Chapter 128 – Chapter 128
Behind the short silence, another expression was superimposed on the smiling face.
The smile that had filled Eun-chae’s face gradually began to have a dazed energy, and at some point, sadness was overlaid on top of it.
The eyes held the light.
It was a light that glistened with watery sadness.
Looking at him, Do-gyun realized that Eun-ah had returned.
He licked his lips at him, but no words came out.
I didn’t know how Eun-a felt right now, I didn’t know what to say, so I looked at her for a long time, and a ray of sadness flowed from her eyes.
“Ah…”
A sigh escaped Eun-ah’s mouth. Her body trembled and trembled.
Eun-ah’s gaze, which had been trembling so much, turned to herself, looked around his room, and then to her hand again.
After looking around blankly for a long time, Eun-ah cast her gaze at her face once more and shed tears with a face that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment.
Do-gyun stretched out his hand and wiped away the tears, then patted Eun-ah on the back while hugging her tightly.
“… It’s been a while.”
I don’t know what to say, he said.
It was something Eun-ah had never said before.
It was a word she could not say to her, who had always been trapped in her delusion.
Eun-ah trembled at her words, and nodded her head slightly while crouching her body.
*
It felt like a very long dream.
… No, it felt like she had lived her whole life in a dream.
Even though I was clearly awake, I felt that way.
Her memory was shattered. Even when I tried to recall the parts of her that were somehow disconnected, even her emerging memories were jumbled.
However, in the midst of that, there was something she knew for sure.
The fact that everything she thought was right was wrong.
The road I walked was a swamp road full of muddy water.
Unbeknownst to me, muddy water had risen to the tip of my chin.
If he struggled to get out of this swamp somehow, there was a ‘truth’ that would plunge his head into muddy water.
The truth finally revealed was speaking to me in a truly disgusting form.
‘You’re wrong.’
He said, ‘The time you lived was all wrong.’
His eyes turned to the kitchen.
I see a large back rattling and washing dishes.
I remembered why that man was here.
‘… I.’
He was the one who was imprisoned here.
I took that person’s life.
When I thought of him, his body trembled.
Clearly, the air in the room was warm, but my body trembled as if I was in the middle of a snowy mountain in a blizzard.
So I wrapped the blanket around his shoulders tighter, but the cold didn’t think to go away.
I was shaking like that for a long time before I knew it, and a man came and hugged me.
As I flinched at him, the man opened his mouth as he swept my back.
“Well… Are you a little cold? Should I turn the boiler up?”
When I looked up, I saw a man talking to me with a friendly face.
I felt like I had to say something to him, so I moved my lips and the man smiled and brushed my back again.
“Wait a minute. I’ll raise the boiler and come back.”
After saying that, I belatedly reached out my hand to the man who raised his body, but the man was already far away.
I had to say something, but the words didn’t come out.
*
I don’t know how much time has passed.
I just sat there blankly, went to sleep, and when I woke up, I moved my body as the man led me.
I sit down at the kitchen table to eat, then I go out the door and head to the garden, and then I go to my bedroom and fall asleep.
In the meantime, I felt a chilly energy and looked around, but the surroundings were only warm.
“Miss Eun.”
I looked up at the sound calling me, and there was a man.
The man was asking questions with a friendly face, just like yesterday, the day before, and the day before that.
“Would you like some coffee?”
Coffee.
It was something I knew.
I nodded my head in the affirmative.
When I nodded, the man continued with a small smile.
“Wait a minute. It will burn soon.”
After saying that, the man turned around and headed for the kitchen.
Also, his lips were swollen.
Of course, no words were spoken.
*
Do-gyun sat on a rocking chair in the yard and looked at Eun-ah.
A blank stare into the air.
Since returning, it has generally been that way.
Even though I am confused somewhere, I feel sick to my stomach at the sight of him sinking again.
When I called the doctor to find out why, she said that the doctor was stressing her because he realized at once what she had dismissed as delusion.
You should keep an eye on it, she said.
Do-gyun thought of him, saw Eun-ah starting to doze off again before he knew it, and carefully picked her up.
“It’s still chilly, so go inside and sleep.”
When I said that and smiled, Eun-a pursed her lips again and nodded slightly.
Do-gyun took a step and looked around.
The time when the spring cold is receding.
The world was preparing for the full spring.
*
Do-gyun raised his nerves slightly as he watched Eun-ah sitting at the table and holding a spoon.
After Eun-ah came back, he was always like that.
Until the delusion was broken, he never allowed me to cook, so it was because I was worried that he would not be satisfied with my cooking.
‘Still, it’s the recipe for Mr. Baek…’
I wonder if Eun-ah will be satisfied with the recipe introduced by the chef at home.
Looking at Eun-ah with that thought, Do-gyun opened his mouth as he watched Eun-ah prepare the soup.
“How about it… ?”
Eun-ah raised her head at the question, and Do-gyun, who was looking at him, asked the question again, passing the dry spittle on the back of his neck.
“Is it worth eating? Well, I wasn’t as good as Eun-ah, so I read some recipes on the internet…”
Do-gyun, who was pouring out excuses and checking Eun-ah’s eyes, made a bright face as he saw Eun-ah’s head nodding slightly right after.
Wait a while
“Mind…”
“Yes?”
When Do-gyun tilted his head at the sight of his lips moving slightly, Eun-ah lowered her head and spat out words as if muttering.
“Oh, it’s delicious… Next, red pepper powder… Joe, a little more…”
It was a lesson that was thick and stuck inside.
Do-gyun realized that he was below the standard this time too, and he nodded slightly.
“Yep…”
It seems that my skills are still not enough to suit the tastes of teacher Go Eun-ah.
*
Eun-ah lifted her head and looked at the man reading next to her.
He had dark features.
An impressive face with a high nose bridge and straight eyebrows.
It was a face that seemed ferocious at first glance, but looking back, this person had never been angry.
I wanted to ask.
Aren’t I resentful?
Don’t you hate me
Why are you being so kind to me?
… I wanted to ask, but no words came out.
So, I lick my lips again.
He stayed silent for a long time and then hung his head.
I was afraid of answering my question with ‘yes’, so I lowered my head.
Selfishly enough, I was afraid to hear that, so I lowered my head.
His fists were clenched.
I had to tell you.
No matter what answer came back, I had to tell them about my mistake.
However, even though it should be, the words do not come out.
I had to let this person go, but I was so afraid of that.
If you just keep your mouth shut like this, you hear whispers that you will be able to stay with this person, and you feel bad and keep shutting up.
He was a really ugly person, and he was also a selfish person.
I remember the tears this man showed on the first day he was imprisoned here.
I remember the fear-stained face.
I remember being afraid and trembling at the slightest movement.
Although he must have been really resentful, this man wasn’t showing off in the slightest.
Before I knew it, he erased my fear and hugged me.
Again, her eyes turned to the man.
I wanted to emulate that courage a little bit.
So, biting my lip, I barely uttered a single word.
“… You know.”
“Yes?”
The man’s head lifted.
Eyes looking straight at me.
My body trembles at it again.
“What’s wrong?”
The man’s face painted a friendly smile again.
Seeing that face, I moved his lips and twitched his fingertips, and the man squeezed my hand tightly.
A body that trembles in shock at the transmitted warmth.
Realizing that, the man let out a small laugh and continued.
“Do you need anything?”
Again
Again, say something for me.
Suddenly, I felt my eyes get hot.
How can he be so kind, his heart was so grateful and cruel that it brought tears to his eyes.
I struggled to suppress my rising emotions, made eye contact with the man, and opened my mouth.
Had to tell
Whatever answer came back, I had to ask.
With that thought in mind, he opened his mouth.
“Mi, I don’t hate… ?”
That’s how I was able to finally vomit that question.
“Oh, I locked the bee here… I-I bullied the bee…”
My throat is tied and my words are cut off.
Again, my eyes became hot and tears flowed.
“Ah, it hurt… Don’t you hate me?”
A question barely asked.
The man, Mr. Bee, raised his eyes as if he was surprised by the question, then looked at me blankly.
My eyes were tight.
I was afraid of the answer that would come back, so I closed my eyes.
Silence fell like that, and what followed was the warmth that embraced me.
When I startled and trembled at that, the bee opened its mouth.
“Do you think you hate it?”
The question returned to the question.
When I looked up at Mr. Bee, I saw a face with a friendly smile as always.
Mr. Bee looked at me for a while, rolled his eyes as if thinking about something, and then spoke.
“At first. Um, a little… I hated it a lot.”
Startle.
My body trembled.
As I shuddered like that, Mr. Bee laughed at me as I rattled, then tapped my back and continued.
“I was surprised. Because I was tied up in a strange room, dug here and there, and beaten again.”
“Sorry, sorry…”
“But, as I was just living there, I began to see things that were slightly different.”
As I was about to say something, it continued.
“The eyes that keep looking at me, the anxious gestures, the skinny body that looks like it’s about to collapse.”
The hand that had been patting my back was wiping my face before I knew it.
Bee was stealing all my tears.
“I have a very weak heart again, so I feel sorry for myself when I see things like that. It’s been like this since a long time ago… So when I was young, my dream was to become a social worker.”
It was a word with a little bit of playful energy.
“Well, thinking about making a living, I thought it wasn’t right, so I quit.”
After saying that, Mr. Bee smiled and then looked straight at me and continued.
“Anyway, because of that, whenever I see Eun-ah, my heart weakens. Why is this person alone in this house? Why are you so obsessed with me?”
Mr. Bee continued to say that and pinched my cheek.
The hand that pinched my cheek pulled up and stretched my cheek.
“As I was thinking about it, I found out one by one. The reason for being alone, the reason for clinging to me. Now that I know it, I can’t pretend I didn’t see it. So I don’t feel resentful anymore.”
The hand that stretched out my cheek fell off, and Mr. Bee, who smiled, continued talking while stroking me.
What followed was a truly playful tone.
“After everyone left, Eun-ah’s prettyness played a role. Why, you say something like that. A beauty’s tears become a weapon.”
It’s obviously a joke, but there was me with my heart pounding again.
“What can I do? It was resentment and something, and she kept thinking that she had to make Eun-ah laugh, so she did what she wanted.”
It was a word that was handed over with a giggle.
“So, I don’t hate Eun-ah. She is not resentful.”
The bee has arrived.
Their foreheads met.
“If I had to express it… Yes I like it A lot.”
A single word penetrated my heart.
