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Taeseok quit smoking. Instead, he bought an extremely expensive perfume. Whenever he was about to meet Huijae, he sprayed it on every place where his pulse beat.
“These are the clothes scheduled for delivery this week. As it says there, the unit price differs for each piece. The fabric may count as free aid, but the buttons and other materials still cost....”
Taeseok wanted to see Huijae longer. He wanted to keep her at the end of his gaze without worrying about appearances. So he decided to teach Huijae the work of the factory. In name, Huijae also held shares in the sewing factory and the brewery.
They read documents in the same room. Her profile, silently focused on the papers, was beautiful.
There was no longer a ring on the fourth finger of her hand.
Even while doing his own work, Taeseok would lift his head out of habit.
Then Huijae would be sitting across from him.
It felt like a dream.
Just as Taejin had said, Taeseok knew everything Huijae liked. The thick stack of papers had been memorized long ago. On the day he received them, he read them again and again.
As though filling the empty space of the time they had spent apart.
Because he wanted to know the tastes you had carefully built during the years I wasn’t there.
But Taeseok was not the only one filled with joy.
The Republic of Korea rejoiced with him.
[South Korea Designated Priority ODA Partner
U.S. Announces Expansion of Cooperation with the UN]
[International Cooperation Administration Raises Subsidy Ratio
Korea–U.S. Agreement Signed... Support Supplies Expected to Increase]
[U.S. Promises Additional Grain Aid
For the Prosperity of the Free World...]
Changes so large that it seemed impossible for one man to cause them spread across the country.
The people rejoiced at the nation’s growth, which seemed to change day by day.
“They say more rice is coming from America!”
“What in the world is happening?”
The government desperately buried the story of Taejin’s family.
If it became known how collaborators had accumulated such enormous wealth, it would only remind the nation of its powerless past.
Instead, most of the assets belonging to those connected to Hanamura and Taejin’s father were confiscated into the national treasury.
They tried desperately to resist.
It was useless.
The central figure—Taejin’s father—had disappeared.
It was like a dam had developed a crack.
Once one person collapsed, everyone connected to him began to fall as well. The dam holding back their accumulated wealth burst open.
To those who wailed and rolled on the floor after losing their fortunes, the official coldly said:
“Seems like you want the cell next to Hanamura.”
The crying stopped immediately.
Everyone had heard the rumor about Hanamura living like a walking corpse in solitary confinement, never seeing another person.
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Taejin disappeared as though he had never existed.
Instead, the things exchanged for him filled the front page of newspapers every day.
Rice. Development aid. Subsidies.
The nation’s resurgence had begun.
Patriotism surged.
Taegeuk flags fluttered everywhere.
Winter arrived sharply, but the hearts of the people were burning hot. They were no longer afraid.
The ruins were changing every day.
Today would be better than yesterday.
Tomorrow would be better than today.
And the day after tomorrow would be better still.
That hope spread from mouth to mouth.
Diva Hong released a new song.
She toured the country wearing a stylish two-piece suit produced by the sewing factory of the great President Gi.
Her previous song had been about the pain of love.
This one sang about anticipation for meeting someone in spring.
The song, which mirrored the people’s hearts, became an instant hit.
Instead of wondering about the son of a collaborator whose wealth had been confiscated, everyone spoke about the coming spring.
They looked forward to a beautiful season.
Taeseok was the same.
If the seasons turned once more, beautiful pear blossoms would bloom in the yard.
He wanted to see them with Huijae.
Just as I felt when I first planted that tree...
I want to ask you if you feel the same.
When that day came, he planned to confess.
“President Gi.”
Huijae called to him after taking a sip of pear-blossom tea placed on the desk.
“Is there anything else I should know besides this?”
They had been reading documents in the office.
Taeseok carefully repeated her words in his mind.
Huijae knows something.
“...Yes. There is.”
“Really?”
Her face was still pale and beautiful.
The face he had longed to see.
The face he wanted beside him for the rest of his life.
Taeseok clenched his teeth.
Then he said again,
“Really.”
Why did Taejin’s words suddenly come to mind?
“Even if I cannot be a magnificent man... I’d rather not be a pathetic one.”
The words of the man who wanted to face the woman he loved without shame echoed clearly in Taeseok’s ears.
“I am a coward. Not a fool.”
Huijae knows.
“There’s really nothing else I should know?”
Since when? How much? Or perhaps...
“...Taeseok.”
From the beginning?
“Tell me. Please.”
Huijae looked at him the same way she once had—like the girl who asked him to teach her the Joseon language.
A gaze impossible to refuse.
Impossible to answer with lies.
“....”
Taeseok remained silent.
If you’re asking me, then you must only suspect.
All the evidence is gone.
Even the government cannot find a trace.
It would be easy to pretend nothing happened.
Taeseok did not understand Taejin’s life.
Nor his words about leaving so he would not be ashamed.
Taeseok had grown up at the bottom of the world.
He had no interest in noble, honorable love like Taejin’s.
He didn’t understand it.
Leaving you behind so I can live without shame?
Do you think I’m insane?
How could I do that?
If I could stay beside you, I would gladly crawl through mud and abandon my pride.
As long as I could remain with you.
Yet somehow he understood why Taejin had made that choice.
Because it had been for the woman he loved.
If Taejin’s love was a love that threw everything away for Huijae—
Then Taeseok’s love was a love that offered everything to her.
For so long, if it was something you wanted, I wanted to give it to you.
Expensive clothes.
A fine car.
A large house.
Jewels brought from overseas.
What did any of it matter, if it could make you smile?
And right now, the thing Huijae wanted most—
What you want most—
“...Alright.”
The ability to choose.
Not a life handed down by others.
A life chosen by yourself.
“There is something you don’t know.”
Even if giving it to her meant Taeseok would be abandoned.
* * *
Huijae stepped onto the road early in the morning.
The cold winter wind reddened the tip of her nose.
“Ha...”
She drew the cold, clear air deep into her lungs and began walking slowly.
Someone like Taejin, who grew up in a warm family with a kind father, might never understand.
But Huijae had always known.
Because that was the kind of person he was.
A monster of a human being.
If he had not sold people, that would have been stranger.
When she first arrived in Joseon after liberation, Huijae had thought that as a young girl.
Now that he has sold all the Joseon people, next will be me.
Huijae was the daughter of a collaborator merchant.
The child of a concubine.
The wife of a businessman.
And above all, a woman who had taught herself the Joseon language without anyone’s help.
So she understood perfectly how the situation was unfolding.
She knew Taejin was trying to bear everything alone.
And even knowing that, she had pretended to be deceived.
You may not know this, but I never once considered that man my father.
Not once did I consider him family.
This is an unfair punishment by association.
It has nothing to do with me.
So she remained silent.
Pretended to be fooled.
But the more she did that, the more a question grew inside her.
How should I live?
Now that I am finally free—
How should I live my life?
She could not find an answer.
Or perhaps she already knew it and refused to face it.
So Huijae came here to find it.
Clank.
The old prison gate opened.
Guided by a politely bowing guard, Huijae stepped inside.
The prisoners behind the bars barely looked human.
They wore worn uniforms and turned their eyes toward the sound.
“Visits are normally strictly forbidden, but since President Gi requested it... only five minutes.”
The guard rattled the keys and sighed.
Huijae nodded.
Soon they reached a heavy iron door.
Creak—
The door opened.
A dim corridor stretched ahead.
At the very end sat Hanamura.
The man she had always feared.
The man who had sharpened her senses to their breaking point.
He sat there now, pitiful.
“Five minutes.”
The door shut behind her.
Hanamura slowly raised his head.
“...You!”
When he recognized Huijae, he crawled toward her like a cockroach.
The bars separated them, but he pressed close regardless.
“You came! Finally! I knew it! Those damn Joseon scum—how dare they forget who I am!”
Isolated from the outside world, Hanamura clearly had no idea what had happened.
“They don’t even know who feeds them. Dogs biting their master... arrogant...”
He believed the cartel protecting him could never break.
That belief made sense.
No one bound by wealth and power would sacrifice themselves to pay for their crimes.
Who would commit such suicide?
So Hanamura believed he would leave this place and return to his old life.
Comfortable.
Brilliant.
Happy.
“You can’t leave.”
“...What?”
“You’ll die here. It’s over.”
Huijae said it without emotion.
Hanamura, who had assumed she came to save him, could not believe it.
“What nonsense—”
“Your wealth will be used for this country. Taejin made it that way. No one will help you. Taejin’s father will die the same way you will. Pathetic and miserable.”
“You insolent bitch! Do you think you’re someone important because you’re riding that bastard’s back? You can’t do anything by yourself!”
Hanamura clutched the bars and screamed.
His hollow eyes flashed as though he might devour her.
Huijae instinctively shrank.
Whenever she faced those eyes, nightmares followed.
It was fear learned over many years.
But she clenched her trembling fist.
And stood tall.
“I wanted to live.”
She didn’t know why.
She simply wanted to live.
Even if she had to grovel and beg.
“I wanted to survive.”
Am I truly living?
Am I living without guilt?
Am I living honestly?
Am I living in a way worthy of being called teacher?
Am I living as an example to them?
Am I living without shame?
Am I living in a way worthy of the name Yeon Huijae?
“...In the life I chose...”
Huijae spoke through clenched teeth as Hanamura rattled the bars.
At that moment, the question inside her finally unraveled.
“I will do my best.”
The desire to live that she had carried for so long—
Now she finally knew its direction.
“I will live differently from you.”
Huijae turned and left.
Behind her, Hanamura howled like an animal.
She spoke to the guard waiting beyond the door.
“No one will come for him.”
“....”
“No matter what happens, no one will know.”
The guard’s tense expression slowly relaxed.
“Yes. Understood.”
As he escorted Huijae out, he spoke to another guard.
“The one in solitary, 4827. Move him to a general cell.”
Hanamura was no longer called by name.
The man who had risen to the top by trampling Joseon people had now fallen to the very bottom.
Huijae walked forward.
The wind was harsh, but she did not shrink.
She walked straight ahead.
Her next destination was home.
The house she had lived in with Taejin.
Inside the empty house, Huijae went to the study.
Everything remained in its place.
Except for one thing.
A small picture frame had disappeared.
After standing there for a moment, Huijae packed her things.
Things she had to do.
Things she could do.
Things she wanted to do.
All three pointed in the same direction.
Now she had to go there.
Because every choice she made from now on would be her own life.
Huijae closed the door to the study and left.
Silence returned to the house, as though no one had ever been there.
On the bookshelf, once packed with books, a small empty space remained.
The place where the Joseon language textbook had been.
* * *
Snow fell.
Snow so bright it seemed determined to leave not a single shadow in the world.
Because it was winter, the sun had set early.
Taeseok anxiously waited for Huijae, who had not returned yet.
Snow piled high across the garden.
The trees stood quietly beneath it, as if determined to endure the cold.
Whenever the wind blew, snow scattered like sweet sugar crystals.
“...!”
Someone was walking toward the house from afar.
Huijae.
It was Huijae.
Taeseok ran outside in a panic.
You came back.
Huijae, you came back.
The words caught in his throat.
Because he knew.
She hadn’t.
The red scarf around her neck.
The large brown bag in her hand.
And most of all—
the eyes of someone who had already made a decision.
Just as he feared.
The person who was about to leave was slowly approaching.
