## Chapter 107 – Black Root (13)
“After that incident… she wouldn’t even talk to me, let alone look me in the face…
She disappeared right after her high school graduation ceremony…”
“…So you were looking for Seohee for almost a year?”
Seohee’s mother wiped her reddened eyes at my question.
While Chaeyoon and Yiran went to pick up Seohee, I came into Seohee’s house to talk.
…They seem to have a bad relationship, but surely I won’t get scolded for bringing her home…
As I sat at the living room table, talking to her alone,
I unintentionally heard about Seohee’s childhood.
Is her uninhibited personality due to her childhood experiences…?
“…Thank you for listening to a story you probably weren’t even curious about…”
“Ah, no. I just listened to the story.”
Seohee’s mother smiled at me with a relatively stable face, unlike before.
The more I looked at her, the more I couldn’t shake the thought that she resembled Seohee.
She had similar eyes to Seohee, but unlike her, she had a slightly rounder face and a kind smile.
If Seohee were to age about 10 years, she would probably look like the person in front of me now.
The power of genetics is undeniable.
“…Still, I was worried that Seohee only had bad friends, but knowing that she has such good friends makes me feel a little relieved.”
“…Ah, I’m Lim Chanwoo.”
“Ah, haha… Now that I think about it, we didn’t even know each other’s names. I’m Park Soyul.”
In the middle of our conversation, I suddenly realized that we didn’t even know each other’s names,
so I stood up first, told her my name, and held out my hand.
She smiled and told me her name, ‘Park Soyul,’
and we shared a brief handshake.
“…Well then, Chanwoo-ssi, thank you again for today.
I hope we can meet again if we have the chance, then…”
She let go of my hand and suddenly bowed to me, saying goodbye.
“Where are you going? If you wait a little longer, Seohee will be here…”
She gave me a bitter smile and shook her head slightly at my words.
“…No, seeing her face earlier is enough.
Besides, it seems like she still doesn’t want to see me…
If Seohee comes back, could you tell her that I’m sorry?”
As she packed her bag and got up, I followed her.
And in a calm yet trembling voice, she left me with a small request.
“…Instead of that, I think it would be better to meet in person and apologize.”
“…I wanted to do that too. I’m really sorry for asking you for such a favor on our first meeting.”
Until the end, she didn’t drop the honorifics and bowed to apologize,
then turned around, went to the front door, put on her shoes, and grabbed the doorknob.
She looked back at me one last time and left a small greeting.
“…Then, goodbye…”
I hurriedly went to the front door and bowed to her,
and at that moment, I heard the sound of a button being pressed on the doorknob she was holding.
A mechanical sound ringing at regular intervals, and a clear unlocking sound.
The door with the unlocked latch swung open weakly towards the hallway,
and behind that door stood a woman who looked exactly like the woman standing in the entryway.
“…Seo, Seohee-ya…”
“…Already leaving?”
Judging by her appearance, it seems like Chaeyoon and Yiran handled things well.
I was honestly worried. Just thinking about what’s about to happen soon gives me a headache,
I was worried that I might get caught up in another family’s problems, but she looks okay…
“…What.”
I felt a vibration from my phone in my pocket, so I took it out and checked,
and it was a message from Chaeyoon.
‘Don’t make it obvious and come down quickly.’
“…”
It was just one sentence, but I could tell.
What kind of sinister plan did they come up with this time?
————————————–
“…How did you find my house?”
“Ah, well… I asked some of your friends from school…”
I asked my mom, who was flustered as she organized the shopping bags I had thrown in the hallway.
She stuttered a little at my question, but answered honestly.
“…School friends, from when I was in high school?”
“…Yeah.”
Silence fell after that short conversation, and I held my breath in the face of that unbearable awkwardness.
The silence didn’t end until I had organized one shopping bag,
and I was about to pull out the second shopping bag that I had put in the corner to organize it.
Another hand gently wrapped around the hand that was about to reach into the basket to grab something.
I slowly raised my head to see who the hand belonged to.
“…Why?”
“…I know it’s too late, but I really wanted to say it. I’m sorry…”
My mom took my hand and brought it to her face.
I could feel a warm liquid touching the back of my hand.
Soft hands, the warmth and softness that had filled ‘me.’
It was now embracing my hand.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Seohee-ya… Mom is…”
“…”
“…Seo, Seohee-ya?”
I slowly pulled her hand into my arms and hugged her tightly.
She stopped crying, probably flustered, and patted my mom’s back, surprised by my actions.
“It’s okay, you told me even now.”
“…”
…Awkward and uncomfortable.
“Food? Have you eaten?”
“Not yet. Ah, but you don’t have to make me food. I have side dishes…”
“…Our daughter seems to be doing much better than I thought, so I’m glad!”
My mom smiled with a much brighter face than before, walking around my house.
It seemed like she was curious about how I had been doing, since we had been apart for so long.
I sat at the table and waited for my mom to come back after looking around the spacious house,
and when she came back to the kitchen and sat across from me, her expression was much lighter.
“…You live in such a big place alone? What about the friends you lived with?”
“Ah, they all went out because they had things to do, and now I live with the kids my mom saw during the day.”
“Ah~ those friends? …Then maybe that boy too? Does he live here with you?”
“No, he lives separately.”
“Mom liked that friend~”
I sat at the table and enjoyed the conversation with my mom that we had been putting off.
‘Mom’, ‘parents’… If the person having this normal conversation was the real ‘Seohee’,
how would she be treating her in front of me right now?
All that’s left for me is an affection close to hatred for my mom.
If Kim Seohee was in this place, would she have been able to forgive her?
There’s no way to know what choice she would have made, because I’m not the real Kim Seohee.
That’s why I’m starting to feel more and more hateful towards the mom in front of me.
Even if I’m not the real Kim Seohee, the memories I inherited from her are still there.
I’m not your daughter, your daughter has already disappeared and I’m a monster wearing her shell.
But why can’t you recognize me? Why don’t you resent me?
Why don’t you suspect me? Why can’t you recognize the monster that’s imitating your daughter?
…I put my mom aside, who was still talking, and looked at the flame of the candle on the table and thought.
I am a creature born from a flower, a creature that steals a human’s body and lives by acting as that human.
While being such a creature, I am also a human named Kim Seohee.
Is it because I’ve been acting as a human named Kim Seohee for a short but long time,
or is it because I’ve met someone who the owner of this body truly loved?
My existence is shaking and I’m starting to get confused.
I must not let humans find out my identity, it’s a good thing that my mom doesn’t know my identity.
But I hate that she can’t recognize my identity.
Is this the heart of a human Kim Seohee? A signal to save herself.
“…Ugh…”
“…Why? Seohee-ya? Are you sick?”
My head is throbbing.
The feeling of loving someone, the relationship between parents and children.
The softness that stimulates the humanity left in Kim Seohee’s memory.
“…I’m okay.”
“…Should we rest a bit? You don’t look good…”
“…Ahahaha, I told you I’m okay…”
“Okay… then that’s good… Don’t overdo it, should we go to bed early today..?”
“No, it’s been a long time since we’ve talked, so it’s okay to talk a little more before going to bed.
Mom seems to be having fun talking to me too, she looks happy.”
“…Ehehe, really…? Me too, I’m happy… Talking to my daughter.. Hot…♡”
My mom’s pronunciation, which had been getting worse since earlier, her tongue started moving on its own.
Saliva dripped from her tongue, which was wriggling out of her mouth due to her loosened muscles,
and fell into my mom’s cleavage, wetting her clothes.
My mom, who was moving her head like a drunk person, couldn’t stand the dizziness,
and collapsed on the table with her red cheeks on the table.
“…Eoraa..♡ I can’t put strength in my head…♡ It’s so floaty…♡”
“…”
Thanks to the long story, the effects seem to be slowly kicking in.
It was worth the effort to make it at a concentration that wouldn’t be dangerous even if used on humans.
I look at the blue candle placed next to my mom’s head, who had collapsed on the table.
A candle made by hardening the drug I made, she smelled the scent coming from it…
Her head won’t be working properly for a while.
“Because it’s my mom and no one else… Hehe…”
‘Let’s make your sister’s mother our kin too♡’
‘Because she’s my mom, let me do it.’
Chaeyoon’s plan, but I refused.
Because I wanted to do it, because I wanted to create it with my own hands.
Human? Parasite? Maternal love, affection.
Emotions that messed up my head.
It’s still messing with my head.
Kim Seohee’s memories and the faint resistance of her humanity that remains in me.
“…It would be easier for you to just hand over your body to me quietly instead of causing unnecessary trouble.”
Well, it doesn’t matter. As a price for her futile resistance, she’ll get to see her mother break down.
“…Seohee-ya…♡ Mom is, sorry…♡ Ehehe♡”
The saliva that came out of her mouth, and the saliva that came out of her lower lip stretched out over the chair,
creating a small puddle on the floor.
I held back the laughter that was bursting out at her disgrace and fixed my mom’s messy hair.
“…It’s okay, because we’ll be together forever from now on. Become ‘my real mom’♡”
