The Grip of Guilt
The belly, which had stretched the fabric of the shirt until it barely held, now bulged even more grotesquely. It sank lower as if about to collapse onto the floor. The body beneath, starved down to the last trace of bone, looked so heartbreakingly frail that I could barely tear my eyes away.
My chest felt as though it had been sliced into a thousand pieces once more. But right now, fear was crushing it far worse than pity.
“Who are you meeting?”
“That…”
“Is it someone I know?”
“Uh… um… maybe… there’s a kid I know… Su-hyeok. The guy at the super. He said he’d give me something for a bit… so… I was going to see Su-hyeok. Heejin, you know Su-hyeok too, right? Su-hyeok…”
Just a while ago, when I had called from the super, the owner was Su-hyeok. I wasn’t particularly close to him, but in this tiny village I had at least some acquaintances.
Heejin’s face showed no change. Her pitch-black eyes, without a single speck of white, still pierced straight into my soul. For a moment, an unbearable silence hung between us.
Then Heejin let out a soft, “Pfft!” and laughed.
I didn’t understand why she was laughing. As though she had just heard a funny story, she kept chuckling for a long time. I could only stare at my daughter in helpless bewilderment.
A bead of cold sweat slid down my forehead and trickled down.
“H-Heejin… um… maybe… should we go out with Mom for a bit and come back?”
I asked cautiously, and the words sounded painfully pitiful. Yongha wanted to leave this house as soon as possible, just like the young nun had warned, even if it was with his wife.
With his heart pounding anxiously, he watched his daughter laugh for a long time. Finally, Heejin nodded her head.
It was shocking. Too easy. Suspiciously easy.
“It’s fine. And why do you need my permission for that? I was just… wondering where Mom and Dad were going.”
“Haha… I see. Then… hey… Sunja…”
He called Sunja’s name again, but for some reason she didn’t wake up. When would this ever stop being so frustrating? Yongha struggled to contain his sigh of exhaustion and exasperation.
He tried calling his wife’s name several more times, then finally had no choice but to scoop her into his arms.
“Oh!” It was so heavy that even holding her felt like an effort. He stumbled repeatedly, nearly dropping her each time. The pitiful sight made Heejin burst into another fit of giggles.
Yongha forced a smile, sweat pouring down, and struggled to lift Sunja upright again. Still… her body was absurdly heavy. It wasn’t just because he lacked strength. Though Sunja hadn’t cared for her figure like young women did, she had always been frail. He should have been able to lift her. Yet here he was, barely able to raise her upper body. Her legs dragged behind him as he carried her out of the room, and Heejin followed with a still-smiling face.
Yongha wiped the sweat from his brow with shaking hands and said awkwardly, “Heejin, you must be tired. Why don’t you go inside and rest?”
Heejin gave no reply. Instead, she stubbornly trailed after them, giggling to herself.
“Hmph…”
Unable to bear it any longer, Yongha began dragging Sunja toward the front door. First, he had to get out of here. Once they were away from the house, at least he’d be safer… That was what he kept telling himself as he dragged his wife out, grunting with every step.
That was when it happened.
“Dad… are you really taking Mom this far?”
“Uh, huh? What?”
“It’s weird, isn’t it? Mom’s like this right now, and yet you’re still being so stubborn about dragging her to Grandfather Su-hyeok?”
“Ah… that…”
What could he even say? His eyes widened in shock. His mouth went dry, his lips moving like a fish gasping for air.
Before he could answer, Heejin took a few steps closer. Each step made her swollen belly sway heavily.
Then—CRACK!—something flew through the air and smashed into the living room window. Startled, Yongha turned to look. Cracks spiderwebbed across the glass, and there were bloodstains.
It didn’t end there. Something else came flying in—BOOM!—and slammed into the floor by itself. It was a crow.
Ravens had suddenly swarmed the area around the house. The moment their caws began, the noise felt like thunder right beside his ear.
“Kyaaah!”
Yongha dropped Sunja, who tumbled forward again. At that moment, Heejin’s eyes flashed pure black as she said, “Dad… you’ve always been a liar, haven’t you?”
“W-What… what are you talking about? Y-You’re saying I’m lying?”
“Look… right now… you’re lying to me again. Do you really think I don’t know?”
“Th-That’s not true! I’m telling the truth! Believe me! I was taking Mom to see Uncle Su-hyeok!”
Heejin smiled coldly. That smile was terrifying. And those eyes—those cold, eerie eyes pierced straight into his soul again. Yongha couldn’t meet her gaze. Like a criminal, he turned away.
Heejin stepped even closer. “Heh!”
He flinched involuntarily. His whole body trembled like aspen leaves in the wind.
“You really don’t know?”
The girl’s voice had changed. It was no longer the gentle tone of his daughter.
“You old fool… you’re going to meet that weird nun, aren’t you?”
“H-Heejin…”
“Huu huu… You’ve lied every single time. You’ve never once been honest—with Mom, with me.”
“That’s not true! I-I’m telling the truth!”
“Shut up! You really think I don’t know? It’s already too late. No matter how hard you try now, the nails you hammered into Mom’s chest can never be pulled out. Those words you spat out, the betrayal, the actions—they’re all carved deep into her heart.”
Hot tears spilled down his cheeks.
“Heejin… please…”
She came even closer. And then—
GRAB!
Those thin, frail fingers clamped tightly around his throat.
“Just die. Go on, die. That’s what Dad always said to Mom, right? Huu huu… Now I’ll return it to you. Die… Just die.”
“Kugh… kuh-kuh… H-Heejin… a-ah… kugh…”
//////////
The hand gripping his neck tightened with terrifying strength. Yongha could no longer breathe. No matter how desperately he struggled, Heejin’s arms were as hard as stone. The pressure on his throat grew unbearable. His vision blurred.
Foam bubbled at the corners of his open mouth. His eyes were starting to roll back.
“Heejin… heh… ah…”
His breathing grew ragged and impossible to form words. All that came out was a pitiful, broken sound, like air leaking from a punctured lung.
In front of him, Heejin giggled. As though enjoying the slow death of her father… that smile was utterly monstrous.
“Just like how you did to Mom… I’ll pass it on to you too. You remember? I know everything. I saw everything. I heard everything. Everything…”
“Heh… kuh-kuh…”
He couldn’t even answer. His trembling hands finally dropped limply.
The world grew darker and darker. Heejin’s cold voice now sounded strangely muffled.
He realized it was over. This was how he was going to die. Especially by his own daughter’s hand…
Eventually, he gave up.
All he could hear now was Heejin’s innocent little giggles in front of him.
That was when—
CLINK!
A strange wind rushed in, filling the entire house in an instant. A voice echoed low, like a prayer.
At first it sounded like a murmur, but soon he realized it was a prayer. Even Heejin seemed to react to it. The hand around his throat loosened.