The Echo of the Balcony
The idea of family… Lately, with apartment prices skyrocketing, it seemed there weren’t many tenants moving in. Thinking back, even when Junhee and Soyeon won the housing lottery and managed to move here, they had scraped together every last won from their souls just to afford the down payment. If they had to do it again now, it would be impossible. Back then, they had been lucky, and more than that, they had help from those around them. Without that, they never would have dared dream of living in a place like this.
Maybe that was why, even at the time, not many people had moved into the complex. Even a full year after they moved in, half the apartments were still empty. In any case, the place was the same now as it had been then. It felt utterly devoid of people. No, it felt even emptier than before. How could not a single light be on?
A wave of unease washed over him. His mind screamed that he shouldn’t go any deeper, but before he knew it, Junhee’s feet were carrying him, out of habit, toward their old home.
Aaah! His heart pounded violently for more reasons than one.
In front of the complex was a small playground. He was certain this was the one Soyeon had mentioned. The moment he arrived, another old memory flickered before his eyes. The memory of taking a still-young Sohee to play here. Back then, Sohee had been little more than a newborn, barely able to say “mommy” or “daddy.” Yet whenever Soyeon went to work, it had always fallen to him to watch her.
Looking back now, he wondered if he had actually spent more time with Sohee from infancy than anyone else. Sohee had always hated being stuck inside the house. No matter the weather, she would only stop crying once she was taken outside at least once a day. Because of that, Junhee had brought her to this playground more times than he could count.
In truth, back then… no, he had been incredibly embarrassed. Standing there in shabby clothes with a child in the middle of the day, while everyone else was at work. The only other people at the playground were mothers, not fathers like him. He was the only man sitting idly with a child in broad daylight. Whenever he felt the occasional judgmental stare, it seemed as though every single one of those eyes was looking down on him with contempt. He had wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
Well… it wasn’t that he wasn’t earning money. He wasn’t just playing around. Still, those stares pierced his chest like blades forged from shame. Perhaps that was why he had taken out even more of his frustration on Soyeon, who left early in the morning and came home late. He had nothing to his name, yet his pride had been so inflated… Even now, thinking about it, he found that version of himself utterly pathetic.
Yes… looking back, in the end, everything had been his fault. Soyeon had done everything she could to change their situation. She had given it her all. But the Junhee of that time had been unable to acknowledge her efforts, and his heart had been too narrow to accept them. That pathetic pride of his… The result had been total ruin.
The bitter taste of those old memories weighed heavily on Junhee’s chest. But… this was no time to be lost in such thoughts. That’s right. First, he had to find Soyeon.
In any case, he had reached the playground she mentioned… but as expected, there was no one there. Not only was Soyeon nowhere to be seen, even Sohee was missing. What’s more, Soyeon still wasn’t answering her phone. He bit down hard on his lip in frustration. He had no idea what to do next. He kept dialing over and over, shifting anxiously from foot to foot.
As he scanned the surroundings for a long while, Junhee’s gaze suddenly landed on the veranda of the unit where they had once lived. And then he saw it—someone was standing there. The area was pitch dark, so he couldn’t make out any details, but it looked like a person was standing by the railing. At first he thought it might be the new tenant who had moved in after they left, but something about the figure felt strangely compelling. Then came a sudden surge of discomfort.
He stared at the veranda more carefully. Wondering if it really was his old place, he counted the floors one by one. It was the thirteenth floor. The place where they had all lived together. No mistake. It seemed like someone there was looking at him. Then the figure reached out a hand. What were they doing? It looked like they were trying to grab something in the air. For some reason, the motion seemed incredibly precarious. It looked as if they might fall right over the railing. Junhee’s heart clenched with worry.
“B-be careful…”
Looking closer, it seemed like a child. Was a child standing on something and leaning over the railing? His heart sank. Junhee let out a low groan in panic—uh… uh…—before shouting, “Be careful!”
But the child didn’t listen. Stubbornly draped over the railing, the small figure kept reaching out toward something in the air. As if something was actually there.
“Hey… hey! That’s way too dangerous! I said be careful! Damn it! Where are the parents?!”
His panicked voice grew louder. He considered running to the security office in the complex, but he was terrified that if he looked away even for a second, the child would plummet to the ground.
“B-be careful!”
For a moment, his mind went completely blank. What should he do? Even then, the child continued reaching out into empty space.
“Kid! I said be careful! You’re going to fall! Be—be careful…!”
At that instant, the dark clouds that had been covering the moonlight parted slightly. The pale moonlight peeked through, slowly peeling away the child’s silhouette. At the same time, Junhee’s eyes widened until they felt like they would burst.
Because in the moonlight, he could finally see who the child was.
The child’s identity was, shockingly, Sohee.
“S-Sohee!!!”
Junhee screamed, his voice cracking. His mind went pure white.
“W-wait! Daddy’s… D-Daddy’s coming!!”
He had no idea how Sohee could be here. He couldn’t understand why she would be in their old home. But none of that mattered right now. Even though he and Soyeon had divorced and become strangers, he was still Sohee’s father. When his precious daughter—the one he wouldn’t trade for the world—was in danger, his body moved on instinct.
He sprinted straight into the complex. The entrance gate was closed, and he would need to enter a passcode. Fortunately, the old memory came back to him. The entrance code hadn’t changed either. Once inside, he frantically hammered the up button in front of the elevator.
But… the elevator wouldn’t come down. Worse, it was stopped on the thirteenth floor.
“Please… please… please, damn it!!”
He bit his lip hard and stamped his feet like a child who needed to pee. His anxiety only grew worse. After waiting what felt like forever with no sign of movement, he couldn’t stand it any longer. With no other choice, he began running up the emergency stairs with all his strength.
The thirteenth floor. For Junhee, who had long abandoned any relationship with exercise, it was an absurdly high number. Before long, his breath was caught in his throat. Every gasp sounded like air leaking from punctured lungs, and a sharp pain stabbed into his chest as if something were piercing his insides. He clutched his waist, panting, forcing his burning thighs to keep moving up the stairs.
Aaah! His vision began to swim. By the time he passed the tenth floor, his thighs felt like they were on fire. A scorching pain surged through him, especially in his knees, which throbbed as if they were being stabbed. If only he had exercised earlier… The regret was crushing.
“Haa… haa…”
He took deep, ragged breaths and forced himself up the remaining stairs. All the while, he prayed desperately that nothing had happened to Sohee. Finally, he reached the thirteenth floor. He stood in front of the familiar door to unit 1301. Their old home.
He approached and pressed the doorbell. A ding-dong echoed from inside. But was it empty? There was no answer. His anxiety spiked. He pressed the doorbell again. He shifted restlessly from foot to foot, waiting for a response, but nothing came. Bang bang! This time he pounded on the door. Still nothing.
“Damn it! Is anyone there?! Hey! Open the door… just open it for a second!”
He shouted between heavy gasps, but it seemed no one was inside. What now? Should he run back down to the first floor and call the security office? No, that would take too long. The frustration brought tears to his eyes.
Then his gaze fell on the digital lock of the closed front door. A thought occurred to him.