FILE 16: THE AUCTION HOUSE PART 2

I'm not an eavesdropper, but this was for work. Understand? Pretending to vacuum, I pried in the conversation.

"Calm yourself. I can't understand you if you keep crying like that," a man's voice said impatiently. Someone took deep breaths.

"It's Yeon Binna. She's gotten seriously hurt! I'm afraid she'll die!"

"Did you call the ambulance?" the manager implores urgently. There was more sniffling.

"We did. We're still waiting for them to arrive. I immediately came to tell you what happened while everyone's waiting," she said tearfully.

"What transpired there? You should've called to inform me," the manager became agitated. 

"We tried. But sir's phone kept going to voicemail. So they sent me," the woman replied frustrated.

"How strange. I never switched my phone off." There was tapping. "How strange," he said again.

"I'll have to get this checked. So tell me, what happened?"

"We did our job as usual. Binna and Hwa Young were taking inventory while I was helping a client. Suddenly, we heard a choking sound. It was Binna. She was holding her throat, as if she couldn't breathe. 

Several customers and employees tried to help, but she collapsed coughing up blood, her face blue. Many called an ambulance while also contacting you but we couldn't get through. We don't understand what happened." She started to cry.

"It could be a seizure of some kind. Don't worry. After spending a few days in the hospital, I'm sure she'll be back to normal," he comforted her. I pulled away from the door and hurried away. I'm going for lunch now.

I didn't join Mr. Choi since he creeped me out. So I bought a sandwich and coke at a stall and sat outside the building. I thought back to the conversation. In normal circumstances, it would be a seizure. 

But coincidentally, Hwa Young was with her. So I needed to look into this more. I finished my meal and went to look for her. I found her sitting behind a giant wooden chest. She had been crying. Bother, I don't like speaking with teary-eyed women.

"Here you are. I've been looking all over for you," I said cheerfully. She scowled at my tone. "How can you sound so happy? My friend got hurt because of me. Why haven't you done anything yet?"

I groaned. "Look. I can't just magically make it go away. It takes time. I'm sorry your friend got hurt, but I must know what I'm up against. Just be patient."

"You're not very convincing," she dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. I don't really care as long as I get paid. I smiled my best smile. "I'll take care of it, I promise."

Pretending to clean, I moved all across the building. I sometimes triggered SENSE, but nothing came up. While keeping my head down to hide my eyes, I would slide up to people to see if there was anything abnormal. Nothing. I even followed Hwa Young for about ten minutes. 

She didn't have a presence around her either. Maybe, as Mars put it, she really did have some issues. But then, what was causing all these accidents? 

It was a sour day for me, as I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, and Hwa Young scowled at me the entire time. Like I can help it? I vented my stress on my new motorcycle. When in Scotland I made an appointment at the Traffic Department in South Korea for the driver's licence exam. 

And last week when I went for the test, I aced it. Two days ago I bought my bike, a dark blue Suzuki GSX-R1000RA. The feeling of having your own motorcycle is heaven. I drove down the highway, fast this time. 

Mars greeted me at the door, his eyes curious. "There's nothing," I said shortly. "Then what's causing it all?" he wondered. "I'm working as a janitor to find out, aren't I? I answered snidely.

He raised his tail defiantly and stalked off. 

We were still snapping at each other, but at least we were talking. His reaction to my offer of buying a new house was still fresh in my mind.

"How can we buy a new house when we lack funds?" he demanded.

"I have the funds. I made a lot of money while you were gone," I protested. He looked disbelieving. "It's true. I made over a billion won. We can live in a bigger house now," I reassured him. He snorted. "No, thank you. Too much hassle." 

Too much hassle? My face heated in fury. "After complaining about this place for years, you don't want to move now that I can afford a bigger place?" My fist balled as I glared.

"If you have as much as you say, save it for a rainy day. Now, I'm going for a nap."

That cat makes me crazy sometimes. I reckoned he was being spiteful, so I'll discuss the house again later. It rained the next morning, and the weather was gloomy. 

I looked glumly at the downpour. I hate getting wet while wearing clothes. I left without acknowledging my roommate and headed to work.

The bike ride was terrible. I'm certain I'm going to get sick after this. I pulled up in the parking lot, shivering from the cold. I was wearing winter clothing and a biker's jacket and gloves. Still, cold water cascaded down my spine as the rain poured down my neck. 

My medical bills will be sent to Hwa Young if I get sick. I hurried to the locker room, dried off, and dressed in my uniform. My ponytail was wet at the tips as I ran to the janitor's room.

"You're late. Young ones these days are so easy going. In my day, we were fired if we came just one minute later." It was Mr. Choi being grouchy again. While thinking bad thoughts, I bowed in apology. "What am I doing today, sir?" I inquired. 

He shuffled to a cupboard and removed a number of wipes, and cans. He shoved them at me. "You're polishing today. Follow me, kid." Don't call me kid! 

I watched as two other janitors looked pityingly at me while they grabbed some cleaning equipment. "Morning, sir," they greeted Mr.Choi before leaving. He grunted before leading me.

"You'll only clean the halls today," he directed. "Can't have you accidentally break something expensive. Start on the first floor and work your way up to the third. Don't stop to chat with customers. It's unprofessional. Now get to work." 

Me? Unprofessional? I glared infuriated after him. How dare he? So insulting. And I polish my home every week. How hard can cleaning a hallway be?

I stared at the large paintings lined up against the wall. Okay. Where's the ladder?

I managed to find a ladder after some searching. I activated SENSE while polishing and since I was facing the wall, no one could see my eyes. I couldn't pick up anything on the first floor. Cleaning took three hours, yes, three hours. 

I moved to the second floor. Passing janitors gave me a smile, asking if I'm doing okay. Yeah, I'm doing okay.

On the second floor I ran into Hwa Young. She was sitting behind a desk writing something.

I wasn't allowed to speak to customers, but he didn't say anything about other employees. "Hey," I greeted, "How's your day so far?" Her hand gripped her pen as she answered, "I'm doing well," she said irritably. Touchy. 

"Have you found anything yet?" she asked sharply.

"Nope," I replied cheerfully. Her face turned red with fury. "What use are you then?" she hissed angrily, smashing her pen onto the table.

"A lot more than you," I smirked. She growled. "I'll be paying you for this, won't I? So stop playing around and do your job properly!" I gave a tiny chuckle and left. 

She was fun to tease. As it was near lunchtime, I cleaned a few tables half-heartedly. There was nothing on floor two as well. I seriously began to think that it was all in Hwa Young's head. But how can I explain those incidents?

Maybe I should do a little research while on lunch. As lunch came, I grabbed a hotdog and a Fanta. I gobbled it down as fast as possible without choking. There was only one hour left so I had to make the most of it.