CS Chapter 24

-Sushi.

After checking the text from Ji Seowoo, Minjun immediately grabbed his suit jacket and left his office.

 

Since it was the day before her exam, Minjun had asked her if there was anything she wanted to eat. Ji Seowoo, who had been parroting noncommittal answers like, “Anything is fine,” “I eat everything,” “If you insist, a burger or kimbap,” finally and reluctantly replied that she wanted sushi.

 

He picked up a packaged sushi dinner from a famous Japanese chef in Cheongdam area and left the restaurant. It was a place where people usually had to book a month in advance just to get a taste, but with a single phone call from Cha Minjun, the chef had rearranged his entire schedule to prepare a special meal just for him.

 

He placed the box on the passenger seat as if it were a sacred object and gently pressed the accelerator. However, as it was nearing rush hour, the roads were jammed with cars.

 

Minjun loosened his tie, which felt suffocating, and tapped his long fingers on the steering wheel. It was merely a gesture to alleviate boredom, but suddenly he thought of the young woman he had left at home.

 

“Why are you running away?”

 

“Because… you’re, you’re suddenly coming closer…”

 

“Like I was going to eat you alive?”

 

The woman’s face trembled with every word he spoke.

 

Her voice, wet with unshed tear, as if she were about to cry.

 

The pervasive scent of milk.

 

As he recalled everything related to Ji Seowoo, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

 

“Just like a cat, she likes fish.”

 

***

 

Hyunsook, who had been at the school where Seowoo was taking her exam since the crack of dawn, paced restlessly, her eyes constantly scanning her surroundings. She was on high alert, anticipating when or where her daughter would appear.

 

“Isn’t she taking the exam here? Why isn’t she here yet?”

 

As the entrance time approached, students around Seowoo’s age started entering the exam hall in groups of three or five, but Hyunsook continued to wander around, unable to find her daughter.

 

She grew anxious and started tapping her foot. If she missed this opportunity, she didn’t know when she would see Seowoo again.

 

Just then, a sedan with tinted windows stopped on the side of the road a short distance from the school gate. She tilted her head, recognizing the familiar model.

 

“Oh my, it’s the same car as our Elder Daniel. He said only five of those cars were released in Korea.”

 

The license plate was different, so it definitely wasn’t Elder Daniel’s car.

 

Hyunsook stared at the car curiously. She was suddenly filled with idle curiosity about the face of the rich person who drove such a rare imported car.

 

“Oh my, oh my? Isn’t that… our Seowoo?”

 

To her surprise, it was her daughter, Ji Seowoo, who stepped out of the passenger seat. Hyunsook rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was dreaming. But it was definitely her daughter, Seowoo, standing before her.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

It was unbelievable. How could her daughter, who had disappeared overnight, emerge from such an expensive car?

 

Stunned, as if hit by a hammer, Hyunsook froze.

 

“C-could it be… Is she doing something foolish?”

 

In that brief moment, all sorts of thoughts raced through her mind. She even imagined her daughter selling her body to an older man, and a gasp escaped her lips.

 

“Oh no. No…! A Sky Bride must be a virgin…!”

 

If Seowoo lost her virginity, she would be disqualified as the Sky Bride. They couldn’t offer an impure woman as the bride of the esteemed Elder.

 

The thought jolted her back to reality.

 

If my daughter really lost her virginity, what would happen next? Would she never become the Sky Bride? Then what about our Junseo…?

 

No, no. I need to take her to church right now so she can repent and cleanse her sins. I’ll fill the bathtub with the water of life and bathe her thoroughly, and if necessary, I’ll even whip her… That way, she can truly repent. That was it.

 

Driven by the thought of immediately taking her sinful daughter to church, Hyunsook quickened her pace.

“Seowoo! Seowoo…! Ji Seowoo!”

 

Hyunsook called out her daughter’s name and chased after her, but Seowoo, perhaps wearing earphones, didn’t turn around.

 

“Ji Seowoo!!”

 

Just as Seowoo was about to enter the school gates, Hyunsook, barely managing to grab her daughter’s wrist, gasped for breath.

 

“Oh my, this girl. Didn’t you hear your mother’s voice?”

 

“M-Mom…?”

 

Seowoo’s face turned pale as she turned around. Hyunsook felt hurt by her daughter’s expression, as if she had seen a monster.

 

“How did you…!”

 

Hyunsook let out a dissatisfied sigh and began to sharply criticize Seowoo.

 

“You… Do you look at your mother like I’m some kind of ghost? Even if you’re upset with your family, were you planning to never see us again? Do you know how much Junseo is looking for you?”

 

Seowoo’s hands trembled as she watched in disbelief. Her composure, maintained until just before arriving at the exam center, was completely shattered by her mother’s sudden appearance.

 

“H-How… how did you know I was here? Huh?”

 

“That’s not important right now. Let’s talk for a moment.”

 

“I… I have to go in and take the exam…!”

 

“Oh, is that exam more important than your family?”

 

“How can you call it ‘that exam’!”

 

Tears welled up in Seowoo’s eyes as she shouted, as if about to have a seizure. She mercilessly shook off Hyunsook’s hand, unable to bear it any longer.

 

“How can you say that, Mom? Do you know how hard I worked while taking care of Junseo? You know everything! You know how desperately I wanted this, right?”

 

“S-Seowoo… That’s not what I meant… Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I was just upset that you only talked about the exam after I hadn’t seen you for so long. I was so worried because I couldn’t reach you. I’ve been in and out of police stations so many times…”

 

Hyunsook feigned tears, acting truly heartbroken, but honestly, she just wanted to smack her foolish daughter. Not only had Seowoo thrown away the god-given opportunity of becoming a Sky Bride, but she couldn’t understand why her daughter was so obsessed with a mere high school diploma. Their financial situation was so dire that Seowoo wouldn’t be able to go to college anyway; it seemed she was completely oblivious to reality.

 

“Seowoo, about what happened back then… I’m so sorry. I wasn’t in my right mind because Junseo was so sick.”

 

Hyunsook smoothly spun a tale of false remorse. She believed that putting aside her true feelings and reassuring Seowoo was the priority.

 

Just as Junseo had said, her daughter was kind by nature. So she was certain that if she called her in a gentle voice, pretending to repent, Seowoo would surely return to the family.

 

As Hyunsook predicted, the hostility and resentment in Seowoo’s eyes gradually softened. Believing that she could bring Seowoo back home if she coaxed her a little more, Hyunsook put on a subservient expression.

 

“Seowoo… You’re my child too. Is there any child a mother wouldn’t cherish? After you left like that, I haven’t been able to sleep a wink. I’ve been searching high and low for you. I was so desperate that I even came to wait for you at the GED exam center.”

 

“I understand. I understand everything you’re saying… but please go back today. I really need to go in now. I’ll contact you later.”

 

“Later? Seowoo, when is later?”

 

“I don’t know. Just please go today…!”

 

“Are you planning to disappear again? Hey, Seowoo!”

 

As Hyunsook tried to grab Seowoo’s wrist roughly once again, a tall man suddenly blocked Seowoo’s path.

 

“What are you doing?”