The Red-Haired Witch (1)
Hello. My name is Seo Yu-na. My parents named me with the characters for beautiful jade yu and to grasp or hold na, hoping I'd never miss out on any of the world's beauty. Pretty, right? Just like my pretty name, I grew up showered with love at home. Mom loved me more than anything in the world, and my big brother and little brother both adored me to bits.
Dad passed away when I was too young to remember him except from photos, but Mom always said he was a truly beautiful person. Calling a man beautiful... it sounds odd, but somehow it fit him perfectly. Mom and my brothers were all beautiful people, but our home wasn't. It was too cramped for a family of four. During the rainy season, water leaked from the ceiling, and in winter, cold drafts whistled through the windows. My brothers always sprawled on the floor to do their homework, and Mom would push the blankets aside to make space for the meal tray. On the rare days we splurged on prize giveaway meat and grilled it, acrid smoke filled the whole house.
So when I was three, my dream was to be a princess. I wanted to live happily ever after in a beautiful, spacious castle with my loving family. Mom loved hearing that. And so my brothers confessed their dreams one by one. Big brother said he wanted to be a painter. Whenever he got bored with homework, he'd sketch me with his three-color ballpoint pen, and it looked just like me. Little brother dreamed of becoming a basketball player. He's tall and athletic, so he'll surely be a cool pro someday, right?
One day at lunch, curiosity struck me mid-bite. "Mom, what's your dream?" But she just said she had to head back to work and never answered. Her retreating back looked so forlorn.
"&%&@ %&$$&&@@!" A loud noise jolted me awake at dawn. Looking around, Mom and my brothers were gone. Where could they be? It was scary. Then familiar voices came from outside the door—Mom and my brothers. I couldn't read the clock yet, so I didn't know the time, but why were they all out in this freezing winter dawn?
"The hospital said it's serious—they want to schedule the next treatment ASAP! But you went to work again today!"
"Where's the money gonna come from? We need to earn as much as we can while you're still okay."
"That's why I'm saying your health isn't okay!"
My brothers were yelling at Mom furiously. I'd never seen them like that; I was too terrified to open the door.
"The doctor said it's untreatable in Korea anyway. We only hospitalize when it's critical—to save every penny."
"Mom's life is on the line, and you're worried about money?"
"..."
From that day, our beauty began to crumble bit by bit. Maybe it had been fading long before. Mom worked from dawn till late night alone to feed us. She cleaned buildings all day, and on weekends, she pulled late shifts at restaurants, sometimes not coming home till I was asleep. I missed her so much. I wanted to see her every day. But not like this.
"Mom..."
"Why're you calling me, my pretty girl?"
"I can't see you..."
"Huh?"
"Not like that... You really can't see me, Mom... Waaah!"
Multiple sclerosis—a terrifying disease where the body's own defenses attack it. Mom's eyes gradually lost their light, and within a year, she couldn't even tell where I was. Like meeting Medusa's gaze, her body turned rigid as stone. Below the neck, she was completely paralyzed, barely able to wiggle one finger. I saw her desperately trying to move it to comfort my sobs. So I clung to that finger—the only way to let sensationless Mom know I was there.
For our family, happiness was fleeting fragments, but misfortune was an endless epic novel. I can barely remember when we were happy anymore.
"I dropped out of school."
Big brother spoke first, resigned. Normally, Mom would've scolded him to study, but today she was silent. Now he rose at 4 a.m., dressed quietly, and left. He'd drag his exhausted body home at 7 p.m. and collapse. Eight hours inhaling construction dust wasn't enough; he added convenience store shifts in the afternoon. His once-pale skin tanned dark, and his delicate artist hands blistered over.
Big brother became our family's breadwinner and pillar. Mom's scoldings fell to him now.
"Seo No-eul. Call from your homeroom teacher."
"So?"
"Why'd you fight your friends at school?"
"...You figure it out."
"Spit it out unless you wanna die."
"Pfft, die my ass. They ragged on Yuna's hair color, called her a freak, so I punched 'em. Happy?"
"..."
"And I'm quitting school too. Can't juggle work and it."
"What?"
"Yuna enters the academy next year. Delivery gigs barely pay as is."
It started when I brought little brother's forgotten homework to school. His friends mocked my unusual red hair. Even big brother didn't blame little brother; it blew over. After, my hair color gnawed at me. Kids at the playground had teased it too, calling it weird. I'd thought they were jealous...
I asked Mom straight.
"Mom, is my hair color weird?"
"Who said that? It's the prettiest in the world."
"But why's mine the only red? Yours is black, Dad's black, brothers' black."
"That's..."
Mom always dodged this. But I dug in.
"Am I really not your daughter...?"
"No, absolutely not."
"Sniff, then what? Why won't you tell me!"
Does Mom hate me? Our family hides so much from me. Mom's illness, big brother's job—I always learned late.
"Yuna, come here to Mom?"
I didn't want to, but I hugged her anyway. She couldn't move.
"When you were little, a huge fire broke out in our apartment."
"Fire?"
Never heard that. And apartment? Not this basement room—we'd lived in a high-rise?
"Just you and Dad were home. Flames spread through the whole building instantly—no escape. But Dad did everything to save you."
Why tell me now? And why did only I survive...?
Portable oxygen masks per family member are standard now, but back then, maybe just one per home. Dad must've used it on me. And protected me till rescuers came... But smoke kept pouring in; he couldn't hold out. By the time Mom reached the hospital, he'd passed. I inhaled tons too—life-threatening. Mom couldn't even grieve; she decided on the spot. Transplant Dad's Aura Heart to me. So 60% of my mana circuits are Dad's. That's why I have this fairy-tale princess red hair—from Dad's Aura Heart.
I held back tears while Mom spoke. Crying in our tiny home would just sadden her. Or do I even deserve to grieve?
I bolted from the house. Sky clear, perfect weather. In the park, a kid my age held both parents' hands—outing time. My chest ached. If I'd never been born, regular-salaried Dad wouldn't have been home. No compensation for my surgery—instead, a better home. Mom wouldn't have overworked, maybe no illness. Big brother painting portraits at art school, little brother a star pro baller. Without me, my family could've had a fairy-tale life like that one—park picnics, daily meat dishes in a warm apartment.
I wasn't a princess. I was the wicked witch handing poisoned apples, stealing voices, pricking eternal sleep with spindles.
Brothers don't know, still toil day-night for me. Abandoning dreams, everyone pins hopes on me—the family's last hope.
The pressure choked me. If only I hadn't passed the academy... I repeat it endlessly.
Too late for regrets now. My life isn't just about me anymore.