7 CURIOSITY

Soojin stands across the street in front of a modest one-story bungalow. Compared to the houses nearby it was the smallest one standing beside two other large two-floor houses. The rusts in the rods crossed together to make a gate is noticeable from where she stands. There were no cars parked on the front lawn and the house appears to be vacant.

I shouldn't be here, Soojin tells herself.

Yet, her curiosity from yesterday's incident drives her to search for her client's home address from his file and visit his place to see the man again. Soojin knows what she is doing is unethical. Getting close to him outside the clinic and breaking confidentiality is an offense that can revoke her license but the mystery surrounding her Lee Yejoon's death and the appearance of a man who looks exactly like her client pushes her to do things beyond the necessary.

Who are you? Soojin's mind yearns to find an answer.

The therapist crosses the street and peers inside the house with her hand above her narrow eyes, scanning for a sign of the mysterious man she yearns to see again.

"Miss?" 

The baritone voice makes Soojin's body flinch from surprise. She turns her head to see a tall man wearing a black cap in reverse and holding a ball.

"Who are you?" The man asks again, his eyes narrow staring at her. Curious about who she is and what she is doing in front of the house.

"I-I'm Han Soojin, I'm a friend of Yejoon." The woman stutters, looking away before answering the stranger's question.

"The therapist?" The man raises his brow and leans his head on the side, scanning her from head to feet and studying every inch of her body.

"How did you know?" Soojin's eyes widened from shock, learning his client talks about her to other people.

"I'm Yejoon's friend. Yong In-Su."The tall man spread her arms to offer a handshake.

Soojin stares at the large hand with long fingers. She plans to uncover the mystery behind her client's death and the appearance of the man and this will be a great opportunity to do it.

The woman lifts her arm and lets her hand touch Yong In-Su's palm. The subtle electrifying feeling surges from fingers to her hand and arms, reaching her shoulder, neck, face, and mind. Then the images came alive like recalling a memory she possessed before. Clear. Concise. Memorable.

["Yejoon, what have you been up to? You haven't attended our basketball game twice now," In-Su said, changing his top inside the nurse's locker room.

The man he called didn't respond and stayed standing in front of his open locker. In-Su put his tee-shirt inside his locker and closed it. Then paces himself towards his friend and puts his right hand on his shoulder.

The touch startles the man, he can feel the trembling muscles in Yejoon's shoulder and his friend drops a card with heart decoration. They both quickly bend their bodies to get the piece of folded paper on the floor but In-Su was quick to get it and opens the card to see the message.

He read the letter fast and loud.

"My dear Yejoon, I miss your—" In-Su stops reading when his best friend snatches the card immediately out of his hand.

In-Su arches his lips to smile mischievously while his friend throws the card inside his locker and latches it. His best friend walks out of the room without saying a word and In-Su's forehead wrinkles with the strange behavior Yejoon did hiding the letter.

He catches Yejoon staring blank into nothingness and would often get things wrong from not paying attention to the doctors. Then, in the middle of the hallway, Yejoon falls unconsciously to the floor. His body was trembling and cold. They immediately took him to a room where a doctor analyzed his best friend and the finding said it was an anxiety attack due to severe stress.]

"So you are the beautiful therapist my best friend was talking about," In-Su says, staring at his feet with a timid smile on his lips. He begins to play with the ball in his hands to stop fidgeting, "He told me he was seeing a therapist. Honestly, I'm the one who told him to see one."

"That's good advice." Soojin let out a weak smile on her face. The air of sadness fills both of them remembering the person who suddenly died.

The noticeable sorrow in In-Su's eyes can be seen from the moisture forming on the corner of his eyelids. His jaws are held firmly to stop the tears from falling down his cheeks.

"I-I know… it's unethical for you to answer this, b-but… I…t-truly want to know if my best friend told you about anyone who threatened his life. Anyone who might do this to him" In-Su pleads with his eyes low and swallows hard with every word.

Unfortunately, Soojin knows Mr. Lee Yejoon is hiding details of his life and would only tell her about his happy relationship with a new lover, his best friend's mother. And tells her the reason for his anxiety attack is about his best friend finding out about their relationship. Yet, whenever she would shake the client's hand, an image of an older woman wearing a nurse uniform is what makes him tremble in fear.

"I'm sorry, I can only say details of my session with Mr. Lee to his close relatives," Soojin answers with dismay in her eyes, "Can I ask you a personal question, Mr. Yong?" She asks.

"Sure, and you can call me In-Su," Her client's best friend says, imposing a smile on his face.

"Is your mother a nurse?" Soojin raises a concern. The woman she sees from her client may have a connection to his death and she suspects it's In-Su's mother.

"No, why did you ask?" In-Su's forehead crumples from confusion.

"Nothing, Mr. Lee mentions a lot of people he was close with." The therapist clarifies. It was puzzling information to learn that her client was afraid of someone else.

"He was close with the head nurse at the hospital," The man added, lifting his chin and looking up at the sky to think, "He was always close to women older than him."

"Maybe she was the one he was talking about," The therapist nods her head, "Anyway, thank you for the time. I'm sorry for your loss."

"You're welcome," In-Su replies, nodding his head,

Soojin leans her head forward before leaving the man standing in front of the house. Her mind is wrapped around the knowledge of the woman that causes her client to tremble.

The head nurse.

From two blocks away, a white car watches Han Soojin and Yong In-Su's exchange in front of the house of the victim. A man with white hair and a white beard stares at them with his deep narrow eyes, trying to read their lips to understand their conversation.

"Is that the therapist?" The man asks the person sitting at the backseat of his car, hiding from the curious eyes of people that can recognize him from the headlines.

The man crouching in the backseat stoops forward with his head low to look at the woman that Detective SungMin was staring at. The long black hair curling at the tip, the pinkish skin glowing under the sunlight, and the way the woman stands and moves with elegance.

"Yes, that's Ms. Han Soojin," The man answers with his heart pacing fast inside his chest. He can't seem to control his body with the image of the dead man.

"Looks like she knows something we don't," The detective says, looking dubious at the monster who he works for.

"I'll take care of it." The man wearing Lee Yejoon's image announces. He has a plan to make the woman stop following him.

"Don't make her one of your ghosts, she's too pretty to die." Detective SungMin lets out his sentiment before opening the door to his car to approach the deceased best friend, Yong In-Su.