Chapter Eleven: Before Eight
7:12 a.m.
Lin Mo sat in a coffee shop near Taipei Station. He hadn't taken a sip of coffee in twenty full minutes.
The ice in his cup melted slowly.
He didn't notice at all.
His phone lay on the table.
The screen displayed the last message.
“Tomorrow morning at eight. Taipei Station. Come alone.”
There were still forty-eight minutes until eight.
Forty-eight minutes.
For the first time, Lin Mo felt that time could move so terrifyingly slowly.
He raised his head.
People constantly passed by outside the glass window.
Office workers.
Students.
Travelers.
Every one of them was following their own path.
No one knew.
He was waiting for someone who might have been dead for ten years.
And that person was his older brother.
Lin Chen.
The name repeated itself in his mind.
He had even begun to wonder.
If he really saw Lin Chen today, what should he say first?
“Hi?”
Too absurd.
“You're still alive?”
Too cruel.
Or—
“Bro?”
He didn't know.
He didn't even know whether he had the right to call him that.
7:25.
His phone vibrated.
It wasn't an unfamiliar number.
It was Su Yan.
“Are you there?”
Lin Mo replied:
“Yeah.”
A few seconds later:
“Alone?”
Lin Mo stared at those three characters.
He didn't answer.
After a while, his phone vibrated again.
“I know you wouldn't really come alone.”
Lin Mo smiled faintly.
He looked up at the glass window.
Across the street.
Beside a convenience store.
Su Yan stood there.
She wore a mask and a black jacket.
She didn't come closer.
She only watched him from a distance.
Lin Mo picked up his phone.
“Didn't you say you'd be nearby?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Good.”
Su Yan didn't reply again.
Lin Mo set down his phone.
Yet he suddenly felt a little calmer.
At least this time.
He wasn't alone.
7:41.
A man in a gray jacket walked out of the station.
Lin Mo saw him at first glance.
His heart suddenly skipped.
The man looked a lot like their father when he was young.
But he wasn't him.
He walked to the entrance of the coffee shop.
He didn't come in.
He only stood outside.
After looking at Lin Mo for a few seconds, he turned and left.
Lin Mo immediately got up.
He chased after him.
“Wait!”
The man didn't look back.
Lin Mo chased him through two intersections.
Finally.
The man stopped in an alley.
He turned around.
“You've got the wrong person.”
Breathing hard, Lin Mo asked, “Who are you?”
“A passerby.”
“Then why did you keep looking at me?”
The man smiled faintly.
“Because you look a lot like someone.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Lin Mo's expression changed.
“You knew my dad?”
“I met him once, a long time ago.”
“When?”
The man didn't answer.
He only glanced at his watch.
“Fifteen minutes left.”
“Fifteen minutes until what?”
“Eight o'clock.”
Lin Mo frowned.
The man said, “If I were you, I'd go back.”
“Why?”
“Because the person coming to meet you today might not be your brother.”
Lin Mo fell silent.
“What do you mean?”
The man didn't answer.
He turned and walked away.
Lin Mo didn't chase him.
Because he suddenly noticed something.
As the man left, he was wearing a black wristband too.
Exactly like the one in the photo.
7:55.
Lin Mo returned to the station.
More and more people filled the place.
Announcements.
Footsteps.
The rumble of suitcase wheels.
Every sound blended together.
He stood at the agreed-upon location.
His phone suddenly vibrated.
An unfamiliar number.
“Did you see the man in the gray jacket?”
Lin Mo replied:
“I did.”
“He's not one of us.”
“One of us?”
Lin Mo immediately wrote back:
“Who are you?”
There was no reply.
A few seconds later, a photo came through.
It showed the man from before.
Below the photo:
“Don't trust him.”
Lin Mo raised his head.
The man in gray was already gone.
He instinctively looked across the street.
Su Yan was still there.
She seemed to have noticed something too.
Suddenly, she lifted her phone.
She gestured to Lin Mo.
Left.
Lin Mo turned his head.
A young man stood behind a pillar.
Black hat.
Black mask.
Thin build.
A black wristband on his hand.
Lin Mo's heart began to race.
The man looked at him.
Without saying a word, he lifted a hand and pointed toward the station exit.
Then he turned around.
Lin Mo immediately followed.
7:59.
The man walked quickly.
Lin Mo followed behind him.
They passed through the crowd.
They went down a staircase.
Then farther into the underground passageway.
Lin Mo suddenly realized that this route was familiar.
He had been here before.
But he couldn't remember when.
Not until they reached a wall.
He stopped.
There was a small mark on the wall.
An upside-down triangle.
M.
His head began to hurt.
“Wait.”
The man stopped.
Lin Mo braced himself against the wall.
Images began flashing through his mind.
Ten years ago.
He had stood here.
A boy had been beside him.
The boy pulled him by the hand.
“Hurry.”
“Where are we going?”
“Get out of here.”
“What about Dad?”
“Don't worry about him.”
“But—”
“Lin Mo.”
The boy looked back.
“Do you trust your brother?”
The image suddenly vanished.
Lin Mo opened his eyes.
The man was still standing in front of him.
“You…”
The man slowly removed his mask.
Lin Mo froze completely.
It was a face remarkably similar to his own.
Only the features were more mature.
The eyes were deeper.
A faint scar ran beside the bridge of his nose.
The man looked at him.
After several seconds of silence, he finally said softly:
“Long time no see.”
Lin Mo's throat felt blocked.
He wanted to speak.
Not a single word would come out.
The man smiled faintly.
“You don't remember me.”
Lin Mo stared at him.
“Lin Chen?”
The man's eyes reddened slightly.
“Yeah.”
In that moment.
Everything in Lin Mo's mind seemed to unlock at once.
Not complete memories.
Just fragments, one after another.
When they were little.
Two boys sat in the living room.
The older brother handed his little brother a toy car.
“This is for you.”
“You don't want it?”
“I have another one.”
“Liar.”
“I mean it.”
The scene changed.
The two of them hid inside a closet.
Their father's voice came from outside.
“Where are you?”
The older brother covered his little brother's mouth.
“Don't make a sound.”
Another change.
A hospital.
The older brother lay in a hospital bed.
Lin Mo stood beside him, crying.
“Are you going to die?”
His brother smiled and shook his head.
“No.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Then will you come back?”
His brother didn't answer.
In the end, he only reached over and patted Lin Mo's head.
“If you ever forget me.”
“Don't blame yourself.”
“Because it won't be your fault.”
Tears fell from Lin Mo's eyes.
“Bro…”
Lin Chen didn't say anything.
He only opened his arms.
Lin Mo walked over.
The two brothers hugged.
Ten years.
An entire ten years.
One had believed he was an only child.
The other had believed his little brother had forgotten him.
At last, they were standing together again.
A few minutes later, the two of them sat on a bench beside the station.
Lin Mo still couldn't fully calm down.
“Why didn't you die?”
Lin Chen lowered his head.
“Because someone saved me.”
“Who?”
“Mom.”
Lin Mo froze.
“Our mom?”
“Yeah.”
“She knew you were still alive?”
“She always knew.”
Lin Mo fell silent.
He suddenly remembered yesterday.
His father's letter.
His mother's words.
And everything Takahashi had said.
“What about Dad?”
Lin Chen didn't answer.
“He knew too?”
“He knew.”
“Then why did everyone lie to me?”
Lin Chen looked at him.
“Because they had no choice back then.”
“Everyone thought they were protecting you.”
Lin Mo gave a bitter laugh.
“And I ended up being the last one to know.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I lied to you too.”
Lin Mo looked up.
“You?”
“Three years ago.”
“You saw me.”
Lin Mo's breath stopped.
“June 3?”
“Yeah.”
“Those eleven hours?”
“I took you away.”
“Why?”
Lin Chen fell silent.
“Because M had already found you.”
“They knew you'd recovered part of your memory.”
“I didn't have time.”
“I could only take you away.”
Lin Mo looked at him.
“Then why did I lose my memory?”
Lin Chen didn't answer.
His expression began to grow complicated.
“Because during those eleven hours.”
“You saw someone die with your own eyes.”
Lin Mo's heart sank.
“Who?”
Lin Chen looked at him.
“Takahashi.”
Lin Mo froze.
“Takahashi died?”
“Three years ago.”
“Impossible.”
“You just saw him yesterday.”
“That wasn't Takahashi.”
Lin Mo's face instantly went white.
“What?”
Lin Chen said, “The real Takahashi died on June 3 three years ago.”
Lin Mo's mind went blank.
“Then who was that person yesterday?”
“I don't know.”
“He looked exactly the same.”
“Because that person wasn't Takahashi.”
“He was one of M's people.”
Lin Mo thought of every word Takahashi had said yesterday.
“I want to make sure you've really remembered.”
“If you see your brother…”
Everything began to seem strange.
“So he was lying to me the whole time?”
“Yes.”
“Then the letter he gave me?”
“What letter?”
Lin Mo immediately took out Lin Chen's letter.
Lin Chen accepted it.
He glanced at it.
His face became extremely grim.
“This isn't my handwriting.”
Lin Mo froze.
“But Takahashi said you gave it to him.”
“I never gave him anything.”
“Then why did he have it?”
Lin Chen didn't answer.
He only turned the letter over.
In the corner.
There was a tiny mark.
An upside-down triangle.
Beside it was a number:
03
When Lin Chen saw the number, his expression changed instantly.
“Go.”
“Where?”
“Now.”
“Why?”
“They know I came to find you.”
The two of them stood up.
Just then.
A tremendous bang suddenly came from the distance.
The crowd began to panic.
A black backpack fell to the ground.
No one knew who had left it there.
Lin Chen grabbed Lin Mo.
“Run!”
The two of them hurried toward the exit.
Su Yan ran over from the other side.
“Lin Mo!”
Lin Mo saw her.
“How'd you get over here?”
“I saw someone following you!”
Lin Chen looked at Su Yan.
“You're Su Yan?”
She paused.
“You know me?”
“My brother mentioned you all the time.”
Su Yan looked at Lin Mo.
“Your brother?”
Lin Mo nodded.
“Lin Chen.”
Su Yan's eyes instantly reddened.
“It really is you.”
Lin Chen looked at her.
“You remember me?”
“A little.”
“That’s enough.”
Lin Chen said, “Remembering a little is enough.”
Suddenly.
The station announcement cut out.
Every screen simultaneously turned black.
The next second, a photo appeared.
Three people.
Lin Mo.
Lin Chen.
Su Yan.
Photo taken:
8:07 this morning.
Lin Mo looked up at the screen.
“Someone's watching us.”
Lin Chen didn't answer.
Because he knew things had already spiraled out of control.
The three of them left the station.
They got into a taxi.
Lin Chen sat in front.
Lin Mo and Su Yan sat in the back.
After the car pulled away, Lin Mo asked, “Where are we going now?”
“A safe house.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
“What do you mean, you don't know?”
“The driver knows.”
Lin Mo looked toward the front.
The driver wore a hat.
He said nothing.
Su Yan whispered, “Do you trust him?”
Lin Mo shook his head.
“I don't know.”
But Lin Chen said, “You don't have to trust him.”
“Why?”
“Because he doesn't have a choice anymore.”
The driver suddenly laughed.
“You still understand me.”
Lin Mo's heart sank.
That voice.
He had heard it before.
Last night.
In the basement.
Takahashi.
The driver slowly raised his head.
In the rearview mirror.
That face had completely changed.
It wasn't Takahashi.
It was a strange man's face.
“Don't worry.”
“I'm not with M.”
Lin Mo asked, “Then who are you?”
The man looked at him in the rearview mirror.
“I'm here on your father's orders.”
Lin Mo froze completely.
“My dad?”
The man nodded.
“He knew you'd meet Lin Chen today.”
“So he sent me to take you somewhere.”
“Where?”
The man didn't answer.
The car continued forward.
The city rushed past outside the window.
Until they left the city and entered a remote mountain road.
Lin Mo finally couldn't hold back.
“Where are we going?”
The man kept his eyes on the road.
“To see your mother.”
Lin Mo froze.
“Where is she?”
The man didn't answer.
He only said, “There's something she has to tell you herself.”
“What?”
The man was silent for a few seconds.
“The truth about your birth.”
3:00 p.m.
The car stopped in front of an old house.
There was no sign by the door.
Trees surrounded the place.
Lin Chen got out first.
Su Yan followed.
Lin Mo got out last.
The door slowly opened.
His mother stood in the doorway.
The instant she saw Lin Chen, tears fell straight from her eyes.
“Chenchen.”
Lin Chen stood where he was.
He didn't move.
His mother slowly walked over and reached out to touch his face.
“You've grown so much.”
Lin Chen's eyes reddened.
“Mom.”
The two of them embraced.
Lin Mo stood beside them.
For the first time, he felt like an outsider.
His mother let go of Lin Chen and looked at Lin Mo.
She didn't cry.
She only said calmly, “You finally know.”
Lin Mo nodded.
“I have a lot of questions.”
“I know.”
“Why is my brother still alive?”
“Because I hid him back then.”
“Did Dad know?”
“He knew.”
“What about M?”
His mother fell silent.
“They knew too.”
“And three years ago?”
His mother looked at him.
“On June 3 three years ago.”
“I was the one who had your brother take you away.”
Lin Mo froze.
“So my memory loss…”
His mother nodded.
“I caused it.”
Lin Mo's face instantly went white.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His mother closed her eyes.
“Because that day.”
“You killed someone.”
The room fell silent.
Lin Mo stared at her blankly.
“Me?”
His mother nodded.
“And that person—”
She paused for a long time.
Finally, she looked at Lin Chen.
“Was your father.”
Lin Mo's mind went completely blank.
Lin Chen lowered his head.
He didn't deny it.
June 3 three years ago.
The people who died.
The real Takahashi.
The eleven hours he had lost.
All the clues suddenly rearranged themselves.
Lin Mo finally understood.
What he'd truly forgotten.
Was never where he had gone.
It was—
what he had actually done.