LLU 26

During all that, I could only stare blankly and watch the situation. It was because it felt utterly unreal. The fact that the events of the past few hours weren’t a story about strangers I didn’t know or something on the news, but a story about my mother and me.

The truth of the incident was revealed as smoothly as a painting. A clingy and dirty obsession with my mother had turned the man into a monster, and the man had ended up waiting for days on end with that long knife in his possession to harm my mother and me. But when my mother didn’t come home, he set fire to the place in a fit of anger.

It was a perfect day to burn down someone’s house. As if someone had planned it, even the weather and temperature aligned perfectly. The bone-dry winter air and the timely blowing wind fanned the flames of disaster, making it possible for our house to be completely taken away during the few hours I was circling the park and grocery shopping.

As I returned from my workout and witnessed the scene of my house burning fiercely, the sound of sirens tore at my ears. Fire trucks and police cars scrambled to push their way into the narrow alley. The firefighters who got out of the vehicles pushed through the few neighborhood people who had gathered and were murmuring, and began to extinguish the fire.

Even while watching that scene, I stood there blankly. The expression ‘a dumbstruck fool’ was a perfect fit. What kind of person in the world would just blankly watch their own house burning down?

And, when I came to my senses, I was sitting in a police station.

The first person to rush over on my mother’s behalf was Chairman Choi. He calmly went through the procedures. Naturally, the police were far more cooperative and kind to him, the chairman of a large corporation, than they were to a single, dazed kid. I mean, even a high-ranking senior police executive personally came rushing out to attend to him, so that said it all.

Not long after Chairman Choi arrived, Kim Chulhyung was arrested on the spot after being reported and was dragged in. The investigation that began from that point proceeded ceremoniously, implying an obvious outcome.

If there was one silver lining, it was that our house was the only thing that had burned down completely. As if someone had been watching and put out the fire at just the right moment, our house was the only one that suffered fatal damage.

Just because we had lived there for a long time didn’t mean I had any lingering attachment to the house. I would be going into the dorms soon anyway, and my mother would naturally move into Chairman Choi’s house after giving birth.

But it was true that I was resentful and felt empty. That the end for our two-person household, which had lived breathlessly in the world with nothing, had come in such a destructive way, at the hands of another. Even if we were to clear out the house, that was something we should have done ourselves, not something that should have been stolen away by a person who wasn’t even human.

“This is enough, Oon-ah. You don’t need to keep watching. I’ll take care of it from here.”

Chairman Choi gently wrapped an arm around my shoulder, separating me from the investigation scene. He guessed that I, frozen and silent, had been severely shocked, and handled me even more carefully than usual.

Chairman Choi requested my release to go home from the police, and naturally, the police side readily agreed. I opened the police station door and walked out alongside him.

As the chilly predawn air touched my cheeks, a sense of hopelessness washed over me. A hollow laugh escaped me belatedly. Was this the price for having just watched blankly the whole time I was in the police station, as if it were someone else’s business? The sense of reality, clad in the winter wind, cruelly dug deep into my bones.

I felt like I was going to collapse from the overwhelming sense of exhaustion. Is this what it means to have no home, no place to go? I’m so tired, I just want to go in and rest now, but there’s nowhere to go back to.

“Let’s go to my house, Oon-ah. Don’t worry about anything. You can stay there from now on.”

As if he had read my despairing heart, Chairman Choi patted my shoulder and said so.

“Hmm? Let’s get going. You must be tired, you should hurry up and wash and get some rest.”

“…No. I’m sorry to say this, but…”

I couldn’t help but be grateful to Chairman Choi, who had rushed to the scene first and even made such an offer. That is, if I could think of him and Choi Junghan as separate people.

But I was not in a position to do so. No matter how much mercy Chairman Choi showed me, he was no longer simply my mother’s remarriage partner to me, but Choi Junghan’s father. I could never go back to that house.

I was about to make the excuse of Kim Junwoo and say that I intended to stay there for the time being. A sedan that slid into the parking lot as smoothly as a fish came to a stop in front of us. At the same time, Chairman Choi’s face lit up.

“You came, Junghan-ah.”

“Of course I had to come. It’s about Oon.”

Seeing Choi Junghan get out of the car, my expression hardened in an instant. My clenched jaw tightened and my fist, balled up at some point, trembled. A fiery wind, more intense than the flames that had swallowed my house, was standing right in front of me.

Even seeing him after a long time, the sense of pressure he exuded was the same as ever. His eyes holding an unidentifiable glint, his perfect attire, and his body odor mixed with the scent of a cool perfume.

My body reacted automatically to everything about Choi Junghan. My head grew cold. My nerves were on edge to the point where I wondered if I had ever felt that sense of exhaustion that had taken over my body.

Choi Junghan stared at me intently and opened his mouth.

“How pitiful.”

With his soft voice, he reached out his hand. At the touch of his hand stroking my hair, goosebumps ran down my skin like a spreading wildfire.

My hand went up on its own first. After slapping Choi Junghan’s hand away, I glared at him without a word. Chairman Choi quickly opened his mouth to defend me.

“Oon is just a little sensitive right now.”

“I understand. His entire house burned down, so how great must the shock be.”

Choi Junghan said this as if he were being quite generous. Nausea rose up at his pretentious and disgusting kindness. Before I could say anything, he and Chairman Choi began to discuss my living situation.

“By the way, it seems Oon won’t have a suitable place to stay for a while.”

“Right. That’s why I was about to tell him to move into our house.”

“Excuse me, just a moment.”

I couldn’t listen any longer to the conversation they were having so naturally, excluding me, the person concerned. Chairman Choi, who knew nothing, was one thing, but Choi Junghan had no right to discuss my accommodations and safety.

It was a deception and a mockery directed at me. I no longer wanted to be involved with Choi Junghan, nor did I have any intention of being played in the palm of his hand. I first bowed my head deeply to Chairman Choi.

“Thank you so much for rushing over like this and helping with the arrangements. But… I’m supposed to go to a friend’s house.”

“No, a friend’s house is fine for a day or two. How long are you planning to stay there?”

Chairman Choi was greatly surprised and immediately shook his head.

“Do you have any idea how worried Ms. Jeongin is right now? I barely managed to stop her from coming along.”

“I’ll explain it well to my mother. The semester is starting soon anyway, and the dorms…”

“No. We’re about to start a life together soon, your mother and I, so what would it do to my reputation with Ms. Jeongin if you were to sleep at a friend’s house? How upset would your mother be? Am I not a person who can interfere this much with you now?”

He insisted with an uncharacteristically strong tone. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand his position, but right now, I wasn’t at leisure enough to consider Chairman Choi’s reputation.

“…I’m sorry. I have my reasons… it would be difficult for me to stay there.”

“Oon-ah!”

“I’ll be going now.”

I bowed my waist deeply to Chairman Choi, turned around, and began to walk away with quick steps. He called my name a few times from behind, but I didn’t look back.

My attitude of refusing his offer of help might seem impudent and insolent to Chairman Choi, but I didn’t care either way.

How had I managed to calm myself down? As soon as I saw Choi Junghan’s face, my insides were once again being tossed about like a shipwreck caught in a storm. It was agonizing just to face him for a moment, and he wanted me to go into his house and live face-to-face with him? I would rather die; it was something that could absolutely never happen.

Besides, Kim Junwoo, who had heard my news last night, had also told me to stay comfortably at his house. It would be difficult to stay there the whole time since Kim Junwoo’s father was also there, but I could go to a jjimjilbang or a PC bang from time to time. I just had to endure like that until I moved into the dorms, so it wasn’t an entirely impossible feat.

I quickly left the police station and turned onto the road. It was just before dawn, so the surroundings were still dark. There were few people or cars coming and going on the six-lane road. Having run out blindly to escape Choi Junghan and Chairman Choi, my steps felt lost.

First, I should catch a taxi and go to Kim Junwoo’s place. No, I should go to a 24-hour kimbap place or somewhere similar first. I had no appetite at all, but I couldn’t just show up at the time Kim Junwoo’s father was just waking up and getting ready for work. Wouldn’t it be a little less rude if I killed time by eating a roll of kimbap and then went over late in the morning?

I wonder if there are any taxis at this hour. While lost in such thoughts as I stared blankly at my phone, I failed to notice a car quietly pulling to a stop beside me as I trudged along. Not until a man who got out of the back seat snatched my wrist.

“What…!”

I was so startled that my shoulders flinched. Chairman Choi, who had grabbed my wrist, shouted.

“Pioon! What on earth is wrong with you.”

He wore an expression so angry it was unfamiliar. He was probably doing this because he was annoyed with the kid who was trying to bolt after he had rushed over, looked after him all night, and taken care of everything.

Separate from understanding why he was angry, I looked at him with a calm gaze. No matter what Chairman Choi said, I would not be going to that house.

So I wanted to stop this pointless struggle and go lie my exhausted body down somewhere. But the next words out of Chairman Choi’s mouth shook my resolve in an instant.

“I know you’re uncomfortable with me, but aren’t you thinking of your mother! Right now your mom, even though I tried so hard to stop her, has already gotten a pass to leave the hospital and is coming home in a taxi. Are you still going to be this stubborn?”

“My… mother is?”

Suddenly, my head began to throb. This impulsive action from my mother was not in my calculations. Chairman Choi, who was staring at me with a sharp gaze, seemed quite angry about my mother’s sudden departure and my stubbornness, which was incomprehensible to him.

“I don’t think I’ve treated you so uncomfortably, but it seems you think differently.”

“…”

“I understand how you feel. Still, go and see your mother right now, and put her at ease. Surely you won’t say you don’t want to do even that. After that, I won’t force you any further.”

It was a powerful assertion that left no room for rebuttal. Chairman Choi, waiting for my answer with a hardened face, showed no signs of backing down in the slightest.

I could no longer be stubborn. He said my mother was on her way to Chairman Choi’s mansion now. I suppose she couldn’t lie down comfortably either, since the house she had lived in her whole life had burned to the ground.

My mother would be shocked and collapse when she saw my face, but now that it had come to this, avoiding my mother was impossible. Even if I ran away to Kim Junwoo’s house now, my mother would drag her body to come see me no matter what.

No matter how shameless of a bastard Choi Junghan was, in broad daylight with my mother and Chairman Choi wide awake and watching, he wouldn’t… commit the same act as last time, would he?

The fist I had clenched tightly went limp. With a deep sigh, my short and tumultuous rebellion came to a futile end. In the end, I kept my mouth firmly shut and got into the front passenger seat.

Inside the car, that familiar body odor was spreading unpleasantly. His scent was similar to Choi Junghan’s temperament. The way his retracted claws made him seem flawlessly neat and elegant anywhere, but in reality, he always wanted to mercilessly crush his opponent to satisfy his own base gratification.

“…”

For a moment, Choi Junghan’s eyes, which I met through the side mirror, were curved in leisure. I didn’t have the strength to receive his provocation. I immediately turned my head away.

In the uncomfortable silence emanating from the men, I chose to rather close my eyes. Even though my mother was waiting for me, I felt like I was being dragged to hell.

“Oon-ah!”

My mother, who had been waiting anxiously at the mansion, rushed toward me and embraced me as if she were collapsing.

My mother’s belly had gotten even bigger since I had last seen it. It really felt like her due date was just around the corner, I thought again, as if watching someone else’s business. Just like when I was dazedly watching the blazing house or sitting in the police station.

“Oon-ah, my baby. Are you hurt anywhere? Huh? Oh my goodness, how could something like this…”

My mother’s face, who had been trying to cup my face with her tear-filled hands, suddenly hardened all at once. Her hand shot out and hastily pulled off the mask covering my face.

“You, what’s wrong with your face!”

My bare face, which had been meagerly hidden by a single thin mask, was revealed. My mother, her eyes wide as if they would pop out, shrieked.

“What is this, Pioon! Who on earth keeps doing this!”

“Ms. Jeongin!”

“Mom, please calm down.”

Seeing my mother’s deathly pale face, Chairman Choi rushed over and supported her. My mother, who began to tremble, truly looked as if she would collapse at any moment.

“You answer me properly! Was it that kid from last time? The one who hit you at school?!”

“Please calm down, it’s nothing.”

“What do you mean it’s nothing! My goodness, how could you do this to a person’s face…”

“It’s really nothing. I got into an argument while working my part-time job, and we just grabbed each other by the collar, that’s all. …They gave me settlement money, too.”