The Cliff (3)
The chill in the air that brushed across my skin—maybe that was it. Or perhaps it was the dim lighting. The moment my eyes met my wife’s as she peeked through the cracked door, I instinctively stumbled backward. Even in the faint darkness, her eyes gleamed with a predatory sharpness, like those of a wild beast.
“…M-Mom….”
Min Soyeon seemed just as startled. She flinched like a child caught doing something bad and quickly moved toward me. Without thinking, I stepped in front of her protectively and faced my wife.
Then—
Creak—
My wife quietly opened the door and stepped inside, standing before us.
Thud—
A heavy sound echoed down the stairwell. The suddenly oppressive atmosphere made me tense up. I swallowed hard, carefully reading her expression.
…She looks really angry.
Her face showed no emotion whatsoever, and her icy gaze stirred up old memories, constantly sending me warnings. Right now, my wife was furious. After all, I had ignored her worried advice, met with Soyeon late at night, and gotten caught. As both a wife and a mother, she had every right to be upset.
“…Um….”
Fearing that Soyeon might get caught in the crossfire, I opened my mouth on instinct. But before I could speak, the corner of my wife’s lips curved upward into a gentle, beautiful smile, and her kind tone cut me off completely.
“…I’ve been looking for you two for a while. So you were together?”
…Huh?
Caught off guard by the completely unexpected response, both Min Soyeon and I fidgeted nervously, only able to watch her reaction. What… what is this? Is she not mad?
Both Soyeon and I knew better than anyone what my wife looked like when she was angry, so we were extra cautious about how to respond.
Right then—
“…By the way, why aren’t you two sleeping?”
My wife casually tossed the question our way.
…Yeah, she’s definitely mad.
Beyond her smiling face, I could sense the hidden thorns. She was scolding both Soyeon and me for not being asleep at this hour.
I had to answer carefully here. From Soyeon’s perspective, my wife and I were officially strangers. At best, we were acquaintances because I had saved her daughter. Keeping that in mind, I chose my words with great care and spoke cautiously.
“Ma’am. I was worried about Soyeon, so I secretly called her here. …I’m truly sorry for disturbing you so late at night.”
The truth didn’t matter. What I wanted to convey was, ‘I’m sorry, but I wanted to see our daughter, so don’t say anything!’ If it was my wife, she would understand what I meant.
“….”
My wife stared at me as if glaring, then slowly spoke as if she had no choice.
“…If it was for our Soyeon, then I suppose it can’t be helped…. But it’s already quite late. Why don’t you continue your conversation tomorrow?”
“…Yes, we will.”
At my answer, my wife quietly withdrew her gaze and turned a warm look toward Min Soyeon standing beside me.
“…Mom will head in first, so say your goodbyes and come inside soon.”
Min Soyeon silently nodded in response. With a satisfied smile, my wife left a message that she would see me tomorrow and returned to the hospital room. It was time for us to leave as well.
“Soyeon, I’m glad you seem okay. Make sure you get proper treatment for the parts that still hurt… and talk to your mother nicely.”
“…Yeah.”
As we exchanged goodbyes and I turned to leave, Min Soyeon looked somehow disappointed. I couldn’t tell why.
*
When Min Soyeon entered the hospital room, she flinched at the sight of her mother sitting in the chair beside the bed.
“….”
Ju Yeonhee, who had been casually crossing her legs and tapping her foot, smiled as if she had been waiting for her daughter’s arrival and patted the bed.
“Shall we talk?”
Min Soyeon stared at her blankly for a moment before slowly nodding and obeying. Once Min Soyeon lay down on the bed—
“…Here, let’s cover you with the blanket….”
Ju Yeonhee gently pulled the blanket up with caring hands and brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen across Min Soyeon’s face.
Min Soyeon lying down. Ju Yeonhee looking at her. Both women thought of the same man, yet harbored completely different thoughts as they gazed at each other intently.
By the time both women had grown firmly convinced of their own beliefs—
“…Soyeon.”
Ju Yeonhee spoke carefully.
“…Mom has one question. Would it be alright if I asked?”
Min Soyeon blinked quietly. She had a vague idea of what her mother wanted to ask and nodded slowly, filled with strong conviction. She realized that Ju Yeonhee’s question would be necessary to solidify her own plan.
After receiving her daughter’s permission, Ju Yeonhee took a slow, deep breath as if gathering herself and asked cautiously.
“…You two seemed quite close earlier. What is your relationship with that boy…?”
That boy.
…Yu Jihwan….
Min Soyeon recalled her relationship with Yu Jihwan. More than friends, but not quite lovers. Closer to being a couple than just having a crush. Since they had even confirmed their affectionate feelings for each other, calling him her boyfriend wouldn’t be strange at all, would it?
“…We’re dating.”
At Min Soyeon’s confident answer, Ju Yeonhee continued speaking with a calm expression, as if she had expected it.
“…Since when have you been seeing each other?”
Faced with another question, Min Soyeon’s mind spun again. Since when should she say? It wasn’t something she had pinpointed exactly, so it was difficult to give a clear answer. Since she needed to convince her mother, Min Soyeon eventually decided to keep it vague.
“…It’s been a while.”
Watching her daughter’s behavior, Ju Yeonhee nodded slowly as if she understood everything. She had come to understand it all—including the fact that her daughter, who took after her, was boldly trying to deceive her….
Ju Yeonhee pondered. It was clear that Min Soyeon was lying, but why? There were only two reasons a child would lie to a parent: because they didn’t want the truth to be discovered, or because they wanted to hide the truth to gain something.
After thinking for a moment, Ju Yeonhee guessed that her daughter wanted to get something from her. To find out what it was, she cast out another bait.
“…Do you like him a lot?”
Min Soyeon’s face flushed slightly.
“…Yeah….”
Noticing something from her daughter’s reaction and answer, Ju Yeonhee threw out the final piece of bait to drive the point home.
“…How much?”
Min Soyeon fidgeted with her lips in embarrassment and answered carefully.
“…To the point where… I want to marry him…?”
*
Tick— tick— tick— tick—
The sound of the clock dug into my ears.
Tick— tick— tick— tick—
No matter how hard I covered my ears or smashed every clock in the house, the sound of the moving hands wouldn’t disappear.
Whoosh—
I yanked the blanket over my head, curled up inside it, and quietly recalled that day.
The shattered mask. Mi-ju’s sister’s face, completely mangled. And the beast Gaura that had swallowed her whole.
Rescued in a daze, I received rough treatment before rushing back home. I wanted to see my one and only twin sister, Ye-ji, who was helping Father with his ‘work.’
But my sister wouldn’t see me.
No, she couldn’t see me.
She said she was truly sorry, that she wanted to come right away but couldn’t leave her position. Over the cold phone receiver, she offered endless apologies, but even that seemed to run out of time—she hung up before even three minutes had passed.
With nowhere to turn, I went looking for the rest of my family.
But… the others were the same.
None of them could see me. They all said they were busy with some unknown ‘work’ and couldn’t come see me.
Work to earn money, money to survive. My head could understand it, but my heart, which felt like it would burst at any moment, could not.
If only someone—anyone—would come and tell me I was wrong, that my thoughts were mistaken. But no one came looking for me.
Mi-ju’s sister was dead.
Or maybe she wasn’t. Like in the fairy tales I read as a child, she might still be alive inside the giant beast’s stomach and come back.
…But fairy tales were just fairy tales, and reality was cruel.
I had attacked Mi-ju’s sister. With my own hands, I had knocked her down and thrown her into the beast’s belly. Those sharp fangs… they must have….
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!”
Unable to hold it in any longer, I screamed. In a rush, I bit down hard on my hand to muffle my mouth.
Crunch—
My teeth sank into my hand, and a metallic taste filled my mouth.
…Maybe Mi-ju’s sister was chewed up like this too….
If I bit down just a little harder… maybe I could understand her feelings…?
To understand Mi-ju’s sister’s heart, I gradually put more strength into my jaw. The bundle of nerves in my hand began to scream. My brain sounded the alarm, my jaw lost strength, I bit down again, strength faded….
By the time I no longer had the courage to bite my hand any further—
Bang—!
The sound of the door suddenly flying open rang out. The blanket was yanked away, and—
“…Hae, Haeseon…!”
The person I had wanted to see so badly—Ye-ji, dressed in white clothes and breathing heavily—appeared before my blurry vision.
“…S-Sister…?”
At that moment, Ye-ji sister pulled me into a tight embrace and cried out.
“A-Are you okay!? I’m sorry!! I… I’m so sorry, Haeseon….”
Strangely, perhaps because I had cried too many tears, I felt no emotion even as I faced the sister I had longed to see. My trembling hands moved to slowly push her away, and I met Ye-ji’s eyes.
She stared at me with wide, startled eyes. Even though we were identical twins, she was far prettier than me.
Looking at her face, I squeezed out my cracked voice and asked the question I was most curious about.
“…What about… Mi-ju sister…?”
Ye-ji sister flinched in surprise and quickly reassured me.
“…M-Mi-ju sister is fine!! Really! She’s just… um, anyway, she’s doing well…! I’ll let you talk to her on the phone soon. She’s just busy with work…. It won’t be long….”
Mi-ju sister was alive. Even after hearing such joyful news, I felt strangely numb. I squeezed out the next question that had been weighing on me.
“…Sister, what… ‘work’ do you do…?”