The Day of Release
The two days I had promised my wife finally passed. The long-awaited day of liberation had arrived at last. Under the pretext of what she called “mental training,” I couldn’t even begin to count how many acts we’d performed or how many expensive drugs I’d been forced to swallow. Even now, it felt like my wife’s scent still clung to every inch of my body.
“…Are you ready?”
“Just a second. Almost done.”
Today, I was supposed to leave the house with my wife. She said she would help with Soyeon’s discharge from the hospital and then go meet Jeon Nando. At first, I naturally assumed I would go with her to help with Soyeon’s discharge as well… but all I got was a sharp “Are you insane?”
She said that if the two of us showed up together, it would look strange to Soyeon. In just two days—three if you counted the first—it felt like I had spent time almost exactly like I had in my previous life. Without realizing it, I had started to mistake myself for Min Sungjae again.
I am Yu Jihwan. Not Ju Yeonhee’s husband or Min Soyeon’s father, but Min Soyeon’s partner—Yu Jihwan.
If Soyeon saw me and my wife acting too close, it would create an incredibly awkward situation. That must be why my wife was using that weird excuse about being my “sponsor” to call me… Thanks to that, it looked like I wouldn’t be able to see Soyeon until this evening.
…Of course, that was a secret from my wife.
She had told me that she would arrange a meeting on the coming weekend, so I shouldn’t bother Soyeon and should just come home obediently. But no matter how you looked at it, wasn’t it too much for a parent not to check on their own daughter to see if she was okay?
That was why I had every intention of going to see Soyeon today. After I finished my business, stopping by her house on the way back should make the timing perfect. I was only planning to see her face for a moment, so even if my wife found out, it should be fine… right?
…It definitely wasn’t because I couldn’t stand waiting until the weekend. Really!
Shhhk— shhhk—
I sprayed the cologne my wife had given me in moderation, then walked over to her where she sat in a chair at the table and subtly spread my arms.
“How’s this?”
At my question, my wife quietly lifted the corners of her mouth and nodded. Then she suddenly stood up, ran her gaze across my chest in a suggestive way, and whispered.
“…Jihwan, why don’t you forget about going out and come do something fun with Noona instead?”
It was the 142nd pattern we had practiced yesterday. To test me right up until the last second—did she really not trust me that much…?
“…No.”
When I turned my gaze away slightly and refused, my wife wrapped her arms around my waist with an innocent expression and continued to the 151st pattern.
“…Really?”
This woman…
I gently pried her arms off and spoke in a firm tone.
“I don’t want to.”
Apparently that response wasn’t bad either, because my wife put on a pitiful expression and tried the next pattern.
“…Just the tip. Can’t you at least let me put it in just once…?”
Her eyebrows furrowed in desperate appeal, those large eyes that looked ready to spill tears at any moment, and those plump lips that trembled as if to emphasize how pitiful she was… Even though I knew it was an act, her sorrowful face was so lethal that I almost nodded without thinking.
But if I gave in here, I might end up forbidden from leaving the house. With a heart that felt like it was being carved by knives, I gently pushed her away and turned my head sharply.
“…Stop it.”
Only then did my wife seem satisfied. She gave my butt a couple of light pats as if to say “good boy” and picked up her handbag.
“…You’ll come home early today, right?”
“…I don’t know.”
And so my wife and I left the house together, each heading off to take care of our own business. She went to the hospital where Soyeon was, and I headed for Gong Haeseon’s house.
*
Ding-dong— Ding-dong—
The sound of the doorbell echoed through the quiet house.
“…”
I had been curled up in bed, exhausted from crying. I slowly lifted the blanket that covered my head and thought to myself. Was there anyone in our family who would actually ring the doorbell…?
Ding-dong— Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang again and again, as if urging me to come out quickly. I finally forced myself to get up, leaning against the wall as I slowly made my way to the front door.
One step… Another step…
As I struggled to move my feet toward the entrance, I heard knocking this time.
Thud! Thud!
“Hello?”
It was the voice of a young man. It sounded familiar, and there was a gentleness to it.
When I finally reached the front door, my trembling hand reached out and pressed the electronic lock. With a soft whirr—, I placed my hand on the doorknob and carefully applied force.
Creeeeak…
The door that had been tightly shut finally opened. Bright sunlight poured in through the slowly widening gap. I had no idea how long it had been since I last saw daylight; it was so blinding that I unconsciously frowned.
Right at that moment, someone poked their face through the gap.
“Hello…?”
Deep brown hair and eyes so captivating they could drown you. The moment our eyes met, I unconsciously gasped.
“…Jihwan?”
It was Yu Jihwan.
At his completely unexpected appearance, I was so startled that my legs gave out and I collapsed onto the floor.
“Ah…!”
With a loud clatter, I sprawled helplessly across the entryway. Jihwan quickly opened the door and rushed over to me.
“Haeseon! Haeseon, are you okay?!”
My head felt strangely fuzzy. The way Jihwan held me tightly as if he was greatly startled, the subtle way he adjusted his strength so as not to hurt me, and even his worried voice asking if I was alright—everything felt unreal, like I was dreaming.
If this really was a dream, I hoped I would never wake up. Because a dream with Jihwan in it was far better than cold reality…
“Haeseon, are you okay? Look at me…!”
As I stared at him blankly, he gently placed his hand on my cheek. The warm sensation against my skin. Even though it was clearly a dream, I could feel his warmth perfectly.
“Haeseon! Gong Haeseon!!”
For some reason, my hands were trembling. I lifted them and gently placed them over his hand that rested on my cheek.
“…Haa…”
His warmth seeped even deeper into me. It spread through my whole body like rain soaking parched earth. As I foolishly parted my lips and savored his warmth—
Suddenly my vision flipped. A floating sensation enveloped my body. Jihwan had lifted me up in his arms. The moment I realized he was holding me, reality came crashing back at terrifying speed.
…Huh?
The sensation was more than enough to make me realize this wasn’t a dream—it was real.
“Where’s your room…”
My heart was pounding so violently I worried he might hear it.
“…J-Jihwan…?”
In my extreme confusion, I unconsciously called his name. He, who had been looking around the house, quickly met my eyes.
“Haeseon! Are you coming back to your senses? Thank goodness… I was so worried…”
The moment I realized that Jihwan’s voice in my ear, the fact that I was in his arms, and the worried look on his face were all real—
“…Hic…”
I also realized just how wretched I must look right now.
*
After Gong Haeseon suddenly screamed and disappeared into her room, loud thumping and crashing sounds kept coming from inside. Since I couldn’t just barge into a girl’s room, I simply sat quietly and waited.
“…”
While waiting for Haeseon, I took a quick look around the house. Aside from the kitchen where I was sitting, there only seemed to be a bathroom and the room Haeseon had gone into. It wasn’t a very big house.
Judging by the high-end oven and expensive-looking baking equipment in the kitchen, it was clearly the one Haeseon used… But no matter where I looked, there were no traces of any other family members.
Did she live separately from her family? If so, that would explain the state I had seen Haeseon in earlier. Her hair was a tangled mess as if she had been ripping at it, her eyes were bloodshot, and her gaze was completely unfocused, like she had lost her mind. At a glance, she was clearly in bad shape.
…There must be something going on.
Was it because of the “sister” she had been calling out to right before we escaped from the beast Gaura?
While I was looking around the house and continuing to speculate about Gong Haeseon—
The door suddenly burst open. Haeseon finally emerged from her room and appeared in the kitchen. Her messy hair had been neatly twisted up, and the baggy t-shirt that had been hanging off her shoulder and the sloppy shorts had been changed into a thin top that revealed her collarbones and short pants. Her complexion looked a little better too—she seemed to have put on some light makeup.
“…J-Jihwan… Did you wait long…?”
But the difference from the complete mess I had seen earlier only made me worry more. There was definitely something wrong… Still, I couldn’t just ask her outright, so it was probably best to bring up another topic first.
“…Are you okay?”
When I asked if she was alright, Gong Haeseon slowly sat down across from me and answered that she was.
“…What about you? Aren’t you okay…? You went through so much trouble because of me…”
To reassure her, I smiled brightly and told her I was fine. As we briefly exchanged greetings—
I became certain that her physical condition was very bad. First of all, she looked overall pale and haggard. On top of that, she was trembling intermittently, her hands were shaking badly, and there were visible injuries she hadn’t been able to cover up.
If my memory was correct, unlike Soyeon, she hadn’t been seriously injured. Yet there were scratch-like wounds on her forearms, thick red marks around her neck, and bruises that kept appearing. Since she had definitely received light treatment before returning, these couldn’t have been injuries from before she went to the hospital.
…Which meant they were injuries that happened at home…
There was no way Gong Yeji, who loved her sister so terribly, would have done this… Of course, it was dangerous to make assumptions about someone else’s family matters, but I couldn’t ignore the possibility that she had been abused by her parents.
There was no way her parents wouldn’t have known that Gong Haeseon had been at Toyland. The whole world had been in an uproar—how could they not know? Of course, there was a chance she lived alone and had hidden the fact that she was okay. But I didn’t think that was the case.
Just looking at the dust piled up on the dining table was enough. A faint layer of dust had settled as if no one had touched it for several days. That strongly suggested there had been no coming and going from other family members. In other words, it meant Haeseon had been left alone while the house was neglected.
After thinking for a moment, I finally waited for the right timing and carefully spoke to her.
“…Have you eaten?”
She nodded several times and said, “Y-yeah! I ate earlier…! What about you, did you eat before coming…?”
It was such an obvious lie. The way she desperately tried to deceive me looked exactly like a child struggling not to worry the adults. For some reason, it made me think of Soyeon.
“…I haven’t eaten yet. Want to eat together?”