A Daughter of the Heart
"So? What do you think?"
Eve's face was twisted as far as a face could twist. That porcelain-white complexion had flushed a furious, boiling red — she looked exactly like a cooked octopus — but I decided not to say that part out loud.
"Hah... Aqua... that fucking bitch... if you're gonna pull some shit, at least don't pull this kind of shit..."
"Right?"
The problem was that I, sitting here watching the same footage, was chewing over a rage of my own. And my anger was completely justified. Honestly, if a mother just sat there while someone tortured her daughter right in front of her, she wouldn't deserve to be called a mother at all.
Kabe, submerged underwater, was writhing with her whole body from the agony of not being able to breathe. Air bubbles streamed from her mouth in a continuous blub-blub-blub, and Aquamarine's smiling face as she watched it all had been captured perfectly on the video.
"So, Yeonwoo. What do you want to do about it?"
"What do I want to do... what else is there to do..."
"There are two options."
Eve looked every bit as furious as I was. This wasn't even her usual style — I knew her as the type who preferred to talk things out whenever she could — but the effort of holding her rage in check was written all over her face.
"One: I wreck her myself."
"And the second?"
"I can set it up so you wreck her yourself."
"The second one."
I understood why Eve wanted to handle it personally. But that couldn't happen. Rage was rage, yet if Eve personally destroyed Aquamarine, it would look like the Association President beating down her own Vice President.
I really did not want to see a headline like that. And what if Eve got pushed out over it? What if they asked for this house back? With problems like that in the mix, there was only one choice.
The second one.
"What's with that OOAAAH battle cry? What is that, a Shoryuken? You spend a lot of time at the arcade? Play a lot of fighting games?"
"Shut up, you bitch."
The video was starting to wind down toward the end.
"Look, Aquamarine does have a taming skill. She's used it to steal other magical girls' mascots and screw them over before. That's why I gave her a pretty stern warning about it."
"Why the hell is a psycho like that the Vice President? Do magical girls go up in rank the more their personality falls apart?"
"Then what does that make me? My wife sure has a filthy mouth."
"Right? I talk so pretty, don't I?"
"Let's not even go there. Anyway, she's strong because she was the magical girl who appeared right after me. Insanely strong. She might not look it, and yeah, you did break her — but she's S-class."
I had to give her that much. If I hadn't used that unorthodox trick of throwing Bethel as a projectile weapon, I probably wouldn't have won. Head-on, I couldn't have beaten her.
"That said... hmm. If you fought her again, could you win?"
"Depends on where we fight."
"That's for you to decide."
Anywhere near water was off the table. I had learned firsthand — down to my bones — just how strong Aquamarine became when she fought somewhere with a lot of water. If she could pull that kind of power from a bathroom's worth of it, that woman was genuinely not right in the head.
"And the justification?"
"Right there."
Eve jerked her chin toward the monitor. The video had already finished playing, the screen gone completely black.
"Send me that video file. I'll cut out everything that shouldn't get out, edit it, call the reporters, and manufacture a justification for you..."
What is she talking about. Why would YOU do that.
"Why would you be the one making the justification? That's my job. You just edit the video and call the reporters."
"You?"
Of course it had to be me. The rage of nearly losing Kabe began to blaze up in my chest all over again. No — the fact that it had died down at all was the real problem.
All this time, even though Kabe called me Mom, some part of me had been sitting with the thought that she wasn't my real daughter. That she wasn't a daughter I had given birth to. That was how I saw it.
But after this, I was done with any thought of Kabe not being my real daughter.
Does a daughter have to come out of your own body?
A daughter born of the heart is still a daughter.
Kabe is my daughter.
No matter what anyone said, she was my daughter. And a villain who had tortured that daughter right in front of my face needed a punishment to match. Just putting one hole through her head wasn't nearly enough to satisfy me.
"You edit it and call the reporters. I'll throw the opening move. There's a difference in appeal between a mother exploding with rage herself and their dad — who wasn't even there — running his mouth."
"You trying to chew your own tongue again?"
"Oh, fuck off. I'm not. This time I'm going full improv from the start. No script!"
"Fine, whatever. Just email me the video fi— wait, hang on."
A sudden ringtone. Eve picked up, and her face gradually hardened.
"Got it. I'll be right there. I swear, you people never run out of new bullshit."
Eve hung up irritably and raked her fingers through her hair.
"Yeonwoo, I'm sorry, but—"
"Yeah, go. Sounds serious?"
"There was an electric shock accident in Evangeline's hospital room."
"Isn't she the one who uses electricity? Why would someone like that get electrocuted?"
"No, not Evangeline — Frilly... anyway, I have to go. I'll finish the video edit by the day after tomorrow and let you know."
"Yeah. Be careful. I won't go far."
"Alright. You had a long day too."
After Eve left, I went into the kids' room and found Kabe and Bethel sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep — who knows what they'd been playing. They'd been at the playground today, so they needed a bath, but waking them up to wash them didn't feel right, and they'd probably catch a cold if I did.
Guess it couldn't be helped. I'd bathe them tomorrow.
I picked them up one by one and laid them on the bed, then locked the window tight so no cold draft could slip through. I checked that the heated floors were running properly and turned on the space heater too. I switched off the light in the kids' room and came back out to find someone sitting on the living room sofa.
"Dusick?"
"Yes, Unni."
"Something going on?"
Dusick looked at me with a bright, sunny smile.
"No, well — do I need something to be going on? Why would I need a reason to come see you, Unni?"
"Fair enough. Want a cola?"
"Yes, please."
I opened the fridge, grabbed a can of beer and a cola, and sat down across from her. I handed over the cola and realized — ah. I hadn't brought out any snacks. I got up, fetched a bag of shredded dried squid, and tore it open. It was leftover from last time, and it looked a little dried out, but that didn't really matter. It'd get moist enough once you chewed it. You just needed something to work your appetite on.
"Dusick."
"Yes, Unni."
She was looking at me. A faint smile hung at the corners of her mouth. Those eyes, fixed straight on mine. Golden hair glittering where it caught the moonlight.
"You don't have something you want to tell me?"
This was the moment, wasn't it. I couldn't just pretend I hadn't noticed and bury it.
"Something I want to tell you..."
Dusick turned the cola can around in her hands, a hollow little smile on her face. Dusick, who harbored feelings for me that went beyond Unni. And me, who already knew those feelings. Would she be able to tell me the truth?
"Something to tell you..."
I didn't say a word. I took a sip of beer and chewed on the dried squid. A salty flavor spread through my mouth. Dusick still wasn't saying anything. The gaze that had been fixed on me had dropped, and now she was staring at the floor. I just watched her like that, not saying a word either. Just lifting my hand to drink, chewing dried squid.
In the living room flooded with nothing but moonlight, the two of us sat without a single word between us. Only the silence was still.
"Unni."
"Yeah."
"Are you seeing anyone right now?"
"No."
Because I actually wasn't.
"Is there someone you like?"
"Kabe."
That was the truth. Of course, this probably wasn't the answer she'd been hoping for.
"I don't mean the love between a parent and child..."
Just as I expected, Dusick let out a disbelieving little laugh, like she couldn't believe I'd gone there.
"Someone I like. You mean romantically?"
"Yes."
Hmm. If I said I liked women right now, it'd look like I was gay, wouldn't it? But telling me to like men was a stretch. I still had all my memories of being a man, after all. My whole way of thinking, too.
"No."
This was also the truth.
"Unni."
"Yeah."
Right. Of course. I already knew what Dusick was about to say. The words I'd been expecting were coming. What was I supposed to do?
Should I have answered with is that so? I didn't say anything at all. I just turned my gaze away from Dusick and looked toward the display cabinet in the living room instead.
"Last time, at the police station. I'd never seen anyone get that angry for my sake before. I wasn't really the type to believe you could fall for someone that fast, but..."
I guess it really is possible — Dusick said, grinning a sheepish little hehe.
"You're probably straight, Unni. Different from a lesbian like me. Unni, you don't have to answer me right now. That's okay."
No, Dusick. The way I see it, dating you would actually be the "normal" thing for me.
"No. Unni, please. Just don't say anything at all. Just like this — stay as my Unni. Stay as my Unni, and just... remain that way."
I hadn't said a word this whole time. Even to the words Dusick had gathered her courage to give me, I couldn't offer any response. Even if she hadn't asked me not to, I wouldn't have been able to say anything. Besides — I wasn't thinking of Dusick as a romantic prospect.
"Dusick."
"Yes, Unni."
She wasn't crying. She was looking at me with a face that said she felt unburdened — if anything, she looked like a weight had been lifted.
"Feel better?"
"Yes. A whole lot. I should've confessed sooner."
"That so. Then come here."
I patted the empty spot next to me on the sofa, and Dusick came right over without a second of hesitation.
"Aigoo, you little..."
I set the beer can down on the table, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her into a tight hug. The scent of shampoo in her hair tickled the tip of my nose.
"Dusick."
"Yes, Unni."
"Don't be shy. Put your arms around my waist."
After a brief hesitation, she wrapped her arms around my waist. Now we were holding each other tight.
Pat... pat... pat...
I patted her back the way I would soothe Kabe, and I didn't say a word.
"Thank you for liking me."
Like or dislike. Yes or no. I didn't say any of that either. Who was I — how important did I think I was — to take Dusick's genuine feelings and stamp them with a like or a dislike, a yes or a no? She had asked me not to say anything, so I was just honoring that.
"I'm okay now."
With those words, the arms around my waist loosened. I let go of her too. Dusick wasn't crying. She was just smiling, white as moonlight.
"But Unni, you're the type who looks skinny in clothes, huh."
"Where did THAT come from?"
"I could tell when I hugged you. Your chest is way bigger than it looks. What have you been eating..."
"I-is that so...?"
"And Unni. This doesn't mean I'm giving up. I'm going to make you fall for me eventually. So look forward to it."