They went up, but Diane wasn't there. Park Chung-Ho's mind was still full of questions and he couldn't help but ask for some answers.
"I'm sorry, but you said you knew my mother quite well, right?"
"I did."
"Would you mind talking about her? I haven't been able to know her myself..."
"I can..." The man seemed a bit sad when he answered. "But I'm not sure I'll be able to give you the answers you're searching for."
They both looked at each other. And the young man talked again.
"I can't say that I missed my parents; I never knew them. And my adoptive family gave me all the love I could wish for. All I can ask for is to know them better, and you were a close friend of my mother."
"Yes, I had that luck indeed... Well, she was a very bright person, really curious and enthusiastic. She was the kind to lead by her kindness; you would want to follow her and give your best just because she was always nice and honest. That's one point they both had in common. They were people you could rely on. They would always be there for the people around them."
The man was searching behind his counter, and finally found what he was looking for.
"I still have it! This is my photo album from when I was young. There are many photographs with your mother."
He handed the photo album, and Park Chung-Ho began to watch the photographs, when Diane came in.
"So you've seen the whole place?" She asked.
But the young man was watching the photographs, and didn't seem to pay attention to what was going on around him.
"Sorry, Diane, I gave him one of my old photo albums, with his mother. I showed him the whole place already. Have you managed to get the answers you were searching for ?"
"She said she would call some fellow hunters and that you also had rooms for us."
"We do. We should get going, by the way, and we'll start transferring dreams tomorrow. What do you think?"
"We follow you."
The night has come, but the neon lights are giving a flashy atmosphere. It was as if there was 2 different streets between day and night. They ended up in a car park and were met by another woman. It was pretty obvious that she was Hyun-Bo's sister. They had a lot in common. She was thin, looked strict, but she was smiling.
"Hello, I'm Lee Hyun-Hee, nice to meet you, Park Chung-Ho. Like my twin brother, I knew your mother pretty well. Come in, we'll bring you to our house."
It was located outside the town, and the neon lights slowly disappeared to let a colder city view, and then a calmer countryside. The house was very much like Diane's. Park Chung-Ho was looking around and caught Aislinn's mother's eyes. She confirmed his thoughts.
"We're at the Dreamers Society of Seoul."
They both got assigned a room where they placed their luggage, and they headed to eat with their hosts. It was the first time that Park Chung-Ho was in his mother's country, and he was keen on tasting each and every dish, to Lee Hyun-Hee's amusement.
"Are you THAT hungry?" she asked with a smile. "Or maybe I'm an excellent cook."
"Oh! I'm sorry." The young man said. "I got carried away. It's the first time I get to eat dishes that my mother used to eat... And it's excellent indeed!" he added, catching his host's eyes.
"Oh... I see..." she was thinking or remembering something. She got up and went to the kitchen. "I'll be back in a few."
Her brother bursted in laughters.
"I think I know what's going on. I hope you've got a strong stomach, young man."
"Why?"
"You're gonna discover more really soon!"
"Discover what?"
He heard a voice coming from the kitchen.
"You're mom's favorite dish. You want it like her, or you're not so bold yourself?"
Sometimes, people make stupid decisions based on pride, on "honor", thinking too much of themselves, and sometimes, they make bad decisions fully aware of the fact that they will probably regret it, but they want to live the experience. Park Chung-Ho was in the second situation. He was almost certain that his mother was accustomed to spices way more than he was. But apparently, he had inherited her temper and was a bit bold, too.
"Like mother, like son!" He said, trying to sound really confident, which made Lee Hyun-Bo laugh even louder.
Even Diane was giggling.
"I told you, he's... what the word I used again? Oh yeah, CURIOUS!"
Every one of their reactions was proof that this was gonna be some really spicy thing. But it was fun and light. Something was bringing him closer to his mother than he ever had been in his life. There was a bound, and it felt good. Then came the dish.
"Tteokbokki, the way your mother liked it!"
There were two plates. One with the rice sticks red, one with the rice sticks REALLY red.
He tasted the least red plate first. It was delicious. He took a tteok from the second place, and everyone was watching him as he put it in his mouth. That was like an explosion, or lava coating his tongue, going down his throat. But why was his head so hot? He closed his eyes and tried to keep his composure, but it was really, really hot. His face felt strange, and he could feel a cold sensation in his eyes. Despite the extremely spicy flavour, it was good. Maybe too spicy for him, a bit, but good.
"It's probably too much, but it's really good indeed! But I'll take a cup of tea, just for, you know, hydration."
This made everyone laugh, even himself. It had been a pretty good first day in South Korea, and he was still smiling when he fell asleep.
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Some might say that the lack of action leads to calm. Others might say it leads to boredom. That had been what Aislinn had been feeling for the last what? Hours? Days? Weeks? There was no day and night cycle here, so she had no way to know for how long she had been there, trying to sense if Park Chung-Ho was dreaming. It was all the time the same kind of day. A yellow fog was always floating in the air, and even in the buildings, like the one she was in, Albormare in front of her.
"You will get to him sooner or later you know. You may have closed your domain, for now, but I'm sure you're trying to check on your essence."
As he was saying this, Aislinn could sense that her other part wasn't as far as it was previously. She didn't showed any reaction though.
"You're pretty sure? Have you ever shared your essence yourself then? I would be surprised to see that."
"You didn't see it yourself, but your mother did. Your father was extremely easy to manipulate with my essence."
"You only have one story? It's the fifth time you tell it since I'm here." She tried to sound sure of herself and bored at the same time, as if what Albormare was saying couldn't affect her.
"Hahaha! I'll let you think about it. I have important things to discuss. We have people gathering near the tower. I wanna see this with my eyes!"
She was alone finally, and Chung-Ho's presence was really stronger than before. He was back in the Dream Realm, and judging by the calm her essence was wavering, it seemed that everything was fine for him. But she was sure of one thing, he wasn't in Norway anymore. No matter where he was, she had to find a way out of here. She had to come with a plan, and she was slowly finding one. It was dangerous, very dangerous, but she had to try it. She was a dream, and if Albormare had been able to notice her essence leak, it wasn't because she had been careless, it was because she had been using this leak to hide what she was slowly creating. It was something that didn't have real shape. A glowing sphère made of pure dream, hiden in a pillar from one of the temple in the city.
"Hold on a bit more Chung-Ho, I'm gonna be here as soon as possible." She thought.