-ok. . . Thank you. . .” stuttered the man. Maybe Mike was right. He needed to get away from here. Going on vacation could be the first step. If everything went well after that and he felt good enough, maybe he could move to another town and start a new life. ‘I should really move on,’ thought the man. ‘Can I take my mind off of her? Can I forget about her after the vacation? I hope I can. . .”