Big Life

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 : It’s an Incredible Gift (1)

Jaegun abruptly expanded his eyes and opened his mouth . The moment he touched the kitten, an indescribable sensation traveled through his arm and entered his body .

“Urgh… Wh-What? Did I drink too much?”

Even his head started aching . Jaegun wrapped one hand around his head and hollered .

“Arrgg, I must have over-drank . I should rest now . You should come to my house for now too, but I would have to use 2 hands to bring the box…”

To Jaegun’s words, the kitten classily hopped on top of the box . Seeing this cute scene, Jaegun momentarily forgot his pain and let out a grin . As he lifted the box up, the kitten was already calmly waiting for him .

“Your name is Rika, right?”

“Meow . ”

“There’s nothing to feed you except milk at my house, is that okay?”

“Meow . ”

“As soon as I get up tomorrow, I’ll find your owner for you . I’m just a novel writer with nothing to do . ”

“Meow . Meow . ”

That night . Jaegun dreamt his first dream in a long time .

An old man in his 60s was there, warmly smiling at Jaegun . He approached Jaegun and laid down a piece of advice .

-Write the stories that you want to write, but you must remember to distinguish between what you want to write and writing to solely make money .

-Do not forget what you promised to yourself when you decided to pick up the pen . You must always keep in mind what you promised to yourself in the beginning .

“Urggghhhh…”

Jaegun rubbed his burning head from the hangover and woke up from his slumber .

“Meow . ”

Rika, who was guarding him by his bedside all night, approached him while meowing . Jaegun fondled Rika who was rubbing against his cheeks and stood up .

“You sleep well Rika? I should first take a walk around the neighborhood . And you, play with the toys while I start on my proj-…”

Jaegun couldn’t finish his sentence and closed his mouth . He stared penetratingly at Rika with a face void of tiredness . His two eyes were wildly shaking .

“Ri-Rika, I knew you already…?”

“Meow . ”

Jaegun was in a state of extreme confusion . Memories of his daily life with Rika were flooding into his mind . What was the meaning of this when it was his first time meeting this kitten .

“Wh-What? What? Thi-This is?”

The new memories were not just about Rika . His entire body shuddered while he observed the memories one by one . The memory fragments didn’t make sense nor were they organized .

A scene of him taking a walk with Rika, a scene of him writing a story somewhere, a scene of a young, angry girl throwing a fit, etc… All of these scenes were running past his mind like the floating clouds outside .  

A memory of a picture surfaced in Jaegun’s mind . The figure in the picture made Jaegun recall his dream last night .

‘The, the old man from the dream!’

He had completely forgotten about the contents of his dream until just now . The figure was that old man from his dreams who gave him various advices . The memories of the old man were, for some reason, transferred to Jaegun’s mind .

Jaegun sprinted outside of his one-room apartment, wearing mismatching slippers . Behind the huffing Jaegun was Rika, quickly keeping up with him .

The place that Jaegun arrived at was the grave on the mountain . He looked at the gravestone while gasping for breath and he immediately froze .

-Suh Gunwoo (1952~2012)

“How could this be…!”

His teeth clattered as he fell down to the ground . The name of the old man that forcefully planted the memories into him was Suh Gunwoo . How could this possibly happen . The memories of another person, and a long-dead person at that, were planted inside his mind . Jaegun tried pinching his cheeks . He felt the pain for sure; it was not a dream .

“What? Th-This is?”

Another memory surfaced in his mind . It was none other than Suh Gunwoo’s street address .

“Pyeongchang-dong… Jongno District… Seoul…?”

Jaegun sounded out the address with his mouth . Pyeongchang-dong was in the same city he was in and it was not that far from where he was . It was a distance that he could go to in 40~50 minutes by riding the subway .

‘I definitely need to go there . ’

First, Jaegun came back home and quickly washed his body . Inside a big, yellow backpack, he packed the items that he picked up yesterday: the laptop, fountain pen, a mug, and the glasses . After he was done, he held the kitten in his embrace .

“You come here too . This is probably your home . ”

“Meow . ”

Jaegun boarded the subway while holding Rika . He wanted to use a taxi because of the cat, but due to his financial situation, he had no choice but to use public transportation .

“Ah, what the hell is this . Bringing a cat inside the subway . ”

“I have an allergy too, really . ”

“I’m very sorry . I apologize . I’ll get off soon”

As he was profusely apologizing to the passengers, it was soon time to get off . Jaegun hugged Rika and quickly got off the subway .

‘Let’s see, the address is…’

The villas became numerous as he was nearing the address . All of a sudden, he stopped in front of a place in a narrow alleyway .

“Meow . ”

Without warning, Rika jumped to the ground and took the lead . Jaegun treaded behind Rika through the twisting and turning alleway .  

Suddenly, the duo stopped in front of a worn-down villa . Jaegun looked at the engraved address next to the entrance . It exactly matched the address from Suh Gunwoo’s memories .

“It was your house after all, you remembered well . Let’s go in quickly . ”

Jaegun walked in front of the villa and pressed the doorbell of suite 201 . After a long while,a man’s voice came back through the intercom .

“Who is this?”

“Ah, yes . Excuse me, do you possibly know Suh Gunwoo?”

“… What is the problem?”

The man’s voice turned dark in an instant . Jaegun cleared his voice with a cough and quickly replied .

“Actually, his grave is near my house . There was a laptop and various other items as well . I also found a cat and was wondering if these items were yours . ”

“How did you find this place?”

“The address was written on a piece of paper inside the box . Um, I think it was something like a delivery sticker . ”

Jaegun did not tell the truth . He could not tell the crazy story that he inherited the memories of Suh Gunwoo and he found this place like that .

“There was an address written somewhere? There is no way that would happen… Anyways I don’t need those items so please go back . ”

The man still did not open the door and stubbornly talked through the intercom . Jaegun was enraptured by a peculiar mood . Jaegun was sure that the man abandoned these items in the grave from the way he was talking .

“Excuse me, but what is your relation with Mr . Suh Gunwoo?”

Jaegun asked through the intercom . He needed information . What was the identity of the old man named Suh Gunwoo, who came into his head without warning; he desperately wanted to get to the bottom of this .

-Slam!

The door suddenly opened with a deafening noise . In front of the startled Jaegun, who took a step back, was a man in his 30s . A red face and a strong alcoholic smell emanated from the man even though it was currently morning .

“What are you planning to do with information about my Father?”

“Fa-Father?”