SATURDAY 100

After instructing the nurses to keep a close eye on Mom, I came home. Since I had informed them that she tried to jump out the window and that I was very uneasy, they were sure to take appropriate measures. Medical staff are just as sensitive to a patient’s suicide as the family is.

Mom said it was okay now since the Shaman had left and told me to go home. It was the first time I had seen her make… such a worried face.

Leaving Mom alone at the hospital certainly didn’t sit well with me. Even if it wasn’t by her own will, Mom had tried to die, and there was no telling when the Shaman, who was the cause of it, might appear again.

When the Shaman came earlier, she naturally passed through to Mom’s hospital room easily. Her face was well-known to the security team as well as the medical staff, and frankly, no one would have wanted to get on the Shaman’s bad side.

They said the room where only Mom and the Shaman were present was quiet. Since no shouting or suspicious noises were heard, no one had bothered to check inside.

Now, the Shaman won’t be able to act so freely. Fearing that something like this might happen again, I repeatedly told the guards to turn her away immediately at the parking lot if she ever came back.

What would have happened if we had arrived even a moment later? Mom said that after the Shaman disappeared after telling her to jump from here, she felt like she really had to do it and went to the window. If we had been just one step late, what we saw wouldn’t have been Mom’s back, but….

…I don’t really want to think about it.

In the middle of the rain hitting the awning, the front door opened with a beep. Mr. Taeseon pulled me close as we entered the house. Taking his hand off my shoulder for a moment, Mr. Taeseon used that hand to turn on the entryway light.

With a click, the surroundings brightened softly. I looked at the floor of the entryway and was a bit surprised. There was a puddle in the garage where water had somehow leaked in, but just from stepping in that, transparent rainwater had pooled beneath Mr. Taeseon’s and my shoes.

“I think we need to call someone about the garage.”

“We should.”

I absentmindedly looked under the shoe rack. A nameless plant with thin stalks looked exceptionally fresh today, perhaps because of the humidity. But… this wasn’t the time to worry about plants.

“Meow! Hey! Meow-row-row-meow-meow-meow-meow!”

From the dim living room hallway lit by indirect lighting, Lili burst out as if her tail were on fire. Since she was running while shouting, her voice bounced like a ping-pong ball.

“Lili…!”

Flustered, I leaned down. Whether Lili’s target was me from the start, she threw herself into my arms without hesitation.

“Whoa.”

Lili isn’t heavy, but I couldn’t withstand the force and weight of her running from that distance. Before I could do anything, I sat down on the floor with a thud. Of all places, right in the wet spot of the wide entryway. Moisture immediately soaked into my clothes. Mr. Taeseon, startled, helped me up.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, I’m fine, it’s not like I sat down hard…. Lili, go, pfft, woo, wait, just a moment, Lili….”

Mr. Taeseon looked at me and Lili as if he were momentarily bewildered. It was because Lili was diligently licking my face and mouth while making sounds like meow, ang, ya-ang as if appealing for something.

She wasn’t just using the tip of her tongue or smoothing down my fur like usual, so it was quite prickly.

“Just, a, moment, ah, Lili, calm down….”

Then Mr. Taeseon grabbed the scruff of Lili’s neck and hoisted her up. Lili made a loud noise as if protesting and shook her bushy tail threateningly. Frowning, Mr. Taeseon asked.

“What are you doing? Is this some reunion after several years?”

Mr. Taeseon scolded Lili with a deep frown.

“…Come to think of it….”

Looking at the two of them, I tilted my head involuntarily. I feel as if I’m meeting Lili—who is still struggling to get to me—after a very long time for some reason.

“I feel like I haven’t seen Lili in a while.”

At my words, Mr. Taeseon looked at me with a strange expression for a moment.

“Why…?”

“That, no…. No, it’s nothing.”

I was curious about what he was going to say, but I figured if Mr. Taeseon was going to open his mouth and then shut it, there must be a reason for it, so I let it go.

“More importantly, please put Lili down. She hates being held like that.”

Mr. Taeseon put Lili down on the floor and lightly guided me into the house with his arm around my back. The damp feeling of my pants didn’t feel very good….

Once on the floor, Lili continuously rubbed her body against my ankles and sniffed around before lifting her head to look at me.

“Meow… ang, woo-ah-ah, kya, coo-roo.”

From then on, Lili began to chatter. I wondered what she had so much to say; she meowed without rest until her voice went hoarse, forcing her to rush off to drink some water. I laughed watching Lili and headed to the bathroom.

Lili followed me in a flurry. Lili is, to put it plainly, an independent and indifferent cat, and she never follows me around to this extent. It was enough to make me worried about what was wrong.

When I entered the bathroom, Lili followed me in and stood still just inside the entrance.

“Does Lili want to take a bath too?”

“Meow.”

When I asked, Lili’s eyes sparkled as she stretched herself out, then she rolled right over and showed her fluffy white belly. I couldn’t hold back my laughter and was stroking Lili’s belly with a relaxed expression when I felt a gaze.

There was only one person whose gaze I would feel at home. The staff don’t stare at me or Mr. Taeseon.

I rubbed Lili’s belly vigorously and looked up. As expected, Mr. Taeseon was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, watching me.

“…Wh-why…?”

Feeling needlessly embarrassed, I began drawing shapes like hearts and clouds on Lili’s belly with my finger. Mr. Taeseon gave a faint smile and sat down in front of me.

“I was worried, but I’m glad to see you seem better than I thought.”

“Ah….”

Only then did I blink. I had been thinking about it until we got into the car, but after arriving home and being ambushed by Lili, I had completely forgotten. The fact that Mom had been in great danger.

“I’m keeping in constant contact with your mother’s side, so there’s no need to be anxious. Understood?”

“Yes.”

When I slowly nodded, Mr. Taeseon cupped the back of my head with one hand and kissed me. It happened to be a spot where Lili’s gaze landed directly on us. While feeling strangely embarrassed, I couldn’t refuse the sweet and gentle kiss.

A long while later, Mr. Taeseon headed toward the dressing room, saying he would wash up in the other bathroom, and soon the sound of his footsteps in slippers slowly faded away. With my face bright red, I looked at Lili. Lili was averting her gaze with an indifferent face.

“….”

Sometimes I think… Lili knows a lot more than an ordinary cat. Is that an overstatement?

Suddenly, the image of Lili welcoming me as if we were meeting after months flashed through my mind. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but it felt like Lili was saying, “Where did you go?” And….

Who on earth was that thing inside your body?

“….”

In that instant, a chill ran through me and I got goosebumps all over my body. No, surely not. Lili is just an ordinary ginger cat. Even if her head is a bit big and her face looks mystical.

…But I had heard somewhere that cats can see ghosts.

If Inha’s ghost appeared boldly and the Shaman was performing bizarre spells and rituals, there was no guarantee that Lili wouldn’t recognize Inha.

The more I thought about it, the more the back of my neck felt cold. In the end, while I was washing Lili and then myself, I couldn’t even close my eyes properly while washing my hair. And while enduring the stinging from the suds getting in my eyes, I kept glancing around. It was because I felt like something that shouldn’t be there—whether it was Inha or something else—was watching me.

If Lili hadn’t been there, I might have just wrapped a towel around myself and run into the bathroom where Mr. Taeseon was washing.

After finally finishing Lili’s bath and drying her lightly with a towel, I wrapped her in a large towel and sent her out first. Afterward, I also anxiously splashed water over myself once more, lightly sprayed cold water on the bathroom floor to tidy up, and rushed out of the bathroom.

In the dressing room, I quickly shook out my hair and came out after putting on a robe, only to hear the sound of the dryer room running. It seemed Mr. Taeseon had finished washing first. Looking inside the dryer room, Lili was indeed sitting there quietly with her eyes narrowed.

‘Mom….’

Looking at Lili, Mom suddenly came to mind. I knew it was late, but I wanted to at least check how Mom was doing. The shock from earlier had already turned into fear and anxiety, taking root in a corner of my heart.

My phone was sitting on a small table in the living room. Just as I was reaching for it, something cold touched my cheek. I flinched and turned around to see Mr. Taeseon standing there with two glasses of tea with ice.

“Drink.”

“Did you make this, Mr. Taeseon…?”

“Yes.”

Well, it was a time when all the staff had already gone home. When I touched the glass to my lips and took a sip, I tasted a pleasant sweetness.

“Shall we sit? I’ll dry your hair after you finish drinking.”

“Yes….”

So I sat on the sofa side by side with Mr. Taeseon. Before long, the dryer room’s timer went beep-beep, and from inside, Lili opened the door herself and came out. I laughed at her looking like a curly cat because her fur was all ruffled, but Mr. Taeseon kissed me again.

However, it didn’t last long. It wasn’t Lili, who was trying to disappear somewhere to avoid being brushed, nor the sound of the rain still pouring outside that interrupted the kiss.

It was the ringing of my phone.

Mr. Taeseon and I blinked as we faced each other, then simultaneously turned our heads toward the phone. On the liquid crystal screen, an even more unexpected name had popped up.

“…Mom?”