Lee Yena's Embrace
Yura asked in a trembling heart what kind of monster Yena's mother was.
If according to her thoughts, Yena's mother would be a succubus.
Since the place where Seona was kidnapped and the last place she was seen was also the succubus's territory, it was only natural to think that.
However, the words that came out of Yena's mouth were "I don't know."
No matter how much she asked about her mother, she didn't answer.
It was as if she had made a promise with someone not to say anything.
If she continued to ask, it would only provoke her.
Since Yena was going to live in this house with her anyway, Yura decided to slowly learn more over time.
Yena had said she wanted to live together in the house as long as Yura didn't chase her away.
And if Seona really came back, he would have no place to go.
Since Mina and Seona had already been processed as missing persons turned deceased and became unclaimed deceased, the house they lived in had been reclaimed by the government.
It was because Mina and Hyuntae had no relatives and were orphans.
It would take quite a long time to find the house reclaimed by the government through legal lawsuits.
'Among the people Seona knows, the only one he can rely on is me.'
Even if Yurin might be at her house, that was the only path Seona could choose.
Even so, the doubts did not disappear.
There was no mention of Seona coming with Mina among the things Yena had just said.
The words that he would come back alone gave the feeling that Mina had become someone who couldn't come back.
His hands and feet were shaking violently.
An uneasiness settled in one corner of his mind.
Yura had allowed Yena to live in the house together, but she was worried because of Yurin.
If Yena saw Yura and mistook her for Seona, becoming excited, Yena might be in danger.
However, that worry changed direction.
On the first day, when Yura accidentally saw Yena, she acted as if welcoming a welcome person.
And after hearing Yura's words, I couldn't help but be shocked.
"My daughter... my daughter... it wasn't a dream after all."
Yura, who seemed to have returned to her senses, said that to Yena.
I didn't catch what Yura's words meant at all.
But I thought that Yura couldn't distinguish the illusion of marrying Seona and having a child in her delusions from reality.
From that moment on, hope began to arise that we could escape from the hellish life.
Yena seemed to be creating an opportunity to atone for us.
The fact that Seona, who had raised her as a child, had been humiliated by his daughter.
Perhaps she wanted to atone to Yena, Seona's daughter, for failing in child education.
It was only natural that it was just self-satisfaction.
Even so, she couldn't stop anymore.
As time passed, the actions Yena took seemed so similar to Seona that I had no choice but to open my heart to Yena.
Even though I knew this child was a monster...
Yura had a terribly happy nightmare again today.
The dream of marrying Seona and spending happy daily life with her children.
When that dream breaks, the reality that makes one want to go mad makes one vomit.
The lingering attachment to Seona, who could no longer be met, poured out in frustration.
Today, after screaming as if lamenting that nightmare, she took out the sleeping pills again to drink them with water and came out from her room to the living room.
However, there was someone she had been missing in the living room.
It was a thing that had happened often, where the hallucination from dreams overlapped like a hallucination in reality, but this appearance was too vivid.
It was clearly the daughter of herself and Seona.
The name was not remembered well.
The existence that had been thought to be a fictional character that only appeared in dreams until now was looking directly at the one who came out.
"Hello?"
The disappointment was quite large for the child speaking as if seeing me for the first time.
But when I saw my appearance reflected in the full-length mirror in the living room, I understood.
My appearance was so miserable that it couldn't be believed as her mother.
Unlike the me in the dream, this appearance had hollow dark circles and a bad complexion.
The skin that had turned pitch black after not seeing sunlight for a long time was different from the appearance in the dream where I went out with family every weekend.
It was quite far from the appearance where I worked as a team leader hunter at Hwaryong Guild in the dream.
It was just a skinny figure, and I thought the child might not realize who she was.
Even so, I approached the child in front of me and hugged her.
The warmth of the 'daughter' I had only seen in dreams was felt.
It was felt in the soft skin of the soft skin in my arms.
And I realized.
This is not an illusion caused by my delusions or drugs.
This child was definitely my daughter.
Even though there was a child despite the mental illness I had developed, how confused I was.
Even though there was evidence of happy days with Seona right in front of my eyes, I couldn't recognize it.
I felt like I had failed as a parent.
Hot tears flowed from my eyes.
And to feel the child in my arms more, I hugged her tightly.
"It hurts! Stop..."
'Ah... what am I doing... To my child, I was going to do painful things.'
When I heard that voice, I was startled and removed the arm hugging the child and stepped back.
"Sorry... I'm sorry, Mom..."
The child had a surprised expression, but seeing my face as the mother, she didn't say anything.
And only silence lingered between us.
This was the third day since coming to this house.
Yena had told Yura that since there was a 'person living together' in the house, it would be better not to encounter her as much as possible.
She said she would come out to the living room from the second floor, her room, to drink water at night.
Yura had said not to come out to the living room only at that time.
Although she kept that promise to the end, she encountered the person in the living room in the morning.
It was a woman with tear marks on her face and her whole body white-skinned with dark circles because she hadn't seen sunlight.
Yena's body trembled with fear as if she had seen a ghost for the first time, but from the expression mixed with her helplessly moving figure and the expression of surprise at looking at her, she could tell that she was a living person.
Yena had been taught on Earth to greet people first when seeing them for the first time.
"Hello?"
I thought if I had properly greeted her.
However, it seemed that thought was wrong as that woman started to approach me closely.
What was she trying to do to me?
When I saw the woman's unfocused eyes, my body didn't move in fear.
After the woman finally came right in front of me, she extended both arms.
Although I closed my eyes tightly, unlike my expectation, she was not trying to attack.
She gently hugged me.
Her hands, which hugged me gently as if handling something precious, trembled like aspen trees.
And I realized.
The expression she was looking at me with was similar to when a father looks at his child sadly.
Yena felt the gentle hug of being hugged and her thoughts about her father came to mind.
However, suddenly, as the woman's sobbing voice and the arms hugging her began to gain strength, she said to stop.
"It hurts! Stop..."
She hugged so strongly that it was painful.
Why was she doing such things to me?
"Sorry... I'm sorry, Mom..."
However, unlike my expectation, this woman said something unbelievable.
The woman speaks as if she is my mother.
When I heard that, I tried to object, but seeing the woman's face that had fallen from the hug, I couldn't say anything more.
Seeing the expression mixed with regret and sadness the woman was making, I felt sympathy and pity for this woman.
Yura couldn't forget the events of that day.
The action of Yurin treating Yena as her daughter and pouring out the regret she felt to the young child was shocking.
It was something that happened because she couldn't distinguish her delusions from reality, but she couldn't stop acting as if she were Yena's mother.
How could the daughter she had expected to spend happy days with Seona end up making Seona like that.
Or perhaps the opposite.
Perhaps she had regretted not being able to meet Seona and had a delusion that she wanted to make Seona happy.
But one thing was certain: the actions Yura had done to Seona could not be undone.
Even so, to make Yura face reality by breaking that delusion, Yena's existence was necessary.
For Yura, who faced reality, to properly reflect on what she had done until then.
And for herself, to atone as a parent who failed in child education for the things Yura had done to Seona.
To escape from this hell.
We needed Yena.