My Last Family
The sight of her grandmother, who somehow even looked relieved, sent Yeo-won spiraling even deeper into the abyss.
Yet a part of her heart had always believed that Grandmother simply lacked affection but never denied that she was family.
Otherwise, how could she have raised her for sixteen years? Yeo-won gritted her teeth as memories of the past flooded back.
Not long after her parents died, Yeo-won had begun seeing ghosts. Grandmother refused to believe it and met her with nothing but contempt.
When Yeo-won burst into terrified tears, she would scold her mercilessly. If the crying continued, she would strike her back and shoulders while spitting venomous words.
Even so, she would sometimes silently offer snacks, and on cold nights she would tuck an extra blanket around her.
Yeo-won had believed it was all because they were family. That even the hatred was built on a foundation of love.
She had been wrong.
Grandmother had merely observed the minimum courtesy owed to someone living under her roof. Those small acts had carried no deeper meaning at all.
“Haha…”
Yeo-won let out a small, broken laugh.
In every relationship she had ever known, she had always been the lesser party. Seeing ghosts made it nearly impossible to form real connections with others. The people around her eventually grew exhausted and drifted away until no one remained. The loneliness was crushing. There were times the isolation grew so vast she thought it might be easier to die.
What had kept her going was the last remaining family she had in this world.
Friends and lovers were fragile bonds, but family was supposed to be different. Just look at Grandmother.
No matter how much she hated her, she had never abandoned her. She had always been there.
They had never exchanged a single warm word, yet Yeo-won had endlessly comforted herself with the idea that this was simply what family was like.
She had even harbored the shallow hope that if she tried hard enough, Grandmother might one day smile at her the way Grandfather had.
But all of it was over now. Yeo-won’s face twisted in pain.
“Grandmother… you really are cruel.”
The last candle flame flickered and died with a soft hiss. Even when Grandmother had screamed at her in rage, calling her a malevolent spirit, Yeo-won had tried to understand. Grandmother was hurting. People became irritable when they were in pain.
But not anymore. Thanks to the spiritual energy Shin-wol had given her, Grandmother had recovered enough to work in the fields again.
That meant no excuse could justify her words any longer.
“There’s no room left for excuses…”
What had she been clinging to so desperately? What had she struggled so hard to earn—love?
No matter what she did, she could never become true family to Grandmother.
I know. I’ve always known.
Yeo-won’s face crumpled.
Still, she had hoped the end wouldn’t be like this.
She staggered, wrapping both arms around herself. She trembled pitifully, like a person abandoned alone in a frozen field.
Slowly lifting her head, Yeo-won forced the words out.
“You should have just abandoned me.”
It felt as though every ounce of resentment, hatred, pity, and sympathy had burned away inside her until nothing remained.
“You should have thrown away every promise and sense of duty and left me at an orphanage.”
If she had, it wouldn’t hurt this much.
At Yeo-won’s bitter accusation, Grandmother’s face darkened. She opened her mouth.
“Regardless, I raised you. I fed you and gave you shelter. Isn’t that enough for you to feel grateful?”
“Feeding me and giving me shelter isn’t raising me. What you did was worse than neglect. It was abandonment.”
“Then what more did you want from me?”
“I tried to talk to you! I tried to build a bond even though you hated me! But what about you? Are you satisfied now that you’ve kept Grandfather’s last wish? Does wrapping yourself in the idea that you fulfilled your duty make you feel at ease?!”
Grandmother stared at her with a rigid expression.
Seeing her bite her lip, face flushed with rage, Yeo-won felt strangely liberated.
“It’s over now.”
Her self-mocking voice carried a quiet, steady anger.
“I won’t come back to Inwol anymore. Since I have no family left, there’s no reason to visit.”
Just as Grandmother had refused to acknowledge her as family and treated her as an evil spirit, Yeo-won would do the same.
“To me, my late grandfather was my last family.”
A sharp intake of breath cut through the air. Grandmother froze, visibly shaken. The venomous words coming from Yeo-won—who had always been passive and timid—were almost impossible to believe. While she remained rigid, an irritated voice drifted from behind her.
“Aigoo, how noisy. What on earth is all this racket?”
The person who pushed open the blue gate was none other than Grandmother Yoon. She looked between the tear-streaked Yeo-won and the ashen-faced Grandmother, eyes darting in confusion, until her gaze landed on Shin-wol and she went completely still.
Her breath caught. Sensing the stare, Shin-wol slowly turned his head to regard the frozen woman.
The moment their eyes met, his smile deepened. With a mysterious curve of his lips, he raised a single finger to his mouth.
At the gesture, Grandmother Yoon felt a chilling ring in her ears and the vivid sensation of something scraping her skin raw.
Then a tremendous roar shook all of Inwol.
Startled, Yeo-won whipped her head around. The world went black.
The touch of something cool against her burning eyes told her instantly it was Shin-wol’s hand.
“Shin-wol…”
The low, gentle voice drained every last ounce of strength from her body. Even as her mind grew hazy, those final words etched themselves clearly into her ears.
Before she could utter a single word of protest, Yeo-won slipped into unconsciousness. Shin-wol caught her sliding body with care and lifted her into his arms, smiling softly.
The one who sensed something strange in his actions and spoke was Yeo-won’s grandmother.
“What are you—”
In the blink of an eye, Shin-wol closed the distance and stood before her. Seeing him appear without a sound, Grandmother swallowed hard. Her body went rigid with tension as she met his glowing, inorganic eyes.
It was a bizarre scene—a beautiful young man speaking down to an elder—yet no one dared question it.
They could sense it instinctively: something hideous writhing beneath that flawless exterior. He was not human.
Grandmother’s body shook like a leaf in a gale.
“Wh-what are you?”
“Not… human…”
He gazed down at the sleeping Yeo-won in his arms with apparent affection and gently brushed away the dried tear tracks with his fingertip.
Despite his words, his expression looked utterly delighted.
The aura surrounding Shin-wol grew denser. Grandmother’s breathing turned rapid and shallow. Yet he continued meticulously cleaning Yeo-won’s face as if the gasping woman before him did not exist. The serene composure in the face of such suffering created an eerie, unsettling dissonance.
He did not spare Grandmother so much as a glance as he sneered.
At once, Grandmother let out a rasping breath. Her eyes turned bloodshot. As her frail body began to tilt sideways, the startled Grandmother Yoon rushed forward and barely managed to catch her.
“Gr-Grandma!”
No matter how many times she called, there was no response. The face drained of all life and color looked like a corpse, so Grandmother Yoon quickly pressed a hand beneath her nose. A faint breath brushed her fingers. The brief relief that she was still alive vanished as an indescribable sense of dread washed over her from the being standing nearby.
In the heavy silence she lifted her head and met Shin-wol’s gaze. A chill like hundreds of insects crawling across her skin swept through her entire body.
Shin-wol, who had been quietly observing her, narrowed his golden eyes with interest.
The captivating voice demanded an answer. Grandmother Yoon bit down hard on her tongue.
Though he called it pitiful, there was no trace of sympathy in his tone. As Grandmother Yoon swallowed dryly, Shin-wol asked in a low, suggestive murmur.
“……”
When she stubbornly kept her mouth shut, he let out an annoyed sigh.
Still watching him with wary eyes, Grandmother Yoon asked in a trembling voice.
“…Are you an evil spirit?”