The Line of Blood # 2
Former novelist, current game company president Kang Ba-da spoke.
“…Looks like Chae-yeon really didn’t tell you anything. It feels wrong for me to say what your mom didn’t, but… I thought it was Harry Potter, but it turns out it was Luke.”
“What’s Luke?”
“You don’t know? Are kids these days too busy studying to even watch movies?”
“This is why I hate adults. They always drag things out when they could just tell me straight.”
I’d grown stronger after going through all sorts of things. I didn’t want to be toyed with by vague wordplay anymore.
Soon, Kang Ba-da burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that the few students in the library started shooting him dirty looks.
“Yeah. Adults are cowards. I used to think the same way. Especially doctors. I sometimes wonder if they really need to hide things from patients with all that complicated jargon.”
Swish. Kang Ba-da placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Then let’s make a deal, Ha Yeong-won.”
Now that I looked, there was a ring on the ring finger of Kang Ba-da’s left hand. It looked extremely cheap. I thought it might be a wedding ring, but what made me suspicious was that it was made of plastic, like a children’s toy.
“You have a friend named Yu Da-hee, right? Find out some things about her. What she likes to eat. Who she’s close with. What animals she likes. What she hates, too. Actually, just bring me as much information as you can.”
Kang Ba-da’s eyes gleamed with a strange emotion. He looked like a total pervert. A scruffy, bearded man trying to buy information about a high school girl. I felt extremely disgusted and my mood soured.
But this man clearly knew something, so I decided to accept the deal.
“Fine. But couldn’t you just ask her yourself? Yu Da-hee will be here soon.”
“I’m on Cheon’s blacklist. If I approach Yu Da-hee directly, it’ll cause a huge scene. But I’ll tell you one thing—I’m on your side. For the woman I love, I’d jump into flames. In that sense, you and I are alike. You… really are my son, aren’t you? You even look like me. If I calculate the dates properly…”
“Eek…!? What the hell are you saying right now?”
“Hahaha. It was a lie. Teasing you is fun. Are you being bullied at school? The way you get so worked up makes me think the kids would enjoy picking on you.”
“……”
“Chae-yeon and I really had nothing between us. Unfortunately. We never even held hands. Your mom was so haughty… She made plenty of men cry.”
This guy wasn’t telling me anything I actually wanted to know and was only rambling about things I didn’t care to hear. What a weirdo.
Soon, Kang Ba-da put on a serious expression.
“You’re nothing like me. But you’re the spitting image of that guy. I know it well. Your dad, I mean. I know you hate talking about your father. But he’s still your dad.”
“……”
“Can’t you forgive him now? All that suffering only damages your own soul. I know that better than anyone.”
“Forgive? Who’s forgiving who?”
I snapped like an angry bee. Kang Ba-da scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Yeah, well. Being too nosy doesn’t suit my personality either. I’ll be going then. Say hi to your mom for me. Tell her I love her. And that I’m free tonight.”
“No thanks.”
“You little punk. Getting mad right away. Just like your dad.”
Kang Ba-da disappeared with a chuckle. Right after, as if passing a baton, Yu Da-hee appeared.
Da-hee asked, “Yeong-won. Who was that man just now? I waited because it looked like you were talking.”
“A potential sex offender. Don’t pay him any attention. You should be careful.”
“……?”
Yu Da-hee tilted her head, clearly confused. Right now, there were more important things than some man digging for information on a high school girl. I quietly sat at the desk and asked,
“Da-hee. There’s a lot I’m curious about when it comes to you. I’d appreciate it if you could answer as honestly as possible. I did find your cat for you, after all.”
“Mm. Got it.”
“Can you tell me everything you remember about the auntie who used to work at your house?”
At my question, Yu Da-hee frowned. Then, puffing her cheeks slightly, she spoke bluntly.
“Tch. That’s what you’re curious about? I was expecting something else. Like asking what music I like or what my ideal type is.”
I was curious about those things too, but priorities came first. In the end, Yu Da-hee nodded.
“Fine. A promise is a promise. I met her about ten years ago. I was still at the facility back then. I met her at the facility and… went to the mansion together.”
“Wait. You were at a facility?”
“Huh? Didn’t I mention that? I lived in an orphanage until I was five because of circumstances. It was called Oseong Orphanage. I think it’s gone now… Then my grandfather found me and took me to the mansion.”
This was news to me. Yu Da-hee was from an orphanage.
“…What about your mother or father?”
“My mom… passed away when I was very young. So I don’t really remember. My dad… Grandfather doesn’t like talking about him, so I don’t know much either. But he said it was my dad who left me at the orphanage.”
Everyone has their own painful circumstances. Even Yu Da-hee, the rich young lady, had a complicated family history. Was it okay to ask more? It felt like I was digging into someone’s wounds. But… if I was being coldly rational, I had my own problems to deal with. It wasn’t like I was in a position to be picky.
“So you lived with the auntie you met at the orphanage for ten years at the mansion?”
“Yeah. She was a good person. So good that I sometimes wonder if my real mom would’ve been like that if she were alive. She treated me like her own daughter. Actually, she mentioned she had a son she’d been separated from a long time ago.”
“A son?”
“I don’t… really remember. But she said she couldn’t meet him because of circumstances… She kept saying that if I just waited a few more days, we could go see him… Then she quit to go meet her son. Yeah.”
It was ridiculous, but I couldn’t help thinking that the auntie who worked at Yu Da-hee’s house for ten years was my mom. Of course, for the past ten years, my mom had always been with me. But recently, there was one time my mom had been separated from me, wasn’t there? When she disappeared after entering the elevator. That elevator, as far as I knew, was connected to the “orphanage.” What if my mom had met Yu Da-hee at that orphanage…?
“Da-hee. The orphanage you lived at. Where is it now?”
“It’s gone now. There was a big fire ten years ago and it burned down completely.”
Everything has a cause and effect. There’s always an essence. I tried to piece the puzzle together in my head. The orphanage that disappeared ten years ago. Mom, who vanished into the elevator and returned. When Mom came back, I could sense that something about her had changed. Even her brand-new phone had been discharged like an old battery…
“No way…”
I knew it was ridiculous, but I couldn’t help wondering if it was possible. Had Mom escaped to the past ten years ago after disappearing into the elevator…? Had she been staying at Yu Da-hee’s mansion in the past? I didn’t know the reason. Maybe she thought she couldn’t reveal her identity because the Mom who escaped to the past and the Mom who was with me in the past couldn’t exist in the same world at the same time. Then—
Mom remembered the day she disappeared into the elevator, waited for that day, quit her job at the mansion, and returned to me. As if nothing had happened.
“Da-hee. Do you remember what that auntie looked like?”
“…No. I don’t really remember. It’s strange. I was with her just a month ago.”
Yu Da-hee couldn’t remember the auntie’s face. It didn’t seem like she was lying. My mom also couldn’t remember anything about what happened during the time she was missing. Something had definitely tampered with her “memories.” I decided to think that way.
# # #
“Mom’s getting discharged soon. And look at this. The aunties in the next room gave it to me. They said to knit.”
I headed to the hospital. Mom was happily knitting. I looked at her closely again. Mom was thirty-four. People often said she looked very young, and they could never believe she had a high school son. Even now, she looked young at a glance. She could pass for a woman in her mid-thirties. But as her son, I could see the faint wrinkles and strands of white hair on her face. That was the gap of ten years.
“Oh my. What’s with you? Suddenly hugging Mom like this.”
“……”
In that moment, I made a vow. No matter who it was, I would never forgive the existence that put us through this. And maybe Mom remembered something.
“Mom. Sorry for asking again, but do you really not remember anything from when you were missing?”
“I don’t… really remember. But if I think about it… I think I missed you a lot. My one and only son. And… if I think hard about it…”
“If you think hard about it?”
“I think I wished I had a daughter. Why was that?”
“……”
“Mom must already want a daughter-in-law. So how far have you gone with Ju-hee? Huh? You’re not suddenly going to give me a grandchild, are you? Raising a kid in high school is hard. Mom knows that well.”
Mom seemed to really like Yang Ju-hee. Maybe because she reminded her of her own high school days. Mom hadn’t been able to finish high school properly because of me. I felt awkward when Mom said,
“And… while I was missing, I think I talked with your dad.”
“…With Dad?”
“I know. It’s ridiculous. Your dad is somewhere you can’t meet even if you want to. I think I just had that kind of dream. When I first woke up, it felt like a scary dream, but thinking back, it was actually a pretty fun dream…”
I see. It was a relief that it was a fun dream. I took out my Yeongji entrance ceremony photo from my pocket and showed it to Mom. She looked happy.
“Huh. I put that in my wallet and lost it. Where did you find it?”
“Adam Smith gave it to me.”
“Who’s Smith? A foreigner?”
Mom didn’t know who Adam Smith was. Because she’d never been good at studying. It couldn’t be helped.
# # #
In a dark, pitch-black room, there was a man. Someone spoke to him as he stared at the wall.
“1101. You have a visitor.”
Visitor. At those words, the man’s senses awakened. He walked down a narrow, long corridor and met eyes with a man beyond a transparent glass window.
“Hey. Don’t make such an obvious disappointed face.”
“What? Are you Aquaman?”
“I met Chae-yeon. She seemed to be doing well. There were some issues, but overall she looked very healthy.”
“Good.”
“And I met your son too. Ha Yeong-won. He looks just like you. The kind of kid who’d do everything you told him not to. Blood really doesn’t lie.”
“Ha Yeong-won?”
“Well, these days kids take their mom’s last name too, don’t they? But it looks like Cheon Dae-gon met your son. Is that okay?”
“……”
The man fell into deep thought. Kang Ba-da spoke to him.
“Well, now that I’ve seen your face, I’m leaving. And from now on, call me Professor Snape, not Aquaman.”