Epilogue 2
Translator: RaidenTL
Epilogue 2
Ten Years Ago, Na Shin-hye
Yeon-ju's mother, Na Shin-hye, ran a bedding shop in a traditional market.
Before online shopping became popular, she had a decent number of customers, but as time went on, foot traffic dwindled. Though she struggled to see even one or two customers a day, it was her sole means of livelihood, and with a daughter in college, she kept the shop open 365 days a year.
Closing only for major holidays, Mrs. Na watched over her shop day in and day out without fail.
On that particular day, she closed up a little earlier than usual. A rare customer looking for wedding bedding had given her sales a significant boost.
She bought a pound of beef ribs—Yeon-ju's favorite—from the butcher shop across the way and headed home. Having made a good profit for the first time in a long while, she couldn't help but hum. To top it all off, Yeon-ju, who was living on her own for school, had unexpectedly said she was coming home. Mrs. Na was in high spirits.
“Yeon-ju? Are you home?”
As she opened the front door and stepped inside, Yeon-ju's neatly placed shoes caught her eye. She expected her daughter to emerge at the sound of the door, but the bedroom door remained firmly shut. Mrs. Na set the meat on the kitchen island and walked toward her daughter's room.
“Are you sleeping?”
Mrs. Na opened the door, saw Yeon-ju, and froze. The sight of her daughter huddled in the corner, knees pulled tightly to her chest, was deeply unsettling.
“What are you doing in here with the door shut so tight? I bought some beef ribs, so let's have that for dinner. I can whip up some soybean paste stew to go with it. Do we have any shepherd's purse left?”
Mrs. Na asked as she untied the cheap scarf she habitually wore, but her daughter didn't answer.
“What brings you home on a weekday, anyway? Aren't you busy with school? I sold two sets of wedding bedding today. The customer didn't even try to bargain and just paid upfront. I guess I had a good feeling this morning for a reason.”
About to head to her own bedroom, Mrs. Na hesitated and looked back. Then, she stepped into Yeon-ju's room again.
Staring at her daughter, who was still curled up against the wall, Mrs. Na walked closer.
“What's wrong? Are you cold? Did you not turn on the heat?”
“……”
“My goodness, why are you sitting on the floor when you have a perfectly good chair? Hey, Yeon-ju. Get up so we can eat. The stew won't take long.”
Her daughter slowly raised her head. In that instant, time stopped for Mrs. Na.
It didn't take long for the cold dread pooling in her stomach to seep through her entire body.
“Mom…”
Even though Mrs. Na had been too consumed by the struggle to make a living to pay her much attention, her daughter had grown up beautifully all on her own.
“Mom…”
You are my other self, the reason for my existence, my pride.
You are another me.
“Yes, Mom's right here. What's wrong? What is it?”
Meeting the eyes of her terror-stricken child, Mrs. Na felt a premonition of disaster. Crouching beside her, she scanned her daughter's body with sharp, searching eyes.
“What is it? What happened? Tell me. What's going on?”
She wondered if something had happened at school. Did she get bad grades? Or did someone say something cruel to her?
To her mother, Yeon-ju was that kind of child. A child who never caused any trouble beyond that. A soft, fragile girl who could easily be brought to tears by such minor worries.
But what Yeon-ju pulled out and showed her was an ultrasound photo.
In the stark black-and-white image, the gestational sac filled her vision. Mrs. Na stared at it blankly for a long moment before her eyes drifted to the date written at the bottom.
“What is this?”
She didn't ask because she didn't know.
“What is it? What is this? Huh? I asked what this is.”
“……”
“Is it yours?”
Burying her face between her knees, Yeon-ju slowly nodded. Her breath catching, Mrs. Na squeezed her eyes shut in disbelief before her legs gave out and she collapsed onto the floor.
“What are you talking about? Why is this yours? What do you mean it's yours? Yeon-ju. Yeon-ju!”
“Mom… I'm sorry…”
At her daughter's tear-choked words, Mrs. Na shook her head. Shaking it back and forth, she began to deny reality, telling herself this couldn't be true.
“It's not, right? You're just playing a joke on your mom, right? It's not true. Right? Tell me it's not.”
“……”
“It's not yours! Why aren't you saying anything? You have to tell me it's not!”
“I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Mom…”
Her world came crashing down. The floor seemed to tilt, then flip upside down, shaking as if struck by an earthquake.
Overwhelmed by a wave of dizziness, Mrs. Na pressed a hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut.
“You… you… Yeon-ju, you… what on earth have you done…”
“I'm sorry, Mom… Mom, I'm sorry…”
“Who is it? Who is he? Who is the baby's father? Where is he? Tell him to come here right now, this instant!”
No. This wasn't right. Her eyes widening in sheer desperation, Mrs. Na grabbed Yeon-ju.
“Get up. Get up right now.”
As Mrs. Na tried to pull her up by the arms, Yeon-ju lifted her head. Her face was smeared with tears, her lips trembling.
With a resolute expression that brooked no argument, Mrs. Na dragged Yeon-ju to her feet.
“We're going to the hospital. It'll be fine if you go with me. Let's go. Get up, quick.”
“Mom…”
“Get up, now! Are you going to get up or not?”
Dragging Yeon-ju, who was desperately resisting, Mrs. Na made her way into the living room. She slung the old black crossbody bag sitting next to the beef ribs over her shoulder and pulled her daughter again.
“Let's go. Let's go to the hospital with Mom. We'll go see the doctor right now and…”
“Mom. I'm not going to the hospital.”
Yeon-ju's voice, having suddenly stopped crying, was remarkably calm.
Mrs. Na slowly turned her head and looked down at her daughter.
Wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, Yeon-ju shook her head.
“I'm not going to the hospital, Mom. I won't go.”
“What did you say…?”
“I'm not going. I… I'm going to have this baby.”
“Stop talking nonsense! I said, stop talking nonsense!”
Mrs. Na screamed so loudly the house shook. Dropping back down to the floor, she tried desperately to meet Yeon-ju's eyes as she spoke. Her voice didn't sound like her own; she sounded like someone who had lost her mind.
“Do you… do you even realize what you're saying? Are you doing this because you don't know any better? You're going to have a baby? How old are you? How old are you to be having a baby? What about school? What are you going to do about school?”
“I submitted my withdrawal form today.”
“…You submitted what?”
Mrs. Na pressed her hands against the floor. Barely supporting her upper body with her trembling arms, she gasped for breath.
Yeon-ju knelt. No matter how hard she clenched her teeth, tears kept spilling over and dripping down.
“I withdrew from school, and I gave up my apartment, too. I'm going to have this baby.”
“How could you… how could you do this to me! How could you!”
Mrs. Na stood up again. Then, she dragged her daughter even more violently than before. Hauled all the way to the entryway this time, Yeon-ju barely managed to hold onto the shoe cabinet to resist.
“Get out. Get out!”
“I'm not going, Mom… Mom, please…”
Mrs. Na grabbed a random shoe and began hitting Yeon-ju on the back.
“Are you trying to kill your mother? Fine, make your choice. Either kill me right here, or go to the hospital and save me. You choose!”
Yeon-ju kept her head bowed, offering no resistance as she sobbed.
“How do you think I raised you? With what kind of heart did I raise you? How could you… how could you do this to me…”
“I want to have it… Mom, I'm sorry… I want to give birth and raise it…”
Dropping the shoe she had been weakly striking her daughter's back with, Mrs. Na slumped onto the entryway floor. Leaning against the cold front door, she stared at her daughter with a vacant, hollow expression.
Staring blankly at her daughter, who was unconsciously cradling her stomach as if looking at a ghost, Mrs. Na's shoulders began to shake as she burst into tears.
“Oh, God… Oh, Yeon-ju's father… Oh, my love…”
Wailing at the top of her lungs, Mrs. Na beat the entryway floor.
She wanted to gather her thoughts, but her mind was a complete blank. She knew all too well that she had to stay strong for her broken daughter, who was incapable of rational thought, but—
This was something she had never even imagined, a "what if" she had never wanted to contemplate.
“Oh, God… Oh, Yeon-ju's father… Yeon-ju's father, my love…”
Faced with such a reality, her world went dark. She couldn't envision any kind of hopeful future, and even as a mother, she had no idea how to resolve this.
Her wails were as sorrowful as when she had lost her husband. She had thought she would never have cause to weep like that again, but instead of welcoming a new life, it felt as though her daughter's life was ending, and her heart shattered.
“Mom… I'm sorry… Please let me have the baby…”
Kneeling on the floor, her daughter's voice repeating over and over that she would have the baby sounded distant, faint and far away.
Mrs. Na squeezed her eyes shut. Even when she asked if her daughter was trying to kill her, there was no answer. Even when she calmly explained that this was wrong, her daughter wouldn't listen.
Even when she asked if she was really going to give up her promising future and her bright dreams like this, there was no response—
Despair only deepened before her daughter, who did nothing but repeat her apologies.
…Two hours passed since she had collapsed in the entryway.
“So,” Mrs. Na began, her voice hoarse. “You're going to have it?”
When Yeon-ju, who had spent those two hours on her knees, nodded, Mrs. Na let out a heavy sigh.
But no matter how much her daughter wanted it, no matter how stubborn she was, Mrs. Na could not allow it.
“You're only like this because you're overwhelmed, shocked, and scared right now. Once some time passes, you'll understand what I'm saying.”
Mrs. Na grabbed the front door handle and barely managed to pull herself up. Her legs, completely drained of strength, wobbled.
“Think carefully about what I said. That's enough for today. We'll go to the hospital tomorrow. If you don't want to go tomorrow, we'll go the day after.”
She had no energy left to speak, and her head throbbed so much she could barely keep her eyes open. As Mrs. Na stumbled away from the entryway toward her bedroom, her daughter's weak voice pierced her back.
“It's not like… I didn't try… to go to the hospital…”
“……”
“I… I tried to do that, too…”
Her feverish eyelids closed on their own. Mrs. Na barely stood, holding onto a kitchen chair, listening to her daughter.
“I tried to do it… but I couldn't… Once I heard the baby's heartbeat… I just couldn't do it…”
Mrs. Na forced her eyes open again. Her daughter's sobbing voice gouged at her heart like tearing raw flesh, but she replied in a voice that didn't tremble in the slightest.
“If you can't do it, I will. What do you mean you can't? A mother can do anything. Just trust me and do exactly as I say. Don't think about anything else, and go get some rest.”
As she stepped into her bedroom, Mrs. Na looked back once more. Her daughter, still kneeling on the floor, looked exceptionally small today, and a sudden surge of sorrow caught in her throat.
“Your mom would never make you do anything that would hurt you. I might not be highly educated, and I might not know much, but I know better than anyone how you need to live to have a good life. So just listen to me. Don't think about anything else.”
“…I'm going to have it.”
“……”
“There is no father, Mom. I'm going to have this baby alone.”
Without another word, Mrs. Na closed her bedroom door behind her.
The next day, for the first time, she closed her shop without any explanation.