Free Web NovelIt was Yeondu’s mother—the one who had never contacted her even once until now. Yeondu stood frozen, phone in hand. Her hesitation to press the call button was painfully obvious. She took a short, deep breath.
“...Hoo.”
Only then did she answer the call. A shrill voice burst through the phone as if it were about to pierce right through it.
“Why aren’t you picking up the phone?! It says ‘Mom’ on the screen, doesn’t it? You should answer right away!”
It was a colder voice than even the grandmothers she wasn’t related to by a single drop of blood. Yeondu bit her lip hard and endured the aggressive words.
“You’re the oldest—what are you doing, not taking care of your siblings? Other families say the older sister works even harder during college application season! If Yeonjeong has to repeat a year, you’ll pay for her cram school, right?”
“......”
“Anyway. I’m in front of your place, so hurry up and open the door.”
“I don’t live there anymore.”
“What?! You moved without even telling your mother?!”
Even without being given any extra information, the office worker understood immediately. Why Jung Yeondu lived alone. Why she wanted to run all the way to Hyangdo County.
The people Yeondu wanted to escape from weren’t just coworkers and college acquaintances. On the other end of the line, her mother began shouting hysterically.
“You’ve lost your mind, completely! You think you’re so great now, huh? Living all by yourself? And you don’t even tell your parents! You’ve always been like this since you were little. I could never feel attached to you!”
Yeondu’s throat bobbed as she struggled to keep her emotions down. It looked like she was swallowing something back.
“When have you ever cared about me?”
Her voice, desperately trying not to cry, was soaked through with resentment.
“You’re that old and you still want to blame your parents? You’ve always been good at handling things on your own since you were young—”
“Because you’re always like this! That’s why I had to do everything by myself! Because you’re always like this...!”
Tears pooled and sloshed in her eyes. Yeondu’s voice grew louder.
“Don’t pretend to care now! You don’t need to worry about me! It’s annoying. Just be like you always are. Like it doesn’t matter whether I’m alive or dead. Live like that.”
With that, Yeondu cut the call without a shred of hesitation.
A breeze blew in through the window she’d left open because of the heat. The pure white chiffon curtains fluttered. Beyond the wall of Yeondu’s house, the grandmothers were hopping anxiously in place.
“Oh dear, oh dear....”
“Should we go in and stop her...?”
“Leave her be. Let her be alone. Let’s not bother her anymore....”
The grandmothers, who had come clutching peaches, plums, and rice cakes, trudged back weakly.
“The child must’ve had her reasons, coming all the way down here....”
“What good comes from saying things like that. Pretend you didn’t hear.”
“It’s just that my heart hurts, that’s all. We must’ve been a bother too, but we tried to take good care of her....”
As if trying to forget the call with her mother, Yeondu tied her hair tightly and began a full deep clean. Out of sheer pride, she didn’t let a single tear fall.
She wiped the floor again and again, shook out the curtains, even organized the dishes. By the time the unusually long summer sun had sunk far away and the sky turned vermilion, Yeondu’s house was still silent.
“......”
Yeondu had finally become what she’d longed for—alone. The house was quiet.
“Let’s just work.”
Her fingers clattered against the keyboard. The manuscript Yeondu wrote was sweet in a way reality never was. Her expression as she stared at the monitor was dry and flat.
The next day, while cleaning, Yeondu glanced out the window. There was no one there. The grandmothers who used to bother her no longer came looking for her.
“...Good. That’s for the best.”
But contrary to her words, the next day, and the day after that, Yeondu spent an unusually long time cleaning near the window, staring outside.
The house remained quiet. With rough movements, Yeondu yanked the curtains shut and sat back down at the computer.
That was when a small noise came from outside the door.
Clatter-.
“Ah, seriously.”
The moment she heard the sound, Yeondu sprang up like an old man chasing away hornets.
“What is it this time?!”
Despite her curt tone, her hand opening the door was quick. But there was no one outside.
“Ah....”
It had just been the wind knocking against the door.
“Looks like everyone’s finally done with me.”
Now, Yeondu was truly alone.
Several days passed like that. The only person Yeondu contacted was her editor at the publishing house.
[We’re really looking forward to your new work as well, Author~^^ Your writing always has the power to overcome reality, so I personally enjoy every single one of your works. Especially this time....]
As Yeondu stared at the reply with hollow eyes, a knock finally sounded at her door.
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The slightly urgent sound made Yeondu’s lips lift without her realizing it. She quickly composed her face again and opened the door as if annoyed.
“What is it.”
“I-I’m really sorry to bother you like this....”
The grandmother looking up at Yeondu with her hands tightly clasped wore a desperate expression.
“Have you seen our Boksun?”
“Boksun?”
“She hasn’t been anywhere since earlier....”
Tense music kicked in once again. A sinister sound that brought someone to mind.
‘The dog butcher!’
The office worker’s heart started racing too. Yeondu grabbed the flashlight hanging on the wall and ran out as she was. To look for Boksun. For that cotton-ball of a puppy she’d pretended not to care about because she didn’t want responsibility.
“Boksun—!!!”
Yeondu’s voice echoed through Danbok village.
* * *
“If they kill Boksun I swear I’ll kill them f*ck I’m dead serious”
“Please...TT_TTI can’t watch animals die, please let her live”
“Please please our Boksun TT_TT Stop building anxiety like this..”
“Just kill Boksun and—.”
Aetami covered her mouth, completely absorbed.
The sky where the sun had already set was slowly staining purple from afar. Running through the village, Yeondu called out for Boksun again and again.
“Boksun?”
At the foot of the mountain, the dog chew she’d given Boksun earlier was lying there. The squeaky toy was there too. Yeondu ran toward them in a panic. But Boksun was nowhere to be seen.
“Boksun! Boksun!”
Her face on the verge of tears, Yeondu kept searching for her. As if possessed, she began climbing the mountain. The sun had completely set, plunging the world into darkness.
Click-.
Yeondu didn’t even think about going back down. She turned on the flashlight and clenched her teeth. She had to find Boksun, who might have been taken by the dog butcher.
Dark clouds rolled in from afar. Raindrops began to fall, one by one.
“It’s because of me....”
I should’ve taken her with me earlier. I shouldn’t have been so cold when they asked if I wanted to raise her. I shouldn’t have pretended not to know. I should’ve cared just a little.
Yeondu pushed through the bushes, searching for Boksun. But there was no sign of her anywhere. The rain grew heavier and heavier. Her clothes were soaked through.
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That was when it happened. Yeondu fell straight into a pit that had been dug to trap wild animals. She hit the ground with a heavy thud, curled her body up, and tried to forget the pain for a moment. Her body trembled.
“Hoo....”
Yeondu took a deep breath. Jung Yeondu’s habit—of always handling everything alone—kicked in. If she just caught her breath once more, she could stand up. Just like always.
Her entire body smeared with wet dirt, Yeondu tried turning on the flashlight with her scraped, bleeding hand.
Click- click-.
But no matter how many times she pressed the button, it stayed pitch black. It was a perfect case of being stranded.
“...Why....”
Yeondu’s voice trembled.
“Why am I always... always like this....”
Even though her face was drenched in rain, it was obvious she was crying. Her jaw muscles twitching uncontrollably made that clear. Yeondu’s eyes reddened.
“No matter how hard I try, why am I always... alone.”
The rain lashed down harder and harder.
“Why... I don’t even care about anyone...!”
With mud-covered hands, Yeondu tried to wipe away her tears. It was useless. No matter how much she wiped, the tears kept streaming down endlessly.
“Even when it wasn’t my problem, I treated /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ everything like it was...! I did everything like it was my responsibility! So why do you all put your own things first!!! No one, no one ever... cares about me...!”
There was no one to comfort her when she cried. Having learned that lesson through life, Jung Yeondu couldn’t even cry out loud properly. Even as she tried desperately to hold it in, the tears that kept forcing their way out looked hateful.
The music that had played when Yeondu first headed to Hyangdo County began to play again. A slower, smaller xylophone melody than before.
“Then I....”
When Jung Yeondu lifted her head, her world was nothing but darkness. Completely alone. The perfect world she had so desperately wanted—where no one cared about her, and she didn’t have to care about anyone.
And yet, Jung Yeondu standing within it looked unbearably lonely.
“Woof!”
That was when it happened.
