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Chapter 20
“……!”
Jung-ha’s face stiffened, and for the first time his shoulders flinched. Then, as if used to it, he caught his mother’s wrist and pushed her shoulder away. Just like he had done many times before.
“……Please, come to your senses.”
“You think you could live normally if I die? You should feel it too. The hell I’m living in…….”
“Mother.”
Jung-ha’s voice trembled as he called out. His eyes looked dry, yet to Yeon-woo it seemed as though he was crying. She could see him struggling physically with his mother again and again.
This time, her shaking hands reached for Jung-ha.
“Better that you die instead. Then we can all die together.”
Clutching the branch with both hands, his mother swung it hard toward his stomach. Jung-ha’s dark pupils shook violently at the sight. She truly intended to hurt her own son—without the slightest hesitation.
“Ugh…….”
The tip of the branch snapped as it stabbed into Jung-ha’s stomach. His mother’s hands were pricked, blood seeping from them. At the same time, Jung-ha convulsed, his face turning deathly pale, gasping like someone being strangled.
If that had been a real knife……
The thought alone made Yeon-woo’s face go pale.
“Mom.”
A faint voice slipped from Jung-ha’s parched lips. As if forgetting to struggle, his mother’s strength drained away. Then suddenly, she spun around.
“……”
Blinking several times, she opened her mouth slightly. Her eyelashes quivered, and at last, her hands dropped weakly.
“I was… I was asleep…….”
“……Mother.”
“I… did it again, didn’t I?”
Seeing her suddenly regain her senses, Yeon-woo tried to steady her pounding heart. The realization that this woman could harm not only herself but also Jung-ha made Yeon-woo freeze in place, as though shackled.
This was something she shouldn’t have witnessed.
“……Go back to bed. Inside.”
Bending down, Jung-ha slipped slippers—who knows from where—onto her feet. Looking down at her son’s bowed head, his mother’s gaze was tinged with sorrow. The two never settled anything between them. The matter ended only when she slowly trudged back into the main house.
Only after watching her disappear inside did Yeon-woo finally release the breath she had been holding. Then, Jung-ha’s low voice came again.
“You should go in and sleep too.”
“……!”
He knew she was there. Yeon-woo stiffly turned her neck, meeting his eyes. Words wouldn’t come out, her lips only parted soundlessly. Jung-ha’s shoulders slumped, as though he had carried something heavy. The usually steadfast and imposing Woo Jung-ha, for the first time, looked weary.
Yeon-woo began to vaguely understand why he carried the scent of misfortune, why he had once said, “people like you.” His mother had spoken of death again and again.
“……”
Jung-ha stood there, looking at Yeon-woo, then moved his steps. Yeon-woo’s chest tightened with the urge to say something, but no words came. Even so, she couldn’t just let him leave like that. She cautiously called out.
“Woo Jung-ha.”
“……”
“……Good night.”
Turning back to look at her, his fingertips twitched at the casual greeting. Then he gave a small nod.
After that, silence and deep darkness settled over the orchard. Yeon-woo spent a sleepless night, her eyes fixed again and again on the window with patched paper. At the end of her gaze was the unseen main house.
She had a restless dream. In it, Yeon-woo was nothing but a powerless spectator. Jung-ha’s mother chased him with a knife, screaming wildly. The blade aimed at her own son gleamed, sharpened to kill. Yeon-woo cursed her voice that could not reach him.
When she awoke, her throat ached. Letting out a hoarse sound, she pulled herself up.
“……”
Humans were fickle beings. Just yesterday, she would have walked out the blue front gate ahead of him without a second thought. But today, Yeon-woo waited on the porch for Jung-ha to come out wearing his black sneakers.
Her aunt, seeing her peeking out, snapped.
“What are you doing, standing there? You’re a distraction.”
“……Why am I a distraction.”
“Jung-woon didn’t come home again last night. And you—what’s with that scarf…….”
Startled by her aunt’s words, Yeon-woo quickly grabbed at the scarf around her neck, then put on her most brazen face.
“He wasn’t using it, so I borrowed it. It’s not like Madam ever comes outside anyway.”
She remembered the time Jung-woon had beaten her senseless on a rainy day, and she wasn’t about to repeat that mistake.
Her aunt still looked suspicious but said nothing more, only urging her to get going even though Jung-ha hadn’t come out yet.
“Come home a little early today. If your brother’s not here, you’ll have to help in the field.”
“Got it.”
They had to plow the field and make rows, but Jung-woon had been missing for days. Yang-gyu’s stern glares and pointed coughs only added to the pressure.
Left to endure it all alone in the daytime, her aunt even went to the market to look for Jung-woon. She knew he was probably at some gambling den. He was grown now, far beyond her control. She had let it go. But this time, she couldn’t find him anywhere, and her worries had grown immeasurable.
“You’re still doing fine in school, right?”
“……Why are you asking that all of a sudden.”
“Can’t I show a little interest? Stupid girl. Just go already.”
All she ever talked about was money. And now, with Yeon-woo in her last year of high school, she suddenly cared about college entrance. Probably heard parents’ consultations were starting soon. Not that calling her aunt would help—the woman knew nothing.
Tilting her head, Yeon-woo slipped on her shoes. Jung-ha seemed to be taking his time.
“I’m off.”
With that, she stepped out through the blue gate. She remembered then—today was the March mock exam.
Oddly enough, Jung-ha had arrived in the classroom before her. She wanted to ask when he’d gotten there, but thinking of last night, she decided it was better to leave him alone.
Besides, something else had happened. After yesterday, for some reason, Eun-young had greeted Yeon-woo that morning. As though she had some new scheme.
Suspicious as it was, Yeon-woo couldn’t figure it out. For now, it was safest to keep her head down.
But even so……
“……”
Maybe it was because she had never seen Jung-ha collapsed on his desk like that before. Her eyes kept drifting to the back of his head.
His thin hair didn’t even stir. With no movement at all, she couldn’t tell if he was asleep or awake.
“……Wake up.”
The teacher would be there soon. They’d have to carry desks for the mock exam. Yet it was already 8:20, and he still hadn’t moved. Yeon-woo whispered softly. Then, finally, one of Jung-ha’s arms twitched.
“It’s the mock exam today. Teacher’s coming soon.”
Hearing her voice—measured, but gentler than usual—he frowned and opened his eyes. His right arm, which had been propping his head, was numb, so he kneaded it with his left hand.
His face looked unusually haggard, his eyes struggling against the light. Yeon-woo, surprised, asked,
“You… did you sleep here last night?”
“……Yeah.”
