The Meeting (1)
The number of chairs at the dining table had increased by one. Now there were four—mine, Mom’s, Seunghee’s, and this new one. With one extra person, there were suddenly a lot more things we needed. I couldn’t call her one of us yet, but even a guest required basic necessities. The question was whether she would become a guest… or a companion. That would be decided within the next few hours.
“Whoa.”
Seunghee’s eyes widened the moment the woman stepped out after washing up. Her tangled hair now gleamed with a healthy shine, and color had returned to her skin. She no longer smelled, either. Having washed and reset her mindset, her previously hunched posture had straightened. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she was a completely different person.
“Um… is it okay if I wear this?”
“Yes. It’s not uncomfortable, is it?”
“No.”
She was wearing a sports bra top and leggings. Had Mom picked them out? If I had chosen them, it would’ve been borderline sexual harassment. It was the kind of outfit women who were confident in their bodies usually wore at the gym. She seemed used to dressing like this, because she carried herself confidently even with me standing right in front of her.
“Um… excuse me, but aren’t you Kaylee Wilson, the volleyball player?”
Seunghee, who had been staring blankly at her, suddenly spoke up. What? Who?
The woman hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Ah… yes. That’s me.”
“Oh! I knew it! I thought it might be you when I first saw you! I’m a fan!”
Seunghee shook her hand enthusiastically. I poked Seunghee in the side and pulled her back.
“Hey. What are you talking about?”
“Oppa, you don’t know? She played professional volleyball for AX Construction.”
“Volleyball player?”
We whispered back and forth right in front of her. I had no idea. I’d never even watched women’s sports before. I had noticed her impressive height and athletic build and wondered if she might have been a basketball or volleyball player, but it turned out she really was a pro.
“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“I didn’t recognize her at first, okay? I don’t even root for her team, so I don’t know that much about her… but she’s famous enough that I know her name and face.”
“Weren’t you just saying you were a fan?”
“That was just talk.”
“Did she have a son originally?”
“I’m not sure about that part…”
“You’re no help at all.”
“Ugh.”
After gathering what little information I could, I let Seunghee go. It wasn’t particularly useful. So she was a fairly well-known foreign player in women’s volleyball? That explained her height and impressive stamina. Kaylee Wilson. Usually foreigners were called by their last names, right? Wilson? It sounded like the name of a volleyball brand.
“Wow. She really is huge up close.”
Just like Seunghee said, she was incredibly tall. Seunghee, who was already on the small side, had to crane her neck way back to look up at her.
“How tall are you?”
“I’m 191 centimeters.”
“Whoa. That’s insane.”
But Seunghee wasn’t looking at her height. She was staring at her chest. It made sense—her eye level was right at chest height. And true to her volleyball player background, there were two volleyball-sized assets attached there. Seunghee placed her own hand on her chest for comparison. Stop that. You’ll only make yourself sad.
“Let’s sit down for now. You haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“Ah… no.”
At Mom’s suggestion, we all gathered around the table. The meal was more generous than usual, probably out of consideration for our guest. There was chicken soup, grilled sausages, bread, and fried eggs. Plenty of variety and generous portions. It was clear they had taken a foreigner’s palate into account.
“Eat as much as you want. There’s still plenty left, so let us know if you need more.”
“Thank you. I’ll eat well.”
Our guest seemed hesitant to pick up her spoon, so we started eating first. Even after we began, she continued to hesitate.
“Your name is Kaylee, right?”
“Ah. I’m sorry. It’s Kaylee Wilson. Please just call me Kaylee.”
“Kaylee. Do you not have an appetite? Or is there something you can’t eat?”
Mom asked gently. Kaylee hesitated for a long moment before finally speaking.
“Before anything else… the way to save Noah… my child…”
Mom smiled warmly, as if she had expected this.
“I understand how you feel. But that’s not something that can be done in a day or two. For now, focus on eating and building up your strength. It could take weeks, even months. You can’t collapse before you save Noah, can you?”
“…Yes…”
Thanks to Mom’s persuasion, Kaylee finally picked up her spoon. The three of us ate while occasionally stealing glances at her. It was only natural to feel nervous when serving a special guest. Mom in particular looked anxious, worried whether the food suited a foreigner’s taste.
“…It’s delicious.”
Seeming to notice our concern, Kaylee calmly gave her feedback. I could sense Mom letting out a small sigh of relief.
Clink. Clink.
For a while, we ate in silence. Especially Kaylee—she had been reluctant at first, but now she was devouring the food at an astonishing pace. She tore off chunks of bread and swallowed them, alternated between water and milk, and bit into whole sausages. She finished her bowl of soup first.
“Let me give you more soup.”
“Ah, no, it’s okay—”
Mom ignored her polite refusal and took her bowl anyway, refilling it to the brim.
“Eat a lot and help us finish it. It’s troublesome if there are leftovers.”
“……”
Kaylee froze in front of the refilled bowl. Was it too much and she was overwhelmed?
“Did I give you too much?”
Mom smiled awkwardly. Kaylee tried to deny it but choked on her words.
“Oh dear. I’m sorry. Should I take some out?”
Kaylee shook her head and began eating the soup again. One spoonful. Two spoonfuls. With every lift of the spoon, tears fell.
“Oh my.”
Mom didn’t know what to do as she watched her.
“I’m sorry. Sniff.”
Kaylee roughly wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“I could only feed Noah fish… That’s why he got sick and died… Yet here I am, eating something this delicious by myself…”
The mood at the table instantly grew heavy. Seunghee kept glancing at me. I couldn’t even tell if the soup was going into my mouth or my nose anymore.
“I wish I could have fed Noah this too… Ugh…”
“Come on, let’s talk about that later. For now, just enjoy the food while it’s warm.”
“I’m sorry. Sob.”
My appetite was completely gone.
“Seunghee, eat another sausage. You need to gain some weight.”
“…Oppa. You’re just pushing it on me because you don’t want to eat it, aren’t you?”
Seunghee was surprisingly quick to catch on.
After we finished eating and cleaned up, we gathered around the table once again. Clockwise it was me, Kaylee, Mom, and Seunghee. Kaylee sat directly across from me. For some reason, Seunghee was holding Peep in her arms. Though Peep was dozing off in her embrace. Shouldn’t we just let the poor thing sleep?
“Um, shall we start with self-introductions?”
Mom took the lead and began the meeting.
“I’m Kang Seollyeong. I’m the mother of this child, Kang Changjae. Feel free to call me whatever you like.”
“Kang… Seol… Ryeong?”
Kaylee’s Korean was quite fluent, but Mom’s name seemed difficult for her to pronounce. Mom smiled kindly.
“If my name is too hard, you can just call me Unnie.”
“Unnie… Is that really okay?”
“Of course.”
Unnie, huh. Kaylee’s son was seven years old. That meant Kaylee was at least in her late twenties to early thirties. She was probably around the same age as Mom… Asking for her exact age here would be tactless. Let’s just say Mom is her unnie and move on. It would make organizing the hierarchy easier too.
“I’m Kang Changjae. Her son.”
“I’m Han Seunghee. I’m the extra in this house. Can I call you Kaylee Unnie?”
“Changjae-ssi, Seunghee-ssi. Yes, please feel free to call me whatever you like.”
“Yes, Unnie. Oh. This is Peep. He’s the chick we’re raising in this house.”
Peep was sound asleep. After a brief round of introductions, the real discussion began.
“Um, first of all, Kaylee. How much do you already know?”
“How much?”
“Yes. About this island, for example. What was it like when you first arrived?”
“Well… at first…”
Kaylee began speaking haltingly. Her start was similar to ours—a shabby cave. But her cave had been by the seaside, and she had been with a helpless young son. At first, she had no idea what was going on and simply wasted time. Then, unable to endure the hunger, she bought emergency rations from the shop. That was when she seemed to realize how unreal this island was. After that, she struggled desperately to survive with her son. She bought a trident to catch fish, gathered grass to spread on the stone floor to sleep on. Ah. She said that when you catch fish, they turn into pre-cleaned fillets. That was new information.
They somehow managed to hold on for a few days like that, but then her son Noah started running a fever and the situation grew serious. She wandered for a full day looking for help. She finally found our base and got medicine, but by then her son had already died. Kaylee’s story ended on that somber note.
“Hmm…”
There were important parts missing from Kaylee’s story. Mom seemed to be thinking about how to approach it.
“Kaylee. Did you ever receive something called a ‘mission’? A sudden mission?”
“Ah.”
So she had received one. That made sense. When she ran into me earlier, she had been given a mission to kill me. She must have received others before, which explained her reaction.
“That is…”
Kaylee couldn’t answer right away. Mom nodded as if she already understood everything.
“You don’t have to tell us everything. It was probably a mission that was difficult to complete, right?”
“That… yes. I couldn’t do it. It was illegal. I couldn’t… do that to Noah.”
I could roughly guess what it was. I had received a mission when I was injured. Seunghee had received one when she had a heart attack. Noah probably got sick and triggered a similar mission. But Kaylee couldn’t complete it, so Noah, unable to get medicine in time, died.
“Kaylee. Brace yourself and listen carefully.”
It was time to get to the main point.