Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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25.
Liam frowned slightly, watching Hee-ju pass by him. She’d said she was fine, yet he couldn’t help his concern. Why did it keep gnawing at him?
Perhaps he was the meddlesome type after all. He wished he could show this side of himself to Philip.
‘You’re a bystander. You pretend to enjoy things, but you care about nothing. Or rather, you lack affection for anything at all. That’s how you’ll die alone. Without your heart resting on anything. Rather lonely, isn’t it?’
It had been close to a curse, yet because the voice delivering it was utterly flat, it hadn’t stung as much as it might have.
Still, regardless of how he felt, a question lingered: ‘Am I really that kind of person?’
But if he looked at himself now, he might have to take those words back.
Liam watched Hee-ju run her hand along the mantelpiece. The one dying alone, unmindful of anything, would be her—not him.
“I’ll check the kitchen.”
“Splitting up would be faster, I suppose.”
The kitchen was equally a wreck. Liam stepped carefully around scattered splinters, opening every drawer he could find.
There was nothing that could hold a key. No safe, not even anything resembling one.
This time he moved with deliberate focus, occasionally tapping the floor with his foot.
The sound beneath him remained consistent. Nowhere did he hear the hollow ring of empty space.
Then Hee-ju walked into the kitchen.
“Find anything?”
“Nothing. You?”
“Same. I checked the bathroom too—nothing there either.”
Hee-ju shrugged with a disappointed expression and turned away.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
The second floor held one bathroom and two rooms. Hee-ju opened a door.
“This one looks like the bedroom. And that one?”
“Study.”
Liam opened the study door and stepped inside.
Standing in the doorway, Hee-ju slowly turned her head. The bedroom was as chaotic as downstairs, yet her eyes seemed to see it orderly.
Crisp, taut sheets. Precise pillows. A newspaper resting on the table.
…….
Hee-ju gave a quiet shake of her head, then forced herself forward. This wasn’t the time to be swept away by emotion.
A safe that matched the key. She hoped it was in this room, and methodically, she began searching.
She didn’t miss the space beneath the bed frame or between the mattress. She tapped the walls, pressed her foot along the floor.
“Another dead end?”
She approached the half-open closet. Apparently her father had anticipated being away from home for some time. The closet was empty.
Only after checking the drawers and walls did Hee-ju leave the bedroom. At that moment, Liam was emerging from the study.
Their eyes met; she shook her head first. He did the same. Together they descended the stairs.
Liam spoke in a thoughtful voice.
“The Last Will was about taking the Clock from the living room, wasn’t it?”
“Last Will……”
Hee-ju murmured the phrase absently. At the time, she hadn’t thought of it as a final request. She’d expected to see him again the next day.
But now it had become his last words. And with that realization, they felt heavier.
‘I’d like you to take that Clock in the living room. It’s the only thing left with your mother’s traces.’
“We don’t know what he hid inside the Clock, but they didn’t find it either. If they’d gotten what they wanted, they wouldn’t have pursued you.”
Hee-ju nodded. Her gaze turned to the living room floor. There, shattered to pieces, lay the Clock.
Her spirits sank like coffee grounds settling to the bottom of a cup. She couldn’t even honor her father’s final wish. And it wasn’t even difficult.
“Hee-ju?”
Liam called to her. Instead of answering, Hee-ju took slow steps forward. She knelt gradually before the destroyed Clock.
And reached out. Liam watched silently as she moved.
In that moment, just as Hee-ju seemed about to pick up a Clock fragment, her hand veered toward the Picture Frame beside it. She stared intently at the photograph.
Liam cast his gaze over her shoulder. Allen Smith. Or rather, Kim Hyun-tae.
He stood before the fireplace in glasses, looking toward the camera. Seeing his stern expression, Liam’s eyes narrowed.
Did he resemble Hee-ju? Difficult to say. Perhaps the set of his mouth was similar. Ah, the eyes—they were definitely alike. Those drooping, puppy-like eyes.
Just as Liam was about to offer a word of comfort, Hee-ju spoke first.
“Where would this be?”
“……What do you mean?”
“This fireplace—it’s not in this house.”
Liam looked at the photograph again, then glanced back at the fireplace in the living room. At first glance they seemed similar, but looking closer, they were different.
The antlers of a deer peeked into the edge of the photograph. It looked like a taxidermied stag mounted on the wall had been captured in the shot.
“Does it matter where? I have photographs from all over the world hanging in my house.”
Hee-ju’s brow furrowed slightly.
“He liked taking photographs? He didn’t seem the type.”
“Mother loved it. These are photographs from when I was young.”
Hee-ju stood and handed him the Picture Frame.
Liam took it and studied the photograph again. The broken glass made it look almost like modern art.
“There’s a Clock on the mantelpiece in the photograph.”
“So?”
Liam’s eyes flicked. Hee-ju continued.
“Father said it like this: ‘I’d like you to take that Clock in the living room.'”
“And?”
“Not a Clock ‘hanging’ in the living room—a Clock that ‘is’ in the living room. What do you think?”
“Hmm.”
Liam exhaled a long, thoughtful breath, and Hee-ju looked sheepish.
“Did I go too far?”
“No. That’s a good observation.”
Liam flipped the Picture Frame over and unfastened the lock. The wooden backing fell away, revealing the reverse side of the photograph.
Korean characters were written across the bottom. Liam murmured them in a low voice.
“Wasatch?”
“You mean Wasatch State Park?”
“The one in Utah?”
“Did I go too far again?”
Liam stared at the photograph without answering. Then he nodded.
“That Key opens a house in the photograph?”
…….
“We should go. For now, that’s the only hypothesis we have.”
Besides, there was no other choice. All other leads had run dry.
Liam set down the empty frame, tucked the photograph into his pocket, and turned back to Hee-ju.
“We’ll stay here tonight and leave tomorrow. We should be able to find a Korean restaurant once we get to Downtown.”
Liam walked ahead, then noticed Hee-ju wasn’t following. He turned to look back at her, standing motionless, and his brow tightened.
“What? Do you want something else to eat?”
Suddenly Hee-ju’s eyes softened. She gave a breath-like laugh and followed Liam.
You remembered?
Hee-ju swallowed that question before it left her lips.
It was strange. Just knowing he remembered such a small thing made her heart flutter. Like poking a quiet fire with kindling.
Liam added in an easy tone.
“After that, we’ll stay at a hotel.”
“Sounds good.”
Hee-ju composed her expression to hide what she felt.
“Spending our first night in a motel would definitely be awkward, wouldn’t it?”
Liam’s expression registered the hit. Covering his eyes with one hand, he chuckled, shaking his head.
Leaving her father’s house, Hee-ju paused and looked back. It was an ordinary house, no different from any other.
…….
The house where her father had lived.
Perhaps she would never return. Just as she would never see him again.
Hee-ju slowly turned away. A few paces ahead, Liam waited for her. She walked toward him.
Then her Mobile Phone rang. A phone whose number she’d given to no one.
Liam’s expression hardened; Hee-ju tensed as well. She checked the screen and relaxed.
“It’s Noel.”
***
Noel pulled her hood deep over her head as she left the store.
Sometimes she wondered if she might be a vampire. The kind that turns to ash in sunlight.
“Never mind that.”
Sahara had said not to worry, but clearly information about the Russian Mafia was necessary. Noel knew someone who could help with this sort of thing.
In this neighborhood, everyone knew the name “Peeping Tom.” And Peeping Tom knew everything about the neighborhood.
Sure enough, he had information about the Russian Mafia too.
“I should tell Sahara. I got her phone number, so I can call, right?”
It had been so long since she’d called anyone that she felt nervous. Noel rehearsed what she’d say to Sahara as she quickened her pace.
First greet her, no—I should introduce myself first. Then after that, politely state the business……
“Noel!”
Someone called her name. Noel stopped thinking and looked up. A familiar face stood before her.
“……Hobson?”
At that, Lucas Hobson smiled bitterly.
“Call me Lucas.”
Noel stared at him blankly, as if asking why he’d stopped her.
Lucas scratched his cheek.
“Why haven’t you been coming to school lately?”
…….
“We haven’t seen each other in ages. At least pretend to be glad.”
Should she be glad? They weren’t friends. Or maybe she should pretend even if they weren’t friends. She’d ask Sahara later and write it down in her notebook.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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