CS Chapter 25

“Well… and who are you?”

 

Hyunsook was bewildered by the sudden appearance of the tall man. He was so tall that she had to crane her neck to look at his face.

 

“M-Minjun…!”

 

Seowoo’s face flushed crimson at Cha Minjun’s unexpected arrival. She looked flustered, as if her secrets had been exposed.

 

“Seowoo, do you know him? Is he the one who drove you here?”

 

Hyunsook questioned her, but Seowoo just stood there, frozen.

 

She had clearly seen the car speeding away after dropping her off at the test center, so she couldn’t understand why he was back.

 

Meanwhile, Cha Minjun calmly looked back and forth between Seowoo and Hyunsook. Their resemblance was so striking that he could tell they were mother and daughter at a glance, even without any explanation.

 

Quickly grasping the situation, Minjun offered a polite greeting.

 

“You must be Seowoo’s mother.”

 

“O-our Seowoo…?”

 

“Mother-in-law, why don’t you have a word with me first?”

 

“M-Mother-in-law…?!”

 

Hyunsook gasped. Seowoo, standing beside her, also looked quite shocked.

 

***

 

The bell signaling the start of the exam rang. Seowoo’s hands trembled as she received the test paper and OMR answer sheet.

 

This was the exam she had staked everything on. Despite various trials and tribulations, she had done her best and had no room for regrets.

 

Even this morning, when Minjun had offered his simple encouragement, telling her to do well on the exam, Seowoo had been full of confidence. However, Hyunsook’s sudden appearance ruined everything.

 

‘How did Mom find me…?

 

Her hands were so weak that she almost dropped her pen several times. She could clearly hear the sounds of other test-takers turning their pages, but she couldn’t move.

 

The first subject was Korean, which required careful time management, but she had long lost her composure. She tried to focus on the questions, suppressing her pounding heart, but the letters swam before her eyes.

 

She was anxious about what Hyunsook, who was probably alone with Cha Minjun right now, might say. She was worried that her mother would disgust him by talking about the Sky Salvation Church.

 

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

 

Hyunsook’s words echoed in her ears, driving her to the brink of madness. Tears welled up in Seowoo’s eyes. The words, acknowledging her as her daughter, pierced her heart like a dagger.

 

“You’re my child too.”

 

Perhaps these were the words she had longed to hear from Hyunsook. Ever since Junseo’s illness began, her mother had never once smiled at her affectionately.

 

Even when she started menstruating much later than her peers due to malnutrition, her mother hadn’t even bought her sanitary pads. Instead of congratulating her, her mother had complained about the smell of blood making Junseo nauseous.

 

After treating her worse than a stranger, her mother now claimed she was her child too. Although she knew she shouldn’t believe those words, a part of her felt empty and hurt.

 

‘…Calm down, Ji Seowoo.’

 

Seowoo quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand and let out a small sigh. If she continued like this, she wouldn’t be able to solve a single problem.

 

She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to think of her grandfather.

 

His warm voice affectionately called her name, his wrinkled face smiling. Recalling all those tender memories, her heart, surprisingly, began to calm down.

 

Having barely regained her composure, Seowoo finally started to carefully examine the test paper. She skimmed through the poetry section first, postponing the daunting, brick-like wall of non-fiction passages.

 

(The Possessed) by Ki Hyungdo.

 

As she checked the title, Seowoo’s eyes momentarily sparkled with life.

 

While studying, she had appreciated countless poems by many authors, but “The Possessed” was etched in her memory, almost to the point of memorization. It was because the content of the poem felt eerily similar to her own situation.

 

The emcee shouted,
“Here is someone who has lived their entire life for their neighbors.”
Their neighbor’s sorrow was this person’s sorrow, and this person’s sorrow was a blazing light.
The emcee swore to the heavens,
“This person did not plant a single vegetable for themselves.”
“They did not shed a single tear for themselves.”
The emcee sobbed,
“Look, this person gave up their youth for you.”
“They could even die for you.”
The person stood up and stopped the sobbing emcee.
The crowd applauded the person in unison.
The men sniffled, and the moved women fainted.
Then someone asked the person, “Are you a god?”
The person turned their head toward the voice.
“Are you a ghost?” the voice asked.
“Drag this lunatic out!” the emcee shouted.
The men rushed forward, and the enraged women rampaged.
The person stopped the angry emcee.
The crowd applauded the person in unison.
The men sniffled, and the moved women fainted.
The person’s answer was lost in the roar of the crowd.
* (Ki Hyungdo, The Possessed)*

 

***

 

Hyun-sook took the man to a modest cafe near the school. The man, who seemed noble by nature, appeared out of place in such a setting, but surprisingly, he obediently followed her.

 

Hyunsook ordered a hot cup of tea but didn’t drink it. Instead, she clasped her hands under the table and prayed fervently.

 

After muttering to herself and praying for a while, she finally opened her eyes.

 

“I’ll be blunt. This is a very important matter for our Seowoo, so I want you to be honest with me.”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

The man, stirring his iced Americano with a long straw, gave Hyunsook a slanted smile. She frowned, finding him intensely dislikeable as she looked at his handsome face.

 

“Did our Seowoo… lose her virginity?”

 

Minjun let out a laugh at the unexpected question. Ji Seowoo’s mother, caught up in a cult, was even worse than he had imagined.

 

“Are you genuinely concerned that your daughter might have been taken advantage of by some jerk, or…”

 

Minjun’s expression suddenly hardened. It was a stark contrast to his previous frivolous smile.

 

“Or is it that the cult leader you believe in won’t accept a woman who has lost their virginity?”

 

“……!”

 

Hyunsook’s eyes widened, caught off guard by the pointed question.

 

“W-what… I don’t know what you heard from Seowoo, but… our Seowoo is a precious child. She’s meant to be the Sky Bride…! So, give our Seowoo back right now!”

 

‘That thing calls itself a parent?’

 

Minjun clicked his tongue as if he had expected this. He casually placed a business card in front of Hyunsook.

 

“I’m sorry to say this, but I’ve already slept with your daughter plenty.”

 

“W-what…?”

 

“Name your price for your daughter. I’ll pay whatever that cult leader wants, so tell him to stop eyeing Ji Seowoo.”