When Sara stepped into her friend’s apartment, Nari was already dressed and operating.
‘Good morning!’ Nari greeted.
Sara hesitated before responding, rubbing her tired eyes.
‘Good morning… Are you already awake?’ ‘I couldn’t sleep,’ Nari admitted, with the casual tone of someone who has spent the night lost in thought rather than rest.
Sara sighed.
‘Sorry for texting you so late last night.’ ‘It’s okay.
Besides, when I looked at the clock, I already imagined that you wouldn’t be coming home,’ Nari said knowingly, sitting down on the couch and gesturing for Sara to join her.
Sara moved slowly, distracted by the thoughts swirling in her mind.
Nari noticed her hesitation and smirked.
‘So, how was last night with the Jeju´s boy?’ ‘Funny… passionate… and hard to forget.’ Nari tilted her head, as if examining Sara under a different light.
‘Why should you forget it?’ Sara exhaled, looking down.
‘Because no other man could live up to the comparison with him.’ Nari’s expression shifted to one of amusement laced with concern.
‘You are lost.’ Sara hesitated, running her fingers along the seam of her sleeve.
‘Have you ever felt such a connection with someone that it frightens you?’ ‘No,’ Nari admitted, with the certainty of someone who had never let herself be consumed by this feeling, ‘but if he’s so special, I don’t understand why you don’t want to keep in touch with him.
There is no logic, but there should never be logic in something as illogical as love.’ Sara shook her head.
‘My world is logical, rational, made of numbers.
Nari, I dedicate myself to the construction of structures.
I can’t think of something as irrational as romantic relationship thousands of kilometers away.’ Nari leaned forward, her expression turning serious.
‘Why not?
Do you think you’ll be able to never see him again after last night?’ Sara’s breath hitched.
She looked away, voice barely above a whisper.
‘I can’t even think about it…’ ‘That’s what I’m trying to make you understand,’ Nari said gently.
Sara sighed deeply, her thoughts racing.
‘Maybe we could talk from time to time… without commitments… He would be like a no-friend.’ Nari’s eyebrows arched in amusement.
‘A no-friend?’ ‘Yes,’ Sara said, fidgeting with the strap of her bag.
‘Because of the attraction I feel for him, I could never be just his friend.
But we couldn’t have a romantic relationship either, so we would have to be… no-friends.’ Nari chuckled.
‘Sara, your rule of friendly limits is becoming more and more blurred.’ Sara suddenly started rummaging through her bag, her movements frantic.
‘I can’t find it… I can’t believe it… I lost my phone with the Korean SIM card.’ Nari waved a hand dismissively.
‘The important thing is that you didn’t lose your Spanish one, with all your contacts.’ Sara’s face fell even further, her voice cracking with disbelief.
‘It was the only place I had his number saved.
It’s destiny, then.
I’ll never see him again.’ Nari crossed her arms, unwilling to give in to such fatalism.
‘But you just came from his house.
You know where he lives.’ Sara groaned.
‘Do you think I’m doing so well in Seoul?
I took a taxi.
He could be anywhere.’ ‘And the boy from Jeju becomes more and more mysterious.’ Sara buried her face in her hands.
‘I’ve been a fool… for fear of making a mistake… I don’t know anything about him.’ Nari suddenly brightened.
‘Wait.
Today, we could go for a walk around the area where he lives.
I’ll call my brother and tell him to meet us there.’ Sara hesitated.
‘I have no idea which neighborhood he lives in.
It could be anywhere in the city, about twenty minutes from here.’ ‘That’s already something we know—twenty minutes from here,’ Nari said optimistically.
Sara bit her lip.
‘Could I ask you a favor?
Cancel the meeting with your brother.
I don’t want him to think your friend is some crazy woman looking for a guy in the city.’ Nari laughed softly and nodded.
‘That’s true.
He would get the wrong impression of you.
So, we can spend this last day alone.’ … A few hours later, Seon-woo arrived at Sang-in’s apartment, carrying the same uneasy weight as the girl whose name he didn’t know.
His face was tight with worry, his steps slow and heavy.
Across the room, Sang-in sat with a cup of coffee that had long gone cold, lifting his gaze with the quiet patience of someone who had seen this kind of trouble before.
‘What’s going on?’ Sang-in asked.
‘When you called me, you sounded really serious.’ Seon-woo sat down heavily, rubbing a hand across his face.
‘Do you remember yesterday’s concert?’ Sang-in nodded, taking a sip of coffee.
‘I went with a girl I met at the airport,’ Seon-woo continued.
‘Then I ran into her again on Jeju´s Island.’ Sang-in raised an eyebrow.
‘And what happened yesterday that has you so nervous?
Was she a psychopath?’ he teased.
Seon-woo exhaled sharply, shaking his head.
‘None of that.’ He paused.
‘She’s the woman with whom I felt the deepest affinity in my life.’ Sang-in studied him for a moment, then leaned back with a slow, knowing smile.
‘So, a psychopath,’ he said.
Seon-woo shot him a sharp look.
Sang-in raised his hands in surrender.
‘Okay, okay.
So, what’s the problem?
She didn’t like you?’ Seon-woo hesitated, his gaze drifting toward the roof as if searching for an answer.
‘No,’ he said finally.
‘I think she felt the same way.’ Sang-in sighed, leaning back in his chair.
‘This is always your problem with women.
You play the mystery man, you don’t talk, and they don’t know if there’s something there or not.’ Seon-woo looked down at his hands, his fingers tracing invisible patterns on the wooden table.
‘I assure you, this time it wasn’t like that.
With her, I exposed myself like I never have before.’ He wavered before adding, almost to himself, ‘The problem is, she’s gone.
She returns home tonight.’ Sang-in straightened.
‘Gone where?’ ‘Italy,’ Seon-woo murmured.
‘I think.’ ‘What do you mean, ‘I think’?
You don’t know where she’s gone?’ ‘I don’t even know her name.’ Sang-in’s eyes widened.
‘What do you mean you don’t know her name?
Were you playing a role-playing game?’ ‘She decided we wouldn’t exchange personal information.
Maybe because she knew she was leaving.’ ‘And you just accepted that?’ ‘How was I supposed to know I’d end up liking her so much?’ Seon-woo’s voice was tight with frustration.
Silence settled between them before Sang-in finally let out a long sigh, shaking his head.
‘And now you want to find her?
What do you even know about her?’ ‘She’s our age.
She speaks perfect Italian.
She loves to read.
She cooks well.
She’s quick, intelligent, sensitive.
She has a sharp sense of humor.’ Sang-in rubbed his temples.
‘Okay, that’s great, but I meant personal information—like her name, job, blood type… where she stayed in Seoul?’ Seon-woo shook his head again.
‘What about Jeju?’ Sang-in pressed.
‘I could call the hotel where I last saw her,’ Seon-woo said, already pulling out his phone.
Before he could make the call, his phone rang.
He answered, his voice distant.
‘Hello, Nari… I was going to call you.
I don’t think we’ll be able to see each other today… Yes, I also had a problem… I’m sorry… Cool, see you next week.’ He hung up, turning back to Sang-in.
‘If I were you, I wouldn’t explain this whole thing to your sister,’ Sang-in mused.
Seon-woo exhaled.
‘I didn’t think about that.’ ‘It’s a little weird… but if you do find her, you’ll explain it to Nari eventually.’ Seon-woo nodded, already pulling up a map of Jeju´s island on his phone.
He quickly dialed a hotel number.
‘Good morning,’ Seon-woo said, his voice unnaturally steady.
‘I need some information about a guest who stayed there on September 12th.’ He turned on the speakerphone.
Sang-in leaned in, listening intently.
‘I’m sorry, sir,’ the receptionist said politely.
‘We can’t give out that kind of information.’ Seon-woo clenched his jaw.
‘I understand,’ he said, ‘but could you make an exception just this once?’ ‘Sir, we have very strict rules about the privacy of our guests.’ Sang-in whispered urgently.
‘You have to insist.’ ‘I understand your position,’ Seon-woo said, his voice pleading.
‘But please, could you help me this time?
It’s very important to me.’ There was a pause on the other end before the receptionist answered.
‘I could… I could… Tell me the name of the person you’re looking for, and maybe I could cough if it sounds familiar.’ Seon-woo’s pulse quickened.
‘I don’t know her name… that’s why I’m calling.’ Silence.
Then, the receptionist sighed.
‘In that case, sir, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.’ ‘Thank you for your kindness anyway.’ He hung up, looking desperate.
Sang-in, pragmatic, was already pulling up flight schedules on his phone.
‘You said she’s leaving tonight for Italy.
Let’s check the flights to Italy.’ After a moment, he found the information.
‘The flight to Rome leaves at 11:30 PM.
You could go to the airport tonight… but what are you going to tell her?
If she didn’t want you to know her name, maybe she doesn’t want to be found.
Maybe she’s married.’ Seon-woo’s expression hardened.
‘Is she married?’ he repeated.
‘I don’t know.
I don’t care.
I just want to find her’.