Chapter 256: Guidance-3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 256: Guidance-3
"Si-a, some water."
The voice came from beside her as she sat perched on the caregiver's cot, head bowed over her phone.
With practiced ease, Yun Si-a tilted the half-full water bottle and poured the lukewarm liquid into a cup.
"Here."
She handed him the cup, and her father took it, bringing it to his lips.
Recently, he had regained enough strength in his hands to hold a cup on his own.
The water went down, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Gulp, gulp. He drank several mouthfuls in succession, as if all his past suffering had manifested as a deep, lingering thirst.
"How do you feel?" his daughter asked, watching him.
The gray-haired man offered a soft, albeit somewhat weak, smile.
"I'm okay."
"The doctor said you're getting better and better."
She couldn't even remember when her father had first become bedridden.
Whether that period had actually been short or long didn't really matter. To her, it had felt like over ten years.
That was the only fact that carried weight.
[It’s not that there haven't been cases like this, but it is an extremely exceptional situation.]
The words of the exhausted doctor still played vividly in her mind.
The fact that they had finally emerged from a long, dark tunnel of misfortune—that was what truly mattered.
"I wonder when I'll be discharged," the middle-aged man murmured, looking out at the falling autumn leaves.
"Talking about being discharged already? You must really be feeling better. But the doctor said we need to monitor your progress, so just be patient for a bit."
Yun Si-a let out a small chuckle.
At school, at the hospital, and even during her tutoring sessions...
It felt like she had been smiling a lot more lately.
"Si-a, nothing happened while I was gone, right?"
The hospital room door opened, and her mother walked in.
Judging by her appearance, she had stopped by the house before coming, rather than coming straight from the grocery store.
"Yeah, nothing happened."
Yun Si-a stood up and brushed the wrinkles out of her pants.
"Are you leaving already?" her mother asked, noticing her packing her things, unlike their usual routine of chatting for a while.
"Ah, yeah... I have a lot of assignments to do."
After a brief goodbye to her parents, Yun Si-a left the hospital.
*
A cafe filled with the sound of jazz piano.
Seated in a corner of this sanctuary for students, Yun Si-a was working on her assignments, searching for references on her phone.
She transcribed the data onto A4 paper by hand.
It would have been nice to have a laptop, but her finances were still too tight to afford one.
Perhaps because she had been moving her hand without rest, she felt a cramp in her muscles. She set her pen down and massaged her wrist with her other hand.
"I wonder what In-ho is doing."
The words escaped her lips before her brain could even process the thought.
Yun Si-a’s eyes widened for a moment, but then she gave a small smirk and rested her chin on her hand.
I thought I’d never have a reason to smile again for the rest of my life... but I’ve been doing it a lot lately, she thought.
She went to the restroom. In the mirror, her reflection stared back.
It was different from the image of herself she carried in her mind.
Contrary to her expectation of seeing a gloomy face with tightly pursed lips, the girl in the mirror wore a faint, gentle smile.
It was unfamiliar, but it looked good.
"Pretty," Yun Si-a murmured.
She picked up her phone. A text had arrived from an online mall, asking her to confirm the purchase of a delivered item.
After mechanically pressing the button, she returned to her seat.
She still had much to do.
*
My wrist feels like it’s been stretched thin after moving my hand non-stop.
Ugh—my hand hurts so much. I should look into getting a laptop once next month’s tutoring pay comes in.
If it’s just for the internet and word processing, I should be able to get one for under a million won... I heard there are plenty of decent used ones these days, too.
[The stop is...]
I tap my transit card and step off the bus, greeted by the familiar path home.
"It's dark."
The alleyway, devoid of any decent streetlights, welcomes me.
I wonder when they’ll ever install lights here. It would probably be faster for me to just move out of this neighborhood, wouldn't it?
I lead the way with my worn-out sneakers.
Deeper, further inside... I walk this dark path toward the sanctuary I call home.
I look up at the sky.
Unlike the city sky, the moon and stars are visible today.
Though their brightness is quite faint—hardly enough to be moving.
In-ho, why do I find myself thinking of the brilliant light of the moon and stars we saw together on that hill?
It’s probably because you were there by my side, isn't it?
Our first meeting wasn't exactly great. You found me annoying, and I couldn't understand you.
I thought the dynamic of our relationship, once established, would never change.
But I was wrong.
You changed so much that I can't even remember how you used to be, and your eyes began to shine.
That’s right. Just like the moonlight back then.
Is it just a coincidence? That the moment you started trying to change, everything around me began to change as well.
My dad. They say he can be discharged soon.
We still have debts, but we’ll be able to pay them off before long.
There’s no logical causality, but I think it’s all thanks to you.
Because as you began to change, I was finally able to emerge from that long, long tunnel.
I’m only at the very edge of the tunnel now, but because of that, I can clearly feel the flickering light before my eyes growing larger and larger.
Thank you. You’d probably grumble that it has nothing to do with you, but I feel like I owe you so much.
For listening to my lessons so well, for my father getting better, for saving me in that park...
I received help from you, so now I want to help you.
I don't want you to miss the chance to walk the right path and dream of a bright future.
And that’s why....
*
With a sharp shriek, a woman collapsed onto the pavement.
Another woman stood tall before her, looking down at the one crawling on the ground as if she were looking at a bug.
"I warned you."
"Ah, ugh... it hurts...."
The woman crawled along the ground, the pain showing no signs of subsiding.
"Are you just short-sighted, or are you stupid? No... I suppose it's both."
The voice, though wearing a mask of pity and sympathy, was heavily laced with ridicule.
"You... in your hand... that...."
The woman on the ground managed to steady herself and stood up unsteadily.
In the hand of the person facing her was a plastic object.
It was a device that emitted a sharp crackle whenever a button was pressed.
That’s why, In-ho.
Even if I do something like this... you have to understand.
Yun Si-a looked down emotionlessly at Shin Jeong-ah, who had stood up, gasping for breath.