Chapter 13: The Return Call

Ashma kept staring at her phone and waiting for a message from Priyanka. She knew it would take her time to get through the call log and look for numbers from South Korea among all the calls they received from all over the world. Who knows how many calls they received from South Korea in a day? She will have to sort out through a lot of numbers and now Ashma was feeling sorry for her.

She kept checking her phone every few seconds, but no message was received. After a few minutes, her phone chimed. The display read 'one message received'. She opened and closed her fists a few times wrestling with herself whether to grab the phone or ignore it. Her brain too was struggling with whether to call that girl or not.

But not calling that girl was not a choice. She had no idea where to take her mother. She had no idea about Korea. She visited a few times for her shows but was limited to the theatre or the venue where the show was being held. She always used to stay for a day or two and then return. She never spent time exploring the beautiful country.

For the past year the leading textile corporation of Korea, 'Bogji' had been trying to court her to work with them, but she had no time. Her calendar was completely full. She had some or the other shows or was collaborating with leading fashion houses of the world. Presently, she had a spring show in a few days, then she had to come out with her summer collection. One team of her company was always busy with costumes for movies and series. She had to supervise everything, take care of everything and everyone.

And after she won the prestigious world film festival award for costume design in 2019, she was the most coveted designer in the industry. All famous people, influencers, socialites wanted to wear her creation, some succeeded, some were still waiting. She was being bombarded with requests every day. Some even offered her more than quoted price for her creation.

Even after being a celebrity, a simple phone call destroyed everything. Now, she had to go to Korea against her wish. She had to talk to a girl she never knew existed. Moreover, she had no idea about her address. She had to ask her how to reach her house. "House? What if he is in a hospital? I need the address of that hospital. Oh shit! I have to book a hotel too. For how many days should I book the room. Four days should be enough, I think. I can always extend as per requirements. Should I ask my agent to book. No, this is personal. I should take of everything myself, travel, hotel, everything. No one must know." She picked her phone and started searching on the internet for good hotels. She opened a few apps too.

"Wait! I should get the address first. That would determine the location of my hotel. I don't want to waste my time travelling from hotel to house or hotel to hospital. If the hotel is nearby the house, it will be better. Or would it? If the hotel is near, that family can come to visit us anytime but if the hotel is far, they might not visit. Would they want to visit us? Or would we be ignored and insulted because we are the family that that man abandoned? Oh, what to do? Dilemma, dilemma." She was talking out loud.

She picked up her pillow and punched it a few times and then screamed in it. "Ahhh… be brave. Talk to her first. And then let's decide about the accommodation. Be firm, don't talk about unnecessary things. Don't deviate from the topic. Get straight to the point. Foo… foo… foo." She exhaled loudly through her mouth three times to gather some courage, "what am I doing? Why am I afraid of some stranger? I am never afraid. What is happening? Okay, Ash, remember your martial arts training, you are strong, mentally and physically. Just give her a call." And she opened the message from Priyanka.

It said,

"Here you go, these were the numbers in our call log +82 10-4313-9868, +82 2 435-8036, +82 10-9873-4390, +82 2-328-4026, +82-2-342-3156, +82 2-730-9406"

She glanced at all the numbers and without delay, she recognised the number +82 10-9873-4390 as it was etched in her memory. It was the number that changed her whole life. The normal happy life that she was living was proven to be a lie because of a single phone call. The overexcited girl whose father is dying called from this number; she was absolutely sure. She touched the display directly on the number. A pop-up message displayed,

"Save the number.

Call the number.

Search the internet for the number."

She pressed to call the number. The next instant, she realised the time zone. Within seconds, she disconnected the number.

"It's better if I drop a message first and will call in the morning. It's almost 4 hours difference. Whole Korea must be asleep by now." As it was 11 at the night in India, it was around 2.30 am in Korea due to the time difference.

She started typing the message, but her phone vibrated and started ringing. She screamed and threw her phone on the bed and herself jumped from the bed and hid behind her chair. She listened to the ringing of the phone for quite some time. She realised that she was hiding from her phone. She instantly stood up and straightened her dress. "What the hell? You are a black spot on the name of a martial artist. Where is your courage, you moron? Pick up the phone," she scolded herself.

She crawled towards her phone and saw that the call was from the same number, from the girl who claimed her to be her sister. Now, she knew whatever she claimed was true, she was her sister. She kept staring at the phone which kept ringing and ringing. It rang completely and the screen went dark. She sighed with relief.

The phone started ringing again. She yelped. "Just a phone call, pick it up, pick it up," she kept repeating to herself. She contemplated hard whether to pick it or not. At last, she grabbed the phone, picked the call, and placed it near her ears.

Very cautiously she spoke, "Hello!"

"Hello Unni!" chirped Bong-Cha.

"You are still awake? Sorry if I disturbed your sleep."

"Oh no worries, I was awake, couldn't sleep."

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"Um… What is Unni?"

"Big sister."

"Huh? Do you mean, elder sister?"

"Yes," Bong-Cha happily replied.

The word 'sister' blew Ashma's fuse. Her brain exploded. "Okay, listen to me very carefully, I am no one to you and you are no one to me. I don't have a sister and you don't have a sister. I don't have a father. I will be there for my mother."

As if Ashma's anger had no impact on Bong-Cha, she started jumping up and down and said in a shaky voice, "You are coming?

Ashma puffed her cheeks and exhaled a big gust of air and said, "yes, I am coming with my mother. Could you give me the address of the hospital?"

"Hospital?" Bong-Cha sounded confused.

Ashma was confused as to why the girl on the other end of the call was confused. She asked a pretty straightforward question. "Yeah, to meet your dad," explained Ashma.

"Oh, he is not in a hospital."

"He is ill and he is at the house?" asked Ashma puzzled.

"Oh right, yes, he is very ill and he is at the house," Bong-Cha handled Ashma meticulously.

Ashma was now baffled. "Did she forget that her dad is ill? Or is she lying? Why would she lie? There is absolutely no reason to lie to me, she doesn't even know me," thought Ashma.

"He wanted to spend more time with us, that's why he decide to get treatment at home," explained Bong-Cha which eased Ashma'a mind.

For a second, Ashma wanted to ask about him, about his health, how was he doing, what was his condition, what happened to him that he was on his death bed but decided against it. She wanted nothing to do with him. She wanted to know nothing about him.

"Okay, so please send me your name and your address on this number," requested Ashma.

"I can save your number?" asked Bong-Cha, surprised.

Every word out of Bong-Cha's mouth was baffling Ashma. "Of course, why would ask this?"

"No, nothing, no reason." Bong-Cha laughed embarrassingly.

Ashma instantaneously understood. "Oh my god, don't tell me you are one of those crazy fans," commented Ashma.

"What? Ha-ha. Why would anyone be your fan? Are you an actress? By the way, my name is Park Bong-Cha, please remember," said Bong-Cha in a single breath.

"Yeah, you are a fan, got it," said Ashma, disappointed but slightly embarrassed.

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