Page 35 of Perfect Happiness
To Min-young, Joon-young was at once a brother, a father, and her king.Joon-young likewise worshipped Min-young like she was an Egyptian princess.Whenever Joon-young looked at Min-young, Jane swore she could hear “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” playing in the background.Joon-young was still doting upon Min-young like this the last time Jane saw him at his wedding.
Min-young hadn’t changed one bit.The way she peeled her eyelids back into her head as she questioned Jane was more than enough to prove this.
“Why do you ask?”Jane asked.
“Joon-young is missing.”The way she blurted this out was as if she’d been waiting for Jane to ask.“I can’t reach him, he’s not at home, and there’s no one who’s seen him recently.”
“How recently?”
“Since last Tuesday.”
Tuesday.Jane put down her coffee.Shehad seen Joon-young last Tuesday morning.
“I talked with him on the phone last Tuesday around 2 p.m.,” Min-young said.“When I asked him where he was, he said he was in Kyochon.”
2 p.m.was well after Jane saw him.Jane didn’t want to mention her meeting with Joon-young.But even had she wanted to, Min-young didn’t give her the chance.
“He said he would call me back and then hung up suddenly.Since then, I haven’t been able to contact him.I’ve sent him text messages, but they’re still marked unread.And when I call, it says his phone is turned off.Something has happened to him.”
Min-young’s hand was trembling as she touched her hair.Jane thought about what Min-young said.A thirty-seven-year-old man disappearing for six days was suspicious, but there were all sorts of explanations for someone not answering phone calls or text messages.
“Your brother is self-employed, and he has two legs.He could be anywhere doing God knows what.Perhaps he’s just under your radar.Maybe he went to do research for a play.Or maybe he’s on vacation.Or maybe he just wanted to go off the grid for a while.”
Min-young stuck out her lips and let out a quiet smirk.Her response was akin to sending a single “lol” after receiving a long text message.She was mocking Jane’s opinion without coming out and saying it to her face.
“You talk as if you don’t know his situation.”
Jane looked at her with exhaustion.When would this girl learn?Not everyone in the world knew or cared about her older brother’s “situation.”
“Actually, I don’t.”
Min-young jutted out her jaw and twisted it in a “You’ve got to be kidding me” manner.Jane loathed games of keep away like this.And if Min-young really wanted her help, she could try being politer.Jane wanted to tell her that she wasn’t the least bit interested in her brother’s “situation.”
“Joon-young hasn’t written any plays since the divorce.He does whatever work he can get.Deliveryman, chauffeur, construction worker.”Min-young’s voice was becoming more agitated.“He’s been working two, sometimes three jobs just to send money to Yuna.Sometimes, he doesn’t even sleep.And he doesn’t have time to go see a doctor when he’s sick.And yet you think he’s gone on vacation?”
In contrast to Min-young, the voltage on Jane’s emotions was quickly dropping.She wasn’t the one who divorced Joon-young.Yunawas.Nor was she the reason he had to pay child support.Jane hadn’t heard any details about their divorce.She didn’t want to know, and she never asked.Nor did her mother provide her with any details aside from that Joon-young was found to be the guilty party, and that it was his responsibility to pay child support.Jane could care less that he was having a hard time making payments.
“I didn’t come here to be yelled—.”
“Aren’t you worried?”Min-young said, cutting Jane off.“I said Joon-young is missing.You used to be friends.Why don’t you seem to care?”
She was right about one thing.They used to be friends.But she couldn’t be certain he was really missing.And it wasn’t true that she wasn’t worried.Of course she was.After all, he disappeared last Tuesday after they met.This worried herverymuch.
Jane contemplated telling Min-young about that morning.She didn’t have anything to hide, but neither was she obligated to disclose this piece of information.She also didn’t think that it would be much help.And if Jane was the last person, aside from Min-young herself, to be in contact with Joon-young, then revealing this would get her caught up in Joon-young’s problems.The last thing Jane wanted was for Min-young to become suspicious of her.If that happened, Min-young would act like a stalker until her older brother was found; she would call Jane every waking minute and show up at her door without warning looking for him.After all, proper social etiquette, other people’s privacy, none of it mattered when it came to her big brother.
Jane shuddered as she took a sip of coffee.Her intuition was whispering to her that Min-young had other motives for coming here.After all, Min-young had asked Jane if she met Joon-young, but she never pressed her for an answer.If she really expected an answer, she would have pursued it more—that was her personality.Jane decided to ask Min-young her true motives.After she heard Min-young’s answer,thenshe could decide if she wanted to tell her about Tuesday morning.It still wouldn’t be too late.
“What exactly do you want from me?”
As Jane suspected, Min-young had been waiting for this question.
“I want you to let me meet Yuna.”
This caught Jane off guard.Let her meet Yuna?Did she not know phones existed?
“You can get in contact with her yourself.Why do you need me?”
Min-young opened her eyes wide and in a naïve manner responded to Jane’s question with a question of her own:
