Chapter 40 - Smiling Sun (13)
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Mass chapter mission time! Support me in win win by unlocking the privilege chapters to get mass releases. MR will be given based on the following conditions:
1000 privilege chapter unlocks= 3 extra chapter mass release
5000 privilege chapter unlocks= 5 extra chapter mass release
10,000 privilege chapter unlocks= 10 chapter mass release.
This is applicable for every month! Please do support this book by buying as much privilege chapters as possible <3
....
Soobin bit her lip and looked at Hobin again. The girl was nervous in front of Aera who was looking at her curiously.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Huh?" Soobin asked stupidly. "No! I'm going to wrap this around your arm now."
She gave Aera a nervous smile and began to measure the blood pressure. Hobin pretended to conduct some small talk with Dongwha but kept an eye on Aera. The woman did not seem to have suspected anything but she was too calm.
Aera fitted the Modus Operandi Hobin created about the killer. She wore very expensive clothes and her shoes were also of a designer brand. Her makeup screamed 'expensive' while she carried herself with grace.
Her husband, on the other hand, was modestly dressed and did not seem to be frivolous like his wife. Hobin even checked his memories when they shook hands and found out that he did not have any idea what his wife did.
This woman is acting on her own but she definitely has an accomplice, he concluded. Someone other than the matron.
"Thank you so much," she was saying. "I feel so much better to know that my blood pressure is not that high."
She smiled at Soobin who posed with a fake smile.
"You have a nice tattoo," Soobin remarked. "Isn't this the idol Minyoon's logo? I remember it's from a music video."
Aera blushed and nodded. "I know it's strange for a grown woman like me to like idols, but I really love Minyoon's songs!" she exclaimed. "He's a really good singer. I've downloaded all his songs and watched the free clips of his concerts online. I can't afford his concert tickets because we're not so well off."
She glared at her husband as if blaming him for their state. Hobin wanted to scoff at her outright lie but kept an impassive expression.
"Let's go," Dongwha suggested and pulled his wife away.
Damn it! Hobin cursed inwardly. If only I could get a chance to touch her hand.
From a distance, he could see that the husband-wife duo were arguing. Arguing would be the wrong term; it was more like the wife was belittling her husband.
"You're so useless!" she growled in a low tone. "You can't even get your father to sell off this bloody place! It's worth millions but you're too cowardly to tell him!"
"My father won't agree to it," the husband was saying. "And what about these kids? Where will they go?"
"Let them rot in hell for all I care!" Aera snarled. She stormed off, leaving her shame faced husband behind.
Useless! She screamed internally. She rued the day she agreed to marry a useless bum like him. He had no job and his only source of income was the meager amount of money his father made from this land's investment. That was it.
She stood fuming at a corner when the handsome doctor walked up to her. Aera was a little flustered when Hobin stood next to her. His eyes were twinkling with mischief and she found him quite alluring.
"I see that you had a slight tiff with your husband," he said in a worried tone. "Is everything alright?"
"It's nothing," she sighed. "My husband just doesn't understand my feelings. He's too cold and uptight."
"That's a shame," Hobin remarked with a grin. "I mean, if a beautiful woman like you was my partner, I'd treasure you everyday. I see you've got a fine taste of style."
Aera was blushing hard. She had a soft spot for guys younger than her which is why she was attracted to many idols, especially Minyoon. Even though he was only fifteen, her heart was crazy for him. And now, the attention from the hunk of a doctor was also making her feel quite good.
Moreover, he was a psychiatrist and must be earning a lot. If she could hoodwink someone like him, she would dump her husband's sorry ass in seconds.
"I'm more than just a pretty face," she whispered seductively. "I can show you my style in a more...intimate manner, doc."
Hobin grinned and held out his hand.
"I'd love to see that tattoo of yours more closely," he said in a flirtatious tone. "After all, it looks sexy."
Aera giggled and slowly raised her hand to place it on his palm. Hobin grasped it and was about to read her memories when suddenly, her warm hand became ice cold.
"What the-" he began to say but something came over Aera. Her icy hand held him in a deathly grip and she was looking at him with unfocused eyes. Hobin was alarmed and instantly extracted her memories.
To his shock, the memories which were flashing in his head were not of Aera's but of someone else. The images were of a nine year old boy who was laughing and playing in the yard with Haeji. A boy who was once full of life and now, lay dead in a cold morgue.
"I have to find the idol..."
Aera's voice had changed. It was now more innocent and she spoke with a street accent which was unlike Aera's refined one. The accent was very familiar to him because he heard Minki talk like that in Haeji's memories.
Minki was looking around for Minyoon but the guy was on stage.
"I must tell the idol about Jina sis!"
He was about to move but someone pulled him back.
"You," Hobin began. "Who are you?"
"I…" Minki fumbled but Hobin was glaring at him.
"Why do you have Minki's memories?" he demanded. "How can you have his memories? That's impossible!"
Huh? Minki was confused by what the doctor was talking about. But the doctor would not let him go so the little boy's ghost had no other option but to convey Jina's message to the doctor.
"Doctor...please help Jina sis!" Minki spoke through Aera. "She's in trouble! Haeji and the other detective are with her! They're all gonna die if you don't help them!"
"Who are you?" Hobin whispered. He was confused by the strange phenomenon. How was he seeing a dead person's memories in another person's body? Usually, he could only see the memories of a corpse only for fifteen minutes after the person died. After that, all memories are lost.
Then how come he was seeing Minki's memories days after his death? That too through Aera? What was going on?
He touched the woman's skin only to realize that the memories he was seeing were not of Aera's. Images of Minki and Jina's discussions were now flooding into Hobin's head.
"Jina sis is in danger!" Minki or Aera claimed. Who was it? Hobin no longer knew.
"Jina?" he frowned. "How do you know her?"
"She can see us…"
Minki was not sure how he was going to explain it to the doctor. He just needed to get help. Hobin sensed the urgency in Aera/Minki's tone but he still needed to be sure of something.
"Let me hold your hand for a few seconds longer," Hobin instructed. Minki was bewildered when the doctor closed his eyes and began to concentrate.
Instantly, all of Minki's memories rushed into his head. The boy did not know who killed him because he was drugged and strangled but to Hobin's bewilderment, Minki accumulated memories after his death! And…
"Hwang Jina can see ghosts?" he whispered. "What. The. Hell?"
"Yes," Minki revealed. "Jina sis can see ghosts. She's been helping me with Wonho bro's murder. But she's in danger! She-"
"I know," Hobin said. "Let's go."