Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Lily Side (Side Story)
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"Hehe... Mom...!"
Inside the dark house.
To Lily, a girl of about ten years old, this place was her entire world.
"...Lily."
The tired voice calling her name. Lily simply adored her mom like that.
"Read me a book, Mom!"
Handing the fairy tale book to her mom, who lay weakly on the bed, Lily lay down quietly beside her with eyes full of anticipation.
Her mom's red eyes, lusterless white hair, and weary complexion.
Lily's mom laboriously took the worn fairy tale book her daughter offered.
Lily loved this time.
The fun stories her mom told.
Feeling her mom's warmth while listening to those stories was the most joyful thing in the world to her.
And drifting off to sleep while listening.
That was Lily's whole life.
It was one such day.
"Mom~!"
But for some reason, her mom—who usually played with her and read stories—looked especially pained today.
"Ugh... Mom...? Does it hurt a lot?"
Breathing raggedly, Lily's mom gazed at her young daughter with a pale face.
"Lily..."
"Yeah...?"
"I'm sorry..."
At her mom's sudden apology, tears welled up in Lily's eyes.
"What's wrong, Mom...!"
"Cough...!"
Albinism itself could be managed in daily life with proper sunscreen, posing little hindrance.
But... the true terror of albinism lay in its complications.
Fatal immune deficiencies like Chediak-Higashi syndrome and Griscelli syndrome.
These were the risks that shadowed albinism patients.
Lily's father was a poor artist.
An abstract painter.
In his youth, he traveled to Russia, scraping by drawing portraits on the street until he met Lily's mom in a rural village.
They fell in love and crossed to America together.
But life as a penniless artist was unforgiving.
Lily's father couldn't shoulder his wife's medical bills and tormented himself daily over it.
Lily's mom knew her husband's plight all too well, so she seldom ventured outside.
Not just to avoid sunlight, but to prevent unnecessary hospital trips.
Thus, from the moment Lily was born albino, she was inevitably shut away from the sun—and the world.
A life where her parents were everything.
Young Lily grew up in that sheltered world.
Lily's mom always told her daughter,
"Lily, if we go outside, it'll make Dad suffer."
Young Lily didn't want to burden her dad.
So she gladly embraced the house's shadows.
That was why, despite basic reading and writing lessons, she inevitably lacked social skills.
In the end, Lily's mom couldn't conquer her illness and left the world far too soon.
Lily's father never escaped the grief of losing his wife.
He lived out his days haunted by her memory and the guilt of failing to protect her.
And Lily, growing up, could only watch her father's sorrow in silence.
'Ah... I shouldn't become a mom.'
'Marriage... I can't do that.'
Witnessing her father's profound grief, young Lily came to that conclusion.
She couldn't inflict such pain on anyone.
Sometimes, after sunset, she would go out with her father.
Each time, they endured strange stares, whispers, and taunts of "vampire."
Those left deep scars on young Lily.
'I'm... different from other people.'
Gradually, she withdrew even further into the house.
Lily's father, poor and steeped in sorrow though he was, devoted himself utterly to his young daughter.
He'd starve himself to ensure his only child had warm meals somehow.
The fruit of his love with his wife.
Everything he couldn't give her, he poured into his daughter.
So Lily never felt great want within those walls.
Lily wasn't a dull child.
She simply hadn't learned or experienced the world.
Then, even her father departed this world.
Now, Lily was truly, utterly alone.
Suddenly, a conversation with her mom from her earliest years resurfaced.
"Lily, you're half Russian."
"Really!? Mom! Then I don't have grandparents?"
Her mom gave a sad smile at that.
"Yeah... They all passed early, Lily."
"Okay!"
"We're a little different from ordinary people, right?"
"Yeah! Mom and I have skin white like snow, and red eyes!"
Her bright-eyed reply charmed her mom, who smiled and nodded.
"That's right... So we might go to heaven a little sooner than ordinary folks."
"Ugh...? But I don't wanna leave Dad."
"Hehe. Dad will come just a bit later. But someday, we'll all meet in heaven."
"Really!?"
"Of course~ So, Lily."
"Yeah!?"
"If we stay with ordinary people too long, we might make them sad. So... we stay home, read fun fairy tales with Mom and Dad, live quietly... and head to heaven later. Got it?"
"Ugh... Got it!"
"Good... Our Lily is so kind."
"Hehe, really? Am I kind?"
"Of course~"
"Then when are you going to heaven, Mom?"
At Lily's innocent curiosity, her mom's face clouded with sorrow.
"Hmm... Mom thinks soon."
"Me!? Take me with you!"
Her mom shook her head.
"Lily, play with Dad a little longer first. He'd be so lonely without you."
"Ugh... I still don't wanna be apart from you..."
"Hehe... Lily. Mom will go ahead and build an awesome house for you. So take your time coming."
"Really!?"
"Yep~ Super big~ And fill it with all the picture books you love?"
Her mom nodded.
"Yeah... I'll make your room huge too. So play nice with Dad and come later, okay?"
"Hehe... Yeah! I'll play with Dad and come to you!"
At her daughter's pure response—still too young to grasp death—Lily's mom felt her heart shatter.
She knew her own body best.
Death was imminent.
But imagining her young daughter, born with the same cursed affliction, facing a future of such loneliness and hardship...
It filled her with unbearable guilt and pain.
After her dad's death, Lily's life grew even harsher.
No work experience whatsoever, abandoned alone in the world—even her will to live dimmed.
As she grew, Lily dimly grasped the concept of "death."
That losing someone precious was utter devastation.
So Lily began quietly preparing for her own inevitable departure someday.
Thankfully, a lifetime indoors had so far spared her sunlight-induced skin cancer or dire complications.
And... she experienced "hunger" for the first time in her life.
Grrrrr...
The growl from her empty belly.
Lily's dad, sensing his end, had quietly prepared for her.
"Lily. You can buy things with this paper."
He showed her bills and explained their use.
Bundling her in clothes, hat, sunglasses, and mask, he took her out to teach shopping at marts and eateries.
It all amazed Lily.
Give paper, get food!
Thus, he imparted bare-minimum survival skills before quietly closing his eyes.
Before passing, he implored her earnestly.
If Dad stops breathing, call 911 and say "Dad died."
Seeing her dad motionless on the bed, Lily shakily grabbed the phone.
"Dad... won't wake up..."
Police and paramedics arrived on the report.
The door to the dim house was opened by a small girl swathed head to toe.
"We're here on the report."
They brushed past her, confirmed the father's body inside, and carried it out.
"Come to the station with us for the investigation."
One officer said to Lily.
But she shook her head.
"I can't go outside."
Puzzled, the officer asked why.
Lily carefully removed her face coverings.
"I'm different from ordinary people."
Police summoned medics at once; they confirmed her albinism.
Leaving orders to investigate indoors, they departed.
Police found a memo from Lily's father.
Terminal cancer patient, imminent death—please leave his daughter be.
Diagnosis attached, the case closed without charges.
"If Dad dies, open this drawer, Lily."
Recalling his final words, Lily opened the bedside drawer.
A hefty stack of cash inside.
Her father had liquidated assets into cash ahead of time.
Lily had scraped by on it for the past year.
"......So mean. Leaving me behind while you and Mom have fun in heaven?"
In the empty house, Lily muttered peevishly.
Perhaps when the money ran dry, she'd reunite with her parents soon—death didn't seem so dreadful.
And about a year later.
The money finally dwindled.
Errands for food revealed a church offering free meals.
At her usual lunchbox spot, short on cash and flustered, the owner said pityingly,
"Tsk tsk... Take what you can pay for today. No money? Try the church over there. Weekends, they hand out food."
There, she met Ji-hoon.
At first, she lied for an extra lunchbox.
The yellow-skinned man.
Wondering if he'd give two, she held her breath.
"Ah, sure? Here, two. Enjoy at home!"
Hehe... Success!
Clutching the lunchboxes, trudging home.
That man's radiant smile as he shared food.
Wasn't this bond arranged by Lily's parents in heaven for their forsaken daughter?
And...
"Husbaaand!!!"
"Wahhh!!!!"
Lily charged toward Ji-hoon as he entered, dododo, leaping into his arms.
Gone was the dark, anxious expression from her solitary days.
It was the innocent face from childhood, nestled in her mom's embrace, lost in fairy tales.
"Lily! What if you trip!"
"Hehehehe."
Lily loved burying her face in Ji-hoon's chest, inhaling his scent.
She was no longer alone.
Heaven held no appeal like before.
She even dreaded it.
'Mom! Dad! I'll play a little longer before coming!'
Overjoyed Lily, oblivious in bliss; Ji-hoon holding her, looking troubled.
If her parents watched from above, they'd surely wear warm smiles.
The world brimmed with wonders for Lily.
'Ah. Sunscreen lets me go out even in daylight.'
Strange stares from others? No big deal anymore.
'Who cares? My husband loves and cherishes me more than anyone!'
Alone versus together—worlds apart.
Having a steadfast ally alone gave her the courage to face the world.
Of course, she didn't roam recklessly.
She never forgot her mom's words: "If we go out, Dad suffers."
Hehe.
And now, new mom and dad too.
She could even use a phone.
Through messenger apps, she chatted often with her new family in distant Korea.
No longer alone.
Her husband patiently answered every question, never showing irritation.
His proud shrug after teaching? Utterly adorable to Lily.
And... she finally glimpsed her parents' feelings.
Albinos die young.
That truth was etched deep in Lily's mind.
Why? She'd lived her mom's death firsthand.
'Can I... have a baby with my husband?'
Terror gripped her.
The thought of passing on her curse to a child.
Yet her parents' words echoed too.
"Lily, you're our most precious gift in the world."
'If... I go to heaven first, will my husband grieve too much?'
After endless worry, Lily resolved.
'I want a pretty baby. Just like my husband and me. Then even without me, he won't be as sad, right?'
She recalled her dad's faint smiles while raising her—amid grief after mom's passing.
Lily yearned to leave her husband—who'd given her the world's happiness—a tiny joy in her stead.
'Hehe... Mom taught me how babies are made... Time to try hard.'
She'd only ever received.
And... the only gift she could offer her husband now seemed this fruit of their love.
Ji-hoon remained blissfully unaware of Lily's audacious scheme.