Chapter 171
“Seol Suhyeon.”
Jeonghan lifted Suhyeon’s head. Suhyeon, whose face was a complete mess from tears, was struggling to breathe.
Breath……
Tears streaming down, Suhyeon felt dizzy from the lack of oxygen.
Mom, mom……
Amid her fading consciousness, memories of the past surged like a flood.
It was one day when Suhyeon was in fourth grade. Around that time Seol Hee-nam was addicted to the casino and rarely came home.
Seol Hee-nam came home late one night without a word.
When Seol Hee-nam entered, reeking of alcohol and glaring with bloodshot eyes, Oh Kyung-hee’s face stiffened. She quickly signaled to Suhyeon with her eyes.
‘Hurry, go inside!’
Understanding the signal, Suhyeon quickly hid in her room and locked the door.
Then, with her small hands, she tightly covered her ears. But even covering her ears couldn’t block out the brutal sounds.
“Ahhh! What are you doing! Aaaah!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The assault, which began without warning, was always one-sided.
At the sound of Oh Kyung-hee’s screams and the dull noise of blows, Suhyeon curled up her body, trembling.
When Seol Hee-nam came home, it was almost always like that.
On the rare occasions he came home in a good mood, it was because he had won big at the casino, but such days were nearly nonexistent.
On good days, he would go to his mistress’s house—the other household he maintained—rather than his own home. Or to a room salon.
Most of the time, he came home after losing a lot of money, drunk and furious, to vent his anger.
Clatter, clatter!
“!”
At the sound of the doorknob turning, Suhyeon flinched, her tear-streaked eyes wide with fear.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The door shook as if it would break apart.
“Seol Suhyeon! Aren’t you going to open the door?! Seol Suhyeon!!”
Frozen in place, Suhyeon stared at the doorknob, which seemed like it would give way at any moment, when she heard Oh Kyung-hee’s desperate voice.
“Leave Suhyeon alone! Just hit me instead, you devil!”
“You still don’t know your place, do you, you wench? Come here!”
“Aaaaah!”
At the horrifying sound of Oh Kyung-hee being dragged away and her screams, young Suhyeon turned deathly pale as fat teardrops rolled down her cheeks.
“Mom…… hic, Mom……”
Lying flat on the floor, Suhyeon cried quietly, her sobs filled with sorrow.
The next day, after Seol Hee-nam left the house, Oh Kyung-hee dressed Suhyeon and prepared for an outing.
“Where are we going?”
“…To have some fun.”
Covering the bruises that couldn’t be hidden even with heavy makeup using sunglasses and a hat, Oh Kyung-hee boarded an intercity bus with Suhyeon.
Their destination was Gangneung.
A table full of sashimi and seafood was spread out before them, but Oh Kyung-hee didn’t eat. Instead, she stared blankly at the ocean outside the window. Her face was devoid of any expression.
Gripped by the fear that her mother might suddenly disappear, Suhyeon hurriedly picked up a piece of conch with her chopsticks and said,
“Mom. This is good. The conch.”
At those words, Oh Kyung-hee seemed to snap back to reality, looking at Suhyeon with a momentarily startled expression.
“Here, Mom, try it.”
When Suhyeon placed a piece of conch on her mother’s plate, Oh Kyung-hee gave a faint smile.
“Okay. Thank you, Suhyeon.”
Seeing her mother’s strained smile, Suhyeon swallowed her unease and forced a smile herself.
That night, while sleeping at their beachfront accommodation, Suhyeon woke up to some sound.
“Mom……”
As soon as Suhyeon woke up, she instinctively checked the spot next to her and flinched in surprise. The spot was empty.
“Mom?”
Suhyeon, her face filled with unease, got out of bed. She went to the door of the room and saw that Oh Kyung-hee’s shoes were missing.
Suhyeon felt as if her heart had dropped. Overwhelmed by an inexplicable wave of anxiety, she ran outside without even putting on her shoes.
“Mom!”
She frantically ran towards the beach and saw Oh Kyung-hee’s silhouette walking into the dark sea under the pitch-black night.
“M-Mom. Mom!”
Suhyeon called out as she ran, but the roar of the waves swallowed all sound.
It felt as if the black darkness would swallow Oh Kyung-hee as well.
Suhyeon sprinted across the sandy beach, her small feet digging into the sand with all her might.
Oh Kyung-hee kept walking into the sea, unwavering and without looking back.
The seawater reached her ankles.
“No…! Mom! Mom!!”
Suhyeon cried, screaming desperately for her mother.
Oh Kyung-hee, whose calves were now submerged in the water, finally turned around.
‘Mom!’
Suhyeon’s tear-streaked eyes met Oh Kyung-hee’s.
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