Chapter 687 – The First Wish, Lee Eunsol (1)
—
– Lee Eunsol
A cool breeze began to blow during the evening hours.
“Phew…”
“I’m starting to get tired.”
As I mindlessly climbed Mt. Seorak, I recalled what Jinwook oppa had said the other day.
“We traveled a lot when we were kids, right?”
“Seems like we had quite a few unique trips.”
“… Unique trips.”
“What?”
“Actually, thinking about it, this situation feels pretty unique too.”
“What’s unique?”
“Isn’t it funny that two siblings over thirty are hiking together?”
“Hey, hey! If you hadn’t messed up the Shanghai Project, we wouldn’t even be in this situation!”
“Oh here we go again! You’ve messed up a few times too—”
While I was grumbling and partaking in a playful argument with Jinwook oppa, I suddenly felt a chill and looked around.
“Huh?”
We had been following the regular hiking trail, yet the scenery had changed dramatically.
Out of nowhere, a wide plain appeared halfway up Mt. Seorak.
“What’s this—”
Just as I was feeling a strong sense of tension and about to step back, Jinwook oppa stretched out his hand.
“See that house over there?”
“… Not only do we have a plain halfway up the mountain, but there’s a mansion?”
After dealing with lots of absurd situations because of the hotel, I thought I could get through anything, but every experience still boggled my mind.
Surprisingly, oppa was unfazed.
“Let’s take a break over there. Night hiking can be dangerous.”
“Why are you so calm? A mansion suddenly appears right in the middle of the mountain!”
Oppa then smiled slightly, as if he knew something. He had that vibe of wanting to show off his knowledge!
“Eunsol, you don’t know?”
“…?”
“Haha! Didn’t our dad mention it? This is where one of his old friends live—yikes!”
— Smack!
Unable to hold back, I conjured my flute and whacked the back of oppa’s head.
“Lee Eunsol! Have you really lost it?!”
“Stop showing off and just explain! What does your dad’s friend have to do with a mansion popping up in the middle of the mountain?!”
Surprisingly, his next words explained our current situation immediately:
“He’s a former agent! Apparently he’s retired now?”
A retired Management Bureau agent.
Given such a person, hiding a spaceship instead of a mansion in the middle of the mountain wouldn’t be far-fetched.
“Hey, you came here when you were little, right? Did you forget? You’re just too dumb to realize that you—”
— Smack!
*
— Ding dong! Ding dong!
Soon after, a pale-faced man appeared from the mansion.
He looked like he was in his early thirties and was somewhat thin?
Nothing particularly stuck out about him. But then again, knowing he was a retired agent made him seem much older than he appeared.
“Ah, long time no see.”
“It’s Jinwook and Eunsol. It’s been a while.”
He immediately recognized us.
There was a sense of familiarity, but I couldn’t recall anything about him.
Given the depth of what I experienced in the hotel, my memory of before arriving there had become somewhat blurry.
But still, meeting a “former Management Bureau agent” should have left at least some imprint in my memory, right?
Just as I tilted my head in confusion…
“…!”
— Pah!
A strong sensation washed over me like a mist of hazy memories.
It was a recollection from my childhood when I had come to visit the mansion with my dad.
*
“Hello there!”
“It’s been a while, Chairman. Are these your children?”
“Indeed. Now, you two should greet him. This man is a Bureau agent—”
“Not anymore.”
“—Just a former agent. He’s an old friend of mine. What are you all up to?”
“Ah, hello! I’m Lee Jeongho.”
“I’m Lee Jinwook.”
“I’m Lee Eunsol. Nice to meet you.”
“I prefer to be called S.”
*
“… It was real.”
“What?”
Just as Jinwook oppa had said, I had indeed come to this mansion with my dad when I was younger.
The reason for my memory lapse during that time.
And why those forgotten memories surfaced again.
“Why are you just standing there? Haven’t you said hello? Haha! Agent, my sister here has been driving herself crazy since she messed up a big project.”
“It’s fine.”
As I remembered my past visit to the mansion…
I had made my very first wish.
Like the other colleagues, I lost that memory in the process of forgetting the first wish and missing the chance to revisit the mansion.
On the other hand, odl oppa must have a clear mind since he’s never experienced such dilemmas.
“Excuse me, but you are Agent S, correct?”
“Please come inside.”
Following the suddenly disappearing S, I felt a wave of discomfort wash over me.
“Oppa.”
“Hm?”
“Just a thought, but it seems like we came here with everyone back then, including Dad.”
“Right?”
“But why are we here alone now?”
“Hmm?”
“Wasn’t there more people with us? Aren’t there supposed to be?”
Oppa shrugged his shoulders, looking perplexed.
“Stop saying weird things and let’s take a break. Hiking from this morning is starting to shake my legs.”
*
After unpacking in the empty room, I quickly showered and loosened my stiff muscles.
Oppa displayed his humble yet witty demeanor while chatting with the former agent.
He clearly wanted to connect the dots between “Dad’s connections” and his own “influence” through the former agent.
It’s understandable since anyone in business would want to maintain good relations with the Bureau.
During their conversation, an interesting story surfaced.
“Haha! I’ve heard from Dad a while back that you often provided him with some ‘delicate care.’”
“I assisted him a few times. Though, I’m currently on extended leave, the skills I learned from the Bureau still remain with me.”
“Can you share what kind of help you provided?”
“…”
S paused to take a sip of tea, then muttered softly.
“… the forgetfulness of painful memories and such.”
“Excuse me? What kind of forgetfulness?”
“Um, Jinwook, doesn’t the Chairman deserve some privacy?”
No matter how close you are to someone, S was clearly hesitant to divulge this information.
Realizing this, oppa sheepishly smiled and backed off.
“Haha, I tend to be quite curious… My apologies.”
What kind of guy turns out to be so modest and cautious!
To oppa, I was just a little sister, and S was a mysterious agent, which explains their differing behavior.
Yet part of me found it amusing.
I’m way more mysterious than this “agent”!
Just then, in the calm atmosphere while sipping tea, S turned to oppa and asked.
“The trail is treacherous, so how come you and your sister ended up here together?”
“Haha! It’s a funny story. Eunsol—”
What followed was yet another tale revolving around the ever-ongoing Shanghai project.
The story about my unworthy sister messing things up and oppa graciously planning a weekend trip to cheer her up drifted out.
I didn’t even want to waste my breath to counter each claim and continued to relax in the cool breeze when suddenly—
— Smack!
S slammed the teacup onto the table, cutting off oppa’s chatter.
Oppa’s shock was clearly visible, and it was due to S’s demeanor.
Shaking hands.
Pale complexion.
Cold sweat trickling down his face.
Agent S was in a state of extreme tension that could be felt even by untrained eyes.
“Uh, um, Agent, if I’ve made a mistake, I—”
“It’s not that.”
After a brief moment of silence, S prepared to stabilize the situation.
“… Since we have a guest, I will fetch some simple dinner. Please, relax for a moment.”
Once S swiftly left, Jinwook oppa turned to me, still bewildered.
“What just happened? Eunsol, did I say something wrong?”
“…?”
“It was just a casual joke…”
“Well, maybe it wasn’t for him.”
*
Despite the promise of dinner, S didn’t return until after dark.
Of course, neither of us was the type of person to rummage around saying, “Where’s our food?”
We simply munched on some energy bars we had stashed during our hike.
S finally reappeared around 11 PM.
“Please, follow me.”
S looked completely pallid, with no color on his face.
This left both oppa and me hesitant to question what was wrong. We just followed the agent hesitantly.
S led us to a hidden room deep within the mansion.
It appeared empty with no furniture—just a mysterious vacant space with a single black stone rising in the center.
Eventually, oppa could no longer hold in his curiosity.
“Agent, what’s going on?”
“… Please place your hands on the purification stone.”
“The purification stone? This black stone here?”
“Please do so.”
Oppa hesitated but still complied out of fear.
However, I became flooded with an array of thoughts.
“Why should I follow this former agent’s directions?
Shouldn’t I just use my own powers to escape this bizarre mansion now?”
“Eunsol, please place your hand on the purification stone.”
I considered two things:
First, what I was doing was trying to realize “my past life” and identify my first wish.
In simpler terms, I had to behave like an ordinary person before coming to the hotel, not a participant.
Would I have refused the orders of someone who was a “former agent with ties to my father?”
My odds of having complied back then would be 99.9%.
So, listening now would likely be better.
Second, if something truly were amiss, my observant colleagues would have warned me in the same way they’d alert me about a poltergeist—nothing out of the ordinary had yet occurred.
“Understood.”
As I cautiously reached out and touched the purification stone—
— Swaaa!
I felt a vague wave washing over my body and mind like a cleansing tide.
In that moment, I realized what this stone likely was.
“Purification stone—so this really has ‘purifying’ powers. It might just correct any disturbances in my mind and soul, right?”
“Correct.”
It’s similar to the Flute of Peace but in a different vein. Though the flute is on another level!
“But what exactly are you getting at?”
Soon, S spoke with a determined look, ready to express something significant.
“I have… dedicated four lives to humanity.”
“Uh?”
Oppa questioned with pure confusion as he failed to grasp the words.
Contrarily, I understood exactly what that meant.
The agent in front of me had experienced four cycles of living.
“The toll of enduring unimaginable pain to fulfill my duty was considerable. I suppose I’m not fit to withstand eternal service. In the end, I wasn’t able to endure it and laid down that honorable duty. The Bureau has accepted my departure.”
“….”
“Yet, I still harbor a sense of duty within me. It may not be the same level of devotion to humanity, but I still want to protect at least those I can reach.”
What kind of grandiosity is this?
What is oppa and I growing increasingly anxious about?
“Now, listen. You should take my words as they are. Your lives have been distorted by an unknown demon.”
“Uh?”
“….”
“Everything from start to finish is a lie, a gigantic deception. It’s nothing less than a puppet show shaped by unfathomably vile intentions.”
“No, what are you suddenly talking about—”
“The Chairman forgot all this after realizing the truth but failed to bear it. However… you cannot forget!”
At this point, oppa appeared ready to storm out, but S caught oppa’s shoulder firmly.
“If you leave this place, you’ll never regain your awareness. You must realize the truth when the Purification Stone protects you!”
Could it be due to the stone’s power?
I began vaguely uncovering the nature of the discomfort I had felt earlier.
“Oppa.”
“Eunsol, we really should get out of this strange mansion—”
“We forgot someone.”
As I voiced that thought, S reacted explosively.
“That’s right! You’ve forgotten ‘someone.’”
Oppa stared wide-eyed in alarm.
“Who… who are we forgetting?”
Just as S was about to spill the beans, my mouth opened first.
“… Mom.”
“What?”
“Mom! What’s going on? The reason oppa and I came on this trip was because of Mom!”
“….”
“Where did she go? She was with us until the halfway point, right? Why is it just oppa and me—”
As both oppa and I finally grasped the truth and turned to look at each other in wide-eyed realization.
S’s expression had shifted to one of shock.
“Excuse me? I was referring to someone else.”
Someone else?
“Who is this ‘someone else’ you are talking about—”
“You both were originally four siblings, right? Am I wrong?”
“Y-Yes, that’s correct—”
“Where are the other two? Where is Jinwook’s older brother and sister?”
“Well, they are both at work—”
“Work, work! Please, you have to come to your senses! Jinwook, do you know what your older brother is working on right now? What about your sister?”
In the chilling silence, S disclosed a terrifying truth.
“Have you seen either of your siblings even once in recent months—or should I say, years?”
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