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Even on weekends when she wasn't babysitting, she almost always stayed home, and if she had to go to Brooklyn to see her mother, she would let them know at least a week in advance.
[Daisy, it's bedtime! Go to your room right now!]
Lauren approached Hunter, speaking to Daisy in a stern voice.
[Hunter, have you heard from Olivia?]
He immediately dialed Jiyu's number on the phone in his hand. The line rang for a long time before switching to voicemail.
[Did you try calling Mrs. Parker?]
[Ae-jeong's phone is completely off. I wonder if something happened... She's not the type to disappear without a word, so I'm worried. No one has seen her since this morning.]
Lauren's face darkened with anxiety.
[You must be tired, so go wash up and get some rest. She wouldn't do this without a reason, so there must be some circumstance. She'll be back soon.]
She patted his shoulder and returned to her room. After confirming the hallway was empty, Hunter opened Jiyu's door. He turned on the floor lamp and looked around the room; nothing had changed since last night. There wasn't even a trace of her having lain on the bed.
Leaving Jiyu's room, Hunter went into his own room and gulped down ice-cold water from the refrigerator.
'Surely she's not disappearing forever.'
He knew better than anyone that while she might be cruel to him, Jiyu didn't have the personality to be mean to Lauren and Daisy.
Despite having just drunk water, his mouth was bone-dry. He felt more anxious than he had when facing the finals against the number one national ranking for under-18s.
'Why isn't she answering? Did something actually happen?'
The thought that she might have been in an accident made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Jiyu was physically incredibly frail. It didn't take much strength to overpower her; she looked as if she would break if merely tapped. Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
Hunter sat on the sofa with his door open, waiting for Jiyu, afraid he might miss the sound of her arrival. However, she did not return even by dawn.
During that time, his imagination continuously conjured horrific images. A level of worry and anxiety he had never felt before pushed him to the brink of madness.
Early in the morning, Hunter called the police to report her missing. However, he was told that because Jiyu was an adult, a missing person's report or search was impossible for someone who had been gone for only one night.
As he was heading to the dining room for brunch after waking up late, Lauren spotted Hunter pacing the hallway and rubbed her eyes.
[Hunter, I was actually just about to call you. Do you happen to have Jiyu's boyfriend's number? That friend she went to prom with. What was his name, Jonathan? Would it be weird to call him? What do you think? Am I being too old-fashioned? I know Jiyu is an adult and doesn't necessarily need to tell me if she's spending the weekend with her boyfriend... but I'm just worried.]
[Ha. No way.]
At Lauren's words, his imagination branched off in a new direction.
Joshua Yoon and Jiyu.
Spending the night together.
Over the image of Jiyu that he had imagined thousands of times, Joshua overlapped instead of himself. He recalled the sight of the two of them leaving the party together.
Is that why you rejected me?
Not because you weren't "mentally prepared," but because you had someone else on your mind?
Did you leave the house and spend the night with that bastard as soon as you told me to break up?
You said you used me just to cling to this house. I guess you've found someone else to lean on now.
Bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep brimmed with a cold, blue rage.
Hunter retraced the things she had said the last time he saw her.
She told him to break up, saying she would never regret it.
He let out a hollow laugh.
She had blamed him with such audacity, when she was the one intending to cast him aside like an old toy.
The back of his head felt numb, as if he had been struck hard.
He had tried to ignore and bury the part where Jiyu said she used him to stay in this house. He understood that she was in a desperate situation, and he wasn't blameless either, since he had asked her to date him just to easily use her as a Jinx.
The feeling of betrayal burned down his esophagus like bitter acid, stinging his stomach. Hunter knew well that most people who approached him always wanted something.
Connections, friendship, or a stepping stone to reach his father.
Whatever it was, the last name Hamilton made it difficult for Hunter to form horizontal relationships. Even though he never asked for it, people arbitrarily placed him at the top and acted according to that hierarchy.
Jiyu had been one of the few exceptions with whom he had a horizontal relationship. At least, that's what he thought.
'But you weren't like that.'
Far from wanting something from him, she had seemed busy avoiding him. That was why he had firmly believed she wasn't by his side for any ulterior motive.
The idea that she had intentionally dated him to live in this house now stuck in his throat like a fishbone.
'Did you date me because you were afraid of being kicked out? Did you force those kisses?'
He laughed self-deprecatingly.
'I think I even told you I'd just give you an apartment. How naive.'
The suppressed anger boiled up, heating his chest.
Hunter realized that on a day like today, he was less likely to do something violent in front of others if he stayed alone. So, he canceled his external practice schedule and locked himself in the basement court.
He turned on the ball machine and swung his racket with all his might. Every time the strings hit the ball, the vibration traveled from his elbow up to his shoulder. With every hit, he spat out curses.
The image of Joshua and Jiyu entangled naked would not leave his mind.
With a loud thwack, a ball hit by the racket struck the top of the ball machine. The machine collapsed with a loud crash, firing balls pop, pop toward the ceiling net.
[Fuck! Dammit!]
He slammed the tennis racket onto the floor with all his strength.
Bang, bang, bang.
The racket, made of carbon fiber and graphite, produced a crashing sound as loud as a gunshot upon hitting the hard court. After three hits, the racket was snapped in half, left in tatters.
Hunter threw the racket to the floor. His left hand, which had been gripping the handle, trembled slightly.
Did she call him an old toy? Then he intended to treat her exactly like a toy. In his entire life, he had never let a single small toy be taken from him. Jiyu would be no different.
He vowed to grip her in his palm by any means necessary and never let her go. He would play with her until he was sick of it, and only then, when he grew bored, would he declare the end.
Joshua Yoon's address was easy to find by searching the school contact list. He climbed up to the family floor, skipping three steps at a time.
Lauren, who was just about to enter the play room with Daisy, spotted him.
[Hunter! I was just about to call you for dinner. I heard from Jiyu! Ae-jeong was rushed to the emergency room with food poisoning; she left her phone in her room, so she couldn't contact us, and she just called from her phone. Thank goodness it was nothing serious. She said she'll probably arrive home after 10, so don't wait up. She said she's sorry for worrying us.]
Hunter closed his eyes tightly and opened them. Then he exhaled. Only then did he realize he had been holding his breath.
Lauren looked at him and chuckled.
[I guess you were worried because you're friends. Eat dinner first, then wash up. Monique told me you skipped lunch to exercise. Oh, how was yesterday's practice match?]
Hunter remained silent, lost in thought.
[Hey, answer me when I ask you something. You're becoming more and more taciturn... This is why sons are no fun.]
He caught up with the grumbling Lauren. This was the opportunity to put his plan into action.
[Mother, it seems Jiyu is thinking of going to Berkeley because of tuition. What are you going to do about Daisy? She's only just started reading properly; won't it be hard for her to keep up with the curriculum?]
Lauren, looking at him blankly as if surprised by the unexpected question, soon frowned and nodded.
[I'm actually worrying about that. Once Jiyu leaves, I'm thinking of hiring a live-in tutor instead of a babysitter. What do you think?]
He had been taught that when he wanted something, he should use any means and methods within the bounds of the law. Keeping Jiyu here was also helping Daisy. Therefore, there was no need for guilt.
[Would Daisy accept that willingly? No need to overthink it, just...]
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