An Amazing Gift [Part 1]

Jaegun opened his eyes wide and his mouth fell open.

The moment he’d touched the cat, he’d felt an indescribable energy travel through his arm and into his body.

“Ughhh... W-what was that? Did I drink too much?”

Jaegun suddenly felt his head throbbing. He grabbed his head and grunted while the cat quietly waited next to him.

“Urgh, I must’ve had too much. I should rest. You should come with me. But I need to use both of my hands to carry the box...”

As Jaegun spoke, the cat hopped on top of the box. Jaegun briefly forgot about his headache and smiled at the cuteness. As he held the box with both of his hands, the cat calmly stayed on top of it.

“Your name is Rika, right?”

“Meow.”

“The only thing I have at home for you is milk. What do I do?”

“Meow.”

“I’ll make sure to find your owner when I wake up tomorrow. I’m just a writer, so I’m as good as unemployed anyway.”

“Meow. Meow.”

***

That night, Jaegun had a dream.

A man in his sixties was smiling pleasantly. He walked up to Jaegun and calmly told him,

“You must write what you love. However, you should be able to separate what you want to write from a selfish mind that doesn’t consider the reader. Don’t forget about when you first decided to write. You must always remember what made you choose this path.”

***

“Urrrghhh...”

Jaegun woke up, rubbing his head, which was throbbing from a hangover.

“Meow.”

Rika, who had stayed by Jaegun’s side all night, meowed and came up to him. Jaegun sat up and petted her.

“How did you sleep, Rika? We should take a stroll around town first. Then, while you play with your toy, I should start working on...”

Jaegun closed his mouth in the middle of his sentence. He stared at Rika, suddenly feeling completely awake.

“R-Rika. Do I know you from somewhere...?”

“Meow.”

Jaegun was absolutely confused. He could clearly picture his daily routine with Rika. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening, as he had first met the cat last night.

“Wait! Huh? Th-this is...?”

His new memories weren’t only about Rika.

Trembling, he sorted through the thoughts that were running around his head one by one. The memories were all irregular and vague.

Him taking a walk with Rika, him writing somewhere, and a young lady angrily yelling at him... These images were passing by him like the view outside the car window.

Soon, the memories drew a photo in Jaegun’s head. When he saw the man in the photo, he was reminded of the dream he had last night.

I-it’s the old man from the dream!

Upon waking, he had totally forgotten about the dream. It was the old man who had given advice to Jaegun. Somehow, the memories of that old man had gotten into Jaegun’s head.

Shortly after, Jaegun put different slippers on each foot and ran out of his apartment. Rika quickly followed him.

He had to check immediately.

The place Jaegun stopped at was the grave on the low hill. Panting heavily, he looked closely at the gravestone he’d stood up last night.

He immediately froze.

Gunwoo Seo (1952-2012)

“No way...!”

Jaegun shuddered and fell to his knees. The name of the old man who had suddenly appeared in his memory was Gunwoo Seo.

How could this be possible? The memories of someone who had died a long time ago had somehow ended up in his head.

Jaegun tried pinching his cheeks. He could clearly feel the pain. He was definitely not dreaming.

“Huh? W-wait!”

Another memory was being added to Jaegun’s head. It was Gunwoo Seo’s ID card.

“Seoul, Jongno... Pyeongchang-dong...?”

Jaegun murmured the address written on the ID card.

Pyeongchang-dong was in Seoul, and it wasn’t too far away from here. He could get there in forty to fifty minutes by subway.

I should go there.

After getting back home, Jaegun rushed to take a shower. Then, he packed the laptop, fountain pen, mug, and glasses that he’d found last night in a huge backpack.

Lastly, he scooped Rika up in his arms.

“You should come with me. This must be your house.”

“Meow.”

Jaegun went on the subway with Rika in his arms. He wished he could’ve taken a taxi because of the cat, but he couldn’t afford to, so he had to take public transportation instead.

“What the... Why would he bring a cat on the subway?”

“God, I’m allergic to cats.”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I’ll get off soon.”

After time passed with Jaegun apologizing to other passengers multiple times, the train arrived at his destination, and he quickly got off.

Let’s see. The street number is...

As he got closer to the address, many more low-rise apartment buildings appeared. Jaegun found himself standing in the middle of the narrow alley surrounded by the apartments.

“Meow.”

Suddenly, Rika jumped down to the ground and led the way. Jaegun followed her, passing the curvy alleys in small, quick steps.

Rika finally stopped in front of an old apartment building. Jaegun looked at the sign. It was the exact same address as the one written on Gunwoo Seo’s ID card in his memory.

“I knew this would be your house. You remember it, huh? Let’s go inside.”

Jaegun went inside the building and rang the doorbell for unit 201. A while later, a man’s voice came through the intercom.

“Who is this?”

“Oh, hello. I’m sorry, but do you know someone named Gunwoo Seo?”

“Huh...” The man’s voice darkened immediately. “What do you need?”

Jaegun cleared his throat and quickly answered, “Actually, his grave is near where I live. I found some things, like his laptop. There was also a cat, and I thought they all belonged here.”

“How did you find this place?”

“There was a paper with the address written on it in the box. I think it was a mail sticker,” Jaegun lied. He couldn’t bring himself to say that Gunwoo Seo’s memories had suddenly come into his head and that he had followed them here.

“An address? There’s no way... Whatever, I don’t need any of that. Go away.”

The man was only speaking through the intercom, refusing to open the door. Jaegun suddenly felt strange. He could somehow tell that it was this man who had thrown away everything at the grave.

“Um, what’s your relation to Mr. Gunwoo Seo?” Jaegun asked at the intercom.

He needed information. Gunwoo Seo, the old man who had appeared in his head out of nowhere—Jaegun absolutely had to find out who this person was.

Clunk!

The door suddenly opened, making a loud noise. In front of Jaegun, who took a step back, a man in his thirties appeared. His face was red and his breath reeked with the stale smell of alcohol.

“Why are you asking about my father?”

“F-father?”