SATURDAY 86

Hong Sayoung woke up feeling a breeze blowing from somewhere. When she opened her eyes, the hospital room was dim, and the spot where her husband’s bed had been until just a few days ago was empty. Her heart felt as if it were being crushed again.

Suddenly, she felt a shadow cast beside her. Turning her gaze, she saw a torso dressed in funeral clothes. Funeral clothes…? It wasn’t entirely strange. Her husband’s funeral was ongoing, after all.

But who would appear in a hospital room, especially in a unit for critical patients, wearing funeral clothes?

It was a bizarre occurrence. Hong Sayoung tried to steady her dazed mind and managed to lift her head, and after a moment, she reflexively burst into tears, crying, “What should I do?”

The person who had appeared in funeral clothes was a familiar face.

“What should I do… Inha, you’re Inha…. You are Inha, right?”

‘Inha’ smiled softly, exactly as he had appeared when he was alive, said, “It’s cold, isn’t it, Mother?” and walked toward the window to close it. The fluttering curtains settled, and Inha walked rustle, rustle back to the bedside.

Hong Sayoung’s gaze drifted to Inha’s feet and stopped. Feet turned deathly pale, looking freezing just from a glance. Her son was barefoot despite the weather being so cold. A surge of pity washed over her.

“Why are you barefoot, my child? Your feet must be cold….”

“It’s okay, Mother.”

The moment she heard “It’s okay, Mother,” Hong Sayoung’s heart grew heavy. She had no idea how to process this situation. She sobbed as if lamenting her fate.

“Inha…. What should Mother do…?”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry, Mother.”

Inha, dressed in funeral clothes, looked at his mother with a chilling smile, then reached out and embraced her. Inha’s body temperature was extremely cold.

“…Mother, I’ll be back soon.”

“What? I—Inha. Inha?”

Inha broke the embrace, waved his hand lightly, and exited the hospital room like a ghost. Watching the hospital door slide open, Inha’s body vanish, and the door close again, Hong Sayoung kept calling out Inha’s name.

A little while later, nurses came in and said softly, “Patient, please wake up,” as they administered a sedative. The drug that plunges a person into a deep sleep circulated through Hong Sayoung’s veins. Even as she fell into a deep slumber, she continued to mutter her son’s name, “Inha.”

“…?”

For some reason, it was very cold and my body felt damp. Just as if I were soaked by rain. While tossing and turning and pulling the blanket over me, I felt a sense of dissonance. This wasn’t the time to be resting so comfortably…. What was it? I thought about it and finally realized.

Today was the third day of my father’s funeral. I had come inside to sleep for a bit during the dawn, and Mr. Taeseon said he would be away for about two hours due to company matters.

Because it was a five-day funeral, it was impossible for just Mr. Taeseon and me to handle it, so we decided to take turns guarding the parlor with our relatives. The ones sitting in the chief mourner’s spots now were my younger uncles. My uncle had also left around midnight to go to the Jamsil area for an urgent meeting regarding an exhibition.

As I got up hurriedly, my feet felt strangely cold. What’s this? I thought as I looked down to find that my socks were gone and I was barefoot. What’s more, it felt unpleasant, so I lifted my feet and saw that my soles were pitch black.

“…What is this…?”

It was as if I had been walking around outside while asleep. Could I have developed somnambulism because of the fatigue? And of all times, while both Mr. Taeseon and my uncle were away…. I rushed into the bathroom, washed my feet, came out, and looked for new socks.

When I went to put on my dress shoes, I couldn’t help but tilt my head again. My shoes, which I had clearly lined up neatly, were scattered here and there as if they had been kicked.

It was puzzling, but I had to get out quickly. I put on my shoes, returned to the funeral parlor, arranged my shoes as I took them off, and went before the altar. My younger uncles were nodding off.

“You worked hard. Mr. Taeseon will be back soon, so I’ll stay here now.”

Even at dawn, excluding the awkward time around five o’clock, quite a few important guests arrived whom the chief mourner had to personally attend to. Also, around six o’clock, people coming to pay their respects before heading to work show their faces.

It was my first time holding a funeral, and the position of the chief mourner was truly busy day and night. It was likely due to my father’s social standing as well.

However, my younger uncle, who must have been tired, looked at me with a peculiar gaze for a moment.

“…Is something the matter?”

“No, Inha, where did you go just now?”

“Pardon?”

“You just ran off somewhere in a hurry without even putting on your shoes and came back. It took maybe 30 or 40 minutes…. I was startled. I almost thought the child was possessed by a ghost.”

“M—me?”

My uncle nodded. He said I had gone out and come back without wearing shoes? The image of my pitch-black, dirty feet immediately sprang to mind.

“Then you came back, went into the mourner’s room, and fell straight to sleep. My goodness, you don’t know how startled I was.”

“…You’re saying I did that?”

At that, my uncle looked even more surprised than I did.

“You don’t remember? Inha, are you okay? Aren’t you too exhausted?”

“O—oh, no. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine; even the way you’re talking, you don’t look very good….”

“What is going on?”

Just then, Mr. Taeseon appeared like a savior along with my uncle. Both were dressed in funeral clothes, as if they had changed before coming in from outside.

Mr. Taeseon approached me with a worried face. I hesitated on whether to speak or not, but since my younger uncle looked ready to exaggerate the story, I briefly explained the situation myself. After hearing the whole story, Mr. Taeseon’s expression turned serious.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“How is it not a big deal….”

“Right, Inha. Since Mr. Taeseon and Chaein are here now, it’s better for you to just go back inside and rest.”

My other younger uncle also motioned for me to go into the room. It was true that I was tired, but soon, mourners stopping by before work would arrive in droves. Among them were many important guests.

If possible, I wanted to greet such guests personally. Even if I was greeting them as Yoon Inha….

There were many reasons why I couldn’t return to being Yoon Inyoung. The biggest reason among them was that the person known to the world was Yoon Inha, while Yoon Inyoung was a shadow-like existence.

In the already unstable group situation, the identity of the person who died in a crime aimed at assets has been swapped, and a shaman is even involved in that. Furthermore, if it becomes known that the only one left as a successor is the extremely frail Yoon Inyoung, who lived without a presence like a shadow, it could—to add a bit of exaggeration—lead to a crisis of the group’s existence.

And isn’t this a situation where Father has passed away?

In truth, for the sake of the Jegang Group, it was right for me to live as Inha for the rest of my life. However, that is also impossible. Because I have never once received the various lessons required for management as Inha had.

Also, Inha was a so-called “celeb.” As a fourth-generation member of the Jegang Group, he had been a celebrity on social media since he was young and… anyway, he received a lot of public attention. If it becomes known that the one who died was actually Yoon Inha, not Yoon Inyoung, the impact will be huge.

I didn’t know how Mr. Taeseon planned to resolve such complex issues and restore me as “Yoon Inyoung” within a month, but considering all the problems that had just occurred to me, I absolutely had to correct the error of the death.

First, I cannot manage a company. It would have been difficult anyway since Inha died before even gaining internship experience.

And I cannot mimic Inha’s personality. Because Inha, unlike me, was bright and cheerful. Even my younger uncles are already feeling a sense of dissonance starting from my manner of speech. Inha never stuttered or spoke in a crawling voice like I do.

Therefore, I couldn’t continue to be Yoon Inha. Unless Inha’s soul were to descend and possess me. Inha’s soul….

“….”

Suddenly, a certain scene flashed by. I was looking at my mother. My mother was lying in bed, and my appearance was reflected in a mirror. In the mirror, I was dressed in a funeral dress shirt and tie. Furthermore, the two feet poking out from beneath the hem of my pants were pale, bare feet.

“Inyoung?”

“…!”

I was startled more than necessary by the hand placed on my shoulder. Mr. Taeseon also flinched and quickly pulled his hand away.

I stared at Mr. Taeseon blankly for a moment, then realizing my behavior was strange, I tightly grabbed Mr. Taeseon’s hand on impulse.

“Inyoung, are you okay?”

“Yes…. It’s nothing.”

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Really.”

However, Mr. Taeseon felt my forehead with a suspicious look and then furrowed his brow.

“You have a fever too.”

“It’s okay, it’s just a slight fever. More importantly, ah….”

Thinking he had called me Inyoung in front of my younger uncles, I looked around in surprise, but only my uncle was beside me. It seemed the younger uncles had gone in to rest. I hadn’t even noticed that fact.

Whether he knew I had been worried about that, Mr. Taeseon lightly stroked my hair and whispered.

“Let’s reveal it once things settle down a bit after the funeral. Just endure it until then.”

It had been reduced further from the month we originally discussed. As soon as I heard Mr. Taeseon’s words, a sigh escaped me involuntarily.

Would I be able to endure that fallout? Everyone wants Inha, so when I say, “Actually, the one who survived is ‘Yoon Inyoung,'” how many looks of disappointment will be returned? Will I be able to endure those gazes?

“Don’t worry.”

“Still, the worry is….”

As I was answering mindlessly, I shut my mouth. Mr. Taeseon and my uncle were looking at me with puzzled faces.

That thing said just now, who was it?

I definitely… heard someone say “Don’t worry.” However, Mr. Taeseon and my uncle were looking straight ahead when that voice was heard. Moreover, it wasn’t either of their voices.

Just then, a guest entered. Mr. Taeseon whispered to me inconspicuously.

“It’s the Chairman of Hyeonmu Civil Engineering and his wife.”

“Yes…. Thank you.”

Mr. Taeseon smiled slightly with his eyes.

I successfully greeted the guest couple, and two more teams followed in succession. About half were people I knew… through seeing them on TV or in newspapers, and for the other half, Mr. Taeseon informed me from the side.

It was when an elderly member of the National Assembly and his wife came, gripped my hand tightly, and asked what such a young friend would do now, that I realized the identity of the voice.

I replied, “Please don’t worry.” And suddenly, I realized.

“….”

‘Don’t worry.’

That was my voice.

No,

To be precise….